The injury on his arm wasn't that serious at all. He was fine after he applied some medicine on it and wrapped it with gauze. Yan Liqiang got out of bed, energized and lively as usual the next day. He completed his morning regime and cultivated Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing as usual.

Yan Liqiang survived to live another day. He was only glad that Mo Leng didn't have a habit of dipping his precious sword in poison. Otherwise, he would have perished along with Mo Leng during the battle last night.

An outstanding and confident swordsman would scorn at dipping their own precious sword in poison. Even if the swordsman was an a.s.sa.s.sin, they would rarely do this. This had nothing to do with a person's moral stance; it was purely because of the martial pract.i.tioner's confidence towards his own cultivation and weapons. Those who used long and heavy weapons in particular would be less inclined dip their weapons in poison. This was because those who could shed another's blood with their weapon had a tendency to kill with their weapon. The distance between shedding blood and killing was only paper thin. If a pract.i.tioner didn't believe the weapons they held in their hands could kill and had to rely on poison, then smearing poison on their weapons would be akin to indirectly smearing poison in their heart. This would most definitely have a great impact on the pract.i.tioner's cultivation. Therefore, it was very rare for someone to actually dip their weapon in poison.

However, hidden weapons were exceptions. Since they were generally smaller in size, their destructive power was inferior to that of weapons. Hence, it was very common for hidden weapons to be dipped in poison. At least Yan Liqiang wasn't mentally bothered about dipping his flying needles in poison. That was because he deeply believed that no weapons could speak for themselves. They served justice when used for good and caused corruption when used for evil. Putting aside flying needles dipped in poison and taking atomic bombs as examples — they would be dangerous if they fell into the hands of certain nations and individuals. But if they were in the hands of the People's Republic of China, it would be the best guarantor of world peace. He wasn't being sarcastic about it because this was what Yan Liqiang strongly believed in his previous life.

To Yan Liqiang, forcefully taking down Mo Leng had not only put an end to one of his biggest concerns; it also greatly improved his mental state. After a night's rest and completing his morning regime the next day, Yan Liqiang suddenly felt as though there were an endless vast sky and a boundless ocean before him. It was as though a heavy burden had been lifted off him. At this point in time, he had already eliminated half of the imminent life-and-death crisis that would befall him.

Without w.a.n.g Haofei, Ye Xiao might have not even heard of his name from beginning to end, and without Mo Leng, Ye Xiao was nothing but a piece of trash in his eyes.

For the Prefectural Governor, Ye Tiancheng, regardless of his moral standing and whether or not he was a corrupted official or a vile individual, Yan Liqiang was certain about one thing — Ye Tiancheng was intelligent and rather cunning. Regardless of the circ.u.mstances, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't openly abuse his authority and go off the scale for his fake son, Ye Xiao.

With this, as long as he didn't jump out on his own accord to create any opportunities for Ye Tiancheng, Ye Tiancheng would never be bothered by a youth who was still studying at the martial arts academy. If he was nothing but a stranger in Ye Xiao's eyes right now, then he was pretty much an invisible stranger in Ye Tiancheng's eyes.

The feeling of knowing your enemy while your enemy was oblivious to you was indeed extremely pleasant.

Perhaps until now, these two people from the Ye Clan still didn't know who Yan Liqiang was. However, Yan Liqiang was not about to let them off the hook.

As the private tutor to the Ye Clan, Mo Leng had always been strangely prudent in his whereabouts. Not only that, the techniques he cultivated were rather shocking too. Neither Ye Tiancheng nor Ye Xiao were able to completely track Mo Leng's whereabouts. In the past, it was common for Mo Leng to vanish from the city for three to five days. Therefore, within a short period of time of at least three to five days, Ye Xiao or Ye Tiancheng wouldn't immediately realize that something had happened to Mo Leng. Therefore, the best opportunity for him to take care of Ye Xiao and Ye Tiancheng would be within the next five days.

Yan Liqiang had already come up with few different secret plans for the father and son of the Ye Clan since long ago. The current situation in Pingxi City was where he could draw the most power from.

...

In the following two days, Yan Liqiang once again returned to Pingxi City.

During the day, he reported to the martial arts academy as usual and trained with s.h.i.+ Dafeng and Shen Teng together. Occasionally, he would spar with a couple others in the arena. Of course, Yan Liqiang never exposed his real strength regardless if it was during training or sparring. The strength he showed was just merely a little stronger than he was two months ago and it wasn't suspicious at all.

By nightfall, after he parted with s.h.i.+ Dafeng and Shen Teng, he started to wander around the city. Just like those other youths of the martial arts academy who wished to capture King Cobra for fame and merits, he hung his student tag on his waist and wandered everywhere in the city, hoping to discover any sort of clues.

Of course, Yan Liqiang's purpose for wandering around in the city wasn't to find King Cobra; it was to find Shatu people. More precisely, Yan Liqiang had been waiting for an opportunity to catch those Shatu people who sent those girls they had abducted to the boutique again.

Ye Xiao was not only a l.u.s.tful man. He was also cultivating a type of nefarious technique which relied on women to establish his foundation through duo cultivation. Thus, his demand for young girls over these few months had increased significantly. If nothing had changed and everything still went according to history, then on the night of the 18th day of the eleventh lunar month, which was a few days later, the Shatu people would deliver the two girls they had abducted to the boutique. Naturally, that would be the best time for him to make a move. Unfortunately, everything in Pingxi City had changed due to his actions. Under the b.u.t.terfly effect, the history he knew was no longer the actual history. Therefore, Yan Liqiang wasn't certain if everything that had happened in the past on the night of the 18th day of the eleventh lunar month would still happen again.

Not only that, on the 18th day of the eleventh lunar month, his father would come to Pingxi City. Yan Liqiang didn't want to wait until that day to settle the matter and he didn't want his father to step foot into Pingxi City on that day again. Hence, he would have to deliver the most fatal blow to the father and son pair from the Ye Clan before the 18th day of the eleventh lunar month.

Judging the current public security situation within the city, the Shatu people might just deliver those girls before the 18th day of the eleventh lunar month to the boutique. Or they might not deliver them, or everything might just be cancelled, delayed, or pushed forward. In any case, everything was subject to various uncertainties. Hence, he could only gamble and try his luck at a time like this and then act accordingly to the circ.u.mstances. If this plan didn't work, he'd switch to another plan. The results of both plans were about the same, only the process differed from each other — one of them didn't need King Cobra's appearance while the other needed King Cobra's appearance.

However, the route which the Shatu people sent those girls to the boutique with their carriage was fixed. The road might be long-winded, but the route was definitely fixed. Therefore, for the next consecutive two nights, Yan Liqiang wandered along that route. Unfortunately, he didn't make any discovery until curfew.

The 15th day of the eleventh lunar month arrived in just the blink of an eye. The weather today in Pingxi City suddenly changed. The skies were gloomy and the cold wind was bone-chilling. Signs of snowfall were already showing.

By the time Yan Liqiang came out from the martial arts academy, it was already evening. The sun could no longer be seen in the west. It was hidden behind the thick layers of clouds with only its slightly hazy light still visible.

Yan Liqiang raised his head to gaze at the sky. He exhaled deeply as a thought ran through his mind. Today was the last day of the first plan that Yan Liqiang had set for himself. If he still had no luck by tonight's curfew, then King Cobra would need to make his appearance after the curfew tonight.

When Yan Liqiang was about to return to the small house he rented at the Nine Dragons Bridge, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Liqiang, Liqiang…"

Yan Liqiang turned his head around and saw s.h.i.+ Dafeng and Shen Teng come out together. When he saw them coming towards him, Yan Liqiang's face broke into a smile.

s.h.i.+ Dafeng came out from the martial arts academy entrance empty-handed, but Shen Teng was still carrying a bow and a few whistling arrows on his back. Over the past few days, the martial arts academy no longer requested students to patrol the streets. However, students who knew archery still had to carry on the act. They had to walk around outside with bow and arrows on their backs after leaving the martial arts academy every day so that the Prefectural Governor would be aware that the martial arts academy was still putting in effort in hunting down King Cobra.

"Where were you this afternoon? How come Shen Teng and I couldn't find you anywhere? I was kind of itching to spar with you in the arena this afternoon!" s.h.i.+ Dafeng spoke while he walked over to Yan Liqiang.

"I was practicing my fundamentals at the spear technique training field this afternoon…" Yan Liqiang replied with a smile.

"Oh, no wonder. I was just wondering where you suddenly disappeared to today since you've been diligent in coming to the martial arts academy for the past few days…"

"Haha, I kind of got a warning from Teacher s.h.i.+ so I didn't dare go missing for these few days…"

"Did you decide to make spear technique as your main weapon in the future, Liqiang?" Shen Teng asked curiously from the side.

"Yes. I cultivated the spear technique back at home in the past. So I'm prepared to continue down this path in the future since I don't want to give up on it halfway…"

"A month to master the staff, a year to master the saber, but a lifetime to master the spear… The spear really is a tough road to follow..." Shen Teng sighed.

"It doesn't matter. Everything has its own beauty. Oh right, where are the both of you going together?"

"To get some food, of course!" s.h.i.+ Dafeng answered as though his answer was the most natural. "I just found a place in the city which serves the most authentic lamb and fish soup. It's on me tonight, let's go together!"

Among the three of them, s.h.i.+ Dafeng loved food the most. He loved eating so much that it had become an enjoyment in his life. Not long after coming to Pingxi City, the places which attracted him the most apart from the martial arts academy were probably restaurants and inns. He could always find places that served great food.

"Umm, I still have some matters to attend to tonight…"

"What's so important that you have to skip your meal? The place is not far. It's just over at the Fine Willow Alley. We'll get there in just short while…"

Yan Liqiang was initially going to decline the offer, but when he heard s.h.i.+ Dafeng mention that the place was in Fine Willow Alley, he was slightly taken aback. Fine Willow Alley was the place he had been wandering around over the past two nights. That alley contained the road that those Shatu people had to take when they 'delivered the goods' to the boutique...

"Alright then…" Yan Liqiang nodded.

"That's more like it! You can hardly find anything more important than eating and drinking in your life. A human can live on without training for seven months, but a human will definitely die without eating or drinking for seven days!" s.h.i.+ Dafeng laughed while he rambled on with his fallacious reasoning before the three of them set out to Fine Willow Alley together.

...