Chapter 180: Chapter 117: Abandoned Temple

Monkey, knowing the way, arrived at the South City Gate...

...This was the closest place to the boarding point.

An Changyu had already left, but a few constables were questioning Sun Peng about what had happened.

As they were talking, they noticed Monkey, who was dressed as a commoner.

The men stopped talking, and one of them shouted, "The city gate is closed! No one is to leave without proper cause. If you want to leave the city, come back when the gate is open!"

Monkey took out the token Zhou Xing had given him and quickly said, "Sirs, I have a city-exit pass. I’m on an errand for a master from the Government Office Entrance... My apologies for troubling you gentlemen."

Hearing that he had a pass, the men glanced at each other. One of them gestured for Monkey to approach. Only then did Monkey dare to hurry over, presenting the pass with both hands.

A constable took it and examined it carefully before nodding. "It’s a city-exit pass."

After speaking, he didn’t ask Monkey any unnecessary questions. He handed the pass back and signaled for the constable by the gate to open it.

Seeing the gate open a crack, Monkey let out a sigh of relief and quickly said politely, "Thank you for your hard work, sirs."

Seeing that Monkey knew his manners, the men didn’t say much more and just waved a hand. "Go on. It’s not safe outside the city. Be careful."

"Thank you, thank you."

Monkey continued to thank them as he exited the gate. After getting his bearings, he started running toward the boarding point.

The men inside were just about to close the gate when a voice called out from behind them, "Wait a moment."

The few gate guards instinctively turned their heads and saw several constables.

Upon seeing who had arrived, they quickly bowed in salute. "Greetings, my Lord Governors..."

They recognized these men. They were An Changyu’s trusted subordinates, holding the position of ’Military Governor.’ In order to ’rectify the administration and eliminate corruption,’ An Changyu had specially established a Military Supervision Department to patrol the city gates day and night.

Although they were all officials, the gate guards were exceptionally cautious around these Military Governors, because the latter’s duties involved supervising them directly.

This time, however, the Military Governors paid no attention to the gate guards. They ran straight past them and opened the gate.

Then, at a glance, they spotted the receding figure of Monkey.

One of them quickly whispered to another, "We’ll follow him. You go and inform Chief An."

That constable nodded quickly, then turned and ran. The remaining three swiftly ran out of the city gate, following behind Monkey.

The constables guarding the gate looked at each other, not understanding what was going on.

Qin Fang paced back and forth on the riverbank, waiting with a deep frown.

Before leaving, he had heard a commotion from within the city gate.

Then, he had watched for a while from a mountain path in the distance and saw a group of officials surrounding his senior brother...

If he hadn’t seen that his senior brother’s body language was very relaxed, he probably would have intervened right then and there...

Qin Fang’s eyesight was extraordinary. Despite the great distance, he clearly saw the leader: a pale-faced, middle-aged man whose expression shifted several times while speaking with his senior brother. In the end, his senior brother departed calmly, and while the man’s gaze was gloomy, he took no further action.

This allowed Qin Fang to relax for the time being.

After the city gate closed, Qin Fang came here.

But he was still worried about matters inside the city.

’That man clearly doesn’t get along with Senior Brother. He showed up at the city gate so suddenly... judging from Senior Brother’s warning, he must have followed him here.’

’...Could it be because of me?’

Just as he was thinking this, Qin Fang’s ears twitched, and he looked in a certain direction.

A short while later, a figure emerged from the mountain path. He glanced toward the riverbank, and his eyes lit up.

"Master Qin!"

When Qin Fang saw who it was, he also breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to nod but suddenly frowned again.

"Monkey, who did you come with?"

Monkey froze, replying instinctively, "By myself..."

Qin Fang didn’t speak. He walked over, grabbed Monkey, and with a flicker of movement, darted with him into the mountain path to the side.

A moment later, three figures appeared on the riverbank.

After looking around, their expressions changed...

"They’re gone!"

"Where could they have gone?"

"Search everywhere! There are no boats nearby, so they couldn’t have gone far!"

The three exchanged a few words and continued their pursuit.

From within a thicket of weeds on the mountain path, Monkey saw the men chasing them, his eyes wide in shock...

...How could he not realize by now that he had been followed?

Qin Fang, however, looked at the official uniforms on the three men, his brow deeply furrowed. He whispered to Monkey, "Let’s go."

Monkey didn’t dare say more and nodded quickly. Qin Fang grabbed his arm and whisked him away again.

At Qin Fang’s speed, it was naturally impossible for those officials to catch up. In the blink of an eye, they had reached a desolate wilderness.

Only then did Qin Fang put Monkey down, asking in a low, worried voice, "Is Senior Brother okay?"

Monkey was still reeling from the lightning-fast journey. Hearing the question, he quickly shook his head. "He’s fine, he’s fine..."

He immediately recounted what had just happened.

Hearing that his senior brother was fine and was even eating a meal, Qin Fang breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, from Monkey, he learned the whole story...

Essentially, a sworn enemy of his senior brother had recently broken through to the Anjin realm. He was then promoted to City Gate Guard, so all the guards at the city gate had been reassigned. The few constables who were on good terms with his senior brother were all transferred to other posts...

’...No wonder I didn’t see any familiar faces when I glanced over earlier.’

And as luck would have it, the constable he had sent with the message was spotted by that very person. Since Qin Fang’s status as a vagrant couldn’t be exposed, it led to this whole mess.

...However, his senior brother said the immediate danger had passed. The problem was that the man was now watching him constantly, making it difficult for him to leave, which was why he had sent Monkey to pass on the message.

Qin Fang’s brow tightened... ’Clearly, that man has his senior brother locked down. Why else would he go so far as to have even Monkey followed?’

’...What kind of grudge is this?’ 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

’Surrounding him with men, tailing him in secret...’