After opening the door, Monkey immediately came in, his expression excited.

He glanced back over his shoulder before closing the courtyard gate, then said to Qin Fang, "Master Qin, there’s news!"

Qin Fang took a deep breath and nodded. "Speak."

"Just now, the men from the Four Seas Gang returned. Their losses were disastrous—even their ship is wrecked!"

Qin Fang was stunned. He quickly lowered his voice and asked, "What about Wang Hu?"

"Nowhere to be seen."

Monkey shook his head quickly. "It’s not just Wang Hu... I didn’t see a single person from the Iron Tiger Gang... It’s like none of them came back..."

"None of them came back?"

Qin Fang’s eyes lit up slightly. ’Could they be dead?’

"It’s a huge commotion outside right now. Everyone in Pingze City is watching... After all, this is the Four Seas Gang’s and the Iron Tiger Gang’s territory... Now both gangs are in chaos, and a lot of people are waiting to see what happens next!"

Monkey was getting excited, his eyes shining. "Master Qin, I’ll go scout for more news. I’ll come back and tell you if anything happens!"

Hearing this, Qin Fang took a deep breath and nodded. "Try to find out exactly what happened to Wang Hu."

If Wang Hu didn’t return, the best-case scenario for Qin Fang was that he had died out there.

But he couldn’t rest easy without confirmation, so he gave the instruction. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Don’t worry, I know what to do!"

With that, Monkey turned, opened the door, and ran out to continue gathering information.

A flicker in his eyes, Qin Fang let out a soft breath, then turned and went inside to start preparing.

’If Wang Hu is really dead, that’s for the best.’

’But if by some chance he’s not... I have to be ready.’

About two hours later, Monkey returned again.

"I’ve got the details!"

Monkey looked astounded. "They were tricked!"

Qin Fang froze, not quite processing it.

"What do you mean? How were they tricked?"

"They went out because they’d heard about a Treasure Fish, right? Well, it turns out it wasn’t a Treasure Fish... it was a Demon!"

Monkey said, his voice full of shock.

Even Qin Fang was taken aback.

"A Demon?"

Monkey nodded repeatedly, then lowered his voice. "I don’t know who started the rumor, but it says the Four Seas Gang and the Iron Tiger Gang went out because the Four Seas Gang had mastered a method for catching the Treasure Fish. And that method... was given to them by Huichun Hall!"

Monkey was about to continue, but Qin Fang froze, and quickly said, "Wait a minute... Huichun Hall?"

Monkey was stunned for a moment, then quickly nodded.

"That’s the rumor..."

Qin Fang’s expression tightened. After a flicker in his eyes, he nodded slightly. "Alright, go on..."

"But it turns out that after they used the method Huichun Hall taught them to attract the Treasure Fish... they waited for days, but no Treasure Fish showed up. Instead, a Demon did!"

"That Demon was terrifying. I heard its open mouth alone was over ten feet high! It looked like a giant fish, but its body was covered in black fur, not scales! When it first appeared, they thought it was the Treasure Fish. The Iron Tiger Gang guys couldn’t hold back and rushed to grab it, but the Demon swallowed four or five of them in one bite!"

"In the chaos, Wang Hu lost an arm and fell into the river... He’s almost certainly dead!"

"The Iron Tiger Gang was completely wiped out!"

"The Four Seas Gang was a bit luckier... but their losses were still huge. Many died, including... Cao Zhen!"

"The few survivors scrambled onto their ship to escape... but that Fish Demon chased them the entire way... If their ship hadn’t been so big, they probably all would have died! Even so, the hull was severely damaged... I just saw it at the docks. Tsk, tsk, the entire stern was practically bitten to pieces... I have no idea how they made it back..."

Monkey was full of awe.

Qin Fang listened, his mind reeling.

’They were fishing for a Treasure Fish, but caught a Demon instead?’

’A method Huichun Hall gave the Four Seas Gang?’

’The Iron Tiger Gang wiped out, Wang Hu lost an arm and his fate is unknown... A few from the Four Seas Gang escaped, but their Gang Leader, Cao Zhen, is dead?’

...Something about this story just didn’t sit right with Qin Fang.

"What did they use to fish for the Treasure Fish?"

"They said they used a large batch of precious medicinal herbs! They boiled it for several days..."

Monkey added quickly, "The person who started the rumor said those herbs were provided by Huichun Hall!"

’Wrong!’

’That’s not just wrong. It’s one hundred and ten percent wrong.’

’...Others might not know, but he knew perfectly well... Huichun Hall had recently lost a large batch of medicinal herbs.’

’And they were stolen by the Four Seas Gang!’

’...My senior brother did say there seemed to be other parties involved behind the scenes... something to do with the Commerce Association?’

Thinking of this, he suddenly asked, "Was there any sign of the Commerce Association in all this?"

Monkey blinked, confused. "What Commerce Association? What does this have to do with them?"

’None?’

Qin Fang’s brows furrowed tightly.

...The situation suddenly felt murky and convoluted.

But after a moment’s thought, he let out a soft breath...

’Oh well, none of this really has anything to do with me anyway.’

’The only thing that worried him... was that his master was the resident expert at Huichun Hall.’

’Will this affect my master?’

His brows furrowed tightly.

And at this moment, Monkey suddenly said in a low voice, "Master Qin, what do we do next?"

After a moment’s thought, Qin Fang asked, "Are we sure Wang Hu is dead?"

"We can’t confirm that yet... The rumor just says he lost an arm and fell into the river. With a Demon in that river, he shouldn’t have been able to survive."

Monkey replied quickly.

Qin Fang frowned. After a moment of thought, he said, "Since Wang Hu is dead, there’s no need for us to stay here. We’ll leave tomorrow."

"No, that’s not what I’m talking about..."

Monkey interjected.

Qin Fang was stunned, looking at him in confusion.

"Master Qin, Cao Zhen and Wang Hu are both dead now! But their houses... they’re still here! They left in a hurry, and those two occupied Pingze City for years... Can you even guess how much money they have?"

Monkey suddenly lowered his voice, his eyes shining.

After being stunned for a moment, Qin Fang also suddenly came to his senses.

’Oh, right.’

These two gangs had occupied Pingze City for years, longer than the Fish Dragon Gang held Fisherman City.

And Pingze City was far more prosperous than Fisherman City.

’...So how rich would they be?’

Qin Fang’s eyes gradually narrowed.

’...I’m out of money myself.’

Three hundred silver bought him thirty Qi Blood Pills, but he had to use them almost every day... He only had about twenty left, not even enough to last a month.

He could guess at Wang Hu’s wealth from what he’d gotten from Wang Long... Qin Fang hadn’t forgotten the ten Qi Blood Pills and over a hundred silver he’d taken from him.

’Wang Hu... would have even more!’

"What experts do the two gangs have left?"

But Qin Fang still asked cautiously.

"That’s the key! This time, both gangs sent out nearly all their elites. Right now, each gang has at most one or two Mingjin Martial Artists left on guard... But those guys are no match for you, Master Qin!"

Monkey said excitedly.

He could clearly see that Qin Fang was also tempted.

And he had already scouted out the information in advance.

’Just as you’d expect from a gangster,’ Qin Fang thought, ’the first thing that comes to mind in a crisis is to take advantage of the chaos...’

’A few Mingjin Martial Artists?’

A glint appeared in Qin Fang’s eyes.

’He didn’t pay much mind to Monkey’s flattery, that nonsense about them being ’no match’ for him... It was just talk.’

He was calm and knew his own limits.

He was only at the Early Mingjin Stage. Against a Mid- or Late-Stage Mingjin Martial Artist, he wasn’t confident he could win.

’For example, hadn’t his senior brother completely suppressed him the other day?’

Of course, that wasn’t a fight to the death.

’After all, I still have my Darts.’

’And I still have the poison I didn’t get to use this time...’

Thinking of this, Qin Fang no longer hesitated.

"Alright, let’s go now—"

Just as Qin Fang was speaking, a burst of hurried footsteps sounded from outside.

At the same time, shouts rang out. "He ran that way! Stop him, don’t let him get away!"

The two of them instinctively looked up in the direction of the voices.

They were frowning, wondering what was happening, when suddenly—THUD!—came the sound of something heavy falling.

The two of them snapped their heads around, only to find that a figure had fallen from the top of the wall.

Accompanied by a muffled grunt, the figure struggled to raise its head, revealing a pale, panicked, and pretty face.

Her eyes met theirs.