Chapter 351 - Nemeses

Qi Qingyao stared at Dong Jing dumbfoundedly as he ran away. She then looked at Lu Yan’s pale face and asked him, “What happened?”

“There is something you need to know.”

Lu Yan had no idea how to begin talking about the topic. He licked his lips as he felt chills run throughout his body. He said to her solemnly, “After you left, I wanted to get more information out of Li Ruoxuan, so I asked him to come over…”

Qi Qingyao’s eyes narrowed.

However, she did not interrupt or question him.

She listened as Lu Yan described everything that happened that day.

Lu Yan told her every single detail about their conversation.

“He said you were disguising yourself out there and that the Zhuixian Restaurant fiasco had coincidentally happened at the same time. Information from the Han family tells us that it was a grand master who was helping Gu Shanshan. Na Lanjie from the Ghost Organization tried to probe Si Jin as well. With these clues, the target is obviously Si Jin…”

Qi Qingyao’s expression sank as she put down her chopsticks and sipped on her cup of tea. “If my sister was really murdered by the State Preceptor, then…”

Lu Yan’s eyelids were half-shut as he said softly, “Judging by Li Ruoxuan’s character, he will surely interrogate Si Jin himself! Since he’s a ninth rank, could he be interrogated by the grand master himself?”

“A ninth rank can beat a grand master?” That sounded impossible. Qi Qingyao relaxed a little as she said with mockery in her voice, “If Si Jin is truly a grand master, then Li Ruoxuan is dead meat!”

Lu Yan nodded lightly and said, “And that’s why I sent Dong Jing to investigate. Let’s wait for an hour, and he’ll bring us some news. I’m sure of that.”

The Lu family was rich anyway.

They usually had some spies among the big shots.

However, these spies were rarely used due to safety concerns.

However, that did not mean they were never used!

Lu Yan knew how important Si Jin was to Qin Qingyao, so he said, “Don’t worry about it too much. First of all, if Si Jin is just a rank nine, Li Ruoxuan won’t kill him as there would be no need to do so. And if he really is a grand master, he definitely won’t die, and Li Ruoxuan will be badly injured.”

Qi Qingyao mused for a moment, and said, “Under what conditions can a ninth rank beat a grand master?”

Lu Yan closed his eyes and replied, “No matter the circumstances, there is no chance of winning! Grand masters are grand masters for a reason, and that’s because they’re so different from your typical practitioner. They’re on a completely different level.

“But the State Preceptor would never do something he wasn’t sure of, he… has assassins with him for sure.”

Lu Yan suddenly thought of a piece of information he heard some time ago and said, “No matter what kind of traps or tricks you use to try to set up a grand master, he will be wounded at most. He will never die, and that’s for sure.”

Even so, Qi Qingyao still felt that something was off, so she helplessly asked, “I—I don’t think Si Jin is a grand master.”

Lu Yan agreed, “I don’t think so too. If an eighteen-year-old kid like him is a grand master, what about the other practitioners? Wouldn’t that make them useless?”

Qi Qingyao, “…”

That’s right.

How would that even be possible?

Even if they had been at Zhuixian Restaurant that night, how could Li Ruoxuan compare Si Jin to a grand master?

Would it not be possible for a ninth rank practitioner to also throw chopsticks like that as well?

Qi Qingyao was not a practitioner, so she was extremely confused.

Both of them did not speak for a while.

QI Qingyao ate silently as she pondered the matter of Si Jin.

Lu Yan was deep in thought as well.

An hour later.

Dong Jing walked into the room with snow all over his body.

As he walked into the hall, he ordered the servants outside away and made sure that the coast was clear.

He then spoke.

“Master, something happened in the State Preceptor’s house.” They could finally activate the spy they had placed by his side.

“Word has it that the area is locked down and security around the entire perimeter is very tight. It seems like there are three layers of guards on the inside and outside.”

Qi Qingyao and Lu Yan raised their brows.

“From what I heard, a carriage brought back the wounded State Preceptor and Head Grand Secretariat. Both of them are still laying in their own rooms, unconscious.”

“Unconscious?” Lu Yan was agitated.

Qi Qingyao frowned silently.

Lu Yan could not help but lash out. “That can’t be! How could those two people be seen together?! Aren’t they nemeses?” Everyone in the city knew that the State Preceptor and the Head Grand Secretariat were always at war with each other.

A lord would not look another lord in the eye!

Dong Jing continued, “I’m not sure of that, but that was the news that our spy gave us. They’ve invited the best doctor in Qingzhou City over to have them both treated. The State Preceptor might be blind in one eye, while the Head Grand Secretariat had a serious injury on one of his legs. Even though it’s not broken, it will take a long time for it to heal.”

Lu Yan gulped. “…”

Qi Qingyao, “…”

Dong Jing knew the both of them were in deep shock because his jaw had also almost hit the floor the moment he found out what was going on, “The spy also told me the Demon Physician Jiang Xun entered the city this morning!”

The moment he said that, Qi Qingyao burst into laughter.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“…” Lu Yan silently stared at her.

QI Qingyao laughed even harder.

After she stood up, she guffawed as she clutched her stomach.

She seemed unable to stand up straight as she doubled over.

Dong Jing, “…” Was it really that funny? This was a serious matter.

Qi Qingyao was tearing up after all that laughing. She wiped the tears away from the corner of her eyes as she said, still laughing, “I never thought those two people would be the ones who went up against Si Jin.”

Lu Yan, “…” He had not expected that too!

Qi Qingyao rubbed her sore cheeks and continued, “However, two rank nines going up against Si Jin, who just might be a grand master? Si Jin is amazing! He actually managed to get the Head Grand Secretariat and the State Preceptor to personally interrogate him!”

She did not say that last sentence with a smile, though. It sounded sarcastic.

It was understandable that the State Preceptor was a little crazy, but why had Jiang Yeqian followed Li Ruoxuan and tried to kill Si Jin?

Qi Qingyao suddenly realized that these people, who managed to achieve such high positions, were actually all insane!

However, perhaps…

They were not.

They might just be so used to being in such a powerful position that they had no tolerance for not knowing everything.

For example, they could not stand that Si Jin had no past they could dig up!

Was that why Jiang Yeqian and Li Ruoxuan had teamed up?

Lu Yan asked carefully, “Jiang Yeqian suspects Si Jin too?” He and Si Jin had been Qi Qingyao’s henchmen. However, Li Ruoxuan did not know about that.

“Heh.” Si Jin had mentioned before that Jiang Yeqian had tried to tail him, but he had not been able to keep up with Si Jin.

Wait, could he really be a grand master?

If he was not, how could the State Preceptor be blinded in one eye and the Head Grand Secretariat paralyzed in the leg?

Qi Qingyao breathed a sigh of relief the moment she realized that Si Jin might actually be a grand master after all. Just like Lu Yan had said, Si Jin did not want her to be worried, so could he have gone to patch himself up after falling into a trap?

Everything would be alright as long as he was not dead!

As long as he was not dead…

Qi Qingyao repeated that to herself silently, over and over again.

Lu Yan suddenly realized something, “If both of them have teamed up, there is only one possibility: Jiang Yeqian suspects Si Jin too and that’s why he decided to partner up with Lu Ruoxuan. And his suspicions were correct!”

Si Jin really was a grand master!

Lu Yan simply could not believe it.

Those two were currently unconscious, and well, might very well be on the brink of death.

Out of everyone in the entire world, only him, Qi Qingyao, and Dong Jing… knew Si Jin was a grand master, right?