Martial King's Retired Life

Really Thrilling

“He wields a broadsword?”

Jin Buhuan nodded.

Ming Feizhen blinked in rapid succession, then lowered his head to think. Based on Jin Buhuan’s competence and experience, if he was confident that the culprit utilised broadswordplay, then that was unmistakeably true. Ming Feizhen knew the majority of Divine Realm adepts in the Central Plain, but that still meant that there were many whom he did not know. The two he personally knew were already gone. Bai Zhiqing would have recognised his elder brother if it was his elder brother. An incident involving Ol’ Dao without any deaths would have been spookily bizarre, not to mention he should have been easily recognisable considering his level.

“Do you have any leads, Master Ming?” Despite his abundant experience, he knew that the “monsters” knew more Divine Realm warriors than anyone else, hence the question for Ming Feizhen even though the four of them saw the assailant.

Ming Feizhen shook his head after further rumination. “I can only think of a few names, but I can’t be certain. There are two in the southwest, and there is another I can think of in the freezing north.”

Among adepts Ming Feizhen knew, the majority of them were in the north, followed by the Western Regions and finally Jiangnan. From the southwest, he knew one from Qingcheng and one from Emei, but they never fought, so he could not be certain.

“Black and White Reflection does not list all Divine Realm warriors, not to mention there have been new debutants in recent years that they may have missed.”

“Based on how vicious he was, he wouldn’t be too young, but he wouldn’t be too old, either.”

Ming Feizhen smiled. “Most people who reach the level you described would be around this age.”

“Master Ming, we will be counting on you for this matter.”

Understanding what was implied, Ming Feizhen bobbed his head. There were more folks from the martial realm in Hangzhou than Ming Feizhen could ever remember. Without accounting for Wutong Jin Yuxuan’s assistance, Mount Daluo would wipe the floor with however many showed up. One Divine Realm adept, however, would be more than too much already. This was a major reason that these sovereign-level individuals stayed in their own territories or formed alliances in case of any disasters that required divine-level intervention. At present, the presence of four Divine Realm adepts had been confirmed to be in Hangzhou, yet the two Divine Realm guardians of Hangzhou – Matriarch Zi and Ming Feizhen – were unaware of the presences. Needless to say, that smelt fishy.

“The lecher certainly respects formalities enough to justify his moniker,” scoffed Ming Feizhen, in a low voice. He still focused on Hua Yumeng even though he himself was aware that the first assailant was the biggest risk factor.

“Was it Hua Yumeng who wronged you?”

“Personal grudge,” answered Ming Feizhen, sounding as indifferent as he could to hide his anger.

While Jin Buhuan was still puzzled, he brushed it off since Hangzhou’s second strongest – if not the strongest – had agreed to intervene and protect him. Frankly, it would have been abnormal to not be apprehensive about a Divine Realm warrior keeping tabs on one, especially the four White Princes. All of them were either contemplating how to organise manpower without leaking information outside or how to stick together. Thus, Ming Feizhen’s intervention was a gift from heaven.

“Patriarch Jin, what opinions do you have on the two attacks?”

Stroking his beard, Jin Buhuan replied, “I can only say with certainty that the first and second assailants were different people. That said, both of them were skilled combatants and moved extremely proficiently… They didn’t seem affiliated or seem to even know each other.”

The first assailant only showed himself that once, which left his motive a worrying a mystery. Hua Yumeng was a nuisance, but he had yet to exhibit ill will. Since Lady Bai was able to detect him, he utilised an elusive approach. The clan heads were confident that the assailants were not Lady Bai’s admirers. Notwithstanding Hua Yumeng’s notoriety, he had yet to break any laws; all he had done was linger around ladies.

“If he was just a lecher, he wouldn’t…” The words Ming Feizhen left off were ‘hurt my junior brother’. It was not something to publicise, though, because all of Hong Jiu’s enemies would swarm to him for revenge if they found out he was compromised. “It’s nothing… Seeing as someone sought out Lady Bai, there’s a chance that Hua Yumeng approached her for the same purpose.”

Jin Buhuan hit himself on the head. “I completely missed that. Why did we always assume that Hua Yumeng was just a lecher? Hahaha, it had to be you; you’re still the brightest, Master Ming.”

Ming Feizhen forced a smile as the guess was purely accidental. Nevertheless, the conjecture was sound. The only question was, who would go through so much effort to find someone of such a special status? He kept recalling the tone and appearance Elder Lianhua mentioned, but he could not think of anyone suspicious.

Shifu…

Elder Lianhua mentioned Lady Bai, but she also mentioned Ming Huayu. Therefore, Ming Feizhen did question if his shifu implicated Lady Bai in some way. The idea was far-fetched, though, considering Bai Zhiqing’s respect for Ming Huayu. Based on the complexity of the events, it was hard to determine how Ming Huayu was linked. Perhaps Lady Bai’s recent experiences had something to do with a past meeting with Ming Huayu?

“I want to see her.”

Ming Feizhen deemed it necessary to speak to Lady Bai seeing as she was involved in the events.

“We will have to find a way, particularly because Bai Zhiqing sticks closer to his wife than he fastens his belt.”

“So what’s the plan?”

Bai Zhiqing chuckled. “We’ll have to find someone with a plan, won’t we?”

“Who would that be?”

“That would depend on whether or not you have enough courage.”

“Always have had enough.”

“Okay. Please give me a moment to call someone.”

“Who?”

Jin Buhuan stroked his beard proudly.

A while later, the door burst open, and Bai Zhiqing popped in.

“Eh? Nephew? What are you doing in Hangzhou?”

Ming Feizhen was stupefied for a moment. He gave Jin Buhuan a glare whilst Jin Buhuan, smiling, bobbed his head. “That would depend on whether or not you have enough courage.”

“Patriarch Jin said someone was looking for me. Was it you? What’s the matter?” asked Bai Zhiqing.

“… I… I… I want to see your wife.”