"Who dares to bully my brother!" The leader of the thieves boasted loudly, telling his underlings to call over the people who had bullied them. As the leader, he had to stand up for his little brother; otherwise, how could he maintain his authority in the future?
With their leader backing them up, the little thief straightened his back. He kicked open the door next door and shouted, "My boss said that bullying us can't just be settled like this. He wants to have a word with you. Whoever doesn’t come is a coward!"
The constables were taken aback. They had been in the job for over a decade and had never seen anyone so bold as to provoke them.
Captain Wei shook his head and smiled. He had seen all sorts of situations, and this was just a bunch of clueless guys trying to provoke them. Cases like this were easy to handle; a lifetime of being a constable would bring a few of these their way.
"Who’s afraid? Let’s go!"
The thieves rolled up their sleeves, ready to show the constables what they were made of. They had just arrived, and before they could make a name for themselves in the demonic sect, it was time for a grand entrance!
Then, the thieves saw a group of constables bursting in, wielding official swords and wearing badges that identified them.
The constables were shocked to see the table piled high with gold, silver, jewels, rare herbs, and spirit stones.
Why did all this look so familiar? Didn't someone just report that these things were stolen?
The constables: "…"
Captain Wei: "…"
The thieves: "…"
"I swear I found this on the street, do you believe me?"
Captain Wei had never seen anything like this before; it was his first time encountering criminals who walked right into their trap.
The little thief still didn’t understand what was happening and kept shouting for his boss to take action.
"Boss, show them what we've got!"
He continued to boast, "Look at my big brother's thinning hair! Every time he kills someone, he loses a strand! They call him the Grim Reaper!"
"See this guy with the eye patch? That's my second brother. He lost his eye fighting a powerful opponent, but that opponent ended up blind too! They call him the Reckless Hero!"
"Look at my third brother's leg! He broke it while escaping from a hundred palace guards after a heist! They call him the Flying Grass!"
At that moment, the leader, second brother, and third brother all kicked the little thief, knocking him over for being too noisy.
"Did you just say that whoever doesn’t come is a coward?" Captain Wei grinned menacingly. It was this bunch that had caused him to work night shifts.
"I’m a coward, I’m a coward!" The leader of the thieves trembled in fear.
The thieves no longer dared to fight back. Seeing the door blocked by the constables, they crashed through the wall and ran for it, a chaotic group rushing into the main hall.
These thieves were fast, but their combat skills were pretty average. Besides, none of them were even at the Foundation Establishment stage; their leader was only at the ninth level of Qi Refinement.
"You guys go out the front, the rest of you follow me out the back!" The leader of the thieves shouted, directing everyone to scatter.
Lu Yang noticed the commotion and quickly figured out what was happening. He found it a bit funny.
"A bunch of thieves provoking the constables right behind a wall?"
"Wait, what if they escape through the back and the ghost is discovered by the constables?"
Lu Yang quickly realized the problem. If the ghost was caught, who would roast the skewers? How could the barbecue shop keep running? How would he keep an eye on Qin Yuanhao?
Seeing Lu Yang blocking the back door, the leader of the thieves seemed stunned and reached out to throw him away.
Lu Yang was holding a bowl of dumpling soup. When he saw the leader coming at him fiercely, he got startled and spilled the soup.
The leader didn’t expect this turn of events. He quickly formed a shield of spiritual energy to block the soup.
That little delay allowed Captain Wei to whip out a chain, which coiled around the leader like a snake, capturing him.
"Go, catch the rest of them! This meal is going to be worth it," Captain Wei said, feeling a sense of relief and clarity.
After days of trouble, the thief gang was finally caught. What a blessing!
Captain Wei patted Lu Yang on the shoulder and laughed heartily, "If it weren't for you blocking that soup, this guy might have actually escaped!"
"Being brave and righteous! Just wait, I’ll send you a banner tomorrow!"
Lu Yang quickly waved his hands, saying it wasn't necessary, but Captain Wei was so happy he insisted on sending one.
The commotion between the constables and the thieves had caused quite a mess, breaking the wall and creating a lot of dust in the main hall.
The diners had to leave early, but witnessing the constables catching criminals was still worth it.
"This barbecue shop is really a good place; the constables can catch thieves while sitting!"
"It was worth coming here. You can't see this kind of show even if you have money."
"This must be a lucky spot. To have business booming like this in such a short time—it's not just about being tasty; there's definitely some luck involved."
"Today proved that the constables can catch thieves here."
"It looks like we should come here more often. I want to ride on that luck too."
"Sounds good, let’s come together next time."
Hearing the discussions fade away, Lu Yang felt a bit pessimistic about the barbecue shop's future—it was destined to grow bigger and stronger.
"I'll bring the money for the wall repairs when I deliver the banner tomorrow!" Captain Wei waved at Lu Yang and left with the unlucky thieves.
Lu Yang stood at the door, sighed, and suddenly noticed Qin Yuanhao leaving the house again.
"Lu, Qin Yuanhao has left the house again," Man Gu reported from the second floor. He was very focused on his task, not caring about what happened downstairs, always keeping an eye on Qin Yuanhao's movements.
"I see it. You and Jing Zhou fix the broken wall. I’ll go follow Qin Yuanhao."
"Got it."
Lu Yang used a technique to catch up with Qin Yuanhao.
Meng Jingzhou behind him sighed, "Lu Yang's talent for spells is really impressive. I’ve been trying to learn from him all day, but I haven’t picked up anything."
"And I always feel like the incantations he taught me are related to spatial spells. Is that just a feeling?"
Meng Jingzhou didn’t dig deeper into the issue. Lu Yang’s talent for spells could only be described as "ridiculous." If you expected to learn spells just by following him, that was pure daydreaming.
He himself didn’t even have a single spirit root, so it was even less likely for anyone else to learn.
…
Lu Yang followed Qin Yuanhao for a long time. He didn’t hear Meng Jingzhou’s words because he noticed that this time Qin Yuanhao was walking with confidence, humming a cheerful tune, as if he was up to something big.
Qin Yuanhao arrived at a large mansion. Instead of knocking, he cast a spell on the door.
Before long, a tall, thin man came out and asked, "Is it time?"
"Today is the day."
"I’ve been preparing for this for half a month."
"Who hasn’t? This time we have to make a big score. I’ve been itching to do something after all this time! Once we pull this off, you have to help me spread the word. Let’s see who dares to look down on me again!" At this point, Qin Yuanhao revealed a cruel smile.
"Absolutely," the tall, thin man replied. He was known for being a big mouth in the Yanjiang faction.
The two spoke in a way that others couldn’t understand, laughing coldly.
Lu Yang felt uneasy, unsure of what these two were planning.
They walked into a bustling area where one building stood out, decorated in bright colors.
Qin Yuanhao and the tall, thin man entered, receiving a warm welcome.
Lu Yang looked up at the sign: a brothel.
(End of Chapter)