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This was a young waiter, his delicate features fixed on Zhang Yuanqing with a gaze that betrayed madness, loathing, and the blank, headstrong energy unique to the mentally ill.
"So it's the Grand Ancestor, eh? You honor us with your presence. Why didn't you give us a heads-up? I would have rolled out the Italian artillery to greet you." Zhang Yuanqing recognized the "minion's" identity at a glance.
"Grand Ancestor?" The Pure Yang Sect Leader scrutinized Zhang Yuanqing, a mad smile playing on his lips. "That wicked disciple took you as her apprentice? Very well, very well. I've been hesitant about whether to unleash my millennia-accumulated killing move on her. Since you've become her disciple, there's no need to distinguish between who goes first and who goes last."
A millennia-accumulated killing move...That old geezer took me as a disciple just to use me as a shield?
Zhang Yuanqing raised an eyebrow. "Did you infiltrate the banquet just to spout nonsense?"
He saw that the Pure Yang Sect Leader before him wasn't the real deal, but a low-level spirit servant possessing the waiter. So, he didn't rush to act, hoping to glean some information.
Precisely because he was a minion, neither Uncle nor the Marshal gave a warning.
"No, it's a death notice, Yuan Shi Tian Zun. I will claim your life in seven days." The Pure Yang Sect Leader laughed maniacally. "You are destined to be my stepping stone to regain my peak power. When I seize your foundation, I will enter The Way of the Extraordinary to avenge myself against that wicked disciple."
With that, he raised his hand and slammed it against his forehead.
Zhang Yuanqing snorted coldly. The low-level spirit servant possessing the waiter instantly turned to dust and vanished.
The Pure Yang Sect Leader was struck as if by lightning, his body stiffening. His hand hadn't even touched his forehead when he slumped to the ground.
Zhang Yuanqing walked to the urinal, unzipped his fly, pulled out his "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", and, while emptying his bladder, pondered the death notice.
The Pure Yang Sect Leader absorbed the Eighth Elder's Yuan Shen and thought he was invincible again.
"If he really wanted to kill me, he has killing moves as trump cards. He could just launch a sneak attack. Isn't this behavior today stirring up a hornet's nest? It's a bit contrived."
"But if he's not trying to kill me, just making a feint, what's the purpose then?"
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't figure it out no matter what. The Pure Yang Sect Leader was crazy and unbound by moral constraints. It didn't seem strange for him to do something illogical.
But behind him stood the Master of Taiyin. Ling Tuo had just replenished part of the Pure Yang Sect Leader's Yuan Shen, and the latter immediately put on this performance.
To say there was no reason was too far-fetched.
"I'll observe the stars tonight!" Zhang Yuanqing shook "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and left the public restroom.
After the banquet, Zhang Yuanqing also spent half an hour observing the stars on the rooftop. The celestial phenomena showed everything was normal. He divined not only for himself but also for the people around him, finding no one would encounter a crisis in the near future.
So he snapped his fingers, arrived at the training room, and saw Qian Gongzi practicing slashes repeatedly. If divination couldn't provide information, he would rely on logical reasoning to analyze.
Fu Qingyang stood in a horse stance, wielding a sword. Each slash emitted a piercing shriek, and every ten slashes caused the muscles under his loose training suit to ripple.
"Boss, has your mastery of the Dao of Swordsmanship made any breakthroughs?" Zhang Yuanqing asked curiously.
"No," Fu Qingyang said calmly. "Swordsmanship requires accumulation over time or enlightenment between life and death."
He had only been promoted to Ruler for half a year. The mastery of the Dao of Swordsmanship had already made one leap forward in that time. It was impossible to make another breakthrough in the short term.
Little Fu, you need to work harder. The Little Zhang next door is about to catch up with you! Zhang Yuanqing was secretly delighted.
Fu Qingyang glanced at him, his face turning cold. "Get lost if you have nothing to do. Don't disturb me."
Zhang Yuanqing quickly restrained his delight and told Fu Qingyang about the banquet, "I always feel something is off, but I have no clues."
Fu Qingyang said coldly, "You're about to catch up with me, how come you still haven't improved like before."
Zhang Yuanqing bowed down, "Boss is brilliant and insightful. I was getting carried away just now."
"Doesn't act like a Ruler." Fu Qingyang turned his head and continued to chop with his sword, ignoring him. Zhang Yuanqing sat cross-legged on the side, waiting patiently for him.
About a quarter of an hour later, Fu Qingyang, who was lunging and slashing, suddenly said, "He wants to scare you!"
"Scare me?" Zhang Yuanqing seemed thoughtful.
Fu Qingyang said while practicing his slashes, "If you're the target, there's no need to stir up a hornet's nest. Since he said it in front of you, there must be another purpose!"
"You just got benefits from Ling Tuo, you must be afraid of retaliation. And the Pure Yang Sect Leader is a beneficiary of the last Hunting War, having just swallowed the Third Elder's Yuan Shen. Now he dares to go deep into enemy territory to give you a death notice. What would you normally do?"
Zhang Yuanqing didn't hesitate, "To show respect to the Master of Taiyin, I would hide, hide in a gang dungeon, or have a backer monitor and protect me at all times."
Fu Qingyang nodded, "This should be their purpose, but I haven't figured out what the meaning is."
After a pause, he continued, "Ling Tuo is the Master of Taiyin. He may have observed something in the river of the future, which cannot be analyzed by reasoning and insight."
"The time node is seven days, which means it's not very far away. Yuan Shi, what do you want to do recently?"
"The thing I want to do most recently is have a child with your older cousin!" Zhang Yuanqing muttered to himself, frowning, "So, it's something I want to do recently that may touch Ling Tuo's interests. But he can't find a way to kill me immediately, so he deliberately arranged for the Pure Yang Sect Leader to appear and frighten me, wanting me to suspiciously hide in the gang dungeon, or stay at home, accepting Mr. Hui Chang's protection."
"The thing I want to do recently involves Ling Tuo." Zhang Yuanqing narrowed his eyes sharply. "I think I know what it is. If there are no accidents, I will go to Beijing tomorrow to ask Elder Zhao about the Same Boat Society."
Fu Qingyang stopped slashing and looked over. The two made eye contact, and their expressions became extremely solemn.
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A taxi stopped at the entrance of an old alley. The young man, wearing sunglasses and a mask, paid the fare and stood by the road, looking out at the historically rich alley.
If you had to say how rich the historical atmosphere was, it wasn't necessarily so. The smell of the 1960s and 70s was stronger.
Zhang Yuanqing walked into the old alley that he had seen on TV, with gray walls and black tiles, mottled double wooden doors, and some households still had original manual water wells at their doors, as if walking in the Beijing of the last century.
After only a few steps, he saw Little Zhao, with a serious expression, coming out of the corner ahead.
Little Zhao, with a serious expression, waved at him.
Zhang Yuanqing quickly stepped forward, pulled him to the corner, and glanced around before saying in a low voice, "Are you sure you want to go with me to see Elder Zhao? If he really is a double agent and I expose him, this is my clone, it's dead. But you may be in danger."
"What evidence do you have that my great-grandfather is a double agent?" Little Zhao was unconvinced.
"No evidence, but I encountered something yesterday." Zhang Yuanqing told Zhao Chenghuang about the Pure Yang Sect Leader scaring him.
Little Zhao's face was even uglier, "If Great-Grandfather really is a double agent, since he's been exposed by you, then there's no need to kill me, because that won't silence him."
"That makes sense..." Zhang Yuanqing sighed, "I understand your desire to witness it personally, so let's go together."
Zhao Chenghuang led the way, saying, "Great-Grandfather has been handling affairs outside in recent days, but I just called him to say you wanted to see him, and Great-Grandfather agreed immediately. I think Great-Grandfather is worried that I will take you to the basement and the guardian spirit servant can't deal with you, so he simply came to deal with it himself."
A few minutes later, Zhao Chenghuang led him to the front of a courtyard house, knocking twice on the beast-head door knocker, "Great-Grandfather, Yuan Shi Tian Zun has arrived."
The creaking, rusty wooden door opened on its own.
Zhao Chenghuang led Zhang Yuanqing inside. The courtyard covered an area of more than 100 square meters, with locust trees, a water well, and three rows of blue brick houses with a single ridge. Under the locust tree were tea tables and wooden benches.
Elder Zhao, with white hair and a stern expression, sat upright by the tea table, brewing tea.
Zhang Yuanqing strode forward, looked at the face that was three or four points similar to Zhao Chenghuang, and bowed to greet, "Elder Zhao."
"Sit down!" Elder Zhao nodded slightly.
The two took their seats. Elder Zhao opened the tea bowl that had been scalded, picked up the teapot, poured in a dark brown tea soup, and said, "You've come at the right time, have a taste."
Zhang Yuanqing picked up the tea bowl, took a shallow sip, and exclaimed, "The tea soup is clear, the tea taste is pure, slightly bitter but not astringent, with a sweet aftertaste after the initial sip. Good tea, really good tea."
Elder Zhao nodded with satisfaction, "You know how to drink tea too?"
"No, I just made up all those words." Zhang Yuanqing was very honest. Elder Zhao understood what he meant and said in a calm tone, "You incited Chenghuang to enter my basement. According to my temper, I should have beaten you out today. But he has been taken care of by you a lot, and I remember this favor. Ask what you want to ask? But I may not answer you."
"Elder Zhao, are you a member of the Same Boat Society?" Zhang Yuanqing went straight to the point.
"The Same Boat Society?" Elder Zhao looked at Zhao Chenghuang with a clear expression, and suddenly said, "You are here for this matter?"
At that moment, Zhang Yuanqing clearly sensed emotions of surprise and astonishment from Elder Zhao's emotions. He probed, "What did Elder Zhao think we were here for?"
Elder Zhao didn't answer but said, "What do you want to know about the Same Boat Society?"
Zhang Yuanqing did not hide anything and told Elder Zhao about the ins and outs of his investigation of the Same Boat Society, and then asked, "Who do you think attacked Huo Zhengkui back then? Besides the three leaders, which other people do you know were from the Same Boat Society?"
"I heard from Gang Leader Jiang that there was infighting in a branch of the Same Boat Society."
"All the members are dead, do you know about this?"
He asked all his doubts in one breath. Elder Zhao picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and a look of reminiscence appeared on his stern and rigid face.
"It's been almost a hundred years, if you didn't say it, I would have even forgotten about the Same Boat Society. The Same Boat Society
The Same Boat Society was actually a very loose organization, and it was also very hidden. We needed to hide ourselves at all times, responsible for assassinations, while also preventing being wiped out by the evil faction."
"I joined the Same Boat Society simply because there was no official organization in the local area at that time. The countries were constantly at war, like a plate of loose sand, and the Same Boat Society called on capable people in the name of patriotism, and had sufficient funds, so it quickly took root and grew stronger throughout the country."
"Communication was not developed at that time. Except for the headquarters of the Same Boat Society, no one knew the specific list, let alone how many branches there were across the country."
"The big branches had many masters, and their reputation could still be spread. The small branches were silent from establishment to dissolution. The members of the Same Boat Society that I know are almost all dead, and you all know the rest."
"Alas, the times are too old, the communication is poor, and the Same Boat Society may have consciously hidden itself, even the Demigods don't know much about this organization."
Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "I have checked, the earliest time to record the advancement list of the Slaughter Dungeon in the Five Elements Alliance's database is 1956, and you became a Ruler so early, which means that you have the ability to attack Huo Zhengkui."
Elder Zhao put down the tea bowl, his eyes炯炯 piercingly staring, "There were indeed very few Rulers at that time. According to your logic, all the existing Demigods are suspected, including those Demigods in the Spirit Realm families."
But only you are a member of the Same Boat Society. How do you know they are not members of the Same Boat Society.
Zhang Yuanqing carefully sensed Elder Zhao's emotions. There were no obvious flaws, but the other party was a high-level Ruler, and a Night Wanderer with powerful spiritual power. There was no flaw, which did not mean he was innocent.
Seeing Grandfather and Yuan Shi Tian Zun tit-for-tat, Zhao Chenghuang said, "Grandfather, there is still one last question."
Elder Zhao withdrew his gaze, picked up the kettle, and poured tea soup into the empty tea bowl, "About that last matter, what I know is relatively clear. The one that fell apart due to infighting was the North China Branch. Infighting is just a rumor, the truth is not so!"