Perhaps it was an attempt to curry favor with Chen Yuan, the patrolling envoy, especially after their recent amicable collaboration, where Chen Yuan's authority proved beneficial to him. Otherwise, the commotion caused by him and his dozens of riders would have made it nearly impossible for him to leave Qingzhou alive.

Or perhaps Yan Kai simply wanted to express his gratitude to Chen Yuan. Given the strength Chen Yuan had displayed earlier, capturing him wouldn't have been a difficult task at all.

Yan Kai had also abandoned any intention of fighting Chen Yuan.

Surveying the burly man before him, Chen Yuan paused for a moment on his full, black beard, which resembled Li Kui from the historical novels. After a moment of tense silence, Chen Yuan spoke first, feigning ignorance:

"Why haven't you fled, Chief Yan? What brings you here instead?"

Yan Kai replied, "I've come to seek Envoy Chen's assistance."

His expression was quite solemn.

"How do you need my assistance?"

Chen Yuan gestured for Yan Kai to sit down, poured him a cup of tea, and stared at him calmly.

From the moment he let him go, Chen Yuan had been fifty percent certain that he would return, not simply disappear. Furthermore, he had given Yan Kai a meaningful look at the time.

The implication in that look was clear to anyone who wasn't a fool.

And so, he had indeed come.

Yan Kai took a deep breath and said in a low voice:

"If Envoy Chen can simply refrain from listing us as fugitive soldiers upon returning to the prefecture, the Patrol Agency won't take action. As for the rest, I, Yan, am confident in my ability to escape."

"So, are you fugitive soldiers?"

Chen Yuan neither agreed nor directly refuted, but instead posed a question in return.

Yan Kai hesitated, not immediately admitting it. Chen Yuan did not press him, but instead sipped the tea on the table.

"Yes!"

After a long silence, Yan Kai nodded.

"Tell me about your background…"

Yan Kai glanced at Chen Yuan, unsure of what he was planning, but since he had already confessed, there was no point in continuing to hide anything. He then briefly recounted his story.

He had joined the army as a youth and grown up on the border of Youzhou, serving as a captain in one of the armies. Due to... he had no choice but to flee all the way to Qingshui County.

He had originally intended to settle down here and live out his days, but unfortunately, the court had zero tolerance for deserters and traitors like them, leaving them no way out.

"What's the situation like on the Liang-You border?"

Chen Yuan had always wanted to learn more about the situation on the Northern Barbarian border and the strength of the Great Jin Dynasty. Through Yan Kai's account, Chen Yuan gained a new perspective on the borderlands far from the Central Plains.

Millions of troops, demonic incantations, battles involving tens of thousands of people at a time, with lives being reaped like straw. On the border's bloodstained passes, the dried blood was an inch thick, and bones littered the ground…

This was the border that Yan Kai had briefly described. The imperial court's strength on the border was unable to overwhelm the Northern Barbarians, and they could only barely hold on. It was fortunate that Yan Kai had survived for over a decade.

And the Northern Barbarians were not demons, but people just like them, only with different beliefs and a great desire for the Central Plains, wanting to bring the flames of war to the heartland...

After a long while, Chen Yuan rubbed his tightly furrowed brows, realizing that the court's situation was indeed not optimistic. The troops stationed on the border tied up a significant portion of their strength.

Perhaps that was why the Jianghu was able to be so arrogant, even daring to provoke the court...

The court's strength was not weak, in fact it was very strong, but its forces were too scattered. The forces of the Jianghu were similarly powerful. In this world where the strong were respected, only the top-tier experts controlled the world.

Compared to the two, Chen Yuan felt that the Jianghu forces were slightly better.

After finishing his story, Yan Kai turned his gaze to Chen Yuan, ready to wait for his answer, with a hint of hope in his eyes.

"What benefits can I get from helping you?"

After a long while, Chen Yuan came back to his senses and focused his gaze back on Yan Kai.

The great events of the world were still too distant for him at the moment. He should focus on managing the present.

"Whatever Envoy Chen wants, as long as I, Yan, can provide it, I will not refuse." Yan Kai sat up straight, his face solemn.

Staring at Yan Kai for a moment, Chen Yuan smiled:

"You have nothing that I covet. Do something for me, and I can try my best to erase your identity as a fugitive soldier."

The Patrol Envoy's authority was not insignificant. Erasing the identity of a fugitive soldier was not difficult. As long as no one interfered, few people would pay attention to it.

"Thank you, Envoy Chen. What would you have me do?" Yan Kai gratefully cupped his fist and asked.

"Do you know about the Chiyang Mountain in Qingshui County?"

"I do."

"Take your men and raid it, make a big commotion, and then… that's all you need to do. Just leave." Chen Yuan instructed.

Yan Kai nodded. Although he didn't know what Chen Yuan's purpose was, as long as he helped him erase some traces in the Patrol Agency, he would agree. He immediately agreed, chatted for a while, and then took his leave.

Chen Yuan did not try to keep him, but continued to focus his mind on cultivation.

The next day.

Chen Yuan did not leave the inn until noon, which made Sun Yuan, who had ordered people to monitor him, somewhat confused. Could it be that he had overthought things?

That shouldn't be…

But Chen Yuan showed no signs of anything unusual. Of course, the more that happened, the happier Sun Yuan was. He couldn't wait for Chen Yuan to leave, but before he could completely relax.

A piece of news made him drop his cup.

The bandits who had escaped earlier had brazenly attacked Chiyang Mountain, fought for a while, seized some Chiyang Stones, and then continued to flee. The Naqi Realm martial artist guarding the Chiyang Mountain mine didn't even have time to exchange blows with Yan Kai.

Although it was fast, the commotion was very large.

Chen Yuan, who had been prepared for this, directly approached Magistrate Sun Yuan and Zhang Hefeng, telling them that since there was news of those bandits, he couldn't just sit idly by. He wanted to thoroughly investigate Chiyang Mountain.

These words made Zhang Hefeng look at him thoughtfully. Yesterday, those bandits had just escaped and then attacked Chiyang Mountain, and Chen Yuan had specifically asked about Chiyang Mountain.

It was impossible that there was no connection between them.

But there was one question in front of him: Could it be that Chen Yuan was colluding with Yan Kai?

Thinking about it carefully, if that was the case, then the previous bandit suppression would have been unnecessary, which made him quite puzzled.

But puzzled as he was, Zhang Hefeng was very confident that Chen Yuan and Yan Kai were definitely not as clean as they seemed.

Chen Yuan didn't care about Zhang Hefeng's gaze, only glanced at him, and then focused his attention on Sun Yuan.

Compared to Zhang Hefeng's silence, Sun Yuan seemed a bit agitated.

On the one hand, he advised Chen Yuan that Chiyang Mountain was not important now, that the most important thing was those bandits. Chen Yuan's priority now should be to immediately take people to pursue them, rather than placing his hopes on Chiyang Mountain.

On the other hand, he vaguely revealed that the Chiyang Mountain mine was related to some important figure in Nanling Prefecture, and asked Chen Yuan to turn a blind eye.

However, Chen Yuan was impervious to persuasion, pretending not to understand anything, which made Sun Yuan curse in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it on his face, lest Chen Yuan impulsively chop him down.

He could only suppress his anger in his heart.

After informing Sun Yuan, Chen Yuan directly took people to immediately go to Chiyang Mountain. Before leaving, he saw Sun Yuan's livid face.

A slight smile appeared on the corner of Chen Yuan's mouth. He didn't care.

......

......

Chiyang Mountain in Qingshui County was located in the east of the county, about the same distance from the county seat as Da Gu Mountain, but Chen Yuan used his speed to reduce the time by more than half.

This time, Chen Yuan didn't bring many people to Chiyang Mountain, only Mo Donghe and three other Patrol Guards. As for the constables in the county office, Chen Yuan thought they were a hindrance, so he didn't order them to go.

Zhang Hefeng was happy to do so. He preferred to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, rather than get involved. Therefore, even if he guessed that Chen Yuan and Yan Kai's gang of bandits had some relationship, he didn't reveal it to Sun Yuan.

This time, he had even fueled the flames.

If possible, he even hoped that Chen Yuan would directly capture Sun Yuan, so that he could take the opportunity to gather his forces, and completely control the Qingshui County office before the next magistrate arrived.

If he could gain a foothold in one county, then it wouldn't matter whether he climbed up or not.

Controlling a county and being a local tyrant would be very nice.

Chen Yuan ignored the twists and turns. He had thought of them, but he had no interest in managing them. He just wanted to get his hands on the Xuanyang Divine Crystal. He didn't expend much effort this time, it was just to find a legitimate reason for himself.

No matter what, he was a member of the imperial court, not a reckless bandit. Before acting, he had to be on the right side of things. Like now, was he wrong to investigate the traces of those bandits?

Who could say no?

When he arrived at Chiyang Mountain, it was in full swing with mining. One by one, gaunt people were topless, carrying baskets of gravel from the mountain to the bottom.

Roughly, there were about a hundred people, which was not a small scale.

A dozen overseers holding whips would whip anyone who slackened.

There were some bloodstains on the ground, obviously caused by Yan Kai and the others in the morning.

"Who is in charge of the mountain? Tell him to come and see me immediately!"

A pebble broke the right arm of the overseer who had been whipping people earlier. His tone was icy cold.

The man was helped up, and he was about to scold angrily, but he was somewhat afraid of Chen Yuan's indifferent eyes. He subconsciously nodded and asked the people next to him to quickly call the steward.

Chen Yuan waited quietly for a moment, opened his Dharma Eye, and looked towards the mine tunnel, but he didn't see the expected flash of cyan light. He thought it should be because the distance was a bit far.

Soon, a dozen people surrounded a middle-aged man in black and walked up. The workers who were working also stopped and whispered, watching the scene here. Sudanshu.net

"I don't know this lord's name, why are you trespassing on my Chiyang Mountain mine." As soon as the middle-aged man came up, he focused his attention on Chen Yuan.

"You don't need to know that, you just need to know that I'm here to investigate the traces of the bandits who caused trouble this afternoon."