Chapter 39 - 38: Broken Jade Pile Skill!

Chapter 39: Chapter 38: Broken Jade Pile Skill!

Zhang Qingyu’s outer residence was not located in Lin Workshop, but in Shunyi Square, which was quite a distance away. This mistress from the Qin Clan was the daughter of a household in the Commandery city. She had a fierce and spirited personality. A few years ago, when Zhang Qingyu went to the Commandery city on business, he became romantically involved with this woman of the Qin Clan and brought her back to Black Mountain County, where they spent their nights in constant revelry. The younger brother of this woman from the Qin Clan was the very same reckless youth that Zheng Jun had chopped down in passing when he went to kill Zhao Er. Because her brother had passed away, the woman of the Qin Clan was depressed day and night. Not knowing how to explain this to her parents back in the Commandery city, she had grown quite haggard. Zhang Qingyu had ordered two gang members to guard the door and bought two maidservants for her, so the small courtyard was quite populated.

However, just as the woman of the Qin Clan was secretly grieving, a violent knocking suddenly echoed through the small courtyard.

"KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Open the door! Open the door! Government constables handling a case!"

Hearing the voices outside, the two gang members guarding the door had no idea that the Qingshui Gang’s headquarters had already been wiped out. They immediately pushed open the door with ferocious expressions and angrily rebuked, "You blind dogs! This is the residence of Gang Leader Zhang of our Qingshui Gang! How dare you blind, filthy black-skinned dogs come here to act wildly?!"

But just as the curses left his mouth, a flash of a blade gleamed before his eyes. In the next second, two lines of blood appeared across his neck. The shouting gang member clutched his neck and fell straight down. The other gang member stared at this scene in shock, unable to process what had just happened.

Zheng Jun, clad in a black Official’s Uniform with a cowhide belt, stood tall and straight, holding a bloodstained Ceremonial Saber. His gaze was cold and stern. Striding into the courtyard without a word of explanation, he announced loudly, "The Qingshui Gang has committed treason, and Zhang Qingyu has been executed! Today, we are ordered to confiscate his property. Take them down!"

Hearing this, the gang member was terrified. Before he could even react, the Black Officials behind Zheng Jun swarmed forward and took him down. Upon hearing Zheng Jun’s words, the Master of the house, the woman of the Qin Clan, stepped out. Seeing the Black Officials and constables pouring in, she was already scared out of her wits, while the two maidservants screamed incessantly.

Seeing this, Zheng Jun stepped directly forward, faced the woman of the Qin Clan, and demanded, "Where did Zhang Qingyu usually hide his things? Tell me now, and it can be considered a merit for your cooperation. But if you know and do not report it, you naturally know what your fate will be!"

The woman of the Qin Clan turned deathly pale, stammering as she tried to speak.

Seeing this, Zheng Jun felt a bit annoyed. He hated dealing with this kind of thing the most. "Forget it. Search! Even if we have to hollow out this courtyard and dig three feet into the ground today, we must find the items!"

Zheng Jun waved his large hand. Hearing his words, the Black Officials behind him instantly became like ravenous wolves and ferocious tigers, charging into the house and beginning to ransack the place for valuables. The woman of the Qin Clan was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground in a limp heap. Soon, two chests were carried out by the Black Officials and constables, along with some scattered bits of silver and other miscellaneous items.

Zheng Jun cleaved open the chest’s chains with a single Chop of his blade. Opening it up, he found quite a few account books inside. Flipping through them casually, he discovered that they recorded the monthly revenues of the teahouses, taverns, and porter guilds under the Qingshui Gang’s control within Black Mountain County. Besides these, there were several stacks of silver notes, each with a denomination of fifty taels. Counting them carefully, there were over ten notes.

The sum was a bit too large; Zheng Jun felt that he probably couldn’t pocket it all for himself. Although Cai Xun had told him that aside from the correspondence and the Shattered Jade Sect’s Martial Arts, he could take the rest for himself, if it were only thirty or fifty taels, there would naturally be no problem in taking it. But this was six or seven hundred taels! If he really took it, it would be embezzling illicit funds! However, what disappointed Zheng Jun somewhat was that, after looking through both chests, he couldn’t find any correspondence related to treason or any ultimate Martial Arts manuals. This truly left him rather disappointed.

"Squad Leader, how should we handle this?" Right at this moment, Wang Lai walked over with a lecherous smile. Pointing at the woman of the Qin Clan and the two maidservants, he asked in a low voice, "Wouldn’t it be a bit of a waste to just escort them to the County Government Office like this...?"

Zheng Jun shot Wang Lai a cold glance. Instantly, a wave of coldness shattered Wang Lai’s Evil Qi.

"Verify the identities of the two maidservants. Once it’s confirmed that they are innocent locals of this county, release them," Zheng Jun said. "As for the woman of the Qin Clan, escort her to the women’s prison. Whatever her ultimate fate may be, it is not up to you or me to decide!"

Having said that, Zheng Jun looked sternly at the Black Officials under his command and said coldly, "Working under my command, you will not lack for silver. But if I find out that you bully men, oppress women, or run rampant in the markets, then do not expect I will show any mercy."

This chilling aura instantly permeated the entire courtyard. Everyone felt a shiver in their hearts and voiced their agreement in unison.

Hearing Zheng Jun’s words, a maidservant who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen suddenly spoke up timidly, "T-This... This Master, I’ve seen Gang Leader Zhang at night... Zhang Ni frequently reading a faded book. He would hide it under his pillow, but when we tidied up during the day, there was no book under the pillow."

Upon hearing the maidservant’s words, Zheng Jun’s gaze locked in realization. He immediately charged into the room, stared at the bed, and raised his saber to Chop!

"CRACK! CRACK!"

Wood chips flew in all directions. Under this wild hacking, he indeed discovered a hidden compartment in the bed! Zheng Jun reached out directly, forcefully tearing open the wooden bedframe, and pulled out a faded manual along with several letters. He first glanced at the manual. The four words ’Broken Jade Pile Skill’ were written on it. Flipping it open, he found that it was actually the complete version of the Broken Jade Pile Skill.

As for the letters, Zheng Jun also skimmed through them hastily. He discovered that they were all correspondence with the Black Mountain Thieves, specifically showing a close relationship with Fang Yan, the chief of the Black Mountain Thieves. Aside from those, there were three or four unsigned letters. The contents didn’t mention any identities, only stating that the sender intended to respectfully present Zhang Qingyu with a Barrier-Breaking Pill to aid him in breaking through to the Outer Gang.

Zheng Jun packed these letters back exactly as they were and continued to stare at the Broken Jade Pile Skill. He read it over and over, wanting to imprint the contents of this Broken Jade Pile Skill into his mind! The Black Officials waited to the side, not daring to speak a word. Meanwhile, the woman of the Qin Clan had an ashen look of death on her face. She even threw a tantrum, rolling on the ground and trying to beat the maidservant who had secretly informed on them. She was stopped by the Black Officials and slapped across the face, which finally made her settle down.

With her finally behaving, about the time it takes for three incense sticks to burn, a line of small ink text finally appeared before Zheng Jun’s eyes.

[New Pile Skill available for advance: Broken Jade Pile Skill.]

Zheng Jun suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. Following that, with a thought, lines of small ink text floated before his eyes once more.

[Available Pile Skill for advance: Broken Jade Pile Skill.]

[Current Progress: Not yet initiated.]

[Advance the ’Broken Jade Pile Skill (Initiation)’? Because this borrows the Fruit of the Future, it can only be fully assimilated into yourself after practicing it a thousand times!]

This Broken Jade Pile Skill actually required an advance just to initiate it?! Zheng Jun couldn’t help but click his tongue in astonishment. This was his very first time seeing a Pile Skill that required an advance even for initiation! From this, it was clear that the grade of this Broken Jade Pile Skill was absolutely the most profound among all the Martial Arts he had encountered so far!

Zheng Jun exhaled a breath of stale air. He didn’t rashly advance it; instead, he closed the pages and pressed the Broken Jade Pile Skill back into its original place. Then, he looked at the surrounding Black Officials and smiled. "This Broken Jade Pile Skill is truly extraordinary! I wasn’t paying attention just now and got too absorbed in reading it. The contents are obscure and difficult to understand; reading it really made my head spin. Everyone, hurry up and escort the items here to the County Government Office!

"Do not touch these dozen or so silver notes. As for the remaining scattered silver, you all can just split it among yourselves."