Chapter 429: Encounter

By the Li River, there was a small river beach, which should have been the headquarters of the Paibo Gang.

This was originally an ordinary river beach and islet, with only a dozen bamboo houses and thatched huts with earthen walls; one could fish by opening a window, and all sides were concealed by reeds. Only Boat Towmen without money and rich people who liked 'secluded cultivation' would live in such a place.

Looking at the surrounding shoals, although they were blocked, they still leaked from time to time, and water would surge into the houses.

The Paibo Gang was good at water, and their brothers usually cared deeply about their living quarters. They would repair the water inlets whenever they had nothing to do, so how could they let the river beach become so broken?

Had something unexpected happened?

Li Qi looked at the river beach more carefully and found that there were still people living there, but…

They weren't people from the Paibo Gang; they were unfamiliar women and children. The children were playing, and the women were washing clothes.

Did the brothers recently find new wives? After all, they were all Boat Towmen, and except for a few, the rest were bachelors. He had given them cultivation methods, so they should live better lives; at least everyone should be able to get a wife.

Thinking this, Li Qi told the old horse to stay put and walked into the river beach himself.

As soon as he entered, he saw that the women who were washing clothes by the river suddenly became alert. They immediately stood up, called their children to their sides, and then looked at Li Qi.

However, the moment they saw Li Qi, they immediately lowered their heads again.

Clean clothes, a tall horse behind him—such an appearance definitely indicated a much higher status than theirs.

Looking at themselves, each of them was burly, dark-skinned, with large hips and thick waists, good at manual labor, but certainly not beautiful.

But Li Qi didn't care about any of this. Instead, he took the initiative to walk forward: "Sisters-in-law, excuse me, is this the territory of the Paibo Gang?"

The women trembled and immediately knelt down, crying out, "Noble Sir, Noble Sir! We didn't seize the land without permission, they left on their own!"

This reaction made Li Qi break out in a sweat.

But thinking about it, it was quite normal.

It seemed the Paibo Gang had left, and this place was occupied by others.

"Sisters-in-law, there's no need to be afraid. I'm just here to find an old acquaintance. In the past, there was a Lifter Gang here called the Paibo Gang. Do you know where they went?"

Hearing this, the sturdy women stopped crying, exchanged glances, and then one of them said, "Is the Noble Sir referring to the Paibo Gate? They have already moved out."

Then, another woman immediately added, "I, I heard that some capable people emerged among them, who could compete with the constables of this street, so they stopped being Boat Towmen. Now they've gone outside the city and established the Paibo Gate. They are now people of standing, and they haven't lived here for a long time."

"We only came here after no one was around; we never forcibly occupied it!" The women repeatedly emphasized, looking genuinely afraid.

Li Qi understood. In a place like this, a stronghold was very important.

Regarding a驻地, if it was encroached upon, it would lead to an unending feud.

So he nodded: "Sisters-in-law, there's no need to worry. I'm not here to settle scores. I'm just asking for directions. You said the Paibo Gang… the Paibo Gate went outside the city. Where exactly outside the city are they now?"

"Replying to the Noble Sir, we heard that the Paibo Gate is by the South Gate. If you go straight for about twenty miles, they have some businesses there, but we don't know the details," a woman said, kneeling.

"Good, then thank you, Sisters-in-law." Li Qi didn't force them to stand up, after all... even if their knees stood up, their hearts would still be kneeling.

This place was not like Chang'an, where people without cultivation could stand with a straight back, regardless of the cultivation of the person in front of them, because they all knew that laws existed.

After thanking them, Li Qi took out a few strings of copper coins, about dozens of them, placed them on the ground, and then left.

It wasn't a lot of money, but it was enough for them.

If he gave too much, it would easily cause trouble and be bad for them.

Li Qi no longer paid attention to the overjoyed women behind him. He found the old horse: "They're outside the city. We should fly for a bit, otherwise, it'll be too troublesome to get out of here."

The old horse neighed.

Li Qi could now understand what the old horse meant: he was asking, aren't you afraid of the local officials?

Yes, flying in the city was indeed a bit of a disregard for official authority. After all, a strong Dragon does not suppress a local snake, and the Governor of Li Prefecture was also a seventh-rank official in this area. One should at least give him some Face.

But Li Qi shook his head: "Don't mind them. Authority isn't given by others. They don't even manage this land in Li Prefecture themselves."

Hearing this, the old horse said nothing more.

It made sense. Even to the old horse, this land was almost entirely reliant on grassroots autonomy. As far as the eye could see, the law was ineffective, the government had no Face, and all they did was harvest popularity, using them as components for sacrifices.

They used their existing violence to forcefully suppress the lower class, making the lower class maintain order themselves. They were only responsible for dealing with those who caused too much trouble, preventing order from collapsing.

This attitude conformed neither to orthodox Shaman Dao nor to orthodox Dao Orthodoxy; it was somewhat similar to the 'Demonic Dao'.

But it wasn't completely Demonic Dao either, because the Demonic Dao's capriciousness, the attitude of viewing all things in heaven and earth as their playground, though detestable, was also unrestrained and wild. The cautious appearance here was not like a Demonic Overlord.

One could only say it was 'their own Dao', just mixed with some ideas from other Dao.

In reality, this was the current situation for most cultivators. Not everyone was a member of a Great Dao Orthodoxy. Many small Dao Orthodoxy followed their own paths, but they couldn't help but be influenced by the Great Dao Orthodoxy, becoming neither one thing nor the other.

For example, Li Weng, the 'ghost' Li Qi first encountered, was someone who collected various incomplete fragments and explored his way forward.

However, Li Qi had, after all, lived in this place and experienced the predicament of an irregular Dao, so he had some opinions about the local government.

The old horse understood this and said no more, letting Li Qi ride on his back. His hooves thundered, sending out streaks of green lightning, and he leaped directly into the air.

When he flew, his Aura was so grand, and it was difficult to restrain it.

One could see that the local government immediately reacted. From an unknown location, someone suddenly struck out, unleashing the power of the eighth rank. A formless ripple surged towards Li Qi.

Li Qi turned his head and glared.

The eyes are called 'bright', and they are the dwelling place of the Sun and Moon Heavenly Gods within the human body's small heaven and earth.

With just that one glance, the ripple instantly dissipated.

At the same time, in a luxurious mansion in Lizhou City—

This place appeared to be the city stronghold of a major force. One could see many Disciples practicing diligently and sweating profusely in the outer courtyard.

Inside, there was a grand hall where the prominent figure of Lizhou City, the Sect Leader of Qianji Gate, and also the Sima of Lizhou, a dignified eighth-rank master, one of the top experts in Lizhou City, sat.

He sat motionless in the room.

It wasn't that he didn't want to move; it was that he didn't dare to move.

On his hand, there was an imprint like a 'gaze', firmly pinning his hand to the table.

Cold sweat poured down, and he dared not move.

What… what kind of power was that?

Only the strongest person he had ever seen, the Governor of Li Prefecture, could achieve such a feat!

This, could this be a Lord/Prefect-level expert!?

As for a Monarch-level, he dared not even imagine it. It was said that they were mighty beings who could roam beyond the domains and control countless worlds!

And the other party just swaggered into the no-fly zone and left Lizhou City.

I must report to the Lord/Prefect!

— — — — — — — — — —

Flying in the sky, the old horse ambled along, not accelerating, so even a distance of only a few dozen miles would take a few minutes.

After all, it was a stroll.

As he ran, he neighed, "Neigh, neigh, neigh~."

Li Qi heard this and understood that he was saying, "Aren't you afraid someone will catch up?"

So he smiled, "It's better if they catch up. I only made a move to let them catch up."

The old horse shook his head.

What bad idea was this guy thinking of now?

Never mind. Why should I worry? I'm just a horse.

A few minutes passed in a flash, and the old horse quickly landed outside a mountain gate.

It wasn't that he knew the way; it was mainly because within a dozen miles around, there was only one mountain gate. Behind it, some large houses were built, surrounded by walls. Several thousand people lived in these mountain houses, some working, some practicing cultivation methods.

It truly looked like a Martial Dao School, even having inner quarters where some women and children lived.

Li Qi did not fly directly into the large mountain house but had the old horse land outside the mountain gate.

After all, they were former brothers, so there was no need to be condescending. He planned to walk up to them and give them a surprise.

However, as he walked with the old horse to the outside of the mountain gate, Li Qi suddenly merged with natural, concealing himself.

Because he saw that outside the mountain gate, a wedding seemed to be taking place.

One could see very festive red sedans, surrounded by lanterns, with noisy drums and music, blowing and beating, full of joy.

Some people carried flower candles and wedding couplets, while others carried strings of firecrackers.

The groom rode a tall horse, swaggering at the front of the procession. However, the horse was not very obedient, so he tightly clamped his legs to avoid falling off.

It was clear that this horse was not tamed, but was being forced forward. After all, there was no beast-taming method in Li Prefecture, and these naturally born Spirit Beasts were difficult to subdue.

Li Qi recognized the groom. His name was Huang Si, a hard-working young man from the Paibo Gang who respected both Li Qi and Sixth Uncle. It seemed he was getting married today.

Normally, Li Qi should have revealed himself now to congratulate his former brother.

However, Li Qi's expression was a little off, because he noticed that the bride's Face showed no joy at all; instead, she was constantly sobbing under her veil.

The bride's family followed behind, smiling, but it was clear at a glance that they were forcing smiles.

On the other hand, the brothers of the Paibo Gang were all beaming with joy, chatting among themselves.

One could even see a young man chatting with the bride's family: "Elder, I'm not married yet either, what do you think~?"

It seemed this was not just the bride's family, but the village chief of a certain village.

“Uh… is Your Excellency not yet married?” The old man immediately forced a smile and said.

"I already have a wife, so I don't need one for now," the young man said, "But I have a cousin who needs a concubine. Elder, what do you think?"

"That's perfect! This humble old man has a young daughter, Linhua, who is also unbetrothed. I wish to marry her to your esteemed younger brother. What do you think?" The old man quickly said.

The young man chuckled, but then put on an affected tone, speaking in clumsy classical Chinese: "Although that lad has cultivated some martial arts and joined my Paibo Gate, he has not made any progress. How dare he presume to approach your esteemed family?"

The old man then replied, "My brother speaks wrongly. In my opinion, your younger brother will be extremely noble in the future. I beg my benevolent brother to agree."

From the conversation between the two parties, it was clear that the old man spoke gracefully and politely, appearing to be an educated person. As for the young men from the Paibo Gang, they all had a pretentious air, their elegant speech full of errors, mixing classical and vernacular language.

However, seeing the old man pleading with him, the young man smiled even more happily and said, "Thank you for your kindness, brother. I dare not refuse. May I ask your esteemed daughter's age? We will choose an auspicious day for the betrothal and then come to marry her."

The old man replied, "My little daughter… is fifteen years old. Her birthday is in the 632nd year of Great Deer, and her birth characters are Yichou, Dinghai, Wuwu, Renzi—"

Then, the two continued to discuss the wedding arrangements.

Li Qi listened for a while, then led the old horse to block the mountain gate and then released his state of merging with natural.

The advancing procession didn't notice at first, but when they reached the mountain gate, they realized their path was blocked by one person and one horse.

The attendants beside them immediately started yelling, "How dare you! Whose family are you from? Today is Master Huang of the Paibo Gate's big day, and you dare to block the gate!?"

After he finished speaking, the attendant, without even waiting for Li Qi to speak, clenched his fists. A surge of Martial Dao Inner Qi rose, passed through his legs, linked to his Dragon bones, and with power rising from the ground, he lunged fiercely at Li Qi!

This punch was powerful and heavy, with a force of ten thousand catties, clearly an explosion of double the power of Carp Current Intent!

Just this move alone showed he was an expert among the unranked, capable of becoming a leader in a large Gang in Lizhou City, and even a martial arts instructor in a large School like Qianji Gate.

However, Li Qi stood still, but the old horse took two steps forward, then raised his hind hooves, accompanied by a clap of thunder, and kicked out directly.

Fist and hoof connected.

This kick directly sent the aggressive young man flying. Green lightning spread across his body, and then with a crack, his fist instantly went limp, his five fingers becoming like soft noodles, the bones already shattered.

For unranked individuals, such an injury was enough to prevent them from practicing hand techniques or fighting others for half a year.

Accompanying the young man's scream, the young men around him all drew their weapons or raised their fists.

Another person walked out and shouted loudly, "Your Excellency, which School or Gate are you from? Please state your name, and make clear any grudges or grievances! Traveling in the Jianghu, ruining someone's wedding is a great taboo. Are you not afraid of your master and elders' punishment!"

Li Qi frowned, so he stepped forward, wanting to say something.

However, as soon as Li Qi stepped out, Huang Si, who had been sitting high on the tall horse, was stunned.

"Brother Li?!" he exclaimed in surprise.