Chapter 104 – Knocking on the Door for Deb (1/2)

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A brown-robed old man with a goatee checked their pulses one by one. He would shake his head at times and nod at others. Sometimes his eyes would shine, and at others, he would inspect the child before him. To his left was the master of the Iron Fist school, Liu Hong, and behind him was Li Long, who constantly refilled the old man’s tea cup.

The disciples of the Iron Fist school formed a human wall, blocking many people outside who seemed to be the relatives of these children. They all looked at their children nervously. If they saw the old man nod, they would light up with pleasure, but if the old man shook his head, they would become dejected.

This was an important figure who had come from the Clear River prefecture from over five hundred kilometers away, a mighty protector of the Iron Fist school who possessed extraordinary martial arts. If they could gain his recognition, their children would truly skyrocket to greatness.

Li Qingshan saw the old man with his first glance. The old man’s aura was heavy and condensed, slightly stronger than Feng Zhang’s. He was truly an innate master, but he was not anyone dangerous. If he daemonified, he was confident about killing the old man in a single strike. Even if he maintained his human form, there would not be too much trouble. It would just take some effort.

He was just curious as to what this was all about.

Liu Hong sat beside the old man. Both of them were elderly, but even the naive children could tell who was more imposing. Liu Hong sighed inside. Recently, a lot of impressive figures have come to Qingyang city.

Ever since he came to Qingyang city for retirement, it had been many years since he last saw protector Yan Song. But speaking of which, with his status as a second-rate master, he never saw protector Yan much in the past either. The last time he saw him was during the birthday banquet of the leader of the main branch. Back then, he was still in his prime, and protector Yan was already like this. Now, he had already become an old man, but protector Yan seemed like he had never changed.

Liu Hong said, “Protector Yan, you should take a break!”

“Please try the tea!” Li Long filled up the cup with tea in a hurry. Although the hall chief had died to unnatural causes, and his plan to leave Qingyang city was cancelled, he felt happy inside. He never liked that hall chief Wu. He was rude to his master. Now that he was dead, it only served him right. In the blink of an eye, another one, protector Yan, had come. Not only were his martial arts even greater, but he was much more level-headed as well. He was proud, but he never showed it, and he could directly take Li Long to the Clear River prefecture.

Yan Song stopped and took a sip of tea leisurely. “I’m old. My body is failing.” He just let the children stand beneath the sun.

Liu Hong asked, “What about the leader of the main branch?”

Liu Hong was overjoyed. “Then thank you, protector. What do you think about these children?”

Yan Song said, “There are a few promising ones among these children. Although I don’t know if they can practise qi, they’re at least more than enough for practising martial arts. If this was the prefectural city of Clear River, the children with better talent would have all been scooped away already. Even just a single promising kid would take some fighting to obtain. You’ll never be able to just pick them leisurely like this.”

Liu Hong said, “It’s all due to the main branch leader’s wisdom.”

“Hmm?”

At this moment, Yan Song raised his head and saw a hole in the wall formed from the disciples of the Iron Fist school. A teenager walked towards him. However, after glancing at him, Yan Song said, “Send him out. He’s too old.” Moreover, he was too ordinary. He had nothing worth noticing.

However, the disciples of the Iron Fist school did not try to block the teenager as ordered. Instead, they parted to the sides in fear. Yan Song was rather confused. All he saw was Li Long and even Liu Hong’s eyes widening. “Li Qingshan!”

The crowd burst into discussion. “Isn’t that Li Qingshan?” “The Black Tiger, Li Qingshan!” “I heard he’s dead, isn’t he?” “How’d he return?” Li Qingshan could be regarded as famous in Qingyang city now.

Li Qingshan walked up and waved his hand with a smile. “School master Liu, long time no see. And this protector something, I’ve been looking forward to meeting you!”

Yan Song raised an eyebrow. He remembered the other reason for his trip. Wasn’t it exactly for this teenager?

Liu Hong said awkwardly, “Y- you’ve returned!”

Li Qingshan got straight to the point. “Yeah. I’ll have to play the role of an unruly guest this time. School master Liu, please return a few items to me, or just exchange it into silver notes. I’d rather you do that actually. After all, it wasn’t easy for you to excavate it all.” The current Li Qingshan seemed very gentle, without any sort of imposing or vicious bearing.

Liu Hong looked at Yan Song. Yan Song said nonchalantly as he sipped his tea, “You’re Li Qingshan? You’re still bold enough to return? Right now, I’m going to ask you questions, and for every question, I expect a reply. If you don’t reply, I’ll smack you across the face once. How did hall chief Wu die?”

He did not even stand up. This was not a person worthy of standing up for, and Li Qingshan’s ‘rudeness’ had irritated him slightly. He was out of his mind for trying to ask for items from him. And, there were various traces that proved that hall chief Wu’s death was clearly linked to this person. Obviously, he had no reason to be polite to his enemy.

Li Qingshan is hiding his strength? Maybe! But even if Li Qingshan is a first-rate master, or even an innate master, having become a Qi Practitioner, what can he do? With his strength as a second layer Qi Practitioner, there were not a lot of people he had to take seriously.

Li Qingshan was familiar with this kind of behaviour. It came from possessing absolute confidence in personal strength. They believed they could hold their ground, and that everyone had to listen to and follow their arrangements, allowing them to do whatever they wanted.

However, when Li Qingshan compared Yan Song to the figures he had seen soaring through the skies, he found it absolutely hilarious. He was like a toad croaking loudly, ordering a group of flies around while believing that he was a king.

As a result, Li Qingshan laughed. At least I’m a frog, not a toad, and a very strong one at that.