Chapter 150 – From Dawn till Dusk (2/2)
Although the envoy was displeased by Li Qingshan’s joke about the blacklist, he was afraid to rebuke him. He just told Li Qingshan about how to use it.
Afterwards, Li Qingshan understood why it was called the blacklist. He would see a string of names with each page. There were normal names among them, as well as strange daoist or dharma names. It was used in a rather similar fashion to mental maps. All he needed was a thought and the list would be arranged according to different criteria.
These criteria included the amount of contribution, the danger level, the strength of the opponent, the estimated gains, and so on. If he selected one of the names, he would receive a set of extremely detailed information, including their cultivation method, spiritual artifacts, area of activity…
Li Qingshan sighed inside. The Hawkwolf Guard really was a major organisation that had existed for several millennia. There was rigour to the organisation, and they were fully-equipped. This information had basically simplified the steps of investigation, allocating all the work that could be completely by ordinary people to ordinary people. Afterwards, they would confirm the crimes and make the list so that the Hawkwolf Guard could hunt them down one by one.
Every single Qi Practitioner was a powerful master who stood above many, with longevity as their greatest objective. Cultivating and practising qi was their greatest priority. There was not a single Qi Practitioner who would waste their time on these miscellaneous tasks, being ordered around by others like servants. Otherwise, no matter how great the benefits of the Hawkwolf Guard was, it would still not be an attractive occupation to Qi Practitioners.
“Once you’ve chosen your mission, sir, there will be a file that you can read up on whenever you’d like. The information in there is all the most detailed information our leads have obtained. However, we cannot ensure that it will be completely accurate. You’ll need to adapt to circumstances,” the envoy gave a warning as a formality.
“Of course,” Li Qingshan replied. With a thought, the list was now ordered according to descending strength. He glanced at the name at the very top—the Zombie Daoist, sixth layer Qi Practitioner. He was on the list for capturing living people and turning them into zombies en masse. The danger level was extremely high, and the contribution that came with the completion of the mission was actually as much as twelve thousand points.
But clearly, there was no one who could complete this mission apart from Zhuo Zhibo and the Black Wolf commander who had never shown himself. Of course, Li Qingshan possessed the strength to complete it, but he only paused on it slightly before flipping further until the last few pages.
The last few pages of the blacklist mostly contained the names of gangs and sects, not the names of individuals. These were places like the Black Wind stronghold. They no longer possessed a single person that was worthy of being regarded as a single target by the Hawkwolf Guard.
Afterwards, Li Qingshan chose his missions.
The envoy was stunned. “Sir, do you really plan on accepting these missions?”
Li Qingshan nodded without any hesitation at all. “Go retrieve the files. I’ll be setting off right now.”
The envoy instructed some people in a hurry, and before long, other envoys brought over stacks of documents. Many of them seemed extremely old, with dust floating around in the air near them. Clearly, they had only just been wiped down.
Li Qingshan placed all the files and documents into his hundred treasures pouch and left immediately. As soon as he made it out the door, a few Black Wolf guards hurried over. “What mission did he choose?”
Afterwards, they looked at one another, stupefied.
“What is the kid planning?”
“Carrying out justice and protecting the weak? Don’t kid with me.”
“No matter how many missions he completes, he won’t get anything in exchange for it as long as he doesn’t have commander Zhuo’s permission.”
In the main office, Zhuo Zhibo drank tea leisurely. “So what’s the kid up to.”
Ge Jian smiled, “The kid ran around, but he has nothing at all.” His anger had finally eased up slightly.
Zhuo Zhibo placed down the tea cup. “Toying around with him before we take his life isn’t necessarily bad. I’d like to see just how much longer he can endure this for.”
Ge Jian said, “I think he’ll have to endure it no matter what.”
At this moment, a Black Wolf guard walked in hurriedly, “Commander, that kid has found a reason to leave the mountain!”
Zhuo Zhibo said, “Oh, he wants to avoid me? What mission did he accept?”
The Black Wolf guard said, “More than one.”
“How many?”
The Black Wolf guard said in a strange manner, “He accepted twenty-seven missions.”
“What! Bring them over.” Zhuo Zhibo took the mission document, which had a dense list of the missions that Li Qingshan had accepted. However, the contents of the missions surprised him very much, not because they were too difficult, but because they were too easy.
The pirates of the Water Snake gang, the horse bandits of the Giant Deer valley, and so on. All of them were missions that the Hawkwolf Guard had accumulated over time but could not be bothered completing.
That was because the targets in the mission were all just ordinary people of the jianghu. At most, these people would be carrying around some silver on them, while spiritual artifacts and pills went without saying. And because they were far too easy, the contribution they offered was as low as it could be. At most, new Black Wolf guards would just use it for practise before never looking at them again. They would much rather remain on the mountain and cultivate instead.
As an office of the lowest tier within the Hawkwolf Guard, black iron, they were completely composed of Qi Practitioners, and they primarily targeted other Qi Practitioners. They mainly served as a deterrent force to martial arts practitioners.
As a result, this led to the formation of a tiny vacuum of law in the system. This place was called the jianghu.
Ge Jian said, “If that’s the case, he has managed to find another reason to leave Jiaping city.”
Zhuo Zhibo snorted. “If he wants to do the manual labour, let him do so.”
By now, Li Qingshan had already left the mountain. He calculated in his mind that completing these missions should roughly amount to a thousand people.
This was his main goal: to help Xiao An rebuild his body. For the sake of this goal, he could temporarily put aside everything else.
Right now, his choice in joining the Hawkwolf Guard seemed to be more and more correct. Otherwise, where else was he supposed to ask about bad people? And, if he committed a massacre against ordinary people as a Qi Practitioner, even if they were all bad people, it would attract a great deal of attention. It might have even earned him a spot on the blacklist, which would force him to oppose the government.
It was simple now. The information provided by the Hawkwolf Guard was extremely detailed. Every single person who could make it onto the blacklist of the Hawkwolf Guard through their cultivation method and martial arts alone were sinful, and they all occupied a single region for most of their lives, so they were very easy to find. All he needed to do right now was to go find them one by one with his license to kill, and then kill out a bloody path from dawn till dusk.1
Li Qingshan placed his hand on the porcelain jar on his waist and thought to himself, Don’t worry, Xiao An. Very, very soon you’ll be able to breathe air, taste delicious food, feel warmth, and smile just like the other children.
Li Qingshan did not directly leave the city. Instead, he paid a visit to the government office first. He wanted to exchange the several million taels of silver on him for some Qi Gathering pills. He could feel that he would be gone for quite some time after this departure, and his enemies would not be carrying hundred treasure pouches. They would not be a ready source of Qi Gathering pills. He also gained a deeper understanding as to why the Hawkwolf guards were reluctant to hunt down these annoying insects.
Zhou Wenbin saw Li Qingshan, and his eyes lit up, “You’re already at the second layer. You’ve been progressing much faster than I expected.”
Li Qingshan said, “Thank you for your concern, sir. With a powerful enemy right by my side, I obviously cannot tarry.”
Zhou Wenbin said, “As long as you know. I heard you killed Qian Yannian in a direct confrontation?”
Li Qingshan said, “I just got lucky!”
Zhou Wenbin said, “Even if it were all luck, it’s still an unbelievable achievement for a second layer Qi Practitioner to kill a fifth layer Qi Practitioner. Though, I must warn you again that sixth layer Qi Practitioners are completely different from those at the fifth layer.”
Li Qingshan nodded. Afterwards, he thought of the various things that Xiao An could do. If he was measured according to the standard of Qi Practitioners, he was at the sixth layer or even higher, and he was as swift as lightning with boundless strength. Even if a low grade spiritual artifact landed a blow on him, it would fail to injure him at all. He was much more powerful than regular sixth layer Qi Practitioners. If he really became involved in battle, and it was a Qi Practitioner’s duel where he could not use the Skull Prayer Bead, all he had to do was rush over and forcefully pierce the protective true qi and dig out their hearts; he would win just like that.
The Path of White Bone and Great Beauty had completely exceeded the powerful abilities of this world. The further Xiao An progressed, the more evident his terrifying strength would be.
Zhou Wenbin said, “Although the Sect of Clouds and Rain has expelled Zhao Liangqing, they’ve sent people to investigate. You’ve probably caught their attention. People from sects often don’t have any qualms when they go about their business, so do be careful.”
Li Qingshan said, “Thank you for the warning, sir. I will be careful.” The Sect of Clouds and Rain had lost their business in Jiaping city, as well as a master who was about to break through to the sixth layer. A reaction like this was expected.
Zhou Wenbin said, “Nothing good will come out from striving for a moment of glory. Why don’t you take my advice and go to the School of the Hundred Thoughts to cultivate for a while? You can avoid him temporarily, and once you’re no longer a fledgling, would you still need to fear a measly Zhuo Zhibo?”