Chapter 26

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Lan Qiren was making his way down the busy market street in Jiangnan on a mission. He had been forced to stop in this mundane town after leaving the discussion conference, a most distressing conference where the certainty of war was being declared in the very near future if the Wen Sect continued to encroach on the territories of the other great Sects.

A war that Lan Qiren was not sure could be won. After all, Wen Rouhan was the Chief Cultivator, and it was within his rights to demand fealty and homage from the other Sects, great and small. In Lan Qiren's opinion, if the Chief Cultivator wanted to claim land, people or relics when investigating crimes or wrongdoing, then that was the Chief Cultivator's right.

' If Wen Rohan were really trying to take over all Sects, then GusuLan wouldn't be unharmed after Wen Qionglin's death. If the Chief Cultivator was becoming a tyrant, why not use the accidental death to install some watchtowers on the border? That hotheaded brat Nie Mingjue is so opposed to. No, Wen Rohan was doing his true job, and weeding out evil. We Lans walk the righteous path, and for that reason, we were spared. '

Lan Qiren found the whole conference disgusting, and as soon as he was able, he sent a detailed report and a list of the loudest dissenters to Wen Rouhan. When preparing to leave, he noticed that his last bottle of beard oil was broken, leaving him no choice but to find a suitable replacement.

Qiren was not interested in lingering in this noisy place any longer than necessary when his attention was caught seeing the Gusu Lan cloud motif hanging outside a textile shop. He was stunned seeing HIS family's cloud insignia so far away from Gusu, but what got his blood boiling was seeing that the cloud motif was continued inside a gaudy and tacky store filled with overly luxurious items and that the salespeople were wearing a bastardized version of Lan Sect robes.

He felt his blood turn to lava when a poofy white cat walked past hissing at him, it was even wearing a collar similar to the Lan forehead ribbon with a jade cloud insignia hanging from it. An enthusiastic and overly loud salesperson stopped in front of him, and Lan Qiren nearly strangled the man.

"Oh wow, I haven't seen this style of robes since Fuyu opened. You, Sir, must be a long-standing fan of our Fuyu ShangYe to have kept them in such wonderful condition. Perhaps I can interest you in the latest design? We call it Fuyu's daydream of Heaven."

Red-faced and ready to tear the store apart brick by brick if necessary, Lan Qiren, in his most frigid tones, demanded to speak with the owner. Confused at the elder's anger, the salesperson tried to calm him by saying that the owner wasn't in, but he could get the manager. With a slash of his hand, Lan Qiren sliced through a display of hairpins, and panic rang through the store, only to be unnaturally silenced.

"Where. Is. Fuyu. Shangye."

A large fat man dressed in eye-watering patterns standing on the street answered.

" At this time of the day, Fuyu Shangye can be found at Huanyi Pavilion in the arms of his whore, Han Jihua! "

Lan Qiren barely nods in acknowledgement, and with an explosive swish of his sleeves that destroys much of the store, walks back into the street. Seeing his murderous aura, foot traffic moves out of his way, allowing him to travel at the fastest speed possible. Lan Qiren marched to the brothel and rudely marched into the tearoom.

"No, I don't want any tea! I demand you bring me to Fuyu ShangYe, and his whore, right now! How dare this ingrate steal my Family insignia! Do you know what I can do to your little cesspool? I'll burn this whorehouse down and cut every nose I see! Now get Fuyu ShangYe!"

"Did you feel that?" Wangji asked, as Wei Ying and Jihua were playing a game of Madiao on the top floor of Huanyi Brothel. Jihua was swindling Wangji for everything he had, and Wei Ying was finally starting to get the hang of it.

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