My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 49 - 37 Crushing Winds and Slashing Rains_2

As Chen Yi was about to turn around and leave, Song Tong seemed to recall something and said:

"By the way, Governor, yesterday you instructed the records clerk to search for files related to the Jing Prince Mansion... there are some documents about Yu Xiu Manor in them."

"Is there a problem?"

"Not really... but it’s regarding the assets of the Jing Prince Mansion... Please consider carefully."

Song Tong advised.

Chen Yi chuckled inwardly. The Jing Prince Mansion came straight to his doorstep last night.

Heading to the records room, Chen Yi took out the files that had been extracted earlier and started to carefully examine them.

"Yu Xiu Manor suspected of engaging in forbidden trade of the Five Stone Powder..."

Realizing the severity of the matter, Chen Yi set this file aside for further investigation.

By the time noon had passed, word came that Shangqing Dao was paying homage and heading to Qian Deng Temple. It was then that Chen Yi understood he needed to go to Qian Deng Temple as well.

Upon hearing about the trip to Qian Deng Temple, the little fox curled her lips into a smile, closed the windows one by one with a snap, put on her shoes, and sat before the vanity to briefly freshen her face.

"Let’s go."

After tidying up, Yin Tingxue urged.

As soon as he stepped outside, Chen Yi saw Min Ning leaning against the low wall, seemingly waiting for some time.

"Are you going to Qian Deng Temple?"

Min Ning spoke first:

"The Deputy Governor arranged for me to be your assistant—I’ll accompany you."

In the past, even if Song Tong had assigned her as his assistant, Min Ning wouldn’t have been so eager to come to his door directly. Her being here now couldn’t be for any reason other than forging an agreement with him. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Walking or riding?" Min Ning asked.

"We’ll walk. I reckon there will be many people outside Qian Deng Temple, all scrambling to light the first incense in the Praying Place."

Chen Yi made a simple arrangement.

Yin Tingxue glanced at Min Ning, recognized who she was, then focused her thoughts entirely on the street ahead. That yearning expression on her face seemed almost desperate to reach Qian Deng Temple immediately.

The three of them set out at once, and after roughly two double-hours, they caught sight of Qian Deng Temple perched halfway up the hill, bustling with visitors.

Outside the temple, a light drizzle began to fall.

Despite the rain, many people gathered outside the temple gates, eager to seize the first incense offering. The Taoists and temple boys of Qian Deng Temple struggled to keep the crowd outside.

The three weren’t in a hurry to enter the temple and instead found a nearby teahouse. Displaying their identity tokens, they ascended directly to a private room on the second floor.

Through the window, Yin Tingxue gazed from afar at the bustling scene of Qian Deng Temple. Compared to it, Yintai Temple appeared particularly desolate and stark. Back in the days of festivities, Yintai Temple would light lanterns and decorate; visiting ladies from the Prince Mansion would come to the temple, led by the consort, to partake in a vegetarian meal. But after the consort’s passing and the establishment of a new primary consort, Yintai Temple had been neglected, as if exiled to cold obscurity.

The only time the servants cleaned the temple was when Yin Tingxue expressed her intention to visit. Now that the Xiang Prince Mansion had been confiscated, she had no idea what state Yintai Temple was in.

The more she stared at the flourishing Qian Deng Temple under the drizzle, the more heartache Yin Tingxue felt for the forlorn Yintai Temple.

"A concubine, indeed; Yintai is a concubine," Yin Tingxue murmured quietly.

For four hundred years since the founding of Great Yu, Qian Deng Temple had always enjoyed such prosperity—its grandeur was undeniably akin to a magnificent wife. In comparison, Yintai Temple, flourishing for only a dozen years, had simply enjoyed fleeting favor like a concubine.

And she was Yintai Temple’s child.

"What is it—a concubine’s child is destined to become a concubine?" Yin Tingxue suddenly lost herself in thought.

Chen Yi noticed her sorrow. Once the maidservant brought tea, he poured tea for all three of them.

After Min Ning drank half a cup, she spoke up:

"You still refuse to learn my blade technique?"

Chen Yi turned to her,

"It’s not that I doubt your talent. It’s just that, first of all, I can’t acknowledge someone as my teacher. Secondly, you’ve never demonstrated that blade technique in front of me. Who knows how refined it truly is?"

Min Ning, hearing this, felt somewhat uneasy.

Over the past few days, she often recalled the scene of Chen Yi slaughtering twenty-one people in the rainy alleyway at night. She derived that blade technique from that experience but hadn’t yet tested it in a head-on fight. She, too, was unsure of its level of mastery.

"Besides, just one slash? You think one blade technique is enough to make me take you as my teacher? That’s wishful thinking—how could one slash suffice?"

Chen Yi teased.

"Just one slash."

Min Ning took a deep breath and replied:

"One slash that carries truth—shattering the wind, cleaving the rain."

Chen Yi responded with a faint, indifferent smile.

Outside the teahouse near the temple gates, a commotion had arisen at some point.

"The North Sea Gang’s boss, Raksasha Li!"

"Last month, they dismantled a porter station, brought down dozens of strong porters with just five men."

"An eight-foot hulk—split his head open in one move."

...

The muscular and brutish leader, with sinews bulging and his face full of malicious vigor, carried a knife wrapped in cloth on his back as he forcibly pushed aside the visitors blocking his way.

"Move aside! No one’s lighting that first incense before me today!"

Raksasha Li’s subordinates from the North Sea Gang brandished their sticks and shouted threats to the surrounding crowd.

Yet some people were obstinate and defiant—they craned their necks and challenged Raksasha Li to kill them if he dared.

Raksasha Li immediately pulled off the cloth. His gleaming blade came into view, its cold light reflecting in the sunlight, while the drizzle fell on the ground, chilling the atmosphere.

At the sight of the blade, everyone retreated hastily, opening up a path.

Watching this scene from afar, Min Ning furrowed her brows tightly.

"Raksasha Li—he’s, like you, an eighth-grade Martial Artist; the leader of the North Sea Gang. On the surface, they deal in marine transport, but covertly, they dabble in human trafficking."

Chen Yi said:

"Such a person deserves death. Besides, he’s brandishing his blade openly in the street. Why don’t you try that blade technique of yours?"

Min Ning pondered for a moment, then turned and called out resolutely:

"Bring me a jug of wine."

Chen Yi asked, puzzled:

"Why drink? Alcohol slows the blade, and you don’t even drink often."

Min Ning spat out two words:

"For courage."

Chen Yi burst into subdued laughter. Earlier, Min Ning had spoken so confidently and boldly about her blade technique. Who would’ve thought she was uncertain about it deep down?