Chương 52: Not a Single Clue

Yellow Leaf Town. Inside the courtyard Song Que was renting. He and Zhong Hong had easily reached a consensus, leaving Brother Hong's lackeys sitting nearby, staring with longing eyes and constantly winking at him. Toward these brothers of his, Brother Hong was incredibly loyal. Remembering their pleas before coming here, he earnestly turned to Song Que and asked:"A'Que, since you have such capability, do you want to form a gang and play around with it? We brothers will definitely run it beautifully for you!"

Looking at the expectant faces staring at him, Song Que chuckled:"Brother Hong, I don't have that intention right now. The profits in Yellow Leaf Town are only this big, and the existing gangs have already divided them up cleanly. Us jumping in now wouldn't yield much. Moreover, I want to focus on practicing martial arts right now and don't want to waste effort on meaningless things."

Seeing them wilt in disappointment, he consoled them:"If you guys want to mess around in the gang life, I can introduce you to the Iron Blade Society. I know Guild Master Liang; if I open my mouth, he'd definitely give me face." What Guild Master Liang? What Gang Leader Feng? Going over there, at best, they'd just be minor leaders. How could that compare to hugging Song Que's massive, thick thigh?! Give up! Absolutely refuse! Zhong Hong rejected the idea without a second thought:"No need! I'm used to being free.

If any of the brothers want to, don't hesitate to speak up." Seeing Zhong Hong's attitude, the lackeys hurriedly shook their heads. They weren't stupid. Right now, even if they weren't officially considered "Song Que's friend," they at least had some connection. Walking on the streets, just dropping his name would guarantee people would give them face and not make things difficult. Furthermore, just because he wasn't forming a gang now didn't mean he wouldn't change his mind later!

It was perfectly fine to wait patiently. In the meantime, following Zhong Hong around, freeloading food and drink, made for an incredibly carefree life! After finishing breakfast and chatting for a bit, Brother Hong led his men and took their leave. Having been away for a few days, he needed to return home for a trip. Since Song Que would be staying in town for the next few days, they'd have plenty of time to catch up later. Having cultivated all night, his mind was a bit fatigued.

After seeing the group off, Song Que returned to his room to rest. In his mind, he began to ponder plans to target Liang Jing, Lu Ji, Xiong Qing, and the rest. Although he had already achieved his goal and begun practicing martial arts, Song Que's thirst for secret manuals hadn't diminished in the slightest. With his cheat-like talent, he wasn't afraid of learning too much and mastering nothing! The more skills, the better! At the very least, it would deepen his understanding of the martial arts world.

He had met Liang and Lu once, exchanging pleasantries and laughter, but they weren't truly acquainted; it was merely a mutual exchange of benefits. Therefore, he felt no guilt whatsoever about 'stealing' their martial arts. Plus, Song Que didn't plan on using methods as extreme as the one he used on Feng Han. But the immediate priority was still learning to read and acquiring more knowledge about meridians and acupoints. It would be too embarrassing to steal a manual back only to not understand what it said!

Acting on his thoughts, over the next few days, Song Que increased his study hours. He specifically picked out unrecognized characters from the Black Tiger Fist manual to consult Mr. Xu, while also asking Wu Yi to educate him on acupoints and meridians. Benefiting from his medical background, he grasped these concepts rapidly. In just a day or two, he had thoroughly comprehended the Black Tiger Fist manual. Now, he had begun attempting to practice the secret technique: Cornered Tiger Leaps the Wall.

During these two days, Zhong Hong acted just like before, frequently bringing Wu Yi over to his place to freeload meals. He didn't feel alienated just because Song Que's status had skyrocketed. Song Que was inwardly delighted by this. Zhong Hong and Wu Yi were among the very few people he genuinely acknowledged in his heart. Song Que didn't want trivial matters to affect their relationship. This morning, Brother Hong came over to freeload breakfast as usual.

Song Que gave him a few instructions regarding the house and graveyard construction before walking him to the door. Having blown off steam in town for three days, Zhong Hong was heading back to Giant Willow Village to resume his job as a construction foreman. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. The difference this time was that he was accompanied by four lackeys acting as errand boys.

That bunch of fair-weather friends was determined to stick to Brother Hong; naturally, when Brother Hong left town, they followed him.... The East Gate. A long convoy of over ten carts trundled majestically toward Giant Willow Village. Zhong Hong, along with Pockmark Luo, Shitou, and the others, sat leisurely on the carts, chatting. This convoy carried the construction materials and over a dozen large vats filled with live fish, as per Song Que's request.

"Halt!" Just as they were about to exit the city gates, several men in black robes with a fierce tiger insignia on their backs shouted for them to stop. It was the Black Tiger Gang. For the past few days, they had been meticulously inspecting every cart leaving the city. Anyone who dared resist was immediately met with fists and kicks, causing immense resentment among the townsfolk.

"Brothers of the Black Tiger Gang, for what reason have you stopped us?" Never having seen such a formation, Brother Hong was surprised and hurriedly stepped forward to ask. But the burly men weren't polite. They shoved him aside and roughly used their sabers to pry open the fish vats for inspection. Seeing this, Zhong Hong was anxious—if they weren't careful, his goods would be ruined! He hurriedly stepped forward to stop them:"Brothers, gentle! These are fragile goods!"

Who would have expected those men to act like madmen? Seeing him approach, without a word of explanation, they drew their sabers, ready to slash! Terrified, Zhong Hong leaped backward and shouted loudly:"Calm down! Everyone, hold your temper! My brother is Song Que! Young Hero Song Que!" The moment the words left his mouth, the group of wolf-like Black Tiger Gang members froze instantly. Over the past few days, the name 'Song Que' had been like thunder piercing their ears!

This was a vicious man who could pin their Gang Leader to the ground and beat him! Absolutely not someone they could easily offend! No longer daring to act recklessly, the leader of the group stepped forward, looking at him suspiciously, and asked in a deep voice:"You say you are Song Que's friend? What proof do you have?"

"Brother, I truly am Song Que's friend! Right now, I'm accepting his commission to transport materials back to Giant Willow Village to build his house! Song Que is currently staying in Wood Alley in the West District. If you brothers don't believe me, you can come with me to verify!" Go confront Song Que? His head would have to be kicked by a donkey to do something so stupid!

Moreover, the fact that the person in front of him could accurately state where that man was staying meant the probability of it being true was extremely high. As for that man, there was never a shortage of their spies monitoring the area outside his house; naturally, the squad leader knew exactly where he lived. But with a mission on his shoulders, he couldn't just let the other party go either. Therefore, he adopted a softer tone to negotiate:"So it is Young Hero Song's friend!

Forgive my disrespect, forgive my disrespect! It's just that we brothers are under orders to search for a thief, so we must inspect all carts leaving the city. Please cooperate with us, brother." Transporting goods wasn't something to hide anyway. Zhong Hong had no fear of an inspection.

"As it should be! But please, brothers, be gentle. If the goods are damaged, it'll be hard for me to explain." Knowing this involved Song Que, the burly men dared not be reckless anymore. Since the other party had agreed, they obediently and gently carried out their inspection. The cargo carts naturally contained nothing suspicious. After a thorough check, the Black Tiger Gang members quickly confirmed it and politely sent Brother Hong and his group on their way.

"Hehe! Master Song is truly mighty! Hearing his name, those Black Tiger Gang brats nearly pissed their pants in fear! Back in the day, when I saw those guys, I wished I could turn invisible! Now, I can hold my head high!" Not long after leaving the city, Shitou immediately began to flatter smugly. Hearing this, Zhong Hong felt immensely satisfied. Over the past few years, the Black Tiger Gang's prestige in Yellow Leaf Town had been too deep. Running on the streets, they hadn't lacked being 'disciplined' by them.

"Haha! Of course! Didn't you see who my brother is?! If they dare act insolent, believe it or not, tonight my brother will drag their Gang Leader out and beat him on the ground!"

"Brother Hong is absolutely right! Master Song probably wouldn't even need to lift a finger; just hearing the news, that guy would probably shit his pants!"

"Hahahaha..." A stream of foul-mouthed boasting echoed continuously on the road, making the group roar with laughter, alleviating the dullness of the long journey.... The Black Tiger Gang. The meeting hall was brightly lit, but it couldn't dispel the gloomy atmosphere within. Sitting in the master's seat, Feng Han slouched exhaustedly against the backrest, casting a cold gaze over the group of high-ranking members. None of them dared meet his eyes right now.

"Not a single clue found?!" Seeing the dead silence, Yue Chao gritted his teeth and stepped forward to answer.

"Master, the opponent seems to have simply evaporated! We haven't found a single clue! To this day, we don't even know how many people there were, what they looked like, or if they were male or female! It's as if they never existed, as if the events of that day never happened!"

"What about the people entering and leaving the city?! The thief took so many things! They couldn't have just evaporated with them! And I don't believe they stole all that just to bury it! Have you truly investigated?! Investigate anyone in town spending large sums of money!" Feng Han roared, still clinging to hope. At this moment, an elder braced himself and stepped forward to explain:"Gang Leader, the brothers have been investigating non-stop these past few days. We truly haven't found a single suspicious point.

It's just the usual merchants' carts entering and leaving."

"This morning, we did find that kid Song Que had over ten carts leaving the city! But those were just carrying construction materials. I personally went to investigate; over the past two weeks, he really has been continuously purchasing massive amounts of wood and stone from various trading firms and sending them to Giant Willow Village to build a house." Several days had passed, and they hadn't found even a single hair of the thief.

Despairing and utterly defeated, Feng Han sank deeply into his chair, his eyes filled with sheer unwillingness and despondency. In his heart, he already knew clearly: those treasures were 80-90% likely gone forever. His chance of breaking through to the Third Grade was growing increasingly distant. Without a miraculous encounter in the future, his life would likely end right here. He could only sit back and watch his blood and Qi slowly drain away until he entered the grave.