“It’s okay, young man, just leave quickly after you’re done here, as long as they don’t find you.” The storytelling elder advised Lin Qingyi.

“Thank you for your concern, but it’s fine, they can’t hurt me.” Lin Qingyi said with a smile, “I just wanted to have a chat with you and ask about some things.”

“Oh?” The storytelling elder was somewhat curious, what did he want to ask about?

“Have you lived in Changting Town for many years?” Lin Qingyi asked, taking a sip from his teacup.

“Yes, I’ve lived here my whole life.” The storytelling elder nodded, “Almost seventy years now.”

“That’s good. To live and die in one place is a kind of happiness in life.” Lin Qingyi said lightly.

“Yes.” The storytelling elder nodded in agreement with Lin Qingyi’s words.

“I want to ask about something that happened about a decade ago. Did any outsiders come to Changting Town and stay for a long time? It could be one person, or a father and son.” Lin Qingyi asked casually.

“A decade ago?” The storytelling elder pondered, “Ah, I’ll have to think about that.”

“No rush, take your time.” Lin Qingyi poured another cup of tea for the elder.

“There were indeed a few.” After a while, the storytelling elder said thoughtfully, “I’m old now, my memory isn’t as good as it used to be, I can only remember some of them vaguely.”

“Go on.” Lin Qingyi said softly.

“In a small town like Changting, we don’t get many visitors. But I do remember a few who came here a decade ago and stayed for a long time.”

“I remember a man named Zhao Dafeng who lived here for a few years. After his wife died, he left.”

“Then there was a beggar who came to Changting Town and stayed for over a year before leaving.”

“…”

He mentioned more than a dozen people, but Lin Qingyi listened patiently without showing any impatience.

“However, there is a man who came to Changting Town with his son and has been living here for a long time without leaving. His name is Li Changqing.” The storytelling elder told Lin Qingyi.

“Li Changqing?”

Upon hearing the names of the previous people, Lin Qingyi didn’t feel anything. But when he heard this name, he felt vaguely familiar.

This Li Changqing seemed to be one of the shareholders of the Changqing Trading Company.

“He came to Changting Town about a decade ago, but I’m not sure where he came from.” The storytelling elder said seriously, “And when he came, he brought a baby with him, a boy named Li Hengsheng. His son is quite impressive, now a disciple of Dao Mountain Ancient Land!”

“Li Hengsheng…” Lin Qingyi’s eyes narrowed slightly. He was very familiar with this name.

One of the disciples from Dao Mountain Ancient Land who came to participate in the Ghost Devil trial was named Li Hengsheng.

The reason why Lin Qingyi remembered Li Hengsheng was because of the recent events involving him, and also his involvement with Lu Shiran.

The matter between Lu Shiran and Li Hengsheng was so big that Lin Qingyi couldn’t ignore it.

Moreover, Tianhai City had some records of the disciples who came to participate in the trial from various sects. Li Hengsheng was a rising talent of Dao Mountain Ancient Land.

He had comprehended the masterpiece of the Painting Sage.

He passed the first trial of the Nine-Tier Battle Pavilion when he was at the seventh level of the Transcendence Realm.

His performance in the Beast Gathering was also very eye-catching.

Although he was in the Postnatal Realm, he instantly killed a Mountain Ghost in the Perfect Postnatal Realm during the Ghost Devil trial.

He practiced the Overlord Immortal Spear technique.

Indeed, he was a noticeable existence.

“That Li Changqing is also not simple, he is a painter.” The storytelling elder said with a face full of admiration, “The identity of a painter needs no further explanation. There is a Changqing Painting Workshop on that street, which he opened. But I heard that he doesn’t paint anymore, he was invited by the Yan family to be a big shot.”

That was all the storytelling elder knew.

“Interesting.” Lin Qingyi smiled.

This Li Changqing piqued Lin Qingyi’s interest, and he planned to pay him a visit.

“You enjoy your tea, I’ll be going now.” Lin Qingyi stood up, placed a silver ingot on the table, and then turned to leave.

The young ruffians in the corner saw Lin Qingyi stand up and leave, they looked at each other and also stood up to follow.

The sunlight outside had just shone down, and as the young men walked out the door, they were bathed in the full face of sunlight.

Then they just stood there, their faces full of confusion.

They looked at each other.

“Brother Wu, I feel like we came out for something, but I can’t remember what it was.”

One of the young men looked at the leading young man with a puzzled expression.

The leading young man also looked confused, “Did we?”

The group of them seemed to have lost their memories, unable to remember anything, even what they had eaten in the morning.

Meanwhile, Lin Qingyi was already heading towards the Yan family.

He wanted to meet this Li Changqing.

He walked down a street and arrived at the entrance of the Yan family. Lin Qingyi lifted his foot and walked towards the entrance, entering the Yan family’s gate as if it was deserted.

But the guards at the entrance of the Yan family seemed as if they hadn’t seen anything.

They didn’t even try to stop him.

Although the Yan family was not small, Lin Qingyi only needed to sense a little to feel an unusual aura.

“Painting soul?” Lin Qingyi was somewhat surprised, he actually felt a trace of an unusual painting soul aura.

It was like a painting soul, but also not quite.

But such a powerful painting soul in the Yan family was indeed unusual.

In the entire Yan family, the strongest aura Lin Qingyi could feel was only Yan Botao, an ordinary innate.

Apart from Yan Botao, Lin Qingyi did not feel the presence of any other strong individuals.

Could it be that this Li Changqing was not here?

Following a small path, Lin Qingyi arrived at the small courtyard where Li Changqing usually lived.

In the quiet courtyard, there was no one in sight. As Lin Qingyi walked in, he saw Fei, who was lying on the ground sleeping.

Fei’s nose twitched, as if he had sensed a strange smell.It suddenly opened its eyes.

The first thing it saw was Lin Qingyi in front of it.

Upon seeing this stranger, Fei was unusually shocked, immediately retreating two steps, a hint of fear in his eyes.

“What a good dog.” Lin Qingyi walked up to Fei, squatted down, and reached out to pet Fei’s head.

Fei trembled in fear, seemingly wanting to dodge, but when Lin Qingyi’s palm reached out, Fei felt as if the entire world was under Lin Qingyi’s control.

Under that palm, it suppressed the universe!

It was as if it encompassed a small world.

It made Fei feel that even if he ran for his life, he could not escape from Lin Qingyi’s palm.

Lin Qingyi petted Fei’s head, then showed a hint of surprise, saying, “Such a strong vitality, clearly a Divine Soul, but not nurtured within a scroll. Not only has it not lost its spiritual energy, but its body also contains a strong life fluctuation. Tsk tsk, how is this possible?”

Lin Qingyi was genuinely surprised.

Such a thing was simply inconceivable.

For a moment, Lin Qingyi became greatly interested in Li Changqing. After all, anyone who could achieve this must be a supreme figure. But why had he never heard of such a figure before?

“Good boy, where is your master?” Lin Qingyi asked.

“Woo.” Fei whimpered, not daring to look into Lin Qingyi’s eyes.

“Hmm? I’m asking you.” Lin Qingyi asked again, but at this moment, he seemed to sense something. He slowly stood up and turned to look behind him.

Behind Lin Qingyi, a man with a rather ordinary appearance was watching him, only five steps away.

He was holding a broom in his hand.

“Oh, hello.” Lin Qingyi said, “I’m here to visit Li Changqing. Do you know if he’s in?”

“The master is not in.” Zhang Fuguang looked calmly at Lin Qingyi.

Lin Qingyi also sized up the ordinary-looking man in front of him, then said, “In that case, I’ll come to visit another day.”

After saying that, Lin Qingyi yawned lazily and said, “I’m leaving, no need to see me out.”

He watched as Lin Qingyi left the courtyard.

Zhang Fuguang’s gaze gradually turned cold.

He then put the broom aside, went into the house, and took out his dagger from under the mattress.

He opened the door and walked out.

He didn’t know who Lin Qingyi was, but the fact that this man could enter Li Changqing’s courtyard without a sound, making Fei feel fearful, and even he himself hadn’t noticed when he came in.

He was also inquiring about Li Changqing’s whereabouts, Zhang Fuguang felt that Lin Qingyi had ill intentions.

So Zhang Fuguang decided to go and see who Lin Qingyi really was.

If he really had ill intentions towards Li Changqing.

Then Zhang Fuguang wouldn’t mind taking action to eliminate Lin Qingyi and solve this trouble for Li Changqing.

After leaving the Yan family, Lin Qingyi didn’t stay in Changting Town, but left the town and headed north.

“A magical Divine Soul, and a strange man.” Lin Qingyi thought about what he had encountered in Li Changqing’s courtyard and found it interesting.

Zhang Fuguang had come within ten steps of him before he noticed.

This made Lin Qingyi feel very curious.

Such a master was actually sweeping the courtyard for Li Changqing?

But that face didn’t leave any impression on Lin Qingyi.

Looking at the entire Cangyuan Realm, there weren’t many masters who could get so close to him without him noticing. This was really rare. Recently, there have been so many masters that he had no impression of.

Li Changqing, the mysterious sweeper, and the Qinglian Sword Sovereign.

All these people were somehow related to the Changqing Trading Company.

Just as he was thinking, Lin Qingyi suddenly stopped.

Lin Qingyi felt someone was following him.

But there was no one on this small road. Lin Qingyi looked back and saw no one behind him. Even when he sent out his Divine Soul to probe, he didn’t sense anyone’s presence.

An illusion?

Lin Qingyi’s lazy eyes gradually became clear.

He didn’t think it was an illusion.

But he couldn’t find anyone.

“Heh.” Lin Qingyi chuckled, and then his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.

Lin Qingyi’s movement technique was very fast, as if he was shuttling through space. Everything around him passed under his feet.

In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared a hundred meters away.

When Lin Qingyi arrived at the next town, he didn’t stop either. His figure was so fast that people couldn’t see clearly what it was, like a gust of wind blowing past.

Then they couldn’t see anything at all.

He crossed two cities.

After that, Lin Qingyi’s figure appeared in a mountain range.

Only then did he stop.

Lin Qingyi appeared next to a pool.

Next to the pool was a huge green python, its scales shimmering with a cold light. It was a Spirit Beast!

And it was an adult Spirit Beast, with a body length of tens of meters.

It sensed Lin Qingyi’s arrival, opened its eyes and saw a human standing by the pool, and wanted to swallow Lin Qingyi into its stomach.

But at this moment, Lin Qingyi just glanced at the green python, and the green python instantly felt a great terror!

That gaze possessed an invincible deterrence.

The green python shot out and fled in panic.

Lin Qingyi squatted down and was about to drink some water from the pool, but at this moment, that feeling came again.

The feeling of being tracked and watched.

With his hand holding the water suspended in mid-air, Lin Qingyi looked around at everything possible.

“I didn’t expect it to be a master from the Blood Shadow Sect. I’m really sorry, I should have thought of it.” Lin Qingyi laughed, then brought the water in his hand to his mouth and took a few sips.

But there was still no movement behind Lin Qingyi.

Lin Qingyi didn’t care, it seemed that he didn’t want to run anymore. He casually found a tree, leaned against it, and closed his eyes to rest.

His breathing became even, as if he had fallen asleep.

“Ah, I just want to sleep for a while and can’t sleep well.”

Lin Qingyi didn’t sense any presence approaching, but when he opened his eyes and looked down, he found a dagger resting on his neck.The dagger was as thin as a cicada’s wing, wrapped in a thick layer of cloth, revealing only the blade. The blade shimmered with a cold light, carrying an intent of murder. It was unknown how many souls it had claimed.

“Ah~”

Lin Qingyi yawned, then glanced to the side. A masked man was standing there, his eyes fixed on him.

“The experts of the Blood Shadow Sect are indeed capable.” Lin Qingyi showed no fear, and laughed, “But the people of the Blood Shadow Sect are not allowed to leave the sect except for missions. Otherwise, they would be deemed as deserters and would be hunted down by the sect until death.”

“You are indeed brave.” Lin Qingyi laughed.

“What are you looking for Mr. Li Changqing for? What is your purpose?” Zhang Fuguang didn’t waste words with Lin Qingyi. From Lin Qingyi’s movements, he could tell that Lin Qingyi’s strength was terrifyingly strong.

But Li Changqing had been kind to him.

Even if Lin Qingyi was stronger, if he dared to harbor any ill intentions towards Li Changqing, he would make Lin Qingyi pay the price here.

“What to do…” Lin Qingyi pondered for a moment and said, “I haven’t thought about what exactly to do, I just want to meet him. Maybe it has something to do with some things I’m investigating, that’s all.”

“What are you investigating?” Zhang Fuguang asked with a frown.

“Oh, that’s none of your business. When you Blood Shadow Sect members take assassination missions, you don’t ask why the target needs to be killed, do you?” Lin Qingyi shook his head, “You have your professional ethics, and I have mine.”

“If you don’t tell me, I can kill you right now, and you’ll never have to say anything again.” Zhang Fuguang’s blade pressed tighter against Lin Qingyi’s neck.

A trace of blood appeared on Lin Qingyi’s neck.

“What a troublesome person.” Lin Qingyi didn’t seem to care, and still smiled, “I really can’t tell you about this matter, and knowing it won’t do you any good. You’re already being hunted by the Blood Shadow Sect, if you get involved in other matters, you won’t have any good days ahead.”

“You talk too much.” Zhang Fuguang said coldly, “Then keep your secret in your coffin.”

“Want to kill me?”

Lin Qingyi shrugged indifferently, “Then you can try.”

Without any hesitation, Zhang Fuguang raised his blade and struck!

With one slash, Lin Qingyi’s head was sent flying.

Blood spurted out like a fountain, splashing onto the trees behind. Lin Qingyi’s body fell to the ground with a thud.

Lin Qingyi was dead.

Zhang Fuguang stared at Lin Qingyi’s corpse, feeling somewhat dazed for a moment. He was sure that he had killed Lin Qingyi, his head had been chopped off.

But for some reason, Zhang Fuguang had a feeling that something was not right.

Could Lin Qingyi, with such strength, really have been killed by him?

Was it really that easy?

It felt even easier than when he killed Hai Songtao.

But even though he knew something was wrong, Zhang Fuguang couldn’t figure out what it was.

He squatted down to carefully examine Lin Qingyi’s body.

There was no doubt, the body showed no signs of life.

The head was gone, what signs of life could there be?

And Zhang Fuguang had never heard of anyone who could survive after their head was chopped off.

After finding no problems, Zhang Fuguang prepared to get up and leave.

“Daddy.”

Just then, a familiar voice sounded in Zhang Fuguang’s ear.

Zhang Fuguang was startled!

It was his daughter Zhang Siyao’s voice!

There was no mistake.

But how could it be possible.

Zhang Siyao was at the Yan family!

He had followed Lin Qingyi across two cities and chased him into this mountain stream, how could he hear his daughter’s voice here?

Zhang Fuguang looked around, at the sky and the earth, at all directions. The voice seemed to come from all directions, but he couldn’t see Zhang Siyao’s figure anywhere.

“Daddy?”

Zhang Siyao’s voice sounded again.

Zhang Fuguang suddenly woke up.

He sat up from his chair.

Zhang Fuguang looked around in confusion.

He found himself in his own room, and Zhang Siyao was looking at him with a puzzled expression.

“Daddy, what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?” Zhang Siyao asked curiously.

“A nightmare?” Zhang Fuguang suddenly felt something in his palm.

He looked at it and found it was a note.

There was a sentence written on the note.

Since Mr. Li Changqing is not here, I will visit again another day. Sweet dreams.

At this moment, Zhang Fuguang felt as if he had been electrocuted, his eyes filled with terror.

From the moment he left the Yan family to chase Lin Qingyi, to the end when Lin Qingyi fled into the mountain stream, and he followed and chopped off Lin Qingyi’s head…

Was all of this just a dream?

When did he fall into the trap?

Thinking of that lazy man, Zhang Fuguang felt that Lin Qingyi… was too terrifying.

(End of Chapter)