Wei Zicai was very surprised: "Master, don't you know about this?"

Zhao Changhe pointed to his mask: "Did you see what it is?"

"A pig."

"That's right, is there anything strange about it?"

"Pfft..." Wei Zicai hadn't reacted yet, and Rosefinch behind him burst into laughter.

Wei Zicai also twitched his expression and said after a while, "Master, you really know how to joke... Well, if you don't know about this, you must have just started your job. Actually, this matter is not very complicated. First of all, His Majesty does not want to monopolize all the ancient secret places and allows everyone to explore them on their own..."

Zhao Changhe raised his hand: "I know about this. His Majesty has a broad mind."

Rosefinch glanced at him, smiling mysteriously.

Ordinary people would indeed conclude that Xia Longyuan had a broad mind, but Rosefinch didn't think so. She preferred to think of it as Xia Longyuan's testing ground, where various factions fought for an ancient secret place. In Rosefinch's eyes, the chaos in the world was mostly caused by Xia Longyuan's actions.

Otherwise, if he had married the White Tiger Saintess and stabilized the Four Elephant Sect, the Four Elephant Sect might not have rebelled and could have become an important ally. But his actions ruined this possibility, turning a sect that could have been an ally into a demonic sect that only wanted to cause chaos. What disgusted Rosefinch the most was that even though they knew this was likely what Xia Longyuan wanted, they still went along with it.

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Zicai answered, "There are many strong individuals or sects who don't care about anything else and only care about exploring the ancient secrets. Places like the Ancient Sword Lake, which are rumored to have ancient secret places, often have multiple forces permanently stationed nearby, causing mutual restraint and preventing anyone from dominating. Many years ago, there were many major battles at the Ancient Sword Lake, and even people on the Heavenly List participated."

Zhao Changhe came to a similar conclusion as Rosefinch. It seemed that Xia Longyuan was using these ancient secret places to instigate chaos among the various factions. "And then?"

"All the factions fought in chaos, but no one knew if there was anything in the Ancient Sword Lake, making them look foolish. So there were negotiations, and it was eventually agreed that no one would personally occupy the place, like the Cui Family or the Four Elephant Sect. They would come and check every now and then, and whoever found it first would claim it without interference. But everyone was worried that others would secretly occupy it, so they supported their subordinate guilds to monitor the nearby towns, resulting in a complex situation of conflicting forces. Our Demon Suppression Division only sends some undercover agents to observe the changes here. The special situation in Jianhu City was also born out of this. In fact, there are many similar places in the world. Jianhu City is just a more typical one."

Zhao Changhe scratched his head and realized that there were probably countless "Jianhu Cities" in the world, places that existed outside the conventional imperial rule and were occupied by guilds. Normally, it didn't matter, but once it was a chaotic era, these places could become separatist regions, with "city lords" popping up like mushrooms and becoming local overlords.

Wei Zicai continued, "After many years of evolution, these forces probably no longer care about what's in the lake. When we learned that the Four Elephant Sect took something from the lake, the forces in the city might not have known. It shows that they have deviated from their original purpose. Instead, they have divided territories and fought for interests. Especially now that chaos is approaching, the power struggle among the guilds in this city is becoming more and more apparent. With the absorption of Tianyi Gang by the Pinghu Club, the Pinghu Club's dominance in the city has begun to take shape. Now we are just waiting for a response from the leader to decide whether we should withdraw."

Zhao Changhe nodded and asked, "Two questions. What is the strength of Yan Lianping, and what force is behind him?"

"Yan Lianping is at the eighth level of Xuan Guan..."

"Then why did he need help to fight against Han Wubing?"

"Because Han Wubing is also at the seventh level of Xuan Guan, and his swordsmanship is unparalleled. If they fought one-on-one, Yan Lianping probably wouldn't be able to defeat him."

"Damn, how is he faster than me... And what about the force behind Yan Lianping?"

Wei Zicai looked somewhat embarrassed. "Um... we don't know what force is behind him."

Zhao Changhe was astonished. "Really? Shouldn't this be something that should have been known a long time ago?"

Wei Zicai coughed dryly. "In theory, the Pinghu Club should belong to the Four Elephant Sect, but when the White Tiger Saintess came here last time, she didn't have any contact with them. There are two possible reasons for not making contact. One is that the White Tiger Saintess felt that the Pinghu Club was already being watched by us, so she didn't want to expose herself to our sight and deliberately avoided contact with the Pinghu Club. The second reason is that the Pinghu Club may have already distanced themselves from the Four Elephant Sect, and the White Tiger Saintess no longer trusts them."

Zhao Changhe glanced at Rosefinch, but her pig face hid her expression.

This was getting more and more interesting. It was not just about the rumors that had been spread, but also involved the girl beside him, and even Zhao Changhe himself. It was no longer just Han Wubing's business.

This visit came at the right time.

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Changhe asked, "Why is there a second suspicion? What did the Pinghu Club do to make you think that way?"

"After the injured Lion King Helei left Mount Tai, he stayed here quietly to recuperate. We suspect that the Pinghu Club may have some connection with the Hu people, but we don't know if the Four Elephant Sect is aware of this situation or what their attitude towards the Hu people is. It's hard to analyze."

"Understood." Zhao Changhe felt much more relaxed and patted Wei Zicai's shoulder with a smile. "Okay, the information is complete and well-organized. I will talk to the leader about it later."

Wei Zicai showed a pleased expression. "Thank you, sir, for your guidance."

"One last question."

"Please, sir."

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

"Where did Han Wubing find out where the rumors about Zhao Changhe were spread?""At Kang Le Gambling House, Han Wubing just happened to pass by and heard someone loudly discussing this."

"Whose influence is behind Kang Le Gambling House?"

Wei Zicai showed a puzzled expression: "I couldn't find out."

Zhao Changhe stared at him for a long time, then suddenly smiled: "It's okay, no one can be omniscient. Just try harder next time."

Wei Zicai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I bid you farewell, special envoy."

Leaving the Wanhua Building, Zhao Changhe suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at the bamboo building, deep in thought.

Rosefinch asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

"According to the theory of each family's stationed forces here, it's impossible not to know who is behind Kang Le Gambling House. It doesn't make sense. And if it's deliberately concealed, this matter has nothing to do with Kang Le Gambling House itself. I just asked casually, why would they hide it from me?"

Rosefinch leisurely said, "Kang Le Gambling House came later, it's not one of the original families, so it's not strange if you couldn't find out. But it's not right if there's no guess at all. We, the Holy Sect, guess that it should be Ying Wu's people."

Zhao Changhe's heart skipped a beat: "The eighth on the Heavenly List!"

"Correct... But this matter seems to have nothing to do with them, right?"

"What do you think about the Pinghu Meeting?"

"Yan Lianping is Wei Yueyan of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. The reason why Chi Chi didn't contact him at that time was simply not to reveal that he was one of us. But we didn't expect that the Demon Suppression Bureau had already figured it out..." Rosefinch said, her tone somewhat cold: "We also didn't know that he actually had connections with the Hu people. The Demon Suppression Bureau did us a favor."

Zhao Changhe laughed: "A traitor has emerged?"

Rosefinch's tone relaxed again: "Which family doesn't have a few traitors? It's good to find out early. But we can't just take the Demon Suppression Bureau's word for it, I still need to investigate."

Zhao Changhe asked, "What are your thoughts?"

"We should act separately. I will openly go to find Yan Lianping, and you can do whatever you want. Tonight, I will quietly come to the inn to find you."

Rosefinch said, suddenly laughing: "It's really strange. Originally, I just wanted to get to know you better and protect you from being killed by the Wang family. I didn't expect that this matter is related to me, and it turned into a cooperation between you and me."

Zhao Changhe laughed heartily: "This is probably because the heavens don't want me to owe the Four Elephant Sect a favor... Maybe the opposite, if things go wrong, you might owe me a favor."

"Cut." Rosefinch snorted: "You? A little man at the sixth level of Xuan Guan? Or are you going to count the clues from the Demon Suppression Bureau as your favor?"

Zhao Changhe hummed: "Then shall we make a bet? If you help me more, I'll call you big sister in the future."

Rosefinch's beautiful eyes twinkled, and she laughed lightly: "If I lose, will I be called big brother?"

"If you lose, can you take off your mask in front of me?"

Recommend a book "The Savior is Busy Branching Out"

A book that only others can't see why to complain, there's nothing else awkward about it.

(End of the chapter)