28: Tugou Village

"Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch."

Qi Longhu tapped his fingers on the table with a 'you know what I mean' expression.

"Tell me, what do I need to do for you to teach me?" Chen Heng, of course, understood this principle.

If Qi Longhu had truly just handed over his martial arts skills so casually, Chen Heng would have had to wonder if the man had some other ulterior motives.

"It's simple: finish the job Xu Lang was supposed to do."

Qi Longhu produced a piece of rough paper stamped with the official seal of the White Tiger Hall.

"Who is Xu Lang?" Chen Heng took the paper and looked at the information on it.

"Xu Lang is that kid you killed." Qi Longhu leaned back lazily in his chair, waiting for Chen Heng's response.

"A malevolent ghost and a cat demon?"

Chen Heng looked at the information on the paper and roughly understood the sequence of events.

Half a month ago, the White Tiger Hall went to Tugou Village to collect protection money, only to find the entire village empty.

Only corpses with their internal organs hollowed out and piles of bones remained.

Six of the seven gang members who went to collect the money perished in Tugou Village, with only one returning alive to report the news.

The White Tiger Hall sent three batches of gang members to investigate the cause of the incident.

In truth, Qi Longhu could have guessed that this was definitely the work of demons.

But no one expected that a demon could actually cooperate with a malevolent ghost to slaughter a village.

Although the White Tiger Hall was a gang, it operated on the principle of taking money to resolve problems for others.

Since Tugou Village paid protection money to the White Tiger Hall, the White Tiger Hall had to protect Tugou Village from demonic incursions.

Such an incident not only caused the White Tiger Hall's reputation to plummet, but it was also a slap in the face.

Therefore, if the White Tiger Hall wanted to restore some of its reputation, it had to eliminate that demon and the malevolent ghost.

As it happened, the Second Master of the White Tiger Hall, which was Xu Lang, had taken on this task.

His status was sufficient to demonstrate the White Tiger Hall's seriousness.

His strength was not bad either; ordinary demons and malevolent ghosts were no match for him.

But he had been decapitated by Chen Heng yesterday.

Now this job could only fall to Chen Heng.

"I understand." Chen Heng nodded.

"I will go to Tugou Village tomorrow to resolve this matter."

Since it was an incident that even a weakling like Xu Lang could have handled, there was no reason Chen Heng couldn't resolve it.

"Straightforward!" Qi Longhu straightened up and clapped his hands.

Two White Tiger Hall gang members walked in, first bowing to Qi Longhu, then cupping their fists toward Chen Heng.

"These two will go with you; it's better to have each other's support if there are three of you..."

Before Qi Longhu could finish, Chen Heng interrupted him directly.

"No need, I can handle it alone."

Chen Heng had no intention of bringing along two dead weights; acting alone was the most convenient.

If he were alone, he could at least run if he couldn't win, but bringing two dead weights would be different.

"You want to go alone?" Qi Longhu frowned.

"If even you couldn't kill me, what can those minor demons do to me?"

It wasn't that Chen Heng was arrogant; he had even killed a Cultivator from the Ghost Corpse Temple, so what were mere demons?

"Fine, then you go alone." Qi Longhu nodded, agreeing to the matter.

"Of course, the gang won't let you work for nothing; there will be a reward after this job is done."

"That's fine." Chen Heng didn't care too much about the gang's rewards; other than Cultivation Techniques, he basically didn't lack anything.

As for medicinal herbs and the like, once his father's business was back up and running, he would have as much as he needed.

"Then I'll head back first." Chen Heng said his goodbyes and prepared to leave.

"Right." Just two steps out, Chen Heng turned his head to look at Qi Longhu.

"What is it?" Qi Longhu asked.

"My family wants to do a little business in Qiyang City, and we would appreciate some looking after when the time comes."

"You don't need to tell me about such small matters; as an Outer Deacon, you can make those decisions yourself." Qi Longhu waved his hand, signaling that Chen Heng could do as he pleased.

"If you don't have a shop, there is an ownerless one on City Center Street; take it and use it if you want."

"Many thanks." Chen Heng nodded, turned, and left the White Tiger Hall headquarters.

"Father, is that the formidable newcomer who killed Xu Lang?" asked a gang member who had been called in by Qi Longhu.

"He doesn't look like much."

"Idiot." Qi Longhu glared at the gang member.

"You're fifty or sixty years old, and yet you still misjudge people."

"How did I end up with a son like you?"

"It's not that, it's just that the kid looks too young; is he reliable?" Qi Jinhong scratched his head, seemingly accustomed to Qi Longhu's way of speaking.

"Chen Heng's hard-body skills are so tough that even I can't break through them; in the entire Qiyang City, only Old Wang Ba is tougher than him."

Qi Longhu said slowly.

"And he is self-taught; he trained himself to the Transformation Stage without a Master to guide him."

"In what way is he not better than you?"

"That's true." Qi Jinhong was quite open-minded and didn't hold a grudge against Chen Heng because of Qi Longhu's words.

"Alright, don't just stand there; go practice your martial arts."

"You're nearly sixty and still haven't made a Breakthrough to the Profound Realm; you're really a disgrace to your father."

Qi Longhu glared at Qi Jinhong, and Qi Jinhong obediently ran off to practice.

"You go away too; I need to handle some things." Qi Longhu waved his hand, dismissing everyone, and sat alone in the quiet room.

"Pfft!" Once everyone had left, Qi Longhu spat out a mouthful of black, congealed blood.

"That kid has immense strength; that slash almost took my head off."

Qi Longhu took a deep breath; spitting out that congealed blood made him feel much better.

Just now, to maintain his dignity as the Hall Master, he had been holding back that blood, which had been extremely uncomfortable for him.

"I'll need to rest for another three to five days after this fight."

"I hope nothing goes wrong..."

At the Chen Family Courtyard, the original plaque with the character 'Jing' had been taken down and replaced with 'Chen'.

A carriage bearing the White Tiger Hall emblem stopped at the entrance of the Chen Family Courtyard, and Chen Heng stepped out from inside.

"Steward Chen, this is your White Tiger Token." A gang member handed Chen Heng a silver token.

The front of the token was carved with a roaring tiger, while the back was engraved with Chen Heng's name and position.

"Thank you for your hard work." Chen Heng casually took out a few pieces of broken silver and placed them in the gang member's hand.

"It's no trouble at all; it is my honor to drive for Steward Chen." Seeing the silver, the gang member beamed and began spewing flatteries.

"Steward Chen, I'm on the street behind your house; if you need anything, just send someone to find me."

"Come to my house tomorrow morning at the hour of the rabbit to pick me up; we are going to Tugou Village." Chen Heng didn't stand on ceremony and gave the order directly.

"Understood, I'll take my leave then."

"Go." Chen Heng waved his hand, and the gang member drove the carriage into the back alley.

"Son, what's going on?" Chen Fugui asked cautiously from the doorway.

"See for yourself." Chen Heng threw the token in his hand directly to Chen Fugui.

"Chen Heng, Outer Deacon..." Chen Fugui looked at the token in his hand, his eyes nearly popping out.

The expression on his face slowly changed from surprise to delight, and finally to ecstatic joy.

"Good, good, good! Now all the conditions for your father to make a comeback have been met."

"Son, tell me quickly, how did you become this Outer Deacon?"