70: Small World

Of course, Qin Yue wasn't trying to belittle himself, nor was he trying to pretend to be a pig to eat the tiger.

Because the Puppet combat method he envisioned had to be completed in this Small World, and in the early stages, he truly had, as he said, no frontal combat ability.

After Senior Brother Bai Jinghong of Sword Peak stated that he was only good at combat, the command of the team fell into Senior Brother Shi Qianjun's hands.

In fact, this was also the usual practice for Holy Sect Martial Artists when they went on missions together most of the time.

Due to their Cultivation Technique, most Sword Peak Martial Artists needed to devote themselves wholeheartedly to practicing the sword, rarely paying attention to other matters.

As for Pill Refining Peak Martial Artists, their frontal combat power was generally extremely poor, and they needed to secretly launch sneak attacks on enemies from behind the team.

As for the treatment such 'kill-stealing dogs' received in a team—those who didn't show up at crucial moments but only collected kills at the last minute—anyone who frequently played games would deeply understand.

And the Senior Brother of Martial Peak, who always charged at the front and had a cheerful personality that united the team, was the undisputed choice for captain.

With the captain chosen, there was only one problem before them now: the basic situation of the Small World they had descended into.

After discussion among the three, they finally decided to split up and reconvene here three days later.

A Martial Artist's pace was very fast; for the three of them running at full speed, a thousand li in a day was no problem at all. Even if they had descended into a deep mountain, three days was enough time to investigate the situation of this world.

After Qin Yue separated from his two Senior Brothers, he continued to head in his chosen direction.

With several months of forest exploration experience in the Demon Realm, he quickly found traces of Human Race activity. Following these traces, he left the mountain and soon found a Human Race village.

Qin Yue did not enter the village; instead, he stealthily followed the main road and found a Human Race city.

Upon seeing the Human Race city, Qin Yue did not rush to enter. He merely found a place outside the city that could conceal his figure and lay in ambush.

From here, he could observe the people entering and exiting the city gate and also look for weaknesses in the city's defenses, making it easier to sneak in at night.

Through a day of observation and eavesdropping on conversations of people waiting to enter the city, Qin Yue concluded that this world was an ordinary ancient world.

There were government officials, ordinary people, merchants, and local bullies, and the guards at the city gate were still extorting money.

Although Qin Yue made this judgment, he still did not act rashly.

Ever since escaping the Demon Realm, Qin Yue knew that one should never draw conclusions rashly about anything.

When night fell, Qin Yue entered the inner city, found an unmanned rooftop of a tall building, and fully activated Super-Sense Mode.

Qin Yue usually maintained a low-intensity Super-Sense Mode, because the larger the range of Super-Sense Mode, the more data his brain needed to process. In full Super-Sense Mode, Qin Yue's brain simply couldn't last for long.

With Qin Yue's Super-Sense Mode fully active, all vibrations within a one-kilometer radius were transmitted to his brain.

In an instant, the sounds of breathing, rats gnawing, and men and women shouting filled Qin Yue's senses.

Qin Yue quickly blocked out these sounds, which made him feel a bit more at ease.

The place Qin Yue chose to hide was originally the rich district of the city, where the population was very concentrated, and there was more news to be heard, preventing a situation where he listened for a long time only to hear trivial household matters.

After another round of filtering, removing some useless conversations, Qin Yue finally heard the information he wanted to hear.

"Father, those Bailing Sect people came again. This time they want three thousand taels of silver and ten thousand catties of grain."

"Why do they want grain again? Didn't we give them ten thousand catties of grain five days ago? Why do they want so much again this time?"

"Father, they said this is the last time this month. No need to worry about them constantly asking for more."

"No need to worry? You don't need to worry!

If it weren't for the fact that you have a handle in their hands, why would our family bother with these cults?

I would have reported these cults to the authorities long ago!

And is grain that easy to give?

They ask for grain every few days; where do they get so many people!

Hoarding grain and hoarding money, if they rebel and succeed, that's fine. But once they fail, can our family, who supplied them with provisions, still survive?"

"Father, since we are already doomed, why don't we just join the Bailing Sect!

I heard that once you join the Bailing Sect, you can master the Art of Spirit Communication, and ordinary people can resist Martial Artists in a spirit-communicating state.

And if the Bailing Sect succeeds, our family can also get a share of the Dragon's merit, and like those noble families, serve as officials for generations."

"You don't know anything!"

Accompanying these words, Qin Yue sensed the father hitting his son on the head, showing he was extremely angry.

"Setting aside whether the Bailing Sect can succeed, just the Art of Spirit Communication, I know it's unreliable. Where in this world is there power for free?

If there is power for free, then you must have paid more in the dark.

The previous dynasty was destroyed because of the Bailing Sect, and this dynasty's prohibition of the Bailing Sect must also have a reason.

If it were such a good thing, those noble families you mentioned would have rushed to it long ago; how could it be our family's turn!"

It seemed that the father was more clear-headed than his son. Such a large family business didn't come for free, and this ability to weigh pros and cons was not something ordinary people possessed.

After the father and son left the study to prepare the silver and grain, Qin Yue appeared in the father's study, waiting for him to return.

Qian Gui was one of the prominent wealthy merchants in Song City. The Qian Family's business started with his father, prospering smoothly and generating vast wealth, and it continued to flourish and make huge profits when passed down to him.

But the old saying goes, 'wealth does not pass three generations,' and indeed, by this third generation, there was an unfilial son.

Not only was he skilled in eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, but because he fancied the daughter of another wealthy merchant, the Sun Family, he actually abducted and raped the Young Miss of the Sun Family when she went out.

His son didn't know, but he did. The Sun Family was a distant relative of the prefect; otherwise, how could they have so quickly controlled the silk business in Song City?

What made Qian Gui even more angry was that it would have been fine if this prodigal son made a mistake, as long as he confessed his error in time, he wasn't beyond redemption.

However, out of fear of letting his father know about the matter, he sought out the Bailing Sect to handle it under the guidance of his questionable friends.

The matter was indeed handled cleanly, but their Qian Family was completely targeted by the Bailing Sect.

If this son weren't his only son, he would have surely disowned him, reported it to the authorities himself, and given the Sun Family an explanation.

When Qian Gui finished arranging the money and grain and returned to his study, he was startled.

Because he actually saw a middle-aged man with a scar on his face sitting in the chair in the center of his study, flipping through his account books.