Chapter 55: The Three Major Factions

Thud! Thud!

The sound was muffled. The instant Chen Xuan's palms collided with them, the Heaven-Absorbing Demonic Art was already in motion. A terrifying adhesive force emerged from his palms, firmly locking onto the two men's hands and beginning to frantically melt away their strength.

The expressions of the two men changed drastically. Feeling their internal energy rapidly draining away, they hurriedly focused their minds on their dantians and violently struggled with their arms.

However, Chen Xuan kept their palms glued to his, and upon landing, he began to spin around in place.

Swish!

In a split second, he spun an untold number of times, making the two men dizzy, nauseous, and utterly miserable. Their dantians, which they had barely managed to guard, instantly collapsed completely. Their internal energy poured out in a torrential flood, vanishing at a mad pace.

Ah!

The two men let out miserable screams and slumped to the ground, completely limp.

Chen Xuan finally stopped his body from spinning, heaving heavy breaths.

Damn it, the spinning made even him dizzy.

If this kept on, he would definitely end up vomiting from the rotation.

Fortunately, by keeping a tight grip on the two men all this time, he had finally drained their internal energy dry.

"Daring to attack an imperial official is the crime of treason! Guards, come and lock them up!"

Chen Xuan shouted.

As soon as the words left his mouth, there was no movement at all, which made him realize the situation.

Damn it, it seemed he was the only chief constable in the entire yamen!

A commander with no troops!

Thud! Thud!

He struck their acupoints and tossed them aside, intending to interrogate them later.

Afterward, he picked up his official saber, looked at the surrounding crowd, and said fiercely, "Dammit all, who gave you permission to run amok in the yamen?"

The crowd grew even more terrified, retreating step by step.

Even the [Twin Ghosts of Yunxi], who were at the ninth layer of Qi Accumulation, were no match for this chief constable?

They hurriedly knelt down, crying bitterly for mercy.

"Spare our lives, My Lord! We know we were wrong!"

"Spare us!"

They kowtowed frantically, their heads hitting the floor with loud thuds.

"Dammit all, wanting me to spare you is simple. I’ll give you one day to clean this yamen inside and out from top to bottom. If anyone fails to clean it properly, don't blame this official saber of mine for being ruthless!"

Chen Xuan wore a fierce expression, gently stroking his official saber.

"Yes, we'll do it right now, right now."

"Hurry up and get to work, everyone."

They scrambled to their feet and hurriedly began to busy themselves.

"Remember, I've memorized all your faces. If anyone dares to run away secretly, I'll slaughter his entire family, leaving not a single chicken or dog alive! I am a dignified imperial official and an enforcer of justice, while you lot are bastards, bedbugs, trash, and parasites... You all deserve to be executed, but the Chief Constable here is giving you a chance to turn over a new leaf. Whoever fails to cherish it, I'll wipe out his whole clan!"

Chen Xuan continued menacingly.

Wiping out an entire family was naturally just talk on his part.

Sometimes, a bad reputation is far more effective for getting things done than a good one, especially when dealing with villains.

Therefore, he didn't mind playing the role of a fierce villain!

A group of hoodlums shivered, not daring to entertain any other thoughts as they worked at top speed.

Chen Xuan put away his official saber and walked toward Lin Zhedong's location.

From a small room in the distance came the splashing sound of water.

When Chen Xuan pushed the door open, Lin Zhedong was hugging the sides of a wooden barrel, soaking in hot water with sweat streaming down his entire body while two little thugs earnestly scrubbed his back.

Seeing Chen Xuan walk in, the two thugs hurriedly offered him flattering smiles and scrubbed even harder.

"Alright, alright, stop scrubbing. If you keep going, this humble official really won't be able to take it," Lin Zhedong pleaded bitterly.

"You scoundrels, didn't you hear? You're making Lord Lin uncomfortable! Why aren't you helping Lord Lin change into his clothes?"

Chen Xuan glared at the two thugs.

The two thugs hurriedly helped Lin Zhedong out of the water barrel. One of them quickly grabbed a towel and frantically dried Lin Zhedong off, after which they swiftly fetched his official robes and helped him put them on.

With great difficulty, he was finally fully dressed.

The two thugs smiled ingratiatingly, looked at Chen Xuan, and asked, "Milord, can we leave now?"

"No leaving! There are other things for you to do in a moment!"

Chen Xuan scolded.

"Yes, yes."

The two thugs had no choice but to stay, silently lamenting their bad luck.

Chen Xuan sat down with an imposing air in a nearby chair, looked at Lin Zhedong, and said, "Lord Lin, this subordinate has just assumed office and is not yet familiar with this place. Would Lord Lin be so kind as to brief me?"

"Yes, yes, this humble official will explain right away."

Lin Zhedong nodded repeatedly.

He had originally wanted to refer to himself as "this subordinate" in front of Chen Xuan, but realizing that his official rank was higher than Chen Xuan's, he decided against it. Wanting to refer to himself as "this county" also felt inappropriate—after all, the chief constable before him was a murderer who killed without blinking. If he angered him, who knew if he might just hack him to death with a single saber strike? Therefore, it was safer to simply refer to himself as "this humble official" or "this one."

Lin Zhedong sighed, a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"Chief Constable Wu, since you are newly arrived, you do not know the darkness of this Qingfeng City. To put it in a nutshell: the mountains are high and the emperor is far away! Before I assumed office, four consecutive county magistrates died here, and another one voluntarily resigned and returned home in less than three months after taking office. I have endured humiliation and hardship just to survive until today."

At this point, his tone turned sorrowful, and tears streamed down his face.

"What the hell! Four county magistrates died in a row? Even if the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, they should have dispatched a large army to suppress the place, shouldn't they?"

Chen Xuan asked.

Lin Zhedong offered a bitter smile.

"Chief Constable Wu doesn't understand. On the surface, Qingfeng City appears to be a small town, but in secret, three major supreme factions are contending here, locked in a fierce and ruthless struggle. The imperial court has tried to intervene several times but failed to gain a foothold.

"The first faction is the Pingnan侯 Estate (Estate of the Marquis of Pingnan). The Marquis of Pingnan was personally enfeoffed by the late emperor, possessing a hereditary title. The marquis estate is brimming with experts and specializes in recruiting distressed martial arts heroes from all over the place, making them practically all-powerful here.

"The second is the GuiZhou Zheng Clan, a true prestigious and influential family whose might shakes the southwest. Their lineage has been passed down for over six hundred years and has never declined. Various factions across the three southwestern provinces all show them a modicum of respect. Furthermore, the Zheng Clan is backed from the shadows by the [Phoenix Manor], making them even more untouchable. The master of the [Phoenix Manor] is ranked number one on the Earthly Rankings, only sixty years old, and merely a hair's breadth away from the Heavenly Rankings!

"The third is the Dahuang Sword Sect of Huangzhou, another supreme faction that no one dares to provoke. They are on par with the GuiZhou Zheng Clan and the Yunzhou Li Clan. The Dahuang Sword Sect is backed by the Kunlun Sect, and their influence is so vast it spans across cities and provinces throughout the three states!

"Even if the imperial court has the heart to suppress them, it must carefully weigh the consequences beforehand. Besides, today's imperial court is not what it used to be. For over two hundred years, no supreme expert of the Heavenly Rankings has emerged from within the court. Its grip on the realm has been weakening day by day, and in many matters, it lacks both the power and the will to act."

Chen Xuan stroked his chin.

It certainly sounded plausible.

Aside from the Pingnan Estate, which lacked a deep historical foundation, the other two were formidable indeed. More importantly, they had even stronger backers supporting them from behind. Even the Pingnan Estate had been personally enfeoffed by the late emperor and by now was likely on the verge of becoming a separatist warlord regime; uprooting them would be no easy task.

Therefore, the imperial court clearly did not want to make a big fuss.

However, why on earth had Wu Tiande received an official appointment to take office here?

To whom did he plan to hand over the beast-skin ancient map?

To the Pingnan Estate?

Chen Xuan fell into deep thought.

In any case, the moment he sensed the situation turning sour, he would just turn tail and run.

"Chief Constable Wu, those people from earlier... did you... did you take action against them? You mustn't kill them, absolutely not."

Lin Zhedong spoke up.

Chen Xuan glanced at him and said indifferently, "Relax, I only killed two or three. They claimed to be men of Ninth Master Wang. Who is Ninth Master Wang?"

"You actually killed them?"

Lin Zhedong looked horrified and said, "Ninth Master Wang is a man of the Pingnan Estate! He usually manages both the underworld and the righteous paths in Qingfeng City, specializing in recruiting martial arts heroes for the marquis estate. Since you killed Ninth Master Wang's men, he will definitely not let this rest!"

Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow and slapped the table.

"Dammit all! This chief constable is a dignified ninth-rank imperial official! Who dares to act presumptuously? Who dares?"

Lin Zhedong offered a series of bitter smiles.

He truly didn't know what to say about this Chief Constable Wu.

A ninth-rank imperial official, my foot!

He had never even heard of such a title!

What kind of imperial official was a tiny ninth-rank?

He had a premonition that in all likelihood, the imperial court would have to dispatch a new chief constable here in just a few days.

Chen Xuan asked a few more questions, including matters concerning Qingfeng Mountain.

Lin Zhedong answered honestly.

According to his words, strange and mystical fragrances had begun drifting from Qingfeng Mountain ten days ago. It smelled like orchid fragrance, which made people's spirits soar when inhaled, but this fragrance was not always present—it only appeared during the full moon.

It was said that some people had even gone deep into Qingfeng Mountain to investigate and had seen mysterious pillars of light shooting straight up into the sky.

However, no one could explain what the specific situation was.

Chen Xuan habitually stroked his chin, listening quietly until the end.