Dual Cultivation God Returns - Chapter 1029 - 1029: The old ginger is spicier after all
At the minor auction Wei Yuanjie made an appearance for the first time, and even won some bids, for some of which Wu Long gave him a puzzled look of ‘what do you need that trinket for?’
This sent a small shockwave through the city, as they began to realize that the Imperial Prince was likely now interested in the main auction as well.
This news, of course, reached the 5th prince and his entourage as well.
But for Wu Long it was only the start of the night, as right after the auction, he received a few words whispered to him by Butler Bang, and left Wei Yuanjie to enjoy his new toys while he traveled back to the Soaring Feather Trading Company.
—
It was a dimly lit room with no windows. The coolness and humidity suggested it might be underground.
A man with a cloth bag over his head was bound to a chair, breathing a bit unevenly and turning his head to the sides, trying to move. But his hands were fully bound with fingers on two round metallic spheres with glowing patterns that seemed to be restricting their movements, arms and feet bound by thick metallic shackles allowing only for minor movement. And there were acupuncture needles on the back of his neck.
He was in the middle of his efforts, when he heard the doors open which prompted him to freeze and even hold back his breath.
“This one?”, a young-sounding voice resounded.
“Yes, Valley Master”, an older one replied, and then the cloth bag was abruptly removed without being too rough but not exactly gently either, momentarily blinding the young man, as an old man with white hair and beard who the young man knew as Zhao Xieren, lowering the cloth bag, continued, “His identity seems to be the grandson of the arena owner Qian Ying, Young Master Qian Lei”
“The arena owner’s grandson?”, the masked man who Zhao Xieren referred to as Valley Master asked in a slightly surprised tone.
“H-hey… this seems to be some kind of misunderstanding here… ahahaha… I was trying to attend the minor auction and seemed to have veered off in the wrong direction…”, Qian Lei spoke in a nervous tone, turning his gaze back and forth from Zhao Xieren to the masked Valley Master.
“Hmm, he certainly is a lot more promising than anyone we’ve caught so far…”, the Valley Master spoke without seemingly hearing him, or outright ignoring his attempt at ‘explaining the misunderstanding’, “You were right that he’s different from others”
“Well, he’s the only one who was caught at the third line of Formation protections so far, which is why I notified you immediately”, Zhao Xieren nodded.
At that point, however, loud shouting could be heard from the corridor, as someone seemed to be cursing and shouting profanities, and then a more strict voice resounded, “We’ve caught another one!”
“You sons of *** and, ***, fuc*** #*$* #*$*** *#$*** and ***, I will shove your $*** into…”, the voice of an old man – shouting things that made even the masked man turn with a strange look in his eyes at the depths of language knowledge that seemed to impress him – was instantly recognized by Qian Lei whose eyes became completely round as he saw another chair being brought in by four people, with a man bound by the same method as him, with a cloth bag over his head, as Qian Lei muttered with disbelief, “G-Gradnpa-…?”
The shouting and cursing stopped as the bagged head of the man turned in his direction, “L-Lei’er? You’re here? Are you alright?!”
The clothed bag was removed to reveal the arena owner Qian Ying, who instantly became busy inspecting the state of his bewildered grandson with his eyes.
“And now we have the arena owner himself”, the masked man chuckled, “What an interesting night”
But before Zhao Xieren could ask something, another bout of shouts resounded from the corridor behind them.
“Where are they? Where are those pesky little thieves that are after MY MONEY!!!”, Kwon Qianhong ran into the room, but quickly transitioned into a completely different tone of voice and overall demeanor as his righteous fury was extinguished at the sight of the masked man in the room, “B-Boss! Y-you’re here! Hahaha, what a welcome surprise…”
Zhao Xieren shook his head with a sigh, turning to ask what he wanted before the interruption to the men who brought the old man, “Did he somehow know we had his grandson?”
“No, we caught him past the final layer of the Formation protections, in the second layer of the ‘thief catcher’ arrays that Valley Master talked about”, was the answer.
“Second?”, the masked man sharply turned his head, which seemed to startle everyone in the room except the two captives.
“Y-yes Valley Master, there was not even any alarm from the first layer of ‘thief catcher’ arrays…”
The masked man then turned a vividly more attentive look to the old man, “Well I’ll be damned… we really did catch a famed thief. Heh, one that was living in our backyard”
“Famed Thief! A Grave and Great Mortal Enemy!!!”, Kwon Qianhong’s eyes narrowed on the old man.
“G-Grandpa, you are a thief?!?!”, the grandson seemed to have finally been shook out of his stupor.
The grandfather who was showering him with questions of care and worry throughout this time, then suddenly sharply changed his tone, “Who are you calling a thief? You are a petty thief! I… am a Grandmaster of the Theft Dao!”
This caused a rather cool reaction from the grandson who made a sour face with a deadpan look in his eyes, “Well you aren’t looking too hot now, are you, Mr. Grandmaster?”
“You… scallywag!!! Whose fault you think it is that I…! The great ‘Shadowless’ was caught here in this kind of place, suffering such shame and humiliation! It’s you! I was looking out for you!!!”
“M-me?”
“Of course! You think I didn’t know you were trying to mutt your way in and around the mysteries of our Great Dao?!”
“Hah, some Grand Dao~…”, Kwon Qianhong snorted and muttered in a sarcastic tone to the side, but the two were too absorbed in their heated exchange to pay any mind to him.
Qian Ying continued with the same intensity, “You think you, a greenhorn with breastmilk still wet on your lips, could fool me? You think you’re the only one who noticed that our Family’s techniques could have this kind of application? Or did you think I would really not notice that you practiced the Invisible Lightning Escape when you burnt down that annex of the arena? Or that you practiced the Swift Hand of Lightness when you removed that brick embedded into the foundation under a column without disturbing the bricks around it? And do you really think I don’t know you were behind those thefts from the Disciples of the three big Sects? Trying to polish your Dao? Why do you think when the City Lord’s son and the Ember Palm Pavilion both led large groups of followers to our arena the other day, and you, seeing them, panicked thinking you were caught and they were there to arrest you, I caught you by the shoulder and sent you home? It’s so you wouldn’t accidentally give yourself out by fumbling around in panic! Hah! You looked like you’ve seen a ghost when I put a hand on your shoulder that day! You think I wouldn’t know? You’re thousands of years too young to act like you can fool these old eyes of mine! But you were too foolish and reckless! You forgot the core rule, of not working even near where you live! That’s why you had to be worried about getting caught! That’s why you were so jumpy! As the wise ones of old say, don’t shit where you eat!!!”
“We- well…”, the grandson, clearly exasperated and shocked by the sudden revelation of his grandfather’s identity and that he knew all about his secrets in great detail. He was visibly searching for words, until a flash of inspiration came to him, “A-a-aren’t you caught here with me? W-who’s shitting where they eat now?!”
“Language when you talk to your grandfather!!!”, Qian Ying roared, “How dare you say such a vulgar phrase, you scallywag!”
“Bu-… you just-…”, Qian Lei began stuttering, even more dumbfounded since he just repeated the words he was told a moment ago.
“And I repeat. I came in here to try and keep an eye on you! So you won’t get caught! I knew this place was bad news! Not a good choice for a first real big job at all! You probably thought it was safer than the Silverleaf Trade Hall since it was a starting small company, but you neglected the signs of danger!”
“Bullshit! You’re here to steal and got caught just like me! Now you’re just trying to make excuses! How would you know I was targeting this place, and even when?!”
“You scallywag! I told you to mind your language! And you think you’re so clever and sneaky? I told you, you can’t fool me. I knew exactly how you think! It was as easy as stealing candy from a baby! You think I didn’t notice you casing the place when we came here for negotiations yesterday? You think I don’t know that’s why you pestered me so much to come here instead of inviting their people to my arena? Or that I don’t know why you were in such a hurry and forced the meeting to be yesterday? It was easy to guess you were targeting this evening while the minor auction was underway! You were after the big prize after all, so you couldn’t go after it when it would be going on the main auction, but everyone knows that security is a bit more loose when there is a big event going on!”, the grandfather spoke narrowing his eyes.
“Heh, the old ginger is spicier after all”, Zhao Xieren commented as he, the masked Valley Master, and Kwon Qianhong seemed to be enjoying the show from the sidelines. It was a phrase he heard General Feng use before and found poetic for some reason, while the masked Valley Master turned a strange look to him.
