Chapter 2404 - 2404: Old Chen Got Captured

According to what the Reincarnated True Buddha and Shijia said, so‑called gods are basically just people whose strength is a bit greater. In their eyes, gods are still human. On this point, their claim clashes somewhat with Guiguzi's, and also differs from what Ye Qing has seen. The Divine Clan that Guiguzi spoke of, and the Divine Clan corpses Ye Qing saw, all had wings—they didn't look human at all. But then why did the Reincarnated True Buddha and Shijia say gods are also people? Between what Guiguzi said and what the Reincarnated True Buddha and Shijia said, who's right and who's wrong?

This question flooded Ye Qing's heart, making his already doubtful mind even more confused. The sudden appearance of Divine Clan corpses also made him more uneasy. Since these Divine Clan corpses exist, it proves the Divine Clan definitely existed before. In that case, will the calamity of Various Gods wreaking havoc on the mortal world really happen? But the Various Gods Guiguzi spoke of—are they the same kind of gods that the Reincarnated True Buddha and Shijia meant? Are those Various Gods actually these winged beings of the Divine Clan?

Just as Ye Qing was brooding over these questions, his ears caught a faint set of footsteps. The sound was soft, but Ye Qing's body had been modified by the power of Buddhist and Taoist Magic; even without Inner Strength, no sound could slip past his ears.

Ye Qing immediately turned toward the direction of the sound. He saw a man running over from the distance, panting heavily. Spotting Ye Qing, the man instantly waved his arms and shouted, "Sir, sir, something's happened!"

"What happened?" Ye Qing was taken aback, and at the same time he recognized the man—it was the waiter who had greeted them when they first entered the estate.

"That old guy who came in with you earlier, he was eating up front and got into a fight with someone!" the waiter shouted. "They grabbed him and took him away!"

"What?" Ye Qing's eyes widened at once. He knew the old guy the waiter was talking about had to be Old Chen. Everyone else had come back to the courtyard to rest; only Old Chen stayed up front eating. Ye Qing hadn't bothered with him at the time—this old rascal could eat endlessly. But who would've thought that while he was stuffing himself, he'd stir up trouble? That geezer, actually brawling with people? Isn't that a joke?

Of course, Ye Qing didn't dare take this lightly. Right now, plenty of people across the land had their eyes on them; this might not be so simple.

He didn't waste time thinking. Ye Qing hurried over to the side of the loft and shouted, "Blood Robe Sect Leader, you and the people of Sha Men stay put. General Helian, bring a few with you and come with me for a trip!"

His words had barely fallen when the second‑floor window swung open and several people jumped down. Leading them was Helian Tiehua. Following Helian Tiehua were the two Elders from the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance, plus Ding Lianshun Yin Xianzi. Lin Tianyou also came down. Not long after, Huangfu Ziyu ran out from behind. She already looked much more refreshed—the Innate Nine Diagrams clearly could restore one's spirit quickly.

Everyone had already heard the waiter's report while they'd been upstairs, so once they came down, no one said much. They simply followed the waiter and rushed toward the front.

The dining area up front wasn't far from here. When they ran over, the hall there was a total mess, with the boss standing in the middle. Seeing Ye Qing and the others arrive, he immediately ran over with a wry face and said, "Sir, you… what are you people doing? I'm just a tiny business, how can I survive this kind of wrecking? What on earth is that old gentleman of yours? Why did he have to provoke people for no reason? Look how they smashed my place—I'm ruined this time!"

Ye Qing understood that all this shouting from the boss was basically him fishing for money. But Ye Qing didn't have the time to deal with him now. He scanned the surroundings and frowned. Judging from the damage here, a master must have struck earlier; otherwise there's no way it'd be wrecked to this extent. What on earth really happened? Why would Old Chen go and provoke some master?

"Where did they take that old guy?" Ye Qing asked in a low voice.

The boss didn't answer Ye Qing at all. He just beat his chest and cried, "Aiya, I'm done for this time. I only just had this restaurant renovated, and now… now it's all finished in one go…"

"Where'd all this nonsense come from? We're asking you something!" Ding Lianshun shouted angrily. The boss's nagging annoyed him to no end.

The boss froze for a moment, looking a bit surprised—he hadn't expected Ding Lianshun to have such a fiery temper. Just as he was deciding whether to get angry, Huangfu Ziyu had already smiled and walked over, casually placing a pouch on the table. "Boss, here's a hundred thousand. Should be enough to cover your losses, right?"

The boss's face lit up with wild joy. He snatched up the pouch and peeked inside, then quickly said, "Enough! Enough! More than enough!"

"Is that so?" Huangfu Ziyu smiled again and suddenly snatched the pouch back, leaving the boss stunned.

"You… you…" The boss stared at Huangfu Ziyu in confusion, not sure what she meant.

"That old gentleman just now is our friend. If we manage to rescue him, we'll cover all your losses here—this hundred thousand will be all yours. But if we can't save him, then I'm afraid it's a no‑go." Huangfu Ziyu weighed the pouch in her hand. "So how do you want to play this?"

Hearing Huangfu Ziyu, everyone else couldn't help but chuckle. It had to be said, when it came to dealing with people like this boss, Huangfu Ziyu had way more experience than the rest. The others were Peak Masters, but none of them had as many tricks as she did.

"They just took off heading north!" the boss blurted out at once. "That old gentleman of yours got hauled off with them. If you rush after them now, you'll definitely catch up!"

As soon as the boss finished, Ye Qing and the others sprinted out of the hall and went to start their cars. Seeing this, the boss hurried after them, shouting anxiously, "Hey, I told you which way they went—what about my losses?"

"I already said: only after we bring our friend back will we cover your losses," Huangfu Ziyu replied. "We haven't even rescued him yet. You just pointed a direction; who knows if we can catch up? Of course we can't give you the money now!"

The boss quickly said, "Don't worry, you'll definitely catch up!"

"That confident?" Huangfu Ziyu shot him a glance. "That's hard to say. There are so many roads to the north—who knows which way they turned? If we pick wrong, there's nothing to chase."

"No mistake!" The boss glanced around, then lowered his voice. "Because their tires, I… I slashed them."

"What?" Everyone turned to stare at the boss in unison. That was actually good news.

The boss put on an innocent face. "They didn't just trash my shop—they beat up my staff too. One look at those vicious mugs and I knew they wouldn't pay a dime. So when nobody was watching, I quietly… slit their tires… They can still drive for a bit, but they won't get far—soon the car will be out of air."

Ye Qing and the others exchanged looks, then all gave the boss a thumbs‑up at the same time. The guy had actually done them a solid—catching up to those people now would be easy.

"Nicely done!" Huangfu Ziyu said. "Once we bring our friend back, I'll throw in another hundred thousand for you!"

"Huh?" The boss's jaw dropped. This sudden windfall clearly left him a bit dazed.

Ye Qing and the others scrambled into their cars. Just as they were about to drive off, Ye Qing suddenly remembered something and stuck his head out. "By the way, you didn't slash our tires too, did you?"

"Uh…" The boss scratched his head awkwardly. "How about… you take my car instead? But if you're using my car, you'll have to leave the money here as collateral."

Everyone almost fainted. No need to ask—they knew their own tires had been slashed by this boss too. Luckily Ye Qing asked in time, or they'd never have caught up.

Huangfu Ziyu tossed an entire pouch of cash to the boss, who was overjoyed and immediately threw his car keys to Ye Qing. The boss drove a car worth a bit over two hundred thousand, but he wasn't worried at all. After all, Ye Qing's group was leaving their own cars here as collateral—Ye Qing's car was worth much more than his. He wasn't afraid they'd vanish. Besides, with another hundred thousand coming, he was making a killing.

Ye Qing and the others piled into the boss's car and sped north in pursuit. After around ten minutes they left the small town. Outside the town there was only one road; follow it for about ten kilometers and you'd finally hit a fork. They drove along that road, and less than five kilometers out they spotted five or six cars parked by the roadside. Several people were crouching by each vehicle, apparently patching tires. Others were standing around cursing nonstop, no doubt swearing at whoever had slashed them.

Seeing those people, Ye Qing and the others exchanged a glance inside the car. Ding Lianshun and Yin Xianzi opened their doors first and slipped out, cutting straight into the fields by the road. With their incredible Qinggong, the two ran forward through the fields, ready to circle quietly around to those cars.

The rest stayed in the car, slowly driving closer. As they moved up, they carefully observed the people in and around the vehicles, trying to locate Old Chen first. In chaos like this, the key was to rescue Old Chen early so the enemy couldn't use him as a hostage.

Ye Qing drove as he watched. He still hadn't spotted Old Chen, but he did see someone else he absolutely hadn't expected—Old Wang Ba!

The old bastard was sitting in one of the cars, his eternally unchanged center‑parted hairstyle now a bit disheveled.