"Qingyu knew that he couldn't hide it anymore, so he had to say:"
"Linghao was too arrogant, going as far as to reclaim Quan Shiyou's Jing Xing Zhu. I couldn't accept that, so I told a disciple of Shuang Henzong that Qu Lian had been killed by Ding Huan. It just so happened that I encountered him in Yan Yue City."
Guan Fei said coldly:
"How did Qu Laozhang die? Both Gugua and Liucaozhang are very clear, it was because they were poisoned by the Tuan Jiao Gan."
"You, who has just cultivated qi, can actually know that Qu Laozhang was killed by Ding Huan. Ding Huan is just a cook. How could he kill off Qu Laozhang?"
Qingyu hurriedly said:
"I'm helping you, Sister. Whether it was Ding Huan who killed him or not, Ding Huan disrespected the Qiong Laozhang and should be punished."
Guan Fei felt a glimmer of disappointment in her heart:
"Qingyu, do you know how we survived? It was Ding Huan. If it hadn't been for Ding Huan, not only us, but even Lao Gugua and the Qiong Zhiwu wouldn't have survived. So, how can you defame Ding Huan?"
Qingyu said disbelievingly:
"Sister, Ding Huan is just an ordinary cook. If he died, it's not a big deal."
Guan Fei did not continue speaking, and Qingyu in front of her was no different from an ordinary mortal.
"If it weren't for me bringing her to the Daoist realm, she would have lived out her days in the mortal realm."
Before, she only knew that Qingyu was very astute and could also act in accordance with the situation.
Now she understands how profoundly she was mistaken.
At this moment, Guan Fei thought of Qingyu's behavior on the road and once when she wanted to abandon her and follow Qu Laozhang's group.
More importantly, she recalled what Ding Huan said to her when he was leaving.
"Miss Guan, be careful with the woman servant by your side. In the future, if anyone tries to harm you, it will definitely be this ungrateful woman."
...
Ding Huan stopped with Yan Mei and Lao Li at the gate of an ancient city.
After such a long time of studying the formation arts, with the help of formation flags, Ding Huan himself could set up a level-one formation.
So he immediately noticed that the old city had no protective formation.
Since there is no protective formation, it means that there are no powerful cultivators living here.
Above the city wall of the old city, there were a few characters written: Xifeng City.
There is a yellow ancient path outside the city, which extends to who knows where. Some vehicles pass by, and the hooves of beasts run, stirring up a sky full of yellow sand.
This made Ding Huan remember a line of poetry, "The ancient road, the west wind, and the thin horse."
"Huan brother, I feel this place is quite good."
Yan Mei also felt that this place was relatively safe. Although there were many people passing by, it seemed that there were few who could pose a threat to them.
Ding Huan made a quick calculation, and found nothing wrong. Moreover, the result of calculation in this place was slightly clearer.
This indicated that there were very few powerful cultivators in this place.
"Very good, this place will be our future home."
Ding Huan agreed with Yan Mei's view and led the way into Xifeng City. He wanted to find his way to build a foundation, there was no need to go to a Daoist city that was full of spiritual energy, as long as it was quiet and no one disturbed him.
Upon entering the city, a sense of dirtiness, disorder, and squalor met the eyes.
The streets were littered with garbage and feces, and conflicts between passersby seemed to be inevitable at any moment. Within a short period of time, Ding Huan had witnessed three fights.
Though no one was killed, each fight ended only after someone had been injured.
What surprised Ding Huan was that regardless of how fierce the fight on the street was, it always ended spontaneously.
There was no official or peacekeeping soldier. By the way, it seemed that there were no city guards when they entered the city.
"It looks a bit chaotic," Yan Mei whispered.
Ding Huan smiled and said, "If there is a peaceful and clean city, how could we dare to live there?"
Yan Mei thought about it and realized that he and Ding Huan were now both in the shadows.
"Huan brother, I have some true profession coins. Let's buy a house first."
Yan Mei patted his backpack and thought that it was finally useful.
Ding Huan shook his head: "Your true profession coins may be worthless here. Here, the transactions should all be in small crystal stones."
He had scanned with his spiritual awareness long ago and noticed that transactions here were all done in small crystal stones.
These crystals are some that are only as big as the tip of the nail, only a quarter of the size, and can also be used for trading. The power of broken crystal stones here is like that of the broken silver in a certain era in Huaxia.
"Ah..." Yan Mei's expression was somewhat disappointed. He had no intention of trying it out.
Ding Huan said it couldn't be used, so it definitely couldn't be used.
"Is there a house for sale here?" Ding Huan walked into a housing agency.
"Yes, we have all kinds of houses. As long as you are a citizen of Zhuoxing Emperor's country, you can sell houses." The clerk was very enthusiastic.
"If you're not a resident of Zhuoxing Emperor's country?" Ding Huan asked.
The clerk shrugged: "Then you can only rent it. I also have houses for rent, the price is very cheap."
"Then what's the best way to become a citizen of Zhuoxing Emperor's country?" Yan Mei on the side asked.
"I have an introduction here, a crystal bean." The clerk handed a book to Ding Huan.
Ding Huan didn't have a crystal bean, and he didn't want to break his Zhan Sheng Crystal Stone. If someone saw that it had just been broken, it would be disadvantageous to him.
His long-standing caution made Ding Huan extremely careful in his actions.
He simply scanned with his spiritual awareness and got a general understanding of the situation.
Xifeng City is one of the city-states of Zhuoxing Emperor's domain, which is protected by the major Daoist sect, Daxing Sword Sect.
Ding Huan could guess what it was from the text inside, even though it was just a face-saving statement.
In fact, it was a place where many cultivators who couldn't advance in their cultivation within the Daxing Sword Sect, and who were also older, had nowhere to go after leaving the sect.
They built some domains in places with insufficient spiritual energy under the name of the Daxing Sword Sect.
Among these domains, most of the people who survived were ordinary mortals, cultivators with low cultivation levels, elderly cultivators, cultivators who couldn't advance in their cultivation, and those who couldn't join the sects. …
In a few words, it can be said that the social bottom of Daoist realm lives in these domains.
The cultivators who establish domains within the control range of the Daxing Sword Sect must have been disciples of the Daxing Sword Sect.
If these disciples have made some contributions to the sect, the sect will provide them with some assistance, which is also what they mean by "protection".
In reality, if anything really happens, as long as it doesn't involve the Daxing Sword Sect, there will usually be no strong cultivators coming.
To become a resident of the Zhuoxing Emperor's domain, one must make contributions to the domain or become a public servant of the Zhuoxing Emperor's domain.
Seeing this, Ding Huan immediately saw a loophole. He naturally didn't take the introduction, instead saying:
"I have this book. I want to know if one can automatically become a citizen of the Zhuoxing Emperor's country after applying for the patrol city guard position?"
"That's right, that's right. I saw that too. When we entered the city, we saw that the city lord's mansion is recruiting patrol city guards. We can apply for the position."
Yan Mei immediately understood Ding Huan's thoughts.
Ding Huan did see the recruitment of patrol city guards when they entered Xifeng City. Now, seeing the introduction of Zhuoxing Emperor's domain, he felt that he had found a loophole.
The clerk chuckled and put away the book:
"Friend, should you be new here? Do you know that the patrol city guard position is always recruiting?"
"Because of the high mortality rate?" Ding Huan naturally understood the clerk's meaning.
The clerk snickered:
"High mortality rate? Let me tell you, no one can survive a month after becoming a patrol city guard."
The city lord's mansion is not only recruiting patrol city guards, but also patrol city guard leaders, because the current patrol city guards have no leader. The few remaining patrol city guards are too afraid to come out.
When they do go out, it's mainly to clear the bodies from the streets."
After saying these things, the clerk looked at Ding Huan with a smile that was neither completely happy nor unhappy: "Are you still brave enough to apply for the patrol city guard position?"
Ding Huan finally understood why Xifeng City was so chaotic.
It turns out that it's currently a state of anarchy, without any government, organization, or management.
But the shops can still operate, indicating that there must be some implicit force behind them.
"Then the city lord?" Ding Huan asked in confusion.
The clerk shook his head, saying no more.
Ding Huan knew that the clerk probably wouldn't continue to say anything, so he thanked him and left with Yan Mei and the old sixth.
"Huan brother, should we still go and apply for the patrol city guard position?" Yan Mei was somewhat worried about the high mortality rate. Who wouldn't be concerned about it?
"Go, why not?" Ding Huan said matter-of-factly.
"To survive in such a place, wanting zero risks is impossible. This is Ding Huan's experience with survival."
It's better to survive in this social bottom than to sneakily survive among powerful cultivators. It's better to fight for a quiet place with real blades and swords.
"Huan brother, after we get the job, are we also going to stay indoors like those old patrol city guards?" Old Six couldn't help but say.
Yan Mei looked at Old Sixth disdainfully and said, "This guy is brainless."
If they could stay at home and not come out, how could such a good job possibly come to them?
...
The city lord's mansion.
"The city lord's mansion is a sacred place. Uninvited guests, please step aside." Just as Ding Huan approached the door, he was blocked by several guards.
This was the first time Ding Huan had seen the city guards within Xifeng City since his arrival.
Based on Ding Huan's experience, Xifeng City's surface seems to be chaotic without government or organization, but it should be divided into various interests areas. This place might be the city lord's mansion's interest area.
Ding Huan pointed to the sign on the side: "We are here to apply for the patrol city guard position."
There was also a recruitment sign for patrol city guards here, it seemed that Xifeng City was indeed in a hurry to recruit patrol city guards.
"You want to apply for patrol city guards?"
The guards seemed to have heard a huge joke.
After a moment, they seemed to recover and said, "Alright, just go directly to the patrol city guard station."
"Is there no need to report to the city lord's mansion?" Ding Huan asked.
The guard mocked, "If such small matters also require the city lord to be present, then the city lord will not be able to rest every day."
From the words of the other party, Ding Huan discerned two things: first, that the city lord was indeed hiding in the city lord's mansion and paying no attention to the lives of the residents of Xifeng City, which confirmed his guess was correct.
Second, the mortality rate of patrol city guards is really high.
Before Ding Huan could ask again, the guard pointed his hand: "Do you see that? The gray building is the patrol city guard. Go there to report."
