Why do I have so many masters?

Sun Baocai lazily opened his eyes not long before he heard noise outside the door, loud and disruptive, preventing him from settling down to sleep again. His initial drowsiness was loudly dispelled.

Tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep, he grew somewhat annoyed, quickly got up from bed, pushed open the window, and looked in the direction of the noise, without caring whether he had a clear view or not, he shouted:

"Why are you so annoying, disturbing people's morning dreams so early..."

"All this noise, is it for a funeral?"

As soon as he shouted, he saw the source of the commotion — a large crowd of people gathered, all armed, some even stained with blood, which immediately dampened his voice out of fright. Upon a closer look, he realized these people wore armor — were they not the city guards?

He wondered what had happened to cause such chaos and why they were blocking the area. Could someone in the courtyard have caused some trouble?

Sun Baocai's curiosity was piqued. Seeing there was excitement to be had, his sleepiness vanished.

He remembered this courtyard because when he came here initially, he hesitated for a long time before choosing the house he now lived in over that courtyard. Who would have thought that within a year, the ownership of that courtyard would change hands twice.

If he had bought it back then and waited for a good price, he could have made a substantial profit by flipping it.

These days, he thought about this as if a large sum of bright, white silver had grown wings and flown out of his pocket, a feeling that scorched his heart with regret, which is why he remembered it clearly.

He still recalled the previous buyer of the courtyard, a rather tall and thin man with a cold aura. The current owner, however, was a young man with a seemingly kind demeanor, but he seemed unwell, hugging a Great Qin heater every day to keep warm.

Still, it was evident that he was truly wealthy.

The clothes, the heater — tut-tut, they must have cost several hundred taels of silver, right?

Just as Sun Baocai was letting his imagination run wild, he saw the vermilion door open from that direction, and a young man stepped out, the new owner of the courtyard.

Jie Hongfu frowned, scrutinizing the young man who had just stepped out.

This was an unfamiliar face. Having worked in Balman Royal City for thirty years, Jie Hongfu was extremely familiar with the area. He hadn't noticed when such a person had arrived in the past few days.

Moreover, the man was a young Great Qin native.

Aware of potential danger, Jie Hongfu raised his vigilance, carefully observing him.

He appeared to be just over twenty years old, dressed in fine silks, seemingly a bit lethargic, with no energy, his hands tucked into his sleeves, hugging a heater in his arms. His complexion was pale, even excessively so, with a faint trace of a blue hue.

Although wary, his facial expression was quite ordinary as he gestured politely, saying:

"Young brother, I am Jie Hongfu, Colonel of the West City Guard, apologizing for the disturbance."

Considering the tasteful nature of the courtyard and the man's affluent attire, Jie Hongfu maintained a polite demeanor, regardless of his personal opinions.

Wang Anfeng nodded, scanning the crowd, noticing there were many people, over a dozen strong men, with his new neighbor among them, surrounding one individual, who was desperately clutching his arm tightly bound with a cloth strip.

Even so, the person's wound continued to gush dark, bloody liquid, and their face bore a shifting tinge of blue, clearly suffering from a vicious poison. Without treatment, the outcome looked grim.

Panic-stricken, Wang Anfeng's neighbor, Pu Yongyan, said urgently:

"Brother Wang, my friend here has been poisoned. Each day, I can smell the aroma of medicine from your courtyard. Could you possibly have anything that can counteract the poison?"

"Don't worry, we'll pay the market price!"

He was full of regret, having just stepped outside and encountering an incident involving violence among Jianghu people, where his friend was injured. The rest of his companions had not survived. Had they not arrived in time, his brother's life would have also been lost.

Despite this, he was struck and poisoned. The antidote powder they carried was useless, and ordinary doctors would likely be ineffective as well. In his panic, he suddenly remembered his wealthy neighbor.

Being a person of means, and having smelled the aromas from the yard, he thought he might as well try his luck, rushing over with the wounded person without even wiping the blood off their weapons.

In the past month at the Shaolin Temple, Wang Anfeng had intensely studied the Parthian language. Martial Artists, upon reaching the Middle Third Rank, learn much faster, but in a month, he could barely understand it. Pu Yongyan, being anxious, spoke rapidly and Wang Anfeng only understood after a few moments.

To outsiders, it seemed like this Great Qin man hesitated, thought for a moment, before finally stepping aside to make way. Relief washed over the group, and they hurriedly expressed their gratitude as they entered the courtyard.

Wang Anfeng naturally examined the pulse, identifying a potent poison swiftly claiming lives. However, it posed no problem for him. After entering, he reached back and retrieved a Detoxification Pill he had practiced making at the Shaolin Temple from his Buddha Beads.

Pouring it down with warm water, in just a short while, the blue tint on the wounded man's face vanished, and the dark blood from the wound returned to a normal hue. Everyone let out a big sigh of relief, leaving behind a piece of silver. After profusely expressing their gratitude, they headed to Pu Yongyan's home to change clothes, clean the wound, and apply golden sore medicine to stop the bleeding.

After dealing with this pile of matters, the guards finally relaxed, only to be hurried off to attend to the bodies of the poisoned victims, not even having time for a drink of water.

Pu Yongyan and Jie Hongfu remained on the spot. Seeing the others leave, Pu Yongyan glanced toward the man beside him, his brow furrowed, as he asked:

"Old Jie, are you sure they did it?"

Jie Hongfu nodded, a hint of gritted teeth in his voice, as he replied:

"How could it be fake?"

"They even used Tianqing Powder. These people, huh, taking advantage of the recent... recent chaos, all sorts of demons and monsters are springing up."

Pu Yongyan was slightly stirred inside, asking:

"Could it be someone deliberately set them up?"

Xie Hongfu shook his head and said: "Absolutely impossible!"

"I went there early and had a fight with him. His martial arts style was indeed of the Tianqing Elder's lineage. In his final panic, I took the opportunity to cut down his token. If you don't believe me, look."

As he spoke, he reached into his chest, but his face showed a slight blankness.

Pu Yongyan curiously said, "What happened?"

Xie Hongfu extended his right hand, with a hint of uncertainty and surprise, and said:

"How... is it gone?!"

"I clearly put it away."

"??! Could it have fallen out?"

"Impossible. It was with my purse, and besides, such a large token was in my chest. If it had fallen, I would have noticed."

......

Wang Anfeng watched them leave, playing with the silver in his hand. This bar of silver weighed about three taels, quite substantial for a consultation fee. He tossed the silver up and down, placed it on the table, and smiled at the black-and-white little beast:

"Now I can buy you more meat."

"It's just a pity we're not in Jiangnan, otherwise there would be fish to eat. But, Tianqing San, Tianqing Elder... what kind of monster is this? King Balman's two sons are fighting back and forth; is this another opportunist coming out?"

If Xie Hongfu and the others were present, they would be greatly shocked. The quiet room they were in was originally built for Pu Yongyan's ancestor to cultivate inner strength, almost soundproof, yet this pale-faced Qin person could hear them clearly from such a distance. How could they not be surprised and lose color?

Wang Anfeng turned his hand and took out a sky-blue token, frowning slightly.

He didn't keep the owner of this token with him. The troublesome part was the appearance of this so-called 'Tianqing Elder' and the information revealed in the words of the two Balman Iron Guards next door.

He had previously underestimated.

Due to King Balman's sudden death, the Jianghu situation in the Parthian Empire, at least around King Balman's territory, had quickly become chaotic. Everyone tried to gain the most from it, which added too many variables to Wang Anfeng's original plan.

However, after a short while, Wang Anfeng's frown slightly relaxed, and even a slight smile appeared on his face. He casually placed the token on the table, sat on a chair, and the black-and-white little beast jumped onto his lap.

He gently tapped the table and only smiled at the cat:

"It's a hassle, but it can also be considered good news."

"Since both princes are using people from Jianghu, very good, this way, I can use some more daring methods. I remember Zinu Hu Xuan'er is now in King Balman's mansion."

"If I can enter the royal mansion and make contact openly, it would naturally be the best method."

He frowned and pondered:

"However, I can't approach proactively; that would certainly not be valued and could easily arouse suspicion."

"I must find a way to make one of them approach me proactively."

Wang Anfeng murmured to himself, gently stroking the little beast on his lap and suddenly laughed:

"Little guy, do you know what to do now?"

The little beast looked up, bewildered, at him.

Wang Anfeng coughed, then raised his right hand, tapped the table, lifted his chin slightly, his expression turning calm and untouched, coldly saying:

"A straight hook without bait, only the willing will bite."

Then smilingly asked, "How is it? Now it's time to use the master's method."

"Although I'm not skilled, I've learned a bit just from being by the master's side regularly."

No one was around, so his words were quite free. The black-and-white little beast just stared at him blankly, then its pair of golden-red vertical pupils instinctively shifted to his left side, its expression seemed more obedient, its voice soft and flattering.

Wang Anfeng's smile stiffened slightly.

Then he realized something, stiffly turned his head bit by bit, and saw a young Taoist in a blue Taoist robe with wide sleeves and cloud patterns standing behind him, seemingly holding back a laugh. Then the Taoist made a fist, put it under his lips, gently coughed to forcibly suppress the smile, and warmly reassured:

"Cough cough..."

"You're pretending quite convincingly."

Wang Anfeng: "..."

PS: Here is the second update for today......

Three thousand one hundred words.

Wang Anfeng: "Let me die."