Returning to Fuan Alley, there were few people left, thanks to Li Kuiran's contribution, all those who loved watching the commotion were scared away.
Only the Daoists, monks, and a few constables remained outside Fuan Alley, preparing for a ritual-like ceremony.
Seeing Qin Yuesheng appear, the Qin family's hospital guard immediately approached.
"Young Master, you finally came back, were you hurt?"
Qin Yuesheng shook his head, "I'm fine, but that guy got away."
"Some constables have already gone after him, but they haven't returned yet."
Qin Yuesheng chuckled inwardly, given the swift pace he and Li Kuiran had, they vanished without a trace, how could these constables who weren't even at the Outer Forging Realm possibly catch up?
"Young Master Qin, I notice your martial arts have improved during these days you haven't been seen, just now your speed dazzled me. Forget your servants, I couldn't even see your back."
Lu Juncheng hurriedly stepped out of the carriage, offering Qin Yuesheng some sincere but exaggerated praise.
"It's a small matter, no need to spread the word about it." Qin Yuesheng waved his hand and said.
Since the place was now deserted, the two naturally didn't need to stay in the carriage to watch the commotion, so under the protection of a group of hospital guards, they headed towards Fuan Alley.
As they approached, Qin Yuesheng was able to clearly see this renowned alley of Cyan Yang City that had been highly praised.
This was his first time seeing Fuan Alley, and he noticed that the entrance of this alley was somewhat narrow, requiring one to walk a certain distance inside before it gradually widened, its structure quite peculiar.
Even now, with the clear sky and bright sun shining, standing outside Fuan Alley, Qin Yuesheng felt a chill permeating him, causing his body to feel uncomfortably.
Three Daoists and two monks were outside Fuan Alley, each setting up altars and performing rituals, Daoists on the left, monks on the right, neither interrupting nor interrupting the other.
A few constables stood nearby guarding, in case someone tried to disrupt proceedings.
Among these constables, one especially drew Qin Yuesheng's attention.
This person was eight feet tall, handsome, extraordinary in bearing, even in the plain constable attire, his distinctive and majestic aura couldn't be hidden.
Although Qin Yuesheng wasn't quite versed in facial recognition or observation techniques, he could clearly feel this person's uniqueness.
Damn, he's so conspicuous.
Even in a sea of people, he's definitely the one who'd catch everyone's eye in an instant.
"Hiss, his aura is too strong, even my aura as the young master of the Qin family can't compare to his." Qin Yuesheng couldn't help but mutter to himself.
"Shen Lang." Lu Juncheng, however, didn't dwell on it, directly shouted toward the constables.
Immediately, the constable whom Qin Yuesheng had been observing turned his head, seeing it was Lu Juncheng, he quickly strode over.
"Brother Lu, why do you have time to come today?" Shen Lang smiled and said.
"Well, I heard something happened again at Fuan Alley, so I came specifically to check the commotion, who would have expected to encounter a notorious thief."
Lu Juncheng extended his hand, "Let me introduce, this is the future patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yuesheng, Eldest Young Master Qin."
Shen Lang looked towards Qin Yuesheng and cupped his hands, "Young Master Qin."
"No need to be so polite, the two of you seem quite familiar."
Lu Juncheng patted Shen Lang's shoulder, "He's my childhood friend, a few years older than me, had it not been for his family's decline, he wouldn't have ended up running around as a constable at the yamen.
Let me tell you Young Master Qin, my childhood friend is formidable, with exceptionally high martial talent since young, at twelve he could beat three to four adults, displaying the courage to catch tigers and slay pythons, after mingling around at the yamen for a few years, becoming a Chief Constable would definitely be no problem."
"Such prowess should join the army and create achievements, becoming a general, what use is being a Chief Constable? Just guarding this little bit of Cyan Yang City, handling trivial matters?" Qin Yuesheng smiled, slightly bewildered.
Just as he shook his head, Qin Yuesheng's peripheral vision inadvertently caught sight of a spot in the distance, where a silhouette seemed to be half-revealed.
However, as Qin Yuesheng shifted his eyes towards it, there was nothing there.
"Shen Lang, every time your yamen has an incident you call monks and Daoists, do they work or not? My brother had an incident not too long ago too, how is this situation still embarrassing?" Lu Juncheng asked.
Shen Lang chuckled, "That's the decision from above, whether or not it works, at least the people feel more at ease seeing someone perform rituals, wouldn't they?"
Qin Yuesheng looked at the two altars outside Fuan Alley, there was a Daoist temple and a Buddhist temple nearby Cyan Yang City.
The Daoist temple was West Qi Mountain Temple where Daoist Qingfeng resided, located to the south outside Cyan Yang City.
The Buddhist temple was Cold Mountain Temple, located to the west outside Cyan Yang City.
Generally, whenever the people of Cyan Yang City needed rituals, they would invite the Daoists or monks from these two places.
On one side, the Daoists waved peach wood sword flying through talismans and flames, on the other, the monks rang bells and recited scriptures, beating wooden fish energetically, both sides were positioned like opposing sides but neither showed any special reaction within Fuan Alley.
Having observed for a while, the initial curiosity to watch the commotion had long faded, Qin Yuesheng felt bored and decided to leave.
Lu Juncheng still had matters to discuss with Shen Lang, so he stayed, lending his carriage to Qin Yuesheng to use, knowing Qin Yuesheng's had been crushed by Li Kuiran's stomp and couldn't carry passengers anymore.
Upon returning to Qin Mansion, Cao Zhengchun was already waiting outside the gate for Qin Yuesheng.
"Young Master, I've arranged everything for collecting and burying the corpses in Baihe Village, they're buried in Cyan Yang Ridge outside the city, a place with beautiful mountains and waters, a feng shui treasure ground."
"Alright." Qin Yuesheng nodded, then walked into the mansion, Cao Zhengchun immediately followed, not walking in line with Qin Yuesheng, but rather three steps behind.
"Do you know Li Kuiran with Swallow Step?"
"I know, he's ranked ninety-sixth among the Jiangnan Hundred Soldiers List, a notorious thief, usually indulging in arson, murder, and plunder, infamous."
"Where can I find this Jiangnan Hundred Soldiers List? I want to take a look at it."
"If you need it, young master, I can go fetch it now. This book is compiled by the Divine Calculation Celestial Secret Pavilion and is available at major bookstores."
"Go get it quickly and deliver it directly to my room."
"Yes."
Cao Zhengchun's speed was quite fast. Before Qin Yuesheng had been seated in his room for long, Cao was already presenting a stack of books, clearly more than what Qin Yuesheng had intended.
"What are these?" Qin Yuesheng puzzled.
"You wanted to read the Jiangnan Hundred Bandit List. I thought you might also be interested in 'Hero Record of Jiangnan' and 'Jiangnan Hundred Soldiers List,' so I brought them all for you," Cao Zhengchun explained.
"Thoughtful! You're broadening your path," Qin Yuesheng nodded in satisfaction. Having a clever subordinate who can infer other things from one is exactly what he needed.
The Jiangnan Hundred Bandit List is a very famous book in the Jiangnan region.
It records a hundred ferocious bandits who bring disaster to the people, along with their likenesses, martial arts styles, and preferred weapons.
It's essentially a compilation of wanted posters, ranked from one to a hundred based on strength, with the higher ranks being stronger.
The Li Kuiran, nicknamed Swallow Step, whom Qin Yuesheng had slain, was only ranked ninety-sixth despite being an Outer Forging Martial Artist, showing how strong the ones ahead were.
But these bandits dared not show off and wander everywhere, as there were many masters in the martial world, and quite a few heroes took it as their duty to punish evil, so one could never be sure when they'd face a deadly battle.
'Hero Record of Jiangnan' records some famous heroes in the Jiangnan region, including some who had long been famous and others who were just beginning their careers in the martial world.
However, the introductions and text about these new heroes are very brief, not comparable to the well-known heroes.
"Liu Mao, a person from Dongping County, skilled with a pair of golden melon hammers, single-handedly killed three street hooligans who violated women, just starting out."
Reading out the feat of the new hero on the last page of the Hero Record of Jiangnan, Qin Yuesheng fell into silence for a moment.
So strong! A single person killed three street hooligans!
Qin Yuesheng couldn't help but furrow his brows. Even such feats were enough to get onto the Hero Record of Jiangnan, so as someone who had slain the ninety-sixth significant bandit, Swallow Step Li Kuiran, shouldn't he count as a hero too?
Interesting, interesting.
"Young master, this Hero Record records many masters as well as many newcomers, without rank, just meant to familiarize people with them. If you're interested in ranking, you should check this 'Jiangnan Hundred Soldiers List,'" Cao Zhengchun said, having somewhat guessed Qin Yuesheng's thoughts.
"The Hundred Soldiers List talks about weapons, what does it have to do with ranking?" Qin Yuesheng asked, flipping open the Jiangnan Hundred Soldiers List.
"Young master, weapons are used by people. Even the most formidable Divine Weapon in the hands of an ordinary person can't defeat a grandmaster wielding a wooden stick as a sword. The weapons in the Hundred Soldiers List all have master owners; seeing the weapon is like seeing the person."
Qin Yuesheng turned to the first page of the Hundred Soldiers List.
One.
Sword, Plum Blossom Cold Snow.
Owner, Shangguan Feixue.
Realm, Inner Power, specifics unknown.
Accompanied by an image akin to a child's drawing.
That's the data on the top weapon of the Hundred Soldiers List.
Pitifully sparse.
Qin Yuesheng flipped through a few more pages, discovering that information on powerful masters was indeed scarce, but after the fiftieth rank, the details became more comprehensive.
One hundred.
Spear, Flood Dragon Returning to the Sea.
Owner, Tang Bao Ruyi.
Realm, Outer Skin and Bone Forging.
Martial Arts: Flood Dragon Flipping Sea Spear Skill.
Origin: Tang Manor.
Ninety-nine.
Bow, Hundred Times Nine Turns.
Owner, Li Tianle.
Realm, Outer Skin and Bone Forging.
Martial Arts: Hitting the Target with a Dunk Shot Technique.
Origin: Beggar.
...
Generally, the weapon owners on this Hundred Soldiers List are all Outer Forging Martial Artists.
After browsing for a while, Qin Yuesheng learned that the Outer Forging Realm is divided into three sub-stages: Hammering Muscles, Forging Bones, and Refining Skin. His improvement through the Iron Shirt could be counted among the Refining Skin stage.
As the saying goes, internally cultivate breath, externally train muscles, bones, and skin; the three stages of Outer Forging correspond exactly to the latter half.