Chapter 253: Collecting Interest

Chapter 253: Collecting Interest

"Actually, from the very beginning, I had planned to flee outright. After all, whether or not I had Muzi Tang’s resources, I was confident I could develop a complete system of Nimitai martial arts."

"But when I just figured out that the one who sold me out was Mo Jin, the other side had already found an excuse to expel me from the Moke army and began sending people to hunt me down. That’s why I was forced to investigate their background."

"Where are we going to flee? You’ve just returned from the southwest, and going back would be inconvenient. Why not leave the imperial territory altogether? I’ve already given up my position—surely they wouldn’t go to such lengths to chase us into the culpable districts?"

Zhao Qingxia smiled nonchalantly, but the flicker of resentment and frustration in his eyes was clearly seen by Li Jun.

"What are you thinking, kid? Who said we’re fleeing?"

Ma Wangye slapped Zhao Qingxia’s head, grumbling, "With you, Ma Ye, and Li Shu here, how could you suffer such injustice?"

With a single remark, Ma Wangye reduced Zhao Qingxia by two generations and, in passing, took advantage of Li Jun, an act that instantly drew two angry glares.

There was also the Xiu Chun sword, its blade half-drawn.

"Hey hey hey, we’ll each mind our own business, each handle our own affairs."

However, after Ma Wangye’s playful jab, the indignation in Zhao Qingxia’s chest was somewhat alleviated. He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "If we’re not fleeing, what else can we do? Are the four of us supposed to clash with others?"

"Clash?" Li Jun shook his head with a cold smile, "Publicly, he sold military supplies; privately, he stole your position. After finally seizing a moral high ground, how could it end with just a clash? We must raid his household."

Raid his household?!

These words left Zhao Qingxia bewildered. Having severed the Huangliang dreamscape to avoid tracking, he only knew that Li Jun had faced the siege of the Buddhist and Taoist forces in Chongqing, but he didn’t know the specifics of what followed.

He subtly glanced at Ma Wangye, his brows twitching in a peculiar way, and used the unique communication method between the spirit and host to ask, "Old Ma, be honest—what exactly did you and Jun Ge do in Chongqing?"

"We didn’t do much, just cleaned up the Sichuan-Yunnan gambling ring, bullied the bald monks, and chopped a few members of the Hunghu rebels."

Hunghu appeared in Chongqing too?

Zhao Qingxia’s heart stirred, and he hurriedly asked, "Did you win, or did you flee?"

Ma Wangye’s tone was ambiguous, "Probably a draw. You’re still young; some things, even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand."

"What’s Jun Ge’s current rank?"

"Jin Yi Wei."

Zhao Qingxia couldn’t help rolling his eyes. "I know that. I’m asking about his level."

"Oh, Xiao Qi."

Zhao Qingxia choked on his breath, momentarily speechless, then spoke anxiously, "Then why raid his household? Can’t you persuade him?"

"You’re worried he can’t handle Mo Ke?"

Ma Wangye’s tone carried an odd undertone, as if he were suppressing laughter.

"It’s not about whether he can win. My point is, for a Muzi Tang position, it’s not worth risking lives over a grudge!"

In Zhao Qingxia’s view, though the four coastal guards were the Moke family’s base, the Jin Yi Wei’s influence here wasn’t strong.

But if Li Jun’s current official rank was high enough to mobilize the coastal guards’ Jin Yi Wei, leveraging their omnipresent intelligence network, they might still have a chance to gather evidence of Mo Ke violating Tianzhi Hui’s rules and strike at its high command.

Only then might they have a sliver of hope.

But Li Jun was now merely a Xiao Qi—hardly someone to fear, even for Zhao Qingxia himself.

To put it bluntly, a Jin Yi Wei Xiao Qi? And an off-site one at that!

What kind of joke is this?!

"To put it bluntly, you don’t trust your Li Shu either."

Ma Wangye’s tone was mocking. As the "Ming Gui" Zhao Qingxia had awakened himself, he understood Zhao Qingxia as well as the tapeworm in his belly. The other’s concerns and worries were crystal clear to him.

"What Uncle? That’s my sworn big brother!"

Ma Wangye laughed, "Then let me ask you—when have you ever seen a Jin Yi Wei Xiao Qi so easily overturn an entire Moke squad, plus a Moke Xu seven’s deputy commander?"

Just as Zhao Qingxia was about to continue persuading, he froze at Ma Wangye’s words, his eyes betraying deep doubt.

That’s right—back in Chengdu, that Jin Yi Wei chief, Yu Kou, was only a Dao Ba.

Not to mention that Moke seven, even this Moke squad could have surrounded him to death.

"You’d better think carefully—if Li Jun were still just a Wu Qi bachelor, how could we have left Chongqing unscathed?"

Zhao Qingxia finally realized, stammering, "What’s Jun Ge’s current rank?"

Ma Wangye raised his right hand in front of Li Jun, bending three fingers, leaving only the thumb and pinky extended.

"Wu Liu, Zhi Ge. Isn’t Mo Jin using his connections to crush you? Is your Li Shu’s strength enough to settle this?"

Before the stunned Zhao Qingxia could speak, Ma Wangye turned to Li Jun with a sly grin, "This brat thinks we can’t beat them, and he’s been whispering to me all day, asking me to convince you to flee together."

This scheming old bastard!

"Misunderstanding!"

Zhao Qingxia let out a wail, suddenly lunging forward in a sliding tackle, arms outstretched to embrace Li Jun’s legs. "It’s this junior who failed to recognize Jun Ge’s greatness!"

This reaction was understandable.

After all, Wu Liu and Mo Liu were at the same sequence level, but one specialized in combat, a pure sequence unaffected by any Huangliang dreamscape.

The other combined research, manufacturing, and command abilities—a composite sequence.

Though the Moke sequence’s combat prowess was formidable, compared to the Wu Dao sequence, which made "fighting" their livelihood, it was impossible to measure solely by sequence grade.

One could fight; the other could only fight. How could they compare?

At the very least, Zhao Qingxia remembered vividly that during their first encounter, even wearing Moke armor, he had nearly been killed by Li Jun.

The gap between the two sequences’ "actions" was unimaginable.

Unless Li Jun went mad and single-handedly challenged the entire Tianzhi Hui’s Moke army. Otherwise, Mo Ke would sleep in Moke armor for the rest of his life, standing guard with one eye.

Li Jun ignored the two fools before him, using the scabbard to send the charging Zhao Qingxia flying.

"You mentioned four people—what’s the fourth?"

"That..."

Zhao Qingxia hesitated, rubbing his chest, before slowly saying, "Wu Ya Duo Duo."

Li Jun frowned, "She’s involved too?"

"Yes, the Tianzhi Hui knows Wu Ya Duo Duo was recommended by me, so Mo Jin has been sending people to monitor her movements."

Zhao Qingxia’s face showed guilt, "Last time in Weihai, during the investigation, I let a survivor slip, exposing Duo Duo, and she was expelled under the guise of 'non-combat research' for participating in murder."

As for Wu Ya Duo Duo, Li Jun had no romantic feelings. Only the obligation and responsibility left by Wu Ya Hua’s "entrusting an orphan."

After all, if Li Jun hadn’t obtained the martial arts injector left by Chu Wu Men, he might have died under Qing Cheng Group’s wanted order long ago.

"Can we reverse-locate the opposite position?"

Li Jun kicked the still-breathing Moke seven at Zhao Qingxia’s feet, his voice chilling, "They’ve hunted you for so long—it’s time they paid some interest."