Chapter 159: Framing Someone

In Western terms, Long Cheng practiced Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts. In The East’s terms, Long Cheng cultivated both Spirit Arts and inner energy. But no matter what, his mastery in magic had reached the Celestial Knight level. His mental power was hundreds of times stronger than ordinary people’s, and his memory far surpassed that of regular folks.

While Lin Qi was still trying to remember where those gold bars and boxes were thrown, Long Cheng spent only the time it took to drink a cup of tea to retrieve all the randomly discarded items. Silently wrapping the boxes tightly with a large piece of cloth, Long Cheng said thankfully, “Luckily it’s late at night, and there was no one on the road. Not a single gold bar was picked up. It’s just that these boxes were discovered by a few Dragoons, which was a bit troublesome.”

Lin Qi glanced sideways at Long Cheng and didn’t bother asking about the fate of those Dragoons. There was no smell of blood on Long Cheng, so he hadn’t killed anyone this time. But those unlucky fellows definitely didn’t have good fortune; they were probably lying in a ditch somewhere by now.

Shaking his head, Lin Qi tightened his clothes and wrapped his face firmly with a black cloth. He led Long Cheng quickly toward Southern City.

While walking swiftly through the night, Lin Qi muttered and complained, “My father said, the more important a person is, the busier they are. Because you are important, there are many things you need to handle. I’m starting to feel that I’m an important person too. Look how busy I’ve been these past two days!”

He sighed heavily and whispered, “Tomorrow I still have to meet Tixiang and help him come up with plans to deal with those two women. The day after, I have to help him in a gambling match. Well, I hope the people he’s betting against are all beginners, so I can win more!”

Long Cheng’s eyes flickered, and he laughed proudly, “If you can help me deal with Jiang Yong and the others, I’ll help you win all their possessions. You should know, I’m not just popular with the ladies in pleasure houses. I have swept through nearly a hundred gambling dens, big and small, in the Imperial Capital.”

Lin Qi was suddenly overjoyed. He wasn’t very confident about helping Tixiang with the gambling match. Although he had developed decent gambling skills at the Golden Rose Lounge, he had never played against masters in the Imperial Capital. He couldn’t be sure if those betting against Tixiang would also hire outside help. If there were a few experts among them, wouldn’t his reputation as Lin Qi be ruined?

Having Long Cheng step in was the best scenario.

Immediately, Lin Qi enthusiastically patted Long Cheng’s shoulder and laughed triumphantly, “Deal! Win as much as you can, go all out to win. Take every coin possible. Tixiang won’t want the money we win; you and I can split it fifty-fifty. So, who is this Jiang Yong? Why did I see that his complexion looked off, and the way he walked seemed strange too?”

Long Cheng laughed. He chuckled, his eerie laughter drifting in the night wind like the cackle of a death-announcing crow. Lin Qi inexplicably got goosebumps all over and glared fiercely at Long Cheng. Only then did Long Cheng sneer and say, “Jiang Yong? He’s the trusted aide of my rival.”

After thinking for a moment, Long Cheng shook his head and said, “That rival of mine is the blood brother of the master I serve. They have many brothers, but their relationship is bad, very bad. Each one wishes all their brothers were dead. Since I’m contending with that rival, Jiang Yong coming here is undoubtedly to ruin my plans.”

He sneered coldly a few times and said grimly, “As long as I can’t return to the Imperial Capital within a year, they stand to gain too much. Heh, Lin Qi, it’s lucky I met you.”

Bumping Lin Qi with his shoulder, Long Cheng said very sincerely, “Luckily I met a troublemaker like you. You want to rob Jiang Yong and his group, right? You want me to be your hired muscle? But getting news about Jiang Yong is great, really great. Otherwise, I would have suffered a huge loss!”

Lin Qi just smiled. He also felt his luck was really good. As for what Long Cheng said about the brothers of the master he served, Lin Qi found it somewhat unimaginable—blood brothers, why would they wish for all their brothers to die? Lin Qi was still too young; there were too many things he hadn’t experienced, so he couldn’t understand such matters.

Long Cheng suddenly grinned mysteriously and said, “Do you know what Jiang Yong is? He’s a eunuch!” He said this in the common language of the Eastern Continent.

Lin Qi looked at Long Cheng curiously. Eunuch? The word sounded somewhat sinister. What was a eunuch?

After Long Cheng explained in detail and specifically what a eunuch was, Lin Qi felt chills running down his spine. He quickly clamped his legs together tightly, and even his walking posture became similar to Jiang Yong’s. He gasped in shock and whispered, “How can there be such people? Good heavens, our Emperor would never use ‘Castratos’! It’s too cruel, simply…”

Long Cheng sneered and said, “Your Emperor? Come on, in your barbarian monkey country, the Emperor has only one wife. If he wants a few lovers, he has to do it secretly. Would he need eunuchs? But our Emperor, well, he has three Empresses, nine royal concubines, 108 principal consorts, 360 secondary consorts, and over 7,000 female officials, both high and low rank. Without eunuchs, the palace would be chaos.”

Smacking his lips, Long Cheng sighed lightly and said, “Lin Qi, your dream is to live in a golden palace while alive and be buried in a golden tomb? Do you know my dream? My dream is to get promoted, continuously promoted. When my official rank is higher than my father’s and my father-in-law’s, they won’t be able to control me anymore. Then I can take all the girls on the Beauty Ranking Scroll home, and every year, the new beauties on the scroll will be brought home by me too.”

Taking a deep breath, Long Cheng sighed with immense yearning, “I want to have more women than our Emperor!”

Lin Qi rolled his eyes at Long Cheng. Were women really that great? Shaking his head, Lin Qi smiled and said, “Well, let’s work hard together then. I’ll earn more gold, and you go charm more women… Hmm, we’re here!”

Long Cheng, lost in boundless daydreams, suddenly snapped awake. Ahead was a messy network of small alleys. At night, these alleys were pitch black, and nothing could be seen. No one would be out in such a place at midnight. Lin Qi cautiously entered the alleys with Long Cheng. It took them over an hour to find the small courtyard marked on the map.

The rest was left to Long Cheng. Under the cover of strong winds and heavy snow, he slipped into the courtyard, stuffed the box into a storage cabinet in the kitchen, and then quietly retreated.

The snowstorm provided the best cover for Long Cheng. No one detected his actions.

The two quickly left the scene. The heavy snow completely covered any traces they had left.