For a solid four hour period, Ren Baqian explained the events that had happened as well as the future arrangements for Tianjing Basin. He almost dozed off while listening to the reports of his subordinates before dragging his tired body to his courtyard.

Upon entering, he saw two huge hunks with black rings around their eyes charging at him with their mouths wide open.

"Hey, you guys still remember me!" Ren Baqian laughed heartily as he lifted up Gun Gun over his head. He rubbed his face on its furry body, leaving a stench on his face.

Although these two little chaps wouldn't go hungry, there was no one to give them a bath every day.

He put Gun Gun aside, patted Tian Tian on the head, and thought about going back to his room, but four paws clung onto his legs. It seemed like the two little chaps also missed him very much.

After managing to shake them off with great difficulty, Ren Baqian went to his room to take a look. It was very clean as it was well taken care of after he left, and he was in dreamland the moment his head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lian Liang from the Department of the Army casually brought along some subordinates and went to the area where the people from Tianjing Basin had just settled down.

Qin Chuan saw him socializing when he stepped out of the palace and just smiled at him. It was inconvenient to reveal his ident.i.ty. Plus, Lian Liang's plan was in line with his intentions.

To put it bluntly, Tianjing Basin had been in upheaval for many years. Although it was defeated now, the army was most disapproving of them and would be sure to deal them some sticks first.

Before his return, Ren Baqian had conveyed a message via the radio station to build several small brick houses near the city wall for the Tianjing Basin people to stay in.

It was more like a street that was totally enclosed. There were high walls surrounding it, it had one entry and exit point, and it was guarded by soldiers.

This was because other people would find trouble with them since the people of Tianjing Basin had been discontent for many years. The empress had to make a special trip here, and even though these people followed the empress back, many other people would still create trouble for them.

For this reason, security guards were arranged to patrol nearby every day to prevent trouble from erupting.

However, the security guards could stop ordinary people, but couldn't halt people like Lian Liang. Not only did they not stop him, they stood far away and just watched with interest.

When Lian Liang and his followers reached the entrance to the street, he took out a broad saber that was identical to the one used by Qin Chuan and planted it in the ground.

He shouted, "All of you come out!"

After hearing this roar, those commoners who had traveled thousands of kilometers and just settled down here started trembling with fear.

A startled Qingyun Sword jumped out from a courtyard, landed at the street entrance, and greeted Lian Liang.

"Sir… What's going on?"

Even though he expected trouble, this came faster than imagined. Although he didn't know who this guy in front of him was, seeing that the security guards were looking on expectantly, he felt rather wary.

"Stop talking nonsense! I'm here to fight. You have caused so much trouble all these years, and now, you have come to Lan City, which is my territory. I would like to know where your courage came from."

"Sir!" Qingyun Sword was desperately trying to think of a solution.

One way was to suffer the humiliation in silence, but they had just come here and were already being hara.s.sed. He would be looked down upon and have a harder time in the future if he were to do so.

If he fought with him, he was afraid he would anger the other party as well as other aboriginals. This would also be troublesome in the future.

"Come on! Let me have a fight first and sample the sharpness of my saber!" Lian Liang didn't care about what Qingyun Sword was thinking and stabbed his saber at him.

"Sir, you are so heroic!" The followers behind him laughed loudly to egg him on.

If Ren Baqian or Tong Zhenye were to hear this, they would be overwhelmed with joy. "If a leader sets a bad example, it will be followed by his subordinates." The words of Qin Chuan, the Minister of War, were being used by Lian Liang.

In a panic, Qingyun Sword pointed his sword. The sword on his back emitted a loud clang, followed by a flash of white light directed at Lian Liang.

Stroke by stroke, Lian Liang swept away the sword with his saber and slashed his way across energetically and rapidly. After six or seven strikes, there were cras.h.i.+ng sounds as the pillars on both sides of the street were cut down, causing the signboards to fall to the ground.

Qingyun Sword was forced to retreat repeatedly under the fierce onslaught.

His swordplay changed as his sword divided into seven parts and swam like fish toward Lian Liang.

"Just these tricks? They are only so-so!" Lian Liang said contemptuously. He swept his saber around his body as the wind blew heavily down the whole street.

Clang, clang, clang… A series of loud clashes was heard as six long swords were cut to pieces in midair and one other sword tumbled in midair before moving back and dropping toward the head of Qingyun Sword.

Lian Liang took a deep breath and roared like a wild beast as his muscles bulged. He jumped more than ten meters high and aimed his saber at the head of Qingyun Sword. It looked like a tiger pouncing on a goat, and the attack seemed unstoppable.

Air turbulence accompanied each thrust of his long saber.

Clang! The sword flew off after blocking the saber for a short moment. Sweating profusely, Qingyun Sword kept retreating and was forced from the entrance to the middle of the street.

This aboriginal official of unknown origin was terribly strong and not much weaker than the king of slaughter, Xi Wanya.

Qingyun Sword was seriously injured in his previous clash with Xi Wanya and couldn't execute some of his sword repertoire. However, the other party had no intention of stopping until he was cut down.

"Noisy!" A voice was heard coming from a courtyard nearby. A short black rod flew out from the courtyard and slammed against Lian Liang's saber. His sense of superiority was instantly deflated.

Instead of panicking, Lian Liang laughed.

"There's actually an expert here? Who cares which expert you are—come and receive some punishment from my saber!"

The long saber then flew like a dragon toward the courtyard.

A white-haired old man who looked like a beggar appeared outside the courtyard and complained, "My sleep was disturbed by your commotion!"

His short rod touched the powerful saber of Lian Liang.

Ding!

The long saber of Lian Liang was completely smashed. The short baton then hit his chest, which sent him flying and cras.h.i.+ng into a courtyard.

"You can fight among yourselves, but don't make so much noise that it disturbs my sleep." Li Fu returned to his courtyard after smas.h.i.+ng Lian Liang's long saber with his baton and sending him flying.

"Senior, thank you for your help." Qingyun Sword cupped his hands to express his thanks.

"What has it got to do with me? It was because his voice was too loud and disrupted my sleep." The voice of Li Fu came from the courtyard.

"Sir!" Lian Liang's guards hurriedly ran across and found him lying in a pile of rubble. He was spitting out blood and looked broken-hearted as he held the handle of his saber.

"My saber! Aaaaah!"

"If you make noise again, I will not hit your saber, but I will hit your egg!" The voice of Li Fu came from far away, and Lian Liang was hopping mad.

If other people came to make trouble and hit an iron wall, they would be ashamed and resentful. However, Lian Liang was indifferent and accustomed to being beaten by Qin Chuan. The problem was the loss of his precious saber.

All of his property was donated to House Yunyan, so his most valuable possession was this saber! He was bankrupt after this fight!

…

Not long after, Qin Chuan received the news that Lian Liang was injured. He was surprised and then laughed.

"It looks like there's an expert in this trashy place. I'll let him see whether my saber is sharp or not!"