"Brother Wang, this is the imperial city..." Zhu Pigu said hesitantly.
Wang Baidan glanced at Zhu Pigu with a strange expression.
He had met stupid people before, but never anyone this stupid!
And with that, the Zhu family expected their Wang family to help?
He'd have to discuss this with his father later!
However, he still needed Zhu Pigu for the current stage, as certain matters were inconvenient for him to handle himself.
"At least we can find out where they live, right?" Wang Baidan patiently explained. "They can't stay in the city forever, can they?"
"I see! Brother Wang is indeed brilliant!" Zhu Pigu flattered him, then gestured to a guard beside him. "Do you know what to do now?"
The guard nodded and followed Ye Fan and the other two.
This guard of Zhu Pigu's was cultivated by his family.
The situation in the Daliang Kingdom was quite delicate.
In general, cultivators were mostly concentrated in cultivation sects. The imperial family and officials did not have many cultivators in their households.
There were two reasons why the imperial family was not replaced by the cultivation world.
First, most cultivators were not interested in power struggles; seeking immortality was their ultimate goal.
Second, the imperial family had a top-tier enshrinee.
And the strength of the enshrinee was just slightly greater than all the top cultivators in Daliang combined.
Simply put, they couldn't defeat him...
The situation in Daliang and other surrounding countries was similar, with minor variations.
Officials' families like the Zhu family would support some cultivators.
Some were cultivators who did not fare well in the cultivation world.
Some were from powerful families who produced suitable individuals for cultivation and sent them away.
However, most of these individuals never returned: the allure of power struggles was far less than seeking immortality.
Some were powerful figures who sent orphans with spiritual roots and talent for cultivation, and then they worked for them.
Of course, it was not impossible for some officials or powerful figures to accidentally discover other people's children suitable for cultivation and then help that child become an orphan.
As long as the deed was done cleanly, this child would be considered a naturally orphaned cultivator.
These orphan cultivators did not need to reach very high realms; as long as they were comparable to those from powerful families, they would be brought back.
Firstly, the cultivation world dared not casually provoke the imperial family, as it was not worth the trouble.
Secondly, powerful families would not easily engage in life-and-death struggles, as interests were paramount.
However, this only applied to the top tier of powerful figures.
For minor officials, there were plenty of ways to bring about their ruin.
In short.
As long as that top-tier old enshrinee of Daliang Kingdom was still around, the delicate balance between various factions would not be broken.
And the cultivator guard sent by Zhu Pigu was of the orphaned cultivator type.
Not only was he extremely loyal, but he was also exceptionally skilled in stealth and tracking.
The two elders walked with Ye Fan towards home.
Perhaps it was due to the great exhaustion from the acupuncture earlier, but Master Xie Yan started dozing off while walking.
Even his left eyeball was not darting around as much...
The Second Elder was also nodding off as he walked.
Although being pricked by over a thousand needles earlier had made him feel very comfortable, after the needles were removed, he felt inexplicably tired.
He just wanted to return to his bed and sleep soundly.
The moon had hidden behind the clouds, and the night grew increasingly dark.
After Ye Fan sent the two elders back to their rooms, he returned to his own.
Since reincarnating in this life, Ye Fan had maintained a relatively regular schedule, and soon fell into a sweet sleep.
He didn't know if his two senior sisters upstairs were cultivating or sleeping, but their room was also completely dark.
Zhang San strode into the courtyard.
The darkness hardly affected his vision; he could see everything in the courtyard clearly.
Damn it!
The target this time was truly f**king rich!
A house like this would probably cost at least a thousand low-grade spirit stones!
Although the salary Zhu family offered him was decent, a thousand low-grade spirit stones was still a considerable sum for him.
Despite his envy, he still had to do his job.
Zhang San released his spiritual sense to probe and nodded to himself.
The strongest beings in this courtyard were those three Golden Core realm auras; the risk factor was zero.
If it weren't for being in the imperial city, he might have even planned to act directly!
Zhang San retreated outside the main gate, preparing to report to Zhu Pigu.
Suddenly, a fire broke out in the neighboring residence, and soon the area became noisy.
"Fire! Fire!"
Zhang San cursed his bad luck and hurried away.
If he didn't leave soon, the patrol team would arrive.
There were Nascent Soul realm cultivators in the patrol team. If he happened to encounter them, he might be exposed.
As he had predicted, a patrol team arrived shortly after.
The squad leader made a hand seal, and a large wave of water instantly extinguished the flames.
He then looked suspiciously at Ye Fan's residence.
Although Nascent Soul realm cultivators were not considered extremely high within the imperial family, they were not insignificant in the patrolling circles.
And he had previously worked under Liang Meikong, so Liang Meikong had specifically given him a few instructions.
He hadn't said much, just that his friends lived here, and two of them were female cultivators coming for the grand competition.
This was why he found it strange.
According to the Second Prince, the strongest cultivators here were those three Golden Cores.
Yet he clearly sensed the residual aura of a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.
"Captain, we've found out," a subordinate interrupted his captain's thoughts. "It was caused by a servant in this house accidentally knocking over a candle; it's an accidental event."
"Alright, let's get back to work," the captain ordered and led his subordinates to continue patrolling.
Perhaps he was overthinking it.
Maybe someone had paid a late-night visit?
After all, they were important figures personally looked after by the Second Prince; it was normal for them to have friends.
Zhu Manor.
Zhu Pigu paced back and forth inside, deep in thought.
Zhang San stood respectfully beside him.
"Knock, knock, knock." A knock sounded at the door.
"Enter," Zhu Pigu replied indifferently.
"Young Master, we've investigated," a servant walked in. "That residence used to belong to a wealthy merchant. Later, when the merchant returned to his hometown, he sold it to another wealthy merchant."
Zhu Pigu's eyes lit up.
He had been a bit worried before, wondering if that kid had some background, which was why he had found Wu Mingqian to act.
After all, Wu Mingqian's actions would be considered personal actions of a cultivator.
Although everyone was supposed to abide by unwritten rules, there might be one or two who didn't.
If the matter was exposed later, it would be a dispute between the cultivation world and the imperial family.
Wu Mingqian, despite his questionable character, was quite trustworthy.
There was an instance where he had taken on a mission to assassinate a close relative of the Prime Minister in a fit of madness, which had led to a fierce dispute.
In the end, due to the failed assassination and insufficient evidence, the matter was left unresolved.
After all, the imperial family's old enshrinee's main role was deterrence. If he were to act, various factors would be involved, making it very complicated.
Now, it seemed there was no such concern.
Just an outsider with no background; getting rid of him would be easy, right?
"For the next few days, you will be responsible for keeping an eye on that kid. Once he leaves the city, report to me immediately!" After figuring things out, Zhu Pigu instructed Zhang San.
Zhang San responded and flickered away.
However, this time, he did not go directly to Ye Fan's place but returned to his own room to make preparations.
The previous incident had happened so suddenly that he hadn't had time to prepare.
As he was now, he looked like a novice who had just begun Qi Refining.
At least, those Nascent Soul realm guards, without close inspection, would not be able to detect anything suspicious.