"If that rat isn't eliminated, I'll feel uncomfortable!" Hu Hai frowned. "Damn it, if I find out who it is, I will definitely kill him!"
Chen Siyu said, "There is more than one informant, I'm afraid."
"Haih..." Hu Hai sighed and looked at Chu Li. "That can't be helped. It's hard to tell what's going on in the minds of other people. Who knows what they're thinking, we treated them so well but they are just insatiable. This is just how a human being is!"
"They had already been harboring evil intentions ever since they joined the association," said Zheng Gongming. "No matter how well we treat them, it'll be useless…Clan Leader Hu Hai, how should we find the informants?"
"Check out who was on duty on that day and interrogate each of them!" Hu Hai scoffed.
Chen Siyu furrowed her long and thin eyebrows.
To do so would hurt their feelings and also be detrimental towards their morale. Moreover, it may not be effective. If it was that effective, then there would be no informants in the first place.
Zheng Gongming stroked his beard without saying anything. He was a Guardian and this was not within the scope of his job, thus he kept quiet.
Chu Li said somberly, "Leave it to me… I will search through the association once and try to catch the informants."
"If Master Chen Li were to do it, then it would be great!" Hu Hai guffawed. "But…"
Master Chen Li's martial arts was formidable, but uncovering the identity of the informants was not about killing or fighting. No matter how good his martial arts was, it would be useless. To solve this matter, he required a meticulous mind and profound understanding of the enemy. He needed to able to observe their facial expressions in order to detect if there was any out of the ordinary. These informants were vulpine and treacherous people. It would not be easy to catch them off guard and make them show their true colors.
Chu Li said, "I'll try."
"How are you going to do it?" Chen Siyu asked in a soft voice.
Chu Li answered, "Let them come in in groups of 10 and give them some money, this will reassure them."
"Just like that?" Chen Siyu asked.
Chu Li continued, "Let them tell you their names and you will say a few words to them."
"…Okay." Chen Siyu slowly nodded.
Hu Hai widened his eyes, opened his mouth to say something but he bit his tongue.
Chu Li turned his head to look at Hu Hai and Zheng Gongming.
Zheng Gongming rose to his feet and smiled. "Association Leader, since you are fine now, we will go back and arrange the matter. Would it be alright to give each person ten taels?"
Chen Siyu pondered for a moment. "We'll reward them according to their performance. If their performance is good, give them more. If it is just average, then give them less. This will stimulate their fighting spirit."
"Very well, then those who are just average will be given 10 taels while those with outstanding performance will get 20 taels, what do you say?"
"That's fine." Chen Siyu nodded her head. "Thank you, Guardian Zheng Gongming and Clan Leader Hu Hai for your help this time."
"Association Leader, it was our negligence." Zheng Gongming shook his head and sighed. "Association Leader, please punish us!"
"Neither of you are at fault. It's because he's stronger than us. All of us couldn't handle him." Chen Siyu smiled and waved her hand. "Guardian Zheng Gongming, Clan Leader Hu Hai, go and take care of this matter first and once you are done, go and rest. The both of you are exhausted because of me!"
"…Then we will take our leave, Master Chen Li." Hu Hai gave a fist salute and bade farewell.
Chu Li smiled and gave a fist salute too.
There were only three people left in the house. Jiang Chunyue went out quietly to wait outside.
Chen Siyu sighed. "I was really at a loss…"
Chu Li waved his hand. "You should have called me earlier! …has everything been all right recently?"
"It was okay, I've finally found my feet as the Association Leader." Chen Siyu's face broke into a smile.
"It was hard-won." Chu Li gave a sigh of admiration.
To be able to come this far was no easy feat for Chen Siyu:- for a woman to become the Association Leader. Even if Hu Hai and the rest of them had believed in Chen Siyu, the other members of the association may not have believed in her. Their opponents would often use this fact to tease and mock them, to make them feel ashamed.
Chen Siyu shook her head and sighed, revealing a tired look. "I never thought it would be so difficult."
Chu Li said, "Everything is difficult in the beginning. After overcoming this hurdle, it will be plain sailing."
"This assassination attempt, I fear, will not be the last," told Chen Siyu to Chu Li. "My martial arts isn't strong enough, and this is a fatal weakness."
Chu Li nodded.
After all, it was the strongest that ruled in this world. If your martial arts was not strong enough, nobody would acknowledge you no matter how high your status and authority. Otherwise, the imperial court would not be so vulnerable as to need the help of the Public House to deal with people from the martial arts world.
"It's a pity that my aptitude isn't good enough." Chen Siyu sighed.
Chu Li pondered without saying a word.
There were only two ways he could help the others improve their martial arts: one was to help them to cultivate it through practice, and the second was to give them Torso-Refining Pills. Both processes, however, were slow and required time. There were no methods that allowed them to improve their martial arts overnight.
There was only one more method, which was to use the Energy Pill, but this method was too extravagant. No matter how much money he had, it still would not suffice.
The Energy Pill was a Spirit Medicine possessed only by the Public House. It was made using a unique formula that outsiders do not know of. However, to Chu Li's knowledge, the Spirit Herbs required to produce the pill were not rare and their cost was not that high too. The process of its production, however, was very difficult.
Unlike usual pills, it required a special technique to be refined. For usual pills, as long as the correct proportion of herbs was put together, cooked, and finally, mixed with honey, a pill would form from the mixture.
The Energy Pill, however, was different, its ingredients had to be added in a sequence according to their composition. Moreover, the process required meticulous attention and a certain degree of heating. Its refining and production process was very difficult and half of it depended on one's experience while the other half relied on luck. Even when cooking it is almost impossible to reproduce a certain taste, not to mention decocting medicine.
Now it seemed that if he wanted to develop his own strength, he would require lots of Energy Pills. He would have to try making them. Once he returned home, he would need to plant some Spirit Herbs and see whether he could use his past life's experience to analyze the composition of the Energy Pill. He would have to try refining and producing them on his own.
As a physics researcher, it would not be difficult to analyze the ingredients used to manufacture the Energy Pill. The suitable tools needed to produce the pill, however, were not easy to make.
Chen Siyu said, "No one can help another person in their martial arts training, I will work hard to cultivate my martial arts."
Chu Li said, "I'll think of a way. There might not be that many martial arts masters that specialise in training others, but don't worry!"
Chen Siyu let out a soft sigh, there was a constant feeling of powerlessness, and its source was her weak martial arts.
Chu Li, through his Omniscient Mirror, saw people by twos and threes enter the residence of Xu. They arrived at the front of the main hall and stood there. Their number increased little by little, all of them stood quietly in front of the main hall.
The Startling Cloud Association did not become the number one association in the Cloud State Town by chance, these people's spirits were far better than ordinary people, each one of them exuded an overbearing air.
Xu Anxia, outside of the house, came to report about the people that had assembled and asked if the silver was to be brought.
Chen Siyu said, "Let's go to the main hall."
She stood up and Jiang Chunyue quickly came over to support her.
Chen Siyu waved her hand, indicating that she did not have to help her. Her internal injuries were healed and the short moment just now had given her time to recover some of her strength. She walked steadily and slowly to the main hall and sat down in an armchair.
Next to the armchair, there were several large boxes open and inside the boxes were rows and rows of silver ingots, glittering with silver light.
Chu Li sat at a remote location, he did not wish to reveal himself in front of the members of the association, his presence was not to be discovered.
Chen Siyu glanced at him. Although she was curious, she knew Chu Li had his own reasons for his actions, thus she did not ask. Chen Siyu waved her hands. "Let them come in, in groups of 10."
"Yes." Xu Anxia turned and gave the order.
A group of 10 people, with their heads held high and their chest puffed out, entered the hall and gave their names haughtily.
Chen Siyu smiled and nodded, gave them the silver ingots, and then waved to let them retreat.
She turned her head to look at Chu Li and Chu Li nodded his head.
Chen Siyu was relieved. She waved her hands again and the next group of 10 came in, giving their names one by one. Chen Siyu smiled and nodded, studied them for a while and gave out the silver ingots. She said a few encouraging words and waved her hand indicating them to leave.
There were 520 people and they gave out a total of 8,000 taels.
Chu Li used the Omniscient Mirror to look at their thoughts.
A human being, in the face of silver, will feel excited and the feelings that were hidden in the depths of his heart will emerge. Chu Li, at a glance, would know who was faithful, who was disloyal and who harbored malicious intent.
When all 520 people had been seen, Chen Siyu was a little tired. She let Hu Hai and the others go back home to rest as Chu Li was here with her and this made her feel at ease.
Hu Hai and the others had confidence in Chu Li's martial arts. They left with curiosity—can Chu Li really find out who were the informants with this method?
Chen Siyu went back to the bedroom. Chu Li gave her a piece of note, written on it were 10 names.
Chen Siyu frowned and looked at the list, she looked up and asked, "All of these are the informants?"
Chu Li nodded slowly.
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