Chapter 336 - 335 "Retired" Persons, News

Confirmed that the other party was a "retired" person from the Sima family, Li Jing spoke calmly.

"I am currently investigating an extremely severe case, in which three inspectors were victimized, and I need your cooperation."

Sima Yuxuan was pretty unhappy.

Upon hearing these words unexpectedly, his face changed a bit.

Three inspectors being victimized?

This TM...

Who did it?

Why were they being so reckless?

Damn it! If someone wants to screw themselves over, that’s fine, but why drag others into it?

Ever since Longyu established the inspection mechanism, any case involving victimized inspectors would not be treated lightly.

No wonder the Capital Inspection Headquarters had sent this young man in front of him...

In the territory of the capital, three inspectors had been victimized.

It was no different than slapping the face of the inspection headquarters. The fact that they hadn’t turned the whole capital and the surrounding cities upside down already showed remarkable restraint.

After looking at Li Jing closely, Sima Yuxuan said.

"As this is such a major case, I will naturally cooperate. I may not be very upright living in the Black Market, but I understand the severity of the situation. Could you please put away your Immortal Item so that we can have a proper conversation?"

At these words, Li Jing nodded and waved his hand to recall the Flying Sword Blue Edge.

When he worked on cases.

He always treated people courteously, except for those who deserved otherwise.

Since the man said he would cooperate, there was no need for him to do anything redundant.

Moreover, although most of The Seven Great Families are known to be opportunistic, when it comes to survival instincts, no one can beat them.

After all, besides the slightly special Jiang family, the Liu family also plays a significant role in the commercial sector of the capital, under everyone’s scrutiny.

Any minor problems could result in either being reported secretly by others or even being exposed on the internet.

If mishandled, the entire family could possibly be wiped out.

In a blunt way.

God knows how many people in the capital wish that the Seven Great Families, including the Jiang family, would suffer collectively, allowing the capital to reshuffle.

If they didn’t have survival instincts...

The downfall of the Wang and Lu families serves as a warning.

On the other hand, Sima Yuxuan was relieved after seeing Li Jing putting away his Immortal Item.

Reaching the Seventh Realm of cultivation isn’t easy.

Especially in a behemoth like the Sima family, one of the Seven Great Families, it’s fundamentally difficult.

If he could remain obscure, it wouldn’t matter so much, but unfortunately, he had potential.

The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

It was inevitable for him to work hard for his family.

Being able to "retire" and enjoy his old age was music to his ears.

He could live his own life at ease, not having to worry about the youngsters in his family, and do whatever he liked.

Just two years into his "retirement", he had no wish to be embroiled in a major case unrelated to him and be targeted by the inspectors or get killed.

Considering that Li Jing had found his pawnshop, it was mostly likely to do with the pawnshop. Therefore, Sima Yuxuan clarified.

"First of all, I need to clarify that I don’t have much connection with the Sima family anymore. I have personally opened this pawnshop in Black Market because I like it. I have been operating it for over six years and I’ve always been law-abiding. Of course, being in the Black Market, my pawnshop might inevitably encounter some dirty business. But this..."

Before he could finish, Li Jing waved his hand.

"There’s no need to talk about irrelevant stuff. Whatever business you do has nothing to do with me."

Having said that, Li Jing took out his phone and found surveillance footage of the three inspectors on the street in front of the pawnshop. He handed it over and said,

"The three pieces of road surveillance footage show the three victimized inspectors. They all appeared on the street in front of your pawnshop, seemingly waiting to meet someone. Please see if you recognize them or have noticed anything unusual."

Upon hearing Li Jing’s words, Sima Yuxuan understood immediately.

It turned out that Li Jing came to his pawnshop not because there was a problem with the shop, but because the three victimized inspectors had all appeared in front of it.

With this confirmation, he felt much more reassured.

He didn’t fear anything else.

What he did fear was the case being directly linked to his pawnshop.

Nodding, Sima Yuxuan took the phone and checked the surveillance footage.

The videos weren’t very long, so he quickly finished watching them, then looked at Li Jing.

"I have mostly been watching the store lately. I was around when these three inspectors appeared, but I don’t really remember anything."

After saying this, Sima Yuxuan handed back the phone and continued,

"My shop is located at the end of the Black Market, where there’s always a lot of people coming and going. I usually just stay in the shop, and seldom go out onto the street. I apologize but I can’t provide you with any valuable information in this regard."

Li Jing wasn’t particularly surprised upon hearing this.

After all, some time had passed and Sima Yuxuan’s pawnshops indeed had a large flow of people coming and going. One could not expect him to remember the three plainclothes inspectors who acted no differently from ordinary pedestrians.

Taking the mobile phone, Li Jing pondered for a moment and glanced up to ask.

"As a member of the Sima family, you should know that there are some disciples of the cultivation sects in the Capital, right?"

"Of course."

Sima Yuxuan nodded, saying,

"To ordinary people the existence of these sects might be a secret, but for people like myself, the existence of these sect disciples is nothing extraordinary."

With a somewhat self-satisfied expression, he continued,

"When I was still at the Sima family, I encountered many sect disciples. Even now, having opened a pawn shop, my shops have a stable clientele of sect disciples. These disciples struggle to adapt to society and often have issues with everyday expenses, frequently having to pawn things to maintain their daily expenses. I personally benefitted from interacting with some of these sect disciples. Many of them have chosen my shop when they are short of money here in the Capital and the same goes for Dong Ye City. After all, in both the Capital and Dong Ye, the social circles of these sect disciples are only so..."

After talking at length, Sima Yuxuan’s complexion stiffened, and he awkwardly said,

"My friend, you suddenly mentioned the sect disciples, could it be that this case of the three dead inspectors is related to them?"

"...."

Li Jing.

After their initial meeting,

Sima Yuxuan demonstrated a strong will to live and was quite talkative.

But wasn’t he a little slow on the uptake?

Why else would he mention the Hidden World Sect for no reason?

Considering that his actual age was quite mature, perhaps he had become complacent from years of retirement, Li Jing said,

"Whether it’s related to the sect disciples, I can’t make any conclusive judgments without concrete evidence. However, since you have a steady stream of sect disciples as clients, I may as well fill you in. The three deceased inspectors frequented the Dark Street because the Capital Inspection Headquarters received reliable information that some sect disciples were secretly colluding with people, intending to interfere and seize the assets of the Wang and Lu families."

Upon hearing these words, Sima Yuxuan sucked in a breath of cold air.

While others might not understand, he did.

With the collapse of the Wang and Lu families, their assets have become the root of the current chaos in the city’s landscape.

Only God knows how many people and powers are scrambling to grab a piece of the action amidst the chaos.

But for sect disciples to be involved, it’s pretty outrageous.

They’re dancing on Longyu’s bottom line!

Truthfully, Sima Yuxuan was not surprised about this development.

Despite the restrictions that Longyu had placed on the paths and methods that disciples could choose, they always championed the principle that those disciples were also citizens of this country and granted them many privileges.

For Longyu, these disciples did indeed contribute a lot, and one could even say that their existence was indispensable.

What’s that saying again?

When the woods are large enough, there are all kinds of birds.

Those with ambition and those with funny brains will inevitably come out.

Not only the favored sect disciples, but even within the Seven Great Families, there emerged those whose minds aren’t right?

The collapse of the Wang and Lu families was their own doing.

This was human nature, it was bound to happen.

To put it plainly,

You can’t expect all the disciples to have good brains. The day when they turn the tables on Longyu is bound to come.

After contemplating a bit, Sima Yuxuan said,

"If it really is related to sect disciples, I can provide some useful information. Over the past month, a few batches of unfamiliar sect disciples have visited my shop on Dark Street, pawning off many high-value items in exchange for Spirit Crystals."

"As one of the few businesses dealing with sect disciples, those in the circle are willing to visit my shop, so I’ve set quite a few rules. One of them is that sect disciples must disclose their identity to me to get a more attractive pawn price."

"As for pawn shops, well, you understand. If we can depress the price, we do it as much as we can. If they want a good price, they’ll have to be familiar customers. The rules I’ve set aren’t necessarily to favor the sect disciples, but more because I value the valuable items they have and want to build a longstanding relationship."

After stringing together three segments of speech, Sima Yuxuan added,

"I didn’t pay much attention to anything else. But as for the unfamiliar sect disciples who came this month, I have clear details, even my account book is transparent."

Li Jing listened to his speech, raising an eyebrow with interest.

"Was there a group of three bald men among them?"

"Bald men?"

Sima Yuxuan paused for a moment, then nodded,

"Yes, but not just three. There have been five bald men who have pawned items in the past month. They are from the Demon and Buddha Sect, not stationed in the Capital but in Dong Ye City. They pawned rare spiritual objects worth millions of Spirit Crystals."

"You even know which sect they come from?"

Li Jing exclaimed in surprise.

"Not only their sect, but also their names, their roles in Dong Ye City, all are clear to me."

Sima Yuxuan responded, saying,

"In this business, I must always be vigilant. Giving concessions is for the long run, I don’t like getting fleeced. It’s not like anyone can claim to be a sect disciple with a little bit of insider information and I’d blindly give them such a large discount, right?"

After saying this, he gave a faint smile.

"There’s no foolproof business. If you don’t act cunningly when doing business, you will end up at a loss in the end."

Hearing these words, Li Jing grinned.

Sima Yuxuan’s words were quite shameless.

But, reasonable they were, nevertheless.

Xiaoyu was doing such a big business on the Dark Web Black Market and often haggled over a couple of spirit crystals.

The larger the business, the easier it accumulates.

All these are profits!

Without much thought, Li Jing said.

"Give me a copy of the accounts, only for the last month."

"This..."

Sima Yuxuan looked troubled, and said.

"My friend, that’s a bit unreasonable. It concerns the privacy of customers, which I definitely can’t easily disclose. About those bald guys you just mentioned, I can provide their specific names and identities, but the detailed accounts..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, Li Jing snapped.

"Just cooperate if I say so, don’t yap so much or I’ll report your illegal purchases to the Economic Investigation Unit."

With that, he shamelessly continued.

"Since you seem to know quite a bit about the disciples of the sects, you should understand that the majority of their resources are ’special products’ produced from their regular Secret Realm. Normally, these types of resources are purchased by the official Longyu and are invested in the market at set quantities and sites. At the very least, your business is smuggling, and if there are any violations, it’s enough to make you squat in jail for a hundred years."

"..."

Sima Yuxuan.

Li Jing, this is not martial ethics!

He’s been very cooperative since they met.

Information on the disciples of the sects was also something he confessed of his own accord.

Who would’ve thought that Li Jing would not only fail to understand his difficulties but like a heartless anti-hero, threaten him, a Seventh Realm who’s over a hundred years old!

The most outrageous thing is...

He knew very well that he, as a member of the Major Crime Unit, had no authority to handle this kind of case. Puffing and huffing, he threatened to report him to the Economic Investigation Unit.

Not only is he watertight in his argument, but he’s also shameless.

Speechless, Sima Yuxuan gave him a ’I admit defeat’ look, pulled out a small notebook from his storage space and handed it over, saying silently.

"The account involves numerous disciples from many sects. My friend, be careful and only look for the people you want to find. Don’t overstep and offend people you shouldn’t. Also, I have to keep my pawnshop running, so please don’t go around divulging my secrets."

"Rest assured, I know my boundaries."

Li Jing said casually, took the notebook and had a glance.

As soon as he looked through it, he blurted out.

On just one page of the not-so-thick notebook, there were more than ten names.

Of them, nearly a million spirit crystals were involved in pawn financing.

You need to understand.

This was just the first page!

And it was only related to the disciples of the sects, not counting the pawn transactions of the Present World People.

Sima Yuxuan was merely running a pawnshop, not even a chain store.

Its income was more than ten times that of the business Xiaoyu runs on the Dark Web.

Having put away the account into his storage space, Li Jing took out a Boundary Stone and said.

"Mr. Sima, thank you for your cooperation. Let’s stop here, I’ll contact you again if necessary. By the way, there’s going to be a large-scale operation by the Capital Inspection Headquarters in the Dark Street tonight, you’d better close up early."

Sima Yuxuan naturally didn’t care about the first half of Li Jing’s sentence.

Thanks?

He didn’t see any hint of gratitude in that guy’s attitude no matter how he looked.

However, the latter half of Li Jing’s words successfully made his face change color.

This news came just in time.

Better safe than sorry.

If his shop is caught in the Inspection Headquarters’ operation, that would be embarrassing.

Just as he was about to ask when, Li Jing deactivated the energy storage in the Boundary Stone.

Immediately.

The spatial boundaries disappeared and the two of them returned to the pawnshop.

By this time, Yulian who was in the pawnshop had already finished what she was supposed to do and was waiting silently on the side.

Suddenly seeing Li Jing and Sima Yuxuan return, with no signs of any fight, Yulian was taken aback and then stood up.

Seeing her waiting, Li Jing smiled warmly.

"We’re done here, let’s go, so we don’t disturb his business."

"Okay."

As Yulian unconsciously nodded, her gaze fell on Sima Yuxuan.

Sima Yuxuan responded with a slight smile upon seeing this.

Li Jing, that bastard, he’d prefer not to meet for a second time.

This enchanting Beauty Fox, who was a sight for sore eyes, he wouldn’t mind making a good impression.

As the saying goes.

A man remains a boy till death.

Although Sima Yuxuan was of considerable age, with the backing of his seventh realm cultivation level, age was not an issue at all.

How clever was Yulian?

Her ability to charm the world, she understood it all too well.

With just a glance, she perceived that Sima Yuxuan wanted to please her.

With a slight frown, she silently offered her arm to Li Jing in a manner suggesting she was already spoken for, hanging closely onto him.

Li Jing was currently engrossed in the case at hand and didn’t pay much attention.

Mainly because he was used to being with Yulian.

The women around him knew how to use their strengths, and they were generally open-minded.

The only exceptions were Chen Yuran, who was truly a young person and looked somewhat different, and the relatively young Liu Sisi, who was more conservative before her marriage. The rest were all quite experienced.

Offering her arm as a token of favor, this was a small matter among small matters.

With Yulian leaning over, Li Jing, out of habit, led her out of the pawnshop.

Sima Yuxuan, being old, was naturally astute.

He immediately noticed that Yulian’s taken demeanor was to dissuade him, and she wasn’t paired with Li Jing.

This vixen is quite intriguing. I wonder if I’ll have a chance to meet her again!

Sima Yuxuan’s lips curved upward as he watched the two leave.

When they left, his gaze slowly returned, followed by an abrupt stiffening of his expression.

The shameless youngster Li Jing left with Yulian, leaving him in a room where everyone, from customers to shop assistants, stayed still like pieces of wood, their eyes vacant...

Damn it!

Muttering curses under his breath, Sima Yuxuan swiftly exited the shop.

However, at this moment, where were the two in the street before his eyes?

At this point, Sima Yuxuan was feeling a bit off.

For Yulian to leave without providing a solution, it meant her method could only last for a while. After a bit, the entrapped people in the store should recover.

But while waiting, wouldn’t this affect his business?

Sighing silently, Sima Yuxuan reluctantly returned to the shop, preparing to close up.

Not only could he not continue his business, but if a customer were to see the condition of the shop, he wouldn’t know how to explain.

...

Meanwhile.

In a taxi heading towards Capital Inspection Headquarters from Dark Street, Li Jing took out a Soundproofing Talisman to block the driver’s seat from the back seat, then turned his head to Yulian, asking.

"Xiaoyu, have you made any progress?"

"Yes."

Yulian responded, saying.

"There are a few regular customers in the shop who said they’ve seen at least five unfamiliar bald men this past month. The disciples of the sect you mentioned earlier, Angry King Kong, have been coming to the Dark Street long before. Either the monster you encountered earlier did not tell the truth, or these bald men did not initially linger on Dark Street."

"Hmm, Sima Yuxuan also mentioned to me about the disciples of Angry King Kong appearing around. He said they are disciples of the Demon and Buddha Sect who are cultivating in the present world of Dong Ye City."

Li Jing replied, saying.

"What Ye Liuli said is probably true. The pawnshop is located near downtown Dong Ye City while Ye Liuli’s market is on the other side close to the capital. If these bald disciples of the Demon and Buddha Sect were only here to pawn items and didn’t linger on the Dark Street or contact the Chaos Mob, she might not have heard the news."

Hearing this, Yulian nodded, saying in an unusual tone.

"This Sima Yuxuan even knows what sect’s disciples they are?"

"He’s a ’retired’ seventh realm cultivator from the Sima family, and even held sway over the nation’s capital once. It’s no surprise that he knows this."

Li Jing shrugged, explaining.

"Moreover, he specifically does business with sect disciples in his pawnshop on Dark Street, which earns him quite a fortune."

Learning that Sima Yuxuan was a "retired" member of the Sima family and used unconventional business tactics, Yulian looked surprised and slightly doubtful.

"In that case, the three inspectors who appeared near the pawnshop might not necessarily have been there for a rendezvous. Instead, they could have received a tip and come to stake out the place."

"That’s probable."

Li Jing smiled, then quickly corrected himself.

"To be precise, it’s highly probable."

Yulian has always been sharp-minded.

Having worked with Li Jing on so many cases, she had mostly adapted her thought process to match that of a detective.

Once she got Li Jing’s acknowledgment, Yulian’s eyes sparkled, and she speculated.

"If this is the case, things seem to have simplified quite a bit. It’s likely that during the timeframe when the three inspectors were on the main street in front of the pawnshop, the culprit might have walked into the pawnshop or appeared nearby?"