Stealing The Heavens
chapter-112

The restaurant Wu Qi was about to enter stood over two hundred feet tall. It was entirely built using large gray-green rocks, and looked primitive and simple, without any luxurious decorations. Compared to all other buildings in the Market of Four Seas, it simply looked like a huge stone pole wielded in the hands of a primitive man from the stone age, erected lofty and alone amidst the cluster of beautiful and luxurious potteries, an eyesore to look upon.

Above the entrance of this crude restaurant hung a thick wooden plaque, which was crooked and ragged. Three large calligraphies were engraved on it: Tower of Heroes (英雄楼). Upon the first glance, these calligraphies looked like some scratch marks left behind by chicken claws, messy and extremely ugly. However, if anyone with sufficient cultivation focused their mind and looked right on them, they would be able to discover a thread of formidable spirit hiding behind these calligraphies, a resolute and determined air that vowed to poke a large hole in the heaven.

Hai Yuntian's expression changed rapidly as he noticed Wu Qi was about to enter the Tower of Heroes. He pondered, then quickly called and stopped Wu Qi, saying that he was going to leave them there. But, before he turned and strode away, out of good intention, he whispered a few words of caution to Wu Qi, only then did spin and left hastily.

Watching how Hai Yuntian strode away in a flurry, Wu Qi couldn't help but felt it funny. He told Wu Qi that this Tower of Heroes was a strange place, full of evil influence. Throughout the entire Market of Four Seas, this restaurant was notorious for its messy patrons, as the neighbors would frequently be disturbed with oil fumes, strong scent of wine, and loud clamor. However, it seemed that this Tower of Heroes had a very strong background, as all the official top men in Market of Four Seas were avoiding any conflict with it, and no one in Ji City dared to create any trouble here either.

Once there were some princes and sons of monarchs from random vassal kingdoms who created a disturbance in Tower of Heroes. In the end, their limbs were broken by someone and were thrown out from it. After the event, this Tower of Heroes still opened their door for business as usual, and nothing bad happened to them. Hai Yuntian told Wu Qi that if it wasn't necessary, under no circumstances should he engage in a conflict with anyone in the restaurant.

"This Hai Yuntian is a man with a kind heart." Wu Qi smiled and thought inwardly. He had made up his mind. If he wished to purchase anything here in the future, he would come straight to this man. As for the strong background and those strange events that happened in this Tower of Heroes, Wu Qi knew the answer when he saw the man who threw the wine jug out from window just now - the man was Chief General of Great Yan Dynasty, Jing Ke. With that, it was obvious to him that what kind of background did this Tower of Heroes have.

Perhaps it was because of its notorious fame, although it was the time for dinner, and all other restaurants in Market of Four Seas were packed with people and filled with the aroma of delicious dishes and wine, yet the main hall located on the first floor of this restaurant was empty and quiet. A reception counter was placed near the entrance, and a burly man who looked as strong as a lofty mountain, his body packed with explosive muscles, was seen standing behind it. A butcher knife was in his hand, as he used it to shave off his beard. No matter how Wu Qi looked at him, he found no sign of him being a manager from the ferocious face of this burly man.

On the four corners of the main hall stood a few waiters, who had the same muscular body, running their eyes aggressively around like a pack of wild tigers. Right when Wu Qi stepped into the entrance, these waiters immediately threw their gaze over at him, fierce and stern, and had their eyes moving up and down on Wu Qi. Although these waiters didn't look too attractive, each one of them was an expert of Physical Strengthening tier. Their vision was sharp like a blade. Perhaps, ordinary civilians and merchants would have to suffer an internal injury with just one gaze from them. No wonder there wasn't any patron in this restaurant.

Carefully and thoroughly, they surveyed Wu Qi with their eyes, then these waiters let out a muffled snort. They sent Wu Qi and his companions up to the second floor through the stairs with their glance.

On the second floor was another dining hall, with a few tables loosely occupied. These patrons had the same outfit: They were clad in a dark green soft body armor underneath a long cape, and either a sharp longsword or single-edged blade was seen hanging down from the side of their waist. They were all expert guards from the Imperial Palace Guard. Especially for a few of them, who were guarding near the stairs that led to the third floor, each of them possessed the cultivation of peak Embryonic Breath tier, and had one of their feet stepped into the realm of Gold Core.

Meng Xiaobai and few other men were barred from proceeding further. Only Wu Qi was allowed to continue his way up to the third floor.

The Tower of Heroes that stood two hundred feet tall only consisted of three floors. The third floor of it was a spacious and open space that stretched three hundred feet in both length and width, and one hundred and fifty feet from the floor to the ceiling. A fire pit was prepared right in the middle of this large space. Above it, a few steel chains were hanging down from the ceiling. A huge wild buffalo was hung from them and was being roasted. Its skin had turned golden brown, and a rich and fragrant aroma was coming out from it. Inside the fire pit, a small array was built, with a piece of fire element energy stone in it. A stable and constant flame kept bursting out from the energy stone, roasting the wild buffalo and making it produced hissing noises. Oil kept dripping down from it.

It was such an extravagant behavior to have a barbecue with the flame from a fire element energy stone. Wu Qi had his eyes rested on the giant fire pit with the diameter slightly over fifty feet, and couldn't help himself but have the corner of his lips twitch. How many energy stones would it cost to roast this wild buffalo? Couldn't they just use charcoal?

However, when he saw the few men sitting on the soft couch beside the fire pit, Wu Qi felt he had nothing to say. He saw Gao Jianli, topless, and playing an ancient musical instrument; another man, also topless, had both his hairy legs exposed, and was holding a roast goose and chewing through it; he was Yan Dan. Beside Yan Dan sat Chief General Yue Yi, who had nearly all his clothes stripped away. His eyes had turned bloodshot, as he kept pouring some hard liquor into his mouth.

Sitting right next to Yue Yi was an old man. He had a dignified and rather heroic face, and was gnashing his teeth while slicing on a stewed pig's head with a small knife. Supposedly, he was also one of the Chief General, a man who was given the title of Prince of Great Yan Dynasty and owned five provinces as his fief, Tian Guang.

Meanwhile, the man who had just thrown a wine jug over to the street and called Wu Qi up with a loud shout, Jing Ke, was seen standing on a platform at the far end of this room, reeling and staggering. Opposite him stood a nearly twenty feet tall demon bear, its body fully covered with a layer of golden-green scales; they were fighting. There was an awe-inspiring gleam in the eyes of this demon bear, and a vague halo was shrouding its body. Obviously, it was an Immortal Beast who had formed its Gold Core, and had possessed the mind of a human. He spat, let out a savage cry and entangled himself with Jing Ke. The man and the beast were fighting fiercely, their powerful footstep shaking the building, causing it to vibrate endlessly.

A group of burly men was clustering around the two feet tall platform made from dirt. The man who led them was the ancestor of Great Yan Dynasty's Qin Clan, Qin Wuyang. He looked like a man who was in his thirties. He had a handsome face, and his body was tall and mighty. A wine jug was held in his hand, from which, he kept pouring wine into his mouth while cheering for Jing Ke,. Not knowing if it was because of the alcohol or other reasons, his eyes had turned bloodshot.

In this room was the founding emperor of Great Yan Dynasty, Yan Dan, along with the ancestors of five most prestigious clans in Great Yan Dynasty. They were the men who supported this Tower of Heroes. Therefore, using Fire element energy stones to roast a wild buffalo was nothing, and of course, breaking the limbs and throwing out those princes and sons of monarchs from vassal kingdoms who caused troubles here was not even a serious matter for them.

Wu Qi gave a glance to this group of men, who seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot. He didn't say anything, but went straight to the side of the fire pit and sat right next to Gao Jianli, who was singing wholeheartedly. He took up a wine jug and bid a toast towards Yan Dan, then lifted it over his head. In one draught, he finished all the wine in it, at least 15 liters of it. As the wine entered his body, the innate water energy immediately wrapped around it and began to decompose the liquid. A loud burp came from Wu Qi's mouth, then he exhaled a long breath of wine. His eyes suddenly turned extremely bright.

The hard liquor had been blended with some kind of unknown herbs, and was a great tonic to the source energy. With this jug of wine digested within his body, it had at least given Wu Qi another thirty years of cultivation base for his Qi Circulating Technique of Five Elements. With both eyes glowing brightly Wu Qi let out a loud laugh, then threw away the emptied wine jug and took up another one, pouring all the hard liquor into his mouth without hesitation. It was a rare opportunity where he could gain some benefits without paying any price. If he didn't cherish it and drank a few more jugs, that would be a wasteful behavior.

A smile emerged on Yan Dan's face. He put away the roast goose, grabbed himself a jug of wine and bid a toast to Wu Qi, then he too finished it with one draught.

He threw the wine jug forcefully on the floor and smashed it. Then, Yan Dan laughed loudly and asked "Young man, your name is Wu Qi? Why don't you seem afraid on seeing me? Why don't you kneel before me and offer me a greeting?"

Wu Qi had finished four jugs of hard liquor, and the energies of five elements that came from the cultivation of Qi Circulating Technique of Five Elements were now circulating and rushing through his meridians, turning the powerful medicinal strength that came from the wine into new energies. He stared at Yan Dan and laughed, then he said, "The name of this place is called Tower of Heroes, not some Tower of Bears[1]! Hehe… Should a hero kneel before an Emperor when he sees one? If that is the case, I don't have to enter this Tower of Heroes. I, Wu Qi, can just kowtow before the Emperor in the Imperial Palace!"

Suddenly Gao Jianli stopped playing the ancient musical instrument, turned his head to Wu Qi and laughed. "Well said! This is the Tower of Heroes, not the Tower of Kowtow, hehe!"

He put away the musical instrument, brought himself a jug of hard liquor and poured into his mouth.

In this spacious room, besides the demon bear who was fighting with Jing Ke on the platform that gave Wu Qi a furious gaze, Qin Wuyang also threw an unfriendly glance over at him. Meanwhile, all the other people were breaking into a loud laughter, taking up their wine and drinking heartily.

A loud cry came out from Jing Ke's mouth, as he thrust his leg and kicked the demon bear a few steps away. He then wiped his sweat and strode down from the platform. The demon bear let out a depressed roar into the sky. His body started to twist and turn, slowly transforming into a burly man with a dark green skin tone. With a very melancholic spirit, he sat down on the platform sulkily. Wu Qi had greatly offended this demon beast by mentioning the Tower of Bear just now.

Jing Ke took up a jug of wine and came before Wu Qi, bowed his head and looked down at the newcomer, who was now hugging a wine jug and drinking happily. He laughed and said, "What an interesting young man… You do have guts. Hehe, all those descendants of us, they are just a bunch of useless fools whose legs tremble upon meeting us. You are a brave young man, for you can laugh and talk properly in front of us." Then, a bright gleam came into his eyes, as he kept staring at Wu Qi and suddenly shouted out loudly, "Who killed all the other love children of Yan Buji?"

The cry was so loud that it shook the entire Tower of Heroes.

Wu Qi rolled his eyes, gave Jing Ke a sneer and said, "You call me up here just for this question? Could Scouting Office not find out the answer? In order for our young master to inherit the title of nobility and official post of Duke Yan Le, Tie Clan and Lu Clan from the Lu Kingdom had joined hands in hunting and killing those young misters. What is so strange about this?"

Jing Ke's pupils contracted. He let out a cold laugh and said, "The death of those young men does not concern me. But… does the death of Yan Buji has any connection to your young master?"

Wu Qi threw away the wine jug and sprung up, pointed his fingers at Jing Ke and laughed. "What makes Chief General utter such things? Putting aside everything, with the overall strength of Tie Clan and Lu Clan, could they kill Yan Buji? Chief General, I know you are investigating the case, but don't you cast the net over at our young master. Here, Wu Qi will admit this: It is us who killed a group of young misters who hadn't been recognized. However, the death of previous Duke Yan Le had nothing to do with our young master."

Jing Ke stared straight into Wu Qi's eyes, then he laughed suddenly. "I know it has nothing to do with you. I was just trying to scare you. Young man, you are really brave."

Wu Qi gave Jing Ke a deep gaze, let out an indifferent smile and said, "Chief General, is that it? Calling me up here just to scare me? No matter how bored Chief General is, I don't think it can reach to such an extreme level?"

Yan Dan rose to his feet and came in front of Wu Qi with a strong smell of liquor.

From top to toe, he surveyed Wu Qi, and then said with a deep voice, "Since the founding of Great Yan Dynasty two thousand years ago, countless members of Imperial Clan were either wounded or dead. However, Buji was the first Clan Leader of Great Yan Dynasty's Imperial Clan who got assassinated, the first Duke of Great Yan that got assassinated. This case will be handled by Central-Prime-Counselor Gao Jianli and Chief General Jing Ke. I want you to assist them, and find out who is behind the assassination of Yan Buji."

The expression on Yan Dan's face was serious and stern. Wu Qi looked at his face, then suddenly asked out with a soft voice, "Your majesty, what are you afraid of?"

The question was simple, yet, it brought a tremendous change in the expressions of Yan Dan, Jing Ke, Gao Jianli, and all other men.

Noises of cracking were heard, as the thick stone slab underneath the feet of Yan Dan and other men suddenly cracked into countless pieces.

[1] Tower of Bears - In Chinese, sometimes bear (狗熊) is used to refer to a loser.