Chapter 111: The Origins of Old Man Li

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Familiar? Only a handful of people in this world can wield spiritual power, and even fewer can reach Ye Fei’s level. Where had he gotten the idea that Ye Fei’s fighting style looked familiar?

Ye Fei stopped and turned around. “What did you just say? Familiar? Where else have you seen this kind of fighting style?”

Brother Long’s legs were short, and he had never been able to keep up with Ye Fei. When he saw Ye Fei stop, he lost his balance and slammed straight into him.

Seeing a massive lump of flesh flying toward him, Ye Fei merely shifted to the side and watched as Brother Long crashed onto the ground.

“Ow—”

Indeed, once a man reached middle age, he really ought to keep fit. Otherwise, looking like this was rather comical.

“You didn’t die from the fall, so what are you groaning about? I’m asking you a question!”

After Brother Long let out several more cries of pain, he saw that the disciples beside him were either unconscious or unable to move. With no one else to help him, he could only struggle to his feet on his own.

“I’ve seen it on television!”

Damn it. He really shouldn’t have wasted his time here!

Ye Fei rolled his eyes and walked straight inside.

The antique shop belonging to the Old Li whom Brother Long had mentioned stood at the far end of the market’s eastern entrance. It was a tiny establishment, with even tinier lettering on its signboard.

Ye Fei stepped inside. The shop was filled with all sorts of strange little objects. It seemed the owner truly had a fondness for miniature things.

“Welcome, sir. What are you looking for? Is there anything you like?”

Several grains of rice sat inside a display case. Curious, Ye Fei leaned closer to take a look and was instantly amazed. An entire poem had been carved onto one of the grains.

“Damn! That’s some craftsmanship.”

Seeing that Ye Fei was interested, the shopkeeper hurriedly introduced him to a number of miniature carvings.

Ye Fei listened patiently and attentively. This man, who was not yet fifty, clearly loved miniature carving even more than antiques.

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“You’re practically the leader of the miniature-carving world. Why would you open a shop in an antique market? If you went into miniature carving full-time, I imagine you’d achieve far more than you have now!”

Ye Fei’s praise was half sincere and half exaggerated. He merely hoped to establish some rapport with the old man.

The old man smiled faintly and let out a soft sigh. “Miniature carving… Few people appreciate it. I have to deal in antiques to keep my income balanced.”

Alas, even dreams needed the support of reality.

Ye Fei sighed lightly and joked, “I heard that you sold a small cage a few days ago, and it ended up in Elder Zhou’s hands. I’m extremely fond of small, exquisite things myself, so I came here to try my luck.”

The moment Old Li heard this, his expression darkened. He replied bluntly, “You’re here for the Purple Qi Comes from the East, aren’t you? Why bother beating around the bush? Your purpose is no different from all those other people who have come knocking. You only want the Purple Qi Comes from the East on the cage.”

So that was how it was. Quite a number of people must have been pestering this stubborn old man lately because of the Purple Qi Comes from the East.

“My name is Ye Fei. Whether you believe me or not, I didn’t come here for the Purple Qi Comes from the East. I came for the cage itself.”

The old man looked Ye Fei up and down, then snorted disdainfully. “Who knows? Everyone who comes here says the same thing. In any case, the cage I sold didn’t have any strange phenomenon called the Purple Qi Comes from the East when it left my hands.”

“I know,” Ye Fei said firmly.

He stopped what he was doing and repeated his question. “You know? You know what’s strange about that object?”

“No, I don’t. I only know that the item you sold did not contain any purple aura.”

The arrogance that had filled Old Li’s eyes earlier vanished, as did his contempt for Ye Fei’s theory. He walked over and stood opposite Ye Fei, studying him carefully.

“But how do you know the purple aura didn’t originate from my shop? More than a hundred people have come here recently. They all believe that the cage I sold was the source of the purple aura. Do you know something?”

Old Li kept his eyes fixed on Ye Fei, not letting the slightest detail escape him.

Ye Fei was amused by his scrutinizing gaze. He had never expected the old fellow to have such a side to him.

“I have some clues, but I need you to answer one question. A few days ago, did the person who bought the item from you contact you using this number?”

As he spoke, Ye Fei took a phone number from his pocket.

The old man quickly pulled out his phone and carefully compared the numbers. Suddenly, he cried out, “It’s this number! He called me and asked for something small and exquisite. Then he came to the shop, took the little cage, and left. It was an antique I had only recently acquired.”

Elder Zhou did not care much for modern miniature carvings, but he was extremely fond of antique miniatures. That person had been targeting Elder Zhou from the very beginning.

“I understand. I’ll take my leave for now. If I uncover any clues, I’ll come back to see you.”

After leaving the antique market, Ye Fei’s brow furrowed even more deeply. With his master away, he had to face such a major case alone, and he felt somewhat out of his depth.

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Baleful aura was something Ye Fei had never encountered before, but now he had no choice except to confront it alone.

“Old man, this is the first time in my life I’ve actually missed you,” Ye Fei muttered to himself.

He stood alone by the roadside, his face grim.

“Come on! I heard there are plenty of rich, handsome men there tonight. If we can just get inside, we’ll have everything we want.”

He heard a great deal of noisy female chatter. Turning around, he saw a group of young women approaching. Their destination appeared to be the bar not far away.

Ye Fei suddenly raised a hand and stopped them.

Several of the women glanced at him disdainfully. One of them frowned deeply and said, “Sorry, I don’t add strangers on WeChat.”

…

Ye Fei stared at her awkwardly. They had mistaken him for some sleazy guy trying to get their contact information.

“No, that’s not it. I just wanted to tell you that the rich, handsome men inside this bar are all fake. You’d better not go in. You’re all so beautiful—if something happens to you, it wouldn’t be good.”

Ye Fei offered his warning as sincerely as he could.

A woman with long, wavy hair gave a scornful laugh and said impatiently, “They’re not rich and handsome? At least they’re wealthy, aren’t they? Every one of them is a second-generation heir. Don’t you know that? You don’t actually think a few words will make us add you on WeChat, do you?”

Talk about mistaking a good person for a bad one.

Ye Fei shrugged and stepped aside, clearing a path for them. “Then go and see for yourselves. Find out whether there are really any wealthy men inside.”

As he watched the group enter, the young woman at the very back, whose hair was tied in a high ponytail, kept looking back. There was a helplessness in her eyes.

Ye Fei had intended to stay out of other people’s business, but when he saw the girl’s almost pleading gaze, he could no longer remain unmoved.

Since ancient times, beautiful women had always favored heroes.

Should he follow them in and take a look?

Those women had clearly been deceived into coming there to entertain men with drinks. If they were lucky, they would only have to drink, collect some money, and leave. If they were unlucky, losing their virtue was hardly unusual.

He immediately called Yang Tianming.

“Yangzi, keep an eye on this number. Send every update to my phone as soon as you have it.”

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