Chapter 00141: The Arrogance of Jin
# The Arrogance of Jin
Chapter 141
Novel: After the Myth
Chapter 141: The Arrogance of Jin
"Lead the way," Sister Tou glanced at Ding Huan, her voice icy cold.
She had seen too many people like Ding Huan trying to curry favor with her, and she couldn't care less.
Ding Huan quickly led Sister Tou and her group away from the market, heading towards a more secluded area.
"Kid, stop right there," Sister Tou coldly stared at Ding Huan.
Ding Huan halted.
They had arrived at a dried-up pond, a perfect spot to bury these five people.
"Beyond this is the desolate forest. Are you leading us here to die?" Sister Tou's tone was laced with killing intent.
It was clear that if Ding Huan's answer didn't satisfy her, she would kill him on the spot.
Ding Huan removed his mask and sunglasses, "You're right. This is where I'll bury you."
He didn't need to disguise himself anymore; he could just turn invisible.
"It's you?" Sister Tou recognized Ding Huan immediately and was furious.
Before she could give any orders to her four subordinates, Ding Huan unleashed four wind blades.
The heads of the four subordinates rolled to the ground before they could even draw their weapons.
Sister Tou, still in shock, stared at Ding Huan.
Was this guy a Foundation Establishment expert? The endless rage she felt moments ago vanished instantly.
"What do you want?" Sister Tou instinctively took a few steps back.
Ding Huan looked at her with a mocking tone, "I didn't provoke you. Why did you mess with me?"
"It was my mistake. I'm willing to compensate you," Sister Tou's usual arrogance seemed to have evaporated.
"Do you know why I haven't killed you yet?" Ding Huan suddenly produced a long blade, sending chills down Sister Tou's spine.
She hadn't seen him carrying a blade earlier, and now it seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
"I'm asking you a question. Are you deaf?" Ding Huan's tone grew impatient.
"N-no... You must want to know where my money is hidden, right?" Sister Tou, realizing the gravity of the situation, just wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"Then hurry up and tell me," Ding Huan snorted, clearly dissatisfied.
"My money is in the Four Directions City's Hundred Merchants Market Bank," Sister Tou replied quickly.
Four Directions City? This was the first time Ding Huan had heard of this place.
Sister Tou, knowing that Ding Huan was new to the Four Directions Star Continent, quickly explained, "Four Directions City is the largest city on the Four Directions Star Continent, home to half of the continent's population. People from other planets usually gather there."
Ding Huan frowned, "Then why was I sent to the Small Star Corner Market?"
Sister Tou, not daring to mock him, replied respectfully, "Most newcomers are sent to various corners of the star continent. This month, it happened to be the Small Star Corner's turn."
Ding Huan understood.
As a newcomer, he wasn't deemed worthy of going to Four Directions City.
"How do I get your money?" Ding Huan asked, and even an idiot could tell that he intended to kill her.
She hurriedly said, "I work for the Zuo Shi family. If you kill me, they will investigate thoroughly."
Ding Huan had already guessed that Sister Tou's audacity in the interstellar square was backed by someone powerful.
Seeing that she was unwilling to reveal more, he didn't bother asking further.
With a swift wind blade, he ended her life.
Sister Tou, despite her arrogance in the interstellar square, was only as strong as an Earth-level martial artist.
She stood no chance against Ding Huan.
From the bodies, Ding Huan collected thirteen thousand purple gold coins and a deposit token from Sister Tou.
He also found twelve spirit stones.
The deposit token was similar to an ID card, but it was anonymous.
After reading the instructions on the back, Ding Huan understood that all deposit tokens on the Four Directions Star Continent were anonymous.
As long as the bank verified the token's authenticity, anyone could withdraw the money, regardless of the bank.
The deposit token in Ding Huan's hand was worth seventeen thousand purple gold coins.
Ding Huan couldn't help but feel disdain for Sister Tou.
After all her years of bullying in the interstellar square, she had only managed to amass this much.
He wondered if materials here were expensive.
If they were, he'd need to find a way to earn more money.
He examined the spirit stones.
They contained natural energy, more potent than ordinary spirit stones but less than divine spirit stones.
These irregularly shaped stones were definitely not currency.
After collecting the spirit stones, purple gold coins, and the deposit token, Ding Huan incinerated the bodies with a few fireballs and then used a punch to bury the ashes in the dried-up pond.
...
Sister Tou was somewhat famous on the Four Directions Star Continent.
When she discovered she had been scammed after buying Ding Huan's spaceship, she had thrown a fit in the interstellar square.
Everyone in the square knew about it.
Despite her outburst, most people didn't think much of it.
The outcome was that Ding Huan was killed, Sister Tou got her ten thousand purple gold coins back, and even scored a broken spaceship.
But a few days later, something seemed off.
Sister Tou had gone to find Ding Huan and never returned.
Her disappearance didn't cause much of a stir, except for a message sent to the Zuo Shi family.
Only a few who knew about both Kan Ni and Sister Tou's disappearances began to suspect that Ding Huan might be more dangerous than they thought.
It was just too coincidental that both Kan Ni and Sister Tou had vanished while searching for Ding Huan.
Meanwhile, Ding Huan had already purchased a bunch of materials in the Small Star Corner Market.
This time, he only made minor changes to his appearance—cutting his hair and adding a fake beard.
He didn't bother with wigs, masks, or sunglasses.
Unless someone like Sister Tou was specifically looking for him, no one would pay much attention to a newcomer.
The materials here weren't cheap.
The Four Directions Star Continent was small, and most materials were transported from neighboring star continents via spaceships.
Ores, beast hides and bones, fresh beast blood—Ding Huan could craft first-level talismans on the Blue Star spaceship, but the materials there were scarce.
Besides beast hides, there were only some expired beast blood.
While beast blood could be preserved for a long time in a spatial storage, it gradually lost its spiritual essence over time.
Talismans relied heavily on the spiritual essence of the materials.
The fresher the materials, the higher the quality of the talismans.
The Small Star Corner was different.
All materials here were fresh.
It had taken Ding Huan a year to craft first-level talismans on the Blue Star, but here, he managed to create third-level talismans in just half a month.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't craft fourth-level talismans.
He knew it was partly due to the low-grade materials and partly because of his inferior talisman brush.
With his cultivation level and understanding of talisman crafting, he should have been able to create fourth-level talismans.
But his talisman brush was holding him back.
The Small Star Corner didn't have many cultivators—mostly martial artists and merchants.
The truly powerful people lived in Four Directions City.
It seemed he needed to head there.
As Ding Huan was planning his trip to Four Directions City, the Small Star Corner Market's law enforcement team was holding a meeting.
The topic of discussion was who had killed Kan Ni.
Kan Ni's disappearance hadn't caused much concern initially, but when his body was discovered, things changed.
In the Small Star Corner, the most powerful figure wasn't Sister Tou.
She was only notorious in the interstellar square.
The real local tyrant was Jin, who even had a stake in the Small Star Corner Market.
Over the past few years, Jin had been gradually moving his influence to Four Directions City, leaving Kan Ni in charge of the Small Star Corner.
The reason Ding Huan's killing of Kan Ni hadn't been immediately noticed was because Jin's influence was shifting.
Another reason was that Jin himself wasn't in the Small Star Corner—he was in Four Directions City.
When Jin returned and saw Kan Ni's body, his anger flared.
Kan Ni was one of his lackeys, and killing him in the Small Star Corner Market was a direct slap to Jin's face—a loud and clear one.
Even though the law enforcement team was in the middle of a meeting, Jin barged in and demanded, "Captain Ting, someone has the audacity to kill openly in the Small Star Corner Market. This is lawless! If this continues, who would dare to live here?"
In his eyes, the fact that the law enforcement team only found out about Kan Ni's death after his body was discovered was a dereliction of duty.
The captain of the law enforcement team, Li Di Ting, was displeased with Jin's intrusion.
Did Jin think the law enforcement team was his personal guard?
Despite his displeasure, Li Di Ting's face remained calm.
He stood up and said apologetically, "Lord Jin, this is indeed our oversight. After discovering Kan Ni's body, we've already formulated a plan and are about to execute it."
Jin's arrogance and dominance stemmed not only from being a local tyrant but also from his official position as a lord of one of the Four Directions Star Continent's territories.
The Four Directions Star Continent had a star lord, but no centralized governance.
The continent was divided into nearly ten thousand territories, each ruled by a lord.
In essence, Jin was a lord, but his territory was minuscule.
However, his ruthlessness and cunning had allowed him to thrive.
It was this very ruthlessness that had earned him a share of the Small Star Corner.
Hearing that there was a plan, Jin sat down, "Captain Ting, tell me about this plan."
Li Di Ting, growing increasingly annoyed with Jin, thought, what does the law enforcement team's plan have to do with an outsider?
Still, he smiled and explained, "Before Kan Ni disappeared, he had gone to the market's property transaction office with a man named Ding Huan to discuss a property deal."
"Kan Ni bought a house?" Jin was puzzled.
Most properties in the Small Star Corner were fixed, and the ones for sale were usually in poor condition.
Why would Kan Ni buy a house?
He had just returned and wasn't fully informed.
"Not buy. Kan Ni sold a small courtyard in the Small Star Corner's Xing Tan to a young man named Ding Huan, who seems to be new to the Four Directions Star Continent," Li Di Ting explained.
"How bold," Jin snorted.
It wasn't clear whether he was referring to the buyer or Kan Ni.
Li Di Ting knew that although the property was under Kan Ni's name, it was essentially Jin's asset.
He didn't bother delving into it and continued, "After the transaction of five thousand purple gold coins was completed, both parties left. Kan Ni was never seen again."
Hearing that the Xing Tan property was sold for five thousand purple gold coins, Jin finally understood why Kan Ni had sold it.
He would have done the same and reclaimed it later.
Upon learning that Kan Ni had disappeared after receiving the money, Jin suddenly stood up, "So it was that newcomer who killed Kan Ni. He's asking for death."
In Jin's mind, Ding Huan must have given Kan Ni the money, completed the transaction, and then killed Kan Ni to take the money back.
(Please vote for this chapter!)
(End of Chapter)