Universe Infinite Canteen

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Gu Qingyi listened to Ma Lu explain the entire circumstances of the matter and felt that it was full of unexpected twists and turns, but on closer thought, it seemed to fall within the realms of reason.

The Lotus Bowl that the entire Qingzhou Martial Arts Circle had been frantically searching for had actually been right by their side all along.

It took Gu Qingyi quite a while to digest this jaw-dropping news, before he started to feel uplifted again.

"So now we just need to hurry to the Beggars' Sect and return the Lotus Bowl in time, and that should prevent a war between the Beggars' Sect and the Heavenly Dragon Sect, right?"

"It's not that simple," Ma Lu shook his head, "Although the Lotus Bowl has been found, the suspicion cast upon the Heavenly Dragon Sect has not been cleared."

Gu Qingyi, coming from a Divine Capture family, needed only a moment of thought to understand the meaning behind Ma Lu's words.

The four individuals they encountered in the dye workshop were now all dead, losing the most crucial witnesses. There was no way to prove that they were the ones who stole the item, and moreover, the Hong Xinghua, who indeed had secret dealings with the Heavenly Dragon Sect, had sent people to that small village to retrieve the bowl.

This actually further solidified the assumption that the Heavenly Dragon Sect had stolen the Lotus Bowl.

Ma Lu continued, "Those four from the dye workshop wielded the Beggars' Sect's exclusive martial art, the Dragon Capture Skill. I suspect that this 'Young Master' they mentioned is likely someone from the Beggars' Sect, and not just anyone but an important figure, otherwise, they wouldn't have access to such high-level martial arts.

A name flashed through Gu Qingyi's mind, and he couldn't help but gasp, "You... you can't be suggesting that Hero Chu is this 'Young Master', can you?"

Since the person was addressed as 'Young Master', their age couldn't be too old, and there weren't many within the Beggars' Sect who were young and held high positions.

No one was more famed among them than Chu Qianyuan. Moreover, most of the manpower Gu Qingyi used in the past investigation was borrowed from Chu Qianyuan, which explained why they were always a step slower than that mastermind behind the scenes.

Ma Lu also felt that Chu Qianyuan was a prime suspect, but he lacked evidence.

He pondered for a moment, then looked at Gu Qingyi, "Qingyi, I'd like to ask for your help with something."

"With our friendship, feel free to ask," Gu Qingyi did not inquire about the specifics and immediately agreed with a pat on his chest.

"Good, then next, the two of us will act separately."

…

Ma Lu arrived at the Beggars' Sect's main rudder before sunset, and by then, it was already buzzing with activity.

As the largest sect under the heavens, the Beggars' Sect had a vast number of members, with just the disciples from Qingzhou alone amounting to tens of thousands.

A single main rudder simply couldn't accommodate them all, and those with less than three bags of rank could only wait outside the gate.

Although Ma Lu was not a disciple of the Beggars' Sect, after showing the copper ring given to him by Chu Qianyuan, he was able to enter smoothly.

Directly opposite him was the training ground, and it was also where the crowd was most dense, having several layers of people surrounding it inside and out.

It took Ma Lu quite an effort to squeeze his way in, but then he encountered another problem—he didn't recognize a single person inside.

Well, he did recognize one person—shopkeeper Wan from Wan's Coffin Shop—but everyone else was an unfamiliar face to him.

After all, he had only been to this Plane four times, with very few dealings with the Beggars' Sect, and amongst those with whom he had some interaction, the majority were deceased.

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But that didn't pose a problem for Ma Lu. He casually pulled aside a Beggar's Gang member and struck up a conversation. After a few words, he got the gang member to introduce him around.

"Young Master Ma, do you see that gaunt, serious-faced old man in grey over there? He is the Law Enforcement Elder of our Beggars' Sect.

"The man next to him, with the big ears and a face like black iron, is Guardian Shi, and the other side of him is his son, Shi Ruoyu, who just this year also rose to be a Seventh Generation Disciple. He has a boundless future ahead."

"Opposite them, that clean and plump fellow is Elder Bai Baoyu from Leizhou, a well-known wealthy merchant with family wealth reaching into the tens of thousands. He's also very generous to our sect's disciples on normal days.

"Privately, many don't call him Elder Bai, but 'White God of Wealth,' since anyone who does work for him, even if they don't succeed, gets a substantial reward.

"If you do a good job, the 'White God of Wealth' will give a hefty bonus. That's why wherever he goes, he's always surrounded by a large entourage of people.

"Oh right, I almost forgot to mention, Elder Bai is also one of the candidates for the next Leader of our Beggars' Sect. Hehe, interesting, isn't it? In this day and age, a merchant wealthy enough to rival a nation could also become the head of beggars."
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The Beggar's Gang member Ma Lu had pulled over to help with introductions didn't seem to have a good impression of Elder Bai, and his tone was somewhat sarcastic.

After sharply commenting on Bai Baoyu, the gang member seemed to let loose, and lazily pointed toward a man standing to the northwest—a middle-aged man over eight feet tall with square cheeks and a solemn stance like a pine tree.

"That's Deputy Gang Leader Jiang. After Gang Leader Deng died, he was the most eager, hopping around arranging Deng's funeral, which gave him the chance to get acquainted with many high-level masters from different sects who came to offer their condolences.

"Later, he even organized the sub-rudders to come and pay respects, building up a good reputation. In the end, though, he felt too embarrassed to step forward and say he wanted to be the leader. He found someone to nominate him in a roundabout way, which was all quite pointless."

"What about the remaining candidate?" Ma Lu asked with interest.

"Hmm?"

"Yuan Xiaoyun, I've heard he's the second disciple of Deng and one of the three candidates."

"Yuan Xiaoyun," the young gang member grimaced upon hearing the name, "He's just so-so, compared to the other two. At least he doesn't have any glaring faults. He's been conscientious and diligent in his duties over the years, and Old Master Deng spoke highly of him before he passed away.

"It's just that in terms of martial arts and breadth of spirit, he can't compare to his senior brother. Sigh, Protector Chu is my ideal choice for the Beggar Gang Leader; it's just a shame that he's not interested in the position.

"Many brothers in the gang share my view, and we even went to Protector Chu to advocate for him as a candidate for the new Gang Leader, but he didn't want to compete with his fellow disciples."

"Oh, does Protector Chu have a lot of supporters within the Beggars' Sect?" Ma Lu raised an eyebrow.

"Of course." The member nodded confidently. "Nobody dislikes Protector Chu. He's skilled in martial arts, upright in conduct, abhors evil as if it were his enemy, and has the heart of a hero. He's truly our role model."

Ma Lu appeared noncommittal and then had the young gang member introduce other key figures present.

Besides the elders and helmsmen of the Beggars' Sect, many renowned masters from other sects were also there today, which was good news for Ma Lu.

Because the person he was about to confront had no simple status within the Beggars' Sect, and if they really weren't going to listen to reason, there wasn't much he could do.

Even though his martial arts was now first class of the era, unafraid of any single opponent, this was still the Beggars' Sect's stronghold. If the gang members swarmed him, their spit alone could drown him.

Ma Lu waited a bit longer, and the sun had completely set behind the mountains. Some Beggar's Sect members had lit torches, and Deputy Gang Leader Jiang also stepped out from the crowd, planning to give a speech in front of everyone before the fight, aiming to boost his reputation.

But before he could speak, another figure also stepped out from the crowd of onlookers.