The Extreme Alchemist of the Mighty Cauldron

Chapter 1590: Chapter 1688: The Tragic Cheng

“Prince, please take your time.” Cheng Jinhai sent off Li Zhongxin and the group of five with a smiling face from the hostel.

Li Zhongxin gave Cheng Jinhai a slight nod with a smile on his face and departed.

“Your Highness, aren’t you giving too much face to that Fang Lin?” The middle-aged man who had previously spoken rudely to Fang Lin in the courtyard couldn’t help but say.

The smile on Li Zhongxin’s face faded, appearing somewhat indifferent, a complete contrast from the subservient and humble demeanor he had displayed in the courtyard.

“Before I came here, I ordered you not to speak out of turn no matter what. Have you forgotten that?” Li Zhongxin said with a somewhat unpleasant tone.

The middle-aged man quickly became anxious upon hearing this: “Subordinate only spoke out because that Fang Lin was too presumptuous.”

Li Zhongxin snorted coldly: “Luckily, he didn’t take issue with you, or else even I would be implicated because of you.”

“Subordinate admits the mistake.” The middle-aged man did not dare to retort and could only bow his head to admit his fault.

The other three middle-aged men also didn’t dare to speak up for him, knowing well the personality of Prince Yang Wanshan; if he truly got angry, no one’s plea would be of any use.

“This time I’ll let you off, but if there’s a next time, you know the consequences yourself,” Li Zhongxin said.

“Your Highness, rest assured, there will absolutely not be a next time!” the middle-aged man quickly said.

Li Zhongxin nodded, and a smile once again appeared on his face.

He was still reflecting on the previous conversation with Fang Lin, finding him more interesting the more he thought about it, contrary to the rumors.

“Although I have not succeeded in winning over this person this time, there’s plenty of time in the future. In the coming days of the Pill Alliance and the Alchemy Tao family competition, Fang Lin is unlikely to leave Tang Capital. As long as he is here for one day, I will figure out ways to bring him to my camp,” Li Zhongxin said softly.

“Your Highness, is this person really that important?” another middle-aged man asked.

Li Zhongxin smiled slightly: “Taking a master is just a formality, the purpose is to establish a connection with this person. With his help, I can completely defeat my elder brother, Zhao Shenji.”

The four middle-aged bodyguards said nothing more, taking Li Zhongxin’s recent words as if they had not heard them at all.

After all, they were merely guards of low status; they had no say in the struggle between princes and couldn’t interfere too much. Doing their own tasks well was enough.

“Next time I come to see him, I’m afraid I’ll need to prepare some gifts; coming empty-handed is truly inappropriate,” Li Zhongxin said as he walked away with the four bodyguards.

Inside the hostel, Cheng Jinhai was still gatekeeping for Fang Lin, wondering why the Prince of Tang Country, Prince Yang Wanshan, would come to visit Fang Lin.

However, no matter what he thought, he would never guess that the Prince of Tang Country came to seek Fang Lin as a master.

Just at this moment, a disheveled old man in ragged clothes staggered over.

Cheng Jinhai frowned, muttering to himself in discontent, “What’s going on with the people at this hostel? How can they let just anyone in? Not even taking care of a beggar who wanders in?”

Originally, Cheng Jinhai didn’t want to bother, since who would want to deal with a stinky beggar?

But, unexpectedly, the beggar headed straight towards him, staggering with every step. This made Cheng Jinhai somewhat helpless.

“Scram, scram, scram! Go beg elsewhere!” Before the ragged old man could get close, Cheng Jinhai shouted him away.

The old man chuckled: “I am here to look for someone.”

Cheng Jinhai’s frown deepened, as he looked at the old man with disgust and snapped, “What are you, a stinking beggar, looking for someone here? There’s no one you’re looking for here; if you must search, go search elsewhere.”

What a joke. It was just now that he, Cheng Jinhai, had secured the backing of the great Master Fang Lin who was staying in this courtyard. If this old beggar disturbed him, it would be his, Cheng Jinhai’s, own fault.

The old man didn’t get angry and just pointed towards the courtyard behind Cheng Jinhai: “I am looking for someone inside.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinhai’s eyes immediately widened.

“You stinking beggar, if you keep loitering, I’ll break your limbs and throw you out,” Cheng Jinhai cursed, ready to drive away this slovenly old man.

The old man sighed, somewhat helpless, about to speak when the gate of the courtyard suddenly opened, and Fang Lin walked out.

Seeing Fang Lin come out, Cheng Jinhai immediately felt somewhat panicked, thinking that Fang Lin was dissatisfied with his prolonged quibbling with this old beggar.

“Master Fang, I was just about to drive this stinking beggar away, so as not to disturb your rest,” said Cheng Jinhai with an ingratiating expression.

Fang Lin looked amused as he addressed Cheng Jinhai, “You’re going to drive this elderly gentleman away?”

“Eh?” Cheng Jinhai was taken aback, wondering why Master Fang was suddenly being so polite. Even towards a beggar, he used the respectful term ‘elderly gentleman’?

“Old Cheng, do you know who this elderly gentleman is?” Fang Lin asked with a smile, patting Cheng Jinhai on the shoulder.

Cheng Jinhai was even more bewildered, thinking, could this beggar have some background? Otherwise, why would Master Fang make a point of coming out of the courtyard?

“Master Fang, who, who is this elderly gentleman?” Unable to recognize the old beggar, Cheng Jinhai could only turn to Fang Lin for an answer.

“This gentleman, well, to put it simply, is just the Heaven King from the East Pole of the Pill Alliance,” said Fang Lin casually.

Cheng Jinhai nodded and muttered, “So he is from the Pill Alliance…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Cheng Jinhai thumped down to the ground, utterly dumbfounded, his face turning ashen, nearly fainting from shock.

“East, East, Heaven King of the East Pole?” Cheng Jinhai stammered, his words barely coherent with fear.

Fang Lin looked at Cheng Jinhai with pity, “Old Cheng, oh Old Cheng, what am I to say about you? You cannot even recognize the Heaven King of the East Pole and even try to chase him away like a beggar; I guess in this world, only you, Old Cheng, would have the guts to do so.”

Cheng Jinhai felt like crying; how could he have imagined this raggedy old man looking no different from a beggar was actually the Heaven King of the East Pole from the Pill Alliance?

Even if Cheng Jinhai had the courage of a bear or a leopard, he wouldn’t dare treat the Heaven King of the East Pole like this.

With a mournful expression, Cheng Jinhai didn’t dare to look at the Heaven King, repeatedly cursing his own lack of perception in his heart—truly, being blind could be fatal.

Who was the Heaven King of the East Pole? Everyone knew that he was currently the undisputed number one power in the Nine Countries, not to mention the head of the Pill Alliance, wielding immense influence and mastery of Martial Arts in one person.

And what was Cheng Jinhai? Merely the small-time Mountain Master of Heng Long Mountain, who would be considered a small fry before the Pill Alliance, and in front of the Heaven King of the East Pole, he might not even qualify as a small fry.

At best, he was a dried fish.

Cheng Jinhai wished he could slap his own mouth several times; truly, trouble comes from careless talk. If only he had been more polite.

“Heaven King, I truly didn’t recognize you. I have offended the Heaven King, so I beg your forgiveness, Heaven King,” Cheng Jinhai hurriedly was about to kowtow and beg for mercy from the Heaven King.

ps: Here’s the first update; I’ll continue typing. Remember to vote on Monday.

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