August 21, 2024
Liang Qu entered the Martial Hall, laden with a series of parcels, mostly filled with pastries, which drew curious stares from Xiang Changsong and Hu Qi.
They had only been gone for a couple of hours, and yet this Junior Brother returned with gifts for them?
"Senior Brother Hu, Senior Brother Xiang, have Senior Brother Lu and Senior Brother Xu returned yet?"
"Not yet. Why do you ask?"
Liang Qu gestured towards a quiet chamber, and both senior brothers understood, proceeding into a secret room where no sound from the outside could be heard once the door was shut.
Liang Qu placed his parcels on the table and quickly explained, "Someone just came to see me, giving me some items, but there was a strange mountain spirit smell on him."
Xiang Changsong quickly asked, "Who was it?"
"It was Zheng Xiang, the second steward from the Zhao Manor!"
"Zhao Manor?" Hu Qi frowned, as he had an impression of the Zhao family.
They could be described as the wealthiest merchants in Peaceful Sun Town, with shops from here to Tide River County, rapidly expanding over the past few years, perhaps four or five.
Zhao Xueyuan, Master Zhao’s third son, indeed hadn't been to their Martial Hall for a few days.
"Zheng Xiang was winking at me when he gave me the stuff, leaving me unsure of his intentions."
Xiang Changsong let his imagination run wild.
"Could it be that the mountain spirit is being kept by Zhao Manor, and Zheng Xiang discovered this and had a change of heart?"
Hu Qi suggested, "Let's see what he brought. If it's nothing important, he wouldn’t contact Junior Brother Liang out of the blue."
Gathered together, they quickly unpacked the boxes.
Liang Qu reached for a box of pastries, opened the lid, and various pieces of paper fluttered down.
Xiang and Hu immediately leaned in closer.
Liang Qu unfolded the paper one by one, finding them to be land deeds and shop papers, worth no small sum, estimated roughly to be at least a thousand taels of silver!
Even Liang Qu was taken aback, as were his senior brothers.
"Why are these all land deeds?"
"How can a steward have so many properties?"
"This must have Zhao Hongyuan's hand in it."
"See if there's anything else."
The group searched and finally found a piece of paper filled with small writing, detailing seven location names at the top.
Then, Zhao Hongyuan explained the background and consequences in his own words, including the envoy’s strength and the hidden traps left behind, eliciting more surprise with each word they read.
"These deeds for shops and lands, valued at two thousand three hundred taels of silver, are a gesture of Zhao’s atonement. Gentlemen, please forgive me. From now on, we part ways, perhaps meeting again if fate allows."
Through the words, Liang Qu could almost see a chubby old man's eyes twinkling with humor, nodding as if to say: business is business on the surface, while being sly and cunning within.
Xiang Changsong and Hu Qi fell silent.
They had expected a fierce fight, yet suddenly found there was a mole in the opponent's camp eager to escape, delivering all the intelligence neatly bundled.
Five years of patience, taking the resources from the Ghost Mother Sect and fulfilling all of their tasks.
But after gaining the benefits entirely, he kicked them away and disappeared.
He even planned to ruin Ghost Mother Sect’s scheme, so that the Great Shun wouldn’t trouble him.
What kind of courage did that require?
"Zhao Hongyuan fears we would seek him out afterward, so he sent all these shops our way?"
Hu Qi folded his arms.
"We wouldn't find him even if he hadn't sent us these. Our seeing this note proves he’s long gone."
Xiang Changsong frowned.
"What now? The note can't be fully trusted; it could be a trick, a feint to lure us away."
"Whether it's a trick or not, we'll find out by visiting. Right now, we must quickly bring back Senior Brothers Lu and Xu. If it's real, we'll take out that so-called envoy and his contacts first. Without the envoy's activation, the mountain spirits can't awaken quickly. We can then take them down one by one."
"Then I'll go find the senior brothers."
Huang Zejun stepped into the courtyard, frowning.
He had intended to have dinner before starting business, but seeing no one coming to call him, he decided to get up and prompt them; upon exiting, he realized only a few old women doing laundry were there, with no food prepared.
Zhao Hongyuan took liberties a bit.
Bringing his wife and children along was one thing, but why the servants, too? Couldn’t they be quieter?
He used to be quite sensible just two days ago.
Rubbing his empty stomach, Huang Zejun knew he didn't have the time to order someone to cook.
With no time to lose for food, he needed to quickly employ the secret technique to awaken the mountain spirits and conduct the blood sacrifice.
Over years of development, their sect’s herbalists had advanced, having improved the Fetal Pearl Pill to enhance the rate of blood qi fusion and absorption.
Now only five hundred to six hundred strong men were needed to refine a single Wolf Smoke Realm Fetal Pearl Pill.
Different strains of mountain spirits had been nurtured, able to induce them with secret techniques to dig out embryos on their own, avoiding the post-process of manually extracting them one by one.
Around Peaceful Sun Town, over three hundred mountain spirits were reared; the biggest source was taken out, yet over two hundred remained.
One mountain spirit could spawn five to six eggs, enough to yield two Great Wolf Smoke Pills, or over a dozen Galloping Horse Pills.
The Heavenly Dragon was revered as a Martial Saint, capable of defending a kingdom.
Perfect Manifestation could serve as a Great General, capable of guarding an entire state.
Four Barrier Martial Masters could serve the emperor’s court.
Galloping Horse and Wolf Smoke Martial Masters formed the solid core strength.
Their sect had a shortage of talent, urgently needing new forces.
Two Wolf Smoke Fetal Pearl Pills meant two Wolf Smoke Warriors, and while consumption involved mental issues and entrapment in a blood dream predicament, it further simplified control.
They could not afford any mistakes.
Huang Zejun hurriedly navigated through the winding corridors, bypassed the shadow wall, and pushed open a massive door.
Suddenly, a terrifying anxiety washed over him, goosebumps rising all across his skin.
Not good!
Boom!
A red pillar shattered the wooden door, slamming into his chest.
The immense force crushed against Huang Zejun’s bones, emitting a heart-stopping cracking sound.
The front of the pillar completely shattered, flinging Huang Zejun through the shadow wall and further inside the main house.
The carved wooden door shredded like paper, the massive load-bearing beams snapped, and the entire roof tilted, with heavy tiles crashing to the ground, shattering upon impact.
The air filled with panic-stricken cries.
Lu Gang shattered the threshold underfoot, stepping through the swirling dust.
The fine dust hung in the air behind him, tracing along every fold of his attire like ribbons flowing, extending into long strands.
At the doorway, the flower-engraved entrance collapsed with a deafening crash.
At Peaceful Sun Dock.
The water shimmered under the starlit sky.
A seemingly unimpressive large black canopy boat was docked by the shore.
A man with a straw hat gripped a blade of grass between his teeth, glancing at the moon now ascending in the sky, growing increasingly restless.
He was supposed to take Zhao Hongyuan and his group as soon as darkness fell, but after waiting for so long, they hadn’t shown up.
What’s going on?
In a rural town with little population movement, his large black canopy boat attracted attention at the docks, and being docked for so long already drew quite a bit of notice.
He decided to wait for another three-quarters of an hour, and if they didn't show, he would leave.
"Are you waiting for someone?"
"What’s it to you?"
The man in the straw hat thought it was just another idle villager causing trouble, looked up to retort.
A flash of sword light illuminated his contracting pupils.
(End of Chapter)