Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 120: Trade

Qu Duanyun coldly looked at the tea in the cup.

The Red Scorpion Feet was an assassin organization trained by Chigou, especially proficient in pharmacology. This drug should be the formula of theirs, colorless and tasteless. After being mixed with water, it only becomes slightly bitter, making it very suitable to be added to wine or tea. Qu Duanyun tasted just a little, and his tongue started to feel numb.

If he looked closely against the light, he could see a very inconspicuous floating powder in the tea. Ordinary people didn’t have such good eyesight, so with a little shadow, this oversight was practically negligible.

Qu Duanyun, having trained in the Immortal Assembly, could taste that subtle difference. The drug was potent; even if he, with his profound inner force, drank it, would be paralyzed for a moment. It was even worse considering he was momentarily distracted, and if paralyzed for even a few moments, it could be disastrous.

…Fortunately, someone sent a warning in advance.

Perhaps this time, the “fate” mentioned by his master stood by his side. The corner of his mouth curled up almost imperceptibly.

Each guest’s seat was fixed, and under Qu Duanyun’s fruit plate was an inconspicuous note. On the note were just a few words, neatly and beautifully written:

[There’s deceit in the tea.]

Wu Huai was arrogant and ruthless. Now that he was almost in the position of Patriarch, he didn’t publicly oppose Qu Duanyun. With a twist of his hand, using his inner force, he made a singing girl drink the tea. She struggled briefly and then fell to the ground, falling into a deep unconscious state.

After pondering for a moment, he repeated the act, making several others drink the tea. The singing girls panicked, but fortunately, no one else was harmed. It seemed only the bowl chosen by Wu Huai was drugged.

Wu Huai’s face darkened.

“How can this be!” A chubby Protector exclaimed. “Where’s the manager?”

A skinny man hurriedly stepped forward and knelt. “It’s my fault! But, but the drugs and wine were discreetly purchased from unrelated merchant groups. I don’t know how the mistake occurred—”

Before he could finish, a long sword pierced through his head. Wu Huai casually withdrew the sword and sneered, “You can’t even keep news about the procurement safe. And our prestigious Chigou can’t even secure a couple of bags of drugs. Absolute stupidity.”

Hearing this, the elder in charge of the guards was sweating profusely. Just as Wu Huai was about to lift his sword, a burst of qi from Qu Duanyun deflected the blade slightly.

“Today is a big day for the Chigou Sect. Seeing blood is ominous,” Qu Duanyun said calmly but firmly. “Patriarch Wu, it’s better to stop now.”

Wu Huai clenched his teeth, wiping the blood off his sword. He looked over the silenced members of the Chigou Sect who were silent in the audience. As the sun rose higher and the last traces of wind disappeared. The bells hanging around quietly resembled eyes looking down upon the earth.

“Forget it.” Wu Huai showed a creepy smile. “Whoever dared to drug so many, I’d like to meet them…”

Before he could finish, several strands of cold qi shot out, directly piercing through some inconsequential singing girls and servants. Those with some status in the sect were safe, but the lower-ranking members, unaware of the internal unrest, began to gather and shout in confusion.

The “corpse incense” was almost burned out, and Wu Huai stood amidst the mist, sword slashing, turning nearby objects into ash. He didn’t move but stared intently at the few entrances to the courtyard.

The people of the Yueshui Pavilion silently recorded everything. Qu Duanyun returned to his seat, took a sip of water, and had no intention of stopping Wu Huai.

Not far away, in the secret chamber.

“Go!” Hua Jingchun, hearing the commotion, immediately ordered.

Shi Jingzhi said leisurely, “Protector Hua has many people in the sect. Hasn’t anyone given a clear signal?”

“Too many eyes and ears, easy to mess things up.” Hua Jingchun shook her head, showing a trace of ruthlessness on her face. “Even if we fail, there’s no turning back. Dying here, in front of the former Patriarch’s portrait, is worth it.”

Shi Jingzhi didn’t ask any further and rolled up his flag. “The Chigou Sect has righteous people like you. It won’t perish yet.”

Hua Jingchun smiled briefly before rushing out of the chamber with a prosthetic leg, followed by only about ten people, making this a huge gamble. Just as Shi Jingzhi was about to follow, he heard Yan Qing urgently say, “Sect Master, Miss Shen Zhu hasn’t returned yet. Should we leave a note…”

“No need,” Shi Jing Zhi responded without looking back. “I know where she is and what she’s doing.”

When he said this, Shen Zhu had already arrived at the Chigou’s treasure vault.

The usual relaxed expression on her face was gone, and there was a trace of wet ink on her fingertips. When she cracked the entrance mechanism, Shen Zhu specifically rubbed her fingers on the hem of her clothing, wiping off the ink completely. She then seemed to think of something and took out a booklet she had with her. A page of fragmentary paper was torn out and scattered under the lush holly.

The missing part of that fragment was identical to the note that Qu Duanyun received.

On the day of the ascension ceremony, with distinguished guests present, the defenses in other areas of Chigou were much weaker than usual. Chigou’s treasure vault was where the top antiques were stored. Even if it was still heavily guarded, if something happened to the new Patriarch, the masters here wouldn’t just stand by. With the masters gone, she might be able to cope.

…However, if the “kidnapping of Wu Huai” went too smoothly, Shen Zhu would run out of time.

The Kushan Sect only wanted Wu Huai and the clay figure. The clay figure, not being a valuable item, would certainly not be stored in the treasure vault. Once this occurred, Chigou’s defenses would only become tighter, and she would no longer have a chance. Even if they owed a huge favor, Hua Jingchun would never agree to “entering the Chigou treasure vault to search”. Shi Jingzhi’s life was at risk, so he wouldn’t help her with such a troublesome task that came at a great cost.

So, the best way was to stir up trouble, let the group outside fight for more time, and act first and report later. As for what would happen next… if things went well, she would stay; if not, she would just run away.

Shen Zhu bit down on her breath-holding ring and quietly disabled the mechanism. Bypassing over a dozen patrolling followers, she squeezed herself into a very narrow ventilation shaft and finally reached the outer perimeter of the treasure vault.

There was no one around. She took off the Chigou robes that concealed her, revealing her fitted attire underneath. The room was dark, so she lit a spell-activated torch. Her gaze quickly scanned each neatly placed artifact, searching for her target.

Unfortunately, while the outer items were rare and valuable, they weren’t what she was looking for. Time ticked by, and Shen Zhu took a deep breath, holding it as she began to undo the restriction leading to the middle layer. The dense runes reflected in her eyes, but they couldn’t hide the burning determination within.

[A’Zhu, refining wushu ore is a craft that not everyone can do,] her mother’s now blurry face from her memories said. [Our whole village relies on this to eat. The methods of the Sun Village and Wang’ankou are stolen from our village.]

[Stolen?]

[They might steal the form, but not the essence. Our wushu armor from Shenhe Village is a royal treasure. A’Zhu, you’re so smart; when you grow up, you’ll definitely be more successful than us.]

[Yes!]

…However, whether it was Sun Village, Wang’ankou, or her hometown of Shenhe Village, they all perished one by one in a strange “natural disaster”. On the day Shenhe was wiped out, the village was celebrating. She had argued with her parents and ran far away in anger.

Children were often temperamental and would quickly lose their temper. The young Shen Zhu walked until her stomach was empty and her feet blistered. She had no choice but to turn back home. From a distance, she saw her parents running out to look for her.

Her father relaxed the moment he saw her, almost collapsing to the ground.

Her mother was anxious and angry, but she couldn’t bring herself to hit her. [Wild child, always running around. Aren’t you afraid of being kidnapped?]

Shen Zhu wore straw sandals that day, which were soaked with blood. Her mother, feeling sorry, squatted down in front of her and opened her arms. [Come here, I’ll carry you. Tonight, when we go back, we will—]

Unfortunately, Shen Zhu never heard the rest of that sentence.

The Invitation to God Formation was activated, and all living beings within it were obliterated, as if an invisible fire was burning. The boundary of the formation separated Shen Zhu from her parents. She watched as they suddenly distorted, collapsing to the ground, turning into twitching human skins.

Just like rain penetrating parched land, her parents quickly shriveled into pieces and disappeared, leaving behind a pair of sweat-soaked clothes.

…Ordinary villagers, without any inner force, naturally couldn’t survive even a single breath.

Villages capable of refining wushu ore were consecutively destroyed, and the method to refine wushu ore was lost. After that, wushu ore products on the market disappeared one after another. To get to the bottom of the conspiracy of the Immortal Assembly, she had to obtain a piece of wushu ore product—

Yin Ci had the Hanging Shadow Sword, but he was abnormally strong, and Shen Zhu knew she couldn’t ask for the sword. However, since the Ghost Tomb could excavate a “Hanging Shadow Sword” made of wushu ore, the most likely place to have wushu armor would be the tomb-raiding Chigou.

Shen Zhu suppressed her memories, exhaled sharply, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she had arranged the runes in order and broke the seal.

“Father, mother,” she mouthed silently. “Let me take a look at the wushu armor. I’ll surely figure everything out and take you away from the City of Unjust Death.”

At this moment, the commotion from the Chigou area returned to silence.

Hua Jingchun led a group of people rushing into the courtyard, immediately spotting Wu Huai on the stage, who was sneering coldly. Wu Huai firmly gripped the hilt of the “Bone Sweeping Sword”, looking down on Hua Jingchun from above.

“It’s really you.” His grip on the sword tightened. “Protector Hua, I gave you a chance once.”

Hua Jingchun glanced over the shattered cups scattered on the ground and understood the situation. Her face remained calm, and she looked straight at Wu Huai. “I’m already here, yet you’re still blabbering nonsense.”

She purposely moved her injured leg, her tone becoming more ruthless. “You call this ‘giving a chance’? I’d love to offer you such a chance. Huai Ge, it’s been decades since we met, you’ve truly rotted to the core.”

“Merely a turtle in a jar*. Call me whatever you like.” Wu Huai stood unfazed, despite Hua Jingchun’s insults.

*(瓮中之鳖) Idiom referring to someone who’s trapped or in a predicament where there’s little to no room of escaping (AKA rat in a cage, sitting duck). 

Yin Ci clicked his tongue lightly.

Wu Huai appeared to be in his twenties, around the same generation as Yan Qing and Su Si. However, when Hua Jingchun mentioned “it’s been decades”, it became clear that he was an old cucumber painted over—presumably, he consumed some immortal wine. And if he did, then he was inevitably linked with the Immortal Assembly.

Thinking of this, Yin Ci attempted to exchange a glance with Shi Jingzhi. However, the Sect Master was admiring the portrait of “Su Zhi”, oblivious to the tense atmosphere around him.

Yin Ci: “…”

Shi Jingzhi, ignoring the tense atmosphere in the courtyard, seemed to regard the Taiheng Sect and the Yueshui Pavilion as air. He approached Hua Jingchun and tugged on her sleeve. Poor Protector Hua, with her face still stern and ready to sacrifice, took a while to react. “What are you doing?”

“The situation has changed—”

Hua Jingchun didn’t even look at him. “If the situation has changed, then you should leave first. This is an internal conflict of Chigou; you don’t need to be involved.”

“No, the situation has changed, and I need to be compensated more.” Behind the mask, Sect Master Shi narrowed his eyes mischievously, his tone even softening. “Sister Hua, I want the portrait of Patriarch Su. If you agree, I’ll help you take down Wu Huai.”

Hua Jingchun was expecting a big demand, but this request took her by surprise. She finally shifted her gaze from Wu Huai, looking incredulously at Shi Jingzhi.

“That portrait is an antique and is just for ceremonial use. It isn’t worth much. What on earth…”

“I’ve taken a liking to it.” Shi Jingzhi specifically glanced at Yin Ci, then continued with a grin, “So, are you willing or not?”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>