Chapter 522 - 2: Seven Years
Countless manors and estates had been built outside Huping County Town due to the presence of the Golden Pavilion. Most of these residences had no plaques, making it impossible to know who the owners were without a thorough investigation.
In the East Suburb, outside a large estate situated east of the sprawling rice paddies, the lights were still burning brightly despite it being around 9:15 PM. Over a dozen servants held lanterns, illuminating the path from the main gate to the nearby main road.
Before long, a carriage drove onto the road with a JINGLE and a CLANG. The leader of the servants, a middle-aged man in a pale cyan brocade robe, trotted forward and called out, "Young Master!"
"Hn."
A lazy voice responded from within the carriage, but its speed didn’t slow.
The middle-aged man bowed and quickened his pace to keep up alongside the carriage. The other servants raised their lanterns higher, as if to make the road brighter.
The carriage passed through a dedicated side entrance next to the estate’s main gate, entering a large courtyard directly. It stopped before a circular archway in the rear courtyard. Of all the servants, only the middle-aged man had followed. The moment the carriage halted, he rushed forward, skillfully took out a stool from the carriage, and set it down. He then waited fawningly beside it, ready to be of service at a moment’s notice.
But after alighting from the carriage, the person inside paid the middle-aged man no mind, instead walking straight through the circular archway into the courtyard beyond.
It was a typical southern courtyard. A buffer zone at least twenty feet wide separated the buildings from the flower clusters and rockeries. There were no fish ponds or similar features, because the south had far too many mosquitoes, which were most attracted to dense vegetation and pools of water.
Inside the house, two maidservants were walking back and forth with mosquito-repelling incense burners, filling the air inside and out with a fragrant smoke. The scent wasn’t pungent, but carried a medicinal quality.
"Young Master!"
The maids bowed their heads in salute.
The young man waved a hand. "You may leave. You’re not needed here."
"Yes!"
The maids bowed their heads again, still holding the incense burners, then walked one after the other toward the door. However, just as they reached the threshold, their bodies went limp and they collapsed. The incense burners fell from their hands, scattering ash across the floor.
The young man whipped his head around. He saw a strange figure standing in the courtyard outside the main door, then glanced back at the two collapsed maids.
"Don’t worry, they’re fine. I represent the Daoist Palace now. My duty is to uphold justice, so how could I possibly kill the innocent? But you... you’re different. You must die."
"When did you become so soft-hearted?"
As the young man spoke, his form flashed with an earthy yellow light. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a white-haired Cultivator wearing a gray, narrow-sleeved Daoist robe.
It was Xuanhe!
"This isn’t being soft-hearted. It’s a choice of humanity!"
The person in the courtyard clasped his fist in his palm, bowed very earnestly, and then answered the question with equal gravity.
A smile touched Xuanhe’s lips as he sized up the person emerging from the darkness. It was Wenhai. Looking at that familiar face, he chuckled. "Is choosing to be Changqing’s dog also a choice of humanity?"
"And what kind of choice was it when you chose to be a dog for the Taiyin Sect, going so far as to experiment on your own disciple?" Wenhai’s tone was ice-cold.
"You were too impatient. I had already found a senior from Lishui Prefecture to help you restore your Spirit Vein, but you had already left me!" Xuanhe said with a warm smile. "If I had meant you harm, you never would have walked out of the Alchemy Room!"
"Are you begging for mercy?"
Wenhai’s expression turned savage as he seemed to suppress an overwhelming emotion. "HAHAHA! So you know how to beg for mercy too! HAHAHA! But don’t you think it’s a bit childish to beg now? HAHAHA! HAHAHA!"
He laughed uncontrollably, then broke into a violent fit of coughing.
Xuanhe was about to make his move, but he found his aura swiftly locked down. He then realized it was extremely difficult to even mobilize the Earth Vein True Essence within his Inner Qi Sea.
"Don’t waste your energy. I came fully prepared. I spent three whole years planning for this day, just to ensure nothing could go wrong!"
Wenhai stared at Xuanhe, savoring his current expression of despair and helplessness. He spoke quickly, "Seven years ago, the moment you set foot on Mozhou Road, I received word. I then spent four years finding you and confirming your identity. Finally, I used the last three years to lay this Heaven and Earth Net. Today, no one can save you!"
Xuanhe took a step forward, but two figures immediately jumped out from behind Wenhai, flanking him. Seeing this, Xuanhe quickly said, "I have information! Very important information! Let me go, and I’ll tell you everything. It’s about your master!"
Wenhai responded coldly, "I can just read your memories after I kill you!"
He was savoring the elation in his heart.
Xuanhe tried again. "I have all the materials ready to advance to the Third Realm! Let me go, and I’ll give them all to you!"
A smile spread across Wenhai’s face. "That offer is indeed tempting, but it’s not enough. Because if I don’t kill you, I’ll never be able to cleanse my Heart Demon, making advancement to the Third Realm impossible!"
"Besides, have you already forgotten what I just said? I prepared for a full three years just to deal with you!"
As he said this, he clapped his hands lightly. Two figures immediately walked in through the courtyard gate: the young Scholar’s Attendant and the estate’s middle-aged steward.
"During these three years, I wasn’t just preparing to deal with you. I was also secretly investigating the purpose of your return. After you came back, you were helping the Taiyan Sect manage their caravans on the Zhongzhou Continent on one hand, while secretly colluding with the nobles of the Chu Country on the other. You even tried to disrupt the internal arrangements at Qianmu Temple. To that end, you’ve tried many methods over the years. First, you started with Changqing Zhenren’s disciples, then you moved on to Sanhe Temple. Now, you’re trying to connect with Daoist Yuan Zheng’s people regarding Qianmu Temple’s elixirs."
Xuanhe’s expression turned exceedingly ugly, but he swallowed his indignation and said, "I was just following orders! The Xiao Shan Lord has gone missing, leaving a Fourth Realm seat vacant in this branch of the Taiyan Sect. Many people have their eyes on that position. If you let me go, I’ll tell you everything I know! I’ll also give you the materials I prepared for my advancement."
He repeated his earlier offer, his tone more emphatic.
Wenhai grinned. "I know you’re stalling for time, but you seem to have forgotten something. This is the territory of the Chu Country. If you had resisted from the very beginning, you might have had a one-in-ten-thousand chance. But now, you’ve wasted your last opportunity."
As he spoke, he looked up at the sky. A tall, black tower was now hovering in the night sky above Xuanhe’s house. On its surface was a phantasmal, earth-gray figure. It resembled a soft-bodied crawler, its body wrapped around the tower, its countless, densely packed tentacles standing out starkly.
"Do you feel it now? You can’t even mobilize the Earth Vein True Essence in your Qi Sea. This is a Demon Soldier I specially requested from the Daoist Palace. You should have heard of its name!"
"The Hundred-legged Tower?"
"That’s right. Grade B-minus, number fifteen: the Hundred-legged Tower. It can suppress any Second Realm Earth Vein Cultivator!"
After saying this, Wenhai looked at his two companions and said in a low voice, "I’ll have to trouble you two Fellow Daoists. Please leave him alive for me. I want to take his life with my own hands!"