Chapter 451: Kidnapping 2
Chen Li gave a faint smile. “Lord Gao, I’d like you to spread this information. The wider it spreads, the better. The more people who know, the better. In particular, make sure this news reaches the ears of Governor Xu and the Duke of England. Get them interested.”
Gao Changhe looked up at Chen Li, stunned.
He simply couldn’t understand. Anyone else who came upon such crucial information would guard it with their life, terrified that the slightest rumor might attract covetous eyes.
Yet Chen Li was doing the exact opposite, actively trying to spread the news. ‘What is he planning?’
‘Could it be that he has no interest in this Little World at all?’
Chen Li didn’t explain. He just gave Gao Changhe a meaningful look and said, “Just do as I ask, Lord Gao. If this is successful, it will benefit us both.”
Gao Changhe nodded in agreement. “I understand. It won’t be difficult. I will arrange it.”
Chen Li nodded and continued, “As for the matter of the Water-Participating Ape Star Monarch, if the Governor or the Duke should ask, you will say that before he left, the Star Monarch mentioned to you that he was on a task for someone—to seek out an old acquaintance in the Nanjiang region. His date of return is uncertain.”
“An old acquaintance in Nanjiang?”
Gao Changhe’s brow furrowed. “Patriarch Chen, as far as I know, the Water-Participating Ape Star Monarch is not from Jiangzhou, nor does he seem to have any old friends or relatives here…”
“Of course he does.”
Chen Li said calmly, “You just don’t know about them, Governor.”
“May I ask… who?”
Gao Changhe asked, the question slipping out before he could stop it.
Chen Li looked at him and uttered three words: “Star Monarch, Bi Shuixu.”
Gao Changhe was stunned for a moment. Then, as if he had realized something, his pupils shrank and his body gave a nearly imperceptible tremble. His gaze, when it fell on Chen Li, was filled with sheer horror.
He was suddenly grateful that he had chosen to compromise instead of continuing to oppose him.
But Chen Li had already looked away. “Our business for tonight is concluded, Governor Gao. You would do well to remember that. I will handle the matter of Luo Pingyuan myself. You just need to do your part.”
With that said, he didn’t linger. His figure flickered and vanished into the vast, rainy night.
Gao Changhe stood rooted to the spot, unable to regain his senses for a long time.
…
With the matter settled, Chen Li didn’t linger.
He returned to the small courtyard, put on a straw rain cloak and a wide-brimmed conical hat, and vaulted onto his horse, riding for home through the drizzling night rain.
By the time he reached Lingxi, the sky was pitch-black, and it was still some time before dawn.
But Chen Li’s brow furrowed when he saw that the Chen Family Mansion was, at this late hour, ablaze with lights.
A faint sense of foreboding rose within him. He gently squeezed his horse’s flanks, urging it to go faster.
Before he even reached the entrance, the gatekeeper on night duty saw it was Chen Li and scrambled to open the main gate.
Chen Li dismounted in one fluid motion and strode inside.
Inside the main hall, his mother sat in the seat of honor, clutching a string of Buddha Beads. Her lips moved slightly, as if she were chanting silently, her face pale and etched with worry.
His wife, Song Ying, sat in a lower seat, her eyes red and swollen from crying.
His concubines, son, and daughter-in-law were also present, and every one of them looked deeply unsettled.
“Father! You’re back?”
Chen Shouheng was the first to sense Chen Li’s presence and the first to react.
“What happened?” Chen Li asked, his brow furrowed.
His sudden appearance first startled everyone in the hall, but then they seemed to find their pillar of strength.
Chen Shouheng said urgently, “Father, Shouyue… she was kidnapped yesterday in Liyang Commandery City!”
“What?!”
A cold glint flashed in Chen Li’s eyes. “What happened?” he demanded, his words sharp and deliberate. “Tell me everything.”
Chen Shouheng quickly explained, “Yesterday, around 3:00 PM, Elder Zhan returned, severely injured. He said that Third Sister was forcefully abducted from our mansion in the Commandery City by three mysterious experts who appeared out of nowhere. They left a message demanding that the Chen Family hand over thirty thousand bolts of high-grade silk as ransom. If not, they’ll kill her!”
“Where is Elder Zhan?”
Chen Li’s voice was ice-cold, the killing intent in his eyes so thick it was almost tangible.
“Elder Zhan’s injuries are severe. His meridians are badly damaged, and after traveling through the night to deliver the news, he was at the end of his strength. I stabilized his condition last night and had him rest in a guest room in the side courtyard. He should still be there regulating his breath.”
Chen Shouheng answered quickly.
Chen Li nodded. He offered a few words of comfort to his family, telling them not to worry and promising he would bring Shouyue back safe and sound.
“Shouheng, come with me.”
Without another word, Chen Li turned and walked out the door. Chen Shouheng hurried to follow.
「In the side courtyard guest room.」
Chen Li pushed open the half-closed door and immediately saw Elder Zhan lying on the bed, his face as pale as paper, his breathing shallow and weak.
Hearing the noise, Elder Zhan opened his eyes. He struggled to sit up, but the movement aggravated his injuries, and he broke into a violent coughing fit, a trickle of dark red blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. “Patriarch… COUGH, COUGH… I have failed you, Patriarch. I couldn’t protect Lady Shouyue…”
Chen Li strode forward and pressed his palm down through the air, a gentle force pushing Elder Zhan back onto the bed.
His Divine Sense swept over Elder Zhan’s body. The external wounds weren’t severe, but inside, over seventy percent of his meridians were ruptured. His internal organs had also suffered concussive damage, and his Inner Breath was in utter disarray.
Injuries like these constituted a grievous blow to his Primordial Qi. Without several months of quiet recuperation and precious elixirs, he couldn’t hope to make a full recovery.
“Don’t blame yourself, Elder Zhan. Who did this? What exactly happened? Tell me slowly. Don’t rush.”
Chen Li asked, his voice low.
“It was yesterday, in the twilight just before dawn, when most people in the mansion were still asleep. The three of them appeared suddenly. There was no warning at all; even I didn’t sense them.”
At this, a flicker of lingering terror crossed Elder Zhan’s eyes. “Their cultivation levels are terrifyingly high. One of them, a woman… I didn’t even see how she attacked before she wounded me. Another, a man, told me to inform the Patriarch to bring thirty thousand bolts of high-grade silk to Jiangxin Ferry at 9 p.m. on the first day of the eighth month for the exchange. And then… then they took Lady Shouyue and vanished. COUGH, COUGH, COUGH…”
“Jiangxin Ferry?”
“It’s a small pier forty li east of Liyang City.” As he spoke, Elder Zhan was seized by a gut-wrenching coughing fit, and an unnatural flush spread across his face.
Chen Li nodded and asked, “Do you know who they are? Or could you recognize the style of their Martial Arts?”
Elder Zhan shook his head with difficulty, his face bitter. “I couldn’t tell. The woman wounded me gravely with just a casual palm strike. The man, though… his voice was high and thin, and he was pale and beardless. He seemed to be a eunuch.”
“A eunuch?”
The cold in Chen Li’s eyes intensified.
Elder Zhan was a Divine Hall Grandmaster, considered a top-tier expert in the Jianghu. Yet he couldn’t even withstand a single casual palm strike from that woman. Her power had to be above the Divine Intent realm, possibly even at the level of a Great Grandmaster.
‘An expert of that caliber wouldn’t be some unknown figure, nor could they have appeared from nowhere. And with the added detail of a eunuch…’
Several possibilities flashed through Chen Li’s mind.
“How much silk do we have in stock in Liyang City?” Chen Li asked, suppressing the churning killing intent within him.
Elder Zhan calculated for a moment, panting, then said bitterly, “Reporting to the Patriarch… between the Textile Workshop’s warehouse and the silk shops… all told, we can just about scrape together thirty thousand bolts.”
“It’s as if they knew the exact amount. Perhaps there’s a traitor in the mansion. I was careless… Please, Patriarch, punish me…”
Chen Li nodded. ‘That saves me the trouble of scrounging it up, at least.’
“Elder Zhan, focus on your recovery. Don’t worry. I will handle the matter with Shouyue.”
After offering a few more words of comfort, Chen Li rose and left.
Returning to his family’s main residence, Chen Li instructed his eldest son, “Shouheng, you stay here. I’m going out, but I’ll be back soon.”
“Father! I’ll go with you! At least we can watch out for each other!” Chen Shouheng said anxiously.
Chen Li shook his head. “There’s no need. The enemy’s strength is unfathomable. With your current level of cultivation, you wouldn’t be able to help, and you might even become a distraction. Stay here and look after the family.”
Chen Shouheng clenched his fists. “Father, it’s because I’m useless.”
Chen Li reached out and patted his shoulder. “The best thing you can do is cultivate diligently and break through to the Void Transformation realm as soon as possible.”
He paused, then, remembering his arrangement with Gao Changhe, he added, “Today, arrange for someone to deliver two bottles of the Sweet Wind Jade Dew Heaven-Repairing Creation Pill to the Jingshan County Magistrate’s Office. Give them to Luo Pingyuan and have him take them.”
Chen Shouheng was taken aback for a moment but nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, Father! I understand.”
Chen Li nodded, then sought out Bai San and instructed him to go to Thunder Shock County. He was to find Gossip and tell him to keep his contact for the deal placated.
At the same time, he was to find Li Sanli and have him spread the news about the Celestial Sword Sect and the Su Family through the Black Market—the faster and wider, the better.
Once Bai San had departed and all other matters were arranged, Chen Li delayed no longer. He mounted his horse and rode for Liyang.