At the City Lord's Manor of Jiacheng.
The City Lord, Xi Munan, head of the Xi clan, sat upright in the seat of honor.
His temples were streaked with white, and his aura was formidable.
Between his brows, one could still vaguely see traces of the dashing figure he must have cut in his youth.
He had surely been quite the handsome man back in the day.
In his hands, he was slowly rubbing a memorial scroll. It read—
Jiang Chen, born in Phoenix Creek Town, Maple City, Qinghe Commandery, State of Zhuang. Studied at the Maple City Dao Academy. Has a younger sister, placed in Lingxiao Pavilion, State of Yun. Note: Maple City was destroyed during the chaos of the Bone Path in the twelfth month of Dao Calendar 3917 and has since been trapped in the rift between the Netherworld and the mortal realm.
Xi Zichu, dressed in brocade, stood below and was speaking eloquently: "...He already knows the full story of the azure jade mine vein. Chongxuan family's losses, once compensated by my payment and further offset by his own spoils, can be recovered eighty or ninety percent. With that, he'll have no reason to stay at the mine. We can then cleanly eliminate Chongxuan family's influence and take full control of this territory. This sets the stage perfectly for what comes later..."
At this point, he shifted the subject: "As for Hu Shaomeng, he could never hope to escape from the palm of my hand. He has always been that way. Even now that he's joined Fishing Sea Tower, it won't be any different. Whatever he's scheming for will ultimately belong to me."
"What if..." Xi Munan slowly rubbed the scroll and said in an unhurried voice, "Jiang Chen doesn't leave?"
"Why wouldn't he leave?"
"Sometimes, excessive confidence becomes arrogance." Xi Munan tapped this with a light rebuke: "While you were off with your women, the heads of those five families had already safely returned to Jiacheng."
Xi Zichu pondered for a moment, then said: "I still underestimated Jiang Chen. But it doesn't matter. Him sparing their lives was merely an expression of displeasure toward me, or a convenient way to extort some wealth. In any case, it's trivial—it won't affect the bigger picture. I'll just increase the compensation a bit. Some worldly possessions are hardly a price to pay."
Xi Munan secretly nodded. The boy was indeed clever. Combined with the intelligence he'd received earlier, it seemed he'd guessed eight or nine parts of Jiang Chen's moves.
However, he was still overly confident, which led him to overlook certain things.
"Have you still not seen the truth?" Xi Munan shook his head: "He isn't going to leave the Hu family mine."
"Why? I truly cannot imagine any reason for him to waste his time here, especially at such a critical juncture in the fierce rivalry between Chongxuan Sheng and Chongxuan Zun."
"Is it possible that he's already seen through both your and Hu Shaomeng's intentions? You can figure out Hu Shaomeng, and Hu Shaomeng can immediately sense your awareness and rush back to Green Sheep Town in an instant. But you think that Jiang Chen, as Chongxuan Sheng's chief retainer, can't see through you two?"
Xi Zichu shook his head confidently: "Among the cleverest people I've ever known, he doesn't count."
"Is the 'observing, listening, inquiring, and pulse-taking' method of East King Valley really that miraculous? Or is it simply your own lack of skill?"
Xi Munan spoke, tossing the memorial scroll in his hand onto Xi Zichu.
"Lu Yan, the long-standing demon of the Bone Path, had been plotting for years. Du Ruhui, the cunning old fox of the State of Zhuang, devised the 'Discord Between General and Minister' stratagem and fooled the world for decades. When two such figures clash, behind them stand the White Bone Lord at the bottom of the Yellow Springs and an entire State of Zhuang. The fall of all Maple City was a foregone conclusion long ago. For Jiang Chen to have survived a catastrophe of that magnitude—how dare you look down on him so?"
"He was one of the victors in the Celestial Residence Secret Realm. Those who emerged victorious alongside him were Chongxuan Sheng, Li Longchuan, and Wang Yiwu!"
"In Nanyao City, he suppressed Grand Qi's Eleventh Prince, Jiang Wuyong. Lian Que, who forged the famous weapon, nearly broke with his family over him. Chongxuan Sheng was willing to confront Jiang Wuyong head-on for his sake."
Xi Munan sat in his chair, looking at Xi Zichu with some disappointment: "Zichu, set aside the earlier incidents. You knew about these last two. You've only been at East King Valley for a few years—how have you become blind to the heroes of the world already?"
Xi Zichu bowed his head: "Father. Your son was wrong."
He quickly raised his head again: "Father, where did you learn about his background?"
Though this information appeared as only a few lines in the intelligence report, the power it represented behind the scenes was terrifying. To be able to investigate a person's origins in the State of Zhuang while operating within the State of Qi—what kind of force could pull that off?
The Xi clan certainly couldn't.
This characteristic shrewdness pleased Xi Munan, but he never showed his approval to his son, only saying: "The Chongxuan family."
Xi Zichu nodded: "It seems Chongxuan Sheng really values this Jiang Chen. Otherwise, Chongxuan Zun wouldn't have passed the information along to us. In that case, I'm afraid we can't drive Jiang Chen away anymore—let alone kill him. It would easily be seen as taking sides. We can't get caught in the Chongxuan family's vortex. We're far away in the State of Yang. Even if we win, there's no benefit. If we lose, the family's doom could come at any moment."
"So the thing you and Hu Shaomeng have been eyeing—you don't want it anymore?" Xi Munan asked deliberately.
"Compared to the survival and continuation of the Xi clan over the coming centuries, everything else pales in comparison."
"That is the correct reasoning. However..." Xi Munan said: "We cannot kill Jiang Chen, but we must drive him away."
Xi Zichu smiled bitterly: "You've already said that Jiang Chen is dead set on staying at the Hu family mine. Since we can't kill him, how can we drive him away?"
"No—wait." He immediately realized: "I've already given up on that thing. Why must we still drive him away?"
Xi Zichu looked at Xi Munan: "Father, are you keeping something from me?"
Xi Munan dodged the latter question, only saying: "Our inability to kill him doesn't mean others can't."
Just then, a man resembling a secretary strode in and leaned into Xi Munan's ear, whispering a few words.
Xi Zichu recognized him as Master Liu, the man his father trusted most. Though he held no official title, within the entire City Lord's Manor, he stood second only to Xi Munan.
Suspicion stirred in his heart, but he would not demand answers from his father in this man's presence.
After his brief exchange, Master Liu stepped aside.
Xi Munan looked at his son with an impassive expression: "Something has happened at a restaurant in the southern part of the city. Go and handle it. Remember what I told you."
Xi Zichu glanced at Master Liu and simply said: "Understood."
...
When he arrived at the restaurant, the area had already been sealed off by the city guard garrison.
Xi Zichu noticed that the expressions of the city guard soldiers stationed outside the restaurant were all terrible—as though they had seen something that terrified them.
On the ground not far away, vomit was visible.
Inside the restaurant, there was likely something revolting, something horrifying...
Xi Zichu made a brief survey of the exterior, then walked through a corridor that had been specifically cleared for him into the sealed zone.
Stepping into the restaurant, even with his expectations prepared, his feet still halted for a moment.
He saw—
The entire restaurant was in shambles. Tables and chairs were overturned in every direction. Broken cups and shattered plates lay scattered in pools of dark crimson blood.
In the center of the main hall, a large iron pot was mounted, raging flames burning fiercely beneath it.
Above the iron pot...
Naked human corpses, inverted like a forest.
Each was missing parts.
Some had large sections carved away.
Some were stripped down to the bone.
Through the rising wisps of white steam, one could vaguely make out...
Half a human palm, bobbing up and down in the iron pot.