Chapter 778
Chapter 778
‘So he’s finally dead.’
Shen Lang let out a long sigh. He took a notebook from his robes, wrote Xue Che’s name in black ink, and then drew a large red X over it. One step closer to my goal of having no enemies left in the world. Shen Lang glanced at Xue Che’s headless corpse, then up at the blue sky, and then at the lush greenery around them.
‘This is like a natural forest bath, isn't it? Such a nice environment, such a good mood… what’s the best thing to do?’
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Shen Lang’s hand naturally reached for Mulan. She blushed and asked in a coquettish voice,
“H-Here?”
“Why not? The air here is so fresh. One must always break free from convention in life.”
Mulan thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright!”
* * *
An hour later.
“My love, what are you doing now?”
Shen Lang asked. Mulan replied,
“Trying to get pregnant.”
Shen Lang was speechless.
‘Do we have to do this every time? Our goal is pleasure, not procreation, isn't it?’
“Husband, we're going to sail out to sea and explore the world beyond, right? The great ship is already built. It’s massive, truly massive, and has everything. It even has a nursery. Qiu Yao'er gave birth while sailing, didn't she? I think I can do it too.”
‘Ugh! My love, must you compare yourself to Qiu Yao'er in everything? Setting sail?’
“Soon, soon.”
Mulan held a boundless yearning for the world beyond the sea, but she was also filled with great hesitation.
‘Should I bring that bothersome Shen Ye along? What about Shen Mi? Shen Li? Ning Yan, Xiao Bing? Should I bring them all?’
When her thoughts reached that point, Mulan's head began to ache.
‘What if we don't bring any of them? What if just my husband and I go out to sea and see the world? We'll be back in a year and a half anyway. But Shen Ye, that little rascal, is still so young. Wouldn't it be bad for his parents to leave him?’
But for the past year or so, Xiao Bing had always been the one looking after Shen Ye, while Shen Lang and Mulan were constantly out fighting.
‘Little rascal, you can stay with Auntie Bing, your little mother. Mommy and Daddy will go enjoy our own world, and while we're at it, we'll bring you back a little brother or sister.’
“When exactly is 'soon'?”
“Xue Che is dead, but Xue Ding and Xue Xue are still out there, so things aren't finished yet. Once everything is settled, we'll set sail and leave this place.”
“But aren't you going to go back to the capital to say goodbye to His Majesty the King and His Highness Ning Zheng?”
“Say goodbye? I'm not going to say goodbye.”
“That's great, then. Once we've wrapped things up, we'll go straight to Raging Tide City and set sail immediately.”
“In that case, my love, can't you put your legs down now?”
“No. I have to wait another two minutes.”
“But seeing you like that, I can't restrain myself again.”
“Then you can come and solidify our… achievements. I'm determined to have a daughter this time.”
* * *
The Grandmaster, who had cut off his own right leg, was still scrambling away desperately, using his hands to support himself on the ground. But then, three figures suddenly appeared before him, standing upside down. It was Big Dummy and the couple, Li Qianqiu and his wife. The four of them stared at each other in silence for a long moment. Finally, the Grandmaster of the Hidden Yuan Society flipped himself over and stood upright on his one leg. Li Qianqiu asked him,
“Will you be captured quietly, or would you prefer we use force?”
After a moment, the Grandmaster decided to surrender. He was no match for Li Qianqiu to begin with, and now Qiu's wife and Big Dummy were here as well. Moreover, he had lost a leg and was merely an external reinforcement; there was no need to fight to the death.
* * *
An hour later, Shen Lang appeared before the captured Grandmaster and asked slowly,
“You're from the Hidden Yuan Society?”
The Grandmaster nodded.
“Rumor has it the Hidden Yuan Society has a city of its own. What's it called?”
Shen Lang asked. The Grandmaster nodded and replied,
“Our Hidden Yuan Society has many cities.”
“Then which city do Shu Baidu and Shu Tingyu usually stay in?”
“The City of Repentance.”
“Is it because they've committed wrongs that they go to the City of Repentance?”
The Grandmaster shook his head.
“No. The founder of the Hidden Yuan Society said that money represents sin from the moment it is created. That's why the cities of the Hidden Yuan Society are named as such: the City of Repentance, the City of Sin, and the City of Forgiveness.”
Such pretentious names.
“So where is this City of Repentance?”
“It's atop Mount Lingjue, north of Yan Province and west of the State of Wu.”
“How many people are there?”
“Tens of thousands!”
Shen Lang was stunned.
‘That many?’
Shen Lang had heard about the City of Repentance, the City of Forgiveness, and the City of Sin from Huang Tong of the Heavenly Dao Society. In fact, the Heavenly Dao Society had similar cities, but as the society declined, those cities also fell into decay. If Shen Lang's guess was correct, those cities were built on top of ancient gold veins. Thus, the city was essentially a bank in the southern heart of the Eastern world. Among the tens of thousands residing in the city, there wasn't a single person who wasn't involved; they were all members of the Hidden Yuan Society. There were the Hidden Yuan Society's schools, vaults, libraries, and numerous archives. Of course, there were also mints and gold refineries. Shen Lang set aside the matter of the City of Repentance and asked another question.
“Where are Xue Ding, Xue Xue, and Ning Qi hiding?”
The Grandmaster, who had been answering readily, fell silent.
“Xue Che is already dead, and most of the Xue Clan is gone. Shouldn't families be together?”
Shen Lang tossed Xue Che's severed head in front of the Grandmaster. Hoping he would recognize Xue Che's face.
“What's your name?”
“Li Qianmo.”
Shen Lang was taken aback and looked at Li Qianqiu.
‘Sword King, senior, he's your brother.’
The Sword King, Li Qianqiu, wore a helpless expression. He could tell at a glance that this Grandmaster from the Hidden Yuan Society also came from a poor family and had changed his name because his original one didn't sound good. But because his innate bloodline was so outstanding, the Hidden Yuan Society had taken him in and raised him. After becoming a Grandmaster of the Hidden Yuan Society, he couldn't use his old name, so he changed it to something that sounded more imposing. However, there weren't many names in the world suitable for a martial arts master, and he couldn't be bothered to think too hard. So, Li Ergou became Li Qianqiu, and the Grandmaster before him became Li Qianmo. Actually, his name was originally Li Qianmo (李千墨), but he later changed it to Li Qianmo (李芊墨) to clearly distinguish himself from Li Qianqiu. This alone showed how extremely rare it was in this world to find a name that sounded both pleasant and powerful. Just like how on modern Earth, countless boys are named Zhekai or Chenyu.
“I swear on my wife's name. If you tell us where Ning Qi, Xue Ding, and Xue Xue are, I will absolutely not kill you and will let you go. Don't worry. I may be a man who treats his words like farts and breaks his promises, but I will always keep a promise made on my wife's name.”
The Hidden Yuan Society's Grandmaster, Li Qianmo, hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to compromise.
“They change locations every few shichen, and only the Xues know the new location. I was just following them. Two shichen have passed now, so they must have moved.”
“Then take us to the place where they were hiding!”
* * *
Li Qianmo led Shen Lang and his group to the place where Xue Che and the others had hidden. It was said that the most ordinary place is the most secret. This was an underground chamber in an ordinary thicket, with no distinguishing features on the surface. Unless Shen Lang scanned the entire Nanzhu Archipelago in X-ray vision mode, it was a place he could never have found. But the Nanzhu Archipelago covered an area of seventeen thousand square kilometers; scanning it meter by meter would take years.
After entering the underground chamber, Shen Lang found that while it wasn't large, it had everything one could need. Food, vegetables, fruit, wine, medicine—it was fully stocked with all necessities. People say a cunning rabbit has three burrows to hide in, but would the Xue Clan have only prepared three? Of course, this underground chamber was already empty; everyone had left. Where had they gone? There was no way of knowing the specific location of their next hideout. However, Shen Lang was certain it would be within a ten-li radius. If they excluded the previous hideouts they already knew about, finding the new one wouldn't be too difficult. Soon, Mulan took the lead and began to meticulously and rapidly search the area within a ten-li radius.
* * *
Inside the Xue Clan's secret hideout.
There were only four people inside: Xue Ding, Xue Xue, Ning Qi, and Yan E. Xue Ding looked at everyone and said,
“Something's wrong. Something has definitely gone wrong. If Father had successfully killed Shen Lang and Jin Mulan, he would have returned by now.”
Xue Xue and Ning Qi were silent. They all knew something was wrong. Because the explosion at the top of the stone mountain had been so clear, they had immediately moved to a new hideout the moment they saw it. According to the original plan, they were supposed to flee to Cave No. 6, but instead, they hid in Cave No. 9. This was a top-secret cave of the Xue Clan, a place no one could find even if someone betrayed them. Because it was located under the sea. This underwater cave was the most difficult to construct. A very long iron pipe had to be used to draw in air. But even so, the chamber felt damp and suffocating.
Xue Xue said,
“Your Highness, rest assured. This hideout is top secret; Shen Lang will never be able to find it. Even if he finds a map of the hideouts, the other eight caves are marked, but this ninth secret cave was never put on any map. We even killed all the people who built it. Besides, there's enough food and water here for us to live for several months. Shen Lang won't stay here that long, so the situation will change in a few months.”
Ning Qi said nothing.
“As the saying goes, 'a hidden dragon bides its time.' Your Highness needs to lie low for now.”
Ning Qi felt a clear change in Xue Xue's attitude. No matter how kindly she treated him, as she had before, her attitude was servile to the bone. Before, the Xue Clan was powerful, so Ning Qi had come to rely on them. But now that the Xue Clan had been all but wiped out by Shen Lang, they would have to rely on Ning Qi in the future.
“Jin Mulan has a fearsome sense of smell. Won't she find this place?”
Yan E asked. Xue Ding replied,
“That's impossible. Jin Mulan has awakened the power of the ancient humans and has a strong sense of nature. But it's not like a sense of smell, so she can't track us like a hound.”
Ning Qi nodded, then suddenly spoke.
“The recent earthquake was very unusual.”
Xue Ding and Xue Xue were silent.
“Is it related to the ancient ruins that Mount Fudao is excavating?”
The two remained silent at Ning Qi's question. Then, Xue Xue suddenly spoke up.
“Your Highness need not worry. As I said before, your era will soon come. If there is one prince in the State of Yue who is absolutely loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, it is you, Your Highness. As the saying goes, 'a hidden dragon bides its time.' We just need to wait here quietly for a few months, and once Shen Lang is finished, we can easily make a comeback. He will never find this place.”
But just then, a strange scent wafted in.
“Damn it, this is bad! There's poison in the air. Quick, hold your breath and block all the entrances!”
Xue Xue and Xue Ding rushed forward and blocked all the air inlets. Their eyes showed fear.
Shen Lang had found them.
‘H-How on earth did he find this place?’