Chapter Thirty-Five: The Rattan Worth One Hundred Thousand Taels

In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. It seemed the leader of Golden Might had reached some sort of agreement with the Sun family of Eight Directions Town. Yet, bandits would always be bandits—helping the Suns capture a murderer had become little more than Golden Might’s excuse to swallow up weaker factions. Overnight, a number of minor groups vanished from the fringes of Eight Directions Road.

While Golden Might was annexing the weaker forces, atop Sunset Mountain, Cui Ba and the others waited in anxious torment. These two days had been pure agony for him. Inside the simple tent, Cui Ba’s gaze would often, whether deliberately or not, rest upon the chest that had brought such peril to Long Ba. Each time his eyes fell upon that box, his heart was thrown into turmoil. For the first time in his life, he felt time creep by with agonizing slowness.

“I wonder if Little Six has managed to gather any news?” Cui Ba shifted his gaze from the chest to Leng the Second, who was standing nearby. “Second Brother, has Little Six sent word?”

“Not yet!” Leng the Second had scarcely finished speaking when a voice came from outside the tent—Zhao Six’s. “Cui Ba…”

“Come in!” Cui Ba called. Even before his words had faded, Leng the Second hurriedly pulled aside the tent flap, just as anxious as Cui Ba himself.

Zhao Six entered, his expression grave. After organizing his thoughts, he reported, “Cui Ba, two days ago, Golden Might and the Sun family held a meeting in Eight Directions Town. It appears they struck some kind of deal. Ever since, Golden Might’s men have been rampaging along Eight Directions Road, swallowing up weaker factions.”

“Golden Might?” Leng the Second frowned. Golden Might was the region’s largest bandit force, even stronger than Long Ba’s group—tangling with them in their current state would be extremely difficult.

“Could it be that this chest really contains something unspeakable? That the cultivators haven’t gotten involved?” Cui Ba pondered for a moment, then looked to Zhao Six. “Any other news?”

Zhao Six hung his head, thinking deeply for a moment before he shook it with a wry smile. It had been difficult for him to gather information lately. Suddenly, something seemed to occur to him, and he hastened to add, “Two days ago—the very day the Sun family met with Golden Might—a young man arrived at the Sun household. Judging by the deference shown by Sun Lu and Sun Shou, he must have been the Sun family’s eldest young master, Sun Jincai. If I’m not mistaken, it was likely Sun Jincai who arranged the meeting between the Suns and Golden Might’s leader.”

“I see. It’s fortunate it was only the Sun family’s eldest young master who came.” Cui Ba patted Zhao Six on the shoulder. “Little Six, you’ll have to endure a bit more hardship and keep an eye on Golden Might’s men for me.”

Only the eldest young master? Zhao Six was momentarily puzzled, but when Cui Ba patted his shoulder, he snapped to attention and replied at once, “Yes!” With that, he was about to leave the tent when Leng the Second stepped forward, grabbing him and whispering, “Little Six, the fate of Long Ba hangs in the balance. Be extra cautious!”

“Leave it to me!” With a flash, Zhao Six disappeared from the tent.

Leng the Second turned back to Cui Ba, noting the return of his old vigor. “Cui Ba, should we prepare to head back?” He knew that if the cultivators had decided to intervene, it would not be the young master but the Sun family’s head himself who would have come. Since Sun Jincai had handled the matter, there was hope yet for Long Ba’s survival.

“Second Brother, go and fetch Lei’er.” After some thought, Cui Ba decided it was best to discuss matters with Lei Yan before making a decision.

“Yes!” Leng the Second turned and left, but as he lifted the tent flap, he found Lei Yan approaching.

“You’ve come at just the right time, Young Master. Cui Ba was just looking for you,” Leng the Second said, managing a rare smile.

“Godfather, you wanted to see me?” Lei Yan asked as he came before Cui Ba.

“Sit down, let’s talk.” Cui Ba motioned for Lei Yan to take a seat. “Little Six just brought news—the Sun family has made contact with Golden Might. What are your thoughts?”

Lei Yan’s mind immediately leapt to the notion that the cultivators had not intervened. If they hadn’t, there was no point in waiting any longer; better to return quickly to Long Ba’s territory. With its secrecy, neither the Sun family nor Golden Might would be able to find them. Having reached this conclusion, Lei Yan spoke: “Godfather, if the news is accurate, we should return as quickly as possible. This place is too conspicuous.”

“Very well.” Cui Ba nodded. “Second Brother, tell everyone to rest well. We’ll set out tonight. Also, send a few men to scout the route back and see if there are any Golden Might patrols lying in wait.”

“Yes!” Excitement stirred in Leng the Second’s heart—the past two days of waiting had worn him out.

“Godfather, I’d like to go to Wu Ye Town and purchase some materials. We must uncover the secret of this chest. Otherwise, we’re far too passive,” Lei Yan said after a moment’s thought.

Cui Ba hesitated. He didn’t know if uncovering the cultivators’ secret would bring even greater calamity upon Long Ba. “Lei’er, won’t this risk provoking the cultivators?”

“Godfather, we have already provoked them. Just because they haven’t intervened yet doesn’t mean they never will. We must learn the truth of these secrets as soon as possible—even if we can’t know everything, we should know as much as we can, or else we’ll remain at a disadvantage.”

Cui Ba gave a bitter laugh. “It seems I was being foolish.” With that, he took a stack of silver notes from his chest and handed them to Lei Yan. “Buy whatever you need.”

Lei Yan accepted them without protest—he needed both spirit stones and medicinal herbs, so money was essential. After stowing the notes, he said, “Godfather, I’ll take my leave.”

“Be careful.” Cui Ba waved him off. He had thought to send men to guard Lei Yan, but remembering the youth’s ruthless skills, he decided against it—if Lei Yan couldn’t handle something himself, no number of guards would help.

Leaving Cui Ba’s tent, Lei Yan remembered his promise to take Qingling out for a stroll, so he took her along as they departed from Sunset Mountain.

Wu Ye Town neighbored Eight Directions Town. Though not large, it bustled with people, most of them traveling merchants. Lei Yan and Qingling wandered its main street, where shops were few but stalls were as numerous as stars in the sky, their vendors calling out incessantly. Qingling, like a newcomer to the city, gaped and exclaimed at everything: “Wow, so many people!” “Wow, what’s this? It’s adorable!” “Wow, this bracelet is beautiful!” and so forth.

Watching her dart from stall to stall, Lei Yan couldn’t help but shake his head—he had no interest in such trinkets. He was here for spirit stones and medicinal herbs, so his attention was focused on apothecaries and jade shops.

Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through his arm, as if his very bones were being scraped. Lei Yan stopped in his tracks, a sense of foreboding tightening his chest. Was it the demon artifact? The pain only intensified, its rhythm quickening despite his tension. Lei Yan frowned. Qingling, glancing back, noticed his distress and hurried over. “Lei, what’s wrong?”

“What do you want to tell me?” Lei Yan ignored her question, his eyes fixed on his right arm. After a few breaths, he caught faint traces of information in the strange sensation. His eyes swept the area and were drawn to an ordinary stall—at that very moment, the agonizing pain vanished completely.

Lei Yan approached the stall, which held nothing but a single willow-like vine. He picked it up and examined it. A demon artifact? The idea seemed absurd—he knew nothing of such things, yet somehow sensed this was one. With a helpless sigh, he said, “I’ll take this.”

The old man squatting behind the stall looked up at Lei Yan with a lazy glance. “One hundred thousand silver taels,” he drawled.

“One hundred thousand? Why don’t you just rob us?” Qingling, who had been silent until now, leapt up in outrage. A scraggly vine for such an exorbitant price was beyond her tolerance.

Lei Yan said nothing, simply tossed ten silver notes onto the stall. If this truly was a demon artifact, the price was worth it.

Seeing Lei Yan pay, Qingling turned to the old man, asking helplessly, “At the very least, can you tell us what this vine actually is? What does it do?”

“Hmph,” the old man snorted coldly. “If I knew what it was or what it did, I wouldn’t sell it for a hundred thousand silver—I’d ask for a hundred thousand in gold!”

“What kind of logic is that?” Qingling was left utterly speechless.

Lei Yan chuckled at her befuddled expression. “Come on. The price doesn’t matter; what’s important is that I like it.”

“Hmph!” Qingling sniffed, then, as if recalling something, turned her attention to the neighboring stalls. “Lei, I want this… and this one… and I like this too…”