Chapter 50: Will it be exposed?

Inside the government office, Li Xun stood in the courtyard, his complexion somewhat wan.

He hadn't slept well all night yesterday.

In the haze, he seemed to constantly see a pitch‑black dragon battling a heaven‑piercing giant!

In the battlefield of the two sides, countless golden chains pierced the heavens and earth, locking toward the giant as if to block its attack!

Even so, the black divine dragon seemed no match for the giant; its scales shattered and blood sprayed everywhere.

His cultivation had reached the peak of Martial Master, and he normally spent his nights training, never dreaming.

But last night's dream lasted all night; from the mere perspective of an onlooker, Li Xun felt his consciousness about to be scattered by the aura emanating from both sides.

"How do you feel, Xun'er?" Li Xingchao stepped out of the room, saw his son already standing in the courtyard, and asked with concern.

Li Xun shook his head with a wry smile: "I had a dream all night; I'm utterly exhausted."

Li Xingchao understood that dreaming was a bad omen for a warrior at this level, and immediately said: "Why don't you just rest properly in the government office today?"

Li Xun shook his head again, a flicker of coldness in his eyes: "I want to see what tricks those shamans still have."

As a heaven‑chosen prodigy, he possessed his own pride and confidence.

On the martial path, if one retreats at difficulty, one is destined never to achieve greatness.

"That's fine," he said. "Father will go into the mountains with Yun Jin to search for relics. Be careful during this time, and take the Golden Scale Guard when you go out."

Li Xun nodded, gave a slight fist‑bow to Li Xingchao, and said: "Take care, Father; I'm going."

Leading a detachment of twenty Golden Scale Guards, Li Xun arrived at the government office gate and saw Fang Xu squatting beside the stone lion, eating a sesame cake.

He stared for a moment, then strode forward.

"As your lord, I recall you were still a Martial Apprentice first level yesterday; today you've broken through?"

Having just broken through to Martial Apprentice second level, Fang Xu could not yet fully control his aura, so Li Xun easily noticed it.

Fang Xu hurriedly swallowed the sesame cake in his mouth and bowed with a smile.

"Greetings, my lord."

"My lord, I've been stuck at Martial Apprentice first level for a while; I never expected that after meeting you yesterday, I'd return home, train briefly, and actually break through."

That bit of unsolicited praise slightly dispelled the gloom in Li Xun's heart.

"Let's go find Yun Wan and continue today."

Bringing the Golden Scale Guard and Fang Xu to the town inn, they happened to meet Yun Wan just as she was leaving.

Glancing at Fang Xu's even more obsequious demeanor than yesterday, Yun Wan's gaze swept past him to the twenty Golden Scale Guards and she asked, "My lord, why do you bring so many attendants?"

Li Xun felt a bit embarrassed.

In this small town of Maple Forest, a Martial Master peak like himself going out with an entourage of attendants really makes one look timid.

But the events of last night were vivid in his mind, and he couldn't well tell Yun Wan that he had already been poisoned.

"Some people are just more convenient to employ…" Li Xun evaded.

Yun Wan didn't care about that either, and shifted the topic: "My lord, where are you planning to go today?"

"Gourd Valley." Li Xun said.

Yesterday, from Yun Wan's mouth, he learned that Yun Tianhe's corpse had been found in Gourd Valley, and he wanted to go there to see if any traces remained.

"Fang Xu, do you know the way to Gourd Valley?" Yun Wan looked at Fang Xu and asked.

Although she knew Fang Xu was deliberately putting on this act, Yun Wan still disliked his current demeanor.

Previously, Fang Xu had also been respectful in her presence, but he lacked some obsequiousness, appearing neither humble nor arrogant.

But now he……

"I know." Fang Xu bowed. "Gourd Valley lies on the outskirts of Lift Blue Mountain; it is the medicinal garden of the Wu family in the town."

"Then lead the way." Li Xun said indifferently.

Under Fang Xu's guidance, the party quickly left Maple Forest Town and headed straight for Lift Blue Mountain; upon entering the mountain, the twenty Golden Scale Guards all drew their weapons, shielding Li Xun and Yun Wan in the center while letting Fang Xu walk ahead.

Li Xun glanced at the trembling Fang Xu before him and couldn't help but sneer: "With me, your lord, and Elder Sister Yun Wan here, plus twenty Golden Scale Guards, what do you have to fear?"

Fang Xu turned, bowed, and said: "My lord, please excuse me; I've heard that near Gourd Valley there are high‑grade ferocious beasts capable of easily slaying Martial Apprentice warriors."

"I am only a Martial Apprentice second level…"

"Enough! Enough!"

"You two, go with him."

Fang Xu's spirited vigor made Li Xun somewhat fond of him, found him useful, and not wanting to see him die, he simply assigned two Golden Scale Guards to accompany Fang Xu.

The Golden Scale Guard is the imperial army of the Dayu Dynasty, its lowest‑rank elites being Martial Masters.

The ones Li Xun brought, though not elite, generally had cultivation at Martial Apprentice ninth level, even reaching Martial Apprentice perfection.

With two Golden Scale Guards constantly at his side, Fang Xu finally felt considerably more at ease.

On the road they occasionally encountered blind‑sighted beasts; there was no need for Fang Xu to act, as the two Golden Scale Guards swiftly slew them.

Fang Xu merely stood aside, waiting for the Golden Scale Guards to slay the beasts, then approached the carcasses and bowed: "My lord, do you not want this blood‑food?"

Li Xun glanced disdainfully at the beast carcasses: "What use would I, your lord, have for such filth?"

Upon hearing that, Fang Xu hurriedly dragged the beast corpses to a secluded spot and temporarily covered them with straw.

While doing so, he muttered: "This one's heavy—about three hundred catties… five catties per tael of silver… sixty taels of silver!"

"This one's a bit thin—only two hundred catties, that's forty taels of silver."

Watching Fang Xu hoard beast carcasses like a miser, Li Xun frowned, his face full of contempt: "Lowborn is lowborn; a little profit makes them act like this."

"All right, let's move on!"

They walked, stopped, and walked again, only reaching Gourd Valley at mid‑afternoon.

Full of hope, Li Xun immediately commanded the twenty Golden Scale Guards to search the entire Gourd Valley for traces, while he himself leapt onto a towering boulder to observe.

Fang Xu saw this and secretly shook his head.

Yun Wan seemed to notice his action, and immediately said in a low voice, "Do you think he will gain anything this time?"

Fang Xu did not answer directly, merely said lightly: "The corpse of the Yun family's second master was found here; it's obvious there are no signs of battle."

Yun Wan nodded slightly and said, "Second Uncle must have fled here after being seriously wounded; those people probably don't know."

"Wasting time." Fang Xu said leisurely, then curiously looked at Yun Wan and said, "Miss Yun, why didn't you tell the prince these speculations?"

Tell him?

Yun Wan glanced at Li Xun, who stood upright on top of a boulder not far away, and said with some disdain, "Isn't it nice to see an arrogant genius suffer a setback?"

Fang Xu heard this, curled his lips, and thought he hadn't expected Yun Wan to actually be such a scheming girl.

As the two had suspected, the entire Golden Scale Guard searched the whole Hulu Valley, but also found no trace left by the witch. Seeing the sun already slanting west, Li Xun grew somewhat annoyed and said, "Go check the place where the government troops were ambushed!"

Fang Xu pretended not to know, saying, "I don't know where the government troops were ambushed."

"Let me lead the way," Yun Wan interjected.

Under her leadership, the group directly arrived at the place where Wang Erhu and the government troops were ambushed.

The corpses of those government troops were mostly devoured clean by hungry ferocious beasts, leaving only a mess of white bones scattered on the ground.

Upon arriving here, Fang Xu's expression suddenly tightened.

That day, out of acquaintance, he could not bear to see Wang Erhu's corpse devoured by wild beasts, so he buried his corpse; if the Golden Scale Guard were to search this area, they would surely discover Wang Erhu's grave.

Would they then trace it back to him?

While recalling whether he had left any traces when burying Wang Erhu that day, and thinking about it, if he were discovered, how should he explain himself?

"Search carefully, don't let any evidence slip!" Li Xun exclaimed excitedly.

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(End of chapter)