Chapter 346: Cicada Catches the Sparrow (6000)

Yinzhou, by the Qingjing Lake.

Wudong laughed.

"... It is definitely not a lie, Inspector."

In the business world, the chief manager of Jin Jin Yuzhai, Wei Mingfu, is known as "Two Brows Play," because his two long eyebrows are flexible and eye-catching. Any expression, once decorated by these two eyebrows, becomes vivid and lifelike.

Now he also offered a smile, frowning sincerely, just like a small stall owner who had been robbed.

"Burned them all?" Wudong's tone was light.

"The ones from recent years are still there." Wei Mingfu lowered the ends of his eyebrows, in a dilemma, "If you want to check them, Inspector, we will adjust them immediately, but earlier ones... even twenty years ago, we are really powerless."

"Heart amber business like this, worth several thousand taels of silver a year, is not complicated." Wudong's gray and light eyes looked at him, "As far as I know, if business account books are damaged, merchant associations restore them as soon as possible."

"... Restored books do exist. It's just that they rely on the memory of the old people back then, and the coming and going are scattered, so it is inevitable that there are omissions and errors. Inspector, look..."

"Take me to get them." Wudong said coldly.

Wei Mingfu wiped his sweat, as if he really didn't expect the old man to know this, and turned to walk to the back of the courtyard helplessly.

This was already the deepest courtyard of Jin Jin Yuzhai. Going out and going back, he left the shore, and before him was a water pavilion built on the lake.

Entering here felt like entering another depth of Jin Jin Yuzhai. The noise of the front courtyard was gone, and at this time only the night wind lifted the lapels. The water pavilion was not lit, like a giant beast lying on the heavy water waves.

Four vigorous guards stood at the door, the leader of whom was an Eighth Life.

Wudong's gaze did not stay here, but continued to raise, looking further into the depths.

If this water pavilion were a giant beast, then what guarded it would be the portal leading there.

——Behind the water pavilion, a long corridor stretched straight toward the center of the lake, like a dragon shadow lying on the waves in the darkness. At the end of the dragon shadow, a nine-story tower was built on the waves, also dark and unlit.

The Lotus Tower is a place covered in hazy mist in the Shaolong Jianghu.

Jin Jin Yuzhai started in the mixed fish and dragon, green forest, black path, dignitaries, and aristocratic families... Forty years ago, the thirty-year-old "Golden Deer" Hua Wanquan walked among them like a loach with sharp teeth, establishing this foundation of "Jin Jin Yuzhai."

Downward, gangs in the city, mountain bandit strongholds; upward, government officials, famous sects... all had paths. Business is the way of mutual exchange. The more paths, the more business naturally comes to the door, and so it flourished year after year.

It was just a green stem starting from the silt, so there were extra poisonous insects and water pests. For the three characters "Jin Jin Yuzhai" to grow into the light, to spread leaves and open lotuses for people to nod, one must stand firmly on the roots. Hua Wanquan set up a manor by Qingjing Lake, built a high tower leaning against stone veins in the depths of the lake, hung the three characters "Jin Jin Yuzhai" clearly, and supported that darkest and most difficult period with a long saber.

Until he stepped into the Mystic Gate, found the gangs, and overturned three of them, he finally ended that period of time.

Since then, the three characters "Jin Jin Yuzhai" have spread wider and walked higher, and now they have washed away the silt and stood firmly on the signboard.

And it was precisely in this process that the notorious "Blood Lotus Golden Deer" gradually faded his figure and no longer appeared in the business of the merchant association, representing that Jin Jin Yuzhai had completely bid farewell to that chaotic period.

Someone asked, and Jin Jin Yuzhai's answer was "retired to the mountains and forests, traveling the world," no longer dealing with the affairs of the merchant association. The Lotus Tower was also sealed from then on, and no one set foot in it again.

No one knew the truth of this statement, so his shadow had always been vaguely behind Jin Jin Yuzhai.

People said that this tower hid the secret treasures and martial arts books of a veteran master. Perhaps some desperate people really tried to explore it, but no one came out alive.

Looking at it from a close distance now, it indeed looked like it hadn't been lived in for a long time.

Wudong withdrew his gaze and walked into the water pavilion with his sword.

To the deepest part, Wei Mingfu pushed open the room door. The room was empty, and the innermost wall was a stone wall, on which an iron-cast door was embedded.

Wudong did not avoid it at all. Wei Mingfu opened this iron door helplessly. Amidst the sound of mechanisms, the secret treasury was revealed. The manager's hesitation now seemed very reasonable. Not to mention the secret goods and treasures, 【Nanhai Fire Vermilion】 was declared to have lost its business route at the annual auction, and the last few jin sold for a high price. Now half a shelf was piled here.

Besides hoarding goods, many swords and magical artifacts lost in the Jianghu for a long time also revealed their whereabouts here, whether ancestral or sect-suppressing. Taking many of them out would be the end of a Jianghu mystery.

Wudong swept over these things lightly, and Wei Mingfu had already taken down a book that was neither new nor old.

"This is the volume supplemented after the burning, Inspector." Wei Mingfu opened it and handed it over with both hands, "The next seven pages are related to heart amber."

Wudong flipped through it slowly. Each stroke was indeed very clear. There were transfers to other merchant associations, anonymous separate orders, auction sales, and purchases in the name of sects and gangs... nearly ten jin of heart amber every year, scattered and with various outlets. Except for the paper and ink not being the paper and ink of that year, Jin Jin Yuzhai had restored other details quite completely.

"Is your heart amber sold like this?" For a long time, Wudong closed the book and looked at the person in front of him lightly again.

"... If you have any questions, Inspector, we will definitely cooperate and compare them one by one." Wei Mingfu's eyebrows frowned again, and his sincerity was overflowing.

"Jin Jin Yuzhai indeed has clever masters, but accounts can only be made to look like it, but can never be made true." Wudong sighed lightly, "This is why I clearly know that you have tampered with it, but I must still look at this account book."

"... Inspector is joking. Whether it has been tampered with or not, you can go and check one by one."

"I believe that checking only the heart amber business of these twelve years will definitely be seamless and round. It's a pity that any lie has its boundaries. After expanding the field of vision to a macro degree that the lie cannot keep up with, the incompatibility between round and square naturally manifests." Wudong looked at him, "Jin Jin Yuzhai's business over the years has a great advantage."

"..." Wei Mingfu's expression didn't move, only his eyebrows lowered slightly.

"When luxury goods and Mystic materials from the south arrive in Shaolong, you can always give the government office the fastest and most sincere order, with the amount always between three thousand and six thousand taels, thus seizing the right to sell the first batch." Wudong looked at him, "Jin Jin Yuzhai's main income sources every year are four: luxury goods pawn and sale are about three thousand taels; Mystic material sales are about seven or eight thousand taels; own gold and jade mine sales and carving are about three or four thousand taels; the rest is heart amber business, not bad, right?"

"..." Wei Mingfu's face was already a bit pale, and his double brows were moving toward the character "eight," and he smiled reluctantly, "Still... still have some other income..."

"Every May, you complete the procurement of luxury goods from the south. By April, you have to take three or four thousand taels to purchase heart amber... and at the end of July, Mystic materials from the south arrive, and you take out four or five thousand taels of silver immediately..." Wudong smiled lightly and threw the book back onto the shelf, "Buying and selling, buying and selling, according to this book, where is your 'selling' for the first half of the year?"

"..."

"So, heart amber is not placed in the scattered sales of the whole year like this. You have a fixed, large-scale sales route as soon as you get the goods—seven or eight jin of heart amber go out, and four or five thousand taels of silver come back. In fact, you are purchasing on their behalf." Wudong looked at him coldly, "If Manager Wei can balance this account, that is the ability to create silver out of thin air."

"..." Wei Mingfu's two eyebrows lowered slowly, and his lips trembled, "Inspector, you must speak with evidence..."

"Seal Jin Jin Yuzhai thoroughly today. The silver that has passed through will always leave traces. Within half a month, the Xianren Terrace can find a complete chain of evidence." Wudong looked at him indifferently.

Those eyebrows stood up, as if stepped on a sore spot, and shrieked: "Inspector! That would—"

"That would be exactly what you want." Wudong looked at him indifferently.

"..." Wei Mingfu was completely frozen, his vivid expression frozen on his face. It turned out that when his heart truly sank into the valley, these eyebrows were frozen.

Wudong didn't look at him anymore and pressed his sword straight to the back: "Half a year ago, the Xianren Terrace pursued 'Flower Poison' Yan Maohua, who had just entered the Mystic Gate. The trail was found near Yinzhou but lost. Later, they determined that he entered the Lotus Tower and never came out."

Wei Mingfu followed in a panic: "Inspector Wuhe! Inspector Wu..."

"So I think, Hua Wanquan perhaps never left, and has always been in this tower." The sealed back door crashed open in front of Mystic Qi, and Wudong stepped onto the night wind corridor, "Many years ago, he was stuck at the 'Ziyi' realm due to talent and hidden injuries. Now, what could make him sell the entire Jin Jin Yuzhai, just to buy this half a month of time for the Huan Si Lou?"

Wudong stroked the tiger-swallowing mouth of the jade tiger without expression, and his body swept up like a long crane. The long bridge of dozens of zhang was crossed in one step: "I hope he really stepped into 'Tuanshen', otherwise it would be too boring."

The old man never intended to find any evidence. Time was the most important thing at this moment. He just needed to "know," and then rushed straight to the deepest part.

The crane clothes fell straight onto the top of the Lotus Tower. The injury suffered in Bowang was clearly still affecting him, but Wudong had no suspicion or fear. He pressed his arm on the top of the tower, and the Mystic Qi penetrated downward. The lake water around the tower stirred like a lotus flower. Amidst the sound of the waves, the gold and iron were cold, which was all the door locks and iron chains in the tower breaking inch by inch.

It was indeed so. Even if the old master "Golden Deer," who was famous in the Jianghu, really stepped into the Tuanshen realm, he was still not enough in front of the sharpest crane inspector in Shaolong.

Wudong wielded his sword and drifted in. This black tower, which was said to be full of murderous intent in the Jianghu rumors, was crashed through layer by layer by him like walking through grass. The True and Mystic Qi surged, and the iron windows on the floors he passed were smashed outward with a bang.

"Hua Wanquan, I should have seen you a few times many years ago." Amidst the surge, Wudong's soft voice clearly penetrated everything, "You can be considered a man. What have you done? Come out and confront me."

"..." A hoarse sigh came from the ground, "Inspector Wu, the seventh floor under the lake, please come."

Wudong swept down straight.

The space under the lake was much larger than the one above the lake, and it became wider as it went down, because the tower was built leaning against stone veins, and the depths were almost giant stones covering half of the lake, which could be excavated.

When reaching the deepest seventh floor, the spaciousness was almost a grand hall.

Pitch black, quiet. Wudong passed through a cold, dripping stone path and stepped in. Only empty footsteps echoed.

Such a situation always makes people can't help but lighten their footsteps, but Wudong did not restrain at all. His falcon eyes looked straight ahead. The end of the hall was a stone wall that had not been carved or polished. Under the stone wall, a giant seat was cast, and the body wrapped in silk robes leaned inside.

This was the only place in the entire hall that lit two white candles.

"Hua Wanquan, where did you transport the heart amber?"

However, there was no answer.

Wudong paused his footsteps, pursed his lips, and walked over slowly, seeing this face clearly.

High nose bridge, thin eyes, even when closed, there was a fierce spirit. It was exactly the face of the man he occasionally saw back then, carved by time.

It was just that he had been dead for many years.

Wudong's chin tightened, and he turned around. The crisp sound of footsteps had already sounded behind him.

Two black robes, two play faces, stood at the entrance of the hall.

One white with yellow, one plain with hooked face, two long swords were chilling.

At the moment their gazes met, Wudong knew that his enemy was not that wild-path master Hua Wanquan.

Two Tuanshen—Wudong believed they must be high-level members of the Huan Si Lou, and now they were here just to bury him.

From Hua Wanquan's corpse, it could be seen that they had completely controlled this place... for many years.

How could the Huan Si Lou have such control?

Wudong was a bit unbelievable, but there was no time to think about it now.

Just as he did not retreat and went straight in, determined to find the trail of the Huan Si Lou from here, the Huan Si Lou's determination to block this road was equally firm.

Wudong believed they must be high-level members of the Huan Si Lou, and now they were here just to bury him.

Wudong gasped lightly and drew his jade tiger... A loud explosion burst in the hall. Without any conversation, black shadows and cold light swept up!

Wudong blocked with one sword. Amidst the sound of clanging, his body was crashed onto the stone wall. The next moment, the second cold light forced onto his lower back. The 【Zhe Fengting】 exploded in a tiny gap, forcing back the sword in front of him for a moment, and Wudong tilted his sword to block the second sharp blade.

After one exchange, the battle situation tightened to the extreme in silence.

The two black robes were stronger than Wudong imagined. One sword forced straight in front, and one sword folded toward the back. Both power and misalignment were terrifyingly precise. This was not any sword technique, but the peak quality displayed by two masters of combat in one exchange.

And Wudong had deliberately let go of his power when receiving the first sword. If he hadn't leaned against the stone wall in advance, the second sword would have opened a bloody wound on his body.

Now both sides knew the depth of the other, Wudong lowered his brows and raised his eyes, slowly relaxing and tightening the palm holding the sword.

A tragic fight exploded in this space in an instant.

Wudong knew that time was not on his side. He had to kill a breakthrough before the other party figured out his trump cards. He had no dodging or defense. In the collision of airflow and cold shadows, he used sword blades, magical artifacts, Mystic arts, and wounds to exchange for the opportunity to strike, and according to the feeling of the two sword receptions just now, he violently poured all the murderous intent of a crane inspector toward the slightly weaker white face.

And the two black robes did not give an inch. There was no greed for life in victory, no ease in retreating. No one knew what he could do if he was given enough space, so the determination of the two black robes at this time was breathtaking—you want to exchange wounds, then exchange wounds with you, one sword for two swords! You want to exchange lives, then exchange lives with you, one life for one life!

If one died, the other would definitely cut off this head.

In such a battle where everyone wielded swords and advanced, the two black robes circled the crane clothes and came and went in the pitch-black hall. Sword shadows flashed like snow, blood splashed like cinnabar, and every moment it seemed that a limb was about to fly off.

And for Wudong, when he clashed with the white face again, the soft slant of the other party's sword momentum was the real opportunity to decide life and death.

You are bleeding, and I am bleeding, but the speed at which we become weaker is different.

Wudong did not attack first for the first time, but avoided the plain-faced sword. Its state was almost perfect, and the sword was really strong and fast. Wudong used up all his strength to avoid it.

The white face, although his shoulder blade was crushed in the previous exchange, immediately seized the opportunity and tried his best to fill the gap left by this sword.

And behind Wudong, the plain-faced sword had already lit up with cold, dark light in the Mystic Qi.

In the desperate situation of being unable to ride a tiger, actively seeking to change the rhythm of the battle resulted in such an end. You did indeed get the opportunity to fight against the male tiger under you, but the female tiger had already lit up sharp fangs behind your back.

But the tiger roar sounded from Wudong's sword first.

This sword, which was deep, beautiful, and sharp, lit up with dazzling electric light, releasing power that surpassed all the murderous-looking attacks before.

"Mingguang Lei Ting" · 【Zoutianhai】

"Bright Light Thunder" · 【Walking the Heavenly Sea】

This sword strike was enough to drown the white face's ordinary offensive sword, and give him enough heavy damage, so the white face didn't exchange anymore.

From the "fighting for life" without regard for anything to the calm and clear "cunning," the sudden change in rhythm did not bring any opportunity.

Fighting with exchanged wounds was fine, but always attacking and exchanging for two attacks, now Wudong suddenly wanted to exchange one attack for one attack, so the white face immediately had to withdraw his chips.

The horizontal river sword was held steadily in front of him. The white face calmly dealt with everything. In this way, his sword-holding was defeated, and the plain face stabbed into his back, which was a fair exchange.

But at this moment, the sword hilt in his hand suddenly lost control. The plain face didn't have time to force pressure with his wrist. The next moment, the two swords clashed with a "clang," and the sword in his hand loosened by more than half.

So everything was caught off guard.

The loosened sword suddenly bloomed with light as bright as day, the second 【Zoutianhai】. With the intersection of the two swords as the axis, two terrifying forces merged into the same straight line perfectly and flawlessly in an instant.

Electric snakes flashed by, and the white face's throat was left with a scorched hole.

Wudong's gray eyes were indifferent. This was the peak achievement in the sword path.

【Jade Tiger】, Thread-pulling.

He finally completed the killing of the enemy by exchanging one attack for one attack, and still had the strength to twist his body. The pain of tearing came from behind, and the dripping blood and broken flesh had already fallen to the ground.

Wudong landed on the ground and held his sword horizontally, but his body stiffened abruptly. The Mystic Qi that invaded the wound behind him exploded like a flame. The old man's chest and abdomen turned crimson in an instant, and a mouthful of hot blood sprayed out.

The plain face landed and gasped for a mouthful of rough blood. Forcing the activation of this sword-flame Mystic Scripture in a hurry also caused his meridians to be burned.

Of course, compared to the old man who was hurriedly sealing his meridians, he still had too many advantages.

It was just that he failed to complete the exchange of life for life. In the case of a one-on-one fight, anything could happen.

It was just that now, the life-for-life exchange had not been completed; in a one-on-one situation, anything could happen.

Wudong straightened up, and the sword he was holding was no longer so powerful.

The injury from just now affected the old wounds, and the True and Mystic Qi were hindered a lot... He took the lead and swept up with his sword!

The plain face stood still, he breathed lightly again, gathered Mystic Qi calmly, and only suddenly held his sword horizontally at the moment it was about to arrive. The waves exploded, and he held this sword strike steadily.

And without any chance to breathe, the Mystic Qi in front of him exploded again, and the bright light on Wudong's sword was once again as bright as day.

The plain face absolutely did not expect that the Thread-pulling Jade Tiger would be activated again, and the same move as just now appeared again!

However, this time, the Jade Tiger didn't even take the long sword from the plain face's hand.

The gap in state could not be made up by strategy, so the plain face only had to face this 【Zoutianhai】 that poured out everything.

It was indeed majestic, and it would indeed hinder almost all his power. The plain face also knew that he would probably be injured, but the person opposite must die.

Too decisive, too tragic, and too desperate an attack. Perhaps this was indeed the best choice for the person opposite, but it still failed to reverse the barrier of life and death. Within one-thirtieth of a second after this move, there would be a head waiting to be slaughtered in front of him.

The thunder extinguished, the Mystic Qi exploded, and this sword fight passed.

One-thirtieth of a second also passed.

The plain face still didn't move.

He maintained the posture of holding the sword, and at the moment the Mystic Qi consumption ended, he froze in the transparent air.

This process would not last long, and it was just one-thirtieth of a second.

So a clear sword swept across his throat and cut off this head.

Sui Zaihua shook off the blood and sheathed his sword: "I have to confirm that there are no more people in ambush."

Wudong waved his hand to indicate no need for explanation: "I didn't expect that the play master didn't mention 【Jade Tiger】 to them."

"Regarding the 'play master' that night... I also have many things to tell you."

"About the name 'Qu Zhu'?" Wudong adjusted his breath again, "I specifically mentioned it to you—an acquaintance?"

"Ha." Sui Zaihua smiled without expression, "Treat the wounds, and then look at that stone wall—when I first saw him, he was only in his early twenties."

The crane inspector broke in and was silenced... Wudong knew he would have a thousand ways to die, but at least in the territory of Shaolong, he didn't want his corpse to be so humorous.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 347 =====

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