Chapter 49: The Hidden Treasure

Liu Xiaolou suddenly realized that the reason he hadn't been able to find this Young Master Lu earlier was because the other party had been looking for him too. He hadn't even noticed that they had followed him all the way to Taoyuan; it seemed his cultivation was still too shallow and in urgent need of improvement.

Young Master Lu's cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Refinement, so the one capable of tracking him must be this steward beside him; presumably, this steward's cultivation was not low.

Liu Xiaolou pondered for a moment, quietly retreated, exited his hiding place from another direction, found a tree, dug a hole to hide his essential items—the spirit stones, array plate, array book, and Sect Master token—and then circled back along the mountain road, muttering to himself as he walked: "Guarded so strictly, how can I get in? How can I make a fortune?"

Just as he was muttering, two people suddenly sprang out before him, sandwiching him from left and right.

Liu Xiaolou was greatly alarmed and opened his mouth to call for help, but a long sword was pressed against his chest. He dared not shout again and looked closely; the one holding the sword was the steward from Hongji Restaurant who had been gathering information, and the one standing to the side with his arms crossed, sneering, was Young Master Lu.

The steward searched him, handed the Three Mystical Sword and several dozen taels of silver to Young Master Lu, and signaled that Liu Xiaolou had nothing else on him. Young Master Lu then chuckled: "Liu Xiaolou, visiting relatives all the way out here?"

Liu Xiaolou said in panic: "Young Master, what is the meaning of this? I am a good friend of Brother Wei; we are all on the same side, on the same side."

Young Master Lu tilted his head and sized up Liu Xiaolou for a moment, then asked: "Are we really on the same side?"

Liu Xiaolou nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "Absolutely on the same side!"

Young Master Lu burst into laughter, pushed the steward's long sword away, and patted Liu Xiaolou on the shoulder: "Since we are on the same side, then that's easy to talk about."

Liu Xiaolou watched with lingering fear as the steward retracted the long sword, and said with a fawning smile: "What a coincidence, meeting Young Master here. A pleasure, a pleasure... Oh right, and this old brother here, I've seen him many times at the restaurant before, haha..."

Young Master Lu grabbed Liu Xiaolou by the lapel and pulled him behind a tree nearby: "Let's talk over here... Brother Liu, after you arrived at Hongji Restaurant today, you kept begging Wei Hongqing to help you inquire about the Zhou family. What exactly is the reason for this? You are a relative of the Zhou clan; doing this is truly strange."

Liu Xiaolou hesitated: "Young Master is joking. It's not that I wanted to inquire; it's that Brother Wei heard such news and wanted to understand the truth, so he arranged for people to ask. I just happened to be there..."

Young Master Lu frowned: "It seems we aren't on the same side after all."

The steward turned his hand, and the long sword instantly appeared at Liu Xiaolou's neck. His hand speed was as fast as lightning; Liu Xiaolou hadn't even seen how he drew the sword. The tip of the sword was spitting out sword light like mercury; his cultivation was at least at the fifth level of Qi Refinement.

Liu Xiaolou hurriedly begged for mercy: "Don't! Old brother, let's talk this over properly."

Young Master Lu said: "It's you who isn't talking properly. Don't blame Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang for being angry. Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang's cultivation is profound, and even I can't stop him. I'll count to three; once I reach three, you'll be missing an ear. Three..."

Liu Xiaolou hurriedly said: "I'll talk! That Lord Xingde on Mount Xingde eloped with my cousin, and the Zhou clan is currently hunting them down."

Young Master Lu and Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang exchanged a glance and muttered: "So it really was an elopement?" Then he asked: "Since you know all this, why do you still want to inquire? What is the mystery behind it?"

Liu Xiaolou gritted his teeth and suddenly lowered his voice: "I wonder if Young Master and Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang have the guts to make a fortune with me?"

Young Master Lu's eyes flickered: "Tell me."

Liu Xiaolou said: "The Taoyuan mountains are currently being watched very strictly by the Zhou clan. The main road is impassable, and taking the small paths... I don't know what kind of sorcery it is, but I always feel like I'm being watched..."

Young Master Lu sneered: "The Qingyu Sect's Form-Capturing Technique. You are a member of the Zhou clan; you don't know about this?"

Liu Xiaolou realized: "So that's what it's called, the Form-Capturing Technique. Truly evil..."

He then smiled bitterly: "My status as a distant relative is so remote, how would I know about these methods? So, are there really experts from the Qingyu Sect sitting in the mountains?"

Young Master Lu said: "Naturally. Otherwise, how would the Zhou clan alone have the ability to blockade the mountains?"

Liu Xiaolou shook his head: "It seems I can't get in. However, I heard that the Taoyuan mountains are not the sole territory of the Green Jade Sect; they are also under the jurisdiction of Mount Tianmu. If people from Mount Tianmu want to enter, the Zhou clan probably wouldn't dare to block them. The reason I went to find Brother Wei was to ask him to take me into the mountains, but unfortunately, Brother Wei refused, saying he was afraid of causing a dispute between the two major sects. I wonder if Young Master and Steward Zhang could take me into the mountains?"

Young Master Lu said: "First tell me, what are you going in to do?"

Liu Xiaolou said: "To tell you the truth, a few days ago I was summoned to the Zhou manor by my cousin. She gave me a box and told me to send it into the Taoyuan mountains and find a hidden place to bury it. I obeyed and did as she said, originally thinking that once it was buried, I would go back and report the location, considering my task finished. Who knew... I was delayed for two days, and when I wanted to go back, I couldn't get in anymore."

Young Master Lu asked: "You're a distant relative who recognized the wrong person; can she trust you?"

Liu Xiaolou said: "She is trying to escape the Zhou family! In the entire Zhou family, who else can she trust?"

Young Master Lu was silent for a moment and asked: "What is in the box?"

Liu Xiaolou spread his hands: "I don't know what it is either. The box is locked with a big lock, but I've been thinking about it today. Since my cousin was preparing to elope, presumably the box contains her private savings. She is a direct descendant of the Zhou clan; could there be a lack of good things?"

Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang suddenly said from the side: "No wonder the two of them fled here. So they were trying to retrieve the treasure?"

Liu Xiaolou said: "It must be! Perhaps my cousin is still waiting for me to enter the mountains and tell them where the box is, but how can I get in?"

Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang shook his head: "So you planned to embezzle this wealth? What a good nephew!"

Liu Xiaolou sighed: "Taoyuan is surrounded so tightly, how difficult is it for my cousin to escape? If they can't even get out, what's the use of them retrieving the things? It's better to leave it to me, their nephew; at least I can burn some incense and paper for them in the future... The treasure location isn't very hidden. With them searching the mountains like this, I'm just worried it will be discovered by the Qingyu Sect people, wouldn't that be all for nothing?"

Young Master Lu agreed greatly: "Not only that, if your cousin is found by the Zhou clan and confesses you, it won't be easy to retrieve the goods then."

Liu Xiaolou said: "Young Master is right. That is exactly why I am anxious; by then, the person the Zhou clan will be hunting is me. Young Master, can you take me into the mountains? If this matter succeeds, I will split the profits fifty-fifty with you... No, I'll only take thirty percent!"

Young Master Lu smiled: "Follow me, we're going into the mountains!"

Young Master Lu in front, Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang in back, sandwiching Liu Xiaolou in the middle, they left the small path and walked upright along the main road into the mountains. When they reached the checkpoint set up by the Zhou clan, Young Master Lu frowned and shouted loudly: "Where are you from? How dare you set up a checkpoint here and block the mountain road?"

The person blocking them said: "The Zhou clan of Dongting Lake is hunting down family thieves; idlers are not allowed to enter without permission!"

One of them had even seen Young Master Lu before and hurriedly said: "Young Master, our Zhou family is handling official business; please bear with us, Young Master."

Young Master Lu sneered: "Since when did Taoyuan become the territory of the Zhou clan? Why haven't we at Mount Tianmu heard of this?"

He flashed a token at his waist, which emitted a faint silver light in the dark night.

Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang shouted from the side: "The Lu family of Mount Tianmu is entering the mountains on business; idlers, move aside! This is Young Master Lu, the younger brother of our Mount Tianmu inner sect's third senior brother, Lu Yuanlang. Open your dog eyes and look carefully!"

The Zhou clan members all recognized the token and hesitated for a moment, watching helplessly as Young Master Lu, Hou Hou Guanshi Zhang, and Liu Xiaolou strode inside and entered Taoyuan.