Chapter 445: What a Good Place

"Lord Shen, I have finally found you!"

With two dark circles under his eyes, Feng Chi looked utterly exhausted; in order to find Shen Yu, he had not rested for several days.

It was only by mobilizing the entire strength of the Imperial Court, gathering intelligence from Black-Clad Guards and Imperial Secret Agents across every region along the way, that he had managed to locate Shen Yu with such difficulty.

There was no helping it; this Lord Shen was far too mobile. He might be here today, but could be somewhere else tomorrow. In a single day, he could even travel between several different places, rushing back and forth for thousands of miles.

If not for his fast horses and a bit of luck, he might not have been able to find him at all.

"Palace Attendant Feng, why is it you? Is there some matter?" Seeing the old acquaintance before him, Shen Yu knew there must be business again. This Palace Attendant Feng would not leave the palace easily.

After all, he was a trusted aide to that person in the imperial palace and was usually very busy. He remembered when they first met, how he had hinted—both overtly and covertly—at who he should be grateful to and who he should pledge his loyalty to.

When they first met back then, although Palace Attendant Feng had tried his best to appear respectful to the talented, the pride deep within his heart could not be concealed.

After all, at that time, Shen Yu was not yet a Transcendence Realm expert, merely a newcomer with great potential. Palace Attendant Feng, however, was a close court official, high-ranking and powerful; their statuses were not to be mentioned in the same breath.

But meeting again now, not a trace of pride could be seen on Feng Chi; there was only humility and trepidation.

He did not know what matter brought him here this time. If it were a good thing, Shen Yu would naturally not turn it away. Money and beauties—if you dare to give, I dare to take!

If the matter were troublesome, then he would be sorry; he could go back the way he came. He had the confidence to say that now.

"Lord Shen, the government office in Xiaozhou, at the border of the Xichuan region, has been slaughtered to a man. From the Prefect down to the Constables, all were killed, with no survivors!"

Right from the start, Feng Chi hurriedly spoke what he wanted to say. Based on his understanding of this Lord Shen, he would likely be interested. Unless, of course, everything he had shown before was a facade.

And these words did indeed make Shen Yu pause slightly.

A local Prefect, along with everyone in the government office, wiped out in one go—being an official in such a high-level Martial Arts world really was a dangerous job.

"Xiaozhou? Why does this name sound so familiar? Oh, right, the Sinful State!"

Suddenly, Shen Yu remembered this place. Few people knew of it by the name Xiaozhou, but if one mentioned the Sinful State, it was quite famous.

The terrain here was treacherous, dense with mountains and rivers. For hundreds of years, there had been countless bandits, sects standing like trees in a forest, and even people killing each other in the streets was a common occurrence.

Deep in the great mountains, there were even places like Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City. With high mountains and dense forests, entering was like walking into a tiger's den, with crises lurking everywhere!

Cannibal Valley was a group of existences who would eat people without spitting out the bones; "cannibal" referred to their cruelty and viciousness. They acted without restraint and had no bottom line in their conduct.

There, there was no morality, no etiquette, only naked, beast-like mutual slaughter and cannibalism, using any means necessary to survive.

As for Evil Man City, it was the legendary gathering place for evil men. Whether it was a grudge from the Jianghu or someone wanted for heinous crimes, as long as these people with nowhere else to turn entered Evil Man City, they would receive protection.

The people inside were basically all heinous criminals; of course, they were also people with high-level Martial Arts and profound strength.

For thousands of years, countless evil men had gathered in Evil Man City, and its strength and foundation were unfathomable. Even the Imperial Court and the top forces of the Jianghu could not enter to search or make arrests at will.

This was an existence that even gave the Imperial Court a headache. Over these many years, it was not as if they hadn't thought about leveling the place.

But although the Imperial Court's strength was great, there were too many places to manage, and their forces were too scattered. Once they gathered heavy troops, it was inevitable that they would neglect one thing while attending to another.

Moreover, the Jianghu and the Imperial Court were already somewhat implicitly opposed. Places like Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City were, in a way, pushed out by those major Jianghu forces to test the Imperial Court.

If the Imperial Court gathered a large number of experts to destroy this place, other areas would inevitably be left defenseless. Many people in the Jianghu certainly wouldn't mind stabbing them in the back or taking advantage of the opportunity to seize benefits.

One must know, once something is eaten, it is hard to make them spit it back out!

If the Sinful State was not dealt with and other places became unstable, that would be a huge problem. After all, Xiaozhou was only a small place; one could not lose the big for the sake of the small.

Coupled with the inconvenient transportation and the fact that it was covered in mountains and rivers, it could be called a land of poor mountains and evil waters.

The weak would be bullied and eliminated; gradually, even the commoners inside were basically in a state of being half-citizen, half-bandit.

Regarding this, even if the Imperial Court had the heart to govern, there was nowhere to exert their strength!

It is rumored that during the peak of the Dasheng Dynasty, a Supreme General wanted to lead an army to level this place and wipe out the evil here in one fell swoop.

At that time, it was not called Xiaozhou, but Bai Chuan State. During the oath-taking ceremony, this general directly renamed Bai Chuan State to Xiaozhou, meaning that when he led his army there, it would be the moment the morning sun rose over this place.

The result was that the tens of thousands of troops were completely wiped out. Not only did he die, but not a single person he brought with him survived. However, the name of the place was never changed back.

The final result was that even the Imperial Court had to swallow this insult and let the people inside play on their own. As long as you don't come out and cause trouble, I will pretend not to see it; out of sight, out of mind!

After that, it seemed a kind of balance was formed. The Imperial Court would not deeply manage affairs there, only sending some officials on the surface to indicate that this was still the territory of the Dasheng Dynasty.

And the people of Xiaozhou would not provoke the government at will; everyone was basically in a state of relative balance.

However, this was quite unfriendly to those serving as officials. The position of Prefect was not low, yet for such a position, there were times when no one dared to come for several consecutive years; even Scholars were unwilling to go.

When he first heard that such a place existed, Shen Yu was quite enthusiastic. He hadn't expected there to be such a good place.

At the time, he had wanted to go, but later he was delayed by other matters, and then he forgot about it.

Now, being reminded by Feng Chi, Shen Yu's interest was piqued again. Evil Man City, Cannibal Valley—weren't these just places sending him experience points?

It was just that while the names of Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City were very loud, their locations were extremely hidden, and most people in the Jianghu only knew them by name.

Only those who were driven to a dead end and still had some value would be told the location and be able to reach it successfully.

As for Shen Yu, he had no source of intelligence. He couldn't just search every mountain; the whole of Xiaozhou was so large, he would be searching until the year of the monkey.

However, he believed that since Feng Chi brought up the matter of Xiaozhou to him, it couldn't just be idle chatter. Without asking, he knew there must be a favor to ask.

After so many years, the Imperial Court should at least have the locations of Cannibal Valley and Evil Man City. With so many Black-Clad Guards, Palace Secret Services, and so many Imperial Secret Agents being supported, they weren't just there to eat for free.

Therefore, Shen Yu was not in a hurry; someone was more anxious than him and would rush to deliver the intelligence to his door.

"Palace Attendant Feng, if you have something to say, just say it!"

"Then, then I will speak plainly!" Quietly glancing at Shen Yu and finding no change in his expression, Feng Chi finally felt relieved.

"Lord Shen may not know, but before this, two consecutive Prefects of Xiaozhou have been killed. It's just that this time it is more serious; they didn't even spare the people in the government office! Truly, no one dares to take the post anymore; they are simply too arrogant!"

"So the Imperial Court has thought it over and would like you to take charge there for a period of time in the capacity of a Patrol Censor, while concurrently acting as the Prefect, to deter the petty villains and let them know of your prestige, Lord Shen!"

After speaking, Feng Chi looked at Shen Yu with trepidation, fearing that the words "I won't go" would come out of his mouth.

Times were different now. In the past, when he faced Shen Yu, Shen Yu was still a fledgling, and he was representing the Imperial Court to win him over.

But now, the other party had reached the peak; him coming with a thick skin could only be considered begging the other party to do something, and his attitude had to be correct.

To put it bluntly, even if the other party was dissatisfied with him and wanted to slap him twice, if he hit the left cheek, he would have to offer the right.

After being hit, he would still have to ask if it felt good. If they felt it wasn't enough to vent their anger, he would have to offer his face again for them to continue hitting.

The reason they sent him was also, in a way, a test. A test of Shen Yu's attitude toward the Imperial Court; after all, the things Shen Yu had done during this period had caused the entire Imperial Court to tremble!

And I have miserably become a pawn, but as a trusted aide, isn't this exactly the kind of work I do!

"Fine, I accept this task, but you must give me all the intelligence the imperial court has on Xiaozhou, most importantly the intelligence on Evil Man City and Cannibal Valley!"

"Does Lord Shen intend to..." Understanding Shen Yu's meaning at once, Feng Chi hurriedly reminded him, "Lord Shen, they have been able to stand firm for so many years for a reason; you must not be careless, my lord!"

"Rest assured, I know what I'm doing. Give me the intelligence, and I will head over immediately. Give me a straight answer, can you do it or not!"

"This, fine, Lord Shen, I'll stake my reputation on trusting you once; I will have someone send the detailed intelligence over right away!"