Chapter 50: Night Raid, Storm Rises

"How is it? Any news yet?"

The woman had clearly been injured; her face and lips were pale.

Wu Kezhang sighed and shook his head slightly. "I’ve sent people to scout daily, but there are no hidden marks left by the Incense Master in any of the locations."

The woman clenched her teeth. "Could it be…"

"Impossible!"

Wu Kezhang said firmly, "With the Incense Master’s cultivation and arts, as long as he isn’t surrounded by experts from the Profound Heaven Sect, he can go anywhere under heaven."

"Besides, the Cockroach Snake Spirit guards him. Even if there were more knife-bandits on the mountain, he could wipe them all out in a single night."

"He’s probably been delayed by something."

"You’re right."

The woman nodded, but her eyes remained filled with worry. "Since the Lord’s advancement failed, the sect has fractured. Several Incense Masters have turned traitorous. If this continues, the imperial court will pick us off one by one."

Wu Kezhang’s gaze hardened as he shook his head. "Hmph. Let them enjoy their freedom a while longer. Once the Incense Master succeeds in advancing, he’ll reunite the Divine Sect and purge the traitors!"

"Xianyang City is about to descend into chaos, and that traitor Chu Shan has sent a gang of beggars scurrying everywhere—they must have learned something. Stay put, and don’t go out under any circumstances."

The woman nodded, then asked, "If something’s happened in Chang’an, and Yuan Qu is lurking nearby, won’t this incense hall be lost?"

"Don’t worry."

Wu Kezhang’s eyes flashed with cruelty. "I was at a loss before, but now that Xianyang’s underworld is about to erupt, it’s the perfect time to fish in troubled waters!"

…………

Night deepened; the candlelight in the side room of the Wendaos Pavilion burned bright.

"Come on, drink up!"

Sha Lifei lifted his bowl, downed the wine in three gulps, wiped his mouth, and clucked. "That Wu guy’s got real money—he’s even splurging on aged Xifeng liquor."

Wang Daoxuan also took a sip, squinting. "Good. Sour but not bitter, sweet but not cloying, bitter but not sticky, spicy but not harsh, fragrant but not overpowering—truly the 'Five Perfections.'"

Having won today’s contest, Li Yan was in high spirits. He bit into a chicken leg, then clinked bowls with the two men. "Don’t worry—once Xianyang’s settled, we can take jobs without fear. Eating well and drinking hard? Easy!"

"That’s what I’m waiting to hear!"

Sha Lifei laughed loudly, refilled his own bowl, and said, "I’m down. You two do as you please."

All excuses were just that— he just wanted more wine.

"Look at you, such a pitiful sight."

Li Yan chuckled, then turned to Wang Daoxuan. "Master Dao, you’ve cultivated your spirit for so long—surely you’re ready to build your second floor. How much will it cost?"

Wang Daoxuan blinked, then quickly shook his head. "Right now, the priority is helping you perform the rites to build your floor, so your spirit doesn’t dissipate and waste all your effort."

Li Yan couldn’t reveal he had the Great Luo Body and had no such concerns, so he said seriously, "I’m young—I’m not in a hurry. And given our current situation, the best choice is for you to advance your cultivation first."

"I’m still inexperienced. Even if I built a floor, mastering arts won’t happen overnight. You go first."

Wang Daoxuan’s eyes flickered with emotion, and he stopped refusing. "The items needed for the first two floors’ rites can all be bought with silver."

"But starting with the third floor, you’ll need heavenly treasures and earthly gems. Different treasures enhance the arts differently during the rites."

"I specialize in fengshui surveys—I can locate earth marrow, which helps me better discern terrain. If we find cloud moss, the power of my spells will increase."

"Neither of these is rare. Someone in Chang’an’s Xuanmen lineage sells them, but they’re expensive. If we can find a treasure-seeker to help, the price halves—but it’ll take time to track them down."

"Why think so much?"

Sha Lifei waved his hand. "When we pull off a few big jobs, we’ll build both your floors at once—how perfect!"

"By the way, how much does building a floor cost? Is five hundred taels enough?"

Wang Daoxuan laughed. "For the first floor alone, besides purchasing ritual artifacts, you must rent a spiritual aperture from Mount Taibai. Even the bare minimum costs a thousand taels."

"A… thousand taels?"

Sha Lifei froze in shock.

"Yes."

Wang Daoxuan sighed. "To the Xuanmen orthodox and major lineages, these aren’t much. But for small folk traditions, they must prepare from the start—otherwise, when they find a suitable disciple, they can’t transmit the arts."

"Many lineages have been lost because of this…"

At that moment, Li Yan frowned slightly and signaled for them to be silent.

Since cultivating his spirit, he had gained control over his abilities, usually closing them with the Yin Formula to block out strange scents—but his sense of smell remained extraordinary.

He smelled several new odors outside the courtyard wall.

He recognized the scent: sweat mixed with spoiled food, plus the stench of poisonous insects.

These were the beggars from the mass grave!

He hadn’t expected Zhou’s revenge to come yet—these bastards had arrived first.

Li Yan whispered instructions to the two, then slowly opened the door and stepped outside with Sha Lifei.

He picked up a few broken bricks from beside the flowerbed; Sha Lifei gripped his waist, drew a deep breath, and roared, "Who the hell are you? Try your luck!"

The moment he finished speaking, Li Yan hurled the bricks over the wall.

Muffled groans echoed outside.

Several evil beggars from Xianyang’s mass grave.

They’d heard Li Yan was badly injured and came under cover of night to ambush him.

These beggars acted on impulse, without informing their leader, Old Mountain—because the man Li Yan killed that day was their sworn brother.

Still, they were cautious.

Two of them specialized in controlling venomous snakes and insects, carrying cloth sacks filled with black snakes and poison scorpions from the mass grave.

They hadn’t expected Li Yan to detect them so soon.

The bricks smashed their heads, but they grew enraged, tore open their sacks, and tried to hurl the snakes and scorpions inside. Though the wall blocked their view, Li Yan guessed their intent from the scent—he smirked inwardly and gripped his blade.

As his spiritual thought rose, the tassel of the Three-Cosmos Suppressing Demon coin trembled.

On that day at the mass grave, he’d learned their weakness: these creatures, tainted by yin-evil energy, feared all talismanic suppressors.

True enough—the venomous insects inside the sacks erupted in chaos.

One beggar unfastened his sack; a snake shot out and bit him straight on the nose.

The other fared no better—a massive scorpion leapt out and stung his hand. The sack dropped; the remaining scorpions scattered everywhere.

"Ahh—!"

"Run!"

Screams rose as the beggars, bleeding and in pain, bolted away.

At Li Yan’s signal, Sha Lifei didn’t chase. He stood in the courtyard, laughing loudly. "Pathetic little vermin, daring to bother Old Sha? Served you right!"

With that, the three turned to return indoors.

!.

They knew this was just a minor incident.

Though the Beggar Sect was large, it was full of riffraff—only the core members truly mattered.

And they had one greater threat: the beggar nests themselves.

Among the ordinary beggars were many pitiful souls—even children kidnapped and mutilated, forced to beg daily, beaten constantly, living worse than death.

If too many core members died, those abused beggars would surely turn on them.

Their only goal now was to survive until the storm passed.

But before they entered the room, Li Yan paused, turning his head.

"What is it? More people coming?"

"No. Someone’s even more impatient than I thought…"

…………

In the dark alley, footsteps were frantic.

Several beggars stumbled as they ran, fumbling for black antidote pills from their clothes and shoving them into their mouths.

They kept complaining to each other.

"Didn’t you say Sha Lifei was just a fool?"

"Everyone says that—I never fought him!"

"Stop arguing. Find a place to rest—don’t let the poison reach your heart."

But as they stepped out of the alley, five or six men suddenly lunged from both sides, low and swift, sweeping their long staves.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Bone snapped with sharp cracks; the beggars collapsed, clutching their legs and wailing, "Grandpa, we won’t dare again!"

"Big Masters, stop! We’re from the Beggar Sect!"

"Beggar Sect?"

From the darkness stepped a middle-aged man, dark-skinned, with a full beard, wearing a sheepskin jacket, a long whip hanging at his waist.

He looked at the beggars and clicked his tongue. "When did Beggar Sect members become Zhou’s lapdogs?"

"Speak!"

Before the beggars could lie, the black-clad men rushed forward and slapped their faces—CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The beggars’ faces turned purple and swollen. Realizing they’d met a ruthless man, they confessed everything about the mass grave incident.

"So that’s how it is."

The sheepskin-jacketed man sneered. "That kid pretended to be sick—thought he was timid. Turns out he’s just as restless."

"Take them back. Tomorrow, send a letter to the Beggar Sect: if they want to live, stay away from Xianyang for now!"

"Yes, Boss."

Several black-clad men immediately stepped forward and dragged the Beggar’s Sect members away like dead dogs.

In the darkness, the man in the sheepskin coat spoke:

“Go, tell Elder Zhang Lao—the fish didn’t bite the hook…”

…………

In this world, there are always those who rejoice and those who grieve.

While Li Yan and the others drank and ate meat, the Zhou family was shrouded in gloom.

In the side chamber of the grand mansion, candles burned brightly.

Zhou Bai lay on the bed, his body wrapped in bandages and splints, face flushed, eyes tightly shut, the air thick with the pungent smell of medicine.

At this moment, the Eight Golden Pillars of the Zhou family were all in the room.

Wang Yao, skilled in medicine, frowned as he felt the pulse, then shook his head slightly: “His life is temporarily saved, but his internal organs are damaged, bones and tendons shattered—he’ll likely never practice martial arts again…”

Zhou Peide’s face darkened at these words.

His fists clenched with a crackling sound; suddenly turning, he leapt forward, seized Yuan Qu by the throat, and slammed him against the wall, his voice cold:

“Yuan, what did you do to Zhou Bai before the arena?”

Yuan Qu’s face turned crimson as he struggled to speak, when a hoarse voice came from outside: “Why are you tormenting him? I ordered it.”

Everyone was startled and immediately turned to bow:

“We pay homage to our Master!”

(End of Chapter)