Chapter 53: The Treasure Seeker

Thump! Thump-thump!

Before dawn had even broken, the courtyard gate was suddenly knocked upon.

Sha Lifei had long since changed his clothes; he walked quickly to the entrance and, through the gate, asked in a low voice, "Which friend is it?"

"Drilling through mountains and entering forests, eating by the grace of Boss Wan."

Outside the gate, a somewhat raspy voice rang out.

Sha Lifei hurriedly opened the gate, only to see a young man standing outside. His features were ordinary, save for a single, straight, horizontal eyebrow. He wore a sheepskin jacket and black trousers wrapped with bandages, looking quite rustic.

This was the treasure seeker?

Sha Lifei felt skeptical, but he dared not show the slightest bit of contempt on his face. He raised his hands with a fawning expression and said, "You must be Brother Zhao, please, come in."

At this moment, Li Yan and Wang Fu had also walked out of their rooms, both dressed in attire suitable for a long journey, and both wearing bamboo hats.

Seeing the newcomer, a flash of surprise crossed Li Yan's eyes.

He could not smell a single scent coming from the other man!

This was truly strange.

According to what Shopkeeper Wang of the "Sound-Hearing Pavilion" had said, this treasure seeker possessed a family-inherited skill and was named Zhao Zhao Lu Zi. His ancestors had spent their lives traversing the great mountains, specializing in helping Mystic Sect craftsmen find high-quality timber.

Although he was not considered a top expert among treasure seekers, he was still a member of the Mystic Sect and must have had extraordinary qualities.

Could it be that he was carrying some treasure that could hide his scent?

This caused Li Yan to raise his guard.

It seemed now that his nose-based supernatural ability was not omnipotent; if an expert used such a treasure to hide while attempting an assassination, he feared he would be unable to detect them even after they had closed in.

"No need, family rules forbid entering a residence."

The young man directly refused Sha Lifei's invitation, remaining outside the gate the entire time without stepping even half a step into the courtyard.

Sha Lifei found this somewhat strange and was just about to say something when Wang Fu stepped forward and blocked him, smiling, "Since that is the case, we shall follow Brother Zhao's arrangements."

Li Yan and Sha Lifei immediately understood that this was likely a taboo within the man's sect.

Some Mystic Sects, due to their heritage, always had various rules; they might seem eccentric, but they actually had deep roots, and once broken, they meant trouble.

"Let's go."

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi did not waste words; he nodded and turned to leave.

"You go first, we will meet at the destination."

Li Yan gave a word of instruction, then lowered his bamboo hat and entered the dark alley.

Sha Lifei and Wang Fu did not say much more; they directly closed the courtyard gate, shouldered their packs, and followed Zhao Zhao Lu Zi along the old street.

On the other side, Li Yan slipped into the dark alley and walked close to the wall, moving at high speed, yet his footsteps were silent. He quickly circled around to the outside of a small courtyard.

He leaped up, grabbed the edge of the wall to leverage his body, and after jumping into the courtyard, he charged directly into the side room on the left.

Inside the side room, a man was sleeping soundly. Hearing the commotion, he woke up with a start, immediately braced his right hand against the bed frame, and kicked toward Li Yan.

The movement was swift and fierce, faintly resembling the form of a monkey.

Li Yan remained expressionless. While dodging by bending his waist to the side, his Guanshan Dao had already left its sheath with a *clang*, and he slashed upward at an angle.

*Splurt! *

Blood sprayed everywhere. The man let out a muffled groan and fell to the ground, his right leg bleeding profusely. Just as he tried to get up, a blade was pressed against his neck.

Li Yan asked calmly, "Who sent you?"

Yesterday morning, the lackeys from the White Ape Gang in the opposite courtyard had already withdrawn. He had assumed the Zhou family was busy with major matters and had no time to look elsewhere, yet who would have thought someone would come to spy in the middle of the night.

This fellow's movements were light and agile, but how could they escape Li Yan's nose?

Li Yan had followed him here last night, and to avoid alerting the enemy, he had only snuck in to resolve the trouble just before they were about to depart.

The man on the ground gritted his teeth and said, "What kind of bandit are you? I was sleeping in my own home, yet you come here to commit violence. Are you not afraid of the court's pursuit?"

Li Yan frowned. "Enough nonsense. I have just witnessed the Zhou family's Child Monkey Fist. The wound on your leg is still bleeding; if you get treated in time, you can still save your life."

Seeing the hesitation in the man's eyes, Li Yan immediately put on a smile. "Brother, I have no grudge against you. We are all just trying to make a living in the martial world; why throw away your life for someone else?"

"Are you hoping for the thin-skinned coffin the Zhou family promised you?"

"You won't kill me?"

"It's not worth it."

Feeling the weakness brought on by the blood loss from his leg, the man finally loosened his mouth. "It was Jian Sanye Zhou, Zhou Peide, who sent me."

Li Yan raised an eyebrow. "Not Zhou Pan?"

The man shook his head. "The private secretary said to close the doors and not go out, to endure whatever happens, and wait until this period passes before talking."

Li Yan nodded. "Zhou Peide is Zhou Bai's father; it is understandable that he would come to seek revenge on me. Why didn't he come himself?" The man hesitated for a moment, but seeing the impatience in Li Yan's eyes, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "Jian Sanye Zhou hired a swordsman and told me to follow you. As soon as you leave Xianyang City, he will finish you off outside the city."

"So that's how it is."

Li Yan smiled. "The city is in chaos right now. If I die silently outside the city, it won't implicate the Zhou family. They certainly have a good plan."

Having said that, he directly shook the blood off his blade, sheathed it, pushed open the door, and strode away. He leaped over the courtyard wall and vanished without a trace.

The man let out a sigh of relief and scrambled to bandage himself...

…………

Deep autumn had arrived, and the weather was growing cold.

Compared to the South Gate, which possessed a ferry crossing, the North Gate of Xianyang was much quieter, though there were still local villagers coming and going, driving ox carts to sell firewood.

Li Yan lowered his bamboo hat as he exited the city gate and proceeded along the official road. After walking less than a few miles, he saw Wang Fu and the others by the roadside woods.

Ever since arriving in Xianyang, they had been very poor.

!.

For the work in Guishui Village, only Li Yan had obtained a horse, and he had even sold it, while Wang Fu and Sha Lifei hadn't even managed to scrape together a single copper coin.

The errand for the Spring Breeze Troupe to invite the spirits had been offset by the Sound of the Thunder Cloud Drum, and it was fortunate that Sha Lifei had won some money betting, just barely enough to get by.

They couldn't afford to buy horses, but fortunately, the Taixing Carriage and Horse Firm in Xianyang City was also on the same side as Zhang Yuanshang, so they had rented a few without paying a deposit.

The three of them did not waste words and rode their horses. By the time noon arrived, they had reached the vicinity of Chunhua County.

At this moment, Zhao Zhao Lu Zi, who had been as silent as a clam the entire way, finally spoke, pointing to a mountain range in the distance. "That lightning-struck wood is in the mountains ahead."

"So it is Mount Yetai."

Wang Fu stroked his beard and smiled. "This mountain also has some fame in the Mystic Sect. Since ancient times, there have been many temples here. The people of Guanzhong call the spirits 'Grandfather', so Yetai is the Spirit Platform. Tang people often gathered tea here, and it is colloquially called Spirit Rabbit Ridge."

"Furthermore, there is a legend here that few know about. In Mystic Sect legends, the Juelong Ridge where Grand Tutor Wen lost his life at the end of the Shang Dynasty is located right here."

Sha Lifei's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Are there treasures?"

Wang Fu laughed in spite of himself. "Even if there were, others would have beaten us to them long ago. In this part of Guanzhong, the things on the surface have been looked over by everyone."

"As for the things underground, those that can be provoked have long been hollowed out, and those that cannot be provoked mean death upon entering. Only the Qin Ling Mountains still have some things that no one has discovered."

"Regarding this kind of matter, Brother Zhao should know best."

As he spoke, he looked toward Zhao Zhao Lu Zi at his side.

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi was clearly not good with words. Seeing everyone looking at him, he scratched his head and spoke in a raspy voice, "My family heritage is of the Mountain-Driving lineage. I haven't dealt with those grave-diggers, but the Qin Ling Mountains are indeed dangerous. My father entered the Qin Ling Mountains and never came back."

"My condolences, Brother Zhao."

Li Yan was very interested in this treasure-seeking trade. After all, his Great Luo Dharma Body needed to absorb heavenly and earthly treasures to repair itself. Seeing that Zhao Zhao Lu Zi had finally opened his mouth, he hurriedly tried to get on good terms with him.

This Zhao Zhao Lu Zi was thin-skinned. After being flattered by Li Yan for a while, and with Sha Lifei chiming in, he mumbled and talked about some matters regarding treasure seekers.

The trade of treasure seeking had existed since ancient times.

In ancient times, those tribal priests discovered the wonderful uses of some heavenly and earthly treasures, viewing them as gifts from the spirits, but they couldn't grasp the methods. If they wanted to obtain the treasures, they often had to communicate with ghosts and spirits for guidance.

They recorded all these secrets on oracle bones.

It wasn't until later, when the Qin and Han Immortality Seekers flourished, that those alchemists traveled across thousands of mountains and rivers and strange, secluded realms in search of the elixir of immortality, gradually compiling them into books.

Legend has it that the missing Imperial Jade Seal was crafted from heavenly and earthly treasures.

The treasure-seeking lineage, according to their sects, was divided into three: Mountain-Driving, Sea-Exploring, and Seclusion-Seeking.

Mountain-Drivers only drilled into great mountains, Sea-Explorers were skilled at searching for treasures underwater, and the Seclusion-Seeking lineage specialized in searching for ancient tomb caves and ancient ruins, each having their own specialties.

Moreover, there was one more point: because the Divine Land was vast and the climates and customs were all different, treasure seekers only operated in places they were familiar with.

For example, if a treasure seeker from Guanzhong ran to the White Mountains and Black Waters outside the pass and encountered some things they couldn't understand, they would be completely in the dark.

As for the Seclusion-Seeking lineage, they were also different from professional grave robbers. Their main targets were the heavenly and earthly treasures born in ancient tomb caves; finding silver, money, or antiques was just a side benefit.

If they encountered inauspicious items, no matter how valuable, they would never bring them out.

After the group entered Chunhua County, they headed straight for a carriage and horse inn, planning to leave their horses there first. In addition, they had to make an appointment with people in advance to transport the wood out.

After all, according to Zhao Zhao Lu Zi, that lightning-struck jujube wood was not small; even if they found it, it would be impossible for the few of them to transport it out.

Just as the group was discussing, a waiter nearby couldn't help but speak up. "Travelers, if you are going to Mount Yetai, forgive my loose tongue, but the mountain is not very peaceful."

Li Yan raised an eyebrow. "How is it not peaceful?"

The waiter glanced at the shopkeeper, and seeing that the shopkeeper did not stop him, he lowered his voice and said, "Have you heard of... the Red-Haired Blood-Faced One?"

(End of chapter)