Chapter 199: Gathering

Li Yuan had nothing to pack.

He had also secretly exchanged the basic maps of the inner and outer cities of Gao Liu County.

Early in the morning, Li Yuan accompanied his older brother and sister-in-law for a meal, then took little Rat to inform Wang Wang Wenyuan.

Although Wang Wang Wenyuan would look after the second brother's family without being told, Li Yuan naturally mentioned it anyway, feeling more at ease only after receiving a response.

A promise from a top-tier assassin was still reassuring.

After bidding farewell to Wang Wang Wenyuan, Li Yuan stopped by the Weapon Forge. His disguise skills were already very proficient; neither Fatty Sun nor Old Zhang recognized him.

However, Li Yuan still went around to their rooms and left something for each of them.

"A Name-Grade Jade Blade and a Green Steel Sword, though forged in the Casting Valley, Old Zhang should know just by looking, right?"

Looking at the forge in the distance, a smile played on Li Yuan's lips.

The swords and blades he forged bore Zhang Ben's traces, which could be said to fulfill Old Zhang's obsession.

Pausing for a moment, Li Yuan turned and left, stopping by the Brocade Pawnshop to redeem his pledge on the way.

Years ago, he had pledged a silver note worth one hundred taels there for ninety-three taels of actual silver for a term of three years; now was the perfect time to redeem it.

Seven taels of silver; in the past, that was the second brother's wages for two years. Since it was on the way anyway, it wasn't much trouble.

The incident of beating up Qian Bao back then meant nothing to him now.

"Traveling by night in brocade."

Strolling out of Rongsheng Lane, Li Yuan glanced back at the Weapon Forge, feeling slightly displeased, but he had no intention of revealing himself openly.

The Hidden Dragon Mansion was turbulent with undercurrents; better to avoid trouble than invite it.

"Squeak~"

Inside his sleeve, little Rat squeaked a few times; it seemed somewhat reluctant to leave as well.

"We'll come back in a while."

Stuffing little Rat back into his sleeve, Li Yuan looked up at the gloomy sky, then turned and went to Chaiyu Lane.

He was preparing to meet those two martial artists carrying Name-Grade treasures.

Chaiyu Lane was a mix of good and bad; historically, it was the most chaotic district in Gao Liu County. After the Chai and Yu Gangs were destroyed over a year ago, it had remained in turmoil for a long time.

"Freshly steamed cakes, buns, and tofu pudding!"

"Sharp blades from the Weapon Forge, selling cheap!"

"Walk around, take a look! Qingfang Zhai's rouge; those with women in the family, come take a look..."

In Chaiyu Lane, various shouting voices rose and fell.

Two middle-aged men wearing ordinary coarse cloth clothes were eating at a breakfast stall; both were very silent and unremarkable in the crowd.

"Could those disciples from the Divine Weapon Valley have been ambushed already? It's been so many days, and not a single one has returned?"

The black-faced man frowned.

They had been lying in wait in Gao Liu County for nearly two months, but not to mention the true disciple Li Yuan, they hadn't even seen a trace of those few servant disciples.

"Keep your cool."

The slightly taller man wiped his mouth: "The entire Divine Weapon Valley is relocating; such a huge matter means those disciples couldn't help but stop by on their way back. We just have to wait."

"How long will we have to wait?"

The black-faced man's face grew dark.

"This damn weather; it's about to rain again. Let's go back."

After finishing breakfast, seeing the sky turn gloomy, the two had no desire to wander elsewhere and hurried back.

The two were very cautious; they lived in an unremarkable small alley in Chaiyu Lane and had legitimate businesses on the surface, seeming no different from ordinary people.

"Who?"

The two were very alert; the moment they pushed the door open, they sensed something was wrong, turned sharply, and heard only the whistling of the wind.

A heavy hammer, large enough to be the size of a human head, crashed down with a boom.

Boom!!

Accompanied by a deafening, teeth-grinding roar, the two screamed in unison, coughing blood to the ground; the swords and blades wrapped in cloth were knocked from their hands.

Clap!

Li Yuan reached out and caught the two Name-Grade treasures; they looked ordinary, but were worth at least ten thousand taels of silver.

"You..."

"Li Yuan, you have actually returned!"

With two casual hammer strikes, Li Yuan knocked these two terrified martial artists to the ground, then frowned as he began his interrogation.

A single Name-Grade treasure was valued at least five thousand taels; even within the inner sect of the Divine Weapon Valley, only some elite disciples possessed them, so these two were naturally not ordinary people.

At first, the two were very stubborn, but they couldn't withstand the crushing heavy hammer; after a few screams, their identities were extracted.

"Remnants of the Thousand-Weight Cave?"

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, not too surprised.

The Thousand-Weight Cave was after all a major sect with over a thousand years of heritage; it was only natural to have a few fish slip through the net.

These two had been lying low here; as expected, they were waiting for him to return. However, although their Wu Gong was not bad, they seemed to lack experience.

He had been back for over twenty days, yet they had failed to detect him at all.

"Remnants? I spit!"

The two men's faces twisted grotesquely; hearing this, they let out a bitter laugh, coughing up blood foam: "As long as even one person remains from our Thousand-Weight Cave, we will not let your Divine Weapon Valley off!"

"Don't think you can get anything out of us!"

"Damn! If I'd known today would come, Laozi would have killed your whole family first…"

Thud!

Wiping the blood off the hammerhead with an expressionless face, Li Yuan sighed inwardly.

Since coming to this world, he had often lacked a sense of security in his heart, and he truly had no interest in fighting and killing.

But then again…

After a hasty cleanup, Li Yuan turned and strode away.

……

……

Crack!

Dark clouds pressed low, lightning snakes rolled across the sky.

Through the curtain of rain, Li Yuan wore a bamboo hat and urged his horse forward—one man, one horse traveling through wind and rain, feeling only that wandering the jianghu was bitter.

Riding a horse was no comfortable matter, and riding one in the rain was even less so.

The official road was muddy, the wind and rain were fierce, and his internal force was far from abundant enough to cover his whole body at all times; within only a few hours, he was soaked through more than half.

He wasn't cold, but the feeling was truly unpleasant.

"Hah!"

"Hup!"

On horseback, Li Yuan held the reins in one hand and lightly pressed the horse's mane with the other; after achieving the great circulation of internal force, his breathing was slow and long.

His internal force roamed through his whole body, always on the verge of erupting.

But there was no way to erupt at every moment.

To naturally ward off wind and rain, Li Yuan estimated he would at least need to reach Great Completion of Body Transformation, converting force into Qi.

Whooosh~

In the wind and rain, Li Yuan urged his horse onward at speed; he had never really learned to ride, but with his Wu Gong, there was simply no need to learn.

His riding wasn't fast, but it was steady and harmonious; whether beneath him was wilderness or muddy dirt road, it didn't feel jolting at all.

"Why pick a place like this?"

Following the marks left by Fang Fang Bao Luo, Li Yuan's path grew increasingly off-course, and soon he had already strayed from the official road.

He grumbled inwardly; braving the rain, it was nearly nightfall before he spotted a tavern in the distance.

This tavern was far from the official road, on the outskirts of Mount Fajiu Mountain, next to Bishui Lake—truly out-of-the-way.

In the wind and curtain of rain, only a lone, plain-yellow wine flag fluttered.

"This is it?"

Li Yuan scanned the surroundings, saw familiar marks, and only then dismounted.

The tavern wasn't small—two stories in front, with a small courtyard in back; on closer look, it wasn't all that remote either,

with villages in the distance and a mountain path nearby leading straight to the other side of Mount Fajiu Mountain.

In front and behind stretched fields of green wheat, extending over ten li, quiet and still within the rain.

"Senior Brother Li!"

Tying his horse outside, Li Yuan stepped inside and at a glance spotted Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao, their faces full of joy.

Yue Yue Yunjin, Wu Ming, and the other disciples from Gao Liu County were all there.

"Where's Senior Brother Fang?"

Li Yuan warily scanned the surroundings and found that this tavern had no other patrons at all, nor any Shopkeeper or waiter.

Was this a hidden base of the Divine Weapon Valley?

"Senior Brother Fang went to scout the path and hasn't returned yet."

Liu Zheng stepped forward quickly, took the bamboo hat and bundle, and led Li Yuan upstairs, while the other Divine Weapon Valley disciples also offered greetings.

"This tavern is an abandoned relay station; we did some repairs and are using it as a temporary foothold."

Wang Wang Peiyao had disguised herself, and now looked like a waiter in short clothes with two thin tufts of a mustache.

Yue Yue Yunjin and Wu Ming were dressed similarly.

"Senior Brother Li."

A disciple dressed as a Shopkeeper smiled and cupped his fist: "I am Luo Luo Renshu."

"Senior Brother Luo is here too?"

Li Yuan nodded slightly.

He had some impression of this Luo Luo Renshu—at first, this fellow had hung around with Zhao Zhao Yunsheng, later with Shao Shao Fangbai, and was rather inconspicuous.

It wasn't until the Thousand Jun Cave bounty, when a large number of assassins invaded, that he came to prominence—one of the most elite disciples of the inner sect.

"Anyone there?"

At that moment, a voice came from outside; everyone grew alert, and someone went forward to check, finding it was a passing merchant caravan.

"Greet them as you normally would."

Luo Luo Renshu glanced at Yue Yue Yunjin and the others, gave a few instructions, then personally led Li Yuan to a private room.

This tavern normally had hardly any business, but on rainy days, customers might come by.

"Senior Brother Li, these are the intelligence reports from all sides in Dragon Dormant Prefecture over the past two months. Senior Brother Fang left them for you."

Inside the room, Luo Luo Renshu took out a thick stack of intelligence reports.

Li Yuan reached out to take them, flipped through them casually, and his brow furrowed slightly: "Old… Master was ambushed?"

Over the past two months, the major events in Dragon Dormant Prefecture were nothing beyond Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing finding an owner, the various factions searching for 'Li Li Yuanba', and covertly hunting and arresting Divine Weapon Valley disciples.

Besides that, there was Han Han Chuijun coming from Dechang Prefecture, using the banner of avenging his disciples to slaughter wantonly.

"Mainly the several assassin organizations including the Life-Claiming Tower; Elder Han placed high bounties on those assassin strongholds, and whenever one was discovered, he struck with Lei Ting methods..."

Luo Ren shu's face was full of reverence.

After Han Han Chuijun acted with ruthless force, he attracted the gaze of the vast majority; otherwise, they would likely still be under pursuit.

Li Yuan flipped through the intelligence.

Old Han's actions were decisive and ruthless, yet he acted with clear method, targeting only those assassin organizations, and each time the heads of the slain rolled in heaps.

Other sect powers, whose disciples had been killed, could not openly retaliate and could only lie in ambush in secret.

Old Han went with the flow; the two sides exchanged blows, sparking more than ten conflicts, and Old Han suffered not-light injuries.

"Several elders have also come?"

Li Yuan asked.

Although the intelligence did not mention it, for Old Han alone to accomplish so much, he would likely be unable to split himself.

"Except for the Valley Master, the several inner sect elders should have come; otherwise, they could not restrain so many assassins and powers."

Luo Ren shu was also uncertain and could only speak his guess.

"Is that so?"

Flipping through the intelligence, Li Yuan felt somewhat clear in his heart.

With the power of the Divine Weapon Valley opposing the eight branch halls of the Xieshen Sect was already a stretch; add to that the Huilong Palace and other powers that might fan the flames.

Even if Old Han wore divine armor, there was mostly no chance of victory.

Delaying time to let the disciples withdraw was likely the true purpose, and the Xieshen Sect and other powers might not truly intend to capture the Divine Weapon Valley disciples.

Perhaps the true purpose was to draw out Old Han and the others?

Li Yuan guessed in his heart; outside, the rain grew more urgent, and occasionally traveling merchants passed by, so the tavern's business was not bad.

The heavy rain fell all day and only lessened somewhat by evening; some traveling merchants passing by stopped to rest went to nearby villages to seek lodging, while others hurried on through the mud.

Although the roads were hard to travel in the rain, the mountain bandits who blocked the roads were relatively fewer.

When night fell, Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao set up a table of wine and dishes; after two months of tavern business, everyone's skills were not bad.

Li Yuan, having traveled all day, ate with relish, while the rest of the fellow disciples were absent-minded.

That night, Fang Fang Bao Luo did not return.

Li Yuan did not wait in vain; he took a room and did not delay his martial arts practice or his bone-structure alteration.

He discovered he had quite a nature of adapting to circumstances; wherever he went, he could adapt quickly.

He practiced martial arts, flipped through intelligence, and before sleep, released the little rat to stand guard.

Thus, two or three days passed, Fang Fang Bao Luo still had not returned, and Li Yuan had adapted to life in this tavern.

This tavern was very remote; except when it rained and traveling merchants actively sought it out, most of the time there was little business.

Otherwise, the previous post station would not have fallen into ruin.

"Senior Brother Fang still hasn't returned, has he?"

With a rag draped over his shoulder, Wang Wang Peiyao lay listlessly on the table.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a cold wind blew in; Wang Wang Peiyao immediately shivered, feeling every hair on his body stand on end.

It was as if deep winter had descended in an instant.

"Hmm?!"

Wang Wang Peiyao jolted awake and opened his eyes.

Liu Zheng, Yue Yue Yunjin, and the others in the main hall also rose in alarm.

They saw a black-robed figure in a cloak standing conspicuously before the shop door; no facial features were visible, only a black curved blade at the waist, radiating a cold silence that kept strangers away.

A master!

The visitor bears ill intent!

The several exchanged glances, and vigilance rose in all their hearts.

"Guest, please come inside."

Luo Ren shu walked down from the upper floor, his expression normal, seeming truly to be the Shopkeeper of a roadside tavern welcoming a guest.

"Shopkeeper."

The black-robed man's voice was hoarse: "Why would you choose such a place where not even a bird drops dung to open a tavern?"

"Alas, the Great Yun Dynasty has abolished many post stations, but post stations in good locations are truly too expensive; this place, though remote, is cheap."

Luo Ren shu explained with a smile: "Judging by your accent, you are not from Zhelong Prefecture, are you? Where do you come from?"

"From Dechang Prefecture."

"Dechang Prefecture? I heard Dechang Prefecture has been unsettled recently; people have blocked the mountain roads, is that not so?"

"The mountain roads being blocked is true; not only the various mountain roads, but I heard many passes have also been blocked."

"Alas..."

The two spoke back and forth; the crowd of Divine Weapon Valley disciples in the main hall also came to their senses and resumed their usual busy work.

"What would the guest order?"

After a few exchanges, Luo Ren shu's forehead showed a slight sheen of sweat; after speaking for so long, this person had not taken a single step inside, merely blocking the doorway.

"What do you want?"

The black-robed man seemed to be answering, or perhaps talking to himself.

He scanned the main hall and the second floor; his hoarse voice turned cold and fierce:

"I want the true transmission disciples of the Divine Weapon Valley; do you have any?"