Chapter 929

The man before him, like himself, came from Jiuzhou's Great Ming.

He only knew the old man's disguise, but failed to recognize him as Chi Laowen of the Great Yuan.

"Oh! So you're Tang Du, Brother Tang! What are you doing here too?"

Upon hearing Tang Du was from Jiuzhou, Chi Laowen's interest surged.

Though he'd met few people these days, he could clearly sense that this You Dongying was not Jiuzhou's You Dongying.

For the people of this You Dongying all spoke of a Sei-i Taishōgun.

The warriors all took pride in joining the Yanagis.

And Yanagis's Ma Shou was no match for him at all.

But Jiuzhou's You Dongying clearly possessed formidable strength.

At the very least, if he wanted to walk around here with impunity, he'd have to think twice.

In such an unfamiliar land, encountering someone he'd met once—wasn't this like meeting a fellow countryman in a foreign land?

Though this so-called fellow countryman wasn't really a friend at all.

"Good that the old master remembers me."

Seeing Chi Laowen acknowledge him, Tang Du's eyes grew slightly red.

He stepped closer and said,

"Old master, would it be convenient to speak with me inside?"

As he spoke, Tang Du glanced at the two You Dongying women beside him.

Clearly, what he wished to tell Chi Laowen was not meant for others to hear.

Chi Laowen hadn't truly come here for stimulation; he simply let go of the two You Dongying women.

"Alright, alright—I've run into Brother Tang, I'll go inside and speak with him, then return to you."

The two You Dongying women, who hadn't expected their cooked duck to fly away, naturally protested.

But Chi Laowen, aside from Tamerlan, was never a man addicted to women.

After pretending to be affectionate with the two women, he excused himself and entered the room with Tang Du.

Once inside, Tang Du immediately closed and barred the doors and windows, carefully inspecting the room to confirm no one was eavesdropping.

Then, with a loud thud, he knelt directly on the floor and said to Chi Laowen,

"Old master, save me!"

As he spoke, Tang Du began banging his head on the floor.

Chi Laowen felt utterly baffled—he had no blood tie or friendship with this man, why should he save him?

Besides, what danger was he even in?

But he could not plainly refuse, so he merely asked,

"Brother Tang, no need for such gestures. Just speak plainly."

"Still, I don't understand—how exactly am I supposed to save you?"

Tang Du banged his head several more times; hearing Chi Laowen hadn't outright refused, he finally spoke slowly,

"Alas! We thought coming here was a sweet assignment."

Even if we couldn't find Tian Xiang Dukou, at least we'd get to see it with our own eyes."

Chi Laowen said nothing in response.

He had long known that Tian Xiang Dukou existed in only three pills, yet Great Ming had summoned over a thousand martial artists.

Why force all a thousand into Runadao Sect's gate? It made no sense whatsoever.

The notion of "seeing it" was merely a self-consolation for these lowly Wu Lin folk, who had no choice but to obey Great Ming's orders.

727 Do I know you well?

Tang Du immediately began babbling, recounting everything he had seen and heard.

Originally, their group numbered seven in total.

After passing through the gate above the Jixian Academy, they arrived immediately in You Dongying.

At first, they found it strange—among them, the strongest martial artist was merely an Absolute-Level.

Jiuzhou's You Dongying was a mighty force renowned across the land.

Stronger than the Great Ming Empire, not weaker.

So at first, they kept their heads down, striving to blend in and avoid suspicion.

But after keeping a low profile for a while, they realized this You Dongying was not Jiuzhou's You Dongying.

Not only was Tianhuang's name unheard of, but even the strongest martial artist seemed to be a man named Ma Shou.

After careful verification, they finally confirmed they had not arrived in Jiuzhou's You Dongying.

Gradually, they relaxed.

They knew their own situation well—they knew Tian Xiang Dukou existed in only three pills.

To obtain even one would be as hard as climbing to heaven.

After much thought, since this was not Jiuzhou's You Dongying, perhaps other opportunities existed here?

After some inquiries, they finally confirmed that this place also possessed divine weapons, martial arts techniques, and even pills and other cultivation treasures.

Among these, spiritual herbs and other cultivation resources were certainly plentiful.

They felt that since this was not Jiuzhou's You Dongying,

they could plunder or steal some treasures and return to Jiuzhou's Great Ming.

Then, upwardly, they would have fulfilled the court's mission.

Downwardly, they themselves would gain tangible benefits.

Once decided, they began to assess their target.

After much thought, they realized that among the major samurai clans of You Dongying, there were many skilled fighters.

What if they rashly stole or plundered and got trapped themselves?

Instead, ten li outside the city, there was a shrine resembling a temple—a Shindō Shrine.

The inhabitants there were mostly Shindō monks, like ascetics.

It was said that there was a cultivation technique at least of Xuan rank, and two hundred-year-old spiritual herbs.

After several rounds of reconnaissance, they learned these monks had weak Wu Gong, and thus set a time to strike.

It was a dark, windy night; seven men slipped to the edge of the Shindō Shrine.

For safety, Tang Du was assigned to stand guard outside.

Should anything seem amiss, he was to sound the alarm immediately.

The other six infiltrated inside.

But once they went in, these six never made another sound.

The pitch-black Shindō Shrine, with no lanterns lit, seemed like a demon that could swallow men whole.

Tang Du waited outside for a long time, several times wanting to go in and check.

But his courage was limited; he waited until dawn, and even when he saw monks sweeping in the courtyard, he dared not enter.

He watched the ordinary monk, his expression calm.

As if the six companions from last night had made not a single sound.

Then where had his six companions gone?

Tang Du wanted to ask, but ultimately dared not.

He could only return to his lodging in the city and wait in anguish.

He waited until noon.

At that moment, the city's samurai suddenly formed pairs, escorting six prisoner carts through the streets in broad daylight.

Inside the carts were Tang Du's six companions.

Of course, their bodies were covered in black and purple bruises.

More importantly, all six had clearly been dead for a long time.

The leading samurai parading them kept declaring that these six were evil heretics who had intruded into the Shindō Shrine and were killed.

According to their confessions, they had one more accomplice still in the city.

Whoever identified him would be richly rewarded by the Shindō Shrine.

Tang Du heard this and nearly lost his soul.