The moon and stars were pale in the quiet night.
The inhabitants of Luoyang City had been struggling in the stifling heat for an entire day. The clouds that had gathered into a thick ma.s.s just before nightfall was so close to the ground that they seemed so close to touching the faraway Jinshan Temple.
It was so stuffy that people could hardly breathe. Even cicadas, crickets, and toads had lost their zeal to bellow their grievances, only emitting weak cries when they simply couldn"t bear the heat. First, the clouds obscured the moonlight. Then came the faint rumbling of thunder. One could even see bolts of lightning flashing in the crevices of the clouds. It seemed that a rainstorm was coming.
A group of silhouettes sped along the path leading to the Extinctive Sword Manor House from the direction of Luoyang City.
In no time at all, Ye Que showed up in the vicinity of the Manor House. Following right behind him were no less than one hundred Divine Sect disciples. They were selected from the group of people who studied the secret manuals that Ye Que distributed and selected to be formal disciples after showing particular talent.
Unlike regular Jianghu martial artists, these people conducted their business on streets and lanes all year round. They were well-versed in shady activities such as scare tactics, threats, robberies, and arson. Though they now possessed a preliminary understanding of cultivation, they had no inclination whatsoever to follow rules.
Of course, Ye Que didn"t expect them to discover the Truth and become immortals.
It was fine as long as they were useful.
The great war between the Three Realms a hundred years later taught everyone a lesson through spilled blood: whether one was a gentleman or a scoundrel, whether one was despicable or vulgar, a method that could achieve one"s goals was a good method.
The distinction between evil and good didn"t apply to methods, only humans.
It was Lin Shan"s misfortune that he provoked Ye Que.
Twigs shivered audibly as the wind swept the mountain and along with it, came the faint smell of terror.
Qian Shuxiao, who followed behind Ye Que, sneezed noisily when the wind swept sand onto his face. He fished out a handkerchief from his bosom and wiped his nose with it. Following a tremble, he began polishing the Firebird"s Nest in his hand.
"Sect Leader, why did you ask everyone to come here so late at night? Are we ambushing the Extinctive Sword Manor House? Then we should"ve called the rest too. I don"t think our numbers are quite enough." Qian Shuxiao addressed Ye Que as his brother in private but in front of outsiders, he would only address the latter as Sect Leader. In his words, "These are the rules. Even if I"m the First Elder, I can"t break them. I must set a good example."
"Now isn"t the time to ambush the Extinctive Sword Manor House. That"s just courting death." Ye Que glared at Qian Shuxiao. "Tell everyone to surround the Manor House and keep an eye on all the roads leading out of it. But stay 2.5 kilometers out of the house. Once they detect disciples of the Extinctive Sword Manor House, tell them to report it to me immediately."
After watching everyone disperse with squinted eyes, Ye Que muttered, "From now onward, you disciples of Extinctive Sword Manor House better stay indoors at night."
The main income of the Extinctive Sword Manor House came from the sale of their weapons. They would typically take advantage of the fact that they had many disciples and had them forge the weapons in advance. Only then would they work through the night to deliver the weapons to all the large prefectures and cities. That allowed the latest weapons to either go on sale or reach their buyers the next day.
It was as lucrative as it was efficient.
It was right after 11 pm. Following the heavy noise of spinning axles, three horse-drawn carriages carrying seven or eight disciples of the Extinctive Sword Manor House each left the Manor House with their products.
One carriage headed for the mountain path leading to Qing Prefecture, another carriage headed for You Prefecture, while the last made a beeline for Luoyang.
The Qing Prefecture Government was the government closest to Luoyang.
The journey took 10 hours. Under normal circ.u.mstances, the carriage would reach their distance before sunrise.
The entire carriage was filled with one hundred Blue Steel Swords, one hundred Wild Goose Sabers. Out of the numerous Extinctive Sword Manor House, some were specially tasked to transport the goods. Thus, the Manor House rarely entrusted such tasks to the Escort Agency.
This group of people had traveled no more than 2.5 kilometers when Chu Dongnan, who hid by the road, spotted them. As the first hooligan that Ye Que conquered and the first person who received a saber and a manual, his growth was the quickest. After cultivating day and night for three months, he was now about to become a Rank 1 martial artist.
Several days ago, Chu Dongnan distinguished himself in the selection compet.i.tion and became one of the 36 Branch Masters of the Divine Sect, the Master of Sanjiu Lane. He was also bestowed with a secret manual on Truth Cultivation to help him go beyond martial arts and enter the Pre-celestial Realm.
Chu Dongnan had great trust in his instincts, which had long told him that he must stay right beside Ye Que.
As long as he was following Ye Que, he would be promised unimaginable wealth. He even dreamed that Ye Que was the greatest opportunity of his life.
Thus, as long as it was Ye Que who made the order, he would execute it to the best of his capabilities.
Though the night was stuffy and the wind was great, Chu Dongnan didn"t even blink as he stared at the road in front of him. When he noticed the disciples, he immediately turned around and retreated to report it to Ye Que.
Fifteen minutes later, Chu Dongnan and Ye Que caught up to the group of disciples.
"Sect Leader, the group ahead ought to be the disciples transporting the weapons from the Extinctive Sword Manor House. I checked the furrows made by their carriage; the carriage has more than one hundred weapons, at least," Chu Dongnan said, lowering his voice.
"We"re not leaving survivors, are we?" Chu Dongnan gestured at his neck.
Ye Que gave him a glance before shaking his head. "Wait here, all of you. I"ll go myself."
Without concealing himself, Ye Que stealthily infiltrated the carriage.
Moments later, the disciple at the rear of the carriage suddenly widened his eyes and clutched his neck in shock. He swiftly fainted. Then, the disciple commanding the carriage immediately pulled onto the reins. His hands and legs began to tremble like he was experiencing a seizure. Soon, the crotch of his trousers became soaked. Finally, the two disciples flanking the carriage and the disciples opening the path pa.s.sed out as if they had seen a ghost.
Ye Que had moved and retreated as swift as the wind, returning after no more than the span of time it took to down a cup of tea.
Looking at Chu Dongnan, he said, "Don"t get close to this group or touch the things inside. Just stay guard and see in the vicinity until daytime when their people come over to save them."
Despite the numerous doubts in his mind, Chu Dongnan nodded in agreement without thinking. "I"ll obey your orders, Sect Leader."
To him, everything Ye Que did was accurate and everything he said was an imperial edict.
On the other side of the mountain, another carriage filled with weapons was traveling on the road leading to You Prefecture.
"A Le, are you hungry? This steamed bun with pickle filling is disgusting. I didn"t eat my fill during lunchtime and we"re still having steamed buns for dinner! There"s not even a vegetable dish!"
"The way I see it, the menial workers of the kitchen deserve a good beating. They idle all day long and can"t even prepare a meal properly. They deserve to be menial workers for the rest of their lives."
"Without food in my stomach, I have no energy whatsoever."
"Hold on! When day time comes, I"ll find a restaurant for you. We"ll fill our stomachs first before continuing; after all, You Prefecture isn"t just a stone"s throw away."
"Then I"ll express my thanks, Brother."
"You"re welcome..." Before he could finish his words, the disciple transporting the goods suddenly widened his eyes and pointed in front of him. Cold sweat drenched his face. "Look, look. Wh-what"s that?"
The disciple began to shiver as he spoke. However, there was nothing in front of him except for his fellow disciple taking the lead with a raised torch.
A blood-curdling screech shattered the night sky.
The same night, another screech resounded inside the black market in Luoyang. The difference was that there was truly something terrifying in front of the one who screamed: a demon with a malevolent expression. The demon cautiously pinched the neck of a small porcelain bottle with two fingers, greedily sniffing the smell from inside the bottle.
If one took a careful look at the bottom of the bottle, one would notice a small carving of a sword. Those familiar with it would know that it was the symbol of the Extinctive Sword Manor House. If one was to trace the origin of the porcelain bottle, one would also pinpoint it to one location: Extinctive Sword Manor House.