CH 280

When dawn broke the next day, Shang Xia greeted Hai Min before telling her of his decision not to head out of the city. He chose to take a break to stroll around the city.

When the sun was directly overhead, Shang Xia decided it was time to carry out his plan. He headed towards a forge in the southern part of the city.

According to Shang Xi’s letter, the forge was a front used by the spies of the Tongyou City. However, Shang Xia could also tell that Shang Xi had learned of the location recently. From the way she put it, their Shang Clan didn’t seem to be in charge of operations there.

Shang Xia didn’t find it weird that he was getting such information now. When he sent Yan Ni’er back with his report on the situation, he was sure that the clan passed the information to the Tongyou Institution. Most of the spies and foundations the Tongyou City had in the Changfeng City were operated by the Tongyou Institution. From their willingness to send Shang Xia over to the forge, they should be certain that it hadn’t been compromised.

Since the Changfeng City was working with the White Deer Paradise, Shang Xia was sure that the city lord had weeded out most of the spies placed by the Tongyou Institution. He felt that there were only two reasons the forge hadn’t been exposed. One of them was because the forge was too well hidden and managed to evade detection. The second reason was because the spies there hadn’t been activated. Now that he was sent there, he might be the one bringing the institution’s instructions to start their operations.

The more he thought about it, the more important the secret code he received seemed. Reciting it over and over in his head until he couldn’t be more familiar with it, he stepped through the entrance.

The cultivators who resided in the You Continent faced tough battles often and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that all of them were as tough as nails. The weapons they used were evidence of that. There were countless large blades, spears, broadswords, and giant axes hanging on the wall. They weren’t second-rate garbage either. They weren’t graded weapons, but they were of good quality.

Seeing how Shang Xia had entered, an attendant who looked more like a blacksmith approached him. A trace of a smile could be seen on his face and he greeted, “Greetings, customer, do you see anything you like? Feel free to take your pick. Our forge is one of the best in the city.

Looking around casually, Shang Xia heard the sound of hammering coming from the back. He felt heat waves battering against him, and he asked casually, “Is the resident blacksmith in? I wish to meet him.” 

Widening his eyes slightly, the attendant started to size Shang Xia from head to toe. “Why do you wish to meet my master?” 

Coughing lightly, Shang Xia introduced himself. “Please tell him that an old friend from the You Continent is here to meet his third brother. Please convey my exact words to him.”

Glancing at Shang Xia suspiciously, the attendant ran into the back.

Knowing that it would take some time, Shang Xia started to walk around the shop. Picking up several arrows here and there, he examined their quality.

After a short while, the curtains that separated the back from the front of the shop rustled. An old fellow whose body was steaming from the heat walked out and chuckled, “Customer, are you interested in buying arrowheads? Or are you planning to buy ready-made arrows?” 

Tossing the arrows in his hand back into the pile, Shang Xia laughed, “I need a bundle of arrows and it would be great if they were made entirely of essence metal. Oh right, old man, how many times would you hammer ten pounds of essence metal?” 

Narrowing his eyes slightly, the old blacksmith didn’t reply instantly. He examined Shang Xia from head to toe again before muttering, “Reputation is of utmost importance to us. To temper ten pounds of essence metal, I’ll need to hammer it 3600 times exactly.”

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Nodding slightly, Shang Xia continued, “Do you use a large hammer or a small one?” 

“600 strikes with a large hammer, 3000 strikes with a small one.” The old blacksmith replied.

Shang Xia continued, “I wish to order a piece of metal essence that has been struck 900 times with a large hammer.” 

The old blacksmith replied solemnly, “You need to wait three days.” 

After their conversation, both sides entered a state of silence.

Eventually, Shang Xia broke the silence. “Old man, did I go wrong somewhere?” 

“I’ve been here for more than 20 years. If not for your presence today, I’ll have to bring that prompt to the grave with me.” The old blacksmith sighed.

Shang Xia couldn't help but turn serious. Bowing respectfully, he asked, “Are you the person I am supposed to meet here?” 

“No. That’s somebody else. Go back for today and wait. Come back tomorrow at noon.” The old blacksmith muttered.

Nodding slowly, Shang Xia turned to leave. However, he seemed to have remembered something. “Old man, did you say that you had complete arrows here?” 

…

After shopping for half a day, Shang Xia basically covered the entire city. At the same time, he burned the layout of the city into his mind.

Shang Xia took special note of the City Lord Manor. He made one complete round around the manor to inspect anything of interest to him. 

The day was always short in the winter. By the time he was done with his scouting, the sun was about to set. He went to pick up a bag of rice cakes, half a pound of sauced beef, a roll of rope and some wooden boards. He planned to make a swing in the courtyard for Yuanyuan after dinner.

As night fell, the main street of the city was the only place filled with activities. Other than that, the rest of the city was quiet as could be.

Near midnight, Shang Xia woke up once again. He heard a soft whistle coming from outside.

It didn’t take long before he noticed Hai Min emerging from her room to speak with someone outside. During their conversation, the two seemed to have reached some sort of disagreement. They quarreled in low voices, but Shang Xia was able to hear several interesting words they used in their argument. He heard stuff like ‘Tongyou Institution’, ‘rescue’, ‘identity’, and ‘submission’.

It didn’t take long for the argument to end as the person who intruded into the courtyard left after the time it took to boil a pot of tea.

After the person left, Hai Min was visibly affected. She returned to her bed, but Shang Xia’s divine sense allowed him to notice that she was unable to fall asleep as she tossed and turned about in her bed.

Waking up bright and early, Shang Xia finished the swing he planned to complete the night before. When Hai Min emerged from her room, pointed out her obviously exhausted state. “Didn’t you sleep well last night? Well, there’s not much to do in the winter anyway. You should go back to bed after we have breakfast.” 

A gentle smile appeared on her face despite her gloomy feelings. She asked, “Are you going to hunt today?” 

“Relax. Everything will be fine.” Shang Xia didn’t answer the question as he patted her shoulders suddenly. 

She instinctively wanted to dodge his unexpected gesture, but she forced herself to stand still eventually. When Shang Xia’s hand landed on her shoulders, her face flushed red.

Shang Xia could feel her body trembling slightly and he took his hand off after a short while. His gaze turned to Yuanyuan who just woke up and he waved at her before leaving the courtyard.

The first thing he did was to head over to the forge. The day before, he learned that the old blacksmith was called Wu Ji, and the old man greeted him as soon as he entered.

“There’s a forest ten miles west of the city. The person you wish to meet will see you there.” The old blacksmith said.

After purchasing 30 ordinary arrows from Wu Ji, Shang Xia placed them into his quiver that contained 20 metal essence arrows before leaving through the southern city gates.

Walking a distance away from the city gates, he started traveling west.

It didn’t take long for him to discover the patch of forest Wu Ji told him about.

Holding the bow in his hand, he entered the forest.

“What prey can you hunt in this small forest?” A voice came from behind and shocked Shang Xia.

Turning around abruptly, Shang Xia saw an expert who was clad in gray robes. The expert sported a short beard, and he was barely ten feet away from Shang Xia.

There was no doubt about it. He was a Martial Extermination Realm expert!

Raising the caution in his heart to the maximum, Shang Xia gasped silently. He wasn’t overestimating himself, but he knew that no one under the Martial Extermination Realm would be able to hide from his divine sense, much less get so close to him.

Anyone who could do something like that either had a treasure like the Tranquil Cape, or was a powerful expert in the Martial Extermination Realm.

The only thing that shocked Shang Xia was the fact that the Tongyou Institution actually hid a Martial Extermination Realm expert in the Changfeng City!

One had to know that Martial Extermination Realm experts weren’t cabbages that grew by the side of the street. Even in the holy lands, they were existences who were respected elders!

Composing himself, Shang Xia cupped his fists. “I greet senior!” 

“Grandson of Shang Bo. It’s no wonder you would look for me for protection. Brat, you were the last person to see Lord Kou. The moment your identity is revealed, hehe…” 

A strange look appeared on Shang Xia’s face after hearing what he said. “Senior, are you misunderstanding something? I’m not here to seek your protection.” 

“Then why did you look for me?” The expert was visibly confused.

Shang Xia explained everything he saw the other day and he also talked about the possible situation in the Tongyou City.

He didn’t expect the Martial Extermination Realm expert to reveal a strange look on his face the more Shang Xia explained.

When he was done, Shang Xia realized he forgot an important matter and he asked, “I wonder how I should address senior?”

“You can call me ‘Mister Bu’.” The expert replied after thinking for a moment.

Nodding slowly, Shang Xia continued, “So that’s basically the current situation. The Tongyou City should have their hands full at the moment. Otherwise, they wouldn’t ask me to look for you. I wonder what Mister Bu has planned?” 

“This old man might have hidden myself for the past twenty years, but I still know a thing or two that goes on in the Tongyou City. Hmph. All of them are too hasty. They wish to swallow the Mysterious Coral World for themselves. I’m afraid their plan is to hide in their tortoise shell the moment they succeed, avoiding the pressure of the outside world. It’s a shame their shell hasn’t hardened enough for them to carry out their plan.” Mister Bu muttered.

Shang Xia couldn’t help but gasp in fright. He realized that the person before him was probably an old acquaintance of Kou Chongxue and Shang Bo. Since that was the case, he was probably familiar with the institution’s plan.

He could also tell that the old man sounded a little angry when he was speaking about the Tongyou City earlier. However, that made sense. He was made to lay low in the Changfeng City for twenty years! It was no wonder he was pissed. 

Shang Xia wondered what reason they used to convince such a powerful expert to hide in the Changfeng City for twenty years, but he snapped back to reality when Mister Bu continued talking. “So… The Tongyou City sent you to look for me to deal with Yang Hu?” 

Shang Xia thought about it for a second and realized that was basically the gist of it. The matter between the collusion of the White Deer Paradise and the Changbai Holy Land was a whole other matter altogether. Currently, the largest problem came from Yang Hu. It wasn’t wrong to say that dealing with him would settle a lot of problems.

Seeing as Shang Xia was starting to nod, Mister Bu sneered in contempt. “Do you think the two of us are enough to stop Yang Hu who has governed this city for close to twenty years? Brat, are you dreaming?” 

Shang Xia raised his eyebrows in shock. You’ve been hiding here as long as Yang Hu has been in charge of the city! Shouldn’t you have developed some sort of hidden power or trump cards to deal with him? What the hell…

Naturally, he swallowed his thoughts before they escaped from his lips. He quickly changed his phrasing. “I wonder what suggestions Senior Bu has…”

Glancing deeply at him, the Martial Extermination Realm expert seemed to have seen through his thoughts. Of course, he wasn’t planning to call Shang Xia out. He muttered, “Follow me. There might be something interesting going on nearby.”