Chapter 245: Qi Is One Big Trap

Su Zhao studied the map for a moment, then slowly nodded, seeming to relax. "Since you've already made preparations on that front, the problem shouldn't be too serious."

Shao Pingbo said, "Good. Then I'll leave the State of Qi to you. The situation is forcing our hand, so we can't afford delay. The sooner, the better."

"What?" Su Zhao looked back at him with teasing eyes. "I only just returned, and you're already this impatient to drive me away?"

Shao Pingbo smiled. "Listen to you. You know perfectly well that isn't what I mean."

Seeing the two of them begin flirting, Shao Sansheng lowered his head and quietly withdrew, unwilling to intrude. Once they were alone, Su Zhao's bright eyes immediately grew lingering and affectionate. She slowly moved closer to Shao Pingbo.

Shao Pingbo leaned back slightly, almost as if trying to avoid her, but in the end he still reached out, took her soft hand, and smiled faintly. Su Zhao followed the motion and nestled gently into his embrace. The two held one another, cheek to cheek.

"You won't despise me. You'll marry me, won't you?" Su Zhao murmured against his chest.

Shao Pingbo said, "I've told you before: if I marry, it will be you. But you know the time isn't right yet. If I don't possess enough strength, you won't be able to break free from your organization either. Everything we're doing now is for me, for you, and for our future."

Su Zhao sighed softly. "I hope so."

Shao Pingbo said, "You sound as though you don't believe me."

"I do." Su Zhao gently shook her head and closed her eyes. There was one thing she had always wanted to ask, and wanted to do, but because of her own status she had never been able to bring herself to say it. She feared he would think less of her.

They remained silently entwined for a time. Then Shao Pingbo suddenly began coughing again. He pushed her away, suppressed the fit, and asked, "What's happening on Niu Youdao's side?"

Su Zhao looked at him and shook her head. "You really are hopeless. I think Niu Youdao has become a sickness of the heart for you. The moment you think about him, your inner fire rises, and then you start coughing."

Shao Pingbo turned, picked up his teacup, and took a sip to moisten his throat. "You're overthinking it."

Su Zhao said, "I've had people watching Qingshan Commandery, but they haven't seen so much as Niu Youdao's shadow. The place where he's hiding is heavily guarded, with cultivators from several sects concentrated there. There's no way to get close, so I don't even know what he's doing inside. I imagine he's much freer than you are. He has no mundane affairs to trouble him and seems to spend all his time hidden in the mountains cultivating in seclusion. With him turtled up like that, never exposing the slightest opening, there's nothing I can do."

Shao Pingbo fell silent. He had discovered that this was precisely where he suffered a disadvantage. Shang Chaozong handled the mundane affairs on Niu Youdao's side. Niu Youdao himself was a cultivator. He neither commanded troops nor governed territory. Even if Shao Pingbo wanted to imitate him by spreading rumors or throwing mud, it would all land on Shang Chaozong and have virtually no effect on Niu Youdao.

And now the man would not even show his head. There was even less chance to find an opening.

"Still brooding over it?" Su Zhao asked. Then she reassured him, "Don't worry. He can't hide forever. Sooner or later he'll show himself, and sooner or later we'll find an opportunity to strike."

Shao Pingbo flatly denied it. "No. I was thinking that Shang Chaozong's situation is much like Beizhou's. You could say we're fellow sufferers. They probably need warhorses too. You may as well keep an eye on that."

"Mm." Su Zhao nodded thoughtfully.

After taking a deep breath, Shao Pingbo asked, "Right. What about that Linghu Qiu? Did you arrange an introduction for me?"

He had remained interested in the man and had wanted Su Zhao to help recruit him. Su Zhao had never found a way, so Shao Pingbo wanted to meet Linghu Qiu personally and see whether there was any chance of winning him over himself.

Su Zhao gave a bitter smile and sighed. "Don't get angry when I tell you."

"Angry?" Shao Pingbo looked surprised. "At worst, the introduction failed. Why would I get angry over that?"

Su Zhao said, "I found him and had someone pass along the message that you wanted to meet him. He said, 'What is there to see in an ordinary mortal like him?' He said he only deals with people from the cultivation world. He even specifically mentioned that he knows Huang Lie, Sect Leader of Dachan Mountain, and that Huang Lie will usually give him a little face. Then he said there are far too many people beneath Heaven; if he tried to meet every one of them, he could never finish."

"..."

Shao Pingbo was left speechless. The meaning could hardly have been clearer. Linghu Qiu looked down on him as an ordinary mortal.

The mention of Huang Lie made the implication even plainer: You are only Dachan Mountain's hound. I already know the master behind you. Why would I need anything to do with you?

Shao Pingbo gave a cold laugh, anger faintly stirring in his heart. But after a moment, he forced it back down. Thinking about it, Linghu Qiu was not actually wrong. He had no need to cultivate relationships with mundane officials. If anything happened, he could simply approach the cultivation force standing behind them. Once that force spoke, would the mundane official dare refuse?

"Then it seems there's no opportunity. I was thinking too much," Shao Pingbo said indifferently.

Su Zhao sighed. "That man has ties with people from every side, and his background is complicated. Even I can't make sense of his network, so I don't dare act rashly. In my view, there's no harm in watching for a while longer. There's no need to rush."

Shao Pingbo snorted. "One day he'll come begging me. When that happens, I'd like to see how he swallows those words!"

Su Zhao smiled bitterly and shook her head. She found that this man was excellent in almost every respect, except that his breadth of mind fell just a little short. He was too proud and too lofty. Otherwise, how could he ever have gotten so angry that he coughed blood? After returning from the commandery city, Niu Youdao went back to the estate in the mountains.

The estate was not large, nor was it lavish. It was simple and elegant, dotted with flowers, shrubs, and trees. Built atop a mountain peak, it stood high enough to overlook the surrounding scenery and even offered a distant view of Qingshan Commandery City's outline. Construction had been completed three months ago, and Niu Youdao had lived there for more than a month.

The relevant people had moved in with him. Shang Shuqing had moved in as well. They could hardly make the Commandery Princess continue living in a thatched cottage, so she had been given a small but quite elegant courtyard of her own.

The moment he entered the estate, Niu Youdao, still carrying his thoughts from the commandery city, casually instructed Wu Sanliang as the man approached, "Go invite the three sect leaders over."

"Yes!" Wu Sanliang acknowledged and quickly left.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Niu Youdao wandered up to a pavilion overlooking the mountains. It was an excellent place for enjoying the surrounding scenery. From the railing, one could take in the majesty and beauty of layer after layer of rising peaks. Knowing the three sect leaders were coming, Black Peony quickly went to prepare tea.

Before long, Fei Changliu, Zheng Jiuxiao, and Xia Hua arrived, each accompanied by several people. Their disciples stopped below the pavilion while the three sect leaders flew up to the terrace.

Landing beside Niu Youdao, Xia Hua turned and looked around. "This may not be some blessed land overflowing with spiritual beauty, but it has a charm of its own. Around here, it's a pretty good location."

Niu Youdao looked back with a smile. "The residences for your three sects should be nearly finished too, shouldn't they?"

Xia Hua said, "Still a little short."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "That's what you get for insisting on building them so large."

Xia Hua said, "We can't keep things as simple as you do. You only have a handful of people here, so you can throw something together and be done with it. We have so many disciples in our sects. We can't keep making them live in caves forever. We need proper places to settle."

Fei Changliu asked, "Why did you call us over?"

At that moment, Black Peony came up carrying the tea.

Niu Youdao turned. "Making guests stand around isn't proper hospitality. Sit. We can drink while we talk."

They took their seats, and Black Peony poured tea for them.

After everyone had taken a few sips, Niu Youdao set down his cup and said, "I've spent this entire year cultivating in seclusion and haven't paid much attention to outside affairs. I went to the commandery city just now and asked a few questions. Only then did I learn that His Highness's need for warhorses has become urgent. It concerns the safety of both commanderies. You three have yet to give him an answer, and His Highness doesn't want to pressure you, so I asked you here to find out exactly what's happening with the purchase of warhorses."

At the mention of it, the expressions of all three visibly darkened.

Xia Hua shook her head. "The situation isn't good. It's troublesome, extremely troublesome. Qi is far away, and we're outsiders there, so getting things done is difficult. Between our three sects and Tianyu Sect, we've already lost five or six hundred disciples. The losses have been severe!"

Niu Youdao said, "Trouble or not, there still has to be some explanation. I'm telling you plainly: if this problem isn't solved and we lose control of these two commanderies, every one of us will become a homeless dog. Forget cultivating in peace. We'd better all start preparing to flee for our lives!"

Zheng Jiuxiao said, "Do you think we don't want to solve it quickly? Every day this remains unresolved is another day Tianyu Sect refuses to yield us a share of the profits. There are so many people across our three sects, and all of them cost money. You think we aren't anxious?"

Niu Youdao tapped his fingers against the table. "Don't complain to me. You brought this on yourselves. Tell me the problem. Where exactly is the knot?"

Fei Changliu said, "There are many problems. The first is inside Qi itself. Most of Qi is grassland and pasture, with countless fine horses, so buying warhorses inside Qi actually isn't difficult. The key problem is how to get those horses out of the country."

Xia Hua said bitterly, "Qi is one enormous trap. It can bury people without paying a thing. They let the horse trade run freely inside their borders and happily let you buy as much as you want, but in the end, nobody should dream of easily transporting warhorses out of the country. Look at Qi's terrain. Most of its outer regions are surrounded by vast deserts. Trying to move horses through those deserts is basically impossible. And because of the terrain, there aren't many routes in and out. Qi stations heavy troops at the usable passages. Nobody can secretly move warhorses across the border with ease."

Zheng Jiuxiao sighed. "Qi's move is vicious. They let you spend your money buying horses, but you can't take the horses out. In the end, they've taken your money, and the horses are still theirs."

The situation was actually straightforward. Once it was explained, Niu Youdao immediately understood.

He frowned and thought for a while, then slowly asked, "Apart from the normal channels of trade between states, is there truly no way to move horses out privately?"

Fei Changliu said, "It's not that there is no way. Completely preventing it would be impossible. The problem is whether you can open the right connections. If you truly can smooth those relationships over, then naturally horses can be released. That's precisely where the difficulty lies. This is one of Qi's key areas of control, so the relevant connections are not easy to establish. And even if the horses get out, there's another problem. It's a very long journey. Along the way, you also have to smooth things over at the checkpoints of every other state you pass through. Ah! Tianyu Sect has been getting headaches over this too."

Niu Youdao had Black Peony bring over a map and hang it inside the pavilion. He stood in front of it with his hands behind his back, staring intently, brow deeply furrowed.

Just then, Wu Sanliang arrived with a report. "Master Dao, someone outside has come to pay a visit. He says he's Linghu Qiu of the State of Jin. We don't know whether he's genuine or not!"

[End of Chapter 245]