Chapter 452: A Chance at Wealth

"The insect on that paper was drawn from memory. I copied it from Uncle Chen. Outside the inn, at the western corner of the wall, he left one..." Yuan Gang began explaining.

He told Guan Fangyi how he had first noticed something abnormal, how he discovered Uncle Chen making secret contact with someone, and how he had secretly followed the contact afterward. Guan Fangyi's bright eyes flickered continuously. Inside, she was just as startled and uncertain. But her mouth refused to admit anything.

She said angrily, "What does any of that prove? What exactly are you two trying to do?"

From the couch, Niu Youdao suddenly said, "We had only just arrived in Myriad Forms City when the Shangqing Sect blocked us directly. Don't you think that is strange?"

Guan Fangyi laughed and retorted sarcastically, "There could be any number of explanations. Master Dao, don't tell me you think Uncle Chen is colluding with the Shangqing Sect?"

Niu Youdao said, "About twenty days ago, the Shangqing Sect suddenly broke away from Beizhou. Judging by the timing, they had no chance to detour anywhere. They came straight to Myriad Forms City and intercepted me. At least ten days before this journey, even Gongsun Bu did not know our destination. Before then, the only people who knew were you and Monkey. So how did the Shangqing Sect know where I was going? You must have told the brothers under you where we were headed, yes?"

Guan Fangyi repeatedly turned the question over in her mind, but aloud she argued, "I did tell them. But the brothers from Fufang Garden have followed me for many years. None of them could possibly have a problem. If there were one, it would have surfaced long before today. Uncle Chen has been beside me for thirty years. He has risked his life to save me more than once. Anyone else might have a problem, but he cannot. Don't tell me the Shangqing Sect planted someone beside me thirty years ago?"

Niu Youdao ignored the question and said instead, "With the Shangqing Sect's ability, there is no way they could have escaped Shao Pingbo's control. Someone intervened and allowed them to leave Beizhou this time: Zhao Xiongge of Demon Ridge."

"Zhao Xiongge?" Guan Fangyi exclaimed in surprise.

Niu Youdao continued slowly, "As for secretly gathering one hundred elite disciples from the three sects and bringing them here—I was joking. Monkey didn't take it seriously either. But someone on your side may have."

"..."

Guan Fangyi stared at him, speechless. She had already thought Niu Youdao wiping out the entire Shangqing Sect would be going far too far. So it had been false from the beginning. Then, in the next instant, everything came together. It had been a trap deliberately laid for someone to see. He had deliberately said it in front of her people. He had deliberately pretended the Shangqing Sect faced imminent extermination.

The point was to create an emergency so urgent that any hidden spy would have no choice but to act and leak the news. Only then would Niu Youdao's side gain the chance to identify the spy. Could it truly be Uncle Chen? Guan Fangyi found the reality almost impossible to accept. Her expression turned pained.

"No. Impossible. There must be some misunderstanding!"

Niu Youdao said, "For him to remain beside you all these years without you noticing, he really did hide himself deeply. I'm curious. What secret are you carrying that was worth someone—or some organization—investing in you thirty years ago?"

Guan Fangyi raised the paper and stared at the insect drawing again.

She gritted her teeth, spun around, and declared, "I'll bring him here and confront him!"

"Stop!" Niu Youdao called.

Guan Fangyi halted and turned back. Anger burned in her bright eyes.

"Have you started suspecting me too?"

Niu Youdao said, "Something like this happened. Is it wrong to be suspicious for a moment? Hongniang, you should know in your heart that I've always trusted you."

Guan Fangyi turned her head aside with a cold snort. "Who knows whether that is true or false?"

Niu Youdao said, "You really want me to tell you the truth? I'm afraid you won't like hearing it once I do."

Guan Fangyi immediately looked back. "Say it!"

Niu Youdao replied lazily, "You asked for it... It's a pity you're a little too old. Otherwise, I would definitely marry you."

Guan Fangyi's eyes flew wide. She hooked one foot beneath her skirt, slipped off an embroidered shoe, and hurled it directly at him. Then she charged over and began grappling with Niu Youdao on the couch. The scene was almost too ugly to watch. Guan Fangyi ended up straddling Niu Youdao, looking as though she wanted to throttle him to death.

Yuan Gang, expressionless at the side, walked away, picked up a map, and began studying it as though none of this concerned him. Only after Niu Youdao repeatedly begged for mercy did Guan Fangyi realize her posture was genuinely somewhat indecent. A rare flush rose across her cheeks.

She quickly rolled off the couch, tugged her skirts back into order, snatched up the embroidered shoe from the bed, and shoved it onto her foot.

All the while, she cursed, "I really should strangle you to death, you bastard!"

She kept cursing, but in truth she felt much better. Much of the anger in her chest had dissipated. Niu Youdao groaned and sighed as he climbed up and straightened the clothes she had disordered.

Then he reminded her, "We've already forced him to reveal himself. The facts are there. Whether you confront him now is not important. If there are questions, we can deal with them later. For the moment, knowing the truth in your own heart is enough. Do not alert the snake by striking the grass. I need to find out what is really happening with the Shangqing Sect. I cannot accept whatever comes at me without understanding it. I was just preparing to force the people behind the Shangqing Sect to reveal themselves. If you expose this matter now, won't all my work be wasted?"

Guan Fangyi fell silent for a moment and thought it through. He was right.

Even so, she still cursed, "Treacherous and devious!"

After cursing him, she slowly sat down beside the couch. Her face was melancholy. She still found it difficult to accept that Uncle Chen might be a spy. Niu Youdao sat cross-legged on the couch.

"How did he end up beside you?"

A distant look entered Guan Fangyi's eyes as she searched her memories.

"I met him on the road. He was badly wounded at the time and had collapsed by the roadside. I reached out and saved him. When I asked where he came from, he refused to say. I didn't ask him for repayment either, but he kept following me. Whenever I ran into trouble, he stepped in and saved me. After that, he never asked for anything. I never forced him to stay. He simply remained beside me as though it were the most natural thing in the world. In the blink of an eye, thirty years passed. During that time, I encountered no shortage of trouble. Again and again, he risked his life to save me, yet he never sought anything in return. The facts prove he wasn't after my looks either. How could someone like that be a spy? What could he possibly want from me? I always thought he was the kind of person who repaid one drop of kindness with a gushing spring. Come to think of it... even now, I don't know his real name. He never told me..."

She rambled on for a while. Listening, Niu Youdao also found the matter difficult to understand. It did not fit the ordinary logic of a spy. The whole thing was deeply puzzling... In a remote little alley tucked into an obscure corner of Myriad Forms City stood a tiny residence lit by dim lamps. It was plainly a place originally used for storing miscellaneous goods.

There was only a narrow plank bed large enough for one person to sleep on, and beside it stood a square table. The remaining space was so cramped there hardly seemed enough room to turn around and take a few steps.

Tonight, however, the square table was covered with a lavish spread of food and wine that looked completely out of place in such surroundings. Two men sat opposite one another. Lu Shengzhong was drinking with a poorly dressed man named Chao Shenghai. Chao Shenghai was a native of Myriad Forms City and one of the city's fallen households. His life had originally been comfortable enough. He owned a shop on the street and had inherited a residence.

Unfortunately, he loved gambling. He lost not only the family property, but even his woman. Now he could only make a living doing odd jobs for others. Worse, he was lazy and greedy as well. Few people were willing to hire someone like him, so his life had become quite poor. Ordinarily, a man like this should either have starved in Myriad Forms City or found himself unable to remain there at all.

Yet Chao Shenghai's grandfather was still alive and held no low position within Myriad Beasts Sect. His grandfather was Elder Chao Jing. Many people disliked Chao Shenghai, but no one could very well let an elder's descendant starve to death. So the city had given him this tiny place to shelter and provided him with a minimum ration every month.

As for why Elder Chao did not personally step in and let his descendant live more comfortably, there were several reasons. First, every sect had its rules. With so many eyes watching him, an elder could not abuse public resources for private benefit. Second, Elder Chao Jing had been especially prolific in matters between men and women. He had no shortage of wives and concubines, whether formally recognized or otherwise.

Accumulated over so many years, his descendants in Myriad Forms City numbered in the hundreds. He could not possibly take care of every one of them. He probably could not even recognize all his own grandsons. Even so, Elder Chao's status was itself a form of protection for his descendants.

Chao Shenghai, for example, had originally inherited both a shop and a residence from his father, enough to guarantee a lifetime without worry over food or clothing. He had only fallen this far because he himself was hopelessly disappointing.

Whatever the case, the ordinary residents of Myriad Forms City enjoyed Myriad Beasts Sect's protection. For the most part, they had always lived and worked in peace, far more comfortably than commoners suffering through the chaos outside. At the very least, their lives were not constantly in danger. Chao Shenghai was an unusually bad exception. After wandering around the city and making inquiries, Lu Shengzhong had deliberately chosen this fallen scion.

Once the two had exchanged cups for a while, Lu Shengzhong poured him another drink and continued speaking with unfailing attentiveness.

"Brother Chao, I'll have to trouble you to put in a few good words with your elder brother."

Red-faced from drink, Chao Shenghai thumped his chest.

"Don't worry. Nineteenth Brother and I grew up playing in the mud together. Leave this to me. I'll definitely have Nineteenth Brother step forward and help settle this grudge for you."

"In the Song capital, the number of people who dare refuse Myriad Beasts Sect face can be counted on one hand."

Lu Shengzhong sneered inwardly. Since he had deliberately sought this man out, he had naturally investigated the situation first. Among Elder Chao Jing's many descendants, only one named Chao Shenghuai had shown enough aptitude to cultivate.

That man was the "Nineteenth Brother" Chao Shenghai spoke of.

Unfortunately, Chao Shenghuai's cultivation talent was limited and his future prospects could hardly be called bright. It was only because of Chao Jing's face that he had managed to secure an awkward middle-tier position within Myriad Beasts Sect. But that was exactly why Lu Shengzhong had chosen him. His face remained all smiles as he flattered Chao Shenghai.

"Yes, yes. With Elder Chao's prestige behind him, there certainly won't be any problem."

"Urp..."

Chao Shenghai belched. A crafty gleam flashed through his eyes.

"Brother Li, helping you is one thing, but the terms should still be made clear. Nineteenth Brother can't travel all the way to the Song capital to settle a dispute for you merely because you and I shared a table of wine. There has to be some proper explanation, don't you think?"

A scoundrel like this saying such words was exactly what Lu Shengzhong had expected. Otherwise, he would never have sought him out. He immediately leaned forward slightly.

"Brother Chao can rest assured. Once the matter is done, there will be a generous reward."

He produced two gold coins and pushed them across the table. Chao Shenghai's eyes brightened faintly. To a cultivator, two gold coins might be nothing. Given his present circumstances, however, they were enough to let him live well for quite some time. Even so, he maintained an air of restraint and did not immediately reach for them.

Instead, he shook his head and said, "How generous will this reward be once the matter is done? It's better to make that clear beforehand. Otherwise, with everything vague and muddled, how am I supposed to explain the logic of it to Nineteenth Brother?"

"Easy enough." Lu Shengzhong nodded.

He leaned closer and lowered his voice.

"I have a chance at wealth to offer your elder brother."

"I know the whereabouts of a Golden King Bear..."

[End of Chapter 452]