Chapter 111 White Armor
Chapter 111 White Armor
On the sixth day after He Ping and He Qingque arrived in Bewitching Town, He Huai'an also brought a group of disciples from Qingyun Manor to Bewitching Town.
With more people involved, things can proceed more quickly.
Accompanying He Huai'an were not only several managers from Qingyun Manor, but also people from the yamen (government office).
Once the government officials arrive, the disaster relief grain will have a place to go.
As previously agreed, the recovery of the stolen disaster relief grain was all thanks to Qingyun Manor.
The imperial court officials spoke highly of Qingyun Manor.
Although Master He was not present, He Huai'an was, and court officials said many flattering things to him.
It also brought the imperial court's commendation of Qingyun Manor.
The people at Bazhenlou didn't like dealing with government officials.
He Huai'an responded well.
"This lad is quite shrewd. He looks young, but he's very tactful in his dealings." Old Master Weng had been in officialdom for decades, so he had a good eye for people.
"It's a pity he doesn't have the talent for martial arts, otherwise Qingyun Manor would have produced someone even more powerful than Old He." Old Master Qu didn't hold back.
He Ping listened from the side and couldn't help but smile.
He Qingque stepped forward and whispered, "Senior Brother, I just heard the people from the imperial court say that they only want the disaster relief grain and to transport it away; they don't care about anything else."
He Ping was not surprised.
Many officials in the court preferred to avoid trouble, and now that the stolen disaster relief grain had been found, they considered it a great achievement.
Further investigation would not benefit anyone.
If there's no benefit, why do these things?
He Ping said softly, "I'll just follow the young master's arrangements."
“Okay.” He Qingque nodded.
He Lin!
When her fellow disciples called out to her, He Qingque skipped over to help.
As expected, the court officials here were only interested in the disaster relief grain.
He paid no attention to any strange people, snake pits, or bewitching mysteries, simply giving instructions that everything else could be handled by Qingyun Manor, and then hurriedly left with his men.
As for the explosives, Qingyun Manor was to handle them as appropriate.
Bai Cen crossed his arms: "Being an official is still the best!"
Wang Sumo looked at him.
He instinctively covered his mouth, saying, "Too much talk leads to mistakes, too much talk leads to mistakes."
Jiang Yutang found it funny.
Elsewhere, He Ping stepped forward and asked, "Young Master, what should we do about the gunpowder?"
"Allow me to write a letter back to Qingyun Manor and discuss it with my uncle before making any further plans," He Huai'an said, leaving no room for error.
"good."
After seeing off the court officials, He Huai'an stepped forward and respectfully bowed to the two elders, Weng He and Qu Guan: "Huai'an greets the two seniors."
Weng He and the old man nodded to each other, and then exchanged a few pleasantries.
He Huai'an looked at Wang Sumo again: "We meet again, Miss Wang."
Wang Sumo was deeply impressed by He Huai'an. He was gentle, calm and composed. Apart from not being good at martial arts, He Huai'an was actually the one who most resembled Old Master He.
"Young Master He, how have you been?" Wang Sumo returned the courtesy.
"Now that everyone's here, let's go to the underground palace and see if there are any other clues," He Huai'an said directly. "He Ping, lead the way."
"good."
In fact, He Ping had already explored the underground palace under the Bewitching Town over the past few days, and had a general idea of its location, and had even drawn up a simple map.
Following the map, they soon arrived at the stone wall that Gu Lianyong had mentioned, the one that had trapped them during their martial arts practice.
"Is this the place?" He Huai'an asked.
He Ping nodded: "Yes."
He Huai'an stepped forward, holding a torch.
This was Wang Sumo's first time here. Bai Cen had accompanied the old man here twice before, but she had never been here herself.
The old man wanted to find clues related to the Kunlun Ring. Bai Cen accompanied him. She couldn't imagine a place where people had been trapped for decades, and she wasn't prepared. Today, she came with He Huai'an.
Sure enough, the walls were covered with deep and shallow fingerprints and bloodstains, creating a suffocating atmosphere.
He Ping recounted the details of what he had previously examined to He Huai'an.
He Huai'an listened attentively.
With both Grandpa Qu and Grandpa Weng on one side, when He Ping spoke, the two old men added to his points if they made any mistakes.
Wang Sumo was a little behind, and Bai Cen said softly, "I didn't feel comfortable either the first time I came here."
Wang Sumo looked at him.
Bai Cen continued, "Why don't we go back first? I'll tell you what's going on later."
Wang Sumo nodded.
Before leaving, Wang Sumo turned back again, as if she felt something was strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why.
When they turned back from the exit, they saw He Lin returning.
"Miss Wang!" He Qingque greeted her warmly, then quickly told her fellow disciples and went to Wang Sumo's place.
"Miss Wang, why are you back? Didn't you say you were going to the secret room?" He Qingque asked.
"I stayed for a while, but it got too stuffy inside, so I came back," Wang Sumo said truthfully.
He Qingque sighed, feeling a pang of sympathy: "They said that those strange people were imprisoned in that kind of place before, and I didn't dare to go there after hearing that."
"Then where did you come from?" Wang Sumo asked.
He Qingque scratched his head: "The task the eldest young master gave us in Xili is to search for any surviving strange people."
"Has it been found?"
He Qingque pouted and shook her head: "Not yet."
Thinking of this, He Qingque sighed softly: "All we found were dead people... I don't know who is so despicable as to do so many heinous things..."
He Qingque was the youngest among his fellow disciples, and his senior brothers usually gave way to him. Except for this time when he happened to be away, he came with his eldest senior brother after receiving Duan Wuheng's message. Otherwise, his senior brothers probably wouldn't have let him come to such a dangerous place.
"Were you scared too?" He Qingque felt a chill run down her spine just thinking about it.
Wang Sumo took a deep breath: "More or less..."
He Qingque sighed, "I hope we can find survivors."
"By the way, Miss Wang, are you leaving every few days?" He Qingque asked.
Wang Sumo: "Yes, just these two days. We've already wasted enough time in Bewitching Town. Now that the people from Qingyun Manor have arrived, we've done our duty. We won't stay any longer."
"How are Master Huo and He Lingyun doing?" Wang Sumo asked.
He Qingque crossed her arms: "This trip down the mountain has been spent with my senior brother investigating disaster relief grain in various places. He hasn't had time to go back yet. He received a letter from the manor lord and came to Mihun Town, so he hasn't had time yet."
So that's how it is. Wang Sumo also realized that there had been so many things going on lately that he had completely forgotten that He Ping and He Lin had been investigating the disaster relief grain.
But then He Lin whispered, "I heard from some of my senior brothers that this incident in Bewitching Town is definitely not small! I've never seen the young master in such a hurry to get on his way; he hasn't slept for three days and two nights."
Wang Sumo looked at him.
He Lin sighed, "The eldest young master is a cautious person. For him to be in such a hurry, it must be something serious. Judging from this, the martial arts world is about to face another catastrophe..."
Wang Sumo also crossed her arms, recalling how He Ping had told He Huai'an about their discovery in the secret room. He Huai'an had listened quietly the whole time, afraid of missing anything. The two old men had also chimed in, presumably also worried about any oversights.
"He Lin!"
Someone called He Qingque's name again, and He Qingque quickly replied, "Then, Miss Wang, I'll go back to work."
Wang Sumo nodded.
No sooner had He Qingque left than Wang Sumo returned to Bazhenlou. Inside, Duan Wuheng and Jiang Yutang were both present.
Duan Wuheng never wanted to go back to the eccentrics' side unless absolutely necessary; Jiang Yutang didn't like it either.
The two of them were looking through the booklet that they had previously stolen from the Su Jin lineage at the Bazhen Tower.
The old man had been searching for clues in the Enchanted Town for some time, while Duan Wuheng and Jiang Yutang were flipping through booklets in the Eight Treasures Pavilion.
The name Dong Fan is not hard to find; it just requires comparing it one by one.
The records of the Sujin lineage include a roster of personnel, records of items brought back after entering the tomb, and records of retirements, deaths, and special events.
Tracing the lineage of Jin over several decades, countless tombs have been visited.
The booklet could fit almost half a carriage.
"I've been looking for several days now, but I still haven't found the name Dong Fan. Could there be a mistake in the name?" Duan Wuheng could only think this.
"No, keep flipping through." Jiang Yutang said succinctly.
While Duan Wuheng was getting bored, Wang Sumo got into the carriage.
"The boss is back?" Duan Wuheng stood up abruptly, clearly annoyed by flipping through the booklets, and wanted to slip away at the slightest disturbance.
Wang Sumo looked at Jiang Yutang, who was still looking down at her work and didn't say anything else.
Wang Sumo knew that some people were getting restless.
Duan Wuheng scratched his head: "Master, I was just talking to Sister Yutang about whether the roster was wrong? We've been searching here for days and haven't seen anyone named Dong Fan. Maybe..."
As Duan Wuheng was speaking, Jiang Yutang suddenly spoke up: "I found it."
Found it?
Wang Sumo and Duan Wuheng suddenly moved closer, standing on either side of Jiang Yutang, looking at the booklet in front of her.
—Dong Fan.
It really is those two words.
"Which one is it?" Wang Sumo asked.
“Special record.” Jiang Yutang turned the booklet back to the title page.
"Quickly, see what it says!" Duan Wuheng was anxious, having searched for days, wondering what Dong Fan actually did!
But upon closer inspection, Duan Wuheng himself felt annoyed: "This special record says that Dong Fan is dead?!"
Good heavens!
After much searching, it turned out to be a record of a death.
I really don't know whether to be happy or not!
Wang Sumo frowned.
It didn't die; it must have shed its skin like a cicada...
He escaped easily from the previous large tomb, which was so dangerous, so there's no reason why he would lose his life in a small tomb later.
Having obtained what he wanted, he left the Sujin lineage.
"Master, shall we continue looking?" Duan Wuheng asked.
"Keep searching," Wang Sumo affirmed. "Keep searching."
Since Dong Fan is mentioned in the special records, there should also be detailed records of the personnel roster and the items brought back after entering the tomb.
Jiang Yutang continued flipping through the booklet, but Duan Wuheng, being a child at heart, didn't want to look at it at all. He lay in the carriage, flipping through the pages absently. He had been yawning, but suddenly, his wide eyes chased away the yawn: "I found it too!"
It's a record in the personnel's names.
A resident of Shangrao Town.
Duan Wuheng asked in surprise, "Isn't that very close to my house?"
Wang Sumo looked at him and agreed.
Jiang Yutang continued reading: "The disciples recruited by the Sujin lineage are basically children, who are gradually taught the methods of gold mining. However, this Dong Fan is described here as having experience in tomb raiding. He joined the Sujin lineage after encountering the Sujin people during a tomb raiding trip."
Wang Sumo said in a deep voice: "He must have discovered that Sujin has a lot of resources in large tombs, which is more convenient than him cutting off his own head to search everywhere. So he simply joined the Sujin lineage so that he could legitimately explore these tombs to see if there are things he wants."
Jiang Yutang continued, "After finding the item, I decisively slipped away."
Wang Sumo continued, "He probably didn't expect that someone would steal these booklets from the Sujin lineage."
Jiang Yutang continued, "It's not that easy to forge someone's identity. This name Dong Fan won't just appear once. If we follow the clues, we'll eventually find some leads."
No one knows better than the all-knowing expert in investigating a person or a matter than the most knowledgeable person in the martial arts world.
"Leave this to me," Jiang Yutang said, taking on the responsibility.
Duan Wuheng asked, "Master, what should I do?"
Wang Sumo patted the remaining booklet: "Keep searching and see what this Dong Fan brings back every time he goes down into the tomb."
Duan Wuheng was dumbfounded. They still need to look for more?
Wang Sumo nodded: "Yes, and have you noticed? Every time you say you can't find it, you suddenly find it..."
Duan Wuheng was speechless. Was it really that weird?
Duan Wuheng reluctantly opened the first book, then his gaze froze. No way... it really is possible!
—Dong Fan.
Wang Sumo read through them one by one.
Dong Fan is very smart.
Every time he went down into the tomb, he could bring back many good things.
Compared to others, he was not one to hoard things, so the Sujin lineage was willing to let him go down to any large tomb they had the chance to visit.
After reading through these ten or so pages of records, it's clear that Dong Fan rarely wanted to leave anything behind during his tomb raids. He always took whatever the Su Jin lineage gave him.
Such a person, if he is willing, will definitely be given the opportunity to frequently go into tombs by the Su Jin lineage.
This person has a deep understanding of human nature.
While Wang Sumo was lost in thought, Duan Wuheng continued flipping through the booklet: "Hey, Master, look, Dong Fan never asked for anything when we went down into the tomb, except this time he asked for one thing..."
Wang Sumo looked in the direction Duan Wuheng pointed—white armor?
*
Bai Cen said leisurely, "That's right, there is indeed such a thing as white armor. Moreover, white armor and night armor are a pair. Night armor is a keepsake left to me by my mother. Wearing it, even if it's not an ordinary sword or blade, I won't be easily injured."
"What about the white armor?" Wang Sumo asked.
Bai Cen took a deep breath: "The White Armor is a bit strange. It absorbs a person's internal energy and martial arts skills. Once you wear it, even if you are a person with extremely high martial arts skills, others will not be able to tell the difference. That's why it's called the White Armor."
Wang Sumo asked in bewilderment, "What's the use of this?"
Bai Cen shrugged: "I don't know, but there must be a reason why it can be made. Moreover, I heard that the white armor is as thin as a cicada's wing, like a gauze dress, but whether that's true or not is unknown."
[Author's Note]
This one also has a red envelope!
That's all for today. I'm not feeling well. I'll write more tomorrow.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com