Chapter 341 - 329: Suo Li Wew

Chapter 341: Chapter 329: Suo Li Wew

After a long moment, Du Runian reached into his robes, pulled out the small pouch, and pressed it into his son’s hand. "Take it. Go to the martial arts hall tomorrow and get this month’s Medicinal Cuisine. Listen to your master, train hard, but don’t be too hasty. Steady progress is key."

The son took the pouch. It was heavy in his hand, and a look of delighted surprise spread across his face. He nodded repeatedly. "Thanks, Dad! I’ll definitely train hard!"

A young man’s sorrows come and go quickly. Clutching the silver, he left in high spirits.

Watching his son’s back disappear, Du Runian sighed silently.

’Thankfully... I only have one son and one daughter, and my daughter is still young, not yet at an age where she costs a lot of money.’

Otherwise, with his meager official salary of just two hundred and forty taels of silver a year, even with some under-the-table income bringing the annual total to a little over a thousand taels, it was nowhere near enough to fill the bottomless pit of Cultivation.

What’s more, he himself needed to cultivate as well.

He came from a moderately wealthy family, his ancestors having left behind a small amount of property.

He had practiced martial arts since childhood and was quite diligent. With the full support of his parents, who spared no expense, he finally managed to cultivate to Qi Realm Perfection.

Later, he participated in the Martial Examination and, by a stroke of luck, passed to become a Scholar, earning the qualification of a Reserve Military Officer.

After that, he pulled many strings and spent nearly all the inheritance he had received when his parents divided the family property, just to fill a substantive vacancy for the post of Inspector General of the Liyang County Inspection Department.

He had thought his troubles were over and good times were ahead. Having secured an Official Position and brought honor to his ancestors, he assumed life would surely get better.

But reality dealt him a heavy blow.

As a minor Eighth Grade official in Liyang Commandery City, his salary was barely enough to maintain the dignified appearance required of his Official Position and cover routine social expenses.

Ever since his son had joined the martial arts hall, the expenses were like a flood bursting through a dam. That bit of under-the-table income was simply not enough to fill the bottomless pit of Martial Dao cultivation.

And did he not wish to advance further himself?

But the reality was, it had been a long time since he had bought any High-tier Medicinal Cuisine for himself.

The night grew deep.

His wife and children were asleep.

But Du Runian tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

After some time, he sat up. His movements were light, careful not to disturb his sleeping wife.

He fumbled for a set of old, dark gray commoner’s clothes and put them on. Then he slipped out of the room soundlessly, pulling the door almost shut behind him.

Avoiding the night watchmen and patrolling Soldiers, after about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he arrived at an even more secluded corner in the west of the city.

He entered a tightly-gated courtyard that looked no different from any other small yard.

He lifted his head, altered his voice, and mimicked the call of a cuckoo.

The sound carried in the silent night, somewhat jarring, but it drew no response.

The small courtyard was deathly still.

Du Runian waited a moment, his brow furrowed slightly, and repeated the call.

Just as doubt began to creep into his mind, a black shadow floated down soundlessly about ten feet in front of him.

The figure was completely wrapped in night-prowler’s clothes, with even their head and face concealed by a black cloth.

Ten days ago, on a similar late night, this same man, dressed in the same black attire, had come to his home to find him.

The man had directly thrown down a secret order representing the Pig Emperor of Hidden Emperor Castle. Immediately after, he had spoken a codename Du Runian had almost forgotten: Suo Li Weng.

The man in black’s demand was simple and direct.

Find out the Commandery Magistrate’s Office’s plan for disposing of the Sun Family’s assets. The more detailed, the better.

Du Runian didn’t ask who the other party was, nor did he ask what they wanted this information for.

The Pig Emperor of Hidden Emperor Castle had been wiped out by the Celestial Sword Sect years ago; this was common knowledge in the Jianghu.

’This person showed up with a secret order from Hidden Emperor Castle. If the Celestial Sword Sect had truly confiscated these items, given their methods and power, they would have no need to approach a minor figure like me in this manner.’

Recalling the recent news he’d heard about the Celestial Sword Sect’s experts being annihilated at Hidden Emperor Castle, Du Runian understood everything perfectly.

’This man before me, and the force behind him, are most likely connected to the power that wiped out the Celestial Sword Sect’s contingent.’

’But so what?’

Du Runian didn’t care who the other party was.

Years ago, he had worked for the Pig Emperor for money. Now, working for this new master, it was also for money.

’As long as the pay is good, what does it matter who I sell the information to?’

"Well? Did you find out?"

The man in black’s voice came through his mask.

Du Runian also kept his voice low and recounted the information he had gathered from Zhao Yuanqi that evening, in as much detail as possible.

In the moonlight, the man in black’s visible eyes seemed to narrow slightly. He was silent for a moment, then took out two silver ingots and casually tossed them to Du Runian.

Du Runian caught them instinctively. They were heavy in his hand—two standard fifty-tael ingots of official silver, one hundred taels in total.

His brow furrowed immediately, and he looked up at the man in black. "Sir, we agreed on two hundred taels per piece of information. This... seems a little short."

The man in black’s eyes held a hint of amusement. "Two hundred taels per tip, that’s correct. But the information you brought is only worth this much. Which three families the Governor plans to give the assets to, the specific details of how they will be bundled and divided, when and how they will be sold—you haven’t figured any of that out."

He paused, his tone turning cold. "This one hundred taels is a deposit, and also your payment. Keep investigating. When you get the full story, you’ll get what’s yours."

Du Runian narrowed his eyes, carefully sizing up the man in black.

’He’s at least in the Spirit Realm.’

He knew he was no match for this person.

’Of course, what he said is reasonable. The information I provided wasn’t concrete enough.’

Several thoughts raced through his mind. Finally, he took a deep breath, tucked the two silver ingots into his robes, and left with a cold parting shot: "I’ll find a way."

With that, he turned and left, his figure quickly swallowed by the darkness of the alley.

The man in black watched Du Runian disappear. He didn’t linger, and with a flicker of his body, he leaped lightly onto the top of the wall. After a few bounds, he vanished across the endless rooftops.