Chapter 50: About to Be Exposed?

Chapter 50: Chapter 50: About to Be Exposed?

Inside the Government Office, Li Xun stood in the courtyard, looking somewhat haggard. He hadn’t slept well at all last night.

In his hazy state of mind, he seemed to constantly see a pitch-black Divine Dragon engaged in a brutal slaughter against a giant that reached the heavens! In the realm where they fought, countless golden chains pierced through the heavens and earth, shooting toward the giant in an apparent attempt to bind him and block his attacks. Yet even so, the black Divine Dragon did not seem to be the giant’s match. It was beaten until its Scale Armor shattered and flew off, splashing blood everywhere.

Having reached the peak of the Martial Master realm, he usually spent his nights cultivating and never dreamed at all. However, last night’s dream had lasted the entire night. Even from the perspective of a mere bystander, Li Xun felt as if his consciousness was going to be scattered by the terrifying auras exuded by the two combatants.

"Xun’er, how are you feeling?" Li Xingchao asked with concern as he walked out of his room and saw his son already standing in the courtyard.

Li Xun shook his head and offered a bitter smile. "I dreamed all night. I feel completely exhausted."

Li Xingchao knew that it was not a good sign for a Martial Artist of this realm to dream. "How about you stay here at the Government Office and get some proper rest today?" he suggested.

Li Xun shook his head again, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes. "I want to see what other tricks those shamans have up their sleeves!" As an elite genius, he possessed his own pride and confidence. On the path of the Martial Dao, retreating in the face of difficulties meant one was destined to achieve nothing great in life.

"So be it. I will be heading into the mountains with Yun Jin today to explore the ruins. Be careful during this time, and take the Golden Scale Guard with you when you go out."

Li Xun nodded and gave a slight bow to Li Xingchao. "Take care, Father. I’ll be on my way."

Leading a twenty-man squad of the Golden Scale Guard, Li Xun arrived at the entrance of the Government Office, only to see Fang Xu squatting next to a stone lion, eating a baked flatbread. He froze for a moment before striding over.

"I remember you were only at the First Realm of the Martial Disciple stage when we met yesterday. You’ve broken through today?"

Having just broken through to the Second Realm of the Martial Disciple stage, Fang Xu couldn’t fully control his aura yet, making it easy for Li Xun to see through his cultivation.

Fang Xu hurriedly swallowed the flatbread in his mouth and bowed with a smile. "Greetings, Crown Prince.

"To be honest, I’ve been stuck at the First Realm for quite some time. I didn’t expect that after meeting the Crown Prince yesterday, I would actually break through after cultivating for a short while at home last night."

This subtle flattery managed to slightly dispel the gloom in Li Xun’s heart. "Let’s go find Yun Wan. We’re continuing today."

Taking the Golden Scale Guard and Fang Xu to the town’s inn, they happened to run into Yun Wan just as she was coming out. Glancing at Fang Xu’s even more sycophantic demeanor compared to yesterday, Yun Wan’s gaze swept right past him to the twenty members of the Golden Scale Guard. "Why did the Crown Prince bring so many Guards?" she asked in confusion.

Li Xun felt a bit embarrassed. In a small place like Fenglin Town, for a peak Martial Master like himself to go out with a group of Guards would truly make him seem cowardly. But the events of last night were still vivid in his mind, and he couldn’t very well tell Yun Wan that he had already fallen victim to a vicious attack.

"It’s just more convenient to have some people to order around," Li Xun prevaricated.

Yun Wan didn’t care much about the issue and directly changed the subject. "Where does the Crown Prince plan to go today?"

"Gourd Valley," Li Xun replied. Having learned from Yun Wan yesterday that Yun Tianhe’s body was discovered in Gourd Valley, he wanted to go there to see if he could find any tracks.

"Fang Xu, you know the way to Gourd Valley, right?" Yun Wan looked at Fang Xu. Although she knew that Fang Xu was deliberately putting on this act, Yun Wan still disliked seeing him like this. In the past, even though Fang Xu had been respectful in front of her, he lacked this sycophancy and appeared neither haughty nor humble. But now...

"I know," Fang Xu said, bowing his hands. "Gourd Valley is on the outskirts of Tilan Mountain. It’s the medicine garden belonging to the Wu family in town."

"Then lead the way," Li Xun said coolly.

Led by Fang Xu, the group quickly left Fenglin Town and headed straight for Tilan Mountain. After entering the mountain, the twenty members of the Golden Scale Guard drew their weapons, protecting Li Xun and Yun Wan in the center while leaving Fang Xu to walk ahead on his own.

Li Xun glanced at the "trembling" Fang Xu in front of him and couldn’t help but sneer. "With me and Yun Wan here, along with twenty Golden Scale Guards, what are you afraid of?"

Fang Xu turned around and bowed. "Please forgive me, Crown Prince. I’ve heard that there are high-level fierce beasts near Gourd Valley that can easily slaughter a Martial Disciple realm Martial Artist.

"I only have the cultivation of the Second Realm..."

"Alright, alright!" Li Xun interrupted impatiently. "Two of you, go with him."

Fang Xu’s cleverness made Li Xun somewhat fond of him. Since the boy was still somewhat useful, Li Xun didn’t want to see him die, so he simply ordered two Golden Scale Guards to accompany him.

The Golden Scale Guard was the Forbidden Army of the Great Yu Dynasty’s royal family, and their elites were at least at the Martial Master realm. Although the ones Li Xun brought weren’t the absolute elites, their cultivations were generally at the Ninth Realm of the Martial Disciple stage, with some even at the Great Circle of the Martial Disciple stage.

With two Golden Scale Guards following his every step, Fang Xu finally appeared much more "relieved."

Occasionally, they encountered blind fierce beasts along the way. Without needing Fang Xu to lift a finger, the two Guards swiftly slew them. Fang Xu would hide to the side, waiting until the Guards had killed the beasts before approaching the corpses. He would then bow and ask, "Crown Prince, do you not want this Blood Food?"

Li Xun cast a disgusted glance at the beast carcasses. "What would I want with such filthy things?"

Hearing this, Fang Xu quickly dragged the carcasses to hidden spots and temporarily covered them with straw. As he worked, he muttered to himself, "This one is heavy. It must be three hundred catties... One tael of silver per five catties... That’s sixty taels of silver!

"This one is a bit skinny, probably only two hundred catties. But that’s still forty taels of silver..."

Watching Fang Xu stash away the beast carcasses like a greedy miser, Li Xun frowned slightly, his face full of contempt. "Peasants will always be peasants. So thrilled over petty gains. Enough. Hurry up and let’s go!"

Stopping and going along the way, they didn’t arrive at Gourd Valley until 1:00 PM.

Filled with hope, Li Xun immediately ordered the twenty Golden Scale Guards to scour the entire Gourd Valley for traces, while he leaped atop a towering boulder to observe.

Seeing this, Fang Xu inwardly shook his head.

Yun Wan seemed to notice his reaction and whispered, "Do you think he’ll find anything this time?"

Fang Xu didn’t answer directly. "The Second Master of the Yun family’s body was discovered here. Obviously, there are no signs of a battle in this place," he simply stated.

Yun Wan nodded slightly. "Uncle must have fled here after being heavily injured. Those people probably don’t know about this spot."

"What a waste of time," Fang Xu remarked casually. Then, he looked at Yun Wan with curiosity. "Why didn’t Miss Yun share these speculations with the Crown Prince?"

She wondered why she should tell him. Glancing at Li Xun standing atop the boulder not far away, Yun Wan spoke with a hint of disgust, "Isn’t it nice to watch an arrogant genius hit a wall?"

Fang Xu curled his lips upon hearing this. He hadn’t expected Yun Wan to actually be such a secretly devious girl.

Just as the two had deduced, the Golden Scale Guards searched the entire Gourd Valley but found no traces left by shamans. Seeing the sun begin to set in the west, Li Xun angrily ordered, "Let’s go look at the place where those Government Soldiers were attacked!"

Feigning ignorance, Fang Xu said, "I don’t know where the Government Soldiers were attacked."

"I’ll lead the way," Yun Wan interjected.

Under her guidance, the group went straight to the spot where Wang Erhu and the other Government Soldiers had been ambushed. The bodies of the Government Soldiers had mostly been picked clean by starving fierce beasts, leaving behind a messy scattering of white bones.

Upon arriving here, Fang Xu’s expression suddenly tightened. Back then, for the sake of their past acquaintance, he couldn’t bear to let Wang Erhu’s body be eaten by wild beasts, so he had buried him. If the Golden Scale Guards searched this area, they would definitely discover Wang Erhu’s grave!

He wondered if the investigation would eventually point back to him. His mind raced as he tried to recall if he had left any traces when burying Wang Erhu that day, while simultaneously brainstorming how he would explain it if the grave were discovered.

"Search carefully! Do not miss a single piece of evidence!" Li Xun ordered excitedly.