While the prefect of Daxing set off to write his memorial, Wang Yu and his party began their journey back to the northwest.
Now that their suspicion had been cleared, Great Vajra Monastery reasonably had no further stake in the matter either, so Zongjian and his retinue also departed for their monastery.
Yet the farther along the road he went, the more Zongjian felt that something was amiss. Just then, Honghai clapped his palms together. "Something isn't right!"
Hongyue looked back and asked, "What isn't right?"
Honghai shook his head. "This matter isn't over yet."
"What else could possibly be left?" Hongyue asked. "Hasn't the mastermind behind it all been found? It's Zhong Yulei of Dulong Fortress."
Honghai let out a sigh. "Yes, he's been found. And then what?"
Hongyue was bewildered. "And then the Emperor will dispatch troops to capture him! What does that have to do with us? Our name has already been cleared."
Zongjian shook his head. "And so? Are we supposed to just drop the fact that Dulong Fortress flung mud all over Great Vajra Monastery's name?"
Honghai furrowed his brow. "Judging by the imperial edict, the Emperor had the Prince of Zhenxi lead troops into Daxing Prefecture for two reasons: one was to guard against us, and the other was to recover the treasure once the mastermind was uncovered. Moreover, Dulong Fortress pulling off such a crime in Daxing Prefecture wasn't just slinging mud at Great Vajra Monastery; it was also showing blatant contempt for the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor. Reasonably speaking, upon learning that Dulong Fortress was the culprit, the Prince of Zhenxi ought to have marched his troops south to reclaim the Loulan treasure for the Emperor. Yet he showed no intention of doing so. Instead, he simply left without a single word, completely unbothered by the slap Dulong Fortress had dealt him. That was precisely why the thought didn't occur to me at first."
Hongyue remained somewhat puzzled. "Didn't Zhao Yu say that the soldiers of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor specialize in fighting on the northwestern steppes and deserts and aren't suited for mountain warfare?"
Honghai scoffed. "What mountain warfare? Dulong Fortress is merely a local martial faction. Even if they wish to raise the banner of rebellion, they haven't achieved anything of scale yet. It's nowhere near as dire as he made it out to be."
Hongyue asked, "Then what does he mean by it?"
Honghai curled his lip. "He simply doesn't want to exert himself for the Emperor."
Hongyue nodded. "The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor is essentially a kingdom within a kingdom. Isn't it only natural that he wouldn't want to exert himself for the Emperor?"
Honghai paused; that did make some sense.
Yet something still seemed off.
"If he didn't want to exert himself for the Emperor, why would he send the entire Loulan treasure to the Emperor in the first place?" Honghai questioned again. "Even if he had kept it for himself, what could the Emperor have done to him?"
The monks exchanged glances, racking their brains without being able to make sense of it.
Zongjian waved his hand. "The problem right now doesn't lie with Zhao Yu, but with us."
Honghai nodded. "Indeed. Zhao Yu doesn't care about saving face, but what about us?"
No wall could ever block all wind. Within three days, news of Dulong Fortress stealing the Loulan treasure would spread throughout the realm. As fellow martial factions, how Great Vajra Monastery would react after being made an unwitting scapegoat by Dulong Fortress was bound to draw intense scrutiny.
By all accounts, Great Vajra Monastery ought to march up to their doorstep, hold them accountable, and demand the return of the treasure.
Yet the monks were no fools. Zhong Yulei had braved the peril of offending the imperial court, the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor, and Great Vajra Monastery to pull off such an astronomical heist; it certainly wasn't due to a sudden fit of madness.
From the two Hong-generation monks who had investigated Dulong Fortress, they already knew that Zhong Yulei was gathering displaced refugees and forging weapons.
They had already deduced what Zhong Yulei intended to do.
Naturally, Zhong Yulei would never hand over the treasure.
Yet at this moment, Dulong Fortress had not formally raised the banner of rebellion. Was Great Vajra Monastery really going to pick a fight with a martial faction that was presently setting up soup kitchens in the dead of winter, taking in refugees, and reassuring the common people?
Taking a step further, if Dulong Fortress truly staged an uprising, would Great Vajra Monastery be willing to act as the imperial court's hunting dogs and strike against the leadership of Dulong Fortress?
One had to remember that the Shuntian Army had risen in Henan Circuit and seized prefectures and commanderies, yet Prajna Monastery, situated right there in Henan Circuit as the other of Buddhism's two great sects, had shown not the slightest inclination to aid the imperial court.
The three monks fell silent, caught between a rock and a hard place.
If Great Vajra Monastery acted as if nothing had happened, they would be taking a slap from Dulong Fortress without striking back.
If Great Vajra Monastery went to Dulong Fortress to demand an accounting, they would practically be aiding the imperial court in suppressing rebels.
Only after this discussion did Honghai realize the dilemma. "No wonder Zhao Yu slipped away so smoothly. He didn't care about saving face at all, refusing to get dragged into this muddy mess."
Hongyue realized it too, but he was helpless. "The Prince of Zhenxi's Manor is far away, and Zhao Yu has no shame, but we are right next door to Shangshan Prefecture. It seems we can't avoid it."
Zongjian pondered for a moment and sighed. "Let us return and report to the Abbot, leaving the decision to him."
The monks walked farther away, Hongyue's curses echoing from the distance. "Is Zhong Yulei out of his mind? Why did he have to make his move in Daxing Prefecture of all places? Couldn't he have done it two days earlier in Fengming Prefecture, or a few days later in Hangu Prefecture?"
***
While the monks of Great Vajra Monastery were fuming, the men of Dulong Fortress were cursing up a storm as well.
"Ten million in treasure, my ass!" A burly man cursed loudly inside the main hall of Dulong Fortress. "Third Brother just led people to take inventory of all the loot. Even at the highest market rate, it's worth only five million!"
Seated at the head of the hall, Zhong Yulei's face was as dark as still water. Tapping his fingers on the table, he looked toward a goateed man to his left. "Third Brother, what is going on here?"
The man stroked his beard and said in a heavy voice, "We've been used as pawns by the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor. Zhao Yu embezzled half of it. There were clearly only five million, yet he falsely claimed ten million to balance his books at our expense."
Another powerfully built, resolute man tried to soothe the room. "Five million is still five million, and that's already plenty good. The Shuntian Army traveled ten thousand li to the Western Regions, lost hundreds of men, and only brought back five million in treasure. We managed to secure five million without shedding a single drop of blood to fund our uprising. Most importantly, nobody knows we did it! What is there to be dissatisfied with?"
Hearing this, the others nodded in agreement.
In truth, when they first seized the treasure, they had no idea how much was there; only after the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor put the word out did they learn the hoard was supposedly worth ten million.
Counting it with the expectation of ten million only to end up with five million was indeed disappointing, but when they reflected on how effortlessly they had obtained wealth equal to the Shuntian Army's haul, their hearts found peace once more.
Zhong Yulei looked toward the last man in the council hall—a handsome fellow with peach-blossom eyes. "Fifth Brother, has any word come back from the Kanli Sect?"
The last man lightly fluttered his folding fan and shook his head with a smile. "Not yet. But no news is good news; it shows Daxing Prefecture is still bustling about like headless flies."
Though Dulong Fortress had been founded by Zhong Yulei, during his travels across the martial world, he had sworn brotherhood with four others. The five of them were known as the "One Dragon and Four Flood Dragons." Once Zhong Yulei developed certain ambitions, he had invited them over to deliberate the grand venture together.
Zhong Yulei had begun taking in displaced refugees and forging weapons, but the expenditures far exceeded his expectations, and his savings quickly ran dry. That was when they learned of the Loulan treasure.
Although raiding the treasure risked offending both the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor and Great Vajra Monastery, the temptation of ten million was simply too immense. On top of that, Old Five had befriended a disciple of the Kanli Sect in the martial world.
Having secured a pledge of cooperation from the Kanli Sect and the prospect of carrying out a covert heist without being detected, Zhong Yulei finally steeled his resolve and struck when the Xionglue Army passed through Pingxing County, succeeding without a hitch.
Though the treasure was less than rumored, one couldn't be too picky about free wealth.
Just then, a fortress servant ran into the hall in a panic. "Fortress Master!"
Zhong Yulei frowned. "Speak properly. What is there to panic about?"
The servant took a deep breath. "Fortress Master, a clerk from Shanlu County came to deliver word! He says people with Daxing Prefecture accents are asking around about our fortress's merchant caravans that passed through the county seat over the past few days!"
Zhong Yulei's expression changed, and all five men in the hall rose to their feet at once.
***
Meanwhile, Wang Yu and his party had made a leisurely return to Longshan Prefecture.
Because they had the three hundred men of the Xionglue Army, he had only brought a dozen-odd palace guards on this trip without making a grand display, so their return was similarly light and unencumbered.
All along the road, Wang Yu was absorbing the mysteries of the Method of Harmonizing Yang through Taiyin.
Back then, when he ingested the Tendon-Changing Bone-Forging Pill, he had immediately begun circulating his qi in accordance with the mnemonic chanted by Hu Aipiao. Once the tortoise shell absorbed the medicinal power, it instantly exerted its might, helping him calibrate and adjust the circulation.
By the time Hu Aipiao finished reciting it three times, the tortoise shell had already modified and tailored the entire art to fit Wang Yu's cultivation, integrating the power of yin and yang into Ice and Fire Dual Heavens and serving as a cultivation method to harmonize yin, yang, water, and fire.
Wang Yu was surprised to find that cultivating with this method could actually harmonize ice and fire, converting the frosty power of the Ice and Snow Divine Art into the flowing fire power of the Flowing Fire Reflection, allowing yin, yang, ice, and fire to circulate among one another in perfect balance.
"What a marvelous art!" Wang Yu marveled.
This Method of Harmonizing Yang through Taiyin was clearly a profound discipline for harmonizing the flow of yin and yang, yet the Kanli Sect had treated it merely as an absorption and replenishment art. What a terrible waste of a heavenly gift!
Of course, with yin receding and yang advancing in perpetual circulation, it was indeed a natural art of absorption and replenishment, uniquely suited for men to maintain their virility over the long term and grow stronger with every bout.
Moreover, Qianqian had gotten one thing wrong. Because the art Hu Aipiao recited was strictly of the Houtian realm, Wang Yu had worried that there might be some unforeseen flaws or hidden traps in the later stages of the manual. Therefore, after the tortoise shell finished its adjustments, he hadn't used the remaining medicinal power to enhance his talent or attend to other matters; instead, he poured all of it into deducing the subsequent portions of the technique.
After all, this was a matter concerning his bedroom bliss for decades to come!
Thus, what Wang Yu obtained was not merely the first three chapters of the Method of Harmonizing Yang through Taiyin, but the adjusted first five chapters, including portions on Xiantian dual cultivation, ensuring there was not the slightest hidden flaw.
Well, he couldn't help but wonder how it compared to the original five chapters.
Just as Wang Yu was pondering whom he should test these moves on, the group arrived back in Longshan Prefecture.
"To think it was actually Dulong Fortress!" Zhao Yingjie came forward to welcome them. "Zhong Yulei certainly has huge guts!"
Wang Yu chuckled. "If he didn't have such guts, how could he dare gather displaced refugees, forge weapons, and plot an open rebellion?"
Wang Yu and his entourage hadn't traveled quickly, so by the time they returned, word had naturally reached Longshan Prefecture long before them.
Zhao Yingjie cursed, "He actually dared to touch a convoy belonging to our Prince of Zhenxi's Manor!"
Wang Yu held out his hands. "Isn't that wonderful?"
The two looked at each other and couldn't help but break into a smile.
Chapter 101