"Hurry! Quick!"
"Isn't this Huwa from the neighboring village?!"
"They've been drugged with knock-out potion! Go boil licorice water!"
When Li Yan drove the donkey cart back into the village, a large crowd of villagers immediately swarmed forward. Those familiar with the ways of the jianghu instantly recognized that the children had been drugged with sleeping draught.
Knock-out powders were hardly uncommon in the jianghu; they could be concocted from immortal's stupor, mandrake, or datura—gathering the blossoms in the eighth month, pairing them with hemp flowers in the seventh, drying them in the shade, and grinding them into equal parts fine powder.
The antidote was even simpler: a decoction of raw licorice.
Downing a bowl each, the three children stirred awake one after another. Seeing a crowd of adults surrounding them, they all looked thoroughly bewildered, completely unaware of what had happened.
The father of the missing boy embraced his son, weeping tears of joy.
All around were murmurs of comfort and bursts of furious cursing, throwing the scene into sheer chaos.
His face dark, Shopkeeper Wan had his men comfort the villagers, then turned and headed for the stables with several disciples.
The captured female trafficker was locked up there.
As for the peddler's corpse, Li Yan had long since dumped it in the woods.
Li Yan and his two companions exchanged glances and followed closely behind.
Inside the stable, the woman was trussed up tightly.
People of the jianghu often possessed one or two escape tricks, such as dislocating joints or collarbones, concealing razor blades beneath the tongue or in the hair, or slipping needles into the skin.
Thus, even after a thorough search, the Artisan Gate disciples remained wary. The ropes were bound tight and secured with dead knots, biting deep into her flesh.
The woman appeared to be around thirty years old, with a sallow complexion and vicious triangular eyes. One side of her face had been slapped by Li Yan, leaving it bruised purple and swollen like a steamed bun.
Seeming to realize her life hung by a thread, she kept silent. When she saw the group enter, her gaze remained cold and venomous.
Shopkeeper Wan was in no rush to interrogate her. Sitting on a chair brought by a disciple, he silently took a few puffs of his pipe before speaking: "You live by the Ge Sect's trade. Snatching babes and kidnapping for ransom aren't your usual business. Whose orders were you following?"
Seeing her say nothing, he gave a cold snort. "A tight jaw won't save you. I know the underworld of Xianyang City well enough, yet I've never seen you lot. You came from Chang'an, didn't you?
"Who's your contact? Third Aunt Cai, or Master Tu Er...?
"Oh, Tu Er, is it? That brat really has no regard for rules."
As he spoke, he watched the woman's eyes.
Without her uttering a word, he had already deduced most of it.
Seeing this, Li Yan and Sha Lifei couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up in secret admiration.
Seeing her roots exposed, the woman panicked a little. Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth and said, "Stop asking! I don't know who the client is. Even if you go find Master Tu Er, he wouldn't dare say either. Break the rules, and even more people will die!"
"Hmph."
Shopkeeper Wan nodded and said in a heavy voice, "I had no intention of making you break your rules. I merely wanted you to understand what kind of business you've tangled yourselves up in."
Saying that, he turned to the disciple beside him. "Did you get the information?"
"We did!"
The disciple bowed respectfully and presented a slip of paper with both hands.
Shopkeeper Wan took it and frowned as he looked over it. Shaking his head slightly, he handed it to Wang Daoxuan beside him and said in a raspy voice, "Daoist Wang, I am unskilled in numerology and divination. I must ask you to look and see if anything is amiss."
Wang Daoxuan had clearly realized something as well. With a solemn expression, he took the slip, glanced over it, and said in a grave voice, "First month seeing Ding, fifth month seeing Hai, eighth month seeing Yin—these are all Heavenly Virtue Nobles. Someone is trying to borrow life to break through a bottleneck!"
Shopkeeper Wan sighed. "I already sensed something was off just now. If they had only abducted children from my Shangyi Village, I would have assumed it was an act of vengeance. But they didn't spare several other villages, and they even asked for names—that smelled fishy.
"It seems someone is unwilling to accept their limits. If they are only seeking Heavenly Virtue Nobles, their cultivation is likely quite mediocre..."
Seeing Li Yan and Sha Lifei looking baffled, Wang Daoxuan explained in a low voice, "This is a wicked technique of borrowing life to break through a bottleneck. It takes the lives of virgin boys and girls of extraordinary horoscopes and offers them as illicit sacrificial offerings to smash through bottlenecks and boost one's cultivation.
"The Great Xuan Dynasty has issued an imperial edict: anyone practicing this method shall be executed without mercy!"
Li Yan said thoughtfully, "What should be done when encountering such a thing?"
"Report it to the Taixuan Orthodox Sect's Enforcement Hall, of course."
Shopkeeper Wan slowly rose to his feet. "Men, take this woman and follow me to the Xianyang City God Temple."
Saying so, he cast a cold glare at the woman. "You don't need to say anything. Once we reach the City God Temple, they have plenty of ways to make you speak. And Tu Er back in Chang'an won't be escaping either!"
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
The woman finally panicked, shrieking, "Tu Er told me to deliver them to Menggu Village and tie them up in the ruined temple of the ancestral hall! Someone was supposed to receive them there! It's all Tu Er's doing, it has nothing to do with me—"
She was visibly scared out of her wits.
People roaming the jianghu lived with their heads tied to their waistbands. In death, at most it was a scar the size of a bowl, and one might even earn a reputation for loyalty.
But crossing the Xuanmen? Who knew if they would refine your soul into some horrific monstrosity? You wouldn't even find peace in death, let alone reincarnate!
*Smack!*
With a flick of Shopkeeper Wan's gaze, a disciple stepped forward and delivered a hard slap, then jammed a rag into her mouth and dragged her out like a dead dog.
Afterward, Shopkeeper Wan shook his head faintly, turned to Li Yan and the other two, and cupped his hands. "This was all thanks to Little Brother Li today; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
"Turmoil has been cropping up constantly in Xianyang City lately. You three need not concern yourselves with this matter. Once I deliver her to the City God Temple, whoever is behind this will have nowhere to hide.
"Rest easy and stay at the manor. Your food and drink will be well taken care of."
"Please don't mind us, Senior Wan."
Since this involved the Xuanmen and wicked paths, the three refrained from prying further.
In matters like this, Shopkeeper Wan was clearly far more experienced.
…………
After Shopkeeper Wan led his men away, the compound buzzed with activity once more.
Seeing he had nothing to do, Li Yan decided to go look for Zhao Lvzi as planned.
Having obtained Shopkeeper Wan's permission, Wang Daoxuan had already buried himself in the study to read Wan's collection of miscellaneous Xuanmen texts, while Sha Lifei had no interest in hiking up the mountain. Thus, Li Yan set out alone.
The back mountain was not far, so Li Yan did not bother riding a horse. Carrying the food and wine hamper, he departed from behind the village. Before long, a small mountain came into view.
It was not tall, but thickly vegetated, with exposed sections of loose gravel and yellow earth that made the climb steep and treacherous.
After the midday commotion, it was already late afternoon by the time he ascended. Under the slanting rays of the setting sun, an old mountain god temple stood nestled in a hollow halfway up the mountain.
It had an inexplicably eerie, decaying air about it.
Before Li Yan even drew near, voices drifting from inside the temple reached his ears.
"Brother Zhao, this is a massive score. Won't you reconsider?"
"My ancestral precepts forbid it: I don't take jobs that go into caverns."
"You really have a wooden block for a head! That is—"
Halfway through his sentence, the man caught the sound of Li Yan's footsteps. Breaking off immediately, he spun around sharply and snapped in a dark tone, "Who's there?!"
*Sharp ears...*
Li Yan pretended not to have noticed and called out loudly, "Brother Zhao, are you in? I've come to have a drink with you!"
"Ah, it's Brother Li!"
Zhao Lvzi had also been on high alert, but upon hearing Li Yan's voice, his face brightened with delight. Turning around, he said, "Senior Mo, I won't be taking this job. Please go back. A friend has come calling, and I need to entertain him."
"Sigh, fine then!"
Meanwhile, Li Yan caught sight of the speaker.
He was a short, middle-aged man dressed in coarse black clothes, sporting a small black cap and an iron rod tucked behind his waist. His facial features were squished and wrinkled together, and his prominent buck teeth gave him an uncanny resemblance to a massive rat.
What was more, Li Yan caught the scent of decaying earth wafting off him.
The man had dark, gloomy eyes. Giving Li Yan a cold glare, he seemed disinclined to speak, turning around to leave with brisk strides. Rounding the ridge, he vanished without a trace.
"Brother Li, are things settled on your end?"
Zhao Lvzi was a young man himself. Though he had lived in the wilds for years and was a man of few words, after sharing an adventure with Li Yan, he had come to accept him as a true friend from the bottom of his heart.
Seeing Li Yan visit, he was naturally delighted.
"Hahaha! No matter how busy things get, there's always time for a drink!"
Li Yan gave a hearty laugh, then subtly pointed a finger toward the back.
That rat-faced man was truly insidious; he had seemed to leave, but was actually lying flat behind the ridge, eavesdropping.
Zhao Lvzi understood instantly and chuckled. "Brother Li, please come in! Today we won't part until we're drunk... No, stay the night here!"
"That works too."
Li Yan chuckled and followed him into the mountain god temple.
This mountain god temple somewhat resembled an earthen cave dwelling—half exposed outside, half excavated into the cliffside. From the outside, it showed its age, but the interior was swept spotless. To the sides were a kitchen and woodshed, as well as an earthen kang for sleeping.
A statue of a deity stood in the main hall, depicting an old man dressed as a medicinal herb gatherer.
Sensing the presence of incense offering Qi upon it, Li Yan adopted a solemn expression. He first respectfully offered three sticks of incense before sitting down to chat with Zhao Lvzi.
The two chattered about trivial matters, avoiding any serious topics. After waiting a while, Li Yan smiled and said, "He's gone. Who was that fellow? His ways didn't look right..."
Zhao Lvzi did not hide anything. Shaking his head, he replied, "He's a treasure stalker of the mystery seeking lineage and an acquaintance of my father. Usually, he searches for ancient tombs around Guanzhong. He has several disciples under him, and every one of them is completely unscrupulous."
Li Yan furrowed his brow. "Did he come looking for trouble?"
"Not quite."
Zhao Lvzi hesitated a moment, then lowered his voice. "Someone in Xianyang City suddenly leaked word of a heavenly spirit earthly treasure. He came to ask me to join him on a treasure seeking expedition."
"Oh?"
Li Yan grew intrigued. "What kind of treasure?"
Zhao Lvzi shook his head. "You could call it a treasure, or you could call it an ominous thing. It goes by the name of Mountain Tai Sui.
"The location isn't far either—right at the mass graves outside Xianyang City..."
Chapter 61