Xu Yuan had been in quite a good mood over the past two days.
First, his initial investment had yielded a return.
Miss Succubus had been putting in great effort during their recent cultivation sessions, and the rate at which his intent-soul grew was quite gratifying.
Second, Xu Changge had arrived at Jiuyuan City this morning.
Yes, the very Jiuyuan City his eldest brother had mentioned when threatening him earlier—a small satellite town neighboring Jingjiang Prefecture, merely forty li away.
That offhand threat earlier hadn't been groundless after all; there really did seem to be business to handle over in Jiuyuan City.
According to that old auntie Lou Ji, trouble had cropped up at a large "demonic beast breeding farm" deep in the mountains there, which would affect the supply of a certain soul-type pill throughout the southwest.
Of course,
beyond these superficial matters, what pleased Xu Yuan even more was the rise in his own strength.
Ever since he used Blood Mirror in actual combat that day, he seemed to have broken through some sort of bottleneck, and his practical combat prowess had been progressing at a visible rate.
Now, although facing those Eighth Rank Meridian Tempering martial apprentices still required a protracted grapple, they could hardly lay a finger on him anymore.
Naturally, the price of this fighting style was a sharp surge in the consumption of Source Qi.
Originally, in close-quarters brawling, Xu Yuan could fight those Eighth Rank apprentices for an entire morning, but now his Source Qi would run dry after only five or six rounds.
Stepping out of the pavilion in the center of the lake,
Xu Yuan was lost in thought when he suddenly noticed a group of people dressed as hired laborers standing by the edge of the wetland lake.
He was somewhat surprised.
This was the first time he had seen so many servants gathered by the lake; in the past, at most one or two servants would be pruning or sweeping here.
As his gaze swept past and made contact, the servants lowered their heads in a fluster.
Just as Xu Yuan was about to put it out of his mind, he suddenly met a pair of eyes.
"......"
The moment their eyes met, that gaze immediately dropped down as well.
Xu Yuan cast an odd look at the owner of those eyes.
He was a sturdy young man dressed in gray hemp clothes.
His face was very ordinary, his bearing very ordinary, completely unremarkable if thrown into a crowd.
Yet for some reason, looking at him, Xu Yuan felt an inexplicable sense of discord.
After a slight hesitation, Xu Yuan halted in his steps.
From the corner of his eye, the foreman nearby had been watching the Third Young Master all along; sharp eyes and quick wits were essential survival skills for a petty figure like him.
Seeing him halt, the foreman immediately hurried over obsequiously, rubbing his hands somewhat awkwardly:
"Heheh, what orders does Third Young Master have?"
Xu Yuan glanced at the servants and hired hands, asking aloud, "Why are these people here?"
Seeing this, the foreman cursed inwardly. He immediately gave a discreet wave to the newly hired laborers, signaling them to get lost, while replying in a subservient tone:
"These people are new servants and laborers for the manor. This lowly one is currently showing them around to familiarize them with the grounds."
"......"
Hearing this, Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
New servants?
At this timing?
How many days was it from Changhong Valley to Jingjiang City again?
As his thoughts began to branch out, Xu Yuan subconsciously called back the servants who were preparing to scatter:
"Wait."
"......"
As the brocade-robed young master's voice rang out, Qin Mo's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of that Grandmaster coachman he had seen before, strolling leisurely toward them from a distance.
His heart tightened slightly.
"Old man..."
"Don't panic, I'm here. This kid only looked at you once, what's the rush?"
"Mm." Qin Mo's mind settled slightly.
And the next moment,
he heard the brocade-robed young master's subsequent words, delivered in a rather irritated tone:
"In the future, don't bring people to cluster around this lake. It's an eyesore."
Hearing this, dread rose in the foreman's heart. He bowed and scraped hurriedly:
"Yes, yes, these useless wretches will never show up here again to offend Third Young Master's eyes."
Xu Yuan glanced at the foreman.
"You too."
"..." The foreman was struck dumb.
After the brief exchange,
the foreman, wearing a sheepish smile, led the group of servants away in a hurry.
Blending into the crowd, Qin Mo felt a wave of relief, let out a long breath, and walked off with the others.
Watching the crowd walk into the distance, Xu Yuan, still standing where he was, let out a long breath as well.
He shouldn't have called them back just now.
If there was no problem, there was no need to call them.
If there was a problem, that subconscious move of his had been nothing short of feeding himself to the enemy.
He had nearly slipped up. Fortunately, he reacted fast.
After a bit of thought, he decided not to head to Wuxuan Courtyard either.
Xu Yuan realized where that sense of discord he felt earlier had come from.
The eyes.
Just now, when his gaze swept across, many of the servants had met his eyes, but every single one of their expressions was filled with fluster and cowering fear.
Yet that ordinary-looking young man had not been like that.
Although it lasted only an instant, Xu Yuan had clearly seen that there was no panic in his eyes.
There was only calm, and even a faint, condescending confidence.
Standing out like a crane among a flock of chickens.
Even if he saw such a look in the eyes of a penniless scholar, Xu Yuan would not have been surprised in the least—after all, his terrible reputation preceded him.
But appearing on a hired laborer in the manor...
This wasn't his previous life; this was an extraordinary world with a rigid hierarchy oppressive enough to suffocate a person.
Even the manor's head steward was timid and deferential before him, to say nothing of these lowest-ranking servants and laborers.
Highly abnormal.
As thoughts flashed through his mind, Xu Yuan subconsciously thought of Qin Mo, feeling a touch of absurdity.
Was that person just now Qin Mo?
Xu Yuan had considered that he might want to rescue Su Jinxuan, but he had never imagined the guy would dare come into the manor to rescue her.
He hadn't even gone looking for him yet, and the guy had delivered himself to his doorstep.
Three Grandmasters plus the grand array within Jingjiang Manor—and he still dared to come?
Were the protagonists of storylines these days really this bold?
Xu Yuan raised a hand and rubbed his brow.
Then again, that might not be entirely true. Qin Mo might not know that he had Grandmasters protecting him.
What was more, Qin Mo carried a soul ring on him, and a Saint lived inside that soul ring.
From his perspective, sneaking into the manor to rescue someone was by no means an impossible task.
"......" Xu Yuan.
"Third Young Master, are you heading to Wuxuan Courtyard?"
As he was lost in thought, a voice came from behind Xu Yuan.
It was Zhou Chen.
Xu Yuan glanced back at him.
"Taking a break today. Let's go see Su Jinxuan."
With that, he turned and walked toward the northwestern courtyard where the messaging array was located. Recently, Ying'er had been "disciplining" Su Jinxuan over there.
Verifying whether that person just now was Qin Mo was simple enough: letting Su Jinxuan test him would do.
The Black Scale Guards had proposed a plan where Qin Mo would rescue Su Jinxuan so she could act as an undercover agent.
However, the moment that plan was raised, Xu Yuan had vetoed it.
In Xu Yuan's mind, killing Qin Mo was far more important than the faction hiding in the dark.
He knew very well how fast that kid grew, and even better what heights he would reach in the future.
Walking in silence into that heavily guarded courtyard, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke up:
"Mister Zhou, do you know how hired hands and servants are recruited in our manor?"
"Hm?"
Zhou Chen's eyes showed a hint of surprise. He subconsciously glanced toward the servants who were walking further away and said with a smile:
"I'm not entirely clear on the details, but basically they recruit relatives of veteran servants in the manor, mostly things like sons following in their fathers' footsteps."
"No exceptions?" Xu Yuan pressed.
Zhou Chen was somewhat puzzled as to why he would ask this, but after a moment's hesitation, he answered truthfully:
"Of course there are, and it's quite common. There are many crooked ways to obtain spots for third-class laborers like those just now. Broadly speaking, someone in the manor is selling these quotas."
Having clawed his way up from the bottom, Zhou Chen was quite familiar with these low-level avenues of profit.
Xu Yuan frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Selling?"
Zhou Chen said in a low voice:
"The world outside is somewhat turbulent right now. Many people are breaking their heads trying to squeeze into prominent clans as hired hands, not even hesitating to sell themselves into servitude. Where there are buyers, naturally there are sellers."
Xu Yuan frowned at his words. "Recruiting laborers and servants like this, wouldn't spies sneak in?"
"Third Young Master is meticulous." Zhou Chen cupped his hands and continued, "The people below have some sense of propriety in such matters. Even if they sell, they wouldn't sell to strangers. Moreover, rarely would anyone plant spies this way. Servants remain servants for a lifetime; they can't get in touch with any important information."
"Then what if someone uses it for an assassination?" Xu Yuan pressed on.
"An assassination..."
Just as Zhou Chen was about to answer, Xu Yuan waved a hand to cut him off, indicating that no explanation was necessary.
His last question was somewhat naive.
Whether cultivating qi or martial arts, the advancement of one's cultivation continuously enhanced the physical constitution.
Unless one cultivated to Fourth Rank Body Integration to return the physical body to an unassuming mortal state, or practiced certain precious secret arts, such constitutional improvements were hard to conceal.
If someone possessed cultivation, checking the physical body was all it took.
Servants had no privilege to refuse.
As for someone at Fourth Rank or above, or someone practicing a precious secret art, sneaking in to assassinate...
It was easy to be a thief for a thousand days, but hard to guard against one for a thousand days.
Even assassinations with firearms in his past life were hard to prevent, let alone in an extraordinary world. If the enemy was willing to pay an exorbitant price to carry out an assassination, having this channel into the manor made no difference either way.
Seeing this, Zhou Chen shifted the topic and asked softly:
"Third Young Master asks about this—is someone among those people just now worthy of suspicion?"
"Mm."
Xu Yuan did not deny it.
Although he could not confirm whether it was Qin Mo, that did not stop him from making preparations in advance.
Hearing this, Zhou Chen frowned and looked toward the courtyard where the servants resided.
Seeing his expression, Xu Yuan immediately warned:
"Don't act rashly."
Zhou Chen halted his movements, pondered for two seconds, and asked in a low voice:
"Third Young Master suspects them, but did you discover something just now?"
Xu Yuan told him honestly:
"The look in one person's eyes among that batch of laborers was off."
?
The look in his eyes was off?
Hearing this, Zhou Chen was visibly taken aback, but immediately caught himself and gave a light cough:
"Cough... Third Young Master is cautious, but could this be worrying a bit too much?"
"......" Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan did not know whether mobilizing so much effort over a look in someone's eyes was justified.
Yet the timing right now was simply too coincidental.
Changhong Valley was only a hundred and twenty li from Jingjiang Prefecture, reachable in just a few days, and Qin Mo had both the motive and the capability to infiltrate the manor.
When it came to his own life, he had to be cautious upon cautious.
Without offering further explanation, Xu Yuan glanced at Zhou Chen and said, "In all this time, have you ever seen me worry about anyone else? Mister Zhou, I suspect that Qin Mo has infiltrated the manor to rescue Su Jinxuan."
Zhou Chen pondered briefly and said:
"That kid from before who crossed ranks at Eighth Rank Meridian Tempering to slay a Seventh Rank Bone Tempering?"
"Mm." Xu Yuan nodded.
Zhou Chen asked tentatively, "If so, does Third Young Master need Zhou to go take a look?"
Xu Yuan glanced at him and asked in return:
"Mister Zhou, you must have probed that group of servants just now, right?"
"Naturally."
"Could you sense any qi on him?"
"......"
Hearing this, Zhou Chen's brow furrowed.
Compared to Xu Yuan's judgment based on a single glance, Zhou Chen was naturally more willing to believe his own findings.
Yet if Xu Yuan's judgment proved true, that person would be an expert capable of shielding his perception.
Although the probability was minuscule, when it concerned Third Young Master's safety, even a one-in-ten-thousand chance could never be overlooked.
His gaze gradually turning grave, Zhou Chen cupped his hands slightly:
"Could Third Young Master return to the room with me while Zhou retrieves his sword?"
He could summon his sword from afar, but that would cause Source Qi fluctuations. Since suspicion had been raised, everything had to be done on the safe side.
Xu Yuan pondered briefly, then shook his head in refusal:
"For now, everything remains as usual. Qin Mo chose to disguise himself as a laborer rather than sneak in directly to rescue her; clearly, he still has misgivings and is unlikely to act immediately.
"Besides, I can't be sure that person is Qin Mo. We need to let Su Jinxuan test him first."
Having said that,
Xu Yuan paused before adding:
"As for you, Mister Zhou... could I trouble you to go to the secret communication array and relay what I just said truthfully to Xu Changge?"
When fighting a boss, if a top player was available to carry, one naturally shouldn't solo it.
He needed to summon the powerhouse over.
Chapter 75