A Deal

Fu Qingyang stood motionless, like a statue. Knowing he could not respond, Zhang Yuanqing spoke on his own: "Dark Night Rose is searching for someone named 'Young Soldier King.' Hei Wuchang knows his personal information, which is why Pang Wudi inquired about him through Tiandao Bugong. Hei Wuchang doesn't know why Dark Night Rose is looking for him, though." After saying this, Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath. "Since it had nothing to do with official business, I didn't report it earlier. But considering Hei Wuchang has some interest in the matter, I thought it best to let you know, Centurion." These words were a compromise he had reached after careful deliberation. Hei Wuchang might not ask about Brother Bing, but based on Tiandao Bugong's memories, he most likely would mention it. If he continued to hide it, not only would the fruits of their search go down the drain, but he would also completely lose Fu Qingyang's trust. Thus, Zhang Yuanqing compromised: confessing only part of the information while dodging the critical issue to cover up the key detail—that Young Soldier King had taken part in the Demon Lord's hunt to kill the Deceitful Eye Judge. He knew Fu Qingyang would definitely notice something amiss; a Saint-stage Scout was impossible to fool. Yet this was a price he had to pay. Given the choice between suspicion and completely losing trust, he naturally chose the former. Inside the bedroom, Tiandao Bugong stiffened slightly, then replied in a low voice: "No reply!" With that, he sneered. "Dark Night Rose seems to have a deeper purpose for seeking this person. Why would they tell us?" His voice and micro-expressions could not be called an exact replica of the real Tiandao Bugong, but they matched closely enough to show no abnormalities. Although Fu Qingyang's understanding of Tiandao Bugong was limited to brief contact and Zhang Yuanqing's description during spirit questioning, for a high-level Scout, that information was more than sufficient. Floating above the rim of the bowl, the face of blood mist said indifferently: "No matter. It isn't important. Stay undercover these next two days and do not go out again. Meet me at the old place at midnight, the day after tomorrow." With that, the blood in the bowl ceased boiling, and the blood mist dispersed. In the corridor, Fu Qingyang, who had been like a wooden carving, shifted his brow and eyes slightly, life returning to his expression. He glanced at Zhang Yuanqing beside him, recounted the conversation from the bedroom, and continued: "Think back. Does Tiandao Bugong have strong impressions of any places—perhaps a stronghold of Hei Wuchang's, or somewhere they frequented within Songhai?" *Within Songhai...* Zhang Yuanqing closed his eyes in thought for a moment before speaking slowly: "Jiusan Youth City, Building 2, Room 1802... the Laifu Hotel... Songhai Third Primary School... Songhe Café..." He rattled off seven or eight locations in one breath and explained: "Some of these places are residences Hei Wuchang once stayed in, some were businesses they ran, and some were places where they once held jobs. Their common trait is that Hei Wuchang held meetings with his subordinates at these locations, using them as temporary strongholds. "However, I don't know if there are more. After all, the spirit body's memories were fragmented." Fu Qingyang rested both hands on the railing, gazing out into the distant night scenery, his brow slightly furrowed. Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing did not dare make a sound, deeply afraid that beneath the young master of the Fu family's calm exterior lay thoughts of the ten greatest tortures for interrogating a traitor. Fu Qingyang exhaled softly and said, "There are too many strongholds. We lack sufficient manpower." He did not elaborate, but Zhang Yuanqing understood his dilemma in a flash. The search-and-capture operation had reached its tail end. Now, all they had to do was ambush the rendezvous point between Dark Night Rose and Hei Wuchang to catch them all in one fell swoop. However, there was a mole within the Five Elements Alliance. The ambush could not mobilize too many personnel, which was also why Fu Qingyang had only brought him along these past two days. Before the Hengxing Wuji incident, the Five Elements Alliance's search for Hei Wuchang had been a carpet search conducted through cooperation among multiple official squads. Ever since learning about the existence of Dark Night Rose, Fu Qingyang had changed his strategy, no longer summoning subordinates and instead acting on his own. To return to the point: manpower was scarce. On one hand, confidentiality had to be maintained at the highest level, making large-scale troop mobilization impossible; on the other hand, both Hei Wuchang and Dark Night Rose's leader were high-level Spirit Realm walkers. Official members below the Saint stage could be ruled out entirely. "The Songhai Branch has five Elders. Even if they each bring their trusted aides, they can only ambush five strongholds at most. Therefore, we must narrow the targets down to five..." Fu Qingyang pondered. "If I had Hei Wuchang's detailed profile, I could analyze his personality and habits to deduce the locations he would choose." *I have one, but Renxue Mantou hasn't replied yet...* Zhang Yuanqing frowned in sync and asked, "Centurion, what should we do next?" Fu Qingyang cast an imperceptible glance at him. "Head back for now. I need to look into some files." The next day. Zhang Yuanqing woke up on schedule and saw Little Doubi crawling around the room again, balancing his uncle's wallet on his head like a seal performing acrobatic tricks with a ball. *Spare Uncle's wallet, will you? Stealing a piece of Auntie's underwear once in a while would be fine too, mm. You can't just shear all the wool off Uncle...* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled internally. As he sat up, he fished his phone out from under his pillow and checked the inbox of the burner number. There was an unread message. Zhang Yuanqing's face lit up with delight. After returning home last night, he had sent a message to Renxue Mantou, urging him to provide Hei Wuchang's dossier as soon as possible. He had then drifted off to sleep with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. *He might belong to an evil profession, but his efficiency is quite high. Well, given the habits of evil professions, maybe all the inefficient subordinates get killed off by their superiors...* He quipped inwardly as he opened the message. The contents were divided into two parts. The first half was a description of Hei Wuchang's personality: cautious, sinister, resilient... accompanied by the writer's personal opinions of Hei Wuchang. This part was brief, seemingly intended to avoid misleading the reader. The second half detailed things Hei Wuchang had done in the past, his methods of handling situations, his tactics, and even his sexual kinks. Supposedly, when Hei Wuchang made love to women, he liked covering their bodies with all sorts of venoms and poisons, which gave him twice the pleasure. Over time, even this hobby ceased to satisfy him. He began refining captured women into gu beasts, finally rediscovering the long-lost pleasure of being a man in humanoid female gu beasts. As time passed, Hei Wuchang lost all interest in normal women; not even the most beautiful woman could elicit a second look from him. *So Hengxing Wuji's kink was learned from his own boss?* Tossing and turning with sleep out of the question, Zhang Yuanqing analyzed the text carefully for a long time, only to distill two words from between the lines: "perverted lunatic." "Leave professional matters to professionals. Better hand this over to Fu Qingyang." He copied the dossier and forwarded it to Fu Qingyang using Yuanshi Tianzun's SIM card. As for the source of this dossier, he had already thought of an excuse: pinning it on the Palace of Halting Slaughter. The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter and Yuanshi Tianzun were already in contact, and the secrets of Xiahou Chi's lineage had come from the Palace Master. Wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable if Yuanshi Tianzun had privately commissioned her for something? As for how the Palace Master had obtained the dossier, that was beyond what Yuanshi Tianzun was supposed to know. In a lavishly styled study, Fu Qingyang set down the dossier on his desk. After a few seconds of silence, he dialed Elder Teddy's number. "Beep, beep—" The call connected. A cacophony of barking dogs drifted from the speaker before fading away, replaced by Elder Teddy's weathered, steady voice: "Found Hei Wuchang?" Fu Qingyang said calmly, "I have confirmed Hei Wuchang's meeting time with Dark Night Rose, as well as the trade locations." Elder Teddy chuckled. "Good progress. If you smoothly resolve this Hei Wuchang incident, the primary credit will belong to you. Those at headquarters opposing your entry into the Council of Elders can shut their mouths." Pausing briefly, Elder Teddy added, "Let's get down to business." Fu Qingyang reported yesterday's gains and said gravely, "I pulled the branch's files on Hei Wuchang, but they aren't enough—not intimate enough, not detailed enough. If my judgment errs, the consequences will be unimaginable." Hei Wuchang in possession of the Holy Grail would be a major disaster. And if Dark Night Rose took control of what the Demon Lord had left behind, it would be even thornier. Elder Teddy fell silent. After a long while, he said, "We can apply for assistance from headquarters. Hopefully there will be enough time." Fu Qingyang frowned. "That is our only option..." His phone vibrated, and a pop-up at the top indicated a new message from Yuanshi Tianzun. Fu Qingyang tapped it open and froze, a hint of astonishment appearing on his face. "Elder, we might not need to request assistance from headquarters after all." Elder Teddy asked, "Why?" Fu Qingyang: "I just received a dossier on Hei Wuchang. It is fairly detailed, and compared against the information I've previously reviewed, its authenticity is very high." Elder Teddy's tone turned surprised. "Where did you get such a dossier?" If Fu Qingyang had had this dossier earlier, he would not have spoken as he did before. "Yuanshi Tianzun submitted it," Fu Qingyang said flatly. "He has private contact with the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, so quite early on, he commissioned her to keep an eye on the Gu King faction's movements." Elder Teddy fell quiet for a moment, then laughed. "Very resourceful and not dogmatic. This boy has immense potential. Once the Tiger Tally arrives, if he can pass the grand health check, we shall nurture him as a prime priority." Fu Qingyang acknowledged with a hum. "I will spend some more time reviewing Hei Wuchang's dossier and contact you later." After hanging up, Fu Qingyang focused his attention on the text. Gradually, Hei Wuchang's profile grew clearer and clearer in his mind: *Ruthless, vindictive over the slightest grudge—as proven by the assassination attempt on Yuanshi. Yet he is also cautious and forbearing. That he dares to meet Dark Night Rose cannot simply be because Yuanshi's 'death' showed sincerity; there must be another reason behind it...* *Even so, I roughly know which places he would choose for the meeting...* Late at night. Under downy yellow lamplight, Zhang Yuanqing walked with his hands stuffed in his pockets, Wang Tai's face concealed beneath a mask. He strolled at an unhurried pace down the empty street, arriving at the café across from the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau. The surrounding shops were all shuttered; only this place was brightly lit, its doors wide open. Yet the interior was completely empty of patrons. Beside the counter with the coffee machine stood an alluring red figure. She wore a luxurious, retro Song Dynasty gown of deep crimson, with cloud and dragon motifs embroidered across the sleeves and bodice in gold thread. Her figure was graceful, her black hair cascading like a waterfall. Even behind a silver mask, one could tell she was a peerless beauty of breathtaking elegance. The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter held an exquisite little kettle in her pale, slender hand, pouring hot water over a paper filter. "Why not use the espresso machine? Does pour-over taste better than what the machine makes?" Zhang Yuanqing asked with a smile. The Palace Master kept her head lowered, watching the dense column of steaming water, and said softly: "I like drinking pour-over coffee. I like using filter paper." *I like "hand brewing" too, but I don't use filter paper—I use tissues...* Zhang Yuanqing only dared keep such crass innuendo to himself, not daring to utter it to this psychopath. "Palace Master, we have uncovered the time and locations for the trade between Hei Wuchang and Dark Night Rose." Standing before the counter, Zhang Yuanqing scrutinized the vivid, beautiful eyes beneath the mask and continued, "In exchange, I'll give you the intelligence, but you must do two things for me." "Speak!" the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter suddenly said in a sinister tone. "I hope they aren't too difficult, or else I might consider killing you to question your spirit! I may not be a Night Wanderer, but I possess props for spirit questioning." With that, she twirled a strand of hair with her delicate fingers and giggled girlishly. "Just kidding, don't be afraid. I wouldn't have the heart to kill you for spirit questioning. You're so outstanding—you'd make a far better male concubine for me." Zhang Yuanqing said in a deep voice, "First, help me seize the roster. Second, if Hei Wuchang dies during the clashes among the factions, you must help me destroy his spirit body."