When Wu Dao left the Red Fire Mine.
Hundreds of miles away, in the important hub of Guangqing Prefecture, Qingyuan County City, someone had already taken notice of him.
Inner City.
Four Seas Gang headquarters.
Deep within a sprawling, opulent, and stately garden complex.
SPLASH~
Koi fish played in the water amidst verdant lotus leaves.
Menghuai Mountain, the renowned contemporary Gang Leader of the Four Seas Gang in Guangqing Prefecture, had white hair draped over his shoulders. A simple gray robe covered his broad, powerful frame—aged but not withered. He squatted by the pond, scattering bait to tease the koi.
His temples were graying, and his face was etched with wrinkles.
His weathered face, eroded by the winds and frost of time, bore a gentle smile. He reached out to stroke the koi as they vied for food, looking like a kind old man enjoying his golden years, naturally drawing people closer.
That is, if one could ignore the bloody, violent scene behind him.
CRACK!
A long whip tore through the air, splitting skin and flesh!
"No... I won't do it again... Spare me this once... Aaargh!"
In the center of the courtyard, weak, miserable screams echoed ceaselessly.
Atop a wooden stake.
A frail young man with disheveled hair was bound, his luxurious brocade robes soaked through with blood. He was being whipped by a dark, thin old man.
"You little bastard, even your uncle has to give our Four Seas Gang face, or he wouldn't be a County Magistrate. But you..."
CRACK!
Another lash.
The old man, though dressed like a refined scholar, was exceptionally vicious. His gloomy face, with its beady, triangular eyes, shone with ferocity. "Daring to snatch food from us? You must have eaten a leopard's gall!"
"No... I don't want it anymore... Changle Square... Changle Restaurant... It's... it's all yours... I'm begging you, please let me go..."
Tortured to the brink of death, the frail young man barely had the strength to speak, his voice cracking as he pleaded for mercy.
"Aha, now that's more like it. A wise man knows when to yield!"
The gloomy old scholar immediately broke into a wide grin. He untied the young man himself, then gestured to a nearby subordinate with a smirk that didn't reach his eyes.
"Heh heh, inform that County Magistrate to bring ten thousand taels to pick up his boy. That old codger has been scraping the fat from the common folk quite a bit lately."
The young man, looking like a blood gourd, was dragged away, leaving a long trail on the ground.
The gloomy old man stretched his body, bloody whip in hand, and asked the subordinate beside him, "Who's next?"
"Reporting to Master, it's Landlord Chen from the Brocade and Silk Shop in Shang County. He's a tough one."
The subordinate answered sycophantically.
"Tough? Heh heh."
A flicker of mockery passed through his beady eyes, and he was just about to order the next person to be dragged in.
CRACK!
But just then, the sound of stone tiles cracking echoed from behind him. A frigid aura, cold as a winter gale, surged forth like a tide, causing his body to stiffen abruptly.
Covered in a cold sweat, he trembled as he turned around.
By the pond, the once kind-faced Menghuai Mountain was now clutching his chest, his expression as twisted as an evil ghost. The chilling light in his eyes looked ready to leap out like a venomous snake.
The fine stone tiles in a radius of several dozen feet around him became the first casualties of his fury, shattering and collapsing into a spiderweb of cracks.
Everyone in the courtyard felt as if a dark cloud was pressing down on them. It was like a giant hand was squeezing their hearts, leaving them trembling on the verge of an abyss.
"My lord... what happened?"
The Four Seas Gang's Master, Lv Yutao, had lost all his earlier bravado. His teeth chattering, he stammered out the question.
He had followed Menghuai Mountain for thirty years, personally witnessing the Four Seas Gang rise from a second-rate group to the overlord of a prefecture. Through all the storms they had weathered, Menghuai Mountain had always remained impassive, never showing his emotions. He had never seen him lose his composure like this.
HUUU~
Menghuai Mountain took a long, deep breath, reining in his terrifying aura. He forced himself to calm down, but still ground out through clenched teeth, "Go... go to the Willow Immortal Hall and see whose Life Lamp has gone out."
Willow Immortal Hall... a Life Lamp...
Lv Yutao was horrified. As the Four Seas Gang's Master, he was naturally aware of the gang's dark, hidden side and knew what the Willow Immortal Hall was for.
A Great Demon was enshrined within!
The Four Seas Gang's sudden rise in recent years, with experts popping up like mushrooms after rain, was all thanks to the shadow of that Great Demon.
If not for that.
The Four Seas Gang would never have dared to act so unscrupulously, holding absolute sway over Guangqing Prefecture. After all, the rule-makers who truly dominated the world were no mere mortals.
"Yes!"
Lv Yutao didn't ask any further questions. He bowed deeply and hurried away.
A moment later.
Lv Yutao returned to the courtyard, his face pale as a sheet. He hesitated for a moment before finally gritting his teeth, bowing, and saying, "My lord, it's... it's the Fourth Young Master's Life Lamp that has gone out."
"..."
Silence. Oppressive, deathly silence!
The temperature in the entire courtyard seemed to plummet by more than ten degrees, turning it as cold as the dead of winter.
Just as Lv Yutao's back was soaked through with sweat and his waist felt ready to snap under the terrifying pressure.
Menghuai Mountain finally spoke. There was no furious madness as expected, only an icy indifference. "Notify Old Third, Qingshan. Tell him to ride with haste and set off for the Red Fire Mine immediately. Find out who Shuang'Er provoked to meet such a fate, and whether the matter of the Demon Seed has been exposed.
If it's someone we can't afford to provoke, then act as if nothing happened.
But if it's some rootless madman..."
As he spoke, a bloody light flashed in Menghuai Mountain's eyes. He opened his mouth and spat out a foot-long, azure-colored snake.
The small snake possessed Essence, Qi, and Spirit. It had a face identical to Menghuai Mountain's—an exceptionally creepy and bizarre sight.
"Whoever killed Shuang'Er will bear the Willow Immortal Mark. It can be sensed within a radius of half a mile."
Menghuai Mountain instructed, handing the small snake to Master Lv.
Finally, his expression shifted as if he had remembered something else, and he continued to command, "Since that person could kill Qingshuang, their cultivation must not be low. To prevent any accidents, Qingyun may select and dispatch one of the Black Sea Hall's Five Sharks Breaking Cocoon to accompany the mission."
"Yes, yes, this subordinate will see to it at once."
Lv Yutao carefully committed the orders to memory, straightened his back, then said with a worried look, "My lord, the court's 'Jingzhe' division has been watching us very closely lately. It's likely that the matter of the Willow Immortal has already been exposed.
If one of the Five Sharks is sent away, and the other Hall Masters can't provide immediate support, what if they make a move..."
"Hah, no matter."
Menghuai Mountain sneered, his gaze profound. "The Dali Dynasty is currently teetering on the brink of collapse, the fortune of the Human Dao is in decline, and all manner of demons and monsters are stirring and breaking free.
Jingzhe, that evil-quelling blade forged by the founding emperor, has passed through the hands of several incompetent rulers. It is no longer as sharp as it once was.
Suppressing those demonic titans who have been sealed for hundreds of years is already their limit. They can't possibly spare much energy for trivial matters like us. Even if they do, it'll just be a few kittens, nothing to fear.
Compared to them, I am more worried about that Prince Nanyang..."
"Prince Nanyang?"
Lv Yutao looked startled and continued, "He would truly dare?"
"Why wouldn't he dare?"
A hint of gravity appeared on Menghuai Mountain's weathered face. "Today, the land is filled with wailing, and corruption is rampant. Aside from a few stubbornly loyal fools, the hearts of the people have long turned from the throne. If a rebellion were to truly begin, few would speak out against it. Instead, a single call would rally countless supporters.
That Prince Nanyang understands this point. For months, he has been brazenly forming factions in the Nine Prefectures of the South Border. His advisors travel everywhere, persuading local gentry, wealthy landowners, and even the Government Offices and garrisons to pledge allegiance wherever they go.
Even several of the ancient Hidden Sects 'On the Mountain' and the thousand-year-old noble families below have given their word.
At this point...
all that's missing is a written call to arms."
"Then we're in trouble."
Lv Yutao's face showed his concern. "Although Prince Nanyang is fierce and domineering, his heart is with the common people. He has a virtuous reputation and detests all things sinister and demonic.
If he starts a rebellion, he will first secure his home front before expanding outward. He will surely purge all the filth in the Southern Border, and at that time, the Four Seas Gang's situation..."
"That is precisely why I am worried. However..."
Menghuai Mountain let out a soft breath and turned back to the golden koi frolicking in the pond, a ruthless glint appearing in his eyes. "The Four Seas Gang has struggled for a hundred years, across two generations, to achieve its current glory. To be driven from our homes like stray dogs is absolutely out of the question!
If it truly comes to that, then I can only choose to become an enemy of humanity."
'An enemy of humanity...'
Lv Yutao was horrified. The image of the "Immortal Family" deity in the Willow Immortal Hall, with its gaping, bloody maw, unconsciously surfaced in his mind, and he couldn't help but shudder.
'The Gang Leader is preparing to abandon his humanity completely.'
"Oh, right."
Just as Lv Yutao was about to leave, Menghuai Mountain's voice, flat and laced with shards of ice, sounded again. "Relay a message to Qingshan: if he catches the killer, he must leave him breathing and bring him back. This old man wants to see just what kind of paltry Mao God he is!"
"Rest assured, my lord. We will make him wish for death but be unable to find it!"
Lv Yutao also gritted his teeth in hatred. He nodded emphatically and quickly left the courtyard.
The courtyard fell silent once more.
Menghuai Mountain stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the school of koi. The grief and indignation on his face from losing his son had transformed into cold ruthlessness. 'Fifty Demon Seeds, just gone like that... More than useless, a complete liability. What an absolute waste!'
Something had happened to Meng Qingshuang.
That meant the Red Fire Mine he was guarding had surely met with disaster as well. The only question was who did it.
Jingzhe?
Or was it the other two major powers in Guangqing Prefecture, the White Whale Martial Arts Hall and the Fangcun Sword Hall?
"Heh heh, a fifty-fifty split between us. Don't you forget it. In half a month, if the quota isn't met..."
A sinister, chilling, and strange laugh suddenly echoed in his mind, interrupting Menghuai Mountain's thoughts and causing a tearing, twisting pain in his heart.
A flicker of fear passed through Menghuai Mountain's eyes. His expression soured as he waved over a trusted guard. "How is the recruitment of refugees outside the city going?"
The guard bowed and replied, "Reporting to the Gang Leader, as per your request, the hundred or so people are all young and strong. After half a month, they've been well-fed and are now clamoring to perform meritorious deeds for our Four Seas Gang. They are basically ready for planting."
"Good. Tell Old Second to keep a close eye on things. I don't want a repeat of what happened at the Red Fire Mine!"
"Yes, sir!"
...
「Black Stone Desert.」
In the afternoon, the clouds parted and the rain stopped.
Waves of heat rose from the ground as the scorching sun once again baked the barren land.
On a gravelly stretch of the Gobi.
CAW CAW CAW...
Vultures circled low, drawn by the thick stench of blood on the ground, but something made them hesitant to descend.
On the ground.
In the distance, dust and sand swirled as four men in foreign-looking headscarves fled in terror on sturdy horses, as if being chased by some beast of primordial chaos.
On the stretch of Gobi not far away.
The acrid stench of blood, mixed with sand, filled the air. Severed limbs were scattered everywhere, making it look like a small meat grinder.
CRUNCH!
A foot as large as a tiger's paw crushed a human skull that was still etched with terror and pleading.
Wu Dao's bear-like frame was draped in a blood-soaked black robe. He faced the sandstorm and surveyed his surroundings.
After a moment.
After getting his bearings.
He looked back at the carnage of shredded flesh, then glanced at his black robe, now stained with blood and grime, his face dark with displeasure.
After leaving the Red Fire Mine.
He had sprinted for dozens of miles, the scorching sun burning him, pushing his stamina to its absolute limit until he felt like he would burst into flames.
He had wanted to rest on the spot.
But he unexpectedly ran into a roving band of howling sand bandits. Without a word, they surrounded him, hooting and hollering.
After such a long and strenuous run, his qi and blood were already agitated. Now, a swarm of buzzing flies had surrounded him. One could imagine his mood.
Normally.
Although Wu Dao subscribed to the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak, he believed the greatest difference between humans and beasts was self-control.
He was, after all, a social and emotional being with a human nature, not some benighted, bloodthirsty beast that killed only to sate its hunger under the sway of instinct.
He also disdained proving his strength by slaughtering the weak, as he saw that as a sign of vanity and a lack of confidence.
But this entire code was predicated on there being no enmity and no benefit!
If this band of sand bandits had simply passed by, Wu Dao wouldn't have spared them a second glance, even if they were dragging someone behind them to toy with.
Unfortunately.
They were looking for some excitement.
So Wu Dao had no choice but to oblige them.
'But how can a desolate place like this even support bandits?'
After the slaughter, Wu Dao's anger had subsided. He ignored the few sand bandits who had escaped and simply stared at the fragments of flesh and blood on the ground, feeling a little baffled.
He had sprinted across the Black Stone Desert and encountered no villages, not even many wild animals. It was a complete wasteland.
In such an extremely harsh environment.
'Do they make a living by robbing sand?'
"Hm?"
Just as Wu Dao was wondering about this, a sharp, pained gasp from within the pile of sand and flesh caught his attention.
'There's one still breathing?'
'That makes things easier.'