Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 21.21. Retrospective
Que He wanted to cry but had no tears. He never expected that falling from a great height to the mud would be so quick and so painful, it felt like a dream.

He slapped himself twice hard and realized it wasn't a dream.

There was pen and ink in the carriage, which was originally used to sign contracts for the purchase of fragrant wood.

Song Chen asked him to fetch pen and ink, and left a final letter in the carriage—a letter wishing him peace.

He then moved the body into the carriage, cleaned up the bloodstains on the ground, and pretended to be the driver, raising the reins and driving off as if nothing had happened. However, at the fork in the road ahead, he suddenly turned onto a secluded and deserted mountain road.

Song Chen was also very flustered. He never expected that this bastard Que He could cause such a big problem.

This could have been a true catastrophe that could have wiped out the entire clan. Fortunately, he noticed something was wrong and took action in time. Otherwise, if the Yu family had actually formed a marriage alliance with the He family, no matter what happened afterward, the He family would have been doomed to be wiped out. Even if they didn't die on the spot, they would have been purged and executed by the Great Yong Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Song Chen cursed in a deep voice, "Brother Shenyun is a cautious man, how could he have given birth to such a fool as you?!"

Que He lowered his head and said repeatedly, "I know I was wrong, I know I was wrong."

Song Chen said, "I've heard a little about your family's situation. Are you recruiting outsiders to deal with your second uncle?"

Upon hearing "Second Uncle," Que He felt a surge of anger rise within him again. He said with immense grievance, "Sir, you have no idea, that peasant is truly..."

Song Chen interrupted him, angrily rebuking him: "Foolish! Fool! Brother Shenyun has just died, and the family is already in decline and facing numerous crises. Song Chen has no connections, but with your family as a base and a marriage alliance, he is truly the only choice to help the He family overcome the crisis."

It's one thing for you not to get close to him, but you're also thinking of destroying your own defenses because of your narrow-mindedness.

That's incredibly foolish, absolutely incredibly foolish! Think about it yourself!

If it weren't for my acquaintance with Brother Shenyun, I really wouldn't bother cursing you at all.

Que He repeatedly said, "I was wrong, I know I was wrong, sir. Is there any other way?"

Song Chen said calmly, "You don't know you're wrong, you're just scared. This trip to the southern region to find a county town and start from scratch can be considered a learning experience. You might have a chance to return to the manor for a reunion in the future."

Then, Song Chen added, "Xiong Da, Xiong Shen."

The two blacksmithing elites hurriedly replied, "Yes, sir."

Song Chen said, "If this kid is restless and tries to sneak back to the capital, break one of his legs. If there is a next time, break both of his legs."

These two elites have already witnessed their leader's methods firsthand.

With a gust of golden wind, heads fell to the ground; the method was truly remarkable.

Following such a leader was far better than following Wang Xiongchuan, so they all patted their chests and agreed.

Song Chen continued, "Que He, if you behave yourself, these two will be your helpers; if you don't behave yourself, rather than letting you lead your whole family to their deaths, I'd rather kill you with a single blow beforehand."

Que He remained silent for a long time before saying, "I understand."

As the four were talking, they soon came to another fork in the road.

Song Chen looked at the map; this was a narrow mountain path leading south.

He put the three people down, then drove his carriage deeper into the area to destroy the evidence.

He went very, very deep, until he was sure there was no trace left, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

As evening approached, the Crane family had not yet seen the head of the household return, but they remained calm.

But as night fell, the head of the family still hadn't returned, and the entire He family was in an uproar.

First, they searched everywhere but couldn't find it.

Then they learned that Que He had gone out early in the morning and then disappeared.

Later, they learned that Que He had gone out with two newly acquainted guards from the Yu family, and those two guards had not returned either.

This caused an uproar in the He family mansion.

Lady Qingyue, a member of the Celestial Guard, hurriedly mobilized her patrols to search for her nephew's whereabouts.

After a fruitless search, Madam Qianxue stamped her foot and hurriedly went to the mourning hall. She wiped the dust off her deceased husband's memorial tablet, then ran to the Que family's main residence with the tablet in her arms to cry and demand that they uphold justice.

The main family of the Que family had just come to offer their congratulations a few days ago, and the friendship had not yet faded, so they sent someone to the Yu family to inquire about the situation.

The Yu family was also confused.

The group then organized a search party to go out of the city overnight, but found nothing.

It wasn't until the evening of the following day that Lady Qianxue, who hadn't slept for nearly two days, dragged her exhausted body back to the Crane Mansion, looking somewhat lost and dejected.

She pushed open the door, lay on her side on the couch in a daze, and secretly shed tears.

Suddenly, she saw a corner of a letter under her pillow.

She paused, then picked up the letter by the corner, puzzled, and pulled out the whole letter. She unfolded it, and the familiar handwriting greeted her.

She hurriedly put the letter away, went to the window to look around, and seeing that no one was there, she returned to read the letter again.

The letter recounted many events, from the day of Que Chan's wedding, to Que He getting drunk and befriending the Le family brothers, and then to Que He proposing a marriage alliance between his mother and the Yu family cultivators to counterbalance Song Chen.
The handwriting was messy and rambling, and at the end it revealed that the Yue brothers were actually spies for the Jin state.

The ending paragraph says that he happened to meet his father's old friend, who gave him some gold and told him to go to a southern town to start from scratch. He said that once things calmed down, he might have a chance to return, and so on.
The First Madam was horrified.

She looked at the letter again and again in disbelief. The handwriting was unmistakable, and there were even tear stains on it. Most importantly, the letter seemed to have no other purpose than to simply report that she was safe.

For a moment, she felt conflicted.

First of all, she felt that Que Shenyun simply did not have a close friend who would break the rules for him, release spies, help him destroy the evidence, and make perfect arrangements.

Even though some people had gotten along well with him during his lifetime, they would never let go of such a chance to gain merit. What's worse, some of them would personally come to the He family to ransack their home, then send themselves and Qingyue to the brothel. Afterwards, they would rush into the brothel, order her sisters to accompany them for drinks and pleasure, take turns molesting them, and then ask with a smile, "How do I compare to Que Shenyun?"
Secondly, she never imagined her son would do something so foolish, so intolerant of Song Chen. Even if the Yu family weren't spies from Jin, would a marriage alliance be possible? What difference was there between this and inviting a wolf into the house? If she truly married that cultivator named Yu Cheng, the He family would be finished, and she would most likely only be a concubine, subjected to humiliation. It was practically giving herself away for free.

For a moment, the First Madam felt disheartened, angry, and annoyed.

The fact that she almost got caught up in a spy operation filled her with an unspeakable fear.

She quickly glanced around.

In the corner of the room, a charcoal stove glowed with lukewarm flames, bringing a slight warmth to the cold, solitary room.

The First Madam got up, tore the letter to shreds in a few quick movements, and then sprinkled it little by little into the charcoal holes. She only breathed a sigh of relief after it had burned completely.

she knows.
She still has to keep acting.

She must continue searching for Quehe.

If what's written in the letter is true, as long as Que He isn't found, the He family will be safe.

In the bustling city, under the dim sunset, Song Chen sat in a teahouse, ordered two small dishes, and kept an eye on the situation at the He residence.

After a long while, he was certain that the First Madam had seen the letter.

For a long time, the anxiety of the Crane family did not subside.

Song Chen finally felt relieved; the First Madam was clearly intelligent.

He picked up a piece of stir-fried mushrooms and pork with his chopsticks, ate it with rice for a while, and then drank a large bowl of mushroom soup.

Dayong Mountain is abundant, and its produce is plentiful, with a wide variety of mushrooms used in its dishes.

Song Chen ate while pondering.

During his free time, he had already completed a review of the "kidnapping of Que He" incident.

There are too many problems with this.

First, there are the subordinates.

For ordinary martial artists, the elite members of the Forging Gang might be enough, but if someone with even a little bit of "qi" is involved, it's completely ineffective. If he hadn't been watching over things as a precaution, the kidnapping would have failed long ago. The elite members of the Forging Gang would all be killed, and they would most likely have given him away.

He needs more capable and loyal subordinates.

However, everyone has selfish desires.
He needs puppets.

Secondly, there are interrogation methods.

He used illusion magic to trick the spy into revealing certain things.

But he can't do it every time.

But if he had a power like "soul-searching technique", these problems would be easily solved.

Secondly, there is power.

He had learned that the third supernatural power of the Taibai Golden Gang Technique was "Sword Escape". Mastering "Sword Escape" allows one to generate an escape light by resonating with the "one's own golden energy" and the "spiritual iron weapon". This escape light is like a small, enclosed space. Flying on a sword is like a cultivator "piloting an airplane" in the escape light.

However, the "Sword Escape" technique requires mastering the "Tai Bai Jin Gang Jue" to the fourth level of Qi Gathering before being taught by the Imperial City Temple after being transferred to the inner sect. Although he has already reached the fourth level of Qi Gathering, he cannot reveal it.

The fact that he had "comprehended the 'Bear Hunting Diagram' in just one hour" had already brought him a lot of trouble. If people found out that he had reached the fourth level of Qi Gathering so quickly, and that he was not actually controlled by the [Taibai Sword Intent], Song Chen could hardly imagine the consequences.

However, this time, if he had mastered the "Sword Escape" technique, he wouldn't need to carefully disguise himself as a coachman to drive the carriage into the deep mountains. He could simply use "Escape Light" to envelop himself. This would save time and effort, and be much safer.

for a long time
Inside the restaurant, a man with a somewhat stiff expression stood up, pressed the copper coin onto the corner of the table, and then strode towards the west of the city.

In the Wild Boar Forest, searching for the market town for rogue cultivators and using his only spirit stone and remaining gold to buy items is perhaps the only thing he can do now.

(End of this chapter)