Daoqi Huangcheng

Chapter 37. Departure
On a snowy night, whispers were taking place in a secret room of Director Ma's mansion, discussing when and how many gifts to bring to see the old man the next day, and then inviting him to spend his later years in Yongcui County.

The lady of the Chen family is beautiful and extremely wealthy; this should be a wonderful place for her to enjoy herself.

Speaking of her beauty, Master Ma stroked his beard and said, "That young lady is indeed heroic and valiant, with a pretty face and powerful legs. She can send a martial arts expert flying with a single kick. I can't even imagine how happy I would be if I got together with her."

The confidant laughed, "Even so, isn't Madam Chen the second virgin who is being played by the master? I suppose even though she's been forced into bed by the old man, she doesn't know why her mansion has suffered such a calamity. Hehe."

The two chatted and laughed for a while longer.

Director Ma patted his confidant on the shoulder again and said in a deep voice, "Wait until the snow stops tomorrow before you leave. Although the plague is coming, we have people at the checkpoints, so you will have no trouble no matter where you go."

The trusted aide replied, "I will certainly do this important thing for you, sir!"

The two exchanged a smile and then walked out of the secret room.

Outside the secret room, large red lanterns swayed in the night breeze, casting red light everywhere, yet the bright spots only served to accentuate the deep shadows.

Between heaven and earth, the rustling snowflakes were flying haphazardly, making everything seem so hazy and quiet.

The confidant suddenly sensed something, looked up abruptly, and exclaimed in surprise, "Eek!"

He hurriedly looked at Director Ma, about to say something, but found that Director Ma had noticed it even faster than him.

That was a lookout tower.

As the head of the martial arts school, Master Ma originally intended to turn his mansion into a small fortress, which is why he set up a watchtower outside. However, the watchtower has been idle for a long time, but now, a figure has appeared on the watchtower.

Director Ma stared intently, then suddenly his face lit up with wild joy. He abruptly rushed out from under the eaves, ignoring the heavy snow, and headed towards the watchtower. After taking a couple of steps, he suddenly slowed his pace, glanced at his trusted confidant who had followed him, and said, "Be quiet, don't let anyone see us."

A moment later, he arrived at the watchtower with a joyful expression, only to find that a figure had appeared on the side of the watchtower at some point.

Master Ma rushed over, incredulous, and asked, "Master Zhao, is it really you?"

The figure nodded.

Director Ma was overjoyed and said, "That's wonderful! I was just about to send someone to tell you that I have prepared a gift for you, from the Chen family."

You've heard of the renowned beauty of the Second Madam of the Chen family, with her radiant green and snow-white hair, haven't you? Besides her, the First Madam was also quite alluring.

"I'll take you to the Chen residence right now, kill that Master Chen, and you'll be the new Master Chen."

This time, the figure remained silent.

Director Ma said somewhat nervously, "If Master Zhao is still not satisfied..."

The figure raised his hand, interrupting him, and then said, "I've come here to tell you that I have a good chance of being promoted."

Director Ma was taken aback, unsure whether to be happy or worried.

He didn't care whether the cultivator could advance; he just wanted to elevate his family's status and leave behind a lineage of cultivation.

Then, the figure continued, "The reason I came here is that I discovered a mysterious cave in Cuiyun Mountain, but the cave is frozen and can only be thawed by human presence. In my opinion, at least thirty people are needed for half a month to thaw it."

Tomorrow, bring enough men and provisions, and I will surely reward you afterwards. I will accept all who come as outer disciples, and I will personally appoint you as my closed-door disciple.

The words "closed-door disciple" immediately filled Director Ma's mind!

Although he felt something was off, that feeling was quickly washed away.

By helping the Immortal Master for just half a month, one can become the Immortal Master's outer disciple, and he himself can become the closed disciple!
This is amazing!

It's incredibly profitable!

The figure asked calmly, "Are you willing?"

Master Ma was overjoyed and pounced on the ground, repeatedly saying, "I'm willing! I'm willing!!"

The figure said calmly, "Before noon tomorrow, at Yingfeng Valley, Cuiyun Mountain."

Seeing that the immortal master did not deny the word "disciple," Master Ma was even more delighted and hurriedly said respectfully, "Disciple will definitely bring people and arrive on time!!"

"Keep it a secret until it is accomplished."

"Natural, natural!"

Director Ma was overjoyed.

When I looked up again, I found that the immortal master had disappeared.

Master Ma looked left and right, but couldn't find any trace of how the immortal master had left. He sighed inwardly, "Truly the methods of an immortal!" Then he turned his head slightly to look at his confidant.

The confidant, also looking on in shock, suddenly knelt down with a thud when he met the gaze of the curator, saying, "Curator, no! Senior Brother, I also want to cultivate immortality. I'll take my junior brother with me tomorrow, please!"

Director Ma stroked his beard and hair and smiled, "Don't worry, I won't leave out any of the people who are on good terms with me. You've done a lot for me, so let's do it together tomorrow."

After saying that, he added, "We must reach Yingfeng Valley before noon tomorrow. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but with the heavy snow, the roads will be difficult to travel. We should first arrange for half a month's worth of food for thirty people, and then set off at dawn. We would rather wait for the Immortal Master than make him wait for us."

At the Chen residence, Song Chen returned from outside and silently landed under the eaves of a house in the back courtyard.

The snowflakes that had been clinging to him suddenly floated up on their own, detached, and scattered to one side.

He knocked on the door. "Who is it?" came Madam Asayuki's voice from inside.

"I."

It's very late.

Snapped!
The door was pushed open.

Song Chen walked in.

Madam Qianxue quickly rolled up the quilt, not giving him any chance to crawl in, and then said righteously, "I am your sister, your sister-in-law!"

Song Chen ignored her and sat down on the edge of the couch.

The two looked at each other.

Lady Qianxue looked at him nervously with her beautiful eyes and said, "We can't do it today."

Song Chen knew that the beautiful woman was trying to hook him, but he had no intention of breaking up the relationship.

His value to the He family increased, and the He family maintained a stronger bond with him. Both sides took care of each other's needs, provided emotional value, and exchanged benefits. This is the way to ensure a stable marriage.

So he got straight to the point: "Something's happened. In half an hour, you can pack your things and we'll leave immediately to live in the deep mountains for the time being. We won't be coming back."

Master Chen, Madam Chen, and Madam Chen will all become history.

"No need to prepare the food, I've already taken care of it."

Pei Qianxue was taken aback when she saw that he wasn't joking, and hurriedly asked what was going on.

Song Chen recounted the story of "Director Ma" and "Master Zhao," and then said, "If a cockroach appears in a room, it means that there are already more cockroaches present."

Now that I've seen a Master Ma coveting the Chen family's property, there's no doubt that there might be a second or third Master Ma I haven't yet seen.

Pei Qianxue's beautiful eyes showed a thoughtful look. After thinking for a moment, she said, "You're right, we'll leave tonight. Go and tell Qingyue, I'll pack first."

Immediately, she urged, "Alright, I'm getting out of bed. I'm only wearing my undergarments, so hurry up and go!"

At midnight, three figures silently left Yongcui County.

At dawn, Director Ma led a full forty people, along with two oxcarts and one horse-drawn carriage, and left Yongcui County.

Although the immortal master said there were thirty people, he meant at least thirty.

He should be able to bring ten more without any problem, right?
These were all people he valued, including his son whom he had originally intended to entrust to the immortal master.

At 9:00 AM, the sky cleared up early, and light snow was still falling.

The mountains are covered in snow, and everything in sight is a silver-clad world.

There is a cliff on the side of the valley, offering an excellent view overlooking the entire east-west direction of the Windward Valley.
Lady Qianxue sneezed, wrapped her fur cloak tighter around herself, and asked, "Little Song, you said you brought food, where is it?"

Song Chen looked into the distance, rubbed his hands together, and breathed on them to warm them, saying, "It'll be soon, it'll be soon."

"Ah!"

Lady Asahi sneezed again.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the entrance of Windward Valley, where a procession of oxcarts, horse-drawn carriages, and martial artists had arrived.

The journey was arduous, and Master Ma was very glad that he had set off early, otherwise he might not have made it to noon. At this moment, his face was full of excitement, as were his confidants, disciples, and descendants behind him.

On the cliff, Song Chen slightly moved his five fingers, and the ice and snow in mid-air quickly condensed into needles, which "whooshed" into the temple of the foremost curator, Ma.

Before Curator Ma could react, he cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

Everyone was completely stunned.

But then, cries of pain rang out again.

The ground began to turn red.

"Blood"

"Run!"

Although the rest of the group did not know what had happened, they instinctively ran away. However, at the entrance of Windward Valley, two strange and tall figures appeared out of nowhere.

A martial artist exclaimed in horror, "A straw man?"

Just as the straw man blocked the way, two more screams rang out.

The warriors began to rush towards the straw man like madmen.

The straw man took out a spirit iron shield, which opened up two barriers. These barriers could not stop cultivators, but they were as hard as city walls for ordinary martial artists.

In just over ten breaths, forty-one corpses lay on the snow. The straw men skillfully transferred the food from one oxcart to another, then carried the corpses onto the empty oxcarts. After that, one straw man drove one oxcart, while Song Chen, along with the Pei sisters, boarded a horse-drawn carriage and headed deeper into Cuiyun Mountain.

This journey will lead us to explore hidden depths and go even further.
(End of this chapter)