Martial Arts: Starting with Upgrading the Dilapidated Temple

Chapter 148 Delivering Letters

"If Mu Fang goes back to report, Mu Yunchuan will have to run to Canglu Mountain." Ji Sanjin used his thumb to scrape off the calluses on his ear.

Are you planning to wait for him on Heron Mountain?

"No rush."

Xu Hao hoisted the Devourer onto his shoulder and shifted into a more comfortable position, leaning against the rock wall.

"I need you to do something for me."

Ji Sanjin stood up half of his broken ear.

"Report everything that happened here to Wu Qingshan exactly as it happened."

Ji Sanjin remained silent for a moment, then took out a bamboo tube wrapped in oiled paper from his pouch.

The bird carved on the bamboo tube is not a carrier pigeon, but a falcon.

"I have an express delivery channel here, it can reach the Prince of Zhenbei's residence in as little as seven days." Ji Sanjin unscrewed the bamboo tube and pulled out a roll of extremely thin silk. "You tell me the contents, and I'll write it down. Falcon uses special ink that dissolves in water, so cutting it won't help."

"Two things." Xu Hao held up two fingers.

"First, transmit everything that happened in Zezhou to Wu Qingshan exactly as it happened. The Dragon Saliva, the Black Cauldron, the corruption of the Dragon-Suppressing Nail, the Mu Family's Mushroom Valley stronghold, the Earth Vein Crystal, the Wusheng Sect, the Vertical Pupil Seal of the Celestial Surveillance Bureau—don't change a single word. Let Wu Qingshan decide which ones should be reported to the Prince of Zhenbei."

Ji Sanjin's brushstrokes were swift and his wrist extremely steady.

His handwriting was as small as an ant's, but the strokes were clear and the spacing between lines was precise—a skill honed through eleven years of intensive training.

"The second one?"

Xu Hao slapped the letter with the vertical pupil stamp in front of Ji Sanjin.

"Have the Prince of Zhenbei investigate someone."

"Who?"

"The people standing behind the Wusheng Sect and the Mu family." Xu Hao pointed his finger at the vertical pupil seal. "The Observatory is the emperor's henchman; this seal isn't something just anyone can stamp. But the Wusheng Sect's slogan is 'Heaven is dead'—would the emperor use his own personal army to fund a cult that shouts to overthrow him?"

Ji Sanjin paused, his pen still.

"You mean—someone in the Observatory is falsely claiming imperial authority and secretly collaborating with the Wusheng Sect and the Mu Family?"

"Or even higher." Xu Hao withdrew his finger. "The Imperial Observatory is directly under the Emperor. It can plant spies within, steal official seals, and..."

Those who mobilized local powerful families to cooperate were at least of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of the Observatory. No one, except perhaps the Prince of Zhenbei's intelligence network, could uncover such individuals.

Ji Sanjin exhaled a breath of stale air and finished writing the last line of words on the silk cloth.

The ink blots are thinner than mosquito legs, but packed with information.

"Alright. I'll release the falcon tonight." He rolled the silk cloth into the bamboo tube and sealed it with wax.

After completing this step, Ji Sanjin didn't rush to leave.

He squatted down and stared at Xu Hao for a long time, the severed ear trembling in the morning breeze.

"I'll say something I shouldn't have."

"explain."

"Commander Wu gave you the Dragon Roar Guard's token because he considers you one of his own. But the Prince of Zhenbei has more than just the Dragon Roar Guard." Ji Sanjin slowed his speech by half a beat. "Yongzhou is far from the capital and far from the northern frontier. The three great families have been entrenched there for six generations, impervious to reason. The Prince of Zhenbei wasn't unwilling to intervene before, but he couldn't. Now that you've kicked over the Mu family's business in the Ten Thousand Poisons Forest, you've essentially torn open a breach."

"so?"

"So the Prince's Mansion's first reaction after receiving the news wasn't to help you, but to assess you." Ji Sanjin stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "They need to figure out whether you can control the situation and whether it's worth investing resources in. Don't expect a letter to make the commander of 300,000 troops run errands for you."

Xu Hao did not refute.

This may sound harsh, but it's true.

"Where does the Qin family's Xuan Yin Cold Iron exist?" He changed the subject.

Ji Sanjin took out a square piece of kraft paper from the bottom of the satchel and unfolded it.

It contains a rough topographical map of western Yongzhou.

The Qin family's territory was marked with several points, most of which were open pharmacies, and some were clandestine businesses. One of them was marked with an X.

"Twelve li west of the Qin family ancestral home is Bitter Water Gully," Ji Sanjin pointed to the fork in the road. "The name is awful, but the location is good—"

Three sides are stone walls, and one side has a narrow opening, making it a natural warehouse. The first two batches of cold iron were stored here after they arrived. There aren't many guards; six Bone Forging Realm cultivators take turns guarding it, and one Tendon Changing Realm cultivator leads the team. Qin Wang'an, that old miser, is unwilling to spend money to hire experts to guard the warehouse, thinking that no one in this run-down place of Yongzhou would dare touch the Qin family's things.

"What about the third batch?"

"According to news from Shengzhou, they've already boarded the ship. They'll travel by sea to Chenzhou, then transfer to the Grand Canal, and finally by land to Yongzhou. Normally it takes ten days, but if they're rushing, it'll take seven or eight. In other words..."

"Arrive in Yongzhou within five days."

"More or less." Ji Sanjin nodded.

Xu Hao tucked the kraft paper into his pocket.

"I'll handle the bitter water ditch myself. You don't need to get involved in the Qin family's affairs."

Ji Sanjin leaned against the stone wall with his arms crossed, his expression somewhat complicated.

He spent eleven years in Yongzhou, and the undercover agents he painstakingly built only managed to get a superficial understanding of the three major families.

This young man has been here for less than ten days, yet he has already destroyed the Mu family's stronghold, killed the leader of the Wusheng Sect, and gained the recognition of Wan Du Sen Hai. Now, he even wants to take advantage of the situation to seize the Qin family's Cold Iron.

They're the kind of people who treat their place like their own backyard when they come here.

"Is there anything else?" Ji Sanjin asked as a final question.

Xu Hao thought for a moment.

"After Mu Fang returns to the Mu family, keep an eye on his movements for me. Any unusual activity in the Mu family, when Mu Yunchuan will set off—leave the information at your shop, tell me the location, and I'll retrieve it myself."

"OK."

Ji Sanjin told Xu Hao where he had left the message, then jumped down the hill, stepped on the bushes, and disappeared into the thicket.

After walking ten steps, he suddenly turned back.

"What's your name? Give me your name; I need to write it in a secret letter. I can't just write down some young man with a big knife."

"Xu Hao".

Ji Sanjin muttered it twice to himself, nodded, and disappeared into the morning light.

Xu Hao was the only one left on the hill.

He glanced down at the Devourer at his waist.

The dark gold patterns flowed slowly in the sunlight, and the two ancient seal characters "Shi Yuan" on the blade were sunk deep into the metal, as if they were alive.

Five days.

As the Qin family's third batch of cold iron entered the warehouse, Mu Fang climbed back to the Mu family to report the news, and Mu Yunchuan rushed up Canglu Mountain—three lines were simultaneously on high alert.

We can just cook it all together in one go, which will save us trouble.

Xu Hao hung the Devourer back on his waist and jumped down from the hill.

At the edge of the Myriad Poisons Forest, the miasma he had suppressed was slowly rising again.

The moment he stepped into the forest, the decaying leaves automatically retreated, the poisonous vines retracted their tendrils, and a pale yellow miasma enveloped him.

It was like a giant beast opening its mouth and swallowing its master back.

In the sea of consciousness, the northwest corner of the blessed land painting lit up briefly.

Mu Fang's light spot was slowly moving northward, very slowly, with a zigzag motion.

The prey has been released.

Next, we wait for it to bring the message back to its nest.

Yongzhou, the main residence of the Mu family.

Mu Chenyuan stood by the window, staring at a batch of medicinal herbs that had just been delivered to the courtyard.

The butler's footsteps came from the corridor, hurried and disorderly.

"Master! Mu Fang—has been found!"

Mu Chenyuan turned around.

Behind the steward, two Mu family warriors carried in a man covered in blood and dressed in rags.

Mu Fang.