Chapter 53: Treasure Hunter Zhao
Bang! Bang bang!
Before dawn had even broken, someone was knocking on the courtyard gate.
Sha Lifei had already changed into traveling clothes. He quickly walked to the entrance and asked in a low voice through the door, “Which friend has come calling?”
A somewhat hoarse voice came from outside. “Crossing mountains and forests, making a living under Boss Wan.”
Sha Lifei hurriedly opened the door. A young man with ordinary features, save for a pair of straight horizontal brows, was standing outside. He wore a sheepskin coat, black trousers wrapped with leg bindings, and looked utterly rustic.
Sha Lifei pondered silently, This is a treasure-hunter?
But he did not dare show the slightest hint of contempt on his face. Instead, he enthusiastically raised his hand in greeting. “You must be Brother Zhao. Please, come in.”
At that moment, Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan also emerged from inside. Both were dressed for a long journey and wore broad bamboo hats. When Li Yan saw the newcomer, surprise flashed through his eyes. He could not smell anything from the man at all.
That’s strange.
According to Shopkeeper Wan from Listening Pavilion, the treasure-hunter came from a family line of mountain foragers. His name was Zhao Luzi. For generations, his family had wandered the great mountains, specializing in finding premium timber for craftsmen of the mystic path. Though he was not considered an expert among treasure-hunters, he was still a member of the mystic path and surely possessed extraordinary skills. Could he be carrying some treasure capable of concealing his scent?
The thought immediately put Li Yan on guard. It seemed his divine ability was not omnipotent. If an expert used such a treasure to conceal themselves during an assassination attempt, he might not detect them even at close range.
The young man directly refused Sha Lifei’s invitation, “No need. Family rules forbid entering another’s residence.”
He remained outside the gate without stepping into the courtyard.
Sha Lifei found it odd and was about to ask more when Wang Daoxuan stepped forward and stopped him with a smile. “In that case, we’ll follow Brother Zhao’s arrangements.”
Li Yan and Sha Lifei instantly understood it was likely one of the man’s sect taboos. Certain mystic path lineages always carried all kinds of peculiar rules. Though they seemed strange, they usually had deep roots behind them. Breaking them often led to trouble.
Zhao Luzi wasted no words, nodding as he turned to leave. “Let’s go.”
Li Yan instructed, “You guys go ahead. We’ll meet up later.”
He lowered his bamboo hat and slipped into a dark alley. Without another word, Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan shut the courtyard gate, hoisted their packs, and followed Zhao Luzi down the old street. Meanwhile, Li Yan moved swiftly through the alley, sticking close to the wall. Though he traveled quickly, his footsteps made no sound at all.
He soon came upon a small courtyard. He leaped up, grabbing the top of the wall and flipping over it to land in the courtyard. The moment he landed, he rushed straight into the side room on the left.
A man had been sleeping soundly inside. However, he jolted awake upon hearing the disturbance. Bracing himself against the bed with one hand, he lashed out with a flying kick.
The movement was fast and agile, faintly carrying the form of a monkey. An expressionless Li Yan sidestepped and bent low to evade the strike while the Guanshan blade on his waist left its sheath with a metallic cry!
Shing!
The blade slashed diagonally upward.
Pffft.
Blood sprayed everywhere as the man groaned and crashed to the floor. Blood sprayed from his right leg. Just as he tried to get up, the Guanshan blade came to rest against his throat.
Li Yan asked calmly, “Who sent you?”
The White Ape Gang lackeys in the opposite courtyard had withdrawn the morning before. Li Yan had originally thought the Zhou Family was too busy with larger matters to care about him. Who would have thought someone would return in the middle of the night to spy on them?
The fellow moved lightly enough, but there was no way he could hide from Li Yan’s nose.
Li Yan had followed him back to his place the previous night. To avoid alerting anyone, he waited until just before their departure before sneaking in to eliminate the problem.
The man on the ground gritted his teeth and grunted in a low voice, “What kind of bandit are you? I was sleeping in my own home and you barged in to attack me. Aren’t you afraid of being hunted by the authorities?”
Li Yan frowned. “Enough nonsense. I just witnessed the Zhou Family’s Monkey Fist yesterday. Your leg’s still bleeding. If you’re treated quickly enough, you might survive.”
Seeing hesitation appear in the man’s eyes, Li Yan immediately switched to a smile. “Brother, I hold no grudge against you. We’re all just jianghu drifters trying to survive. Why throw away your life for someone else? What are you hoping for from the Zhou Family? A cheap coffin?”
The man asked shakily, “You won’t kill me?”
Li Yan nodded. “It’s not worth it for me to kill you.”
Feeling the weakness from blood loss in his leg, the man finally relented. “It was Third Master Zhou. Zhou Peide sent me.”
Li Yan raised a brow. “Not Zhou Pan?”
The man shook his head. “The old master ordered everyone to stay indoors and endure everything until this storm passes.”
Li Yan nodded. “Zhou Peide is Zhou Bai’s father. Wanting revenge against me is understandable. Why didn’t he come personally?”
The man hesitated, but when he saw impatience in Li Yan’s eyes, he finally clenched his teeth and answered, “Third Master Zhou hired a swordsman and ordered me to follow you. Once you leave Xianyang, they’ll kill you outside the city.”
“So that’s it.” Li Yan smiled. “With the city already in chaos, if I quietly died outside town, no one would trace it back to the Zhou Family. Quite the clever plan.”
As he spoke, he flicked the blood from his blade, sheathed it, and strode out the door. After vaulting over the courtyard wall, he vanished without a trace.
The injured man let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly began bandaging himself.
***
Late autumn had already arrived, and the weather was growing colder.
Compared to the bustling South Gate with its ferry docks, Xianyang’s North Gate was much quieter. Still, the gate saw plenty of nearby villagers coming and going with ox carts loaded with firewood for sale.
Li Yan lowered his bamboo hat and exited through the city gate, following the official road for several miles before spotting Wang Daoxuan and the others in a roadside grove.
Ever since arriving in Xianyang, they had been poor souls. Back in Gushui Village, only Li Yan had received a horse. However, he had sold it. Wang Daoxuan and Sha Lifei had not earned a single copper coin since then.
The payment for helping the Spring Breeze Troupe had been offset by the manual for the Thundercloud Resonance. Fortunately, Sha Lifei had won some money gambling, which had barely covered their living expenses.
Buying horses was out of the question. Luckily, the Taixing Carriage and Horse Company in Xianyang stood on Zhang Yuanshang’s side, allowing them to rent several horses without needing a deposit.
The three wasted no time and rode onward. Before noon, they arrived near Chunhua County.
Only then did Zhao Luzi, who had remained as silent as a stuffed gourd the entire journey, finally speak. Pointing toward a mountain range in the distance, he said, “The tree you seek is in the mountains ahead.”
“So it’s Yetai Mountain.” Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard and smiled. “This mountain holds some fame within the mystic path. It has been home to many temples since ancient times. The people of Guanzhong refer to gods as ‘Ye’, so ‘Yetai’ means the ‘Platform of the Gods’. During the Tang Dynasty, people often came here to gather tea, calling it the Spirit Rabbit Ridge.
“There’s also another lesser-known legend. According to mystic path folklore, the Dragon Ending Ridge where Grand Preceptor Wen died at the end of the Shang Dynasty lies in this very place.”
Sha Lifei’s eyes instantly lit up. “Will there be treasures?”
Wang Daoxuan burst into laughter. “Even if there were treasures, someone would’ve gotten there first long ago. Everything above ground in the Guanzhong Plains has already been searched through countless times.
“As for what lies underground, the things people could handle have long been emptied out, while the things they couldn’t handle meant certain death the moment they entered. Only the Qinling Mountain Range still hides some undiscovered secrets. Brother Zhao should know this best.”
As he spoke, he looked toward Zhao Luzi. Clearly not good with words, Zhao Luzi scratched his head awkwardly under everyone’s gaze before replying in his hoarse voice, “My family line belongs to the mountain foraging branch. We’ve never dealt much with tomb raiders. But the Qinling Mountain Range is indeed dangerous. My father entered them once and never came back.”
Li Yan said, “My condolences, Brother Zhao.”
He was deeply interested in the treasure-hunting profession. After all, his Great Luo Dharma Body required heavenly treasures to repair itself. Since Zhao Luzi had finally begun speaking, Li Yan immediately tried to get closer to him.
Zhao Luzi was thin-skinned by nature. After Li Yan praised him repeatedly, with Sha Lifei chiming in alongside him, he gradually began muttering about the treasure-hunting profession.
The trade of treasure-hunting had existed since ancient times. In primitive ages, tribal shamans had discovered the wondrous effects of certain heavenly treasures and regarded them as gifts from the gods. Yet they did not fully understand their principles. When searching for treasures, they often relied on communicating with spirits for guidance, and then recorded those secrets onto oracle bones.
Later, during the flourishing Qin-Han era of the early days of Daoism, those wandering alchemists traveled across mountains, rivers, and hidden realms in search of immortal elixirs, gradually compiling their findings into manuals. According to legend, even the missing Imperial Jade Seal had been crafted from a heavenly treasure.
The treasure-hunter profession was divided into three branches depending on lineage. There were mountain foragers, sea explorers, and hidden seekers.
Mountain foragers only ventured into the great mountains. Sea explorers specialized in underwater treasures. The hidden seekers focused on ancient tombs, underground caverns, and forgotten ruins. Each had their own area of expertise.
There was another important point as well. Since the Divine Continent[1] was vast and climates varied greatly, treasure-hunters only operated within regions they knew well. For example, if a treasure-hunter from the Guanzhong Plains ventured beyond the frontier into the white mountains and black rivers of the northeast, the unfamiliar phenomena would leave them utterly helpless.
As for the hidden seekers, they also differed from ordinary tomb robbers. Their true targets were the heavenly treasures formed within ancient tombs and underground chambers. Finding silver, coins, or antiques was merely incidental. If they encountered something ominous, no matter how valuable it was, they would never bring it out.
After entering Chunhua County, the group headed for a carriage and horse station. Their plan was to temporarily stable the horses there while also arranging transportation in advance to haul out the timber.
After all, according to Zhao Luzi, the Thunderstruck Jujube Tree was enormous. Even if they found it, the few of them alone could never carry it out.
While they were discussing the matter, a nearby worker could not help but interject, “Guests, are you planning to go to Yetai Mountain? Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but things up there haven’t been peaceful lately.”
Li Yan raised a brow. “How so?”
The worker glanced at the shopkeeper. Seeing no objection, he lowered his voice and said, “Have you ever heard of the Crimson Hair Bloody Face?”
1. The Divine Continent is an old name for China ☜
