Chapter 124: Chapter 112: The Unexpected Form Two
The thirty-third year of the Zun’an Era.
January 16th.
Shuzhou, Jiayang City.
Tonight, a Full Moon hung high in a cloudless sky.
The Lantern Festival had just ended, but a festive air still lingered on the streets. On the city’s canals, many children had folded paper boats, placing small, drum-like lanterns upon them before letting them drift away with the current.
From high above, the faint red glow of the candles on the river looked like a shimmering galaxy.
On a three-story pavilion, Zheng Xiu sat cross-legged. At this moment, he was Machoman Zheng Shan.
The group had split up to gather information. The Shuzhou region was vast, and trying to find a lost painting within it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Although he was separated from Yue Yan and the other two, Zheng Xiu had just logged into his alt account and headed straight for the Feng Bei Post Station. He knew Feng Bei was nearby.
He couldn’t get far from Feng Bei, anyway.
The teleportation range of the Post Station was anchored to the vicinity of Feng Bei’s Humanoid Ghosts and Demons.
In fact, the three-story pavilion he was on was called the "Great Night Treasure Pavilion." It served as Ye Weiyang’s office in Jiayang City. Feng Bei himself was on the second floor at that very moment, sitting in silence.
A few solitary Ravens perched on the pavilion’s flying eaves. They glanced at the Mighty Man on the roof, then went back to quietly preening their messy feathers, paying him no mind.
The Dice emerged from between his eyebrows. Zheng Xiu used Concentration and activated his Spiritual Vision.
Fed by the experience point jackpot from the Treasure Queen, all of Zheng Xiu’s Traits had been raised to the "Masterful" level.
’What does it mean to be Masterful?’
’It probably means I can do whatever I want.’
Under his Spiritual Vision, the world before him transformed into a blazing furnace. Flowing ink and seven-hued pigments composed a bizarre and magnificent painted scroll.
His Painter’s soul stirred within him. As Zheng Xiu gazed at the fantastic scroll unfolding before his eyes, he felt a sudden urge to capture the magnificent scene on canvas.
Suppressing the strange impulse, Zheng Xiu focused his Spiritual Vision, slowly beginning to discern the details.
His field of vision gradually narrowed, and the ink-wash style scroll seemed to contract.
The streets, the bustling commoners, the canal of lanterns—the surrounding scenery regained its worldly texture. Yet within Jiayang City, a few small pockets of light remained, as dazzling under Zheng Xiu’s Spiritual Vision as a naked girl in a men’s bathhouse.
"Uncle Zheng! Uncle Zheng!"
’A Mighty Man is like a firefly in the night.’
’I’ve been as low-key as possible.’
But down below, Dou Xie was excitedly waving up at the Mighty Man.
’Spotted in an instant.’
Zheng Xiu leaped down from the third story.
THUD!
The ground trembled.
Like a boulder crashing to the earth.
Strongman Zheng rose and walked away, leaving two shallow footprints embedded in the bluestone slabs.
Yue Yan said, "Brother Zheng, could you be... a little more discreet?"
"I’ll try," Zheng Xiu replied.
Just then, Feng Bei emerged from the Great Night Treasure Pavilion. He walked straight to Zheng Xiu and said to the three of them, "Xu Shu and his group are no longer in Jiayang."
Xu Shu had left a piece of intelligence at the Great Night Treasure Pavilion.
It was a map of Shuzhou.
He had drawn circles around several locations on it.
Zheng Xiu couldn’t help but laugh the moment he saw it. "Is this Xu Shu really a mole?"
Dou Xie had also sensed something was off when he first saw the map. He couldn’t help but ask, "What do you mean by that?"
Zheng Xiu pointed at the map. "Badong, Basi, Yinping, Zitong, Xinggu. He’s circled locations from north to south, east to west—twenty-six of them in total. If we really search each of these circled spots one by one, how is that any different from just making a grand tour of the entire Shuzhou region? If there’s a mole in Ye Weiyang, who could it be but him? He’s showing his hand way too early."
Yue Yan chuckled at his words. "You have sharp eyes, Brother Zheng. It’s true that Xu Shu has never gotten along with Lord Upper Three. But I doubt he’s a mole. Xu Shu has always been arrogant and ambitious; he’s had his eye on a position among the Twelfth Moon for a long time. Now that Lower Four’s fate is unknown, it would be strange if he *didn’t* try to make a move for a promotion. Rather than being a mole, I think he’s just greedy for credit. He wants to find the scroll before Lord Upper Three can."
Upon hearing this, Zheng Xiu turned to Feng Bei. "This punk has a problem with you?"
Feng Bei nodded. "He does."
"Why?"
’What Zheng Xiu really wanted to ask was why Feng Bei hadn’t just killed him. But then he remembered they were surrounded by Ye Weiyang members and decided to just ask "Why?", letting Feng Bei infer the rest and fill in the blanks himself.’
Feng Bei fell silent for a moment.
Dou Xie looked completely lost.
Yue Yan, however, glanced at Zheng Shan in confusion. She found it strange that he would ask such a question.
If Dou Xie had asked, that would be one thing—Dou Xie was a clueless lightweight in every respect. But for Zheng Shan, a reclusive master, to ask... it didn’t make sense.
"Brother Zheng was in seclusion for twenty years; he wouldn’t know the inside story." Feng Bei gently tightened his black silk gloves, as if seeing right through Yue Yan’s doubts. He took the initiative to explain on Senior Zheng’s behalf, then added with a faint smile, "Xu Shu follows the Executioner Path."
"So Brother Zheng really is a master from the ’Hidden World.’" Feng Bei’s explanation made Yue Yan understand. Realization dawned on her, and she continued where Feng Bei left off. "There are secret records in Ye Weiyang that say the ’Omen’ of an ’Innate Mystic’ is actually a type of Deceitful Object that can be ’stolen.’ In other words, the ultimate goal for an Executioner like Xu Shu... is very likely Lord Upper Three himself."
’A Deceitful Object... that can be stolen?’
Feng Bei remained perfectly calm. "That’s why, a few years ago, Xu Shu came to my mountain and told me he was going to kill me and steal my Omen."
Yue Yan’s eyes went wide. ’That happened?’
"Afterward, he knelt on the ground and begged for his life. And I... let him go."
With just two sentences, Feng Bei sketched out their past.
The others now roughly understood the history between Xu Shu and Feng Bei.
Zheng Xiu, however, was puzzled. ’So Xu Shu is one of those guys whose ambition far outstrips his skill. He actually dared to challenge Feng Bei at his home... so why didn’t Feng Bei finish him off?’
But with so many people around, Zheng Xiu kept these thoughts to himself.
