Chapter 369: Chapter 278: The Second Storage Treasure (Part 2)
"No..." Cha Xiu was utterly terrified, using all his strength in an attempt to avoid the palm strike.
But that red palm seemed to be everywhere, and with a tragic scream, he was sent flying heavily.
The Purple Cloud Ruler fell to one side, and Cha Xiu lay powerlessly atop the broken bamboo, which pierced through his body.
The red palm wasn’t everywhere, it was just too fast for him to react.
"You... you..." Blood foam seeped from Cha Xiu’s mouth, "You aren’t..."
Before he could finish his words, his breath ceased.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the Purple Cloud Sect.
An elder sat cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, and looked to the side.
Crack... crack...
Beside him was a gold rack, with five layers, the topmost layer holding one jade plaque, the second layer holding three plaques, and more on the subsequent layers.
At this moment, the jade plaque on the left side of the second layer shattered into pieces.
"Cha Xiu, the youngster, is dead?"
He got up and walked to the gold rack, picked up the shattered jade plaque, and his furrowed face showed little expression.
...
Outside Qin Capital, bamboo forest.
Chu Ming walked to Cha Xiu’s corpse, searched a bit, but found nothing.
He looked at the nearby purple ruler, then at Cha Xiu’s right hand wearing a purple wrist guard, while the left hand had none.
"Could it be..."
His heart thought stirred slightly, he took off the wrist guard and tried to communicate using Qi and Blood Power.
After a moment, a smile appeared on Chu Ming’s face.
The purple wrist guard was indeed, as he had guessed, a Storage Space treasure.
The space within the wrist guard wasn’t big, hardly reaching half a meter in length and width, barely enough to contain the purple ruler.
Besides that, it also contained the Purple Cloud Sect’s cultivation technique, several bottles of elixir, and a few letters.
Flipping through the cultivation technique, he finished reading it in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea; the technique became part of the Cultivation Technique Lake in his Sea of Consciousness.
He then checked the elixirs; they were of decent quality, aiding cultivation and the recovery of Qi Blood.
As for the letters, they were mainly about Tang Xuan abusing his power and using his position for personal gain.
Chu Ming transferred useful items into his gold plate while gazing at the wrist guard.
He already possessed a gold plate with a size of six zhang, making the wrist guard largely useless to him.
"My master has a Storage Space, this wrist guard will make a fine gift for Housekeeper Fang."
Muttering to himself, the young man in black left the bamboo forest and returned to Qin Capital.
Chu Ming prepared to deliver a grand gift to Tang Xuan.
He first arrived at the inner city Xiao Mansion, infiltrated it, and delivered information to Xiao He’s son, Xiao Wen.
"Chu Ming? Jiping Cloth Shop?" Xiao Wen looked at the letter in his hand, frowning deeply.
"Xiao Wen, I heard that a murder occurred at Jiping Cloth Shop."
"What? Second Uncle, accompany me to Jiping Cloth Shop; Chu Ming might be in trouble."
"..."
...
Jiping Cloth Shop.
The ordinarily not-so-busy shop was particularly crowded today, not due to outsiders coming for a spectacle, but because those who worked there dyeing cloth were all summoned to gather in the central clearing.
In front of these people lay over ten corpses covered with white cloth.
Beside them, many were covering their faces in tears, yet dared not raise their voices.
For around them were Inspectors of the Regent’s Mansion, dressed in sable robes, intimidating them.
Within the shop, Inspectors were coming in and out, searching for something.
Meanwhile, hidden in a corner of the dye house, Zhuge Rui was covertly observing, staring steadfastly at a wall further inside where a metal box was concealed.
At the same time, in the central clearing of the shop, Manor Master Yux Cheng appeared anxious, repeatedly glancing furtively toward a dye house.
Time passed as the search continued.
Nearing noon, a carriage drove into the shop from outside, and a person alighted from it.
"Lord Zhong." Cui Ye of the Ministry of Industry’s Repair Department bowed and greeted.
Supervisor Zhong Yang of the Regent’s Mansion, who had previously stopped Xiao Wen at the gate of Qin Capital City to investigate Forbidden Object affairs, maintained an unmoved expression, coldly glared at Cui Ye before eventually returning the gesture.
"I’ve heard that Jiping Cloth Shop is Lord Cui’s enterprise, and now it seems the rumors were true."
"Haha, where does Lord Zhong hear such gossip?" Cui Ye maintained a smile, seemingly denying ownership of the shop.
"Oh? Then what is Lord Cui here for?" Zhong Yang stared at Cui Ye.
Cui Ye raised his hands to the sky, his demeanor respectful, and replied, "I am here for Celestial Longevity Platform."
Upon hearing ’Celestial Longevity Platform’, Zhong Yang’s face changed instantly.
In Qin Capital, everyone knew Celestial Longevity Platform was built by His Majesty for Empress Dowager Duaan’s birthday celebration, and many either avoided it or tried desperately to get involved; Zhong Yang was one of the former.
"What business do you have regarding Celestial Longevity Platform?"
Despite the urgency of official duties, with over ten fatalities overnight at the shop, Zhong Yang felt compelled to inquire.
"The completion of Celestial Longevity Platform is approaching, and it requires red brocade, which only Jiping Cloth Shop can dye." Cui Ye kept smiling.
"..."
As the two faced off, a figure slipped past the Regent’s Mansion’s surveillance and stealthily entered the grand dye house.
This person was named Cui Xing, Housekeeper to Cui Ye.
Cui Ye was preoccupying Zhong Yang at the forefront, having secretly dispatched Cui Xing to retrieve the box.
The contents of the box were critical to Cui Ye’s potential promotion and survival; he hurried to the shop at the first sign of trouble.
Just as Cui Xing entered the dye house, he was spotted by Zhuge Rui hiding in the shadows.
Zhuge Rui felt anxious, but dared not act hastily; he observed the man’s intentions in silence.
Cui Xing proceeded straight to the rear of the dye house, lifted a brick, and was about to take the metal box inside.
Zhuge Rui could wait no longer, and charged out from the shadows.
"Who?" Cui Xing was startled, almost dropping the box.
He was an ordinary person, trusted deeply by Cui Ye, which is why he was sent for the box, possessing little talent himself.
Zhuge Rui had a black scarf covering his face, said nothing, swiftly flashed and snatched the metal box from Cui Xing’s hands, then leaped out of the dye house, heading for the shop’s exterior.
Cui Xing grew anxious, yet dared not pursue, while his eyes showed a peculiar expression that left others puzzled.
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