Chapter 171: Chapter 171 Peach Forest Town (Shamelessly Asking for Subscriptions)
The Floating River Area and the Yunfeng Domain were separated by lofty mountains and countless ravines.
After releasing the horses to go home, Shi Xiaole trekked among them, practicing martial arts and traveling at the same time, detached from the world, yet finding his own joy.
His journey to the Yunfeng Domain in search of clues to his parents was not without direction. Remember that Shi Xiaole once got a jade bracelet stained with blood from the Mingliu Villa.
He discreetly inquired some time ago and found that the jade bracelet’s material and craftsmanship originated from the renowned Treasure Horse Pavilion of the Flying Horse Dynasty.
The Treasure Horse Pavilion has been established for hundreds of years, with branches all over the large south and north rivers. The jade articles it produces are the best in the East Victory Continent and are hard to come by. It’s said that without connections, even if you’re a wealthy merchant, you’ll not be able to acquire jade articles from the Treasure Horse Pavilion.
In view of this, Shi Xiaole’s parents do not seem to be ordinary people.
Every jade article that the Treasure Horse Pavilion produces is marked with a place of origin and a number using a special method. Through investigation, Shi Xiaole found that the jade bracelet he held came from a place called Peach Forest Town in the Yunfeng Domain.
The night star, the fire’s faint glow.
A magnificent layer of violet spirit wrapped around Shi Xiaole. Like cotton and clouds, like light and water, it waved with indomitable terrifying tenacity.
This was a sign that the Purple Light Divine Skill was about to be accomplished.
Internal strength does not compare to martial techniques. Even if Shi Xiaole has extraordinary comprehension, it would not be possible to make such progress. But the enhancement of physique by the Elephant Strength Fruit was too obvious.
Indeed, the speed of internal strength progress is closely related to the construction of the meridians and their strength. Some people are born with peculiar meridians, clever pathways, no obstructions, and naturally progress quickly in practicing internal strength.
Most people, however, are corrupted by acquired impurities, with weak meridians, so practice has to be accumulated bit by bit.
After the enhancement of his physique, Shi Xiaole’s physical qualifications were much stronger. Coupled with his thorough understanding of the Purple Light Divine Skill, it would be strange if he did not progress quickly.
At the current rate, in less than a month, the Purple Light Divine Skill might achieve a breakthrough.
"Hmm?"
Just as he was about to finish his practice, Shi Xiaole suddenly heard a few sneaky voices in his ear.
The voices were hundreds of meters away, deliberately suppressed, but under the augmentation of the Purple Light Divine Skill, they were clearly captured.
"Hehe, once next month’s operation is successful, we won’t have to skulk around anymore."
"Although White Water City is remote, it is one of the major cities in the Yunfeng Domain. As long as we control the Martial World force there, it will greatly benefit the Demon Lord’s future plan."
"After more than six centuries of silence, it’s time to show those so-called orthodox sects what we’re made of."
The conversation ended amidst sinister laughter.
Shi Xiaole slowly finished and frowned.
Every Martial World person in Qingxue State would recognize the term "Demon Lord." Those called the Demon Lord by the Devil Path people, there is only one of the two great Demon Palaces, the Palace Master of the Sun Demon Palace.
The conversations of the Devil Path people undeniably leaked a secret just now—the Sun Demon Palace is planning to make a move on White Water City.
Ever since Shi Xiaole found the Demon Sound Valley in the Cloud Triangle, he had vaguely felt that the Devil Path’s power was seeing a resurgence. It’s now evident that not just the Cloud Triangle, but perhaps the entire Qingxue State, is within the Devil Path’s scheme.
He quietly approached the source of the voice, only to find no one in sight. It seemed that those Devil Path masters had left.
Shi Xiaole’s heart fluttered.
Things might get complicated in the future, so he should focus more on practicing martial arts. In both prosperous and chaotic times, having more strength always means having more assurance.
Additionally, he might need to warn the Martial World in White Water City to prevent them from falling into the Devil Path’s trap.
Days flew by, and half a month passed in a hurry.
As early summer approached, there was rain of peach blossoms in a quiet small town in the Yunfeng Domain. With a breeze blowing, the air was still fragrant.
Peach Forest Town had a population of not more than 100,000, but due to an unknown reason, peach blossoms bloomed all year round, attracting wealthy merchants, tourists, and young masters from nearby places. Thus the town prospered significantly, even attracting a branch of the Treasure Horse Pavilion.
On the ancient blue stone path, a youth in a blue shirt walked along.
For a moment, the long street was silent.
The youth had a crystal clear complexion, a face of extreme handsomeness yet not without masculinity. He walked casually down the street, against the backdrop of the ink-blue sky, truly like a figure in a painting.
"What a dashing young fellow."
"He’s definitely not a local. He must be from elsewhere."
Many matrons cast their gaze, examining the youth.
Upon hearing the commotion, a few girls from the boudoirs popped their heads out of the window, looking low from upstairs, their faces flushing shyly.
The youth in the blue shirt was oblivious to it all and just walked into a two-story inn.
This handsome young man, of course, was Shi Xiaole.
On his first day in Peach Forest Town, he penned a few letters, noting down his experiences in the forest, and sent them to several major schools in White Water City.
Then he went to the Treasure Horse Pavilion and, according to the mark on the incomplete jade bracelet, the branch quickly found from their record book that it was custom-made by a man with the last name Shi seventeen years ago.
With this information, Shi Xiaole decided to stay in Peach Forest Town for a while and look for clues on his own.
He didn’t plan on buying any information from intelligence agencies.
Firstly, the intelligence organization might not know.
Secondly, sometimes when you go to buy information, you also end up revealing your own information. Intuition told Shi Xiaole that he had to investigate his parents’ case himself.
In the following days, he began to stroll around Peach Forest Town, greeting people with a smile and a humble attitude, quickly striking up conversations with the older ladies on the street.
The older ladies, having nothing to do, were happy to chat with such a bright and handsome young man. In the course of the conversation, Shi Xiaole quickly learned a lot of information.
For example, Peach Forest Town only has one martial faction called Peach Forest Sect, which developed in just sixteen years and has become the most prominent force in the vicinity.
The leader of the gang, ’Bold as Clouds’ Qin Wuye, is a master of the seventh level of Qi Absorption. He is righteous, generous, loves to make friends with heroes, and is highly praised by his neighbors.
Shi Xiaole inconspicuously inquired about matters from years ago, when one round-faced older lady suddenly said, "Speaking of it, Qin Wuye’s rise is thanks to a couple."
"Oh, were they his parents?"
Shi Xiaole deliberately asked.
"Definitely not. That couple only lived in Peach Forest Town for a while, but they had such rare grace and temperament, and were kind-hearted, helping many people. At that time, Qin Wuye was just the young master’s follower."
At this point, the round-faced older lady suddenly stared at Shi Xiaole and said, "It’s strange, Xiao Le, you don’t look like that couple at all, but somehow, you feel a bit similar?"
"You have the same thought too, so do I."
The ladies surrounding Shi Xiaole were chattering away and wouldn’t let him go.
Shi Xiaole felt a slight throb in his heart and deftly changed the subject before finding an excuse to leave.
"A follower?"
By the pondside, Shi Xiaole strolled alone, seeming to have found a clue.
In the following days, he began to intentionally investigate Qin Wuye. The results he received were largely the same, all praises for the man.
When talking about Qin Wuye’s rise, all said it was due to the couple’s charitable giving.
Until the sixth day, Shi Xiaole suddenly noticed a reclusive old man covered in scars on his face.
When others talk about how righteous Qin Wuye is, the other party’s eyes clearly contained disdain, which would not have been noticed if not for Shi Xiaole’s keen observation.
That night, Shi Xiaole came to the old man’s leaky house and got straight to the point: "I hope I’m not disturbing you, sir. I wonder what your opinion of Qin Wuye is?"
The reclusive old man ignored him.
As Shi Xiaole continued to ask, the man finally became impatient and angrily said: "You have repeatedly inquired about Qin Wuye in the past few days. You will bring trouble upon yourself sooner or later. If you want to die, don’t involve me. Get out immediately!"
"Sir..."
"Are you deaf?"
The reclusive old man, like a roaring lion, picked up the iron knife next to him and slashed directly at Shi Xiaole.
At this moment, a strange glow lit up in Shi Xiaole’s eyes, causing the reclusive old man to momentarily freeze.
"Sir, it seems that you have a lot of grievances with Qin Wuye."
"He’s a beast! After the couple left, within a month, he found a way to take over the property and money they left behind, but announced to the public that it was given to him voluntarily."
The reclusive old man’s scars contorted hideously on his face, saying, "Of course, people knew about this, so wielding his few martial arts skills, he almost wiped out all the servants left by the couple! My wife and daughter were tragically killed in the massacre!"
Shi Xiaole asked, "In that case, how did you manage to escape?"
"Heh, the male master was planting a large garden of flowers in the mansion to welcome his child. As I had just returned from regularly purchasing seeds and happened to witness the event from a hidden location, I decided to disfigure my face and ruin my throat in the hope of getting revenge one day!"
By the end of his account, the reclusive old man’s eyes were filled with bloodshot streaks and his whole body was shaking terribly due to his bone-deep hatred.
After the Soul Transfer Great Method dissipated, the reclusive old man was covered in cold sweat. When he looked at Shi Xiaole again, there was a look of fear in his eyes.
Shi Xiaole did not say anything and left the leaky house.
Under the influence of the Soul Transfer Great Method, the reclusive old man couldn’t lie. So Shi Xiaole made a decision on his next move.
Initially, he only wanted to investigate the clues about his parents. Now that he knew about this, as their son, he should take some action.
The Peach Forest Sect was located in the best area to the east of Peach Forest Town. Here, there were mountains and water, with a row of peach trees at the entrance.
One day, a young man in a green gown came to visit.
The people of the Peach Forest Sect initially didn’t care, but the visitor directly stated, "I’m here to see Qin Wuye and return the deeds of the property."
Return the deeds?
Who didn’t know that Qin Wuye was always generous and magnanimous, always the lender, not the borrower. When did it ever happen that he borrowed from someone else?
The Peach Forest Sect master was about to rebuke him, but they were all very conscious of their reputation, influenced by Qin Wuye. So they invited Shi Xiaole into the hall and went to report.
"Haha, I don’t know where the young hero came from. If Qin really owes something, he will return it one by one."
In the sound of laughter, two figures walked in leisurely.
The middle-aged man on the left had a clean, beardless face and appeared to be well maintained. The young man on the right bore a striking resemblance to him, they were Qin Wuye and his son, the ’Bold as Clouds’.
