Chapter 136: The Rain is Coming
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
"Where and what did these men in black come from?" asked Zhang Shaochu.
Zhang Ruochen looked up towards the Mountain Path where 20 men in black had all been killed. The air was filled with the stench of blood.
"Did you leave anyone alive?" Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly.
Zhang Shaochu let out a sigh and said, "We intended to leave one survivor, but he committed suicide by taking poison."
The power of Zhang Shaochu alone was not enough to kill 20 men in black, who possessed strong cultivation, and 13 of them were killed by Blackie.
Looking at the dead bodies on the ground, Zhang Shaochu couldn't help but tremble. When he looked at Blackie again, he showed more respect for it.
He thought that the cat was formidable enough to be as powerful as the ninth brother.
"Let's search their bodies and see if we can find any clues," said Zhang Ruochen.
Quickly, Zhang Shaochu searched the 20 dead bodies, trying to find some clues.
Zhang Ruochen picked up the long purple handled sword on the ground and poured power into it. He searched for a while and said, "It is a fifth-level Genuine Martial Arms with 22 inscriptions worth 100,000 silver coins. Well! Not bad!"
He stored it in the Spatial Ring.
"Ninth brother, aside from the weapons and healing Pills, there was nothing on their bodies to identify them." Zhang Shaochu had searched out over 10 bottles of healing pills and a great number of soldiers' weapons and crossbows of Genuine Martial Arms level.
"These pills and crossbows are probably worth over 100,000 silver coins." Zhang Ruochen cleared up the pills and weapons into the Spatial Ring.
This time, Zhang Shaochu witnessed all these things clearly being put into the ring.
He thought that he was dazzling. He rubbed his eyes and found that all the Pills and weapons had indeed disappeared.
"A spatial treasure?" Zhang Shaochu asked in surprise.
"My Fourth brother, when your cultivation reaches the Earth Realm, I can give you a space treasure as a gift." Zhang Ruochen said gravely, "But for now, you need to keep it a secret for me."
Zhang Shaochu clearly knew the value of the spatial treasure. He immediately beat his chest and said, "I promise you, my ninth brother. Even if I am threatened with death, I won't tell anyone."
Afterwards, he smiled and said, "Ninth brother, will you really give me a spatial treasure when I reach the Earth Stage Realm?"
"If your cultivation reaches the Earth Stage Realm, you will become one of the top masters and own the capability to protect yourself. By that time, I can certainly give you a spatial treasure!" he answered. "Let's put this aside for now. We have to leave right now. I'm suspicious that there are other masters hunting Liu Chuanshen in order to kill him."
Both of them rode on the savage beast at their the fastest speed, heading for Tianyueguan Pass.
"We have to arrive at the Tianyueguan Pass before dark. Once we enter the Pass, we can arrange part of the troops to escort us back to Yunwu City," said Zhang Shaochu.
Shortly after they left, another two troops of men in black rushed to the pass.
"There was an intense fight an hour ago, the Chief Qing Feng and 20 disciples were wiped out." A wizened man in black stood on the cliff and said in an aged voice, "We need to report this to the leader Chief at once."
"Is it possible that the masters of the Martial Market Bank have rushed to Yunwu Commandery to save Liu Chuanshen?" A young man in black asked.
"Shouldn't be the masters of the Martial Market Bank, they would need more time to get here."
After observing the traces on the ground carefully, the elderly man said, "Look! The two people who saved Liu Chuanshen are riding on second-level savage beasts. Judging by this footprint, they are heading to the Tianyueguan Pass."
"They are going to Tianyueguan Pass?"
"That's right," The elderly said. "Let's catch up with them. Perhaps we can intercept them halfway."
"They are biting the hook going to Tianyueguan Pass!"
Two troops of men in black dashed towards Tianyueguan Pass at the same time.
Zhang Ruochen and Zhang Shaochu were both princes. The moment they entered Tianyueguan Pass, they went straight to the Duke's Mansion.
Then, Zhang Shaochu went to the military camp, dispatching 5,000 elite troops to protect the Duke's entire mansion.
All the commands were made by Zhang Ruochen. They could never underestimate the tremendous power of the enemies. After all ,Martial Arts master of the Heaven Realm had been badly beaten.
The General who stationed at Tianyueguan Pass was named Chen Yuchan. He was one of the top three powerful forces in the army of Yunwu Commandery and was loyal to Yunwu Commandery Prince.
Although Chen Yu-chan's cultivation had not yet reached the Heaven Realm, he owned an eighth-level Genuine Martial Arms, which allowed him to possess the power of warriors in the Heaven Realm.
Most importantly, Tianyueguan Pass was set with the array to protect the city. Once the array was opened, no one including the strongest of the Heaven Realm could escape from being killed.
Instead of telling Chen Yuchan about the reasons for hiding in Duke's Mansion, Zhang Ruochen just let him reinforce the defense. There might be a bloody battle in the Tianyueguan Pass tonight.
Chen Yuchan was a cautious person. He had heard about the achievements of the Ninth Prince before. Therefore, he thought that it was the masters of the Square Commandery who were hunting down the Ninth Prince.
Hence, he asked people to send a message back to Yunwu City, hoping Yunwu Commandery Prince would send the Martial Arts masters to escort the Ninth Prince and the Fourth Prince.
At the same time, one of the mansions in Tianyueguan Pass was as bright as daytime.
Led by a maidservant, the man in black, who was wearing a golden mask, entered the house and stopped outside of a pavilion.
When the man in black took off the mask, an old face was revealed. If Zhang Ruochen was here, he would probably recognize that he was Mo Hanlin, the shopkeeper of Qingxuan Pavilion.
With a seven-stringed plucked instrument placed in front of her, Qin Ya sat in the center of the pavilion, playing. She struck up a beautiful tune.
Instead of interrupting her, Mo Hanlin waited outside the pavilion quietly.
After just one melody, the music lingered in the air long after the performance had ended.
Qin Ya gently wiped her fingers with a white silk and asked casually, "Did Liu Chuanshen die?"
Her voice was very soft, low and attractive to other people.
Mo Hanlin replied, "Distinguished Chief, Liu Chuanshen... has been saved."
Qin Ya laughed and said, "Oh, who dared to save the people the Moon Worship Demonic Sect wants to kill?"
Mo Hanlin replied, "If the news is true, Liu Chuanshen should have been saved by the Ninth Prince and the Fourth Prince. They are in the Duke's Mansion at Tianyueguan Pass right now."
"Which Ninth Prince?" Qin Ya showed a little interest in the words with her eyebrows raised.
Mo Hanlin knew that the Chief was fairly interested in Zhang Ruochen, so he replied truthfully, "Zhang Ruochen. Chief Qing Feng and 20 disciples were wiped out during the conflict with Zhang Ruochen and Zhang Shaochu."
When Qin Ya heard that the masters of the branch gang had been wiped out, she was not agitated at all. Instead, she smiled and said, "Aha! Zhang Ruochen has indeed lived up to my expectations. Within a year, he has possessed the power to kill warriors of the Earth Realm."
"According to news from the School of the Martial Market, Zhang Ruochen not only won first place in the Four Campus New Student's Martial Competition but he also became the top Spiritual Power genius in the history of The School of the Martial Market. It was said that even Luo Xu, in the same Realm, was unable to defeat him."
Mo Hanlin was quite surprised at both Zhang Ruochen's talents and the Chief's great attention to Zhang Ruochen's development.
"Do we need to kill him in advance or should we try to persuade him to join us?" Mo Hanlin asked.
Qin Ya stood up and walked to one side of the pavilion. She looked up to the sky and said, "Lady Saint is quite interested in him and has sent me a message to protect him."
"Since it is the command from the Lady Saint, we'd better not offend him. Furthermore, even though he returned to Yunwu Commandery, the situation could never be changed." Mo Hanlin meditated for a while and said, "If so, do we still need to kill Liu Chuanshen? It will be a recipe for disaster, if we do not kill him. He is a master of the Heaven Realm."
Qin Ya replied, "Anyway, we have secretly merged more than half of the industries in the Martial Market and control over half of Yunwu Commandery's finance. Let's leave the final phase to those from the black market! What's more, it is difficult to deal with Chen Yuchan. He owns the Induced Air Pearls. It is not necessary for us to take a risk."
Mo Hanlin agreed nodding his head, "Let's stand by and play it by ear. Nothing will improve if there is a lose-lose situation between Black Market and the guards of Tianyueguan Pass."
...
Duke's Mansion, Tianyueguan Pass.
In order to help Liu Chuanshen heal, Zhang Ruochen sent people to buy the "Black Pill", a fourth-level healing Pill which cost him 600,000 silver coins.
After he took the Black Pill, Liu Chuanshen's injury started healing at a visible speed and quickly formed a scab. Even his broken arm grew new skin quickly.
Shortly after, Liu Chuanshen woke up but was still weak.
Compared to the external injury, the internal injury was relatively hard to heal.
A familiar feeling occurred to Liu Chuanshen when he saw the figure of a young man standing with his back to him. Thus, he asked in a weak voice, "Excuse me, can you tell me why I am here?"
Zhang Ruochen walked to him at once. "Manager Liu, you're finally awake! Who were those hunting you down?" he asked.
Liu Chuanshen was neither able to laugh nor cry when he recognized that Zhang Ruochen had saved him. He sighed and said, "It is the Ninth Prince that saved me. I would have never imagined several months ago that you would one day be my savior."
Liu Chuanshen looked very tired. Since he was a master of Martial Arts in the Heaven Realm and had great cultivation, he managed to get out of bed, even with the serious injury.
After operating Genuine Qi for one circulation inside his body, Liu Chuanshen felt much better in his mental state. Then, the solemn imposing manner of Martial Arts appeared on Liu Chuanshen, intensifying the atmosphere of the whole room.
Liu Chuanshen sighed and said, "Almost all the industries of the Martial Market Bank in Yunwu Commandery have been ruined. More than ten thousand important members of the Martial Market Bank have been killed, over 3,800 shops have been merged, and all the mines, pastures and Banks have been robbed. It was a heavy loss for us. At present, the Martial Market Bank has completely lost control over Yunwu Commandery's economy. And the foundation we had laid during the past hundreds of years disappeared overnight. I am the guilty person who should be responsible for this!"