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墨書 Inktalez
"Tribute."
Lu Chen murmured to himself, slightly shocked. He did not expect to find tribute money in this den of thieves. Anything related to "tribute" was meant for offering to the court, but he wondered why it ended up here.
Although Lu Chen thought about it and felt the situation was somewhat complicated, it didn't matter who it was meant for; since it was now in Lu Chen's hands, it naturally became his property, regardless of any tribute obligations.
Lu Chen instructed the twenty Qi Masters to transport these treasures down the mountain, mixing them with other treasure boxes before taking them away.
Next, Lu Chen led Old Mu and Lian Dashuang back to the previous location, where the Bandit Leader was still sitting on the ground, looking dazed and foolish.
"Who sent you?" Lu Chen shouted violently, grabbing the man's shoulders and lifting him up.
The leader's mouth opened and closed as if he didn't know what to say. It seemed that his emotions were so stirred that speaking had become difficult.
"We have all taken a deadly oath that no matter what happens, we cannot reveal him. If I do, it would be equivalent to breaking my vow, which is no different from death."
With purple lips trembling, the Bandit Leader finally managed to stammer out these words, showing a hint of fear.
Although this group were Mountain Bandits, they were still very strict about their promises, especially deadly oaths, which could affect a cultivator's entire life.
Lu Chen's eyes widened in anger as he threw the man back to the ground and said, "I have already found your tribute money. The one behind you must be from the Great Zhou Court, right?" Lu Chen speculated.
To his surprise, the man immediately shook his head and said, "Sort of, but not entirely. You guessed half right."
Lu Chen waved his hand in frustration and said, "I don't have time to play guessing games with you. If you are unwilling to speak, just write that person's name on the ground; writing just one character related to him should suffice. That way, it wouldn't count as breaking your vow, right? I won't strip you of your cultivation today; you can still cultivate again."
Calmly, Lu Chen devised a foolproof plan: he would have the Bandit Leader write down the name of the person behind him instead of revealing it outright. Moreover, by only asking him to write one character, it wouldn’t be considered breaking his vow.
Upon hearing this, the Bandit Leader's eyes lit up. After a moment of contemplation, he found Lu Chen's reasoning sound. Writing just one character would not be considered a breach of his oath.
He then raised his hand and began to write on the ground. With swift strokes—vertical, horizontal, slanting, and dotting—he quickly finished writing one character.
After completing it, the Bandit Leader sat quietly on the ground, falling silent.
Lu Chen and the others hurried over to take a look and saw a crooked character scrawled on the ground. The Mountain Bandits were not well-educated and could barely read, so the character was written in an extremely ugly manner.
He might have seen that character in passing letters, which allowed him to barely remember it and replicate it poorly.
Despite the character's awkwardness and ugliness, it was still recognizable—it was clearly the character "Chen."
"Chen?"
Lu Chen murmured to himself. The Bandit Leader writing the character "Chen" indicated that someone with the surname Chen intended to harm him. In an instant, Lu Chen recalled the events leading up to this moment and understood the situation.
Seeing that the Mountain Bandit was unwilling to speak further, Lu Chen decided to leave it at that. He lightly snorted and turned to leave with Old Mu and Lian Dashuang.
At this time, all the treasure chests stacked in the courtyard had been removed, leaving the surroundings empty and quiet. Lu Chen and his companions descended the mountain along their original path.
Not long after, Lian Dashuang ran a few steps to catch up and asked in a childish voice, "Master, who is trying to harm us? Who could this person with the surname Chen be?"
Without turning his head, Lu Chen replied, "Chen Taikun, Governor of the Seven Provinces of Luzhou, a henchman of Qi Kingdom and an aide to Huangfu Yi."
"Ah? We have no grievances with him; why would he want to harm us? Lu Prefecture is on our way back; does that mean we..."
Lian Dashuang spoke candidly without restraint, spilling out all his speculations. Only Old Mu remained silent beside them.
"The Second Young Master of Chen Taikun is someone I killed. Now Chen Taikun is seeking revenge on me. You don't need to worry; with me here, we will face any soldiers or obstacles that come our way," Lu Chen said confidently.
"Hey hey," Lian Dashuang said, his body suddenly shaking as he chuckled a couple of times.
Lu Chen returned to the Caravan, exchanging glances with Princess Zhulan. This time, the ordeal had been more frightening than dangerous; fortunately, there were no significant losses, just a few boxes that had been severely shot through by arrows, covered in holes.
Next, the group set off again, with Lu Chen walking at the front. His thoughts had become more complicated, as he had to consider the situation with Chen Taikun.
What shocked him was that if Lu Chen wanted to return, Lu Prefecture was a necessary route. Chen Taikun could no longer hold back his desire to kill him and had even misappropriated the court's tribute money to bribe Mountain Bandits, attempting to create trouble for Lu Chen. This showed just how deep his hatred for Lu Chen ran.
It was clear that this journey would not be smooth and that they would encounter countless troubles along the way.
Chen Taikun was the Governor of Luzhou; he was merely a regional official under Qi Kingdom, not even worth mentioning as an appetizer. What worried Lu Chen even more was Qi Kingdom itself.
On the surface, Qi Kingdom showed no interest in that batch of Treasure, but how could they easily let go of such a tempting opportunity?
Once they entered Yan Nan Pass, they would be on Qi Kingdom's territory. The fact that Qi Kingdom had yet to take action only deepened Lu Chen's confusion.
It was possible that their schemes were brewing behind the scenes; the longer a storm brewed, the more violent its eruption would be. It seemed necessary for Lu Chen to make some preparations.
The group continued on their journey, slowly moving forward along the winding mountain roads.
After three days, starting from Yan Nan Pass, they had traversed half of Central Plains and reached the central region. The northern part of Central Plains belonged to Yangzhou, which was also one of Qi Kingdom's five states.
The Governor of Yangzhou and local officials had long been arranged by Sun Zizhao, so there was no need for concern; it could be considered a smooth passage.
Yangzhou belonged to Qi Kingdom. If Qi Kingdom were to issue orders to intercept Lu Chen and his companions, things would certainly not go smoothly. The reason Qi Kingdom turned a blind eye might be because they were betting everything on the final outcome; this was something Lu Chen had already anticipated.
On the evening of the third day, less than thirty miles from Yangzhou City, darkness began to settle in.
If everyone continued on their way, they could find lodging within Yangzhou City and take a good rest.
However, for safety's sake, Lu Chen decided not to rest in the city. Throughout his journey, there had been no cases of resting inside the cities; everyone had camped outside.
Either they took some time to set up camp in front of the city, or they pressed on and passed through the city before resting further away.
Lu Chen did this to avoid getting involved with the officials and soldiers along the way. Although the caravan was not officially transporting treasure, such a large group would inevitably attract attention.
Lu Chen was not afraid of them using tricks to steal the treasure; he was completely unfazed by that. What he feared was that such an incident would draw the attention of the officials and soldiers, leading to a situation that could spiral out of control.
The bureaucratic system of the Qi Kingdom was similar to that of the court, with everything interconnected. News spread faster than anything else. Once involved with them, it would be impossible to extricate oneself, much like a fox that fails to catch its prey and ends up in trouble.
Soon, the caravan stopped at the foot of a mountain, and all the carts were gathered on a flat piece of land. The horses and carts were unloaded, with the carts stacked together while the horses grazed leisurely nearby, allowing them to rest for a while.
Sixty Qi Masters set up camp near the carts, cooking over a bonfire. Princess Zhulan and her companions set up their tents a bit farther away, on a hillside five hundred steps distant.
This elevated position allowed them to monitor the entire caravan and observe conditions further afield.
Lu Chen pitched his tent large enough to be brightly lit inside; even from a distance, one could see his silhouette sitting at a table reading a book.
However, at that moment, Lu Chen's true self had already left his tent and was several thousand steps away on a high mountain overlooking the entire campsite.
From here, he could see not only all the tents but also everything within two or three miles around.
Switching between his physical body and Yin Spirit vision, Lu Chen surveyed everything around him.
Countless nocturnal animals emerged to forage; snakes, mountain mice, nightingales—all appeared completely normal.
Seeing this situation, Lu Chen let out a sigh of relief. He then took out the Purple Gold Robe from his Jun Bell and donned it. His true self manifested as a Thunderous Python and soared into the sky.
The direction Lu Chen departed was towards Yangzhou City!
Around midnight, Lu Chen flew out from Yangzhou City, preparing to return.
He had come in the capacity of Ye Nanzhai, the leader of the Red Robe Sect, to meet with the Branch Leader of the Red Robe Sect in Yangzhou City to discuss some matters.
Since he manifested directly as Ye Nanzhai and had the Three Aspects Return to One Scripture as the Supreme Leader's identity, he easily gained the Branch Leader's trust.
Visiting the Red Robe Sect's branch felt like returning home for Lu Chen, and it was only natural that he received a warm welcome and hospitality.
Of course, Lu Chen also smoothly carried out the tasks they had assigned to him.
Lu Chen arrived in Yangzhou City ahead of time to set up his plan. Now that the discussions were complete, he was ready to return to the camp.
Suddenly, a streak of light pierced through the sky as Lu Chen's true form manifested as a Thunderous Python, cutting through the night sky and weaving through clouds as dense as cotton balls, covering several miles in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, he was not far from the camp he had just left.
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