Star Gate

Chapter 126: Teacher and Disciple Plot Again (I)

“Arf arf arf!” Panther immediately barked.

“So the dog is telling on me, hmm?” Yuan Shuo chuckled. “I haven’t beaten it, really. I just used blade energy to stimulate it a few times and then mysterious power. I gotta tell you, this dog has a really great constitution!”

Li Hao suddenly understood and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This was worse than being beaten! He was all too familiar with the impact of mysterious power and blade energy. Without the sword to neutralize the two... it was such a... bone-deep sensation. It would be a marvelously pleasant feeling if the sword was on hand to neutralize them, but without... he could easily imagine the desperate straits that Panther found itself in.

Of course, it was pain intermixed with happiness.

“You should treasure what teacher is giving you.” Li Hao patted the little black dog’s head. “These treasures can’t be bought for any sum of money! You should understand their value if you want to be a mighty dog spirit. So many people died last time because they wanted these things!”

Tears welled up in Panther’s eyes. This dog knows. But... you don’t know that this pervert takes turns using these energies on me! He says he wants to test where my limits are. These days have been worse than death!

Li Hao ignored Panth. This was an incredible opportunity! His teacher couldn’t be bothered with ordinary people, the dog was failing to appreciate what happiness really was!

With that, he bucked the pleading dog off his leg. It was hanging on so tightly that its sharp claws were digging into his skin.

“Teacher, I’m here for a reason.”

“You wouldn’t be without one.” Yuan Shuo was too familiar with Li Hao and couldn’t be bothered with saying more. He busied himself with his own affairs inside the house; there was nothing the young man could do but follow behind. The professor wanted to be the first to speak. “We’re going to the ruins at the end of August!”

“Me too?” asked Li Hao.

“I don’t know and can’t make a decision!” Yuan Shuo replied uncertainly after some thought. “The ruins are both danger and opportunity. The one I discovered might have something to do with the eight families, but they also might not!”

The eight families again! Li Hao furrowed his brows.

“Teacher, the eight families are rooted in Silver City. Are there any of their historical remains around the city? You’re an expert in this field, have you discovered any signs or clues over the years?”

“Silver City...” Yuan Shuo poured a cup of tea for himself and walked back out. “I’ve scanned the city—its feng shui is ordinary. This doesn’t speak to a grand burial, but the ruins may not be a tomb. It could be a sunken ancient city sealed beneath the ground, but few items speaking to this have appeared in Silver City. I’ve investigated them all and didn’t find any traces.”

He was an expert!

Li Hao frowned, not even his teacher had uncovered anything?

“Teacher, there might really be some in Silver City!”

“Oh?” Yuan Shuo paused solemnly. “It would be... normal for there to be some. The legends of the eight families start from Silver City and I spent the past couple of days deducing that if any exist, they’ll be located in the directions of the eight trigrams!

“They won’t be regular ruins either, and they might be sealed. People will easily die there!” He looked at Li Hao. “Have you found one?”

“Wait a moment, teacher...” Li Hao entered the house to take out pen and paper. He swiftly sketched an outline of Silver City—it resembled an eight trigram!

He hadn’t paid much attention to it before because many cities were laid out in this manner. The eight trigram diagram wasn’t very special. One could even view it as a circle.

But when Li Hao saw the diagram in the sky... he couldn’t unsee it. It might require blue rain for him to see it with his eyes once more. Thus far, he’d only seen it when the scarlet shadow entered his body and his blood frothed. While he’d absorbed scarlet shadows after that, the diagram didn’t show itself again. Regardless, he committed everything to memory and swiftly sketched the diagram.

It was both a map of Silver City and an eight trigram diagram. He drew a dot of red in a particular zone.

“Dead north.” Yuan Shuo raised a brow when he took a look. “The li position of the eight trigrams. Li corresponds to fire and this is situated in the outskirts of Silver City. There should... be a mine here. I believe it belongs to Qiao Mining Industries?”

The li position of fire! Li Hao suddenly recalled how Qiao Feilong had given him fire mysterious power. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but he did indeed subconsciously think of this.

“Are there ruins there?” the young man asked.

Yuan Shuo looked strangely at his student and answered before Li Hao could explain himself, “I’ve been to this place before and didn’t discover anything. There are no clues to any ruins. I only went because the Qiaos invited me after it caved in, hoping that I could identify a new mine for them...”

As a professor of ancient studies, he was also one of feng shui and tomb raiding—ahem, prospecting. It was quite normal for someone to request his skills in reopening a mine.

“This is it!” Li Hao said firmly. “I don’t know what the specifics are, but I’m not guessing randomly. Teacher, do you know the background of Silver City’s Qiao Mining Industries?”

“The Qiaos... Qiao Feilong...” Yuan Shuo rummaged through his memories. “Qiao Feilong is a Silver City native and left home at a young age to seek his fortunes elsewhere. He returned to Silver City when he was forty, having built quite a commercial empire.

“He founded Qiao Mining Industries after that. It’s been about thirty years.”

Not twenty, but thirty marked his return to Silver City. Thus, while most would think of Red Moon’s preparations a dozen years ago, few would connect a corporation of thirty years to the eight families. This held true even when the uniqueness of the eight families started becoming more widely known.

Did this guy come in contact with Yama later on, or did Yama start laying its plans thirty years ago? Li Hao wavered between the two possibilities. The supernatural domain hadn’t even manifested then!

“Qiao Feilong used to practice martial dao, but didn’t attain high accomplishments with it. He stopped training after reaching Slayer of Tens, and he only set foot into this level to be able to protect himself. Once Qiao Mining expanded in scope and he had sufficient funds to hire martial masters for bodyguards, he no longer walked the path of martial dao.

“He is secretly a vicious and cruel person. There’s been no end of unsavory matters conducted in secret for his corporation to reach its current heights. Conflicts are common in the mining industry and there was no lack of underhanded mines back in the day. He took over them all!”

Yuan Shuo pointed at where Li Hao had dotted the map. “There used to be a lot of secret mines here before Qiao Mining moved in. Not long after that, the other mine owners started dying or became crippled. Some voluntarily sold their mines to him at a low price. Silver City turned a blind eye to all of this as none of these mine owners were anything good. It was a den of snakes turning on each other!

“Of course, Qiao Feilong is a significant entrepreneur and philanthropist on the surface. He’s donated a lot to both Silver City and the Veteris Institute. There’s a Feilong Lab building at the Institute that was built with his donations.”

Li Hao nodded—he’d had classes in that building once, but forgot that it came from Qiao Feilong’s donation.

Yuan Shuo looked at his student when he was finished, awaiting information. The Qiaos were plainly involved since the young man had suddenly mentioned the family. Were there ruins in the Qiao mines?

“Teacher, you’ve met Qiao Feilong.” Li Hao smiled. “Do you think he’s a supernatural?”

“Yes!” Yuan Shuo responded indifferently. “He is.”

“You know?” The young man started.

“Nope.” Yuan Shuo remained just as composed, then burst out laughing. “If I say no after you’ve said all this, am I the fool or are you?”

He’d realized as soon as his student asked him. Li Hao looked on wordlessly.

“So he’s a supernatural?” Yuan Shuo frowned. “To be honest, I just saw him. He’s either so weak that I can’t sense it, or so strong that I can’t sense it!”

Those were the only two possibilities!

“Someone who can hide themselves from me and earns a special visit from you... Can he be a premier powerhouse? Sunflare? Solar?”

Darkmoon didn’t count as a powerhouse!

“If it’s related to the ruins, then can it be that there’s a ruin of the eight families inside the mines? That’s how he soundlessly became a powerhouse, because he discovered some treasures from it? And he’s been flying under the radar because he’s plotting something?

“So Silver City does indeed have ruins... and I didn’t discover them. What a pity. I might’ve become a Sunderer long ago if I had,” Yuan Shuo sighed, completely ignoring his student’s desire to talk.

“A Solar, is it?” he murmured. “If Qiao Feilong is a Solar, he won’t be in charge of excavating the ruins. He must have helpers. Does he have Sunflare working for him?”

The professor stroked his beardless chin. “He’d be worried about his man running off with the goods if there was only one, so there must be at least two?”

Two Sunflares could keep each other in check!

Trust was a limited commodity for someone like Qiao Feilong. He wouldn’t trust anyone without reservation. Being a successful businessman, he possessed sufficient resources and money to nurture a flock of supernaturals.

“Silver City is a small place, but it’s really not a peaceful locale!” Yuan Shuo sighed with emotion. “Little Hao, I’d say stay away from them if you don’t care about the ancestral tombs of the eight families or your ancestral land. They’re not people to run afoul of!”

Li Hao tilted his head wordlessly. I haven’t said anything, but teacher’s already determined everything and that they have more than one powerhouse. The elderly are more wise and experienced alright!

“Teacher, there’s one Qiao Feilong who might be a Solar, three definite Sunflares, and one Plenilune...”

“Damn!” Yuan Shuo sucked in a sharp breath. “They’re really not people to offend! Little Hao, a rack of old bones like me can’t suffer through something like this!” With that, he looked at the young man. “You want to take the ruins back, don’t you?”