Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 143: The Calm Before the Storm

The old nun carefully led Zhao Changhe to the graveyard, pointed out the specific location of the grave, and then hastily lifted the hem of her robe and rushed away.

In fact, even up to this point, the old nun had no idea why she had brought this person she did not know to examine the body. Was it to give face to Young Master Tang?

But then, Young Master Tang had not come himself, nor had he even introduced this man, who had a saber that could move on its own.

Nonetheless, it felt as if ever since this man arrived, everything was naturally falling into place under his direction. It felt as if everything that was happening was meant to be.

Ignoring the old nun, Zhao Changhe squatted by the grave mound and gently inserted his hand into the soil, then carefully released a trace of his own vicious qi.

There was no response.

Zhao Changhe gritted his teeth. He pulled out Dragon Bird and began to shovel the soil.

Dragon Bird: “...”

Sisi’s little face twitched uncontrollably. She did not know whether to be afraid of the rotten corpse inside or lament the fate of such a precious saber.

In Sisi’s eyes, Zhao Changhe began to look a bit terrifying at this moment. She was already regretting why she had gotten involved with such a lunatic in the first place. She felt that she should have never provoked such a freak...

Thinking about how she had even kissed a person like him on the mouth, she wished she could just rip her own mouth off at this moment.

Little did she know that Zhao Changhe was also gritting his teeth right now. This kind of thing was completely different from killing someone. No matter how many corpses he had seen, this was not the same... However, the anomaly of vicious blood qi in Gusu was likely to be crucial to his own cultivation of vicious blood qi. Even if he had to hold his nose, he had to get to the bottom of it.

——He was thinking that if the other party had truly experienced the invasion of vicious blood qi, then their corpse should not emit a foul smell... He had to verify it.

Skrr!

Dragon Bird struck the edge of a straw mat.

Zhao Changhe sheathed his saber and carefully scraped away the soil. He then frowned at the putrid smell coming from the corpse.

The corpse had already decomposed to the point where its face was unrecognizable. Even the original wounds that they had led to their death were no longer discernible. It was nauseating, but accepting this reality seemed to be his only option... The problem now was that Zhao Changhe had never studied forensics. Any traces on the corpse were of no use to him. He had only come here to check if there was any vicious qi.

However, there was simply no vicious qi coming from the corpse at all.

This did not make sense.

In the Profound Gate, Zhao Changhe dared to say that nobody understood the power of vicious blood qi better than him, not even Cult Leader Xue. This was because the main members of the Blood God Cult did not use the Vicious Blood Art as their fundamental martial art. As for those who did cultivate the Vicious Blood Art, whenever they encountered the invasion and outbreak of vicious blood qi, they would use the Blood Settling Pill to counteract it directly. Later, when they switched to the Blood God Art, their exposure to vicious blood qi would be reduced.

Their endurance, resistance, and understanding of vicious blood qi would naturally not be on the same level as Zhao Changhe’s.

Why did Zhao Changhe think that the corpse might not emit a foul smell? Well, based on his experience with vicious qi, it was an energy that was incredibly violent and aggressive, to the point where it would even attack its own host, and it should not completely disappear with the person’s death. There should have been residual vicious qi lingering around the corpse, causing the soil to dry up and the nearby organisms to perish. Creatures like maggots could not have survived in such an environment.

Even though over ten days had indeed passed since this guy died and the vicious qi may have gradually dissipated since then, possibly causing the standard decomposition process to begin, this corpse seemed to have genuinely been decomposing for half a month. From how the corpse looked to the area surrounding the corpse, there was not a single sign or trace of vicious qi.

Could it be because all of the vicious qi has already entered Lu Shaoxiong’s body? Then is it really vicious qi or a vicious spirit?

Or perhaps... there was never any transferral of vicious qi to begin with. This guy may have never had any vicious qi from the very beginning!

“Urghhhh!” The sound of someone retching snapped Zhao Changhe out of his thoughts. He turned and saw Sisi vomiting violently right beside him. She looked extremely miserable at the moment. “Master, please spare me. This is too disgusting...”

“Is that so...” Zhao Changhe then asked curiously, “Then why are you leaning in to get a better look?”

Sisi froze for a moment, realizing her mistake. Oops... Should I just tell him that I’m also looking for the treasure of vicious qi?

She pretended to continue retching, panting as if she was out of breath, before coming up with an excuse, “I was just taking a look out of curiosity. It stinks...”

“Alright,” said Zhao Changhe as he shoveled the soil back into the pit. He then stretched his body and said, “Let’s go, there’s nothing here.”

Sisi followed him, complaining, “I told you that there was nothing interesting to see at a rotting, putrid corpse. Why did we have to come here?”

“Hmm.” Zhao Changhe looked around, listening to the faint, distant roars. He chuckled, “So they let us see for a reason.”

Sisi: “?”

“Hey, Sisi...”

“Huh?”

“You should have been with the Tang Clan for a long time, so you should know the power distribution in Gusu, right? What level is the Lu Clan?”

Sisi awkwardly hung her head. What do you mean “been with the Tang Clan for a long time?” I was kissing you just a few days ago.

Fortunately, she had arrived in Gusu two days earlier than Zhao Changhe, and she had a rough understanding of the power distribution in the area. “The Lu Clan is the second largest clan after the Tang Clan. Lu Shaoxiong is just one of its young masters. The Lu Clan has many experts, and the head of the Lu Clan is even a master at the ninth layer of the Profound Gate.”

“I don’t seem to recall seeing anyone surnamed Lu on any of the rankings.”

“...Well, doesn’t the Tang Clan also only have First Seat Tang on the rankings? And she isn’t even home,” said Sisi. Worried that Zhao Changhe would start asking questions about other clans, she quickly added, “I’m just a little maid. If you want to know the specifics, it would be better to ask Young Master Tang. It’s likely that each clan has hidden experts, and in that case, what would a little maid like me know?”

“No one knows whether each clan really has hidden experts, but if I’m not mistaken, there might soon be more madmen emerging in the city due to vicious qi soon...”

Sisi was stunned for a moment. But just as she was about to ask him for more details, someone ran through the streets, shouting, “Have you heard? The third young master of the Gu Clan has gone mad!”

The street erupted with chatter, with many people asking about what happened. “Really?! Could it be that Gu Clan’s young master went to visit Young Master Lu and got infected?”

“I don’t know. But if that were the case, then why didn’t those nuns get infected? Even if it’s the person that the young master of the Lu Clan killed before, there must be a source, right?”

“Was there another place where people got infected? Where did the third young master of the Gu Clan go before this?”

“What other places do those young masters go besides those where they can indulge in pleasure? Don’t tell me that this is actually just a case of disease born from debauchery...is that actually the case?”

“Who knows!”

As Sisi and Zhao Changhe slowly made their way through the streets, listening to the lively discussions around them, Sisi looked at Zhao Changhe as if he were a deity. “Master, how did you know?”

“Oh, isn’t it obvious? If there’s a first person who’s infected, then there’s definitely going to be a second. And if we haven’t found the source of the issue, then it’s bound to continue spreading, right? Why is your brain like Tang Buqi’s?”

Sisi: “...”

She did not believe that Zhao Changhe had made that judgment solely based on that reasoning. He must have discovered something.

Sisi was annoyed. We’ve both been looking at the same things, so how come I didn’t seem to notice anything? Hasn’t he failed to figure out my identity? Doesn’t he think that I’m really just a maid? Is it because I’m a maid he just acquired that he doesn’t trust me to share more?

She composed herself and put on a flattering smile. Then, she said in a sweet voice, “Master...”

Zhao Changhe looked at her with a smirk. “Yes?”

“Where are we going now? Are you tired, master? Would you like me to give you a shoulder massage? I give really good massages...”

“Hm, I don’t need a massage for now,” Zhao Changhe said leisurely. “We just dug up a grave, don’t you think it’s a bit ominous? I need to go back and take a shower, would you like to help me with that?”

Sisi stood there dumbfounded.

Then, as if remembering something, she sneakily glanced at the Dragon Bird on Zhao Changhe’s back, blushing and lowering her head as she said, “That is simply my responsibility.”

Zhao Changhe almost burst out laughing. He held back a smirk as he sped up his pace.

“Master, wait for me!” Sisi chased after him, getting more and more into character.

Zhao Changhe suddenly stopped, causing Sisi to nearly run into him. She quickly skidded to a halt and turned to look at him in confusion, only to see Zhao Changhe drawing Dragon Bird and swinging it toward her.

A black shadow made a very elegant arc, avoiding the saber, and landing on the nearby eaves. Startled, the figure said, “Brother Zhao, I mean no harm. I was not even coming for you. Your vigilance is honestly a bit... excessive.”

It was Ji Chengkong.

Zhao Changhe sheathed his saber calmly and said, “Going around jianghu with your guard lowered is asking for death. Brother Ji, what exactly is it that you intend to do by suddenly approaching my maid?”

Ji Chengkong glanced at Sisi thoughtfully and said, “From behind, she looked like someone I knew, so I came over to take a closer look... If you say she’s your maid, I must have mistaken her for someone else. My apologies.”

Sisi’s heart raced, but Zhao Changhe merely waved his hands indifferently. “Since it’s a misunderstanding, then forget it. What brings you to Gusu?”

Ji Chengkong said angrily, “I actually went to Yangzhou and now came to Gusu to look for someone. It’s just that I have a penchant for stealing things, which led me to fall into Wan Dongliu’s hands.”

Zhao Changhe asked, “I wonder what the rules of your guild are? Do you steal things based solely on personal preferences, or do you also take on tasks? For instance, what if if I were to hire you to steal something?”

Ji Chengkong chuckled and said, “First, it depends on whether the employer is agreeable. Second, it depends on whether the item to be stolen is interesting. If a random passerby asked me to steal something as boring as money, then I might as well steal his money first to have some fun.”

Zhao Changhe found his response quite amusing. “What about me?”

“You...” Ji Chengkong looked him over and said with a smile, “Based on the few words we exchanged on the road the other day, you’re fine. It just depends on what you want stolen.”

Zhao Changhe looked around and whispered, “How about stealing information from the Lu Clan? Such as whether they have a heavily guarded forbidden area and, if so, whether entry requires a token, a password, or just a familiar face... Would you be interested in such information?”

Sisi listened with her ears open, but Zhao Changhe casually pushed her aside.

Sisi: “...”

Ji Chengkong pondered for a moment before replying, “I am interested in uncovering secrets, but the Lu Clan is a bit boring... What interesting things can a clan that is not even considered top in the region have?”

“Well, what if I told you that there might be a young master in the Lu Clan sneaking around to steal from his stepmother?”

Ji Chengkong slapped his thigh excitedly and said, “I’m in!”

Zhao Changhe smiled and handed him a silver note. “Consider this a down payment. Whether or not you can uncover information, this is yours. If you do find something, come to the Tang Clan to find me. I’ll have more rewards ready for you.”