At that moment, Sun Baichuan felt worse than if he'd swallowed a dead fly.
Earlier, he'd embellished his complaint to Hu Qingyun, hoping his adoptive father would stand up for him.
Who could've guessed that, because of this Dragon Turtle business, his biggest backer would turn traitor right in front of him?!
How the hell was he supposed to play this game now?!
Sun Baichuan looked utterly hopeless. With a thump, he dropped to his knees and prostrated himself before Gu Cheng.
"Brother Cheng, I know I was wrong."
"..."
Gu Cheng glanced at the ink-robed officer kneeling before him and opened the jade box in his hand.
Hiss—
A scorching wave of demonic baleful energy spread out at once, and the temperature in the courtyard surged by several degrees.
Gu Cheng looked closely and saw that the jade box held a demonic core the size of an egg, from a creature of the Innate Realm!
It was crimson all over, and dark red demonic baleful energy streamed from it like flames. In the shifting glow, it faintly formed the phantom of a monstrous firebird.
Judging by the strength of the baleful energy within the crimson core alone, the firebird must have been no weaker in life than the Azure Water Demon Ape.
"Now that's a treasure!"
Gu Cheng was delighted. He shut the jade box and put it in his storage pouch.
Then, smiling, he helped Sun Baichuan up with both hands.
That settled the grudge between them.
Hu Qingyun pulled his adopted son behind him, cupped his hands to Gu Cheng, and said solemnly,
"Young Hero Gu, my family has quite a bit of influence in Tianshui City.
"With the talent and potential you've shown, the Demon Suppression Bureau will surely invest heavily in your cultivation. You won't be short of resources.
"But if you ever need anything in the way of material goods, I'll do everything in my power to meet your needs!"
"Kid Gu, don't you dare be polite to that old fox!"
Xu Wenying chuckled and chimed in from the side.
"The Hu family is one of the richest in Tianshui City.
"Several shops, restaurants, casinos, and auction houses here belong to them. They've got more silver than they could spend in several lifetimes.
"If there's some treasure you want, or you feel like having a night out at the casino, just tell him. Go ahead and fleece this fat cat!"
"You old deadbeat, get out of here!"
Hu Qingyun glared at his old friend, then smiled at Gu Cheng, tacitly confirming what the other man had just said.
A treasure he wanted?
Gu Cheng's eyes flickered at the words. He cupped his hands to the refined man.
"Lord Hu, as it happens, there is a treasure I'd like to ask you to help me find."
"Oh? By all means!"
Hu Qingyun waved a hand grandly, his tone bold and generous.
"It's an old guqin. I heard it appeared at an auction house in Tianshui City not long ago..."
Gu Cheng nodded and added,
"The guqin is called—Withered Wood Dragon's Roar."
"Withered Wood Dragon's Roar?!"
At once, the other four people in the courtyard wore strange expressions. They looked at Gu Cheng with peculiar eyes.
"???"
Gu Cheng furrowed his brow, about to ask what was going on.
"Heh, I'd never have guessed you were into that sort of thing, kid."
Xu Wenying looked Gu Cheng up and down. His expression turned grave, and he advised him earnestly,
"But... Kid Gu, beauty is a blade that scrapes the bones. Don't let your obsession with women get in the way of your cultivation."
"Enough, old man. Stop fussing over nothing. A young prodigy like Young Hero Gu is bound to enjoy a little romance."
Hu Qingyun shot back at his old friend, then cupped his hands to Gu Cheng.
"Rest assured, Young Hero Gu. Within a month, I'll place the 'Withered Wood Dragon's Roar' in your hands."
With that, the three of them turned and left, leaving someone standing there in a daze.
"Strange. Did they misunderstand something?
"How does Withered Wood Dragon's Roar have anything to do with getting carried away by women?"
Gu Cheng was completely baffled. He turned to the one-armed swordsman beside him.
Cao Jianxin immediately understood. He pondered for a moment, then quietly explained,
"Brother Gu, do you remember the Lady Tianyin from Spring Breeze Tower I told you about?"
"The famous courtesan who's skilled in music?" Gu Cheng furrowed his brow.
"What? Does she have something to do with Withered Wood Dragon's Roar?"
"Of course she does."
Cao Jianxin nodded and continued,
"They say the guqin, Withered Wood Dragon's Roar, was a treasured heirloom of Lady Tianyin's family.
"Unfortunately, her family later fell into decline, and she was forced to sell herself. The guqin vanished around the same time."
"Lady Tianyin has been trying to get the guqin back. She even put out a reward:
"Whoever brings Withered Wood Dragon's Roar back to her can become her lover for a night..."
As he finished, Cao Jianxin stole a glance at Gu Cheng and secretly chuckled.
If he hadn't known that Gu Cheng really was a master of the guqin and naturally liked collecting famous instruments, he might have jumped to the same conclusion.
"..."
Gu Cheng was speechless.
No wonder those four had looked so strange just now.
They'd mistaken him for some lecher trying to win the favor of a famous courtesan...
But, come to think of it—
If Withered Wood Dragon's Roar really was Lady Tianyin's family heirloom,
didn't that mean that one of the courtesan's ancestors had been a formidable cultivator of the Spirit Refining Realm?
Three days later.
The dining hall of the Demon Suppression Bureau's Tianshui City headquarters.
Gu Cheng sat alone at a corner table, quietly enjoying his meal.
The Demon Suppression Bureau had always offered generous benefits. Even at the Changle County branch, he'd been able to eat for free; at the Tianshui City headquarters, the perks were even more extravagant.
There was no shortage of meat and fish, and every so often they even served a limited supply of medicinal meals prepared specially for martial artists.
It was already afternoon, and the dining hall wasn't very busy. Most people had gathered in groups of two or three, quietly discussing the latest major developments within the Demon Suppression Bureau.
As Gu Cheng enjoyed his medicinal meal, he listened in. He picked up quite a few bits of gossip...
"Hey, do you think the Blood Blade Sect is about to rise from the ashes again?"
An ink-robed officer lowered his voice as he spoke to his colleagues at the same table.
"Why are all the tasks on the Foreign Affairs Hall's board lately investigations into Blood Blade Sect heretics?"
"Isn't it obvious? The Blood Blade Sect's evil methods are so unusual. As long as you're willing to harden your heart, kill people, and drink their blood, you can grow stronger fast.
"Among those martial artists without a powerful lineage behind them, how many could resist that kind of temptation?"
A burly, bearded officer chimed in.
"But there's no need to worry. Ever since the Blood Blade Sect's former leader, a cultivator of the Spirit Sea Realm, died, they haven't been able to amount to much. These days, they're just a few irritating cockroaches."
"Our Demon Suppression Bureau's real number-one enemy is the Flood Dragon Palace in the Tianshui River!"
The other ink-robed officers nodded repeatedly in agreement.
"Yeah, those damn longworms have started acting up again."
"I heard that a few days ago, several flood dragons of the Innate Realm suddenly showed up in Baihe County. They summoned clouds and rain, whipping up storms and trying to drown the county seat!"
"Luckily, the Demon Suppression Bureau had prepared for this and secretly sent Commander Xu to guard the place. He drove those flood dragons off in time. Otherwise, Baihe County would've been a vast swamp by now!"
"Hey, do you think those flood dragons suddenly attacked Baihe County to avenge that Dragon Turtle from a couple of days ago?"
"..."
Gu Cheng's chewing suddenly stopped.
Since they didn't dare cause trouble in Tianshui City, they'd chosen to vent their anger on the common folk nearby?
Those beasts were getting closer and closer to digging their own graves...
A cold glint passed through Gu Cheng's eyes. He found himself growing more curious about the taste of "flood dragon meat."
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