Conspiring at the Top of Their Lungs

A short while later, everyone had settled into the first private room of the Earth tier at Peace Inn.

Before the astonished eyes of the others, Liu Yunshen had already drained his third jar of wine. Setting down his bowl, he began to recount everything: how, in his youthful dreams, he had met a girl with the small characters "Yu Wan"; how they had cultivated together in the same sect within those dreams; how affection had gradually blossomed between them; how they had pledged themselves to each other in the dream; and how Yang Yuwan had gifted him a sword there.

Cao Langao propped her fragrant cheek in one hand, the blush on her face still un-faded. She sighed. "How romantic!"

"I heard my father mention a superior inheritance called 'Mystic Master Transmission'! Those immortals who have already ascended to the upper realms choose disciples through dreams and impart alchemical arts and Daoist techniques!" Lei Zhaoye frowned, thinking without pause.

"Though we cultivated, our teacher never taught us alchemy or swordsmanship. He only lectured on the classics, discussed morality, and occasionally spoke of military strategy." Liu Yunshen shook his head with a sigh. "Our teacher's learning reached the heavens and plumbed the earth. How could disciples possibly fathom him?"

Gong Liefeng exclaimed in admiration, "It seems Brother Liu truly is no ordinary man!"

Cai Yuelin grinned. "Then that 'junior sister' of yours must be the woman from the Li Clan of Longxi today?"

"No!" Liu Yunshen gave a bitter smile and drained the wine in his bowl. "I had already made a promise to my junior sister, yet I let my own feelings run wild and shifted my affections at the sight of another. That is why I feel so ashamed! I have wronged my junior sister!"

Everyone was astonished.

Cai Yuelin giggled. "How does that old saying go? Childhood sweethearts cannot defeat a girl who falls from the sky... Ow! Brother Lei, stop hitting me on the head!"

"Brother Liu is troubled enough already, and you are still making sarcastic remarks!" Lei Zhaoye laughed as he scolded Cai Yuelin, though he found it amusing himself.

Tears dripped from Cao Langao's eyes onto her chest. She rose as though to leave, and Gong Liefeng was greatly alarmed, hurrying to stop her. "Junior Sister! What is wrong?"

"Even a man as devoted as Young Hero Liu cannot remain faithful to one person to the end. If one day you start loving every woman you see as well, I will draw my sword and slit my throat right before your eyes!" Cao Langao pounded Gong Liefeng's chest with her fists.

Gong Liefeng smiled. "I won't. I only love..."

"Love what..." Cai Yuelin watched the pair and laughed. Cao Langao's face went scarlet, and she ran from the room. "How embarrassing!"

"Let her go!" Lei Zhaoye said with a smile, stopping Gong Liefeng from following.

Liu Yunshen drank no more. As he stroked that precious sword, his expression gradually calmed. "A true man's word is as solid as a mountain. Since I have promised, I must keep it! Let us speak no more of this matter! As for this gold..."

Seeing everyone looking at him, Liu Yunshen said solemnly, "I would like to ask each of you to take a share. Whenever you have the chance in the future, use it to aid poor families!"

"What a man!" Gong Liefeng slapped his thigh.

An admiring smile appeared on Lei Zhaoye's face.

"I knew Brother Liu would say that, but this is nearly twenty thousand taels of gold! Whether we can even take it back is another matter!" Cai Yuelin kept shaking his head, then suddenly said, "How did I forget the crucial point?"

"Right! Why did Qi Hong give Brother Liu so much gold? This is far too strange!" Lei Zhaoye asked.

"You may not believe me when I tell you!" Liu Yunshen swept his gaze over the room and spread open his palm. "Qi Hong said something to me!"

"What did he say?"

"Three seals and three stars gather in the Hall of Fame; sun and moon, each bearing one seal! What does that mean?" Liu Yunshen's eyes were full of confusion.

Everyone looked toward the lines on Liu Yunshen's palm. They were deep and clear, with very few stray markings.

"Do you understand it?" Cai Yuelin asked Lei Zhaoye. Lei Zhaoye shook his head. "If you need ideas or need Demon Sect fiends killed, you can certainly come to me. But numerology, Daoist arts, and talismans—I truly know nothing about them."

Gong Liefeng stared at the lines in Liu Yunshen's palm and closed his eyes as he recalled. "My mother seemed to know some odd and miscellaneous arts, especially physiognomy. I only know that Brother Liu's palm lines are extraordinary; I do not know the specifics! But I heard Qi Hong is a supreme expert in this field! Before he made his fortune, he was known throughout his hometown for bone-reading and physiognomy!"

"He is not blind, yet he even knows how to feel bones?" Cai Yuelin found it utterly inconceivable.

"Blind... blind man..." Lei Zhaoye shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, someone knocked on the door.

Every hair on Liu Yunshen's body stood on end. He drew the black iron staff at his side, while Gong Liefeng's heart pounded wildly as he strode over and opened the door.

Outside stood a lean, masked man, holding a hairpin in his hand!

"If you dare touch a single hair on my junior sister's head, I will grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes to the wind!" Gong Liefeng flew into a rage and seized the man by the collar!

"Haha, you are quite strong!" Lewd light gleamed in the lean man's eyes as he laughed wantonly.

Lei Zhaoye shouted, "Brother Gong, calm down!"

The masked man shoved Gong Liefeng away and sneered. "Does the Myriad Swords Sect have no one left? They actually sent a few little brats like you out into the martial world!"

"What exactly do you want?"

"One thing: gold! Elm Forest, five li north of the city. Hand over the money, and you get the person!"

"What if we refuse?" Lei Zhaoye answered coldly.

"Rape first, kill later!" The lean man laughed loudly and departed.

As everyone watched his retreating figure, fury surged through them all.

"This is all my fault. No matter what, we must rescue Miss Cao!" Liu Yunshen picked up the black iron staff and slung it across his back.

Gong Liefeng's mind was in utter turmoil. One hand clutched his head while the other gripped the hairpin tightly. "It is all my fault. I should have gone out with Junior Sister just now!"

"The priority now is to come up with a plan!" Lei Zhaoye stared at the gold and pulled a Gold-Transmuting Talisman from his robes.

Cai Yuelin's eyes widened. "Swap it with fake goods? I am afraid it will not be that easy..."

"A plan alone is useless! Only Brother Liu and I have reached the eighth layer of the first stage of Qi Refinement, while Brother Lei and Junior Brother Cai are at the sixth layer. Since the other side came prepared, they surely have an expert above the second stage of Qi Refinement. If we all rashly go to save Junior Sister, we will only throw away the lives of several junior brothers!"

"I do have a plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, but Brother Liu will have to suffer a little indignity!" Lei Zhaoye smiled at Liu Yunshen.

"Even if I must brave a sea of fire and a mountain of blades, I must rescue Miss Cao!" Guilt showed on Liu Yunshen's face.

Lei Zhaoye smiled. "You need not brave fire or blades. You only need to disguise yourself as Junior Sister Cao!"

Liu Yunshen said in delighted surprise, "Sow discord and startle the snake in the grass!"

Lei Zhaoye raised a thumb. "Exactly!"

Gong Liefeng and Cai Yuelin thought for a moment, then leapt up in delight, only to frown again. "Even if we use this plan to trick them into revealing where Junior Sister Cao is being held, we will still likely have to split into two groups. How can two people rescue her? That man just now was steeped in demonic aura. He was absolutely a Demon Sect expert above the second stage of Qi Refinement!"

Lei Zhaoye sighed bitterly.

Liu Yunshen looked at the others, thoughts churning endlessly in his heart. Master told me not to show off before others, but a human life is at stake. How can I stand by and do nothing? If I use the demonic aura within this black iron staff now and break through to the third tier of the Yellow Sprout Realm, Earth Vein Rooting, my strength will increase by another fifty percent! I should be able to match an early second-stage demonic cultivator. With Benevolent Heart Ripples and the black iron staff, it may not be impossible to fight!

"This is fate! Gong thanks all of you brothers!"

Just as Liu Yunshen was about to rise, Gong Liefeng instead smiled in relief. He patted their shoulders, straightened his clothes and headwear, and prepared to leave the room with his sword!

Cai Yuelin reached out to stop him. "Brother Gong, are you going to throw your life away?"

"If you are going to die, bring the rest of us along!" Lei Zhaoye rose, his face resolute!

Liu Yunshen stepped forward. "At the very least, we should fight!"

Gong Liefeng gave a miserable smile and was about to refuse when someone pushed open the door and entered, laughing three times. "I have never heard of anyone succeeding by conspiring at the top of their lungs!"

Lei Zhaoye, Liu Yunshen, Gong Liefeng, and Cai Yuelin surrounded the eight-foot-tall man. "Who are you?"

The man stood proudly with his hands clasped behind his back. "Great Chu, Gu Clan, Gu Jingchuan!"