Treasure Medicine

Shen Xiuhan's eyes shifted slightly as his mind raced.

As far as he knew, the Golden Dragon Gang had only three or four martial artists who had entered Bright Force at most, and they were already at a disadvantage against the Turbulent Wave Gang.

And Gao Nian had been killed by him.

With the Golden Dragon Gang's strength crippled, it was even less of a match for the Turbulent Wave Gang.

Yet with defeat already certain, Gao Fu had not hurried out of Longcloud County. Instead, he had gone against the tide and holed up in Tian Erhu's empty house. What was he doing there?

Was this a case of hiding in plain sight? Did he think the Turbulent Wave Gang would never find that place, allowing him to cling to life and wait for the so-called "opportunity" to open...

Or was he waiting for reinforcements?!

Suddenly, Shen Xiuhan thought of a name...

"Tian Ping'an!"

Tian Erhu had originally been a core member of the Golden Dragon Gang.

The intelligence from before had also clearly shown that Tian Erhu was highly valued by Gao Fu.

If that was the case, it was hardly surprising that Gao Fu had learned Tian Ping'an's identity—or even had a way to contact him.

A few days ago, his Second Senior Brother Xu Chuan and Xiang Yunting had spoken with absolute certainty about it.

The Dragon Cavalry Army would send people over this year to select a batch of young talents and recruit them into the army.

Tian Ping'an was both a centurion in the Dragon Cavalry Army and an expert in the Tendon Tempering Realm...

Most crucially, he was a native of Longcloud County.

With his identity, strength, and status in the army, if he wished to do so, he could easily take charge of this mission to return home and recruit new soldiers.

If he returned to Longcloud County, made contact with Gao Fu, or learned from Ma Xianyang and the others at the Through-the-Back Martial Hall that Tian Erhu's death had been inseparably connected to him...

The consequences of an expert in the Tendon Tempering Realm seeking revenge would be utterly unimaginable!

A chill entered Shen Xiuhan's gaze, and he made up his mind.

He could not sit around waiting for death.

He had to find a way to strike first, seize the initiative, and uproot the problem completely!

But this matter had to be planned with absolute care. He had to borrow someone else's blade to kill, without exposing his own true strength.

Shen Xiuhan let out a deep breath, temporarily suppressing the many thoughts in his heart.

[Intelligence ②: The Turbulent Wave Gang's leader, "Zheng Dadao," had actually originated from the Dragon Cavalry Army! After leaving the army, he secretly accepted an earnest invitation from Wang Zhidao, the head of the Wang Family in Longcloud County. He led a group of hardened soldiers who had retired alongside him, concealed their names, and established the "Turbulent Wave Gang" under its banner. The gang was directed and supported by the Wang Family of Longcloud County!]

Wang Zhidao!

The contemporary head of the Wang Family, one of the five great families of Longcloud County!

This man was not only in the Transformation Force stage; he was also the direct cousin of the Eastern Guard General!

The scattered clues rapidly linked together in Shen Xiuhan's mind, forming a vast web.

No wonder that after raising its banner, the Turbulent Wave Gang had not seized any other territory, but had instead bitten down on the Golden Dragon Gang and beaten it to the death.

Because the Golden Dragon Gang was the White Family's dog!

And because of the "flower-snatcher" case Shen Xiuhan had exposed some time ago, the White Family had fallen out with the Through-the-Back Martial Hall and come to blows with it.

The backer behind the Through-the-Back Martial Hall was precisely the Eastern Guard Martial Hall, controlled by the Wang Family.

Zhao Honggang and Feng Xiaobao had once fought Bai Xi'an at the county office, only to be suppressed single-handedly by Bai Jing, the White Family's eldest young master.

Afterward, Wang Xuanyang, the Eastern Guard Martial Hall's first disciple, had stepped in to stop him, but that was all.

On the surface, the Wang Family had acted with great restraint during the conflict between the Through-the-Back Martial Hall and the White Family.

The Wang Family's own forces, the Eastern Guard Escort Agency, and the others had neither expressed an opinion on the matter nor intervened.

They had merely allowed the Eastern Guard Martial Hall and the Through-the-Back Martial Hall to fight the White clan.

Thinking about it... they were probably worried that the Luo Family, the White Family's in-laws, would intervene!

After all, Luo Changming, the head of the Luo Family, was also the county magistrate of this county—and an expert who had entered the Transformation Force stage many years ago.

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No matter how powerful the Wang Family's connections were, within Longcloud County, they currently had only Wang Zhidao, a single Transformation Force expert, openly holding down the fort.

So on the surface, they had the Through-the-Back Martial Hall stand at the front and call out the White Family.

Behind the scenes, they had ordered this group of hardened soldiers from the army to strike in the dark and dig deep into the White Family's foundations.

As for the rumors passed around the marketplaces over tea, claiming that the Turbulent Wave Gang was a defeated rebel army or band of marauding fugitives that had fled here...

Now it seemed that they were nothing more than smoke released by the Wang Family to conceal the truth.

At this thought, Shen Xiuhan's expression shifted, and his brows gradually furrowed.

"Wait..."

"Since Zheng Dadao came from the Dragon Cavalry Army, there was no reason for him not to know Tian Ping'an, a Dragon Cavalry Army centurion. Tian Ping'an's biological elder brother was mixed up in the Golden Dragon Gang, yet when Zheng Dadao struck, he had shown no scruples and no mercy, forcing Gao Fu to flee like a stray dog..."

A glint flashed through Shen Xiuhan's eyes as he thought inwardly:

"Either he doesn't know."

"Or he is pretending not to know."

"If it is the former, that is fine. But if it is the latter... it seems that the Dragon Cavalry Army is also divided into factions and competing camps, and perhaps... they are simply not on good terms."

Shen Xiuhan pondered for a moment, silently committing this piece of intelligence to memory before continuing downward.

[Intelligence ③: Secret method for hatching and raising "Azure Awl Chicken eggs"—Place them beneath an ordinary brooding hen and warm them for twenty-seven days. After hatching, chop and mix Heartclearing Grass, Meridian-Linking Grass, Three-Leaf Poria, and Azure Firefly Flower, then feed them daily according to the proper proportions. They will enter adulthood after two months.]

[Intelligence ④: Formula for the "Jadeblood Pill." The primary ingredients are the vital essence and flesh of a second-order Treasure Beast, the "Azure Awl Chicken," supplemented and blended with Purpleblood Vine, ten-year-old mountain ginseng, Snake-Tail Grass, Dewcondensing Grass, Flybinding Vine, and Rotbone Root. The furnace must first be heated fiercely for one hour and fifteen minutes, after which the fire must be lowered and the mixture simmered slowly for fourteen shichen before it can condense into a pill.]

[Intelligence ⑤: Three sections of the "Treasure Herb—Jadeheart Lotus Root" are hidden deep beneath the lake one li north of Cloud Ripple Island.]

[Intelligence ⑥: The original manual for the Transformation Force-level stance technique "Through-Back Stance" is stored in the rear courtyard of the Through-the-Back Martial Hall in Longcloud County's inner city.]

[Intelligence ⑦: Deep within Cloudwater Lake lie the remains and inheritance of a true disciple of the "Sea-Fishing Tower"...]

As Shen Xiuhan watched the lines of writing appear one after another on the light screen, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"So that's how it is... The eggs are hatched and raised like this!"

He had left the three Azure Awl Chicken eggs he brought back beneath his own old hen to incubate.

Several days had passed without the slightest movement.

Shen Xiuhan had even wondered whether he should simply stew them and give Momo a boost.

He had never expected that hatching the eggs of such a Treasure Beast would require conditions so complicated and demanding.

The cycle was long, and the expense was high!

Fortunately, he had heard of more or less all the medicinal herbs listed. They were not particularly rare.

What was more...

After successively inheriting the "legacies" of Yu Zhe, Tian Erhu, Gao Nian, Scarface, and two kind-hearted big brothers whose names he did not know, Shen Xiuhan could completely afford the expense of these medicinal herbs.

Besides, this was a sure-profit deal.

If he could truly use the secret method to hatch and raise an adult "Azure Awl Chicken," every investment would yield returns several times over.

Even the "Jadeblood Pill" formula in [Intelligence ④] had suddenly become important—and within reach.

As for the "Jadeheart Lotus Root"...

There were Treasure Fish in the water, Treasure Beasts on land, and spirit objects among the grass and trees. It was not surprising at all.

The "Jadeheart Lotus Root" sounded like an aquatic spirit medicine. Once he boarded Cloud Ripple Island, he would have to find time to investigate and figure out a way to take it for himself.

As for the final two pieces of intelligence, Shen Xiuhan ignored them as usual.

The former was a dragon's pool and a tiger's den; the latter was unfathomably deep. Neither was something he could touch at present.

Just as he was pondering, Madam Zheng's voice came from the kitchen:

"Eldest, breakfast is ready..."

"Coming!"

Shen Xiuhan answered, dispelled the light screen, and turned toward the thatched hut.

There was still a little girl sleeping inside. He had to hurry and wake her up so she could wash, dress, and eat.

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