Volume One: Days in the Shantytown - Investigation (Part Two)

Luo Qian was only a Tribulation Immortal. If he had guessed right, layers of intrigue lay behind this affair. If the hidden hand learned that Luo Qian had pointed out its flaws in front of a senior official of the Imperial Constabulary, the retaliation would be more than he could bear.

But the Constabulary Director was a powerful official. Luo Qian understood the enormous profits that ties between officials and merchants could bring. He had always wanted to build connections with important Immortal officials, and now a splendid opportunity stood before him.

Risk lay on one side, profit on the other. His merchant instincts came to the fore. Luo Qian gritted his teeth. "I think there's a great deal about this affair that doesn't add up."

Zheng Daoguang got the answer he had hoped for and smiled. "Oh? Tell me." "First, the Demon Beast emerged from Treasure Chamber Cave. How could a Demon Beast cultivate in a place like that without anyone noticing? Second, the first thing it destroyed after emerging was Treasure Chamber Cave. Humans and beasts alike have a special attachment to their homes, their dens. Even if forced to leave, why would it destroy its birthplace? Third, Tianxia Source is vast and home to many Immortals. Zuo Family Manor appears to have been among the strongest settlements there. Whether acting on instinct or intelligence, the Demon Beast shouldn't have attacked it first. Picking off the soft persimmons would have been the best strategy. Yet Zuo Family Manor was the only place in Tianxia Source it attacked. Finally, its attacks were so simple that it didn't seem particularly intelligent, but it found the Eight Directions Heaven Formation's weak point quickly and precisely. Isn't that suspicious?"

Zheng Daoguang had hoped Luo Qian would tell him something about the Demon Beast. Instead, he had received a whole series of other leads. They weren't the answers he had expected, but they were undoubtedly more useful. He had thought Luo Qian had some ability, though only as a merchant. After this conversation, he couldn't help seeing him in a new light. Perhaps this young man had real potential.

Several thoughts flashed through his mind. He rose. "Thank you for your insights, young Luo. I'll take my leave." He had realized where the crux of the matter lay and was eager to investigate, so he did not linger. He and his men departed swiftly. Luo Qian watched them go and wiped sweat from his brow. He had no idea whether he had backed the right horse this time.

"Luo Qian, what happened to you this time? You were gone for seven days!" Du Lengning was still shaken. "Those Imperial Constabulary people found me four days ago. I came up with every excuse I could to stall them, but today I couldn't put them off any longer. Do you know how dangerous that was? If they'd issued a realm-wide wanted notice and couldn't find you anywhere in the Immortal Realm, your secret would've been out!" Luo Qian nodded, resentment creeping into his voice. "You think I don't know it was dangerous? It was all your fault." The thought frightened him too. He resolved never to do anything like this again. She was only a girl from the lower realm, with no connection to him at all. His actions merely proved that he was still male and prone to the occasional rush of hormones. His Immortal body still wasn't perfect enough to regulate them on its own...

"What does that have to do with me?" Du Lengning asked. "The reason I was delayed," Luo Qian said, "was that girl you took a fancy to before." He told Du Lengning everything. Deeply moved, Du Lengning blinked. "Luo Qian, I don't know what to say about you!"

Li Feier, the little spitfire, listened with interest, her big eyes blinking.

After Du Lengning left, Li Feier crept into the general manager's office and asked with a grin, "Boss, have you fallen for that girl?" Luo Qian was working on his accounts. Now that he had the Power Generator, his smuggled laptop worked again, and he was busy planning for the future.

"What girl?" Luo Qian asked absently, his hands still moving. "Who else? The one from the lower realm." Luo Qian laughed and closed the laptop. "You're just a little girl. What would you know?" Li Feier said stubbornly, "I know plenty. I'm always teaching people." Giving people a lesson, more like, Luo Qian thought.

He got up and ushered Li Feier out. "All right, I still have work to do. If you've got nothing to do, I'll get you a game console another day. For now, please go back to your post and behave."

Bang! Luo Qian shut the door. Outside, Li Feier called, "You promised! No taking it back! I want the newest one..." The stone door was thick, but a fifth-rank Immortal naturally had ways to make her voice pass through it.

Luo Qian went back to work. After a burst of clacking at the keyboard, he stopped and frowned. Do I like her? Never mind whether I do. It's impossible. An Immortal and a girl from the Mortal Realm? Come on, this is reality, not some myth about Chenxiang rescuing his mother or the Seven Fairy Maidens.

Luo Qian shook his head to clear the thought and returned to his grand plan for making money.

Only with Immortal Jade could he gain standing, find powerful people to protect him, establish himself in the Immortal Realm, and stop the Qian Household from looking down on him.

At Tianxia Source, a mountain peak had collapsed. Tens of millions of cubic units of boulders filled the valley. Half the peak had been cleaved apart by a staggering force, exposing the gray-brown rock within. The vegetation had been devastated, and the animals had vanished. Immortal Spirit Energy had scattered. Restoring Treasure Chamber Cave to its former splendor would probably take a thousand years, if it was possible at all.

Zheng Daoguang stood on a cloud, gazing down at the valley, now a field of rubble. Two figures rode up behind him on the breeze. "Sir, Chen Chong is here." Zheng Daoguang had barely turned when a burly man beside him bowed low. "Your subordinate Chen Chong greets you, sir." Zheng Daoguang smiled faintly. "Chen Chong, sorry to trouble you again. If we find what we're looking for this time, I'll put in a word and have you transferred to my side." Chen Chong was delighted. "Thank you, sir! I'll give this everything I have. I won't let you down." Zheng Daoguang nodded with a smile. "Then begin."

Chen Chong was one of the Imperial Constabulary's finest and had reached the Sixth Rank as an Immortal. He should have risen through the ranks with ease, but his blunt, upright temper had made him unpopular with his colleagues. After one open attack and hidden arrow after another, a Sixth Rank Immortal had been sent to guard the Frozen Immortal Prison.

On the ground, Chen Chong roared. A wave of force swept outward, cutting across the ground like a blade. White dust rose from the stone, and the vegetation snapped in unison. Four rings of Body-Protecting Treasure Flame flared around him. He reached behind his back and drew a heavy treasured saber, then ran his hand along its blade. Jin-colored light surged, and the saber became a Jin-colored dragon thirty zhang long and as thick as a water vat!

The Jin dragon wheeled in the air. Chen Chong pointed, and it let out a piercing cry before plunging headfirst into the heap of shattered boulders.

Boom, boom, boom... A succession of deafening blasts rang out as boulders exploded away. A passage opened through the rubble-filled valley, following the Treasure Chamber Cave ore vein exactly.

The Jin dragon drove downward until it reached the point where mining of the Treasure Chamber Cave vein had ended before the incident. Zheng Daoguang shouted, "That's enough!" Chen Chong opened his mouth and inhaled. The Jin-colored light contracted and flew back into it.

The moment Chen Chong stopped, the dozen or so Immortal officials waiting behind him entered the tunnel and began a painstaking search.

Half a day passed quickly. One of the officials seemed to find something and sprang into the air, hurrying to Zheng Daoguang. "Sir, look!" In his hands was a casket made of Exquisite Crystal. It held something unusual. Zheng Daoguang nodded in satisfaction. "You've been remarkably thorough to find something so small. Good. Pack up."

"Feier, Feier, your boss needs some water..." Luo Qian called several times, but no answer came from outside. He sighed helplessly. It was his own fault. Li Feier used to be such a dedicated girl, bursting with enthusiasm for her work, treating her post like home. And now...

The little spitfire had set her heart on the game console Luo Qian had promised. Three times a day, right on schedule, she had nagged him about it. Luo Qian had wanted to devote himself to his business, but she pestered him so relentlessly that he had gone down to the lower realm and bought her a Chinese-language Xbox. Now she was absorbed in games and barely paid her boss any attention. Luo Qian even had to pour his own water.

A spirit talisman flew in through the cave entrance. Luo Qian reached to catch it, but it darted aside like a nimble swallow, slipped past his palm, and flew farther in. Li Feier caught it and took a look, then hurriedly packed her things. "Boss, I'm taking the day off..." "Taking the day off? Why? What reason do you have..." Before he could finish, Li Feier had turned into a streak of green light and vanished into the sky. Luo Qian shook his head. "Forget it. I'm sure you have your reasons." At her speed, there was no point trying to catch her.