Another Test?

"Yes!" Ruan Wenhua nodded, his voice thick with frustration. "We stationed men here to wait for their accomplices to come looking. We even left people behind to keep watch... Who knew those underlings would be so useless? They failed to spot the enemy and got themselves killed...

"We have to settle this quickly. If the trouble reaches the master, things won't look good for us!"

Song Da split his face in a broad grin. "Didn't you say Master Liu was so formidable? Send a few clowns like that his way, and won't Master Liu dispose of them in no time?"

Ruan Wenhua knew Song Da was a brute who couldn't think his way around a corner. He stamped his foot. "I'm not worried that Master Tang can't handle them. I'm worried he'll think less of us!"

"Think less of us? Why?" Song Da still didn't understand.

Zhang Dacheng smiled. "Da, suppose you ordered one of your underlings to do something. He botched it so badly that the mess dragged you down too. What would you think of an underling like that?"

Song Da flew into a rage. "What would I keep that useless bastard around for?"

Halfway through, he caught on. He wasn't truly stupid. "So we're General's Temple's underlings now?"

"What do you think?" Zhang Dacheng said irritably. "Put more men on it. Find those three outsiders and kill them. Whatever happens, don't let this reach Yin-Yang Mountain."

"Yes!" Song Da jolted and answered at once. He and Ruan Wenhua, one a fighter and the other a strategist, were Zhang Dacheng's right and left hands in Lower River.

Zhang Dacheng handled matters far more carefully than Zuo Xingfa. He had laid this network of contacts with just such a purpose in mind.

So although the men keeping watch had been killed, within two hours he had used various channels to obtain surveillance footage showing what the three outsiders looked like, along with crucial clues such as their license plate number.

They soon found the car in an underground parking garage. But the three outsiders seemed to have vanished. Zhang Dacheng and his men called on every connection they had, aboveboard and below, yet found no trace of them...

Holding the three men's photographs, Zhang Dacheng studied the records obtained through official channels. A blade-sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "An international antiquities-smuggling ring... Grave robbers, when you get down to it! They can do as they please elsewhere. But here in Lower River, they dare cross us?"

He gave a cold laugh. He had already spread the Heavenly Net and was waiting for them to walk straight into it!

"Boss, what about General's Temple? Should we let them know?" Ruan Wenhua asked quietly.

"I hear Zuo Xingfa has been kneeling outside General's Temple for three days," Zhang Dacheng said, glancing sideways at him.

That stopped Ruan Wenhua from saying another word.

Zuo Xingfa might be useless, but Zhang Dacheng could not afford to lose face like that!

"But what if those outsiders sneak onto Yin-Yang Mountain?" Ruan Wenhua asked, fraught with worry. "Wouldn't that make an even bigger mess?"

Zhang Dacheng thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "I hear the girl from the Ling family has run into something evil and still hasn't recovered?"

Ruan Wenhua's eyes lit up. Brilliant. Brilliant!

The Ling family carried tremendous weight!

Tang Changsheng knew little of what was happening outside. Though he had not yet returned to the other world to cultivate, he spent his days reading scriptures and refining Yin Soldiers. His days were full to bursting.

Zuo Xingfa had knelt outside for three days and nights, yet Tang Changsheng had only just noticed him!

"Master, I was wrong! Please give me another chance. I promise I'll take care of everything!"

When Tang Changsheng finally came over, Zuo Xingfa spoke through tears and streaming snot.

Tang Changsheng's heart tightened. He had only meant to teach Zuo Xingfa a small lesson. He had never expected to frighten him into such a state!

He gained a new understanding of the prestige and influence General's Temple had once commanded!

As the thought passed through his mind, Tang Changsheng felt a chill. This, perhaps, was power!

His expression did not change. "Very well. We'll leave it at that. When you return, remember what you're supposed to do."

As though granted a pardon from death, Zuo Xingfa knocked his head on the ground again and again. He rose without daring to wipe the dust or snot from his face and hurried down the mountain.

Tang Changsheng shook his head and silently wondered, Was General's Temple truly so harsh back then?

Just then, he received a call from Zhang Dacheng. "Master, this disciple has a matter he would like your help with."

The words were humble, but Zhang Dacheng's voice was steady, his tone firm as a mountain.

Tang Changsheng was silent for a moment before replying in a low voice, "Speak."

"A friend of this disciple has had something happen to someone close to him. We would like to bring that person to General's Temple and ask you to take a look."

Tang Changsheng fell silent again, puzzled. Were Zhang Dacheng and the others still unwilling to accept him? Was this another test?

For a moment, he was caught between two choices. General's Temple had always held itself aloof; by precedent, it would never concern itself with such a matter.

Especially when the request carried a hint of a test, made while he was in a vulnerable position!

A few decades ago, General's Temple might have struck down a subordinate who dared treat it this way.

If Tang Changsheng readily agreed, he would only look as though he had something to hide!

The slightest crack in a ruler's power invited covetous eyes and a swift backlash.

In the past, General's Temple's fearsome reputation had held everyone in check. It had also ceased all contact with these underground forces, so there had been no problem.

Now that Tang Changsheng intended to bring them back into the fold, it was like taming wild wolves. If he showed the slightest weakness, they would turn on him and devour him, leaving not even a scrap.

But then again, General's Temple had been out of contact with the underground forces for so many years. He wanted to bring them back...

If he denied them even a chance to test him, wouldn't that make him look more suspicious still?

Then Tang Changsheng laughed. No. It wouldn't!

If he had not seen Zuo Xingfa kneeling so wretchedly before the gates of General's Temple for three days and nights, perhaps he would still be entertaining such suspicions!

But after seeing Zuo Xingfa's fear with his own eyes, he knew all those worries had been nothing but wild imaginings!

He did not understand why Zhang Dacheng had suddenly made this request, but he said in a deep voice, "This is the last time."

With that, he hung up.

At the other end of the call, Zhang Dacheng pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling even more unsettled.

Tang Changsheng had sounded utterly confident. Could General's Temple's divine powers and methods have returned?