Zhixu City was Ba Yingshan's territory, after all. If he truly put his mind to it, little stirrings out in the open could not escape his notice.
Upon receiving the news, he went straight to the guest room, found Qi Yueru, and told her in person, "It's confirmed. They're leaving today, before long. Once Wangbo Tower has its goods ready, they'll head out with them."
Hearing the first half, Qi Yueru immediately prepared to leave. But the latter half stopped her cold. "What do you mean? How did Wangbo Tower get involved?"
Ba Yingshan saw nothing wrong with it. "They went over to Wangbo Tower. They probably mentioned leaving, and its delivery convoy will take them along."
Qi Yueru flew into a rage. "With Wangbo Tower's people protecting them, how am I supposed to make a move once they're outside? No. You have to find a way to detain those two!"
That irritated Ba Yingshan as well. "Who do those two brats think they are? Are they worth me making a move here? Wouldn't detaining them myself arouse suspicion? Aren't you just stirring up trouble for nothing? Once they're outside, you'll have all the time and all the ways you need to deal with them at your leisure, however you please. Right now, the Jailer and the others are all here, and they're clearly suspicious about the Dragon Bones. How could I do whatever I wanted?"
Qi Yueru countered, "If they have nothing on their conscience, why seek Wangbo Tower's protection? The world outside is vast, with obstacles everywhere. If they exploit this opening to slip away, where am I supposed to find them at short notice?"
Those were her genuine thoughts. She increasingly suspected that Local Strongman from the Eastern Nine Plains. If something really was amiss, then seeking Wangbo Tower's protection meant he had already made his preparations and surely planned his escape. She absolutely could not tolerate that, could not allow such a blunder to let him get away.
Ba Yingshan said bluntly, "How you find them once they're outside is your business. I've helped you with things I should and things I shouldn't. In any case, detaining them here is absolutely out of the question. I'm telling you, we cannot let any more branches grow out of this mess here. Hurry up and leave. Whatever grudges you have, settle them however you like once you're outside."
Seeing that he was genuinely angry and meant every word, Qi Yueru fell silent for a moment. Her thoughts raced before she suddenly asked, "What if they really are the ones who murdered my son?"
Ba Yingshan said disdainfully, "Whether they are or not is your business. I told you, once you're outside, take revenge however you please."
His meaning was clear: whatever happened afterward had nothing to do with him.
Qi Yueru stepped closer, her gaze burning as she stared into his eyes. "If they really are the killers, why leave a treasure at the scene instead of taking it? Was it to divert suspicion from themselves? They'd already offended my son. One more offense or one less would make no difference, yet they abandoned such a precious treasure. What were they afraid of? I can't guarantee that nothing my younger brother shouldn't have said was pried out of him before he died."
Ba Yingshan's brows twitched. "What shouldn't he have said?" he asked coldly. "That's a far-fetched connection. Don't try that on me!"
Qi Yueru said, "It's not the ten thousand things you expect that you fear, but the one thing you don't. City Lord Ba, are you really willing to gamble your life and fortune against some little bastard? The safest course is to let me finish this once and for all, as soon as possible. Then both you and the Qi Household can rest easy. You know the Jailer and the others are already suspicious. The slightest whisper could bring disaster crashing down over your head. City Lord Ba, any possible gap must be plugged in time!"
Ba Yingshan frowned. His expression suggested he was somewhat swayed, but his reservations were greater.
Reading his expression, Qi Yueru added more fuel to the fire. "City Lord Ba's concerns aren't unfounded. It would indeed be inappropriate to detain them here, but you could be a little flexible. Find a reason to hold them temporarily, then, once Wangbo Tower's delivery convoy has left, expel them on the grounds of a misunderstanding or some other reason. That wouldn't stir up any waves. Within Zhixu City, surely City Lord Ba has plenty of ways to handle such a trifling matter?"
The Qi Household had sent her here to make contact not merely because visiting her son and younger brother in prison gave her a legitimate reason, but, more importantly, because she had a certain ability to adapt to circumstances.
Ba Yingshan's gaze flickered. Without a word, he suddenly turned and left.
Watching him go, Qi Yueru wore a mocking look of triumph. But then her thoughts returned to her dead son, and she could no longer hide her sorrow...
Inside the blacksmith's shop, where hammering rang out and sparks flew, a burly, bare-chested man with a curling beard directed several apprentices at their work. Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang came in to greet him and bid him farewell. They were leaving, after all, so they had come to say goodbye to an old acquaintance.
Both men's weapons had been forged here as well.
The blacksmith's shop stood at the far end of Wangbo Tower's row of storefronts and also belonged to Wangbo Tower. It served to meet the needs of those in the Land of Exile.
Shi Chun really did leave after a quick greeting. He wanted to check by Wangbo Tower's main entrance to see whether Miss Miao truly had not come. The proprietress clearly disliked him getting involved with her daughter, so she might have deceived him.
Wu Jinliang did not want to follow. He found an excuse to stay at the blacksmith's shop and chat idly with the bearded blacksmith, unwilling to endure the proprietress's sour looks again.
The storefronts along the row were divided by category, and every entrance had customers. All sorts of people brought all sorts of items to be appraised, mostly unusual stones or minerals. Upon selling them, they received a sum written on a piece of paper, which they could use to buy things at Wangbo Tower. Any change they received was likewise a newly written sum.
This sum could not be taken out of the city. The moment someone passed through the city gates, the numbers on the paper vanished. Before leaving, therefore, everyone registered it under their own name within Zhixu City, accumulating what was called "merit." If they needed it on their next visit, they could withdraw it, without any deductions.
Many people never returned because of various mishaps, and there were countless such mishaps in the Land of Exile. The ownerless money then naturally became Zhixu City's property.
The building's main hall was devoted to selling goods. There were somewhat fewer customers coming and going there, far fewer than those selling things.
A long desk in a corner of the hall was piled with account books. A youth sat behind it, chewing the end of his brush as he worked through the accounts. After writing and marking for a while, he was about to set his brush down when he gave a puzzled exclamation. Finding nowhere to put it, he searched the desktop, then scratched his head in confusion. "Where's the brush rest? Where did it go?"
Shi Chun, who was walking toward him, found this amusing. He knew the youth, and quite well at that.
The youth was an apprentice at Wangbo Tower. No one knew quite where he came from, but he had entered Wangbo Tower as an apprentice at a young age.
He was quite fresh-faced and good-looking, though his brain sometimes seemed a little slow.
Shi Chun had already spotted the brush rest. Wasn't it sitting right on top of that pile of account books? Most likely, the youth himself had put it there.
It was right before his eyes, yet the youth simply could not find it. Shi Chun was about to tease him and point it out when the youth suddenly bit down on his brush sideways, freeing his hands to pick up a sheet of paper. He folded it repeatedly into a series of ridges, set it on the desk, then took the brush from his mouth and casually laid it on the upstanding folds before continuing to leaf through the accounts.
A soft, thin, flimsy sheet of paper had merely been folded a few times into a corrugated shape, yet its load-bearing strength changed in an instant. It supported the brush perfectly steadily.
The sight struck Shi Chun like lightning. He stopped in his tracks, staring blankly at the paper that could now bear weight simply because its shape had changed.
The scene of being held by the Immobilizing Talisman that night also surfaced in his mind.
Normally, people could not perceive the existence of that pale blue-green substance. Only when the glowing rootlets released by the Immobilizing Talisman gathered it together did its presence immediately become apparent. It was truly wondrous.
Since that night, he had often wondered how it worked, for the sight of the Immobilizing Talisman being activated, as seen through his right eye, had given him a direction to pursue after leaving.
What he had never managed to understand suddenly became clear at this moment, as he watched that sheet of paper support the brush, as though something had touched his very soul.
"Chaos..." he murmured again, recalling what Shen Youkun had confessed. He dimly grasped a possibility. Could the strange scenes my right eye sees be the Chaos World?
Could the Chaos World really have existed all along, merely invisible under normal circumstances?
To perceive the various substances within the Chaos World, could I only need to find the right medium?
The youth leafing through the accounts happened to look up. Seeing Shi Chun standing there in a daze, he called out, "Chunchun, Sister Miao didn't come this time."
As he spoke, he picked up his brush and resumed writing and marking.
He alternately set his brush down and picked it up to write. After filling several pages, he looked up again and found Shi Chun still standing there in a stupor. Puzzled, he put down his brush, came around the desk, and waved a hand before Shi Chun's face. "Chunchun, what's wrong? Are you upset because Sister Miao isn't here?"
"Hm?" Shi Chun came back to himself. "Miss Miao didn't come to Zhixu City?"
The youth shook his head and was just about to say something when a sudden shout came from outside. "What are you doing? What are you doing? What right do you have to arrest me?"
A commotion broke out. The voice sounded like Wu Jinliang's. Shi Chun turned to look, but people coming and going had already blocked his view of the doorway, drawn by their natural urge to watch a spectacle.
The next moment, that voice shouted again. "Chuntian, save me!"
It really is Wu Jinliang? Shi Chun's expression changed. He darted over, even leaping straight over everyone's heads to land on the steps outside. There he saw Wu Jinliang already seized by several armored Zhixu City guards, his arms twisted back and his neck pinned down.
Shi Chun asked gravely, "What's going on?"
Straining to lift his head, Wu Jinliang said urgently, "I don't know! I'd just reached here and was about to go in when they suddenly cut across and grabbed me."
He had barely finished when a filthy man draped in a rag pushed out from among the armored guards. One glance was enough to tell he was no city guard. Pointing at Wu Jinliang, he clamored, "It's him! He deliberately bumped into me just now, and then my things went missing. He must have stolen them!"
An uproar swept through the onlookers. Within this city, they were forbidden not only to fight, but naturally to steal as well. Otherwise, the consequences would be severe. The guards here did not consider their lives particularly precious.
Shi Chun's heart also jolted at those words, and he stared at Wu Jinliang in disbelief. Of course he knew Wu Jinliang's hands were not entirely clean. In truth, how many people in the Land of Exile had clean hands? Everyone grabbed whatever they could. But they were about to leave-why reach out for more now?
Wu Jinliang immediately roared at the man, "Who the fuck are you? When did your grandpa ever bump into you?"
Shi Chun's mind raced, and he was just about to speak up for Wu Jinliang when the man draped in a rag suddenly pointed at him. "And him! I remember very clearly. They're in it together!"
At those words, Shi Chun's eyes abruptly narrowed. He instantly realized something was wrong. Had the man accused only Wu Jinliang, he might still have suspected him. But now that he was being accused as well, he naturally knew whether he himself had stolen anything. Nor had he seen Wu Jinliang bump into anyone while they were together.