Half a Map

Walking through the quiet town, you might occasionally see a few children wandering aimlessly on the empty streets, or taking off their pants and urinating on the side of the road.

But adults are rarely seen.

Xu Qi'an deduced that these children were still weak and did not need to hide themselves every day to alleviate the side effects of the Dark Gu.

When they grow up and become more capable, they will become like their parents, hiding in nooks and crannies every day.

"Could it be that Granny Tian Gu said the Dark Gu Clan's 'economic situation' is bad? How could it be good? They waste most of their time on meaningless hide-and-seek," Xu Qi'an muttered to himself.

When he first obtained the Seven Deadly Gu, he only found the side effects of the Dark Gu troublesome. He had to spend time hiding himself every day, sometimes for one or two hours at a time.

I never considered that if an entire race were like this, it would actually be a "disaster."

"Actually, you can hide at night; there's no need to do it during the day."

Xu Qi'an said.

The young man on patrol nodded repeatedly:

"Of course, some people hide there at night, but most of them are unmarried. Married people don't have time at night."

"Furthermore, the higher the level, the purpose of hiding is not just to eliminate side effects. You are also a Grandmaster of Dark Gu, you should understand this."

Side effects are the most basic requirement of Dark Gu. To increase cultivation and cultivate Dark Gu, one must actively hide in the shadows and comprehend the power of Dark Gu.

As he spoke, he noticed Xu Qi'an glancing at the shadow beneath his feet, and chuckled:

"You read that right, the rest of the patrol are hiding in the shadows between my legs."

"What the hell is this 'crotch shadow' thing? Do you Dark Gu people all live with your crotches?" Xu Qi'an almost blurted out a curse.

After passing through a series of quiet alleys, the two approached the center of the town, where the population was much denser, with two or three pedestrians strolling along the empty streets, and shops lining both sides.

Xu Qi'an saw that among these pedestrians were people from the Central Plains and people from the Southern Frontier, dressed in tattered clothes, not much better off than the refugees from the Central Plains.

The main issue is that most of these pedestrians did not have any hidden poisons in their bodies.

"They were slaves, some captured from the Central Plains, others from unruly Southern Frontier tribes. We wiped them out, and their population was divided equally among the seven tribes."

The young men on patrol said:

"These slaves are a valuable source of labor for our people."

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment and said, "The Gu Clan often engages in human trade with merchant caravans from the Central Plains, right?"

The phrase "human trade" took the young man a while to understand. He said:

That's right.

"Merchant caravans from the Central Plains know we are short of manpower, so they often send people to the Southern Frontier in exchange for herbs, timber, minerals, and other unique Southern Frontier."

Most of those people were kidnapped. Xu Qi'an thought of the ancestor of the Chai family. When that ancestor was young, his whole family was wiped out by his enemies, and he himself was sold into slavery to the Corpse Gu Tribe in the Southern Frontier.

Later, somehow he escaped back to the Central Plains and established his own sect in his hometown of Xiangzhou.

Oh right, I also need to ask You Shi for the map. The half of the map that the Chai family patriarch had is in the Corpse Gu Tribe. At this moment, Xu Qi'an saw a large mansion with the words "Southern Frontier" written on the plaque.

"This is the chief's residence, Xu Yinluo, please come in."

Stepping into the mansion, Xu Qi'an glanced at the layout of the courtyard. A bluestone-paved path led to the inner courtyard, and on the left side of the path were rows of water vats covered with wooden boards.

On the right side are a series of deep pits with narrow openings.

The pits and jars were full of people. Xu Qi'an withdrew his gaze and followed the young man deeper into the pit. After walking for a while, he didn't see a single person.

It wasn't until they entered the inner hall that Xu Qi'an saw the shadow of the Dark Gu leader, dressed in black, sitting in the main seat, holding a cup of tea.

His face, pale from years of lack of sunlight, showed a slight smile:

"Tea is ready, Xu Yinluo, please have a seat."

Serving tea to guests is a custom in the Central Plains.

After Xu Qi'an took his seat, he said again:

"Wait a moment, I have already sent someone to invite the elder. The matter of sending troops Non-Self can decide alone."

This was something that had already been preliminarily agreed upon during yesterday's battle.

In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, eight shadows emerged from under the table and transformed into eight elders, some middle-aged and some elderly, in the inner hall.

"The chief has already told us that Xu Yinluo wants to invite the Dark Gu tribe to go north to assist Great Feng in fighting against the Yunzhou rebels."

The white-haired old man, seemingly the elder, spoke slowly:

"It's not impossible, it just depends on what price Xu Yinluo is willing to offer."

Xu Qi'an took a sip of tea and said:

"After the war was quelled, the Great Feng would annually bestow upon the Dark Gu Tribe 50,000 taels of silver, 50,000 bolts of silk, and 30,000 shi of grain, for a period of five years."

The elders were slightly moved and began whispering among themselves in the Southern Frontier dialect.

"Fifty thousand taels of silver could fill my entire house!"

"Fifty thousand bolts of silk would be enough to clothe all the members of our Dark Gu tribe in beautiful clothes."

"Food supplies are even more important; our people have never had time to hunt or farm."

The white-haired elder coughed loudly, interrupting the elders' whispers. He was glad that Xu Yinluo couldn't understand the Southern Frontier dialect, otherwise these good-for-nothings would have squandered his bargaining power.

The Grand Elder shook his head:

"But what if the Great Feng is defeated? Wouldn't we have gained nothing in the end?"

Xu Qi'an remained unfazed:

"How would the Grand Elder like to add them?"

"Great!" The Grand Elder nodded and said in a deep voice, "Double it."

"Great!" Xu Qi'an silently stood up, cupped his hands, and said:

"I still need to go to the Heart Gu Clan. I won't disturb you any longer. Farewell."

Shadow's hand twitched, but he held back. Seeing Xu Qi'an reach the hall entrance, he sighed and said:

"Sixty thousand taels of silver, fifty thousand bolts of silk, and fifty thousand shi of grain and fodder, for six years."

"In return, our clan has dispatched eight hundred elite members to participate in the war. Rest assured, they are all absolute elites."

Although the Gu Clan is a nation of soldiers, after excluding the elderly, women, children, and ordinary clansmen, eight hundred elite soldiers is indeed a considerable number.

Xu Qi'an stopped and smiled:

"Make a deal!"

He had already communicated with Huaiqing before he came to obtain a reasonable scope for the "annual gifts" from her.

After all, Xu Qi'an wasn't a history buff and didn't know much about this stuff, so he didn't know the market price of "annual gifts".

The demands made by the shadow are within a reasonable range.

Shadow exhaled. "The elite warriors of the Dark Gu Tribe will do everything in their power to help Great Feng annihilate the rebels."

As for whether Xu Qi'an could represent the Great Feng Dynasty, the Shadow and the elders had no doubts. This person not only held the title of the Great Feng's number one martial artist, but was also the dual dao companion of the Imperial Preceptor Luo Yuheng.

In the eyes of the Dark Gu Tribe, his words were more reliable than the imperial edict of the Central Plains emperor.

"After some time, I will have the imperial court send over documents as proof of the alliance between the Great Feng and the Gu Clan," Xu Qi'an said.

The shadow nodded slightly.

After leaving the Dark Gu Clan, Xu Qi'an flew through the air and arrived at the Heart Gu Clan's territory half an hour later.

This place is filled with the sounds of birds and the fragrance of flowers, and teems with birds and beasts.

The houses of the Xin Gu tribe are built in the dense forest, with pavilions hidden among the green foliage, where humans and animals live in harmony.

A young girl rides a giant, striped tiger, frolicking joyfully through the mountains and fields; various giant creatures serve as draft animals in the fields; and agile, small long-tailed monkeys carry bamboo baskets, picking fruit all over the mountains and fields.

Suddenly, Xu Qi'an saw a giant beast covered in scales rise from the dense forest below, flapping its membranous wings and carrying a young member of the Heart Gu Clan, circling around him.

"Xu Yinluo, the chief sent me to receive you."

The young patrolmen were very respectful, speaking in a somewhat broken Central Plains Mandarin.

Xu Qi'an hummed in agreement. By choosing to fly, he was deliberately "exposing" himself and letting Chun Yan notice him.

The young member of the Heart Gu tribe rode his flying beast and descended into the forest.

Hmm, this flying beast isn't female. It seems the knight is a proper knight. This thought inexplicably popped into Xu Qi'an's mind. He followed the patrolman to a pavilion on the south side of the mountain, at the edge of a cliff.

Beside the attic stands a tall, spreading old pine tree.

Squirrels frolic on the branches, while white apes cry out beneath the pines.

Outside the attic, several large, long-legged, black-feathered birds were pecking at food. When they saw the strangers arrive, they frantically flapped their wings and took flight.

Wearing a long blue dress, with two small red snakes dangling from her earlobes, Chun Yan, with her beautiful eyes and brows, stood outside the pavilion with a faint smile on her face.

"Chief Chunyan!"

Xu Qi'an responded with a smile.

The two entered the attic and sat down in the first-floor hall. Xu Qi'an, a master of mind-based poisons, immediately noticed the various poisonous insects, snakes, and small beasts hiding in the corners.

"Doesn't the abundance of snakes, insects, rats, birds, and beasts here give Xu Yinluo a sense of familiarity?"

Chunyan said, half-jokingly.

I couldn't resist the urge to gather them all together for a square dance. Xu Qi'an laughed, "It truly is a place you'll want to linger in, and it feels so welcoming."

A simple sentence seemed to shorten the distance between the two parties.

Chun Yanxing's eyes shimmered with emotion as she sighed:

"But getting too close to animals can easily lead to getting lost in them."

You mean engaging in forward and backward bending exercises with animals, right? Xu Qi'an smiled without the slightest prejudice:

"This is their personal choice."

Chunyan stared at him steadily, and seeing that he truly had no prejudice, her smile softened, and she said:

"The tribe stipulates that anyone who has ever crossed the line with a wild animal is forbidden from marrying again. This serves both to deter the tribe members and to respect their choices."

Xu Qi'an continued:

"Suppressing the impulses emanating from one's natal Gu helps temper one's will, while indulging in instincts benefits the cultivation of the Heart Gu. It has to be said, it's a double-edged sword."

He made up his mind that during his time in Southern Frontier, he would not release the mare and would keep her safely inside the pagoda.

Otherwise, he worried that it would be stolen by the Heart Gu Clan or eaten by the Strength Gu Clan.

Seeing that the conversation was going well, Xu Qi'an explained his purpose and offered the Heart Gu Division the same conditions as the Dark Gu Division.

Chunyan thought for a moment and said:

"The Heart Gu Tribe has no shortage of food supplies. I would like to exchange them for cloth, tea, porcelain, and salt and iron."

For a Heart Gu Master, eating meat is not a problem at all, and in terms of farming, they can also use animals as draft animals.

"No problem," Xu Qi'an agreed.

The deal was struck, and Chunyan's smile widened as she asked:

"So, what kind of troops does Xu Yinluo want? The Heart Gu Masters are best at beast taming, but the Central Plains lacks powerful beasts, and they are scattered in various places, making it difficult to deploy them directly in battle. The reasonable solution is to directly conscript them from my Heart Gu Tribe."

Xu Qi'an wholeheartedly agreed, "What suggestions does Chief Chunyan have?"

The Central Plains are not like the Southern Frontier. Poisonous insects and ferocious beasts are everywhere. The cities are full of cats and dogs. There are many animals in the mountains, but it is hard to guarantee that there will be a rich herd of animals to control on the edge of the battlefield.

Ordinary beasts are of little use; their combat power is on a completely different level compared to the exotic beasts of the Southern Frontier.

Chunyan said:

"The Heart Gu Tribe has two main types of troops: Beast Cavalry and Flying Beast Army. My personal suggestion is that Xu Yinluo choose the Flying Beast Army. Beast Cavalry moves slowly and takes at least a month to reach Qingzhou in large groups."

"Along the way, people ate meat and beasts, so food was a major problem. After arriving in Qingzhou, food was still a major problem. The Great Feng was suffering from a severe cold disaster, and there was already a shortage of food. Moreover, the beast cavalry only ate meat and did not eat grains."

"Although the Flying Beast Army also only eats meat, they march quickly and can reach Qingzhou in six days at most. Along the way, their people can find their own food, which is easy for us Heart Gu Masters."

"In terms of combat capability, the Great Feng has no shortage of cavalry, but its Flying Beast Army is few and far between, with only the Crimson-Tailed Fierce Eagles shining brightly in the Battle of Shanhai Pass."

However, due to the decline of national strength, the court could no longer afford to raise the Crimson-tailed Fierce Eagles and had sold them to local merchants and wealthy families in Leizhou, retaining only a very small number of flying beasts. Xu Qi'an sighed inwardly.

How much can the Heart Gu Clan give?

"The tribe only has 1,200 flying beasts; at most, we can give Great Feng 500."

"Make a deal!"

Chunyan knew that Xu Qi'an had other matters to attend to, so she didn't try to keep him any longer and saw him out of the pavilion.

Xu Qi'an's next stop is the Corpse Gu Clan. Among the seven Gu clans, the Heavenly Gu Clan is not good at fighting, so it is eliminated; the Poison Gu Clan has too deep a hatred for the Great Feng, so it is eliminated; the Love Gu Clan's aphrodisiac gas does not distinguish between friend and foe, and they also have a very deep hatred for the Great Feng, so it is eliminated.

Therefore, what he wants are the four major tribes: the Power Gu, the Dark Gu, the Heart Gu, and the Corpse Gu.

The Corpse Gu Clan plays the most significant role. Although the Corpse Gu Clan needs offspring Gu to manipulate corpses and cannot control corpses in large numbers like a wizard's corpse control technique, the Corpse Gu Clan's walking corpses are superior in quality and combat strength.

A highly capable suicide squad can play a significant role on the battlefield.

The situation of the Corpse Gu Clan was somewhat different from what Xu Qi'an had expected. He originally thought that the Corpse Gu Clan's headquarters was similar to the legendary Ghost City of Youdu.

But in fact, the headquarters of the Corpse Gu Clan is the most magnificent among all the clans, comparable to that of the Heavenly Gu Clan.

This is practically a small town.

The city walls were built of stacked stones, forming a square shape. The architectural style within the city was similar to that of the Great Feng, using a combination of bricks and wood.

The city was bustling with people, and trade was quite thriving.

The only strange thing is that all the sedan chair bearers have white eyes, and every living person is accompanied by one or two walking corpses, who act as attendants and laborers.

In the bustling market, two-thirds of the people are just walking corpses.

That's terrifying.

Who would have thought that the seemingly simple-minded Li Gu tribe would be the most normal-looking Gu tribe, second only to the Tian Gu tribe Xu Qi'an sighed silently.

Because he deliberately exposed his aura, he immediately attracted the attention of You Shi and was invited into a three-courtyard house in the center of the city.

Servants came and went in the courtyard, doing their own work, while the patrolling guards all had white eyes.

The zombies and the living get along well.

Upon entering the inner courtyard, Xu Qi'an saw many scantily clad maids who seemed accustomed to it and showed no sense of shame.

Xu Qi'an waited in the reception room for a while before You Shi arrived late and said indifferently:

Let's get straight to the point.

He didn't come directly, but instead manipulated a walking corpse to meet Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an scrutinized him and smiled:

"Did I disturb your enjoyment?"

With his current level of cultivation, he could clearly hear the movements of the corpse body inside as it slept with the maid.

"You Shi" said calmly:

"This is the best way to counteract the side effects of the corpse gu. Whenever you can't help but want to do something with the corpse, having a few scantily clad maids around can effectively distract you."

"Once you've vented your desires on them, you won't be interested in zombies for a long time."

"By cleverly utilizing the 'wise time' to resist the side effects of the corpse gu," Xu Qi'an nodded slightly.

The Corpse Gu Clan was relatively wealthy, so it didn't raise prices like the Dark Gu Clan. However, You Shi added a condition: Xu Qi'an had to leave the ancient corpse with the Corpse Gu Clan while he was in the Southern Frontier.

When will we leave the Gu Clan and retrieve the ancient corpse?

Hearing You Shi's forced composure, yet undeniably eager tone, Xu Qi'an pondered:

"Sure, but I have one condition."

"Speak freely," You Shi immediately replied.

"I once traveled to Xiangzhou, where there was a Chai family who learned the secret techniques of the Corpse Gu Clan and could refine iron corpses."

Xu Qi'an told You Shi about the Chai family's situation, "Do you remember them?"

The ancestors of the Chai family lived more than a hundred years ago.

Yu Shi recalled for a moment, then nodded and said:

"There was such a slave. It happened when my father was the chief. If I remember correctly, he traded half a map for his freedom."

The maps that Xu Pingfeng deliberately collected are definitely not simple. Xu Qi'an said:

"I need that half of the map."

You Shi pondered for a moment:

"Okay, but I have one request."

"No nesting dolls, please." Xu Qi'an nodded. "Go ahead and say it."

"If you are able to unlock the secrets of the map in the future, I hope you will tell me."

After Xu Qi'an nodded in agreement, You Shi said, "Wait a moment!"

A dozen minutes later, a white-eyed zombie stepped into the reception room, carrying a black wooden box in its hands.