The Secret Vault Key

In just a few years, when Zhang Xuezhou saw his old acquaintances in the village again, he felt that everything had changed.

Zhang Xuezhou has traveled tens of thousands of miles and is currently on another long journey.

After leaving the village, Zhang Cigong searched for a sect and eventually joined the Beast Taming Sect, which recruited disciples everywhere.

As initially expected, Zhang Cigong joined the sect as a menial servant.

This status has remained unchanged until now.

"It's been years, and your courage has only grown more remarkable!"

The two stared at each other for a long time, unsure where to begin their conversation, until Zhang Xuezhou finally broke the silence.

"This Bai Datong has never treated us menial servants like human beings. He's beaten me more than ten times, and once he almost killed me. He even made me deaf in my left ear," Zhang Cigong said. "It's rare that he's crippled and only has one spirit dog to guard him, so I took the opportunity to strike him a few times!"

Zhang Cigong pointed at the middle-aged man and spat at him.

Despite having been a disciple of the Beast Taming Sect for many years, Zhang Cigong still employed hunter-like methods.

Aside from witnessing some disciples of the Beast Taming Sect taming hunting dogs and wild beasts, Zhang Cigong has gained almost nothing over the years.

The Realm Entry qualifications that brought great joy to Zhang Household Village were not valued by the Beast Taming Sect.

The Beast Taming Sect values blood ties, followed by ties of mutual benefit, and then personal relationships and subservience. Only by completely bowing down and becoming an external henchman of the Beast Taming Sect can one have a chance of being accepted into the sect and receiving instruction.

Cultivation aptitude, the appreciation of seniors—none of these mattered to Zhang Cigong.

He had never experienced these things in Zhang Household Village. By the time he gradually figured it out after constantly hitting walls, several years had passed, and he was unable to leave the Beast Taming Sect because he was under the control of Bai Datong.

"Then his death wasn't entirely unjust!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded, then kicked Bai Datong in the heart, severing his last breath.

How did you get here?

Zhang Cigong climbed to a high place and looked into the distance several times to make sure that no one from the village had come before he asked Zhang Xuezhou in a low voice.

"He came by boat, but was robbed by the Soviets, and he was killed as well!"

Zhang Xuezhou pointed in the direction of the middle of the river.

Their misfortune stemmed from the robbery by the Beast Taming Sect, and the Beast Taming Sect disciples' theft of their family's possessions was also due to their killing of Su Fang and others.

The chaos ended with many deaths, and nearly killed the Beast Taming Sect, which had been suppressed by the imperial court and was barely clinging to life.

He briefly mentioned his years of travel and his current need to hurry back to the Northern Border.

"It's still 168 li by water from here to Jiangxia City. It would take two or three days to get there by bamboo raft!"

The two had experienced many things over the years, and it was difficult to talk about them in detail in a short time. They focused on dealing with the immediate issues facing everyone.

Zhang Cigong quickly packed up and calmly left the area of the Beast Taming Sect, while Zhang Xuezhou wanted to see if it was possible to go to Jiangxia.

As the new site built by the Beast Taming Sect, the sect was very particular about its location, which is why Zhang Cigong was able to give the exact distance.

This distance dispelled Zhang Xuezhou's ulterior motives.

Even if he used Dong Zhongshu's Law Treasure fan to propel the bamboo raft, he still wouldn't be able to reach Jiangxia City on time. In fact, the possibility of accidents happening to the group, who were either injured or exhausted, was even higher.

They could only proceed to Jiangxia City when Dong Zhongshu regained consciousness or when Zhang Xuezhou awoke again.

"I really want to go back to Zhang Household Village with you all!"

Zhang Xuezhou still has a normal identity, but Zhang Cigong is a remnant of the Beast Taming Sect. His name has been officially registered, and he could be arrested if he enters the city using a normal name.

Zhang Cigong also lacks the 'tips and rhythms' to navigate the city.

Zhang Xuezhou and others could still travel to the Northern Border, or even return to Zhang Household Village, while he could only continue to wander.

Something happened in Zhang Household Village...

Zhang Changgong, Zhang Cigong, and others left the village before Zhang Xuezhou to become his disciples, but they did not see the strange scene of the village being deserted.

As for Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong, who were in charge of the investigation, Zhang Xuezhou had not seen them for several years.

He knew nothing about Zhang Household Village, only about the past, and had little knowledge of the present.

"If only we had the skills of those inner disciple of the Beast Taming Sect back then! If we could have tamed just a few spirit dogs, we definitely could have tracked down the clues!"

After hearing Zhang Xuezhou mention the changes in Zhang Household Village, Zhang Cigong remained silent for a few seconds before speaking in a low voice.

For someone who could hardly even return to his village, Zhang Cigong felt powerless to do many things. He didn't even know how long he could live after leaving the Beast Taming Sect.

"Why don't you learn a couple of Beast Taming techniques first? It'll make taming those two hunting dogs easier."

Zhang Xuezhou grabbed the dragon-shaped jade stone and then tossed it to Zhang Cigong.

"This seems to be the key to the Beast Taming Sect's secret vault where they hide their treasures," Zhang Cigong said. "I've only ever glimpsed it from afar before, so I can't really get any information about the Beast Taming Sect now!"

"Isn't this a heirloom jade?"

Hearing about the Beast Taming Manual high in the sky, Zhang Xuezhou Zhang Xuezhou flew down to check the situation, but he didn't expect that he had misjudged the situation.

What is Heirloom Jade?

Zhang Cigong clearly still had a lot of cultivation knowledge to catch up on, but when Zhang Xuezhou mentioned that bloodletting was necessary to verify the authenticity of the inheritance jade, he didn't seem to care about such a thing.

After smearing the dragon-shaped jade with blood, and finding that the jade still wouldn't absorb the blood and open, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to admit that the jade wasn't a heirloom jade, but rather possibly belonged to some kind of key.

"The shape of this key is a bit too strange," Zhang Xuezhou said. "Where is that secret vault?"

"I'm not sure either, but it should be somewhere hidden in the old site of the Beast Taming Sect," Zhang Cigong said. "When Su Fang fled, he couldn't carry the sect's heavy belongings with him, so he piled up the inconvenient items in the secret vault. There should be some good stuff inside."

Where is the original site?

"There's a place called Niutou Mountain in Huaibei. I followed them and fled through the mountains for more than half a year to get here. I still don't know how I'll get back!"

"It's a bit far!"

Zhang Xuezhou wasn't very familiar with the various parts of the Han Dynasty's territory, but he knew that Huaibei and Jiangxia were far apart.

Finding Niutou Mountain, however, presents another problem.

Either the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect can find the location, or only people in the imperial court know where the old site of the Beast Taming Sect is.

Zhang Xuezhou considered his current troubles and realized that the secret vault key that the Beast Taming Sect members were fighting over was of no use to him whatsoever.

Looking at Zhang Cigong, who seemed dejected and lost, he began to enthusiastically encourage him to search for treasure.

"Once you find the Beast Taming Manual of the Beast Taming Sect in the secret vault and master this unparalleled skill, the people of our village will definitely be saved," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"In the past, they led the way with hunting dogs and wild beasts, and many people died along the way before we got here," Zhang Cigong said. "There's no way I could have traversed such a long mountain path!"

"The risks along the way are quite high!"

Thinking about the merchant group's experience, Zhang Xuezhou had to admit that the lack of flying ability made long-distance travel extremely difficult for 99% of people.

The distance that Kong Ning, Feiyu, and other demons covered in a single day was a journey that ordinary people would find difficult to traverse in a lifetime.

However, there are not many examples like Zhang Xuezhou, who traveled tens of thousands of miles and survived.

Zhang Xuezhou was used to long journeys, but Zhang Cigong was clearly not yet able to adapt.

Let's wait for Accountant Du and see if he can offer any good suggestions!

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help Zhang Cigong gain higher cultivation and strength in the short term, nor could he clear Zhang Cigong's name as a wanted criminal.

This led Zhang Xuezhou to turn to Dong Zhongshu for help.

Who is Accountant Du?

"The one who killed Su Fang!"

Zhang Cigong asked the question, and his body couldn't help but tremble. Images of various fierce and menacing great cultivators flashed through his mind.

Only when he crossed mountains and valleys and saw Dong Zhongshu lying unconscious on the ground did his wildly beating heart finally stop.