Chapter 2235: Murder on the River
As he observed the fat man, Zhao Hai confirmed his suspicions. He didn’t say a word and continued to lead Ma Long and the others in battle. He also shouted a command that was a code for Liu Zhen to retreat.
Once he got Zhao Hai’s message, Liu Zhen exchanged a few more attacks with Zhao Hai before running away and dropping a few corpses. Zhao Hai also sent someone to clean up the battlefield and had everyone tend to their injuries. After that, he walked up to the fat man and said, “Convoy Leader, we’re fine now. It’s just a few thieves who don’t know how to live. There’s no need to worry.”
The fat man nodded and thanked Zhao Hai, “Thank you very much, Mister Zhao and the Blood Knife Gang. If it weren’t for you, the convoy would have ended here.”
Zhao Hai shook his head and said, “This is our duty. You don’t need to be polite. We can depart, but we must hurry along. If we cannot find a place to stay the night, we will have to camp outdoors.”
The fat man nodded and said, “Alright. I’ll follow Mister’s words.” Zhao Hai nodded and then he waved his hand. The convoy set off once more. Although the battle was just a play, for the sake of truthfulness, a few people were still injured. Some even feigned death, using beast blood for effect.
The convoy rested at noon before departing once more. This time, they didn’t encounter any attacks.
Zhao Hai continued to strengthen the convoy’s alertness in the following days as they hurried along. They even sent scouts ahead to make sure that there was no ambush.
After half a month of travelling, Zhao Hai and the others finally arrived at Split River City. Looking at the familiar wall outside Split River City, Zhao Hai couldn’t help but sigh. They had just left Split River City a short time ago, he didn’t expect to return this soon. But now, they weren’t returning as one of the four major gangs in the city, but as the Blood Knife Gang from Demonheart City.
Although they kept their name, the Blood Knife Gang’s status in Split River City was completely different. Right now, the Blood Knife Gang doesn’t have a single industry in the city. The Blood Knife Gang’s previous headquarters might still be present, but it was only guarded by a few people.
Despite this, the three gangs didn’t attack the Blood Knife Gang’s remaining building. Although they were aware that the Blood Knife Gang had moved out, they couldn’t ignore the fact that Wang Da had broken through to the Teleportation Stage. They also knew that even if the Blood Knife Gang moved out, as long as Wang Da was alive, they couldn’t afford to offend them.As for the cultivators behind Zhao Hai, they had quite a few feelings towards Split River City. After all, they had lived in the city for quite some time.
Zhao Hai turned his head towards everyone and said, “Enter the city. Escort the convoy leader to the meeting point. Once the mission is complete, we’ll take a rest at the old main hall.” The guards roared in celebration before escorting the convoy into the city.
People of Split River City were very familiar with the Blood Knife Gang’s flag. After not seeing the gang’s flag for a long time, the cultivators in the city were stunned upon seeing Zhao Hai and the others. The other gangs in the city were startled as well.
Zhao Hai didn’t pay attention to these people. He continued to lead the convoy to the Moonfall Palace’s branch hall. After handing off the mission and receiving the reward, Zhao Hai led everyone to the former main hall of the Blood Knife Gang. Wang Da and the others have already secretly returned to the main hall.
After arranging his men to rest, Zhao Hai went to see Wang Da and Liu Zhen. Seeing Zhao Hai arrive, Wang Da waved his hand and said, “Little Ling, come and take a seat.”
Zhao Hai nodded and then sat down. Wang Da looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Have you gotten any ideas as to what the fat man is carrying?”
Zhao Hai smiled bitterly as he shook his head and said, “Unfortunately, I haven’t. The Convoy Leader is very tight-lipped about his cargo. I also can’t ask directly since it would only raise suspicion.”
Wang Da nodded, “It’s what I was expecting. Merchants, each one of them, are slimy fellows. It’s impossible to get something out of their mouths. Alright, let’s not talk about this. Tomorrow, lead the others to return to Demonheart City. Don’t let anyone suspect that we have left Demonheart City.”
Zhao Hai and Liu Zhen nodded. Wang Da looked at the two and said, “When all of this is over, I definitely won’t treat you badly.”
Liu Zhen smiled faintly and said, “Thank you very much, Gang Master.” Zhao Hai also expressed his gratitude to the Gang Master. He knew Wang Da’s promise was to make them keep the matter a secret. If Zhao Hai declined, Wang Da might become suspicious of him.
After exchanging a few more words with the two, Wang Da waved his hand and allowed them to leave. Zhao Hai and Liu Zhen complied and returned to their own rooms.
The night passed uneventfully. Early the next morning, Liu Zhen left with the rest of the hidden forces. As for Zhao Hai’s group, they weren’t in a hurry. They only left Split River City after eating breakfast, under the gazes of the people of Split River City.
Seeing the Blood Knife Gang’s group leave, the three gangs of Split River City relaxed. To be honest, they were afraid of the Blood Knife Gang returning to Split River City. The Blood Knife Gang was known for seeking vengeance over a simple fault. Back when they attacked the Blood Knife Gang, only then did they find out that Wang Da had broken through to the Teleportation Stage. At that time, they were terrified. They were afraid that Wang Da would retaliate. But to their surprise, the Blood Knife Gang instead chose to move to Demonheart City. Although this wasn’t what they expected, they welcomed this outcome.
The Blood Knife Gang’s return this time surprised the three gangs. They were afraid that the Blood Knife Gang would return to Split River City. If that happens, their good times would be over. Therefore, seeing that Zhao Hai and the others only stayed for one night before leaving, the people from the three gangs let out sighs of relief. At the same time, they sent people to monitor Zhao Hai’s actions, fearing that Zhao Hai would return to kill people.
Zhao Hai was naturally aware that there were people following behind him, but he didn’t care. In fact, the presence of these people was good for him. They would provide a good alibi for the Blood Knife Gang. When the time comes and something happens to the fat man, Zhao Hai and the others wouldn’t be the first suspects.
Five days after Zhao Hai and the others left Split River City, a new mission was issued in the city’s mission hall. It was from the Moonfall Palace. The mission was to escort a batch of goods heading to River Border City. The reward was two thousand jade essences.
The mission was quite lucrative for Split River City. River Border City wasn’t very far. It was a land route with a river crossing. The road was known to be peaceful. The reward of two thousand jade essences wasn’t low. The moment the mission was posted, it was immediately picked up by one of the three gangs.
Eight days after Zhao Hai left Split River City, a convoy of ten carriages from the Moonfall Palace left the city. This time, only 30 people were sent by the palace. This was because the road was very safe. They didn’t need too many guards.
The convoy moved forward with no issues. Two days later, they stopped at the riverside to prepare for the river crossing. They would traverse the river for three days before disembarking. Then it would take another two days before they arrived at Rover Border City.
There were specialized vessels to take the carriages along the river, so the convoy didn’t need to worry about the crossing. Naturally, the vessel couldn’t just take the convoy, there would be other passengers inside. With various merchants on board, the vessel was quite lively.
A day after the vessel started moving along the river, a black shadow appeared and began killing everyone on the boat. Although the people on the boat quickly discovered that they were being attacked, there was nothing they could do since the attacker was at the Teleportation Stage. Nobody could go against him. The people on the boat were killed one by one. Naturally, the black shadow also killed the fat convoy leader and took his spatial item. When the shadow probed the ring with his spiritual force, he discovered that it had been secured with a spiritual lock. He couldn’t open it in a short time. However, this also informed the shadow that he got what he was looking for.
After finding the ring, the shadow moved and flew in mid-air. Then he punched towards the ship, sending it to the depths of the river. Then the shadow disappeared. The river returned to its calm, it was as if a huge vessel hadn’t been sunk just now.
Shortly after the shadow disappeared from the river, he reappeared at another place. After looking around, he found that there was nobody following him. Then he turned around and left. After a flash of light, the shadow’s body changed its form.
Naturally, the shadow was Wang Da. Although Wang Da only took the fat man’s spatial item, he didn’t just ignore the other goods on the ship. He found a large boulder and hollowed it out. After placing the goods inside, he sunk the boulder into a shallow part of the river.
Wang Da didn’t immediately return to Demonheart City after acquiring the spatial item. Instead, he went to a mountain and found an empty cave. After making sure that he wouldn’t be disturbed, Wang Da took out the fat man’s spatial item and carefully dealt with the spiritual lock.
The spatial item was a rarely-seen necklace item. Ordinary spatial items would be in the form of a bracelet or a ring to make it easier to remove and insert items.
Spatial items in the form of a necklace or a belt were quite rare. The fat man’s spatial item was in the form of a necklace.
The necklace-shaped spatial item was well-made. Although it looked ordinary, cultivators preferred their treasures to blend in so as to not attract any unwanted attention. Items that were too dazzling would only cause troubles.
The fat man’s necklace was made to blend and hide from prying eyes. This caused Wang Da to be more curious about its contents. He used his spiritual force to slowly grind the spiritual lock down. This was the slowest way of dealing with a spiritual lock, but it was also the safest.
Cultivators rarely use spiritual locks on their spatial items. This was because spatial licks cost a lot of spiritual force. And once a spatial item was spiritually locked, taking something out or putting something in would become tedious.
There are several methods to remove spiritual locks. The first method was to match the spiritual force patterns to the spiritual lock, just like a lock and a lockpick. Despite the quickest, it was also the most difficult. The lock wouldn’t open unless the spiritual force pattern used was exactly the same as the one used to lock it. This method of breaking through a spiritual lock only exists in theory. It’s impossible for one to be accurate with it all the time.
Another method to break spiritual locks was to break it open with brute force. Using a very powerful spiritual force, one could overwhelm the spiritual lock and cause it to break. However, this method risks damaging whatever was inside.
The method that Wang Da used was the slowest one. But it was also the most consistent and safest method. Using one’s own spiritual force, a cultivator can grind down a spiritual lock until it dissipates. This is a very long process. Sometimes, it would take an entire day or several days to complete.
Since he didn’t know what was inside the spatial item, Wang Da couldn’t use the brute force method to break the lock. Because of this, he could only resort to the long process to get through. However, Wang Da was certain that what’s inside was valuable. Otherwise, the Moonfall Palace wouldn’t be this meticulous in transporting it.
The Moonfall Palace was a huge trading company inside the Forbidden Path Sect’s influence. It shares the same stage as the Abundance Hall. While the Abundance Hall has the Long Clan behind it, the Moonfall Palace has an Elder of the Moonfall Palace behind it. Although the Elder has been in seclusion for quite some time, the size of the Moonfall Palace allowed it to continue with its affairs unhindered. The Elder behind the Moonfall Palace was also very powerful, so nobody dared fight the palace.
Despite such a background, the Moonfall Palace was still so careful in transporting the item, which showed how precious it was. Therefore, Wang Da was being extra careful. He was afraid that his haste would damage the item inside.
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