Chapter 248: The Black Dragon Scroll (Fourth Request for Subscriptions)

Hearing Xiao Xie's words, Li Si let out a silent sigh of relief; at least his life was spared. He could no longer care about attending to Xiao Xie's astonishing remarks. Initially, he had merely considered Xiao Xie an arrogant madman, but now he felt that Xiao Xie was a complete lunatic. He would relay these exact words to Ying Zheng and let Ying Zheng deal with the headache! In any case, he had no desire to linger here any longer. Staying with Xiao Xie felt even more perilous than standing before a furious Ying Zheng.

"Li Si will take his leave now." Li Si cupped his hands toward Xiao Xie and departed in somewhat disheveled haste. He feared that Xiao Xie might suddenly change his mind, rendering his death meaningless. He would report Xiao Xie's words verbatim to Ying Zheng. As for the consequences Ying Zheng would face upon hearing them, he could already easily guess.

Fatty Ding and Shi Lan looked at Li Si's retreating back with lingering shock. Did Xiao Xie's words just now mean that a definitive, open break with Ying Zheng had occurred?

"Xiaofeng, pass down the word: if Ying Zheng truly dares to dispatch troops, make sure not a single one of them returns alive, and ensure he learns what pain feels like," Xiao Xie instructed Murong Feng nearby. The reason Xiao Xie had spoken thus to Li Si was that the Ascending Heaven Tower under his command was now fully capable of repelling an attack by the Qin army. Furthermore, Xiao Xie himself had learned the Myriad Leaves Flying Flower Stream, a crowd-attack Yin-Yang technique, from the Demonic Commander. Even if an army of a hundred thousand soldiers were to come, it would not be enough for him to slaughter.

"Young Master, are you planning to bring out those treasures to deal with the Qin army?" Murong Feng asked, catching the implication in Xiao Xie's words. With those treasures present, however many Qin soldiers came, they would perish.

"With those items in place, Ying Zheng is bound to suffer a crushing defeat," Murong Huang chimed in with a laugh. Although she rarely concerned herself with the affairs of the Ascending Heaven Tower, she was aware of certain matters. On the surface, Azure Cloud City remained a city of the Qin State, but in reality, it had already been firmly placed under the control of the Ascending Heaven Tower. If the Qin army dared to lay siege to the city, supplemented by those defensive treasures, Ying Zheng could throw the entire military might of the Qin State outside Azure Cloud City and still never hope to breach it.

"Very well, it is time for us to return as well." Xiao Xie finished his meal at a leisurely pace, entirely unconcerned with the terrifying consequences his previous words might bring.

"Understood, Young Master."

Watching Xiao Xie's departing figure, Shi Lan could not help but feel a twinge of concern for him. As a native of the Shu State, she naturally understood the formidable power of the Qin army. A few months ago, Meng Tian had personally led troops to attack the Shu State and even plundered the Fusang tree that the Shu people had guarded for generations. Her arrival in Songhai City was precisely to investigate this matter.

Originally, the people of Shu, relying on their native witchcraft and sorcery, cared little for the incursions of the Qin army. However, marching alongside the Qin forces to attack Shu were the Yin-Yang Family and the Gongshu Family. The witchcraft and sorcery that the Shu people took such pride in proved utterly ineffective against the Yin-Yang techniques of the Yin-Yang Family.

Once the witchcraft failed, combined with the mechanoid beasts of the Gongshu Family and the main force of the Qin army, the entire Shu State was swiftly and inevitably crushed. Shi Lan could not help worrying that Xiao Xie might follow in the disastrous footsteps of Shu.

"Xiaofeng, Xiaohuang, the two of you should head to Azure Cloud City for the upcoming period! With the two of you presiding over it, I will feel much more at ease." Upon stepping out of the Yujian Inn, Xiao Xie instructed Murong Feng and Murong Huang.

"We will certainly not disappoint the Young Master!" Murong Feng and Murong Huang bowed to Xiao Xie and hurried back toward Azure Cloud City. In the near future, Ying Zheng might dispatch troops at any moment. Although they had no fear of the Qin army, making adequate preparations would reduce potential losses to an absolute minimum.

...

"What are you all doing?" As soon as Xiao Xie stepped into the rear courtyard of the Returning Sea Manor, he saw Daozhi and the others gathered in a circle and asked.

"You've returned just in time, Juzi. We found something we want to show you," Daozhi said with a mysterious air upon catching sight of Xiao Xie.

With that, Daozhi retrieved a black scroll from inside his tunic and placed it upon the table.

"What is this thing?" Old Man Ban and the others asked with curiosity. Earlier, Daozhi and Great Hammer had returned from outside looking all mysterious, claiming they had something to show everyone, and then Xiao Xie had arrived. They had no idea what it was Daozhi was presenting to them.

"This is the Black Dragon Scroll, representing the highest-classified secret dossier of the empire, personally signed and issued by Ying Zheng. No more than three people in total know of its secrets." As Gai Nie had once served as Ying Zheng's personal bodyguard, he recognized the origin of the scroll at a single glance.

"To steal across the realm without a single rival is a reputation not lightly earned," Daozhi remarked with a hint of pride upon hearing of the supreme importance of the Black Dragon Scroll.

"Ahem..." Great Hammer, standing nearby, let out a few deliberate coughs at Daozhi's smug expression, implying that he seemed to have left someone out.

Coming to his senses, Daozhi hastily amended, "With our Iron Leader stepping up as well, it was utterly effortless—a mere piece of cake."

"Pleasure doing business with you!" Having received a satisfactory response, Great Hammer exchanged a high-five with Daozhi.

"Have you two looked at the documents inside?" Gao Jianli inquired.

"Well..." Great Hammer hesitated for a moment. It seemed he had been too excited and had apparently forgotten about looking inside first.

"Such a wonderful find, we naturally intended to share it with all of you," Daozhi stated smoothly, adopting an air of utmost loyalty.

Seeing Daozhi's expression of unblushing falsehood, the others chuckled inwardly, though since no harm was done, none of them exposed him.

"It is a good thing you did not look. The Black Dragon Scroll is protected by a specially crafted mechanism lock; its code must be deciphered to retrieve the contents. If forced open, it contains a strong corrosive acid that will instantly destroy the classified documents," Xiao Xie said with a playful tone as he looked at Daozhi and Great Hammer.

"Ah? Is that so! Thank goodness..." Great Hammer remarked with a sense of relief. Fortunately they had forgotten; otherwise, the scroll would have been stolen for nothing.

"How is this mechanism lock to be cracked?" Master Xu asked.

"To my knowledge, the mechanism lock is engineered using the tyrannical mechanoid arts of the Gongshu family," Gai Nie replied.

"Since it was designed by that punk Gongshuchou, old man here must just go and test his skills!" Old Man Ban hastily declared upon hearing Gai Nie's words. The last time Gongshuchou had broken into the Mohist forbidden mechanoid grounds in Mechanoid City, it had left Old Man Ban thoroughly displeased!

"Juzi, bad news, something has happened!" At that exact moment, a Mohist disciple rushed into the rear courtyard, reporting to Xiao Xie with an anxious expression.

Hearing the words of the Mohist disciple, everyone's expressions turned grim.

"What has happened?" Xiao Xie asked with an unchanged expression. As a leader of a faction, one must never lose one's composure first.

"Juzi, the liaison outpost outside Songhai City has been attacked, and all our brothers there are dead," the disciple reported with sorrow.

"What did you say?!" Great Hammer roared with furious indignation upon hearing this.

"Very well, let us go and inspect the place first!" Xiao Xie restrained the enraged Great Hammer and said calmly.

The majority of the Mohist disciples had been relocated to the Ascending Heaven Tower's branch, but a portion remained stationed at various outposts to handle communications and intelligence gathering. Never had they expected that the disciples stationed at the liaison outpost would be slaughtered.

With those words, Xiao Xie led Great Hammer and the others toward the liaison outpost located outside Songhai City.

...

Upon entering the farmstead where the liaison outpost was situated, a scene of utter devastation met their eyes. The corpses of five Mohist disciples responsible for communications lay scattered haphazardly across the ground. A shattered wooden bucket lay overturned near the well, water continuing to drip rhythmically from its rim. A puddle of water nearby suggested the suddenness of the attack, catching the disciples entirely off-guard while they were in the midst of their daily farm chores.

"It is the work of the Yin-Yang Family. This method appears identical to the Six Soul Fearsome Curse that the Juzi was once afflicted with," Gai Nie said with a solemn expression after conducting an examination.

"The Six Soul Fearsome Curse?" Upon hearing that name, Xue Nu and Duanmu Rong's expressions shifted drastically; the previous Mohist Juzi had perished by that very technique.

"The internal energy and martial arts cultivation of these brothers were far inferior to the Juzi's, which is why the poison took effect instantly upon them, causing their blood to accelerate and boil until death," Duanmu Rong said, her face pale with distress.

"It's that vicious woman, Da Si Ming, again! Damnable!" Great Hammer clenched his fists tightly, gnashing his teeth in fury.