Chapter 263: People of Mount Shu

"Buzz..."

Hearing Xiao Xie's confession, Shao Siming's mind went completely blank, and her jade-white face instantly flushed with a delicate pink hue.

"Xiao Yi, looking at you blushing like this, I find myself liking you more and more," Xiao Xie said with a soft chuckle.

Shao Siming snatched the veil from Xiao Xie's hand, put it back on to conceal her peerless beauty, and turned her gaze toward the bright moon in the sky.

"Hhahahaha..." Seeing Shao Siming acting like a shy young maiden, Xiao Xie could not help laughing heartily.

...

Early the next morning, within the Returning Sea Manor.

Old Ban was using the Tianji Password Copper Disk to cross-reference the text on the Black Dragon Scroll.

"Ah!" After finishing the cross-referencing, Old Ban was startled by the result and hurried hastily toward the main hall.

"Master Ban, what are the results?" Gao Jianli asked, seeing the older man's hurried expression.

"Take a look. This is what was written on the Black Dragon Scroll," Old Ban raised the wooden strips in his hand and handed them to Gao Jianli.

"This is..." Gao Jianli took the wooden plaques, read them carefully one by one, and then passed them around to the others. Every single person who read them wore a look of utter shock.

"It seems the various philosophers and hundred schools of thought are about to converge on Sage City," Gao Jianli said with a solemn expression.

"Has the Grand Master not returned yet? Didn't he say yesterday that he was going to rescue Robber Bandit?" Big Hammer asked with a puzzled expression.

"Our Grand Master leader has always been a hands-off manager. Who knows where he's off playing right now!" Robber Bandit shrugged and said helplessly upon hearing this.

...

In the General's Mansion of Sage City, Da Siming watched Shao Siming, who had just returned from outside, with a trace of curiosity in her eyes. She quietly followed behind Shao Siming and saw her return to her room, sit by the window, cup her delicate chin with her hand, and fall into a daze.

"She has been acting very strange lately!" Da Siming looked at Shao Siming with a surprised expression. Although Shao Siming was still as silent as ever, her face showed far more expressions than it used to.

After watching for a moment and finding nothing amiss, just as Da Siming was about to leave, she suddenly noticed Shao Siming take a purple pendant necklace from her neck and begin to play with it in her hand.

"That is?!" With her extraordinary eyesight, Da Siming noticed the two large characters engraved on the purple necklace: Ascending Heavens.

"Why does she have an Ascending Heavens Token from the Ascending Heavens Tower, and moreover, a purple Ascending Heavens Token corresponding to the seventh floor? Could the reason she leaves early and returns late lately be related to Xiao Xie?" Da Siming thought to herself.

Thinking of this, Da Siming did not alert Shao Siming, quietly retreated, and turned to report the matter to Xinghun.

"You're saying that the relationship between Shao Siming and Xiao Xie might be unusual?" After listening to Da Siming's report, Xinghun said thoughtfully, "If that is indeed the case, making good use of this point might allow us to bring the Ascending Heavens Tower under the banner of the Yin-Yang Family. However, Xiao Xie's strength is unfathomable, and the Ascending Heavens Tower is full of experts. This matter still needs to be reported to Lord East Emperor so we can plan it carefully."

The strength of the Ascending Heavens Tower was universally acknowledged across the entire world. Being able to make Ying Zheng swallow a bitter pill was not something just anyone could achieve. If they could control Xiao Xie through Shao Siming's line this time and subsequently bring the Ascending Heavens Tower under their command, the Yin-Yang Family would no longer need to depend on Ying Zheng. They could even overthrow Ying Zheng and have Lord East Emperor become the emperor himself.

"You have done well in this matter. For the next period of time, you must pay close attention to Shao Siming's whereabouts until Lord East Emperor personally arrives in Sage City!" Xinghun said to Da Siming with some excitement.

"Yes!"

...

At this moment, on the bustling streets of Sage City, Xiao Xie, who had nothing much to do, was wandering around leisurely. Although Old Ban and the others had deciphered the secret language of the Black Dragon Scroll, it wouldn't cause any impact on Xiao Xie. They could busy themselves with their own affairs; after all, Xiao Xie acted as a hands-off manager. He would only step in if there was an important matter they couldn't resolve. If Xiao Xie had to be present for everything, wouldn't his position as Grand Master lose all its prestige?

Xiao Xie was eating a snack in his hand while walking toward the direction of Youjian Inn, but he was soon attracted by a crowd gathered in a circle on the street.

"Looks like there's a show to watch," the corners of Xiao Xie's mouth curled up slightly as he squeezed into the crowd.

Xiao Xie squeezed through the onlookers and saw that in the open space surrounded by the crowd, there was a box covered with a black cloth, giving off a mysterious atmosphere.

Soon, three strangely dressed, muscular men walked over. These men wore exquisite decorations on their heads, colorful clothes, five rings on their hands, straw sandals on their feet, and ivory necklaces around their chests, not looking like Central Plains people at all.

"Hey, look, their clothes are so pretty."

"Yeah, yeah."

"They don't look like people from the Central Plains. Could they be northern barbarians?"

The surrounding onlookers discussed animatedly for a moment.

"This scene seems a bit familiar!" Seeing this, Xiao Xie thought to himself, then froze slightly as he remembered why this scene was so familiar. These people should be people from the State of Shu, meaning they were Shi Lan's clansmen. Moreover, Shi Lan seemed to be appearing in this performance as well. As for their purpose, it should be called performing street arts for a living. Presumably, they hadn't brought much money when they left Mount Shu, which was why they were performing to earn money.

"Clang!"

The sound of a gong rang out, and the performance officially began.

Although they were using the sorcery of Mount Shu, for some reason, whenever Xiao Xie watched them perform fire-swallowing and escaping illusions, he always had the feeling of watching a magic show.

When Shi Lan and the others finished their performance, Xiao Xie also followed Shi Lan as she left.

In a pavilion not far away, Xinghun watched Xiao Xie's retreating figure and withdrew his gaze.

"Is Lord Xinghun also interested in these parlor tricks?" There was another person beside Xinghun, Lord Yunzhong, the master of the Mirage.

"What interests me is not these parlor tricks from Mount Shu, but a person," Xinghun said indifferently.

"Oh, what kind of person could make Lord Xinghun care so much?" Lord Yunzhong asked with curiosity.

"The one who cares is not just me, but also Lord East Emperor," Xinghun glanced at Lord Yunzhong and said with some solemnity.

"This person is?"

"Xiao Xie, Master of the Ascending Heavens Tower!" Xinghun replied.

"It turns out to be him!"

...

"Shi Lan, you can just tell me if you're short on money," Xiao Xie rubbed Shi Lan's pretty head and smiled.

Shi Lan lowered her head somewhat bashfully and said softly, "I just didn't want to trouble you too much."

Xiao Xie gently flicked the bridge of Shi Lan's delicate nose and said dotingly, "Little silly, why are you still being so polite with me?"

As he spoke, Xiao Xie took out some gold notes he carried with him and stuffed them into Shi Lan's hands. Because this era did not yet have the concept of banks, Xiao Xie had the forces under the Ascending Heavens Tower establish money shops in various places. These silver and gold notes were made of a special kind of oiled paper, so there was no fear of others counterfeiting them. After all, currently, only the Ascending Heavens Tower mastered papermaking technology.