The Blade-Wielding Legend
Chapter 209 - 150: Enshrouded in Mist

Chapter 209: Chapter 150: Enshrouded in Mist

"Brother Yan, are you all right?"

Accompanied by Sha Lifei’s anxious voice, he and Wang Daoxuan supported Luo Faqing as they appeared at the entrance of the cave.

Seeing the mess inside the cave, and the large bloodstains on Li Yan’s abdomen and shoulder, Sha Lifei’s eyes immediately filled with concern.

"It’s okay, it’s that old guy’s blood."

Li Yan casually responded and then tossed the Buddha Treasure over, laughing, "Uncle Sha, take a look, how much is this thing worth?"

Sha Lifei’s attention was immediately captured.

Even Luo Faqing was no exception, urgently saying, "Don’t, that’s a Buddha Treasure, a priceless treasure!"

"If you’re selling it, no matter the price, our Shang Mountain Magic Veins will take it!"

Li Yan simply shook his head and laughed, "Daoist Luo, don’t rush, this object has suppressed the evil spirit, it seems to have become a mundane thing."

Whether it was a Buddha Treasure or not, he couldn’t keep it a secret anyway; it was a good chance to pin the incident of the evil spirit being thrust into the Nine Netherworld on the Buddha Treasure, and it could serve as a cover-up as well.

"What? Impossible!"

Luo Faqing was greatly alarmed.

At a gesture from Li Yan, Sha Lifei reluctantly opened the golden lid, revealing the Shariputra inside.

Luo Faqing took a careful look at the Shariputra for a while before he finally said with dismay, "What a pity, this thing could be used to refine a fine Magic Artifact..."

"Is it still valuable now?"

Sha Lifei quickly asked as he was obviously more concerned about this.

Luo Faqing did not conceal anything and nodded, "It’s enough to fool ordinary people. If you have the means, find someone from the Buddhists in Chang’an City to vouch for it, to explain its origins."

"Chang’an’s wealthy Buddhists are numerous; they will definitely offer a high price."

"Score!"

With relish, Sha Lifei collected the Buddha Treasure, "Once the money from the sale is obtained, your share will be passed on to you."

Luo Faqing blinked, "I get a share too?"

Li Yan nodded and smiled, "That’s our rule; as long as it’s spoils of war, any Daoist involved gets a share upon disposal."

Sha Lifei then chuckled, "Of course, if you look down upon it, we won’t insist. Just like last time, Daoist Luo Mingzi of Taixuan Orthodox Sect held himself with dignity. I suppose as a disciple of the Magic Veins, you wouldn’t care about such things..."

"I want it!"

Luo Faqing immediately interjected, muttering, "If I weren’t short of money, why would I be running around during the New Year... Everyone’s so generous, how could I have the face to refuse."

"That’s right, that’s right..."

Sha Lifei tasted bitterness in his mouth.

But there was nothing he could do; they had established this rule from the start.

According to Li Yan, they didn’t have the support of Magic Veins behind them, and sometimes they needed to ask others for help or to get someone to introduce them to work.

A clear rule was set so they could keep at it for the long haul.

It was like with Zhao Lvzi; if they hadn’t insisted on sharing their gains initially, they might not have made such a good friend.

Luo Faqing was in good spirits, seeing his demeanor, he too found it amusing, "Rest assured, I’m not someone who eats for free."

"I work at the Prince Mansion and also know a Zen master. I will ask him to endorse it; it won’t take many days to stir up a sensation..."

"Oh? Do tell, Daoist!"

Upon hearing this, Sha Lifei’s eyes also shone bright.

Wang Daoxuan, however, was more concerned about the evil spirit. He looked at Li Yan, knowing that there was more to the story. He carefully examined the charred remains to be sure there was no issue.

"That too is fortunate."

Wang Daoxuan sighed with relief, stroking his beard, "With the evil spirit gone, it’s like the bad fruits have been plucked off; the Du Family’s Evil Curse is thoroughly dispelled."

"Indeed."

Li Yan also smiled, looking around.

The Du Family matter was resolved, but his own issues were just beginning.

Father, why did you want to investigate this Zhao Changsheng?

...

Two days later, in a small courtyard room of Pingkang Square.

"Goodness, this is too much trouble..."

Li Yan sat at the table, carefully studying the flintlock pistol.

The matter at Xiangji Temple was completely resolved.

The remnants of the Maitreya Sect hid near Chang’an for twenty years and even laid hands on the Du Family, business partners of the Li family; the matter was certainly not minor.

People from the Xianyang City God Temple were the first to arrive. Qingyangzi was supposed to come for Wang Daoxuan’s plea for help but did not expect such an incident to occur.

The old Daoist was extremely angry, after all, it took place under his watch.

The Japanese monk used Secret Technique to shield himself from the Buddha’s vision, not only to practice Evil Technique but also to evade the Taixuan Orthodox Sect’s patrols by relying on the Buddha’s incense offerings.

The Captain Bureau’s men also arrived, conducting a thorough search and even discovered that these remnants had stockpiled a considerable amount of gunpowder.

As revealed by the found letters, they had purchased these from a group of pugilistic wanderers; the Ancient Zhou tomb blasting case also involved these people...

People from the Chang’an government office arrived as well, all wearing grim expressions.

Someone would definitely be in trouble over this incident.

Originally, the best scapegoat would have been the monks from Xiangji Temple, but the monks had already been killed.

Taixuan Orthodox Sect and the Captain Bureau could easily clear their names, so the ones to face misfortune could only be chosen from the government office staff.

As for Li Yan and his companions, naturally, they reaped a substantial reward.

Having narrowly escaped a catastrophe, the Du Family was tearfully grateful, offering them a reward of five thousand taels, comparable to the value of gold from a bandits’ stronghold.

This money, of course, could not be squandered recklessly.

Whether it was for building towers or refining Magic Artifacts in the future, they would need money.

Without the support of Magic Veins, they had to rely on themselves.

Considering Li Yan’s capacity to spend thousands of taels in Huawei Building, it was unanimously decided by the three that two-thirds of each income would be directly saved in a bank, to be used for significant future expenditures such as building towers.

Only the remainder could be spent on expenses.

Of course, the real bulk of their earnings was still those Shariputra.

For the past couple of days, Sha Lifei had been so busy that his feet barely touched the ground, all because of this matter.

As for Li Yan, aside from the three Astral Orders obtained from capturing yin criminals, a brand new Daluo Dharma Body, there was also this flintlock pistol.

The Great Xuan Dynasty strictly monitored firearms, and naturally, such things couldn’t be casually mentioned. Li Yan had secretly hidden it at the time, only Sha Lifei and Wang Daoxuan knew about it.

Upon a detailed search, he also found the bullets used by the old monk.

The design of these bullets was very primitive: small cloth bags divided into two parts, the front contained a lead bullet, and the rear contained gunpowder.

In his previous life, Li Yan had never seen a real gun, let alone such an antique item. It took him two days to figure out how to use it.

This flintlock pistol was well-crafted and could be considered a work of art.

But as good-looking as it was, it was truly troublesome to use.

First, you had to tear open the back of the powder bag, then pour a bit of the gunpowder into the powder chamber, and stuff the rest into the barrel.

There was a touch hole beneath the barrel, where you had to poke inside to tamp down the gunpowder and bullet firmly. When firing, the flint would ignite the powder in the chamber to shoot the bullet.

Li Yan estimated that even if his aim with the gun became accurate, considering the distance and the speed of an expert with Hidden Energy in the pugilistic world, he would only manage to fire two shots at most.

After two shots, it would turn into a mere fire stick.

Moreover, if the target was on guard and moved adeptly, it wasn’t even certain you could hit the vital points.

Therefore, it was only good for surprise killings.

But this wasn’t something he could neglect to practice.

Li Yan had seen the power of modern gunpowder and could not view it with the same logic as in his previous life, especially since he had also detected some special smells.

There were many ingenious craftsmen in the Great Xuan Dynasty. If they truly managed to create firearms using modern gunpowder, many things would change...

There’s no wall in the world that does not leak.

Even with the court’s control, this thing would surely find its way into the hands of civilians.

In future, when confrontations in the pugilistic world turned to shooting at one another,

Li Yan wouldn’t find it odd at all.

After tidying up and carefully concealing the gun once more, Li Yan finally stepped out the door, stretched lazily, and began practicing Great Cloud Thunder Sound.

While he needed to practice shooting, his martial arts couldn’t be neglected either.

No matter how good the weapon was, it all depended on who wielded it.

Thump, thump, thump!

Not long after, sudden knocks on the courtyard door sounded.

Li Yan, who had already detected the visitor’s scent, hurriedly opened the door.

Outside stood Zheng Xian, a neighbor from the same alleyway.

"Mr. Zheng, please come in."

Li Yan welcomed him into the house with a smile.

"I’m just a petty official, not deserving of being called ’great.’"

Zheng Xian waved his hand hurriedly, following Li Yan into the house before taking out a stack of freshly copied papers from his robe.

"This is the case file from that time."

Zheng Xian laid them out one by one and spoke in a low voice, "These are the case files from when Brother Li’s father died. Because the matter involved the position of leader of the Xianyang Divine Fist Association, your grandfather was relentless, hence the government office recorded many testimonies..."

"This one here is from that brothel fire incident before, several women died suddenly, but since no one pursued an investigation, the cases were closed hastily..."

"This is the file related to the ’Red Maiden’ Luan Hong’er, Vice Sect Hierarch of the Maitreya Sect. It’s not as detailed as the Captain Bureau’s records. If Brother Li has any involvement, it would be better to go to the Captain Bureau to look for the files..."

Li Yan examined the documents carefully, his face showing gratitude, "Thank you, Brother Zheng."

"It’s nothing."

Zheng Xian hastily shook his head, then spoke seriously: "If it hadn’t been for your help, my child would have already been dead by now, and thanks to your recommendation, he has taken Daoist Luo as a master and thus changed his fate."

"This kindness, I can never repay fully. I’m just an ordinary clerk, and this is all I can do."

He continued, "Our Shan State isn’t near the sea, so we don’t get much news from Japan, but I still had someone inquire about it for me."

"The Incident at Honnoji happened twenty-five years ago. It’s said there was a treacherous warlord named Oda whose subordinates rebelled. At that time, it coincided with the battle at the Northern Border of the Great Xuan."

"Now the war in Japan has subsided, but many exiled pirates often attack at sea..."

"Thank you, Brother Zheng. How about we have a drink together sometime?"

"No need, I have official duties at the government office and can’t stay too long."

After seeing Zheng Xian off, Li Yan went back to his room to examine the case files.

The information he had obtained from Xiangji Temple couldn’t be overlooked, and though they had taken Lu Gongyuan away from the Captain Bureau, he knew that even with some connection to Guan Wanche, it would be difficult to get information from the Captain Bureau.

Fortunately, his neighbor Zheng Xian worked as a record keeper for the Chang’an Prefecture, responsible for managing case files. Li Yan had asked him to copy the relevant files.

As Li Yan scrutinized each file, his brow furrowed.

Everything on the case files appeared normal.

But surely there was more to it.

After a while, he put the files down and massaged his temples, feeling utterly clueless.

Too much time had passed, and he didn’t recognize anyone mentioned in the files. Some might have already died of old age. To dig up old affairs from that time seemed incredibly difficult.

Then there was the old monk Hui Qing.

He had seen from the well of the Yin Bureau that the opponent was an Onmyoji from Japan who died in the battle of Honnoji and had been resurrected by possessing the body of a monk.

It was improbable that he had come to the Divine State for no reason.

So there was only one possibility:

Zhao Changsheng had been to Japan and brought him back!

What was the background of this person?

Perhaps the Taixuan Orthodox Sect knew more.

Of course, Li Yan wanted to clarify this matter, but within the Taixuan Orthodox Sect, the only one he could really call a friend was Luo Mingzi.

And since the Taixuan Orthodox Sect had recently been engaged on a joint mission and had not yet returned, he had no news from them.

Just then, the gate to the courtyard was opened and Sha Lifei’s laughter rang out, "Brother Yan, guess who’s here!"

Li Yan, already aware of the visitor, smiled and walked out to greet him with a bow, "Manager Wan, how have you been?"

The visitor was none other than Manager Wan of the Wensheng Pavilion of Xianyang...