Book 2: Chapter 14: Out of the Valley
Rumble…!
Thunder roared, lightning flashed, and heavy rain fell.
The three thousand-odd evil men of Evil Men Valley scattered about, but they kept their eyes on the cave entrance. All of their eyes filled with hope, as everyone’s hope was there.
Gu Hai stood at the cave entrance. Four people stood before him—Gao Xianzhi, Chen Tianshan, Scar, and Shangguan Hen—the four legates.
“Milord, we have already questioned him. He has already spilled the beans on everything. Indeed, only Don Li Wei can remove our masks,” Scar said with an unsightly expression.
“Did you ask about the territory of the Great Feng Mafia Family?” Gu Hai asked.
“Yes, we have obtained the information from him. There are three regions to the Great Feng Mafia Family: the family region, the gambling region, and the guest region. The guest region is for the gamblers to stay and spend money. There are all sorts of services and shops from the outside there. The beast arena and a few other gambling games make up the gambling region. The family region is where the Great Feng Mafia Family disciples stay,” Chen Tianshan reported.
“If we want to remove the mask, the Great Feng Mafia Family Don has to do it. Milord, can you make the Great Feng Mafia Family Don do it?” Gao Xianzhi asked as he looked at Gu Hai.
However, Scar looked at Gao Xianzhi in shock.
How can this be possible? Don Li Wei is not a fool.
However, Gu Hai remained silent for a while before saying, “I need to go out and conduct a careful investigation first before I can know that.”
“Investigate? Milord, you are going out?” Gao Xianzhi asked, feeling surprised.
“That’s right. I need to go out and meet Li Wei first. I will need one of you to work together with me,” Gu Hai said gravely.
“Work with you? It is to put on that black-clad man’s clothes and pretend to be him before escorting Milord out of the valley, right?” Gao Xianzhi’s eyes lit up.
“Milord, let me do it. I can do it!” Scar immediately said.
Since he could go out, Scar naturally did not want to remain in Evil Men Valley.
“I’ll go! Milord, I’ll go!” Chen Tianshan also took the initiative to volunteer.
However, Shangguan Hen suddenly ma.s.saged his throat at the side and said, “Milord, I think it is better that I do it.”
“Huh?” Everyone suddenly looked at Shangguan Hen.
Shangguan Hen’s voice had completely changed. It actually sounded identical to the whip-bearing, black-clad man’s voice.
“Shangguan Hen? That is a pretty good ability,” Gu Hai laughed.
“It’s nothing much. I made a joke of myself before Milord!” Shangguan Hen said respectfully.
“Alright. Shangguan Hen it is, then. Go put on the clothes of that black-clad man,” Gu Hai instructed.
“Yes!” Shangguan Hen quickly walked into the cave.
Gu Hai looked at Shangguan Hen with slightly narrowed eyes. Those who could survive for so long here were not idle people. At this moment, he still did not know the evil men well enough. While he used this person now, he also kept his guard up against this person.
Soon, Shangguan Hen came out wearing the black robes and holding a whip in his hand. Then, he slowly put on the black-clad man’s hat.
Crack!
“Move on!” Shangguan Hen shouted, imitating the arrogant air of the black-clad man very well.
“Not bad!” Gu Hai nodded.
Gu Hai left some instructions before slowly making his way to the valley exit with Shangguan Hen.
Before the blue light barrier at the valley exit:
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, are you still playing around and neglecting your position?!” Shangguan Hen shouted.
Shangguan Hen’s voice immediately reached outside the valley.
The guards had been enjoying themselves as they took shelter from the rain when they heard the loud shout. Their expressions changed, and they quickly rushed out.
“Ah?! It’s the senior brother from the beast arena! How are you in Evil Men Valley?” one of the guards immediately asked with a smile.???????n?vel.???
“How am I in Evil Men Valley? How did I enter? Should I report this to the don, inform him about you neglecting your duties to seek pleasure, not even knowing how and when I went in?” Shangguan Hen sneered.
“Ah! No, please. Senior Brother, please forgive us!” That guard immediately broke out in a cold sweat.
“Alright. Cut the c.r.a.p; it is raining. Let this evil man out. The don wants to meet him. Quickly!” Shangguan Hen said seriously.
“Ah? Yes, alright!” How could the guard dare to refuse? He immediately opened the blue light barrier.
Shangguan Hen shackled Gu Hai as they slowly walked out of the valley.
That guard stepped forward and whispered, “Senior Brother, although I can recognize your voice, if one wants to bring an evil man out, one needs to present an authority token. Do you…”
“Ah! It is already very nice of me not to report you for neglecting your duties. Authority token? The don’s order is an authority token. You don’t believe it? Sure, you can come with me to ask the don!” Shangguan Hen sneered as he looked at that guard.
“No, no. Senior Brother, please, go ahead!” The guard did not dare to argue.
Shangguan Hen was not inclined to speak. Instead, he escorted Gu Hai away, slowly disappearing from the guards’ sight.
“Ptooey! What is he? To think that he used the don to threaten me!” The guard from before spat on the ground in the direction in which Shangguan Hen left.
After that, the group of guards returned to their warm shelter.
After Shangguan Hen escorted Gu Hai out, they went to a remote place. Then, Gu Hai took out a set of black robes from his authority token’s compressed s.p.a.ce and put it on. The style of the robes looked different from Shangguan Hen’s. Still, those robes could cover the mask that Gu Hai wore.
“Milord, where are we going first?” Shangguan Hen asked.
“We are going to the guest region’s smithy first!” Gu Hai said after putting on the robes.
“Yes!” Shangguan Hen answered.
As it was raining, one could take cover from the rain by wearing a hat, so no one stopped the two wherever they went.
The Great Feng Mafia Family was not tightly guarded in the first place. The rain made travel even easier for the two.
Soon, the two arrived at a street.
“Milord, this is the one. We managed to interrogate this out of that person earlier. This is the best smithy. They can forge some weapons, but they should not be very good at carving ritual arrays,” Shangguan Hen explained.
Gu Hai nodded.
“However, Milord, why are we at a smithy? If you want to buy weapons or enchanted treasures, you can find them in the surrounding shops,” Shangguan Hen said, feeling curious.
“They definitely will not have the thing that I want. It is something to help us release our seals,” Gu Hai said.
“Oh?” Shangguan Hen’s expression turned grave.
To release the seal, one needed to generate a powerful electrical current. There were many enchanted treasures of various attributes in the world. However, electric-type enchanted treasures were pitifully rare. Too few people know how to forge such enchanted treasures. How could a small smithy forge one?
As it was raining, the smithy did not have much business. The two quickly found some blacksmiths.
Then, Gu Hai took out ten or so diagrams.
The group of blacksmiths and Shangguan Hen looked at the diagrams and appeared confused.
“Sir, what is this? Bra.s.s pipes? Do they connect to each other? What is their purpose? We do have quite a few of such chains, but what can you do with this?” a blacksmith asked, feeling confused.
Shangguan Hen also looked speechlessly at these diagrams. The pipes connected to each other, but he could not figure out what they were for. Was this thing going to be useful?
“There’s no need for you to care how I use it. Can you forge it?” Gu Hai asked.
“Of course, how can we be unable to forge such trinkets? Isn’t it just some bra.s.s pipes that connect to other bra.s.s pipes? We don’t even need to carve any ritual arrays. We can complete it in two days.” A blacksmith confidently pounded his chest.
“I will pay you three times the fee. Follow the diagram’s instructions exactly,” Gu Hai said.
“Guaranteed complete within one day!” a blacksmith immediately cried out.
Gu Hai nodded.
Shangguan Hen looked at these diagrams with a strange expression. He had seen the greater world before; he just did not want to tell others about it. However, this Gu Hai before him seemed unfathomable.
The items in these diagrams can make an electric-type enchanted treasure? What kind of joke is this?
“Milord, what are we going to do now?” Shangguan Hen asked, showing a complicated expression.
“You stay here and monitor the forging of the items in the diagram. Nothing can go wrong,” Gu Hai said.
“Ah?” Shangguan Hen felt slightly stunned.
“I will come and look for you soon. Do you understand how important these items are?” Gu Hai asked seriously.
Shangguan Hen’s expression changed before he finally nodded.
Then, Gu Hai took out the spirit stones and handed them to Shangguan Hen before walking off alone.
As Shangguan Hen watched Gu Hai leave in the rain, he showed a complicated expression. He could tell that Gu Hai did not place complete trust in him and seemed to be testing him.
Gu Hai soon found another smithy and took out the same diagrams. Then, he left precise instructions in case of any unforeseen changes with Shangguan Hen.
After that, Gu Hai went to a shop.
“Customer, what are you looking for?” the shopkeeper asked politely.
“Kerosene! The more, the better!” Gu Hai replied.
“Kerosene? Sir, why do you want kerosene?” the shopkeeper asked, appearing confused.
“Should I tell you who is in my house and what they ate?” Gu Hai retorted indifferently.
“Ah? No, no, no. I spoke out of turn. Alright. We have as much kerosene as you want,” the shopkeeper immediately said with an apologetic smile.
When Gu Hai placed the large amount of kerosene he bought in his compressed s.p.a.ce, it startled the shopkeeper. After all, cultivators who possessed compressed s.p.a.ces were usually very strong. He had been very reckless earlier.
Gu Hai then slowly made his way to the family region of the Great Feng Mafia Family.
He looked around, then chose a dense mountain forest. After checking his surroundings, he slowly took out the kerosene from his authority token.
Splas.h.!.+ Splas.h.!.+
Gu Hai walked around the mountain forest, pouring the kerosene.
In the blink of an eye, he had poured the kerosene around the entire mountain.
Then, he narrowed his eyes as he looked at the family region of the Great Feng Mafia Family.
Gu Hai used some tinder to create a small flame before tossing the flame into the forest.
Whoos.h.!.+
Suddenly, a trail of fire raced up the mountain. The dense forest immediately caught fire. The heavy rain could not stop the kerosene from burning.
The countless leaves were very wet, preventing many places from burning well and resulting in even more smoke. Thick smoke immediately spread out in all directions.
As the fire spread, the smoke increased.
Suddenly, a person shouted, “Oh no! Fire!”
“What? Fire? How can there be a fire with such heavy rain?”
The Great Feng Mafia Family immediately turned chaotic. Many Great Feng Mafia Family disciples ran in and out, trying to extinguish the fire.
“There’s too much smoke. It is choking me! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”
“Quickly extinguish the fire. Once we do, the smoke will go. Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”
Many Great Feng Mafia Family disciples tried to put out the fire amid the chaos.
Gu Hai took advantage of the many people running around to head deep into the Great Feng Mafia Family’s family region.
The fire grew increasingly larger in the distance, dyeing the sky red. The surging smoke spread out in all directions of the Great Feng Mafia Family.
——
At the smithy, Shangguan Hen narrowed his eyes as he looked at the smoke in the distance. “Did Milord start this fire? What thick smoke! Even the guest region is filled with surging smoke.”
——
This development also startled the Great Feng Mafia Family disciples.
They all came out of their residences and looked at the sudden fire.
——
At the entrance of a hall, Don Li Wei embraced Yue Yao as he looked coldly at the distant fiery light.
“Investigate this. Who dares to be so unruly in my Great Feng Mafia Family?!” Don Li Wei said, glaring with his one eye.