Chapter 347: Why Are You So Skilled At This?
Chapter 347: Why Are You So Skilled At This?
Though he said there was no need to be courteous, he accepted the pouch of money without hesitation.
He then turned around and told the attendants and maids behind him, "Keep this a secret, and you'll be rewarded."
"We'll be on our way then. If we succeed, we'll come back and thank you properly," Chu Liang said with a smile.
"You two will surely emerge victorious," the butler said respectfully, cupping his hands in farewell.
Chu Liang turned back and, along with Yun Chaoxian, mounted the Golden-Furred Hou and took off.
"Is this really possible?" Yun Chaoxian asked, wide-eyed. "You're something else."
It turned out that Chu Liang had previously asked the butler of Ultimate Martial Mountain Manor to keep an eye on the other three teams.
If they had gone to eavesdrop or spy, they would have been detected by divine senses immediately, putting the others on guard. However, if the attendants and guards of Ultimate Martial Mountain Manor just happened to pass by during their patrols, it wouldn't raise any suspicions.
Unexpectedly, the martial arts-trained guards had exceptional hearing. With their ears perked up, they overheard everything and they relayed the information to Chu Liang through the butler.
It wasn't surprising that the celestial sect prodigies had overlooked this. In fact, even Yun Chaoxian, who was on the same team as Chu Liang, hadn’t thought of this. He didn’t expect Chu Liang to win over the staff of Ultimate Martial Mountain Manor so quickly.
"It's nothing. You just have to give them money," Chu Liang said with a chuckle. "But the helpers that the other core disciples found were much more impressive, managing to locate the thief despite being far away."
Although their divination and tracking abilities weren't accurate, they were able to determine a general direction shortly after the incident, which was already quite impressive.
This was an area where Chu Liang always felt lacking. In fact, the entire Mount Shu Sect wasn't very skilled in these abilities.
For things he wasn't good at, he had to come up with clever ways to handle them.
Even if the eavesdropping trick hadn't worked, he would have found another way to track and follow. No matter what, he couldn't let Yun Chaoxian fall behind because of him.
So, the two of them crossed the sea and arrived in Donghuai City.
Donghuai was an ancient city in Jiangnan, known for its bustling and lively atmosphere. The city was filled with famous historical sites, beautiful gardens, busy markets, and various cultivation spots.
Even before landing, they could sense the vibrant human activity rising up to the clouds.
In such a large, human-populated city, the Golden-Furred Hou definitely wouldn't be allowed to enter. So, Chu Liang decided to let it fly back to Mount Shu on its own. After all, it knew the way and was strong enough that he didn't have to worry about it getting into any accidents.
As the two walked side-by-side into the city, they gazed at the bustling crowds moving to and fro. However, Yun Chaoxian was in no mood for sightseeing. Instead, he was focused on thinking.
"With so many people in this city, where should we start looking for Li Feiyu?" Yun Chaoxian asked.
"Snakes have their paths, and rats have their ways. He's known as the Heroic Thief of Jiangnan. There must be some way to find him here, right?" Chu Liang said, leisurely looking around with curiosity.
"Where are these ways you mentioned?" Yun Chaoxian asked, furrowing his thick eyebrows.
"Ah!" Chu Liang pointed, "Over there."
Yun Chaoxian looked in the direction Chu Liang was pointing, and saw that it was a medicinal herb shop.
He immediately felt puzzled and asked, "Brother Chu, what are you planning?"
"Let's get us some clothes first," Chu Liang said, pulling him along.
The two went to a nearby shop and got Yun Chaoxian a black robe that covered his head and face. Given his large size, it took quite a bit of fabric.
After that, Chu Liang put on his Aura-Concealing Robe and led Yun Chaoxian into the medicinal herb shop.
"What can I get for you, gentlemen?" The clerk at the counter was momentarily startled by their attire.
Chu Liang didn't say much; he simply turned his hand and subtly showed a token in his palm.
It was the chamber master token of the White-Bone Hall.
"Oh. Please follow me," the clerk immediately got a jolt and led Chu Liang and Yun Chaoxian to the backroom.
There, a doctor was attending to an elderly man lying on a sickbed. The clerk whispered something in the doctor's ear, and the doctor immediately stood up.
Then, the doctor and the clerk left.
Leaving behind the elderly man, who had sparse hair and a frail body, looking like he didn't have much time left in this world.
"Are you the new chamber master of the White-Bone Hall?" the old man croaked. "Please forgive me, as I am heavily afflicted and cannot get up to greet you."
"No need for formalities. I've just arrived and want to ask about something," Chu Liang said coldly.
"What does the chamber master wish to ask?" the old man asked.
"I've heard there's a heroic thief named Li Feiyu in Jiangnan. Where can I find him?"
...
After leaving the medicinal herb shop, the two didn't change back into their regular clothes but continued walking through the streets and alleys.
However, along the way, Yun Chaoxian kept giving Chu Liang strange looks.
"Brother Yun, what's up?" Chu Liang asked.
"Brother Chu..." Yun Chaoxian scratched his head, puzzled. "Why are you so skilled at this?"
Earlier, when Chu Liang put on that black robe and showed the White-Bone Hall token, he gave off the demeanor of an actual chamber master in a diabolical sect.
The disguise was too convincing.
It was so convincing that it was frightening.
Chu Liang smiled slightly, "Practice makes perfect. If the opportunity arises, I can introduce you to join the Dark King Sect as well."
"What?" Yun Chaoxian was shocked.
Chu Liang briefly explained his undercover work in the diabolical sect but didn't go into detail. He had no intention of actually recruiting Yun Chaoxian into the Dark King Sect.
Although he had the authority to recruit new members as a chamber master, he would never recruit Yun Chaoxian. He still remembered how Yun Chaoxian disguised himself when they first met—the image of that bull demon had indeed left a deep impression.
Yun Chaoxian was stunned and could only repeatedly say that Chu Liang was indeed remarkable—a man truly wiser than himself.
As for the medicinal herb shop, Chu Liang only learned about it after becoming a chamber master.
In the Dark King Sect, the Four Halls of Darkness had outposts of various sizes in the major cities of the nine provinces. These outposts supported their disciples and provided local information.
These outposts all had a hidden symbol on their facades that ordinary people couldn’t detect.
He had already reported this to the Mount Shu Sect. If the righteous sects decided to act against the Dark King Sect, they could wipe out all these hidden bases in a single day. However, they hadn't acted yet to avoid alerting the enemy.
Now was the perfect time to use this network. To gather information under the radar, they needed help from the criminal world.
The old man earlier had given Chu Liang a location.
Qingyun Alley.
"This is the place," Chu Liang looked around and strode inside.
It was a large gambling den, filled with smoke and noise.
Chu Liang and Yun Chaoxian didn't linger and quickly walked through the main hall of the gambling den, arriving at a dim corridor in the back. At the end of the corridor was a dark room where an skilled expert was sitting in the shadows.
Seeing the two of them, he said in a deep voice, "There's no one here."
"We're here to find a ghost," Chu Liang replied.
"Which path did you come from?" the man asked again.
"White-Bone Hall," Chu Liang replied coldly, showing his chamber master token.
"So it's the chamber master of the White-Bone Hall. Please come in," the man said as he immediately gestured, and a secret door opened with a rumble in the wall.
Although the Dark King Sect had suffered heavy losses, it was still the most powerful of the diabolical sects. Naturally, these criminal world people were naturally respected members from the Dark King Sect.
Beyond the secret door was another long corridor, leading to a spacious area.
It was a space even larger than the gambling den outside!
The lighting was still dim, and the place was bustling like a large market. Many people were setting up stalls to sell goods, while others wandered around. In front of them was a huge black jade slab, inscribed with rows of white characters.
"Chu Liang?" Yun Chaoxian murmured.
Chu Liang quickly pulled him aside and whispered, "Didn't I tell you not to use real names here?"
"No, I was reading that," Yun Chaoxian pointed ahead.
It turned out that on one side of the black jade slab, there was a glaring line of large characters.
"Reward for the assassination of Chu Liang, a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect!"