Chapter 422: The Trial Begins

This way, the target of the Tracking Mouse would switch from Tang Wen and Feng San Niang to Hu Yun.

Tang Wen could almost imagine the horrified look on the Huang Family’s faces.

But after thinking it over, he shook his head. “A Sixth Grade Tracking Mouse is incredibly intelligent. It can speak and distinguish between the strengths of different scents. Carrying the sachet is a bad idea. It’ll just make the mouse realize something is wrong.”

Hu Yun raised an eyebrow, clearly annoyed by his objection. “Then what’s your plan?”

“Tomorrow, the Third Lady and I will wear clothes washed with the same soap. After we get down there, she’ll swap clothes with you.”

“The two of you shouldn’t have the same scent. I’ll just change into your clothes when I get down there.”

“That works too. It’ll make them let their guard down.”

Tang Wen reached for the wine jug, poured two cups, and with a flick of his wrist, sent one floating over to Hu Yun.

She caught it and took a sniff, but waved it away. “Too much wine makes you dull. You should drink less.”

With that, she gestured, and her Spiritual Power pulled the teapot from in front of Tang Wen over to her.

“Besides the Tracking Mouse, what else did you find?” Tang Wen asked.

Hu Yun drank straight from the spout. “I also ran into someone in a black robe. They were very alert, and very strange.”

Seeing Tang Wen’s questioning gaze, Hu Yun explained, “I was too far away to be certain. I’m only about eighty percent sure.”

“About what?” Tang Wen’s curiosity grew.

Hu Yun frowned slightly. “It had no heartbeat.”

“Huh?”

“My White Tiger also told me that the person reeked of death.”

Tang Wen didn’t understand, but he was deeply shocked. He asked worriedly, “Was it a Fifth Grade expert?”

“I couldn’t tell. I didn’t sense any danger from it.”

The water cascaded down. Hu Yun stood under the stream, her thin clothes completely soaked and clinging tightly to her body—a sight more provocative than if she were wearing nothing at all.

Tang Wen wanted to close his eyes while they talked, but he found they simply wouldn’t obey.

He couldn’t close them. He just couldn’t.

‘My eyes have a mind of their own.’

He had no choice but to sink down into the water.

The corners of Hu Yun’s lips curled up. “Not yet. You’d better reach Fifth Grade soon!”

‘Not yet?’

Tang Wen retorted, “What do you mean ‘not yet’? I’m perfectly capable. I can even withstand the potency of Fifth Grade Blood Marrow.”

“That was just a medicinal bath.”

Tang Wen snorted. “I mixed it with wine and drank it!”

“Really?” Surprise laced Hu Yun’s voice.

“Of course.” He tilted his head back slightly, resting his hands on the edge of the pool with an air that said no one was more capable than him.

Hu Yun said, “Get to Fifth Grade soon. Otherwise, we won’t be able to have children.”

?!

She explained, “It’s very difficult for a Fifth Grade woman to conceive. If her partner isn’t also Fifth Grade, it’s nearly impossible.”

Tang Wen didn’t understand the specifics, but he was even more stunned.

He was also a little dissatisfied with Hu Yun’s constant emphasis on having children.

‘How can she only focus on the result with something like this?’

‘The process… the process is more important, isn’t it?’

「The next day.」

Early in the morning, members of the various powerful families and factions gathered in droves at the entrance to the underground area in the Inner City.

Tang Wen scanned the crowd. It seemed that the Fifth Grade experts from every major family were present.

As per their mutual agreement, all the Fifth Grade masters were split into two groups.

One group would remain in the city.

The other would enter the underground, officially to prevent sneak attacks from Underground Demons and to protect the Trial Takers from each family.

But everyone present was a high-ranking member of their respective faction, and they all knew this was just an excuse.

The real reason the Fifth Grade experts from the other families were going underground was to keep each other in check. Put simply, they didn’t trust the Huang Family.

Looking down into the underground entrance from the surface, all of the Huang Family’s Fifth Grade experts were present.

Shui Qianjun’s expression grew even more grim.

The Hall Master of the Giant Rock Martial Arts Hall, Zhao Chuang, looked equally grave. He sent a voice transmission: “If you think the Huang Family is going to make a move, why did you still let Tang Wen participate in this trial?”

Shui Qianjun replied, “Xiaowen, Shui Yun, and the White Tiger Clan are all in agreement that this can’t be avoided. They’ve made their preparations and want to see what the Huang Family is really hiding.”

They didn’t exchange many more words.

The Huang Family’s fourth master walked over. “Old Shui, it looks like your White Tiger Guard is a bit short on White Tigers.”

The number of personnel the White Tiger Tribe had stationed in Ganshan City was common knowledge.

In addition to the five White Tiger Guards.

There were also Tang Wen’s Ah Qi and Ah Jiu.

That made for a total of twelve Peak Fifth Grade powers.

But now, the number of people and White Tigers didn’t add up.

They were short three tigers in total.

Shui Qianjun answered nonchalantly, “The White Tiger, Ah Jiu, returned to the White Tiger Tribe. He left Ganshan City before the year’s end. The other two tigers are guarding the camp to the north—Flame Camp. You should know of it.”

The man from the Huang Family didn’t press the issue. He just nodded and walked away, seemingly accepting the explanation.

After all, when it came to their control over Ganshan City, they were still second to none.

They had indeed noticed that the White Tiger, Ah Jiu, had left.

And as for the situation at Flame Camp, they were crystal clear on that—it was their own family’s doing.

Still, Huang San felt a pang of unease.

He himself was a Fifth Grade expert from the Wind Division and had entered the Thunder Jade Mine to conduct experiments more than once. He knew full well that not even a Wind Division Fifth Grade could escape the attacks of the thunderclouds.

‘But perhaps the White Tiger Race has some other means?’

Feeling uneasy, he sent someone to notify Huang the Ninth anyway.

Before Tang Wen was dead, nothing could be allowed to happen to Lao Jiu!

The Three Great Families of the Inner City and the five major powers of the Outer City were all represented.

Each had sent three heirs, making for a total of twenty-four Trial Takers.

Each of these twenty-four could bring two aides, as long as the aides’ strength did not exceed the Sixth Grade.

That brought the total number of participants entering the mine for the trial to seventy-two.

From the Black Water Gang, besides Tang Wen, Lao Si and Lao Liu were also participating.

At their sides, each had two Sixth Grade experts. They were no longer young, but their gazes were still razor-sharp.

They all appeared to be at the peak of the Sixth Grade.

It was the same for the other participants.

Every Trial Taker had two Sixth Grade experts as their escort.

Among all the heirs present, only Tang Wen and Feng San Niang stood alone.

The crowd sized them up, their expressions a mixture of pity, curiosity, and suspicion.

Hall Master Zhao Chuang and Patriarch Zhang glanced at Shui Qianjun, their eyes filled with questions.

‘What’s going on? The Black Water Gang isn’t short on Sixth Grade experts, is it?’

Shui Qianjun gave a wry smile internally but returned only a placid gaze.

The two looked away, only half-convinced.

‘Shui Qianjun isn’t a fool, so we’ll have to trust him. Besides, it’s too late to make other arrangements now anyway.’

In truth, regarding Hu Yun’s arrival…

…Shui Yun hadn’t explained the details to her father at all. She had only said that her junior brother had a Fifth Grade expert with him who could ignore the thunderclouds, that his safety was guaranteed, and that they might even make the Huang Family suffer a loss.

Although he trusted his daughter, Tang Wen’s safety concerned the entire future of the Black Water Gang. Shui Qianjun had been determined to get a clear answer.

But when he went to visit Hu Li, he found her completely unworried as well, looking as if she had everything under control.

So, he could only suppress the sliver of unease in his heart.

This was a deliberate part of Tang Wen’s plan.

Shui Qianjun was an old fox, unflappable even in the face of a collapsing mountain.

But the leaders of the other great families were no less cunning.

If Shui Qianjun lacked confidence, they would most likely see through him.

And that would make the Huang Family all the more certain that this was the perfect opportunity to strike.

Three Golden Rocs transported the seventy-two trial participants to the Thunder Jade Mine.

Huang Jia Ren was already waiting for them there.

After briefly explaining the rules, she handed each person a Firework Stick.

“If you encounter a crisis you cannot resolve, or if you wish to withdraw from the trial, simply light this. A Golden Roc will immediately rush to your location with reinforcements! Good luck to you all.”

With that, she stepped aside, revealing a series of entrances marked with wooden signs from 1 to 10.

The participants were free to choose any entrance.

But no one moved.

The gazes of the various young masters and heirs fell, intentionally or not, upon Tang Wen.

He just smiled, exchanged a look with Feng San Niang, and led the way toward entrance #1, the one closest to them.

The crowd watched them go, their figures disappearing into the mouth of the entrance.

Everyone else, including the Black Water Gang’s own Lao Si and Lao Liu, chose other entrances with a tacit understanding.

Few people even chose the adjacent entrance, #2.

The Trial Takers were the heirs of the great families, the future high-ranking figures of Ganshan City. No one who reached that level was a fool.

They had absolutely no intention of getting caught in the crossfire between the Huang Family and the White Tiger Tribe, whom Tang Wen represented.

This was just a trial, not a fight to the death!

Once everyone was inside, a glint flashed in Huang San’s eyes. ‘Everything is under control.’

Lao Jiu had taken six of the Fifth Grade Demons with him.

Including himself, that made a total of seven Fifth Grade combatants.

Thanks to their Traits as Living Dead, the thunderclouds wouldn’t attack them.

Meanwhile, the probability of three White Tigers appearing at Tang Wen’s side simultaneously was minuscule.

The worst-case scenario was a seven-on-three fight.

‘Lao Jiu and I will definitely succeed!’

After walking for half an hour, Tang Wen and Feng San Niang stopped and took off their outer clothes.

Two small white cats came flying toward them through the air. One of them snatched the clothes the pair had just removed and sped away.

Hu Niannian leaped onto Tang Wen’s shoulder and nuzzled his neck. “We came down a day early and ran right into their ambush team as they were setting up. The Tracking Mouse is underground right at the entrance. It’s probably already memorized everyone’s scent!”

“Good. Let’s get off this path first.”