Chapter 586 - 283: The Third Human Pillar from Twenty Years Ago?

Chapter 586: Chapter 283: The Third Human Pillar from Twenty Years Ago?

The collision of their fist and palm kicked up a terrifying wave of energy that howled through the room, blowing out the candles and making the paper windows rustle and shake.

Thus, many in the Red King Mansion heard the noise and remarked on the Red King’s exceptional Talent, saying he was really making a huge stir.

A few tiles were blown off the rooftop.

THWACK!

The Orange Cat was resting peacefully in its bed when a spinning tile happened to fall and smack it right on the head.

A large lump quickly swelled up on the Orange Cat’s head.

"Mrowwww..."

The Orange Cat was furious. It raised its paw and swiped at the nearby house.

A silent, paw-pad-shaped ball of light shot out.

Thump.

RUMBLE...

A violent tremor shook the earth.

The Red King’s bedroom collapsed.

Yue Linglong left before dawn, silent as a whisper, without leaving a single trace.

Qing Shisan joked that the girl was like a cat of the night, unable to face the sun.

The next morning, Yan Jiji arrived with his toolbox to repair the collapsed house yet again.

"My lord, I heard that when the house collapsed, you two happened to be inside...?"

Yan Jiji had heard plenty of rumors on his way over. When he learned that *this* was the cause of the commotion that brought the house down, he couldn’t help but gasp in shock several times. While startled, he was also secretly impressed. ’Young people these days,’ he thought, ’so full of vigor.’

To this day, Zheng Xiu still had no idea why the Orange Cat had suddenly flown into a rage for no reason and blown up his bedroom. But now, he was in a position where a hundred mouths couldn’t defend him. After all, he and Feng Bei had been in the middle of... *business* inside.

The house collapsed while they were in the middle of it. Who could he possibly explain that to?

Even if people from the Government Office came, they wouldn’t believe him.

Helpless, Zheng Xiu could only give a wry smile as he watched Yan Jiji drive a nail into the ground in the courtyard, activating the "Auspicious Workshop."

Within the "Workshop’s" range, all "buildings" turned into individual blocks, allowing Yan Jiji to manipulate and stack them back into the shape of a house.

Yan Jiji normally didn’t display this ability to outsiders. Holding Mao’er in his arms, Zheng Xiu watched quietly as Yan Jiji swung his large hammer, tapping each block into place. Every one of Yan Jiji’s movements was natural and effortless, a pleasing sight to behold.

"Oh, that’s right. My lord, there’s something I wanted to mention to you, by the way."

As he was about to finish, Yan Jiji reached up to wipe the sweat from his forehead. While putting on the finishing touches, he asked, "Do you know what ’Dark Iron’ is?"

Zheng Xiu paused, then shook his head. "I’ve never heard of it. Why do you ask, Old Yan?"

Yan Jiji draped the towel he’d used to wipe his sweat over his neck. He glanced around, and seeing no one nearby, he moved closer to Zheng Xiu and lowered his voice. "Do you remember a while back, when that old man, the Emperor, had us make a batch of strange things?"

"You mean the Siege Equipment?"

Yan Jiji nodded. "Later, the Ministry of War delivered a type of dark, blackish iron ingot and had us make another batch with it. That blackish ingot was completely different from ordinary iron ore—totally different stuff. It took us days and nights to barely melt it down into molten iron in the furnace. It almost wrecked our workshop’s furnace."

Seeing Zheng Xiu frown, Yan Jiji continued, "Old Yan here asked a friend of mine. When he was young, he used to work for Ye Weiyang. He was absolutely certain that kind of ingot is called ’Dark Iron.’ It’s usually found underground around the Ghostly Realm, and the yield is scarce. Oh, and back in the day, the boxes that the Constellations from Ye Weiyang used to carry on their backs—the ones for raising cats—were forged from that stuff."

In Old Yan’s view, he was just mentioning this in passing because he was afraid Zheng Xiu was being kept in the dark. Now that Zheng Xiu was a Prince, it was only natural for his businesses to work for the Emperor, as long as the pay was good enough. They couldn’t just refuse, could they? At worst, they just wouldn’t put in as much effort.

Take Yan Jiji, for example. When working for the Emperor, he only used his ’Returning to the Essence’ forging techniques, never his "Auspicious Workshop."

"If you weren’t a Prince, my lord, I wouldn’t do these jobs for the officials’ family, no matter how much they paid! In the past, jobs like these were paid with blood money. Once the work was done, the higher-ups would kill you to keep it a secret nine times out of ten."

Yan Jiji finished with a comment that was half-joking, half-serious.

He only dared to say such things in front of Zheng Xiu. He wouldn’t breathe a word of it to anyone else.

Zheng Xiu pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you for your hard work, Old Yan."

Looking at the new house, which was basically a complete renovation, he wanted to say this would be the only time. But on second thought, he wasn’t so sure. He said awkwardly, "If there’s a next time, I might have to... Ahem! Trouble you again, Uncle Yan."

As he left, Zheng Xiu had Yan Jiji take a heavy bag of silver.

For convenience, he always kept some real gold and silver on hand in the Prince’s Mansion, ready to be thrown at people.

Yan Jiji left, humming a tune. As he went, he couldn’t help but sigh, "It’s great to be young."

A misunderstanding was thus cleared up. Zheng Xiu gritted his teeth and glared at the Orange Cat in his arms, which was putting on an innocent look. He raised his hand to smack it, but the cat immediately presented its rear end. Gritting his teeth again, Zheng Xiu lowered his hand. He was determined not to reward it this time.

"Look what you’ve done!"

The Orange Cat pointed aggrievedly at the lump on its own head.

Zheng Xiu pushed aside the fur on the cat’s head to take a look and laughed in exasperation. "Good thing you’re pointing it out now. Any later and the lump would’ve already disappeared!"

The Orange Cat got angry and raised its paw toward the newly repaired house again.

Zheng Xiu panicked, and a "reward" like a violent storm descended.

This time, the Orange Cat was finally satisfied. It peed on Zheng Xiu’s crotch again before running off with a mewl.

After going back to his room to change clothes, Zheng Xiu found Feng Bei admiring the snow in the garden and asked about the "Dark Iron" matter.

Feng Bei thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, that’s right. The Black Box is normally used to hold the Soul-Luring Lamp, but back when... *that person* was still in power, many people knew that if you encountered a ’must-bring-back item,’ you could use the Black Box to carry it."

"You mean a ’Deceitful Object’?"