Chapter 355: The Difficulty of Finding the Profound Iron Order

Chapter 355: Chapter 355: The Difficulty of Finding the Profound Iron Order

Chu Fan, who was sitting on a nearby stool, watched the scene and sneered inwardly.

’This Eldest Son is truly out of his depth.’

’He couldn’t even see through Yilode’s blatant test. It’s obvious that Yilode will now begin to gradually reclaim the power his eldest son holds.’

"Announce that a clan meeting will be held tomorrow at 7 a.m. I don’t need to tell you who to notify, do I?"

"That won’t be necessary," the Eldest Son said hurriedly.

"Go home," Yilode said, waving his hand dismissively. "And when you’re lying in bed, think long and hard about this."

The Eldest Son stood up, opened the door, and walked out.

The moment the door closed, Yilode let out a long sigh. He walked over to a landscape painting hanging on the wall and looked up at it.

After a moment, he took the painting down.

Chu Fan’s heart leaped at the sight.

Just as he’d thought! Behind the painting, a stone jutted out ever so slightly. If it weren’t for Chu Fan’s high-level Spiritual Power, it would have been nearly impossible to spot the irregularity.

He then watched Yilode run a hand over the protruding stone. In the empty space behind the Clan Leader, several floor tiles slid apart, revealing a passage leading down.

Chu Fan darted inside first. He descended about a hundred feet down the passage before a large iron door blocked his way.

Chu Fan tested if he could pass through. He reached out, and his hand phased right through the iron door.

He slipped inside before Yilode opened the door.

It was a secret room, just as he’d suspected. There were shelves and chests inside. The shelves were lined with numerous precious Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and books, but the contents of the chests were a mystery.

Valuable calligraphy and paintings also hung on the walls; the secret room was like an oversized study.

However, after searching the entire room, Chu Fan found nothing resembling the Profound Iron Order.

Just as Chu Fan finished his search, the iron door slid open silently, and Yilode walked in.

First, he sat at the desk for a moment, picking up a book and flipping through a few pages. Then he paused before each shelf in turn, as if inspecting his treasured collection.

Next, he opened every chest. Some were filled with gems, others with crystals, and still others with blocks of perfectly cut, emerald-green Spiritual Jade.

’So rich!’

’So wealthy!’

’The Golden Clan really is something else.’

Finally, Yilode took a few pieces of Spiritual Jade, several dozen sky-blue gems, and a piece of dark, unknown metal before leaving the secret room.

Chu Fan was a little baffled. ’If the old man just wanted to grab those things, why didn’t he come in, take them, and leave? Why all the theatrics with the book and inspecting the shelves?’

After Yilode left, Chu Fan went to the desk, wanting to see what book he had been reading.

Unfortunately, the book was written entirely in the Dahar Khan script. Though Chu Fan had used his formidable Spiritual Power to learn to speak the Dahar Khan Language, he couldn’t read their writing.

Still, Chu Fan took the precaution of memorizing every single page. Once he found time to learn the Dahar Khan script, he could recall the book’s contents and find out what it was.

With that, he too left the secret room.

As for the priceless treasures within, he of course didn’t touch them.

For one, moving anything might alert the Lindi Clan.

For another, from his recent interactions with Yilode, he’d found the man’s character wasn’t all that bad.

’Since he was already planning on leaving Li Haiqin a way out, what was the harm in sparing Yilode as well?’

After leaving the secret room, Chu Fan wandered through other parts of the main residence, including the Lindi Clan’s sacrificial hall. It was equivalent to an ancestral hall, but theirs was located in the backyard.

He searched the whole night but found nothing.

「Early the next morning」 The key figures of the Lindi Clan all arrived at the main residence.

The Clan Leader had called a meeting, and no one dared show the slightest bit of disrespect by being late.

The meeting lasted the entire day, but Chu Fan had no idea what was discussed.

The Inner Binding Seal, a Divine Technique, only lasted for three hours per use and had a twelve-hour cooldown. Therefore, he had no way to use Invisibility to spy on the clan meeting.

However, judging by the gloomy expression on Li Haiqin’s father’s face when he returned, it clearly wasn’t good news.

After the clan meeting, Li Dang and his father actually showed up at their door bearing gifts.

The Eldest Son’s smile, in particular—a cold, fake expression that didn’t reach his eyes—made Chu Fan want to retch.

"Huo Er, although you are only a Guard, you are Li Haiqin’s benefactor. By extension, that makes you a benefactor to our Lindi Clan as well. My son was rude yesterday, so I have personally brought him here to apologize to you."

The Eldest Son spouted these high-and-mighty words right in front of Li Haiqin’s parents.

He then shoved the gift he was holding into Chu Fan’s hands.

"Are you not going to apologize to Guard Huo Er?" the Eldest Son snapped at Li Dang.

Li Dang muttered a soft, "I’m sorry," but he looked as if Chu Fan owed him several hundred silver. Deep within his eyes was a hint of malice.

’Why would I bother arguing with people like them?’ Chu Fan thought.

He quickly waved his hands. "It’s no trouble. I didn’t take it to heart at all. Young Master Li Dang is the master and I am the servant. It is only right for him to reprimand me."

Li Dang and his father didn’t bother with much false pleasantry.

However, before they left, the Eldest Son said to Li Haiqin’s father in a sinister tone, "Third Brother, congratulations on getting the Cyan Wolf Talisman. But as your elder brother, I must remind you: now that you’re in charge of the Cyan Wolf Army, don’t you dare tarnish its reputation."

With that, the father and son left with a flick of their sleeves.

’Li Haiqin’s father is in charge of the Cyan Wolf Army?’

Among the clans of the Grassland, while every man could ride into battle during wartime, their forces were usually disbanded in times of peace to make their own living.

The Eight Golden Families, however, each maintained their own standing army. The Cyan Wolf Army was the Lindi Clan’s standing force, numbering about one hundred thousand men.

In the event of war, with the Cyan Wolf Army as its core, the Lindi Clan could instantly assemble a combat-ready force of three hundred thousand soldiers.

This was the very reason the Central Domain, despite being far wealthier, could never defeat the Northern Domain in a fight.

Li Haiqin’s father had received the Cyan Wolf Talisman, yet he looked distraught. Recalling the Eldest Son’s parting shot, Chu Fan naturally deduced that while obtaining the talisman might be easy, controlling the Cyan Wolf Army was an entirely different and more difficult matter.

However, this affair had nothing to do with him.

’In these great families, it was the norm for brothers to be outwardly cordial while inwardly resentful, even to the point of wanting each other dead for power and profit.’

When Chu Fan returned to his courtyard, Li Haiqin followed him in and dismissed her Maid.

"Huo Er, you broke your promise," Li Haiqin said resentfully, getting straight to the point.

"Hm?" Chu Fan was confused.

"Didn’t you say you had a way for me to not marry Jisierk?"

"Princess, your marriage to Jisierk was decreed by the Khan King. Who can defy such an order? Who would dare? But back in Han City, didn’t I tell you? If Jisierk were to die before the wedding, you wouldn’t have to marry him. At the time, your kind heart made you hesitate. You couldn’t bear the thought and said you needed a few days to consider it. Then one thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were back here. You never told me your final decision. Have you made up your mind?"

"Does Jisierk have to die?" Li Haiqin asked.

"Then we could make it so he can’t... perform his duties as a husband. You would still have to marry him, but he wouldn’t be able to lay a hand on you."

"Isn’t there a better way?"

"The last option is to have Jisierk fake his death and send him somewhere no one knows him," Chu Fan said.