Chapter 1802 - 905: Schemes Amidst Turbulent Clouds (Part 2)

It was they who, amidst the chaotic Daluo Law Realm and the turbulent era where immortals descended to seize bodies, painstakingly maintained the crumbling order. If Chen Yuanlu had ulterior motives, Li Yan absolutely did not believe Yu Chanzi and Heavenly Master Zhang would gamble away the lives of all beings.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" Li Yan heard his own voice crack.

Chen Yuanlu shook his head, "The time is not right, cannot say."

Again, the same phrase.

Li Yan felt a fire burning in his chest, yet couldn’t vent it out.

He turned to look at the Crown Prince on the couch, who remained silent, his wax-yellow face showing only fatigue, seemingly having offered his life away long ago, unconcerned about what the bet was.

A cornered beast might act irrationally?

The phrase flashed in Li Yan’s mind, but he forcibly suppressed it.

He stood up, clasped his hands, "I’ll go back and think it over, then respond later."

Chen Yuanlu did not ask him to stay, nodding, "Awaiting your news."

...

Leaving the Eastern Palace, the sky was nearing dusk.

The lead gray clouds pressed on the Capital’s skies, resembling an overturned iron pot.

Shops on both sides of the street had long hung up lanterns, candlelight flickering in the cold wind, casting a ghostly aura on pedestrians’ faces. Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan walked side by side down the long street, neither speaking.

Turning into the Chongwen Gate Alley, Wang Daoxuan suddenly said, "Do you think he spoke any truth?"

"I don’t know."

Li Yan’s voice was muffled, "But with Yu Chanzi and Heavenly Master Zhang involved, it’s certainly not a trivial matter."

"The Crown Prince won’t survive three months."

Wang Daoxuan calculated with his fingers, his brows tightly knit, "Pulse is depleted, soul is scattered, even with the Great Returning Pill from Dragon and Tiger Mountain to sustain life, he’ll last only until spring. Chen Yuanlu mentioned Flat Peach at this time, saying it saves lives, but I feel..."

He didn’t finish.

Li Yan understood the latter part: more like hastening death.

But Yu Chanzi and Heavenly Master Zhang’s involvement makes it baffling.

At this moment, he inexplicably missed the old Emperor Xiao Qixuan.

At least during his reign, even Mystical Sect Grandmasters had to behave.

The courtyard arrived.

Sha Lifei, who went out to gather news, hadn’t returned yet; Kong Shangzhao came back early.

"How was it?"

Li Yan shook his head and briefly recounted the visit to the Crown Prince Mansion.

Kong Shangzhao listened, thoughtful.

"There’s something," he lowered his voice, "I went to find Daoist Mingzi at Xuan Sacrificial Officer today, but he wasn’t there. Asked the brothers at the Law Enforcement Hall, they said he left the Capital four or five days ago, his movements mysterious, even the top wasn’t notified."

Li Yan felt a chill.

Luo Mingzi was one of the few trustworthy people in the Capital.

Now the situation in the Capital is delicate, yet he disappeared at this time...

"I asked around," Kong Shangzhao continued, "no one knows where he went, but someone said he received a secret letter before leaving the Capital. The letter carrier was a lame man wearing a bamboo hat, seemingly from the south."

South?

Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan exchanged a glance, seeing the doubt in each other’s eyes.

At this moment, Long Yan’er came out from the side room, her arm still wrapped in bandages.

After hearing Li Yan’s recount, she immediately showed some dissatisfaction, her straight brows raised, "What do they mean? We Twelve Primordial Spirits fought through from Guanzhong to Japan, which effort was lesser? Now there’s a plan, yet they’re being so secretive, are they guarding against thieves?"

Kong Shangzhao remained thoughtful, "They’re so cautious, certainly not guarding against us. But what kind of force could instill such fear in figures like Yu Chanzi and Heavenly Master Zhang?"

Before he finished speaking, the courtyard gate was suddenly struck.

Urgent, frantic.

Li Yan’s heart skipped a beat, he quickly stepped forward to unlatch the door. On the other side stood a servant unfamiliar to him, wearing a gray short coat issued by the courtyard, face pale, clutching a wrinkled letter.

"Mr. Li..." The servant’s voice trembled, "Lord Sha and Lord Kua... have been detained!"

"Someone paid a child to deliver the letter, but I didn’t ask anything before the person ran off."

Li Yan’s face instantly darkened like water.

He took the letter and unfolded it under the light of the corridor lantern.

The handwriting on the paper was messy, as if written in haste, only a few lines:

"The person will be at the Coal Market at midnight, come alone."

No signature.

"The waters of the Capital run deep," Li Yan muttered, sitting on the Taishi Chair in the main hall, unconsciously rubbing the sharkskin sheath of the Duan Chen Blade with his fingertips, a flash of cold light flickering in his eyes.

Across from him, Wang Daoxuan set the teacup on the table heavily, his lean face similarly dark as water: "Our return to the Capital is no secret, and with the skills of Old Sha and Dayou, to capture both simultaneously, the opponent clearly set a trap, waiting for us to jump in."

"No matter who it is," Li Yan stood up slowly, "they’ve picked the wrong person!"

He picked up the unsigned secret message, then closed his eyes and concentrated, his nostrils subtly twitching.

The Smell Superpower activated at will, the scent on the letter spreading like a web:

Ink stench, sweat musk, and old dust, mixed with three to four different incense scents... concealed under layers, yet still, a strong odor of mutton slipped into his perception, intertwined with a faint scent of corpse rot, as if just unearthed from the grave.

The opponent clearly knew about his Smell Superpower and used many scents as cover.

But they didn’t know that Li Yan’s superpower had long reached a certain mystical realm.

These mundane measures couldn’t stop him.

Li Yan opened his eyes, folded the letter and tucked it in his chest, his gaze sweeping towards the dimming sky outside the window, "Since they’re bold enough to act, they’ve surely placed spies nearby. Daoist, you set up a magic platform at home and wait for my signal."

Wang Daoxuan stroked his beard, pondering, "The Capital is not the wilderness, with earth veins and great arrays intersecting, Dragon Energy pressing down, if we rashly open the platform and provoke Astral Bane, I’m afraid..."

"That’s precisely why they can’t anticipate your current methods," Li Yan cut him off, his voice assured.

Since returning from Japan, Wang Daoxuan had nourished his Divine Soul with the Daluo Magical Artifact Five Directions Luo Feng Flag and refined seven "Evil Suppressing Nails" using Wudang’s secret techniques, stabilized by a Compass. Though it couldn’t cover the whole city, the three-mile radius around Chongwen Gate lay within his spell’s scope.

Not to mention, the Tiger-Squat Cannon modified by Wu Ba remained hidden in the courtyard, along with Long Yan’er’s Gu Technique, this setup, even if a Grandmaster dared to storm through, wouldn’t be an easy feat.

"Moreover,"

Gazing at the sky, dark as ink, he suddenly chuckled softly: "In today’s Capital... is there still any law?"

...

Outside the window, dusk had completely settled.

Due to the late emperor’s recent passing and a complicated situation, a curfew had already been implemented in the Capital.

Streets and alleys lay silent, only occasionally punctuated by the clinking of the iron boots of city patrol soldiers.

Li Yan pushed open the hall door, inviting the night wind and the chill of early winter inside, causing the lamp flames to sway sharply.

"Midnight, beware of fire and thieves."

Before the Night Watchman approached from afar, Li Yan had already leaped out from under the eaves, slipping into the night like a swimming fish, disappearing beyond the alley walls in a few bounds.

In the hall, Wang Daoxuan took out the Five Directions Luo Feng Flag and set up the magic platform in the courtyard.

The power of this Daluo Magical Artifact gradually unfolded as his Dao deepened with time.

If coupled with Li Yan’s Hook Paper and North Yin Fengdu Examination Summoning Technique, it was enough to confront many military forces of the Magic Veins.

The only worry was disturbing the Capital City Array.

But as Li Yan stated, the Capital’s law has become just a formality, unable to block those with ambition.

......

The Capital Coal Market, renamed and located in South City, had just been renamed.

Due to the advent and use of steam engines, especially steam trains, the demand for coal drastically increased.

All coal headed to the Capital gathered here, thus renamed Coal Market.

During the day, the hustle and bustle brought countless carriage workers new livelihoods, but consequences followed; coal dust settled thick on the bricks and tiles, even the ground, along the streets.

The night wind stirred, the black mist surged like waves.

With Li Yan’s arrival, the surroundings grew even more silent.

Not a flicker of light remained, even the snoring from nearby homes fell quiet in an instant.

Li Yan glanced askance, noticing Magic Flags hung atop nearby small buildings, his brow furrowed immediately.

He looked at the still deserted alley, speaking:

"The person has arrived, yet you’re still hiding, afraid of being seen?"

Clap clap clap!

His words had just fallen when the sound of applause filled the air.

From the opposite alley, where mist churned with the applause, a young man in splendid attire slowly emerged.

"As expected of the renowned Hero Li."

He smiled slightly, respectfully clasping his hands, "I am Liu Mu of the Jinzhou Chamber of Commerce, entrusted by Prince Yan to invite Hero Li for a journey!"