Chapter 41 - Wolf Fang
When Liu Wuxie emerged from the cave, he quickly rushed to the Iris Gold Mine, determined to get there before the Tian and Wan Clans. It would be a heavy blow to the Xu Clan if the Iris Gold Mine were lost or destroyed because he was late.
Liu Wuxie strode the Seven Dipper Steps, compressing the journey that would take more than a day into half a day, and arrived at the Iris Gold Mine before nightfall.
The Iris Gold Mine had remained peaceful over the years, thanks to the presence of a hundred guards stationed by the Xu Clan, including two in the Xiantian Realm cultivators, and the Xu Clan’s status in Azure Billow City.
The base set up in the Iris Gold Mine was massive. Aside from the guards, hundreds of miners worked day and night to extract ores. The Xu Clan’s transportation team would visit every three days, a routine that had been maintained for decades.
Smoke came from the base when the sky turned dark as the miners dragged their exhausted bodies back to the base to rest. The Xu Clan treated the miners generously. Many commoners in Azure Billow City were highly remunerated for working for the Xu Clan, so the Iris Gold Mine had no shortage of miners.
The base was strategically constructed along the mountain range, surrounded by towering peaks in three directions. The only entrance was a wooden gate on the west side, guarded by ten disciplined guards who patrolled day and night to prevent theft. A tall outpost allowed for early detection of anyone approaching, making the base easily defensible against attacks.
As Liu Wuxie reached outside the fence, he breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the peaceful base. The team of elites sent by the two clans had yet to arrive.
There was a huge path that went straight to the base, with two deep tracks on the path left by carriages.
A slender figure, dressed in an azure robe and with striking features, including two sharp brows that pointed skyward, approached the base’s gate. As he stood before it, a shout came from the outpost, and several guards emerged, aiming their longbows at Liu Wuxie, ready to fire if he took another step. “Halt! This place is off-limits to outsiders. Leave immediately!” called one of the guards.
“Young Master? What brings you here?” Guard Gan was taken aback. Having been posted at the base for two months, they were unaware of recent events in Azure Billow City, and their impression of Liu Wuxie remained unchanged from two months prior when he was considered a good-for-nothing.
“The garbage came to the mine? What is he doing here?” A guard lowered his bow and sneered in disdain. His voice wasn’t loud, but Liu Wuxie could hear it clearly. Then again, Liu Wuxie wasn’t bothered by it and even wore a faint smile instead.
“Perhaps he grew bored in Azure Billow City and came here for a change of scenery. But did he really think just anyone could enter the Sunset Mountain Range? He must have been escorted here by other guards,” speculated one guard. No one believed Liu Wuxie could have made it to the base on his own. They all assumed he had been accompanied by guards who had since left.
“What is the garbage doing here? Is this the patriarch’s intention, to let him become familiar with the mine?”
Liu Wuxie took in their expressions but remained composed. With his tempered mindset, he wouldn’t lose his temper over a few disparaging remarks, especially not with mere guards.
As the gates slowly opened, Liu Wuxie strode into the base, ignoring the baffled and mocking looks from those around him.
When Liu Wuxie arrived, two Xiantian Realm cultivators emerged to greet him.
“Greetings, Deacon Hu and Uncle,” Liu Wuxie said respectfully. Deacon Hu, a man in his mid-thirties, had reached the third level of the Xiantian Realm. The middle-aged man Liu Wuxie addressed as ‘uncle’ shared an uncanny resemblance to Xu Yilin. This was Xu Yishan, Xu Yilin’s younger brother, whom Liu Wuxie had addressed as ‘uncle’ since childhood.
However, Xu Yishan’s expression was sour. He didn’t like Liu Wuxie and had even tried to convince his elder brother to call off the marriage between Liu Wuxie and Xu Lingxue. Despite his efforts, Xu Yilin remained determined to go through with the wedding. In protest, Xu Yishan didn’t even attend the ceremony.
Xu Yishan had been the one managing the mine and was unmarried. He had long treated Xu Lingxue as his own daughter, so how could he be happy seeing Xu Lingxue marry someone he considered unworthy?
“What are you doing here?” Xu Yishan questioned. Deacon Hu maintained his silence by the side because he was an outsider, and he needed to retain respect for Liu Wuxie.
“I came to inform everyone that the Wan and Tian Clans have sent a team of elites to seize our mine,” Liu Wuxie replied calmly, even bowing as he shared the news. “I wanted to make sure everyone is prepared.” He didn’t know how many people the Tian and Wan Clans would send, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Did my brother tell you this, or did you make it up?” Xu Yishan asked skeptically. In the message he received from Xu Yilin, there was no mention of the two clans attempting to seize the mine, only that the transportation team had been attacked. So he naturally assumed that Liu Wuxie was making things up.
“Father-in-law still doesn’t know yet. I didn’t have the time to inform him. I came here as soon as I heard the news to warn everyone.”
Song Tianhao had told him that the Tian and Wan Clans were going after the Iris Gold Mine, but he had no evidence to support this claim. As a result, Liu Wuxie couldn’t be sure of the accuracy of this information. However, after hearing about it from Tian Lie, he felt compelled to rush to the mine to warn everyone.
“Are you joking with me? Do you want us to believe your one-sided words? Get lost and go back to where you came from. This is no place for someone like you,” Xu Yishan sneered. He had never liked Liu Wuxie, who always seemed to cause trouble and leave Xu Yilin to clean up his messes. Yet, Liu Wuxie still had the cheek to stay in the Xu Clan.
“Uncle, I respect you as my elder and have shown you the proper respect,” Liu Wuxie said, his patience wearing thin. “This information is true, and it’s up to you whether or not you believe it.” With that, he turned and left, unwilling to waste any more time arguing with Xu Yishan. He made his way into the base, and no one tried to stop him. It was too dangerous to travel alone in the Sunset Mountain Range at night, so they would have to wait for the next transportation team to arrive in three days to escort Liu Wuxie back.
The guards along the way looked at him in disdain, accompanied by mockery. Liu Wuxie naturally turned a deaf ear to their ridicule and strolled around the base.
“Young Master, I have already prepared a room for you to rest early.” Even if they weren’t willing, they could only arrange an individual house for Liu Wuxie. The house wasn’t large, only about seven or eight square meters. The base might seem huge, but the living environment was harsh, with ten ordinary miners squeezing into a room.
“Thank you.” Liu Wuxie imprinted the entire base in his mind and returned to his house to start sorting out the information he had just collected.
“Surrounded and built along mountains. No one can intrude if there’s a large-scale array here, even if an expert came. But what spiritual array should I go with?” Liu Wuxie muttered to himself. It would take a few days for him to set up a spiritual array, and it was too late now. Plus, he would need to purchase some materials from Azure Billow City. Even if he sent a message by pigeon post, it would take a day for his father-in-law to receive it and several more days for the materials to arrive.
A powerful spiritual array naturally required a lot of resources, but the effects of a weak spiritual array were limited. So he had a headache finding a spiritual array with defensive and offensive abilities without using many resources. He would need time to search through his memories to find several powerful spiritual arrays and combine them to create a new spiritual array.
“Let’s go with you then, Earth Elemental Waves Array! It combines the essence of Stormy Waves and Earth Annihilation Arrays. It doesn’t require many resources, and it’s not difficult to set up relying on the geography here.” Liu Wuxie spent more than two hours developing an entirely new spiritual array that was perfectly suited to the base’s location.
As night fell, guards were stationed around the base to keep watch. “I heard that trash got kicked out of the bridal chamber on his wedding night,” one of them said, not far from where Liu Wuxie was working. “He went to a brothel and caused such a commotion that the whole place collapsed. He nearly died there.”
“That trash is really lucky to survive.” Their voices were filled with sarcasm.
“Our young missy is a beauty; heaven must be blind to match her with such garbage. With young missy’s talent, she’ll soar when she enters the Imperial Academy, and our Xu Clan will skyrocket. At that time, even we guards will have bright futures.” The voices weakened when they walked past Liu Wuxie’s house, and the night returned to serenity.
But without them knowing, a group slowly approached the base and stopped a hundred meters away.
“Boss, the Xu Clan’s mine has only one entrance. How do we get in?” The group, consisting of over a hundred people, included someone emitting an aura in the Spirit Cleansing Realm. It was clear that the mine was in danger.
Hidden in the tall grass, they were undetected by the patrolling guards. The moonless night and faint light from the base made it difficult to spot them. Inside the base, snores could be heard as the miners had retired for the night after a long day of work.
“Find the leaders of the Wan and Tian Clans and discuss a plan,” ordered the leader. A black-clothed quickly left and returned with two elders from the clans, both at the pinnacle of the Xiantian Realm. The two clans have paid a great price to take down the Xu Clan’s mine.
“Captain Wolf Fang, you wanted to see us?” Tian Qihong spoke in a hushed tone. Anyone else hearing Wolf Fang’s name would have been terrified.
In Azure Billow City, there was a fifth superpower besides the four big clans: the Wolf Fang Mercenary. They were involved in a variety of businesses, including murder. As long as the price was right, they would do any dirty work.
Wolf Fang had a notorious reputation. Rumors circulated that he was raised by a pack of wild wolves and enjoyed drinking human blood. However, they generally avoided provoking the four big clans. Instead, they made their money by hunting demonic beasts and escorting carriages. At their peak, they had over three hundred members, with Wolf Fang himself being at the fifth level of the Spirit Cleansing Realm.
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