Chapter 21: Night Journey

  At dusk that day, Wu Qiu went out of the city alone.

  Cheng Shou was still wailing and crying about his lost wealth. Yi Hang and the others were also shocked by this unexpected theft case, and they did not react to Lu Chengfeng's actions. Except for the increased number of night guards at the Cheng Shou Mansion, everything else remained the same as usual.

  Walked around the two main streets of Xiaomeng City, and then wandered through those messy alleys. With Wu Wang's experience, they made sure no one was following them before returning to the main street, where they found a wine house, bought two jars of the best 'Huangyu Gao' liquor, three roasted chickens, and a large pile of braised meats with unnameable but nose-twitching aromas.

  He now had a bit of extra money, and when he left, Lu Chengfeng gave him another ten gold bars, so when buying things, he only chose the expensive ones. For these drinks and dishes alone, Wu Qi spent twenty-five silver bars, and the wine shop owner was overjoyed, his mouth splitting open with laughter.

  Found the owner of the wine house, borrowed a wooden stick, and carried these dishes and walked slowly to the Dongcheng Menghu Courtyard, the old nest of Zhang Hu and others.

  As the sun set, smoke rose from every household in the small city of Meng. This world was rich in spiritual energy, and the rice and other grains grown here were exceptionally fragrant and fluffy. When cooked, the aroma wafted through the air, enveloping the entire city in a thick layer of rice fragrance. Wu Qi walked along the main road, carrying his wine and dishes, swaying gently as he went, taking in the scent of the rice and feeling a deep sense of comfort and stability in his heart.

  Not far away, a woman's singing voice came from someone's home, the melody was simple, but the girl's voice was sweet and tender, drifting with the night wind to a great distance, just like a dish of sweet dessert, adding an extra flavor to the surrounding rice fragrance.

  "Good one! Good one!"

  Don't squint with a pair of thieving eyes, looking around randomly. Many merchants who came and went were hurrying along the street with their wives, either returning home or going back to the inn. The spiritual energy of this world was abundant, the land was rich and beautiful, and those women were all born with extraordinary beauty, each one could score above 95 points, they were all top-notch goods in Little White's opinion.

  Looking at these beautiful and charming women, Mo Qi suddenly let out a long sigh. If Le Xiao Bai could come with him to this place, that color crazy devil, would probably have fainted from happiness already. The women here, compared to the beauties on Earth, were even more stunning.

  He smacked his lips and whispered in a low voice, "I'll take revenge for you, believe me! I will definitely destroy the Qingcheng clan!"

  Xiao Meng City wasn't big, and after walking for less than a quarter of an hour, Wu Qi had already found the Měng Hǔ Yuàn in the east of the city.

  This is a two-story courtyard with a large playground in front, and a flagpole stands at the entrance, on which a yellow-black tiger flag is flying high. Several men with big knives around their waists are sitting on the stone steps at the entrance, chatting idly, while their stern eyes are sizing up passersby without any slackness.

  When Wu Qi arrived, several men stood up and bowed to him. Wu Qi returned the courtesy and entered the door with wine and dishes. These men were all hunters from Meng Village whom he had met before, and they could be considered old acquaintances.

  As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw a large stone table already set up in the middle of the playground. Zhang Hu and several burly men were sitting on the ground beside it, with wine jars piled up next to them, and a large quantity of roasted meat dishes stacked on top of the stone table. The outhouses on both sides of the playground were also filled with the sound of revelry, as Zhang Hu's hunting party was eating and drinking merrily inside.

  There were several rooms where the sound of women's gasping could still be heard, and from time to time, women in red and green clothes would giggle as they were carried into empty rooms by burly men, and soon the same gasps and moans would come from inside.

  Don't laugh, he walked to the edge of the stone stage and made a fist at Zhang Hu, saying: "Brother Zhang Hu, you are living a happy life!"

  Zhang Hu poured a bowl of wine, heavily placing the wine bowl on the stone platform. With a dark face, he shouted: "Damn it! If you don't come, we can live freely and happily, eating and drinking, having fun with women, who knows how carefree! You come, and where can we still be happy?"

  From his sleeve, he pulled out the green fire skull and Zhang Hu tossed the skull with a sticky talisman to Wu Qi.

  "Now the treasury should be in the hands of the young master of the Na Lu family, right? According to the market price of low-grade artifacts, give me 100 gold bars! Even if it's in Xiaoming City, if you go to those big cities, a low-grade artifact can't possibly be worth just this little money?"

  He casually stuffed the green flame skull into his sleeve, and Wu Qi placed the wine and dishes on the stone platform, opening a wine jar with one palm.

  A strong aroma burst out of the wine jar, and Zhang Hu's eyes lit up as he stood up straight along with everyone else.

  "Ah? Huang Yu Gao? A twenty-year-old Huang Yu Gao worth ten taels of silver per jar, oh my, it's been a long time since I've had this!"

  Several people exclaimed and snatched up the two wine jars. In the end, Zhang Hu won by a narrow margin, and one person monopolized half a jar of fine wine, while the other five big men could only helplessly divide the remaining one and a half jars. Several people were heavy drinkers, and the two jars of fine wine were drunk clean in less than half an hour.

  With a satisfied belch, Zhang Hu stared blankly and smiled: "Considering the two good wines, if you want to say something, say it quickly. If you can't finish within the time of a cup of tea, then don't waste your breath!"

  Sitting cross-legged on the edge of the stone platform, facing Zhang Hu, he said calmly: "Now you are very happy and carefree. When your limbs are weak and your body declines with age, can you still be so carefree? Without support or sustenance in old age, can you still be happy?"

  Everyone's face changed color, and Zhang Hu's wine bowl in his palm suddenly shattered into powder with a "crack".

  "When one's body declines with age and one's limbs are no longer able, in old age there is nothing to rely on, in old age there is no one to care for."

  Zhang Hu repeated the words of Wu Qi one by one, his eyes flashing, and his body gradually trembling. The several big men beside him also had a dark expression, their morale was greatly dampened by Wu Qi's words.

  The hunters, looking so carefree and joyful, obtained their wealth from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, amidst the flashing of knives and swords. Every time they go out to hunt barbarians, don't they lose a few brothers? Among those present, who isn't covered in scars? How long can they continue to eat this bloody food? Once they pass their physical peak, where will they find the strength to fight the barbarians again?

  In years past, many a name that shook the world with its might, in the end, either turned to dust and ashes or silently vanished from human sight.

  His words were like a sharp dagger, tearing open the last layer of psychological defense in people's hearts and stabbing them deeply.

  He grabbed the wine jar beside him, opened his mouth and poured in half a jar of strong liquor. Zhang Hu looked at Wu Qi with a bitter smile and said: "Wu Qi brother, you have a really vicious mouth!"

  He raised his hand and slammed the wine jug to the ground, Zhang Hu's whiskers stood on end as he shouted: "But even if we want to rely on a wealthy young master, the world is vast, there are other choices. Someone like Lu Chengfeng, the eldest son of the Lu family of Yuyang who was demoted to this small town of Mengcheng, what benefits would we gain from following him?"

  Don't beg with your hands clasped together in front of your chest, looking at Zhang Hu's furious face like a fierce tiger, and laughingly say: "Adding flowers to brocade is not as good as sending charcoal in the snow. Now that we are relying on Lu Chengfeng, let's work together to either get rid of the current city guards or drive them away, this small Meng City will be our world!"

  He pointed around with a smile, saying: "As long as this small Meng City is in hand, with 8,000 city guards and hundreds of dead soldiers, even if it's a fallen aristocratic young master, things can be done!"

  Zhang Hu and several brothers looked at each other, their faces all changed color.

  "Don't laugh, think about it. With the output of a small city like Mengcheng, how much money can be collected in a year? In this vast and distant land, even if we secretly arm three to five hundred thousand troops, it would be an easy task."

  Zhang Hu took a deep breath and glared at Wu Qi, saying in a low voice: "What you just said is simply outrageous, what a big nerve!"

  He didn't even glance at Zhang Hu, and instead lazily raised his head to gaze at the crescent moon in the sky, softly chuckling: "Wealth and honor are sought amidst danger, if Big Brother Zhang Hu had wholeheartedly blended into the mortal world, I wouldn't have come today."

  He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a green flame skull, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it with one foot, crushing it to powder.

  "Hmph, a low-grade artifact? Even if it's a low-grade treasure, it's still not worthy of my attention!"

  He casually pulled out several bright pearls the size of eggs, which he had obtained in Yiyuan's secret room last night. Without asking, he threw the pearls onto the stone platform. The pearls rotated and spun, emitting a faint white glow under the moonlight.

  "These few pearls, one of them is worth tens of thousands, and it's just a low-grade treasure. Is it worth it for you, Zhang Hu, a hero among men, to get entangled with those despicable characters? That Huo Biao, and that Yi Si Ku, I think they're not even as good as pigs or dogs. Brother, are you willing to mix with this kind of trash?"

  Zhang Hu took a deep breath, and suddenly let out a low, muffled tiger's roar from his chest. He stood up abruptly, staring at Wu Qi and shouting loudly: "Wu Qi, I'm convinced by your words! Alright, alright, alright, Zhang Hu will gamble once more in this lifetime, to bet on a prosperous future for myself and these hot-blooded brothers of mine!"

  He walked out of the Tiger Mansion without looking back, and said in a low voice: "I have never failed my friends, my brothers! Tomorrow, go to the General's Mansion to report for duty on your own, my big brother Zhang Hu, Zhang Siye!"

  With a flick of his wrist, the official document appointing Zhang Hu as the officer in charge, signed by Lu Chengfeng, floated gently through the air for over ten zhang before landing right in front of Zhang Hu.

  He and Zhang Hu had a good drink, chatted for a long time, and when they came out of the Menghu Courtyard, it was already bright moonlight, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the street. He stumbled back to the City Guard Bureau, pretending to be drunk, staggering left and right, bumping into things along the way, and finally returned to his bedroom with a strong smell of alcohol.

  Under the attendance of two maidservants, Mo Xi had finished his bath and fell asleep on the bed in a daze.

  When the two maidservants had also fallen asleep and all around was quiet, Mo Qi got out of bed stealthily again, just like last night, and pressed the acupuncture points that made the two maidservants fall into a deep sleep.

  Just like last night, Shi Zhan used his innate Water Spirit Escape Technique to conjure up a mass of water vapor, concealing his figure, and snuck into the residence of Yi Xing and others.

  In the mansions of Dian Li, Dian Min and Dian Xing, the total value of their private wealth did not even add up to half of Yi Yan's. Mo Jie only spent a little more than half a day, and he had emptied out the warehouses of all three families, and also managed to swipe all the jewelry and adornments from the heads of the three men's wives and concubines.

  After a busy period, Wu Qi buried all the goods in the big pit from last night and carefully concealed it with fallen leaves and twigs. Only then did he return to the city guard's mansion with great joy. With his efforts, no one discovered his trail, and the dozens of vicious dogs guarding the city inside and out didn't make a single sound.

  On the second day, early in the morning, three loud and mournful howls suddenly echoed through the backyard of the City Guard Mansion.

  "My money, my money, where's my money?!"

  *****

  "My vote, my vote, where is my vote?"