Chapter 22: Change of Circumstances

Early the next morning, at the Xingye Ward guard training grounds.

Over a hundred martial artists in tight-fitting combat attire stood in formation, carrying bundles on their backs, weapons at their waists, and leading horses. Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan were among them.

At the front of the crowd, Wei Wuding was also holding a horse, bidding farewell to Manager Sun

"I thank you for seeing me off, Senior Brother. The duration of this mission to clear out the Black Wind Bandit Camp is uncertain, but I will surely return within a month at the latest."

Manager Sun smiled and said, "Then I shall wish my Junior Brother great success. Mere bandits daring to provoke my Tiger-Subduing Gang—they are truly seeking their own deaths."

After a few words of pleasantry, Wei Wuding mounted his horse, turned his head, and shouted loudly

"Depart!"

Hearing this, Chen Yuan clumsily climbed onto his horse and followed.

He had learned to ride from Zhao Shan previously, but since he was not the guard captain, he had few opportunities to ride. His horsemanship was unrefined and far less proficient than Zhao Shan's.

Once mounted, Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan rode side by side. Zhao Shan whispered, "Didn't Deacon Wei say this trip into the mountains would be a long one? Why do we have horses?"

The terrain of the Chiman Mountains was complex; horses could only be ridden through the Yuanping Pass. If one wished to enter via the mountain paths, one had to travel on foot.

During the last transaction between the Hundred Weapons Hall and the Black Wind Bandit Camp, everyone had traveled on foot except for the heavy wagons carrying weapons, which were pulled by mules and horses. Even Manager Li and Zhang Jinkui had walked.

But this time, over a hundred martial artists all had horses. It was indeed suspicious.

Chen Yuan shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Let's just observe for now. Act cautiously and do not be careless."

Zhao Shan nodded and said no more, but his expression visibly grew more solemn.

...

Manager Sun watched Wei Wuding's group ride away until the sound of hoofbeats gradually faded. The smile on his face slowly vanished, replaced by a heavy snort.

"To dare lead so many men into the mountains without even finding the bandit camp, and with only a Marrow-Refining level manager? Such arrogance! If they aren't back within a month, don't blame me for filing a complaint against you at the Law Enforcement Hall!"

He then turned to leave, not forgetting to instruct Senior Brother Hu, who was following beside him

"Tomorrow, go recruit martial artists to rebuild the guard unit. Regardless of whether their backgrounds are clean, as long as they are in the Skin-Refining stage, recruit them. We can weed them out slowly later; this will prevent the General Hall from constantly dumping people on us."

"Yes!" Senior Brother Hu responded respectfully, then asked, "Master, what are the arrangements for Junior Brother Zhao and Junior Brother Chen?"

Manager Sun pondered for a moment and said, "Give Zhao Shan the position of Acting Manager, and give Chen Erniu the position of Guard Captain."

Senior Brother Hu asked in surprise, "Acting Manager?"

Manager Sun replied, "The guard unit suffered heavy losses this time; it was nearly wiped out. Although Zhao Shan is only at the peak of Bone-Refining, he is a veteran of the Hall with deep seniority. He is reliable. Since I cannot promote him to Manager yet, I will promote him to Acting Manager first."

Senior Brother Hu understood, then brought up another matter: "Master, Li Ying'er has been making a scene these past few days, clamoring to go into the Chiman Mountains to find Li Yong. She says she wants to see him alive or see his corpse. She has been arguing with Madam Zhang for days and almost ran away from Xingye Ward yesterday. How should we handle this?"

Manager Sun frowned slightly. After receiving the secret manual and silver from Madam Zhang, he had instructed Senior Brother Hu to station men to watch the Li residence to prevent any lawless individuals from bullying the widow and her daughter.

He had not expected Li Ying'er to be so unruly. He replied impatiently, "Assign more men to guard the Li residence. Do not let her cause any trouble!"

"Yes!"

Senior Brother Hu complied respectfully, but Manager Sun felt even more irritated and quickened his pace.

Li Ying'er's outburst reminded him of the *Six Yang Technique* manual that Wei Wuding had copied and taken away yesterday.

That was a second-rate technique. Although it lacked a matching ultimate martial art, it was sufficient to serve as a sect-protecting technique for a small gang in a county town. On the open market, it could fetch at least two thousand taels of silver.

The thought that Wei Wuding had extorted so much silver from him just by moving his lips made Manager Sun's heart ache.

To rob him of his money was to rob him of his life.

However, Wei Wuding was the disciple of Hou Yan, a Hall Master of the General Hall. At such a young age, he had already cultivated to the peak of Internal Strength and was highly valued by Hou Yan, even earning the appreciation of the Sect Leader, Luo Zhenwu.

As for himself, he was old and frail, relying only on the fact that he had served as a guard for Hou Yan for a time and had luckily broken through to Internal Strength, allowing him to come to Leping County to live out his years as a wealthy man.

Wei Wuding humiliated him, and he could only swallow his anger.

But he would not let this go. If he found an opportunity, he would certainly trip Wei Wuding up!

...

Wei Wuding's group rode onward, reaching the outskirts of Leping County and following the official road toward the Chiman Mountains.

Halfway through, Wei Wuding suddenly raised his hand, and the group slowed down.

He then turned his horse toward a small path, and the others followed in succession.

The path was quite narrow, but the surface was extremely smooth. Wei Wuding rode slowly through vast fields and arrived at the entrance of a manor before coming to a halt.

The manor spanned several hundred acres and was surrounded by earthen walls about ten feet high. The gates were wide open, and about a dozen people were waiting outside. Upon seeing Wei Wuding, they all came forward to greet him.

Wei Wuding dismounted and showed his silver waist token.

After inspecting it, the leader immediately cupped his fists in greeting

"Liu Wei greets Deacon Wei!"

Wei Wuding waved his hand, tossed the reins over, and said, "Are the food and lodging arranged?"

"Everything is prepared. Please enter the manor to rest, Deacon Wei."

Wei Wuding nodded and turned to call out to the others, "Follow me into the manor!"

The others had already dismounted and were waiting. Upon hearing this, they led their horses and entered the manor in order.

Chen Yuan followed behind Zhao Shan, observing the surroundings of the manor.

After passing through the main gate was an open area several acres in size, followed by a large complex of buildings including granaries, mills, workshops, and warehouses. To the left were rows of stables, and to the right were a dozen single-entry courtyards, three double-entry courtyards, and one large three-entry mansion, all neatly arranged.

Along the earthen walls, there was a wooden watchtower every ten yards, though no one was stationed atop them.

The group stopped in the open area, and the dozen manor workers took the reins and led the horses into the stables.

Wei Wuding spoke in low tones with the leader of the workers, then turned to the group and said loudly

"In a moment, you will all follow Manager Liu's arrangements. You are not to wander aimlessly or leave the manor. Three meals a day will be delivered to you on time. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

The group responded in unison and followed Manager Liu to be assigned to different courtyards.

The Skin-Refining martial artists stayed in single-entry courtyards, the eight Bone-Refining martial artists stayed in double-entry courtyards, and the only Marrow-Refining martial artist, Luo Hai, stayed in a private double-entry courtyard.

As for Wei Wuding, he naturally occupied the large three-entry mansion.

Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan stayed together and were assigned to the same courtyard.

Aside from the gatehouse and side rooms of the front yard, and the main hall and side rooms of the back yard, this double-entry courtyard had four bedrooms. Besides Chen Yuan and Zhao Shan, two other Bone-Refining martial artists had also moved in.

After Manager Liu left, Zhao Shan came to Chen Yuan's room. Looking quite nervous, he asked, "Junior Brother, aren't we supposed to be going into the mountains? Why did Deacon Wei bring us to stay in this manor? Do you think it has something to do with the situation in the mountains..."

Chen Yuan frowned and said, "Senior Brother, do not talk nonsense! Deacon Wei acts for his own reasons. All we need to do is wait calmly and prepare for the bandit suppression mission."

Zhao Shan froze, his expression still quite worried. "But..."

Chen Yuan added, "There is no need to overthink it. My guess is that Deacon Wei is waiting for the most opportune moment. As you know, bandits appear and disappear without a trace, and the location of their stronghold is known to very few. Entering the mountains rashly would easily alert them."

Zhao Shan's doubts vanished, and he nodded repeatedly. "You are right, Junior Brother. I was overthinking it."

Having said that, he stood up to leave.

Chen Yuan raised a hand to stop him. "Wait, what you said also makes sense. This is a bandit suppression mission after all, and the risks are not small. It is not convenient for me to go out, so you should go and make the acquaintance of the other two Senior Brothers in the courtyard. It will be good to have someone to look out for you on the road."

"Alright, I'll go now."

At this point, Zhao Shan was completely obedient to Chen Yuan. He immediately agreed, stood up, and went out to knock on the door of the other Bone-Refining martial artist.

...

An hour later, Chen Yuan, Zhao Shan, and the other two Bone-Refining martial artists were sitting together.

Through Zhao Shan's introduction, Chen Yuan learned that the other two were named Yu Zhenchuan and Lai Zhong; they all addressed each other as Senior Brother.

Yu Zhenchuan and Lai Zhong also took a liking to the honest Chen Yuan. The four of them had a pleasant conversation and returned to their respective rooms after eating lunch together.

The smile vanished from Chen Yuan's face. He took out the jade pendant from a cloth bag kept close to his body, his brow furrowed as he examined it closely.

His mood had been terrible since last night.

Last night had been a clear night. Once darkness fell and the stars filled the sky, Chen Yuan had taken out the jade pendant as usual.

But the jade pendant failed to emit its green light and could not trigger the starlight infusion!

Chen Yuan had tried several times, all to no avail, and his heart was in turmoil.

The jade pendant was his greatest trump card. If it suddenly lost its function and could no longer draw starlight into his body, he would be nothing more than a mediocre Internal Strength martial artist.

Chen Yuan had not given up. He had tried soaking it in water, dripping blood on it, and various other methods, struggling until late into the night before finally accepting the fact that the jade could no longer trigger the starlight infusion.

Feeling despondent, Chen Yuan sat in the courtyard for a long time. Suddenly, he remembered that the starlight infusion had been extended to twenty breaths. Could the change in the jade be related to this—perhaps the interval had simply become longer?

Having found a possible reason for the change, he finally calmed down, though he still tossed and turned in bed for a long time before managing to fall asleep.

Fortunately, after multiple starlight infusions, his spirit was more vigorous than that of an ordinary person. Although he had only slept for two hours, he was still full of energy.

However, since he had to follow Wei Wuding into the mountains, he could not verify if the interval of the starlight infusion had truly lengthened.

He frowned and studied the jade for a long time, his mind fluctuating and unable to settle. Ultimately, he took his long saber and went into the courtyard to practice the Five Tigers Door-Breaking Saber Technique.

This fifty-refined long saber had been a reward from Manager Sun before their departure; it was slightly better than his previous thirty-refined saber.

With many eyes watching in the manor, Chen Yuan could not practice the *Six Yang Technique*, nor could he practice the *Shadow掠 (Shadow-掠) Footwork* or the *Red Sun Sword Technique*. He could only practice his saber skills.

When he first began practicing, Yu Zhenchuan and Lai Zhong watched with some interest.

But once they saw he was practicing the Five Tigers Door-Breaking Saber, their interest waned. They offered a few perfunctory compliments before returning to their rooms.

Chen Yuan did not mind and continued his practice.

Although the Five Tigers Door-Breaking Saber was simple and direct, it happened to be perfect for exerting Chen Yuan's immense strength.

If the moves were too exquisite, they would not suit Chen Yuan's style of overwhelming everything with brute force.

The Red Sun Sword Technique was the same—extremely pure and fierce with simple moves; Chen Yuan liked it very much.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

Chen Yuan's movements grew faster and faster. The blade flashed in the courtyard, reflecting a piercing, cold light under the sunlight.

Suddenly, Chen Yuan's movements paused, and he slowed down, the cold light receding.

A moment later, a clear voice drifted from the flower-adorned gate at the courtyard entrance

"What fast saber work, and what heavy killing intent!"