assistirfilmes Chapter 284: Tianmen Market and Yueyang Market
Chapter 284: Tianmen Market and Yueyang Market
He had just messed with a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Even though the mountain paths were tricky at night, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep going. Staying here was too risky; once she recovered enough to pick up her sword and give chase, he’d be in serious trouble.Luckily, his luck held this time. He didn’t run into any troublesome snakes, insects, or wild beasts. By the time the heavy snow finally stopped the next day, he had made it out of Wuling Mountains. Heading south for about four hours, he arrived at Tianmen Mountain Market.
It had been a long time since he’d been here. He tugged his straw hat lower to hide most of his face and slipped, cautiously stepping into the busy street. After wandering around a couple of times, he made his way to the bulletin board in the center of the market square and looked up to read.
There hadn’t always been a bulletin board here. Six years ago, when the Lu clan of Tianmu Mountain issued a huge bounty on the bandits of Wulong Mountain, there were simply too many wanted notices to deliver one by one to all the major sects and noble families. They decided it would be easier to put up a wooden archway right by the main road running through the market. The thing stretched about twenty feet long and ten feet wide. And every inch of it was plastered with portraits of Wulong Mountain’s outlaws and the rewards for capturing them.
After the battle at Yellow Wind Ravine, most of the wanted posters were taken down. But the bulletin board itself stayed right where it was.
Six years had passed. Liu Xiaolou finally worked up the courage to step closer and take a look.
On the board now, the upper right corner still held a dozen or so wanted posters. Most of them stacked on top of each other.
The ones on top were for people Liu Xiaolou had never even heard of:
Kang Feihong, ninth layer of Qi Refinement. Bring his head to the Kang Clan Manor by the Maoyan River. Reward: 9 spirit stones.
Wan Jianxin, tenth layer of Qi Refinement. Capture alive and deliver to the Dongyang Sect. Reward: 16 spirit stones.
Liu Snake-Eye, eighth layer of Qi Refinement. Dead, not alive. Take his head to Gengsang Cave. Reward: 10 spirit stones.
Some of the portraits were clear enough to recognize; others were faded and hard to make out. Still, each one highlighted a few distinctive features, so if you ran into any of them, you’d be able to tell who was who.
He blew at the bulletin board, and a few of the wanted posters fluttered up, revealing the ones underneath. That was when Liu Xiaolou spotted a familiar face... Daoist Hu Du. The Lu clan of Tianmu Mountain was offering 18 spirit stones for his head.
He checked the date. The bounty had been posted three months ago. Six years had gone by, and that guy had actually pushed his cultivation up to the tenth layer of Qi Refinement.
He’d heard that after the fiasco at Yellow Wind Ravine, the man had followed Dai Shenggao and joined Tianmu Mountain. But what trouble had he gotten himself into this time?
Aside from Daoist Hu Du, there wasn’t a single familiar name on the wanted list.
No Wei Hongqing, no Zuo Gaofeng, no Tan Bajhang.
And no him.
Beyond the bounties, the board was covered with all kinds of scraps of paper, scrawled with all sorts of news.
“Hongji Tavern now serving spiced nuts.”
“Half a volume of the Dongyang Sect’s for sale. Interested buyers head to Zhangwan, south of Tianmen Mountain.”
“Looking for partners to hunt snakes in Wuling Mountain. Meet at the Liu Jun Inn if interested.”
Liu Xiaolou lingered under the bulletin arch for the better part of an hour. Dozens of people passed by. A few gave him a second glance, others didn’t even look his way. Not one of them recognized him.
Leaving the board behind, he mustered his courage and drifted past the shops run by the Dongyang Sect, Gengsang Cave, the Qingyu Sect, the Zhanglong Sect, and even the pill, artifact, and spiritual-material stores belonging to the Lu clan of Tianmu Mountain. He browsed their spirit pills, magical tools, and assorted materials, comparing them with the rare wild herbs and flowers that grew back on Ganzhu Ridge.
More importantly, he was there to confirm whether the stories about him were still alive.
The clerks and shopkeepers in these stores didn’t recognize him at all. This let Liu Xiaolou breathe a huge sigh of relief. Feeling a little braver, he finally made his way to the front of Hongji Tavern.
Of course, no matter how brave he felt, he didn’t dare go inside. He simply sat down in a teahouse diagonally across the street, sipping tea, nibbling on snacks, and waiting.
From what Liu Xiaolou understood, whenever people talked about Foundation Establishment Pills, the Lu clan of Mount Tianmu always came first. They were premier alchemy sect in the Jing-Xiang region and the main source of those pills on the market.
So he waited near Hongji Tavern hoping that maybe, just maybe, Fairy Huang Ye would show up.
He had no idea how she'd joined Mount Tianmu, but over the past few years she had gone to Wulong Mountain once every year. Each time, she made a point of looking toward Ganzhu Ridge and sweeping Master Sanxuan’s grave. Just for that alone, Liu Xiaolou felt he might have a chance to approach her and ask for help in getting his hands on a Foundation Establishment Pill.
He still hadn’t figured out how he was going to approach her. Would he just grab her outright, or try to win her over first? He hadn’t made up his mind.
He waited like that for more than half a month, but she never showed up. Not just her; he didn’t see Dragon Mountain Wanderer, Mu the physician, or anyone else either. Even Dai Shenggao, the main culprit behind it all, was nowhere to be found.
He didn’t dare go around asking questions, so he left for the time being and kept heading east, hoping for better luck at Yueyang Market by Dongting Lake.
In just a few days, he was already in the busy marketplace.
Six or seven years had passed, yet Sister Qing’s Green Serenity Courtyard was still as busy as ever. As for Sister Qing herself... time’s only carved a little more charm into her.
“You jerk, you've finally come back to me!” The moment she saw Liu Xiaolou, tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks.
Liu Xiaolou sighed with emotion. “I’ve missed you a lot. But how could I show up? I was afraid I’d bring trouble down on you.”
“What trouble have you gotten yourself into this time? Who’s after you?” Sister Qing asked, a little surprised.
“Who else could it be besides the Lu clan of Tianmu Mountain?”
“So you’ve been hiding because you’re scared of them? Where have you been all these years?”
“I’ve been living deep in the mountains, cultivating in seclusion.”
“I’ve been keeping to myself in the mountains, cultivating.”
“You dummy. Why didn’t you come sooner? If you’d come to see me earlier, you wouldn’t have had to hide away all this time!”
“Sister Qing… what do you mean by that?”
“Tianmu Mountain was never after you. They put bounties on that Wei kid, on Lord Zuo and young Tan, and lately even old Hu Du. But they never put out a bounty or a warrant for you.”
“No way…”
“How could I lie to you about something this serious? Fairy Huang told me herself. She’s been trying to find you too. Every year she comes here asking if I’ve heard anything about you. She’s an inner disciple of Mount Tianmu now. She reached the Foundation Establishment just last month. There’s no way she’d make this up.”
“Then why didn’t they issue a bounty for me?”
“Back at Yellow Wind Ravine, you weren’t there. After Fairy Huang and the others returned to Mount Tianmu, they all said it had nothing to do with you.”
Liu Xiaolou wasn't buying it. “Didn’t Dai Shenggao tell them?”
Sister Qing shook her head. “That man is a piece of shit, but he really didn’t say anything about your part in it. Fairy Huang said that six years ago, there was a lot that couldn’t be kept hidden anymore, and it was actually Dai who covered for you. Because of that, Mount Tianmu never thought you were deeply involved. And since you were tied to Shenwu Manor through marriage, the sect just wanted to calm things down quickly, without stirring up more trouble. That’s why they never came after you.”
Liu Xiaolou sat there in a daze for a while. “So… you’re saying I can go back to Wulong Mountain and I’ll be fine?”
Sister Qing sighed. “You’ll be fine, of course, but Wulong Mountain has already fallen… there’s no one left going back there anymore.”
Over the next few days, Liu Xiaolou settled into Green Serenity House. Following Sister Qing’s advice, he slipped into Yueyang’s black market to dig up news about the Foundation Establishment Pills.
Unfortunately, he didn’t find anything useful. So he said his goodbyes and headed for the Chicheng Mountain market, hoping he could find some leads on getting the pill there.