51: Chapter 51 That Leftover Tea! The Ling Family's True Goal?

[October 15th. One quarter past midnight.]

[You just finished wiping the shuangluo sword and were leaning against the old locust tree in the backyard of Shens Shop, closing your eyes to rest.]

[A dull thud came from above the courtyard wall.]

[Immediately followed by the sound of tearing fabric, cursing, and a human-shaped sandbag rolling onto the ground.]

[Xiu Yun lay prone on the ground.]

[His gold-threaded crane-patterned brocade robe was torn from the back to the front, revealing the tattered white undergarment beneath.]

[There were three bloody scratches on his left cheek, with the flesh turned outward.]

[His hair was half-disheveled, and his jade crown was nowhere to be found.]

[Of the seven or eight jade pendants that had originally hung from his waist, only two remained, clinking together.]

[He propped himself up to crawl, his knees covered in tile shards, and limped toward you.]

["Brother Shen!"]

[Xiu Yun's legs gave out, and he knelt directly.]

["The Ling Family's people are chasing me! You have to save me!"]

[You opened your eyes.]

[You stood up and walked to the stone table, poured a cup of cold, leftover tea from the teapot, and set it on the edge of the table.]

["Drink some water first."]

[Xiu Yun frantically wiped his face, grabbed the teacup, and gulped down a mouthful, choking immediately.]

["The Ling Family's main branch found the dark alleys in the south of the city! They knew that Ling Xiao's channels had been taken over by someone, and they followed the trail right to me—"]

["I told you." You sat down opposite him at the stone table.]

["Taking over the Ling Family's black market business, being discovered was only a matter of time."]

[Xiu Yun swallowed hard.]

[He crawled forward on his knees, clutching your pant leg tightly with both hands.]

["I'll hand over all the channels to you! The connections in the dark alleys, the lists of superiors and subordinates, I'll give it all to you! Please, spare my life!"]

[You picked up the teacup.]

["Xiu Yun."]

["How much did you skim off the top?"]

[Xiu Yun's sobbing caught in his throat.]

[He looked up and gave a dry laugh.]

["Brother Shen, you're joking. How would I dare..."]

[You didn't respond.]

[You pulled two thin booklets from your sleeve and placed them side by side on the stone table.]

[The one on the left had "Xiu Yun's Copies" written on the cover.]

[The one on the right had a blank cover, with cinnabar annotations in Ji Mengxue's handwriting tucked between the pages.]

[You opened the first page of the left booklet, then the first page of the right booklet.]

["In March, smuggling spirit ores through the second dark alley in the south of the city, the turnover was six hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."]

["The record on the right shows an actual turnover of nine hundred and twenty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. A difference of three hundred and twenty."]

[You flipped down page by page.]

[Xiu Yun's shoulders sagged little by little.]

["Seven months. Fourteen transactions. A cumulative deficit of three thousand one hundred and seventy Mid-Grade Spirit Stones."]

[You closed both booklets and pushed them toward him.]

["You thought a thirty-seventy split was too little, so you secretly changed it to fifty-fifty, and even that wasn't enough."]

["In April, you resold two batches of top-grade second-tier Foundation Establishment herbs from Shens Shop to rogue merchants outside the city, earning an eight-hundred-stone profit. You sold another batch in June."]

["When you were reselling my goods, did you ever think that Ji Mengxue's intelligence network moves faster than your brain?"]

[Xiu Yun collapsed on the ground.]

[His lips trembled uncontrollably.]

["Brother Shen... I was just greedy for a moment..."]

[He pulled hard on your pant leg, his face smeared with tears.]

["We grew up together, for the sake of that friendship—"]

[You looked down at him.]

[In the previous two simulations, Xiu Yun had chosen betrayal.]

[In this life, you gave him the most generous conditions.]

[Yet he still stabbed you in the back.]

[You stood up.]

[You pulled your pant leg out of his hands.]

["The Ling Family's pursuers will reach Yunzhou City at midnight tonight. I will not stop them."]

[Xiu Yun froze in place.]

["But you still have one way to live."]

[You took a document from your sleeve and slapped it onto the stone table.]

["In the fourth lane of the southern dark alleys, you stockpiled a batch of smuggled spirit ores marked with the Ling Family's seal. You didn't remove the marks."]

[Xiu Yun opened his mouth; that was the stolen goods he had embezzled without reporting.]

["When the Ling Family's people chase you there and see the stolen goods, you will be the core backbone of Ling Xiao's remnants."]

[You held up two fingers.]

["Two paths."]

["First, take the spirit ores and run tonight. If you can outrun the Ling Family's Foundation Establishment cultivators, consider yourself lucky."]

["Second, hand over the spirit ores and the list of channels. I will arrange for people to move the stolen goods and use your Qi Refining Stage 4 double to fake a crime scene."]

["You change your identity and hide in the outer city. From now on, the name Xiu Yun will disappear from Yunzhou City."]

[Xiu Yun looked straight at you.]

["Brother Shen, did you plan this step from the very beginning, when you let me take over the black market channels?"]

[You didn't answer.]

[The night wind blew through the old locust tree.]

["I choose the second path."]

[Midnight.]

[The third lane of the southern dark alleys.]

[Four Ling Family pursuers kicked open the wooden door of a cellar.]

[Firelight illuminated the depths of the cellar.]

[A charred corpse was curled up in the corner.]

[The remaining scraps of clothing were gold-threaded fabric, and half a broken white jade thumb ring lay at the waist.]

[Beside the corpse lay a scattered storage bag.]

[The bag was stuffed with a suicide note, written in sloppy handwriting, detailing all the dark lines of Ling Xiao's remnants in Yunzhou City.]

[Every line pointed to the remnants of the defunct Dingsheng Trading Firm and several middlemen who had already run away.]

[The Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the Ling Family team verified the traces of residual spiritual power.]

["Cultivation at Qi Refining Stage 4. Pack up, report back to the main family."]

[Before dawn.]

[Thirty miles outside the city, at a desolate post station.]

[Xiu Yun squatted at the base of the post station's earthen wall.]

[He had changed into a coarse cloth shirt, shaved his head, and applied herbal medicine to the bloody scratches on his face.]

[He was empty-handed, his clothes thin.]

[He propped himself up against the crumbling wall, ready to continue his escape.]

[A sudden, knife-twisting pain shot through his abdomen.]

[He coughed up a large mouthful of black blood.]

[The black blood landed on the weeds, sizzling as it emitted a pungent white smoke.]

[That cup of leftover tea.]

[Xiu Yun collapsed into the mud, staring in the direction of Yunzhou City.]

[He opened his mouth, and blood foam surged out.]

[His fingers dug into the soil.]

[After a few breaths, he fell face-down into the wild grass, his body rapidly dissolving into a pool of foul-smelling black water.]

[You stood in the backyard of Shens Shop.]

[You exerted force with your fingertips.]

[The jade slip array used for communication in your hand was crushed into powder.]

[You locked all the channel lists, dark alley network maps, and contact methods for superiors and subordinates that Xiu Yun had handed over into the iron box in the secret room.]

[The four underground dark alleys in the south of the city were now all in your hands.]

[You closed the iron box.]

[You turned and walked out of the secret room.]

[Morning light crossed the courtyard wall.]

[Hu Wansan came around from the front hall carrying morning porridge.]

["Boss, you didn't sleep all night?"]

["Go check one thing." You interrupted him.]

["Besides the few people chasing Xiu Yun, did the Ling Family send any other teams to Yunzhou City this time?"]

[Hu Wansan was stunned.]

["The great elder of the Ling Family's main branch personally ordered a pursuit for a small fry?"]

[You picked up the porridge bowl from his hand and took a sip.]

["The great elder of the main branch personally ordering the capture of a small fry. Either they are stupid, or they have other motives."]

[Hu Wansan's expression changed.]

[He put down the tray and ran toward the front hall.]

[You leaned against the door frame.]

[Another communication jade slip in your bosom vibrated.]

[It was Liu Qingqing's handwriting.]

[Five words.]

["Ling Family, coming to propose marriage."]