53: The collapsing ivory tower

"Braised pork... Why is my braised pork burnt?"

Chen Zhaozu rubbed his eyes groggily and poked his head out from the dark staircase of the cellar. As soon as he took a breath, he was choked by the strong smell of gunpowder and blood, causing him to cough violently.

"Cough, cough, cough! Old Zhou! Did you blow up the kitchen? Why does it smell so bad..."

His complaints came to an abrupt halt.

Because he saw the sky.

The azure sky that should have been shielded by the constant temperature Formation was gone, replaced by rolling columns of black and red smoke, as well as fragments of the Formation flying all over the sky, like a brilliant yet lethal rain of light.

And beneath that rain of light, the Chen Family Ancestral Residence, which once symbolized absolute safety and inviolability, was now nothing but a giant smoking crater.

"Where... where is this?"

Chen Zhaozu stared blankly at his surroundings. His fat face, which usually wore an arrogant smile, was now twisted with extreme terror.

"This is the Inner District."

Zhou Wannian stood in the courtyard, having already removed that ghost face mask and returned to his appearance as an honest middle-aged shopkeeper. He was leisurely tidying his cuffs, his tone as flat as if he were discussing today's weather.

"Young Master Chen, your braised pork is gone. However, if you run slowly, you might become braised pork yourself."

"Boom—!!!"

Before his voice faded, a deafening roar of killing echoed from the distance.

Without the barrier of the great Formation, the Robber Cultivators and demonic cultivators from the outer district, who had been suppressed for a long time, rushed into the Inner District like a flood breaking through a dam. They killed everyone they saw and looted every shop they encountered. Their long-accumulated resentment against the wealthy transformed into the most primitive acts of violence at this moment.

"Ah!! No! I'm from the Li Family..."

A short scream came from the next alley, followed by the dull sound of a Magical Artifact piercing flesh and arrogant, cruel laughter.

Chen Zhaozu trembled all over, his legs went weak, and he rolled directly down the stairs, falling flat on his face.

"It's over... it's all over..."

He slumped on the ground, his eyes glazed over. "The Old Ancestor is gone... the great Formation is gone... they've broken in..."

For a profligate son like him, born with a silver spoon and raised in a greenhouse, the fall of the Inner District was no different from the collapse of the world. His status, background, and connections all turned into death warrants at this moment.

"Stop wailing, you're not dead yet."

Zhou Wannian walked over and picked him up like a little chick. "Remember what I told you? As long as you're obedient, I'll guarantee you won't die."

"Old... Old Zhou..."

Chen Zhaozu gripped Zhou Wannian's arm tightly, his nails sinking into the flesh. "Save me! I'll give you money! I have plenty of money! I'll even give you that Golden Pig!"

"..."

Zhou Wannian sighed. Even at a time like this, he was still thinking about that pig; his mindset was truly something else.

"Follow me."

Zhou Wannian dragged the limp Chen Zhaozu to the base of the left courtyard wall.

"Fellow Daoist Tang! Stop acting! If you keep acting, you'll really become a corpse!"

He shouted toward the ruins.

In the ruins, a charred wooden plank moved.

Immediately after, Tang Ruyan, who was supposed to have "severed Meridians and suffered Qi Deviation," pushed aside the rotten wood on top of her as if nothing had happened, patted the dust off her clothes, and jumped out.

Except for her face being slightly blackened and her clothes a bit tattered, did she look injured at all? Her eyes even seemed exceptionally excited because of the explosion just now.

"Old Zhou, I knew you wouldn't run!"

Tang Ruyan chuckled, revealing a set of white teeth. "That commotion just now was your doing, right? I knew the smell of that yinhun wood wasn't right. Why did it have a scent of thunder and fire!"

She was an Alchemist and was extremely sensitive to Materials.

"Shh—"

Zhou Wannian made a silencing gesture. "See through it but don't say it, and we can still be friends."

At this moment, the three-person team officially assembled.

A mastermind disguised as an honest man, a profligate son scared witless, and a Cauldron-Exploding Demon who wasn't afraid but instead a bit excited.

"Listen."

Zhou Wannian's expression was serious as he looked at the two. "Right now, the outside is full of Robber Cultivators from the Black Wind Stockade. They've lost their minds in the killing; no matter who you are, as long as you're alive, you'll die."

"There's a safe room under my shop (actually a reinforced version of the cellar) with an independent Formation. You two hide inside. No matter what happens outside, don't make a sound and don't come out."

"What about you?" Tang Ruyan asked sharply.

"Me?"

Zhou Wannian straightened his collar, a faint cold light flashing in his eyes that was hard to detect. "I'm the shopkeeper; I have to go... take stock of the 'accounts' outside."

"Some old friends owe me money; this is the perfect time to collect the debt."

...After settling the two burdens and activating the shop's ultimate defense mode (yin chen wood Formation eye + Poison Thunder Drill traps), Zhou Wannian stepped out the door once again.

This time, he didn't take the main road.

He put back on that hideous ghost face mask and donned a pitch-black cloak.

The submissive Shopkeeper Zhou went offline.

"Thunder Duke" was online.

By now, the Inner District had turned into an asura field.

Flames soared into the sky, and thick smoke rolled. Those shop owners and Family Stewards who were usually high and mighty were now fleeing like stray dogs. Meanwhile, the Robber Cultivators who had rushed in from the outer district were frantically plundering everything they could take.

"Haha! I'm rich! These are High Grade qi gathering pills!"

"This woman isn't bad, take her away!"

Chaos, disorder, and bloodshed.

Zhou Wannian moved like a ghost, weaving through the shadows. He ignored the ordinary Robber Cultivators and didn't care about the looted shops.

His goal was clear.

He raised his right hand and activated the Spiritual Sight Technique.

Amidst the chaotic fluctuations of Spiritual Qi, there was an extremely faint, almost invisible pale blue fluorescent trail moving crookedly toward the eastern side of the Inner District.

That was the trace of the "Thousand-Mile Tracking Powder."

At the end of the trail was Wealthy Chen.

"This fatty really didn't disappoint me."

A cold smile curled at the corner of Zhou Wannian's mouth.

From the trail, Wealthy Chen didn't go toward the Chen Family Ancestral Residence (which was a dead end) nor did he run out of the city (which was blocked by the Black Wind Stockade).

He was going to... a secluded villa in the East District.

That was the Chen Family's "backup warehouse." Usually, no one paid attention to it, but only a few core personnel knew that a secret passage leading out of the market was hidden there.

"A wily rabbit has three burrows."

Zhou Wannian's figure flickered as he used strange footwork to avoid two groups of people fighting and followed the fluorescent trail... In the East District, in a deep, narrow alley.

Wealthy Chen was running, panting heavily.

His appearance at this moment was extremely comical. He had already taken off the robes that represented his dignity as a Steward and changed into a set of tattered beggar's clothes he had found somewhere. His face was smeared with mud, and his hair was a mess.

If one didn't look closely, they would truly think he was a refugee fleeing for his life.

But the large bundle he was clutching tightly in his arms betrayed him.

The bundle was bulging, and as he ran, it occasionally made a "clinking" sound—the sound of a large number of Spirit Stones colliding.

"Damn it! Damn it! How did it come to this!"

Wealthy Chen cursed as he ran. "Wasn't the Old Ancestor about to come out of seclusion? How did he blow himself up first? Those useless idiots! They couldn't even guard a single Formation!"

He was greedy, but he wasn't stupid.

Once the ancestral residence exploded, he knew the Chen Family was finished.

If he didn't run now, was he supposed to stay and be buried with the Family?

"As long as I escape through the secret passage, with the things in this bundle, I'll still be a wealthy man elsewhere!"

Wealthy Chen touched the bundle in his arms. It contained not only the wealth he had squeezed from the people over the years but also a large sum of public funds he had just snatched from the General Affairs Hall's vault amidst the chaos.

Altogether, there were a full five thousand Spirit Stones! And two Second-Tier Low Grade Magical Artifacts!

This was a mobile treasury!

"Almost there... almost there..."

Ahead was the back door of that villa.

The hope of survival appeared in Wealthy Chen's eyes.

However.

Just as his hand was about to touch the door knocker.

"Zzz—"

An extremely faint electrical sound that made his scalp tingle abruptly rang out in the silent alley.

The fat on Wealthy Chen's body jolted violently.

He instinctively wanted to activate the protective jade pendant on his person.

But it was too late.

A purple-black stream of light, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue in the night, shot out from the shadows at the alley entrance. With a despair-inducing spiral trajectory, it drilled with perfect precision... into the wooden door in front of him.

"Puff!"

A large hole was instantly drilled through the wooden door, which then exploded with a bang, turning into a shower of wood chips.

The blast wave from the explosion sent Wealthy Chen flying back, landing heavily on the snow like an overturned turtle.

"Who?! Who's there?!"

Wealthy Chen scrambled up in terror, waving a Medium Grade magic sword wildly in his hand. "Don't come over! I have money! I can give you money!"

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of footsteps came from the alley entrance.

A figure wearing a ghost face mask and wrapped in a black robe slowly walked out.

He wasn't holding a Magical Artifact but was instead playing with a Talisman that was pitch-black as ink and emitted an eerie green light.

"Steward Chen, running so fast, where are you going?"

The voice was hoarse and low, with a playful tone like a cat playing with a mouse.

Wealthy Chen was stunned.

This voice... why did it sound a bit familiar?

But he was quickly drawn to that Talisman.

Those twisted patterns, that terrifying aura... "Thun... Thunder Duke?!"

Wealthy Chen's face instantly turned deathly pale, whiter than the snow on the ground.

As the Steward responsible for the market's general affairs, how could he not have heard of the infamous "Thunder Duke" in the black market?

Legend had it that this man killed without blinking and specialized in lightning techniques; even the second-in-command of the Black Wind Stockade had been crippled by him in one move!

"A mistake! Senior! It's all a mistake!"

Wealthy Chen fell to his knees with a thud and pushed the bundle in his arms forward. "These! These are all for you! I only ask Senior to be merciful and let me go like a fart!"

"Five thousand Spirit Stones, Senior! Enough for you to buy several Second-Tier Magical Artifacts!"

He was gambling that this malevolent star was only after wealth.

Zhou Wannian stopped and glanced at the bundle.

"Five thousand Spirit Stones? Indeed, quite a lot."

He nodded, seemingly somewhat moved.

Wealthy Chen was overjoyed and was about to continue begging for mercy.

But then he heard the masked man sigh faintly.

"A pity, Steward Chen."

"This money was originally mine, and... everyone's."

"And..."

Zhou Wannian raised the "Second-Tier Poison Thunder Drill" in his hand, his tone turning bone-chillingly cold. "You know too much."

If he were just an ordinary corrupt official, Zhou Wannian might have actually let him go after taking the money.

But Wealthy Chen knew that "Zhou Wannian" lived at No. 88 Ding, knew his relationship with Chen Zhaozu, and might even guess the abnormality of the "Wannian Talisman Shop."

Keeping him alive was like leaving a bomb that could go off at any time.

"On your way."

Zhou Wannian flicked his finger.

"No—!!!"

Wealthy Chen let out a despairing scream. He frantically crushed all the defensive Talismans in his hand, and five or six layers of shields instantly lit up on his body.

Vajra Shield, Water Curtain Talisman, Earth Spirit Shield... multi-colored lights wrapped him like a colorful egg.

However.

Before the "Thunder Duke Drill," all of this was futile.

Zzz-zzz-zzz—Puff! Puff! Puff!

That Talisman transformed into an indestructible purple electric drill. Like a hot knife through butter, it drilled through the layers of shields without any resistance.

Physical penetration, specifically for dealing with flashy tricks.

Finally.

"Boom!!!"

Thunder light exploded in Wealthy Chen's fat chest, and even his screams were drowned out by the thunder.

A generation's great embezzler fell just like that.

Leaving behind only that intact bundle, lying quietly on the snow, as if mocking its owner's lifelong busyness.

Zhou Wannian walked over, picked up the bundle, and didn't even give the corpse on the ground a second glance.

He skillfully cast a Cleaning Talisman to wipe away all traces from the scene.

"The interest has been collected."

"Next..."

Zhou Wannian looked at the back door of the villa that had been blown open not far away.

"Since I'm here, I might as well see what other good things are hidden in this wily rabbit's three burrows."

He Pack up the package, His figure disappeared into the darkness.

His hunt was not yet over.