228: Black Market Secret Order

The moonlight outside the window filtered through the carved wooden lattice, casting dappled light spots on the chessboard, reflecting the flickering candlelight on the desk.

"Young Lord, a secret order has arrived from the black market." Zhao Gao's voice slid out from the shadows; he bowed and placed a scroll of black silk secret letter on the edge of the desk, the ink on his fingertips still cold.

"The Young Palace Master of the 'Fentian Palace' in the south has declared that he wants to monopolize the cinnabar mine of the Lancang River, and he has already cut off the hands of our three contacts."

Jun Xiaoyao didn't even lift his eyelids, turning the chess piece between his fingers: "The cinnabar mine supplies thirty percent of its materials to Beyond Heaven every month. Does he want to cut off my path?"

Zhao Gao lowered his head and said: "Fentian Palace is relying on its three Grandmaster Realm Protectors and has been very arrogant in the black market recently. They have stated that if The Net is sensible, it should hand over control of the Lancang River, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Jun Xiaoyao finally lifted his eyes, with no temperature in them, "What about the Marshal of the Unruly?"

"The Marshal of the Unruly has taken the 'Shadow Group' of The Net to lurk on the outskirts of Fentian Palace. The news sent back says that a bronze ancient cauldron is hidden deep in their mine, and they seem to be refining some kind of Demonic Weapon. The screams of the miners can be heard for three miles at night."

Jun Xiaoyao slapped the white jade chess piece into the center of the chessboard with a crisp sound: "Then let The Net have a feast." He traced a line on the secret letter with his fingertip, "Have the Marshal of the Unruly take the Shadow Group and the Killing Group and act at the Hour of the Rat tonight. Tell them, keep the mine, but as for the people... don't leave a single living soul."

When Zhao Gao responded and withdrew, the candlelight on the desk suddenly flickered—the runes of the summoning array were faintly glowing red from beneath the floor tiles.

Jun Xiaoyao rose and walked to the array, looking at the flowing patterns on the ground, and the System panel lit up before his eyes:

[Sufficient energy detected, random summoning can be performed (Current probability: Grandmaster Realm 60%, Grandmaster Realm 30%, Heavenly Human Realm 10%)]

"Heh, let's see who comes this time." He raised his hand and pressed it on the array eye, injecting dark red spiritual power into the floor tiles, and the runes instantly exploded with blinding light.

A clear sword chime rang out in the light, startling the night owls outside the window and sending them flapping away.

When the light and shadow dissipated, a man in white stood with a sword on his back, his sleeves embroidered with cold moon patterns, and the jade pendant at his waist tinkled.

The System panel automatically popped up:

[Summoning successful]

[Character: West Gate Blows Snow]

[From: gu long wuxia world]

[Realm: Late Grandmaster Realm]

[Martial Skill: 1. Flying Immortal from Beyond the Heavens (Perfection) — Sword out like flowing light, can slash and crack the Void Realm; 2. Realm of No Sword (Major Achievement) — Sword Intent condensed but not released, killing invisibly; 3. Blows Snow Technique (Perfection) — Use the sword to draw cold Qi, can freeze the airflow within three zhang]

[Loyalty: 100%]

When West Gate Blows Snow cupped his hands, the sword tassel swept across the floor, bringing up fine ice shards: "Subordinate West Gate Blows Snow, greets the Young Lord."

His voice was as clear and cold as ice, "I heard the Young Lord has an order to wipe out the remnants of Fentian Palace?"

Jun Xiaoyao pointed to the Lancang River on the map: "Fentian Palace occupied my mine and touched my people. You go with the Marshal of the Unruly, and leave no living breath under your sword."

"Sword present, person dies." West Gate Blows Snow's reply was as concise as a knife.

At the Hour of the Rat, the Lancang River was ink-colored, and the Marshal of the Unruly had already led the Shadow Group to sneak into the outskirts of the mine.

The killers of the Shadow Group crept along the slag piles, their black clothes merging with the night.

The leader of the Killing Group, "Ghost Hand", licked the poison on his fingertips and whispered: "Marshal of the Unruly, the Fentian Palace patrol team passes by every quarter of an hour, and the Grandmaster Realm Protector is guarding the ancient cauldron deep in the mine."

The Marshal of the Unruly took out the token at his waist—that was the highest order of The Net, with the character "Kill" carved on the front and a spread spider web pattern on the back: "Shadow Group clears the perimeter, Killing Group follow me into the cave. Remember, clear out all living things that see light, especially the Pill Refining Room in the innermost layer of the mine."

The mine was filled with a strange smell of mixed rust and blood.

When the crossbow bolts of the Shadow Group pierced the throat of the first patrol soldier, the Marshal of the Unruly had already led the Killing Group to the stone room where the bronze ancient cauldron was located.

The flame under the cauldron was an eerie green, and dozens of miners' corpses were soaking in the cauldron, slowly melting into pus, dripping along the rim of the cauldron to the ground, corroding pits that sizzled.

"Indeed, they are refining a Demonic Weapon." A fierce look flashed in the Marshal of the Unruly's eyes, and he waved his hand to throw out several bone-piercing nails, pinning the two Fentian Palace Disciples guarding the cauldron to the stone wall.

"Bold maniac!" An angry shout came from behind the cauldron, and three old men in red robes stepped out side by side.

The pressure of the Grandmaster Realm around them instantly made the air stagnant—it was the three Protectors of Fentian Palace.

"The Net is at work, bystanders, die." The iron claws of the Marshal of the Unruly were about to crush the throat of the old man in front of him, when he caught a glimpse of a flash of white light outside the stone room—West Gate Blows Snow had arrived.

The man in white stepped on the scorching ground, a drop of blood hanging from the tip of his sword, which condensed into an ice grain when it hit the ground.

"You three, who dies first?"

When he asked this, the sword had not yet been unsheathed, but the collars of the three Protectors had already silently cracked open, and the coldness was drilling into them along the collars.

The Protector on the left roared and threw a punch, the wind of the punch carrying the heat of a prairie fire.

West Gate Blows Snow finally drew his sword, the sword light colder than the moonlight.

Everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and the Protector's fist was still hanging in mid-air, but there was already a red line on his neck. "Too slow."

When the man in white put away his sword, the blood only then surged out from the red line.

The remaining two Protectors, seeing this, actually wanted to pounce on the bronze cauldron, as if they wanted to detonate the ancient cauldron and perish together.

The Marshal of the Unruly sneered, his iron claws hooked into the back of one person's heart, and he broke his spine alive; the other was frozen by the Sword Qi of West Gate Blows Snow, and could only watch helplessly as the sword peak pierced his heart.

The stone room soon quieted down, leaving only the sound of green flames licking the cauldron body.

The Marshal of the Unruly kicked over the brazier under the cauldron and said coldly: "Smash the cauldron, and dismantle all the mechanisms in the mine for me."

West Gate Blows Snow stood at the cave entrance, looking at the fish-belly white rising in the direction of the Lancang River, the ice shards on the tip of the sword melting little by little: "The Young Lord's mine, no one will dare to touch it again in the future."

At this time, in the hall of Beyond Heaven, Jun Xiaoyao was looking at the jumping numbers on the System panel: [Control of Lancang River cinnabar mine + 100%, obtained bronze ancient cauldron fragment x3, The Net reputation + 500].

He picked up the newly appeared bronze fragment, which felt icy in his hand, and the runes carved on it faintly matched the previously obtained ancient cauldron fragments.

"Interesting." He threw the fragments into his storage ring, and the sound of horseshoes from The Net's triumphant return could already be heard outside the window.