Volume 10 Chapter 65

"My adjutant is missing?" Baimu dropped the bloody tiger in his hand.

Apart from his might in battle, Baimu's lust for blood was part of what made him famous; the only language he understood was what he could communicate with his limbs. He'd feel restless if he didn't kill someone or something daily, so he took on wild beasts in the woods if he couldn't kill someone.

Not one of Baimu's underlings batted an eyelid as he gouged out the slain tiger's innards. To the contrary, they looked thrilled.

Baimu's five present underlings were part of Baimu's personally trained fifteen-man assault squad - Fifteen Wraiths. Although the adjutant general held a higher rank than them, he was a soldier of the state of Baimu and no match for them.

Baimu raised the tiger up to pour its blood into his mouth and then hurled it aside. "Find him. I want to hear from him personally. If he was captured, kill him, and then kill his captors."

Infected with Baimu's aggression, they sonorously responded, "Roger!"

***

Nobody kept count of how many businesses there were at Giant intersection in Xiuyu when it was common for businesses to come and go throughout the year. Thus, it was perfectly normal to the residents when the new store of a disgruntled young master of Luoyang made its debut in the city.

Entering the well-kept store that sold goods from the Central Plain was akin to dimensional travelling thousands of miles to Jiangnan. Once customers caught a whiff of the light fragrance permeating the store, they'd soon catch sight of the angel with the body of temptation at the counter.

"Welcome, honoured customer," The maiden of dreams warmly and brightly welcomed. "We have premium tea from the Central Plain. If there is anything you like, please let our clerk know."

"I'll take half a kilo!"

"I'll take six hundred grams!"

There was almost never a moment customers were eager to fork out money whenever she was around, yet all she did was welcome them, smile, giggle softly and be present. The earnings from their grand opening alone blew their expectations out of the water.

"Thank you."

When customers left, they'd stop at the door to have one more look. If stepping into the store was stepping into Jiangnan, exiting the store was waking up from a dream - though it'd take a second for it to dawn on them.

"M-may I ask what your name is, Miss?" It took seemingly forever for someone to have the courage to ask for her name.

Cheeks rosy and hands fidgety, she answered, "The... the owner of this store is my husband."

One would first assume that she shattered their hearts with her answer, yet their customers doubled not long after word hit the streets. Had it been anywhere else, they would've thrown in the towel, but they were in Xiuyu, Green Prince's territory. In Xiuyu, there was the infamous Eloping Phenomenon. As a result, Yizhen Company's business boomed to the extent that they received orders for more goods than they had, and they required everyone, even Luo Mingzhu, A-Lan and Mountain Monster to help out.

"If we don't do any business, how can we convince people we're a business group?" was the primary reason Shen Yiren insisted they start a business.

Nobody would've known who Yizhen Company were supposed to do business with - their background story. For that reason, running a store wasn't compulsory. That, however, would only be applicable if their final destination was Xiuyu. As the Central Plain had no authority over Nieyao, they would face problems if they didn't have a persuasive reason for staying.

Tie Hanyi approached the counter to whisper, "Ma'am, the two neighbouring stores have agreed to sell us their place, but..."

"What? We don't have enough money?" Shen Yiren asked.

"No, we still have a few hundred thousand."

"Really? What's the issue, then?"

"All the money... is the chairman's money."

Shen Yiren looked up: "Doesn't that make it my money? Feel free to spend it."

"As you command!"

Once Shen Yiren found some breathing room, she hollered at Su Xiao to meet her in the small room beyond the warehouse.

"Sorry." Shen Yiren headed to the seat at the end of the windowless room, where the highest-ranking people of the escort were talking. No longer sweetly smiling, she inquired, "Where were we?"

"The attack on Su Xiao and company the day before," responded Abels,

"Heisina Beussent? Never expected a big wig."

"You know him?" Su Xiao asked.

"You should recognise his name. You can't have a discussion on Nanjiang without mentioning his name. Supposedly, that wasn't his name until he took over as Heisina Tribe's chief, which was also when their clan started to see tremendous development. It's not hard to guess what his ambition is going from that decision of his. Heisina Tribe is supposed to be the blame dump for Nanjiang, so there's no chance their opposition will leave him be, yet nobody has been able to detain him."

Once she was done reading the meeting notes, Shen Yiren continued, "Let us not make any conclusions yet for we still haven't determined if he is enemy or foe. With that said, we must speak to Heisina Tribe if we are to enter Nieyao. Having resided in the vicinity of Nieyao for five hundred long years, any designs they have in mind will be dangerous for us."

Su Xiao applauded: "You are incredible. It took you no time at all to learn so much."

"Don't applaud me. All credit goes to Third and Dugu."

Dugu modestly smiled: "All of you are working day and night to find a way into Nieyao. If we do not help research the surroundings, would we not be a burden? We owe Young Hero Sima for running around to deliver messages to our agents."

Sima Huai tapped his nose. Whether deliberate or not, the former being attributed to Sima Huai giving Dugu a swollen head several days ago, Dugu had Sima Huai running marathons from sunrise to sunset every day.

Post-discussion, Shen Yiren conveyed, "Heisina Beussent is at war with Baimu at the moment. We don't know what know what he is angling for by approaching us. Whatever his aim is, chances are he's not an antagonist we need to worry about. Else, he could've killed you where you stood based on your recount. Secondly, he wouldn't have approached you guys if he knew our true background. Brother Bodhi, what say you?"

Once he was done musing, Abels cautioned, "He's only a tad weaker than I am, but I'm confident he hasn't reached Divine Realm. If he has, I would've noticed. Still, don't take him lightly. I'd say he has a unique skillset. Neither have I heard of the technique he used to restrain you guys. I agree that he's still monitoring us, so he isn't ready to meet us." Abels was hiding nearby when Beussent visited, but he didn't stop the latter since Beussent left.

Su Xiao: "He said he'll be back, but we don't know when and where."

"We shall stay ready but not engage. There's no grudge between us. I doubt he'll go out of his way to pay attention or to make enemies when his war against Baimu commences." Shen Yiren looked over her shoulder. "Third."

Sima Huai saluted Shen Yiren: "Present!"

"Has our captive spoken?"

"He has confessed everything. His name is Mumuzha, a thirty-five year old citizen of Baimu. He has two wives, one daughter and three boys. He liv-"

"Main point or more toilet cleaning."

"He is Baimu's Sacred Beast's adjutant and found us while following Heisina Beussent, over!"

"Hmm... Baimu's Sacred Beast, huh? Now this is another headache to deal with. If a state has us on their radar, our identity will most probably be exposed. Let's continue this discussion tonight. Uncle, do you have anything to add?"

"No." Leaning on the wall with his head down the entire time, Hero Li whipped his cloak and pulled out his best "cool" visage. "Let me know if there's a fight." He then ejected his broadsword and sat down to tend to his fingernails...

Abels' leadership skills needed no introduction. Shen Yiren was decisive, quickly hit it off with people, had two docile Mount Daluo disciples at her command, and was trustworthy. Emperor Yuansheng couldn't envision himself having the same success in Abels and Shen Yiren's shoes. He, therefore, only waited for an opponent.

By the time Shen Yiren was done issuing assignments, only Sima Huai, Abels, Emperor Yuansheng and Lai Jingzhen, who was sound asleep, were left in the room.

Seeing Abels scribbling in a small handbook he kept in his shirt, Shen Yiren leaned in and asked, "Brother Bodhi, what are you doing?"

Abels scratched his head the way a man asked about his crush would: "A-Lan is from Nanjiang. I'm trying to learn their writing style. A little bit of daily practice has helped me learn to read a fair bit."

"Learning is a never ending journey, huh."

Sima Huai joined them: "Sister-in-law, I have something t-"

"Leave it for after I get back. I need to go buy some goods."

As he watched Shen Yiren go, Sima Huai mumbled under his breath, "Our goods are from Jiangnan. We have to purchase them now?"

Afraid someone would recognise her, Shen Yiren changed her attire and wore on a pale pinkish-grey face veil. She sneaked out through the back and briskly made her way to a secluded zone at the city outskirts whilst trying to conceal her fast pace as a slow walk.

When Shen Yiren stopped, she immediately had to twist her torso to dodge an inbound shot of wind fired as an arrow. The wind arrow pierced through to the other side of the tree without decelerating or a producing sound.

Shen Yiren hiked up the corners of her lips a tad: "Hero Shenzhou was able to master seven realms of internal energy and brandishes an unblemished record. Every discipline belongs to only one realm, but his Daluo Divine Manual crosses over multiple realms - and there are five sections, at that. To say I admire him is an understatement. Among the five, the discipline that focuses on dealing the most damage is the finger style - Savage Slay Manual. I now see why the name is apt."

"Hmph. You've got a good head on those shoulders. You didn't expose me in Xiao Han or Third Brother's presence. Instead, you lured me out." Ming Xiaolou glided out from behind the trees, landing three metres away from Shen Yiren. "Shen Yiren, state what it is that you want."

Triumph flitted across Shen Yiren's face.