Chapter 74 - Leaving the Valley

While the flashes of lightning brightened up the sky and peals of thunder shook the world, a torrential rain came pouring down.

Inside the Valley of Crooks, more than three thousand criminals were scattered all around, but their eyes were always staring at the entrance of the cave. Antic.i.p.ation was evident in each and every pair of eyes, for inside was hope for everyone.

Gu Hai stood at the cave entrance, standing before him were four people: Gao Xianzhi, Chen Tianshan, Scar, and Shangguan Hen, his four captains.

"My Lord, we have already interrogated him clearly; he should have told us everything he knows. Our mask can only be removed by Boss Li Wei!" said Scar, an ugly look on his face.

"Have you thoroughly gotten the Golden Tong's terrain from him?" Gu Hai inquired calmly.

"Yes, we have questioned him about everything. The Golden Tong is divided into three sections: the inner section, the gambling section, and the VIP section! The VIP section is the place for the gamblers to live and spend. There are all kinds of foreign stores and services. The gambling section is the Colosseum, as well as some other areas for gambling. And the inner section is residence area of the Golden Tong disciples!" replied Chen Tianshan solemnly.

"If we want to remove our masks, we need the Golden Tong boss to take the initiative. My Lord, can you make the Golden Tong Boss take the initiative?" Gao Xianzhi looked at Gu Hai.

Scar, on the other hand, looked at Gao Xianzhi in astonishment; how is that even possible? Did he take Li Wei for a fool?

In contrast, Gu Hai remained silent for a while before replying, "I need to go and ask around carefully, only then I can know!"

"Make an inquiry? My Lord, are you going to leave first?" asked Gao Xianzhi, astounded.

"Right, I have to go out and meet Li Wei first, and for that, I need someone to cooperate with me!" replied Gu Hai in a serious manner.

"Cooperate? Does My Lord want someone to wear that black-robed man's clothes and pretend to be him, and escort My Lord out of the valley?" Gao Xianzhi's eyes immediately lit up.

"My Lord, I will come, I can do it!" cried Scar immediately.

If he could go out, Scar was naturally unwilling to remain in the valley.

"I will go, My Lord, I will go!" Chen Tianshan also volunteered.

Shangguan Hen on the sideline, on the other hand, suddenly pinched his throat. "My Lord, perhaps I should go!" Everyone turned their gazes at Shanguan together at once.

"Well?" Shangguan Hen's voice had completely changed. At this moment, he was actually imitating the voice of the black-robed man with the whip; his voice was surprisingly the same as the black-robed man.

"Shangguan Hen!? You are good!" praised Gu Hai, laughing.

"Just some small stuff, My Lord laughs at me!" Shangguan Hen said humbly.

"So it's decided. Shangguan Hen, go and wear that black-robed man's clothes!" ordered Gu Hai.

"Yes, My Lord!" Shangguan Hen quickly entered the cave.

Gu Hai looked at Shangguan Hen, narrowing his eyes. Anyone who could make it until now was not someone to be trifled with. At this moment, Gu Hai still did not have a good understanding of all the criminals; on one side, Gu Hai was employing others, and on the other hand, he was also taking preventive measures against others.

Very quickly, Shangguan walked out of the cave, wearing a Golden Tong black robe and holding a long whip, before putting on the hat slowly.

CRACK!

"Let's go!" shouted Shangguan Hen in an arrogant manner, which was downright identical to the tortured Tong man.

"Alright!" nodded Gu Hai in agreement.

Gu Hai gave him a brief explanation, and then slowly walked towards the entrance of the valley with Shangguan Hen.

---

The blue screen was still warding the entrance of the valley.

"F**king b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, are you still neglecting your duties?" shouted Shangguan Hen at the top of his voice.

A loud crash came from outside the valley.

Having suddenly heard the shout, the guards outside the valley, who were taking shelter in one of the buildings to the side while enjoying themselves, had a big change in their expressions as they quickly rushed out.

"Ah, it's senior brother from Colosseum! How are you inside the Valley of Crooks?" asked a guard, smiling apologetically.

"How am in the Valley of Crooks? The major question, is how did I get in!? Should I report it to the Boss, let the Boss know how you were neglecting your duties and don’t know how I got in?" asked Shangguan Hen, laughing coldly.

"Ah, I dare not, I dare not, Senior Brother, forgive our mistakes!" Cold sweat immediately emerged on that guard's forehead.

"Very well, why are still talking nonsense, don't you see it's raining?! Let me take this criminal out, Boss wants to see him, quickly!" Shangguan Hen said calmly.

"Ah? Yes, yes!" How could the guard dare to block him; he immediately opened the blue screen.

Shangguan walked out of the valley calmly, escorting Gu Hai.

"Senior Brother, although I recognized you from your voice, the Valley of Crooks has its rules, you need to have a warrant to take a criminal away. Is it...?" that guard asked in a low-voice.

"Haha, me not reporting your neglection of duties is already good enough, and you dare to ask for a warrant? Boss' order is warrant in itself. If you don't believe, you can come with me and ask the Boss!" Shangguan Hen looked at that guard with a cold gaze.

"I dare not, I dare not, Senior Brother, please, please!" The guard was afraid to speak any more.

Shangguan Hen was also too lazy to speak. He slowly disappeared from the guards' sight, escorting Gu Hai.

"Pooh, who the h.e.l.l do you think you are to use Boss to bully me!" the guard from earlier immediately spat towards the departed Shangguan Hen.

The guards once again returned to their respective warm nests.

---

Having successfully escorted Gu Hai out, Shangguan Hen found a secluded spot, where Gu Hai took a set of black robes out from his token and put them on. The style was not the same as the Tong robes, but they did hide the mask on his face.

"My Lord, where are we going first?" asked Shangguan Hen.

"First, let's go to the blacksmith shop in the VIP section!" said Gu Hai after donning the robes.

"Yes, My Lord!" obliged Shangguan Hen.

---

In this rain, staying concealed with their hats, no one stopped them on the way.

The Golden Tong guards weren't that strict at all, and this rain made it even easier to walk around.

Very quickly, the two arrived at a street in the city.

"My Lord, this is it! From the interrogation earlier, this is the place with most blacksmith shops! Casting some weapons is okay, but when it comes to engraving arrays, they are not very good!" explained Shangguan Hen.

Gu Hai nodded in acknowledgment.

"However, My Lord, what do we need at the blacksmith shop? If we want to buy some weapons or magical tools, they are in the surrounding shops as well!" asked Shangguan Hen, piqued.

"The thing I want, they definitely won't have it, it is something that will help us dispel the seal!" Gu Hai said calmly.

"Oh?" Shangguan Hen's expression became stiff.

To remove the seal, they needed to create a strong current. Magical tools with attributes were rare in the world, and electric-type magical tools were even rarer because the people who could craft them were too rare. However, today, such a thing could be forged in a small blacksmith shop!?

In this rain, the blacksmith shops had little to no business. The two quickly found a few blacksmiths.

Whereupon, Gu Hai took out a dozen blueprints.

Upon looking at the things drawn on the blueprints, the group of blacksmiths, as well Shangguan Hen, were at loss.

"Sir, what is this? Copper pipes, with one connecting with other, what's the use of this? As for chains, we have a lot, but these things, what can they do?" asked a blacksmith, confused.

Shangguan Hen was also rendered speechless after looking at the blueprints. A pipe connecting with the others; he couldn't understand why they were so, and what their uses were.

"You leave how they are going to be used alone, but forge them accordingly, can you do it?" asked Gu Hai.

"But of course. How could these things not be forged? Aren't they just copper tubes that can connect with each other? If you don't want to forge the array, it will take me two days to finish it!" proclaimed the blacksmith immediately, patting his chest.

"I will give you three times the usual price! Forge them according to the blueprints," Gu Hai said calmly.

"Give me a day, your work will be done for sure, I guarantee!" cried the blacksmith at once.

Gu Hai nodded agreement.

Shangguan Hen looked at those blueprints strangely. Shangguan Hen was also an experienced and knowledgeable person who had seen the world, he just didn’t like talking to others. But he was unable to see through Gu Hai... or these blueprints, for that matter. Can these blueprints forge an electrical-type magical tool? Are you kidding me!?

"My Lord, what are we going to do now...?" asked Shangguan Hen in a voice filled with complex emotions.

"You will stay here and supervise the forging of these blueprints to make sure there aren't any mistakes!" said Gu Hai calmly.

"Ah?" Shangguan Hen was slightly taken aback.

"I will come back to you soon. You know the importance of these things, right?" stated Gu Hai calmly.

The look in Shangguan Hen's eyes changed as he finally nodded.

Gu Hai took out some spirit stones and handed them to Shangguan Hen before departing alone.

Looking at Gu Hai's vague silhouette in the rain, a complex look appeared on Shangguan Hen's face. Shangguan Hen could sense that Gu Hai didn't really believe him, and seemed to be testing him.

Very soon, Gu Hai found another blacksmith shop and gave them the same blueprints. He had ordered another set forged so as to prevent any mishaps on Shangguan Hen's part.

Thereafter, Gu Hai visited another shop.

"Sir, what can I do for you?" asked the shopkeeper politely.

"Kerosene! The more the better," Gu Hai ordered calmly.

"Kerosene? Sir, what do you want to do with the kerosene?" asked the shopkeeper, confused.

"Should I also tell you who is in my house and what I have eaten today?" rebuked Gu Hai unenthusiastically.

"Ah? No, no, no, This lowly one spoke out of turn. Okay, kerosene, we can provide you as much as you want!" said the shopkeeper, smiling obsequiously.

After having bought a lot of kerosene, when Gu Hai stored them in the s.p.a.ce in his token, it scared the sh*t out of the shopkeeper. After all, none of the cultivators who had storage s.p.a.ces were weak. Just a moment ago, he was truly courting death!

Having finished everything, Gu Hai gradually made his way towards the inner section of the Golden Tong.

Gu Hai chose a lush mountain forest, where he slowly took out the kerosene stored inside the token after looking carefully around to make sure there were no witnesses.

Whereupon, Gu Hai began to pour the kerosene along the edge of the mountain forest all around, trailing it everywhere he went.

In the blink of an eye, all the kerosene that Gu Hai had bought had formed a trail around an entire mountain.

Gu Hai narrowed his eyes, looking at the faraway inner section of the Golden Tong, before igniting a flare[1] and throwing it towards the forest.

BANG!

---

A huge fire broke out along the foot of the mountain, burning its way up the mountain. The flames rose from all direction in the lush forest. Even the rain pouring down could not stop the kerosene from burning.

As the forest was filled with countless wet leaves, there were many places that weren't burning, but rather creating a large amount of smoke. In a flash, billowing, dense smoke spread everywhere.

The fire got bigger and bigger, and the smoke also followed suit.

"Not good, fire!" someone suddenly shouted.

"What? Fire? How can there be a fire in this rain?"...

Suddenly, the inner section of the Golden Tong was in chaos. Many Golden Tong disciples immediately moved in and out to extinguish the fire.

"So much smoke, it's killing me, ke ke ke ke!" "Quickly extinguish the fire, extinguish this smoke, ke ke ke ke!"...

Amidst this chaos, many Golden Tong disciples fought the fire constantly.

Gu Hai, on the other hand, took the advantage of the crowd and made his way deeper into the Golden Tong.

Far away, the flames soared to the sky, dyeing the sky in red. The dense billowing smoke quickly permeated everywhere in the Golden Tong.

---

At the blacksmith shop, Shangguan Hen focused his gaze towards the faraway smoke. "Did My Lord set this fire? So much smoke, it's even spread to the VIP sections!?"

---

Alarm quickly spread among the Golden Tong disciples.

One after another, everyone came out of their residences and looked towards the billowing fire.

---

At the entrance of his grand hall, Boss Li Wei stood with Yue Yao in his arms, coldly gazing at the faraway fiery glow.

"Investigate it clearly, who dares to be so audacious in my Golden Tong!?" ordered Boss Li Wei, scowling.

Translator’s Note:

[1] 火摺子 - There isn’t a proper name for it in English. It is something used by wealthy people and emperor in ancient China. It is something similar to a flare, so I have used flare. It is crafted by soaking the paper in a sweet potato solution, flattening it, then adding cotton and reeds, then flattening it and drying it again, and then adding nitric acid, sulfur, rosin, camphor, and other kinds of fragrant spices and stuff. Then it is either folded into a roll or rope, which is then fitted in a bamboo tube. At night it is kept smoldering before covering it with a lid, and when you want a fire, you just have to remove the lid and blow on it and it will lit up. The flare is also similar, it is made up of highly flammable solid fuel, which is set on fire by brus.h.i.+ng it with its lid or something rough to ignite it.