Chương 102: Obvious Scheme
On a small, remote dirt road that doesn't seem to be regularly used, running through the green valleys of a seemingly endless mountain stretching towards the horizon, six horses slowly but steadily carry seven people on their backs.
'It looks like my luck has taken a positive turn again...' Chen Wei thought, looking calmly at the road ahead while holding the reins of his horse with his right hand.
'...luck...it's truly one of the hardest resources to obtain and manage, but one of the most valuable,' he mused, inspecting the Blood Orchid Gu in his aperture.
Chen Wei developed this perspective more strongly due to his recent gu refinements, which, aside from a few periodic and unusual failures, all ended in success without exception.
Of course, the main factor is still his great skill in refining Blood path gu, which to any mortal gu master would seem like a work of art capable of being admired for a lifetime.
But even these skills can only guarantee him a certain low level of success in refining rank 2 gu with mortal materials, even in large quantities, which he obtained after massacring Yu village.
So the fact that he only failed once in refining the Rotting Blood Gu to Rank 2 and managed to refine the Blood Orchid Gu to Rank 2 on his first attempt is the best demonstration that he put his great amount of luck to all the use he could.
'Hmmm, it looks a bit different... more fierce than before, maybe?' Chen Wei thought, comparing the current appearance of the orchid to its former state.
The orchid now has six large and beautiful heart-shaped petals with several "veins" transporting blood continuously through them like in heartbeats, as well as its thin and fragile stem protected by numerous extremely sharp and frightening-looking thorns.
*neigh* *neigh*
Chen Wei was pulled from his thoughts and turned his head towards the loud noises of a horse that seemed quite agitated.
This wasn't the first time it happened since these horses they took from a stable in Yu village, though quite tame, were still not too keen on carrying unfamiliar people like the seven of them.
"Hey, hey, calm down, girl... stay calm, girl," Yu Lian hesitantly and fearfully patted her mare's neck while desperately trying to calm her down.
"Are you okay?" Chen Wei asked immediately. "Do you want me to slow down?"
Yu Lian nodded in agreement, the fear on her face inevitable as she had never ridden a horse before. Even though she wasn't guiding the animal, whose reins were tied to Chen Wei's horse, she still had to ensure that the horse, which seemed not to like her on its back, wouldn't suddenly throw her off.
"It senses your fear and hesitation, so it won't let you, someone it doesn't know, ride it..." Wang Mei, who was riding sidesaddle with her long dress behind him, spoke condescendingly while hugging Chen Wei's waist tightly and resting her head on his shoulder.
"You have to calm down and show confidence to the horse... it's not that hard," she said with a gentle smile on her face while calmly looking at the slowly passing landscape due to Chen Wei's concern about going too fast with her, being pregnant, riding behind him.
In fact, unlike Yu Lian and Feng Hua, for her, this was a very pleasant journey as she could no longer bear to walk due to her swollen pregnant belly.
"You make it sound so easy..." Feng Hua, who also had difficulty controlling her horse, said, a little irritated by her attitude. "...you're not even riding by yourself to be able to say anything!"
Feng Hua, unlike Yu Lian, was riding on her own without Chen Wei's help but still, like Yu Lian, had considerable difficulty as her horse seemed reluctant to follow her commands easily.
"I would never act unladylike to the point of riding like a man!" Wang Mei quickly responded to Feng Hua's words. "And I didn't find any saddle that could allow me to ride sidesaddled alone."
She spoke with confidence in her riding skills, having done so since she was young in her first world, but now seeing the opportunity to spend the entire trip hugged with Chen Wei and looking at the landscape, she didn't dare miss it.
Of course, her saying it was unladylike and improper to ride in trousers like a man or a promiscuous woman wasn't a lie either, as she was now wearing her usual long, elegant, and delicate white dress as befits decent ladies who ride.
"Quite convenient for you that this is the case, right?" Feng Hua asked, frowning, but her question was simply ignored by Wang Mei.
She didn't believe Wang Mei's excuse as she also came from an "aristocratic" family with quite conservative traditions in her world but had never heard of this custom that Wang Mei said that a lady could only ride side-saddle or only in a dress.
"Besides, these were the tamest we found, so of course, I'm saying it's easy!" Wang Mei nodded towards the hairy women who were riding without much difficulty.
"Mei'er is right, even if it gallops and jumps a bit, it won't really throw you off," Chen Wei commented while keeping his attention on the road as he led the way.
The hairy women, on the other hand, just remained silent as they had done most of the way, not wanting to get involved in a discussion that could end up putting them on the wrong side of any of the girls.
But Yu Lian, struggling to calm her horse, was speechless at how Wang Mei could ride the horse so easily and elegantly in a long dress, even though she was hugging Chen Wei, who was controlling the horse she was mounted on.
For obvious reasons, she wore trousers that were more suitable and easier for riding, especially for someone who had never ridden a horse like her. But even so, she struggled to stay on her horse, which seemed to want to jump at any moment.
The same went for Feng Hua, who had little experience riding horses due to her fragile health in her past world, which prevented her from doing strenuous physical activities.
And in this world, she found herself spending most of her time practicing gu use because of the war, and when she traveled long distances, she did so using gu, which was much more efficient than riding a horse.
"Just hold the reins firmly and don't kick your feet into the sides of the horse's belly..." Chen Wei tried to calm Yu Lian before she fell off the horse. "...it's just getting used to you now, but it won't take long for it to get accustomed to you."
"I hope so!" Yu Lian murmured, trying to do as Chen Wei instructed while they continued to ride along the remote road.
-----
*POV Huo Xi*
A silence that would make people sweat nervously fell over the luxurious hall of the Huo clan as Huo Xi silently stared at the group of mortals kneeling before him after they finished personally recounting their detailed reports about the demonic Gu master who had appeared in their village.
"A demonic Gu master, you say..." Huo Xi stroked his long white beard with his right hand, looking calmly at the mortals before him. "...and he is terrorizing your village with the help of Li Xin, who was appointed by me?"
"If that's the case, how did they let you come to the Huo clan with reports of their demonic actions?" He stopped stroking his beard and picked up his teacup, sipping from it. "Has the Huo clan's prestige fallen so low that demonic Gu masters can act as they please now?"
His eyes slowly scanned the various mortal men kneeling subserviently before him, not daring to interrupt his words.
"Or are you saying that I have been so incompetent in my duties to let it come to this?" Huo Xi spoke, not hiding the disdain and contempt in his voice.
Of course, being a man capable of becoming an important rank 3 elder of the Huo clan, he was neither stupid nor naive and was aware of the dealings that smal mortal village leaders make with demonic Gu masters under the table.
Primarily because it was a corruption not worth the costs and time to eradicate, he simply turned a blind eye to these actions as most were done in secret.
And there's the key word—secret—because obviously, none of them would be stupid enough to do this so openly and carelessly as these mortals described, with him forcibly hanging young men from the village and taking women to his bed, at least not in a subordinate village to a clan like the Huo clan.
If that were the case, the demonic path would have been wiped off the face of this world long ago. But if there's one thing that the great investigators of this world would tell you, it's how secretive and slippery these bastards can be.
So, a much more likely scenario is that one of his political rivals in the clan created this situation to discredit his ability to protect as the elder responsible for patrols around the clan's mountain.
Of course, despite his words, he didn't disbelieve the mortals who claimed to have seen a "demonic Gu master" do everything they described as he used several investigative Gu to verify the truth of their words.
He simply didn't believe that this was really a demonic Gu master doing and not just an agent of one of his rivals.
"Sir, I swear by my life and the heavens that that demonic scoundrel cruelly killed my son who went fishing on his first job!" Huo Xi looked at a middle-aged man who spoke a little nervously but without showing fear of the consequences of his words.
The young men around him, though not daring to show the same courage, nodded in agreement, sharing the same desire to cry out and plead for justice for their brothers or partners.
"Is that so..." Huo Xi felt a sense of helplessness in his chest, though he did not show it on his face. "...better safe than sorry, I would say!"
He spoke, knowing that even if this was a trap likely set by the clan leader wanting to discredit him as the second most influential figure in the clan, he still had to walk into this trap with a confident smile.
He had considered keeping it a secret when it first came to him, but since these villagers arrived making a ruckus at the village entrance, desperately shouting as if the world was ending, everyone well-connected in the clan quickly learned of them.
And even though the other important figures of the clan were not here personally to throw all the blame on him for any failure, they still sent their representatives who observed everything without saying a word.
'And so it is for the responsibilities expected of those in power...' Huo Xi nodded to one of his trusted confidants.
"Send an elite team consisting of these Gu masters," Huo Xi wrote a list of names of Gu masters from all four main factions of the clan and handed it to his confidant. "...they will be required to carry out the mission immediately and without exception!!"
Huo Xi had a determined look on his face because if the other elders or the clan leader wanted to throw shit at him, so be it, but he would make sure they had to dirty their hands with that shit to do so.
"And as for all of you," he pointed to the mortals who, except for the middle-aged man, dared not speak. "You will be under constant surveillance to ensure you're not part of some scheme."
"And if you are truly telling the truth, you will be greatly rewarded for your actions..." Huo Xi spoke to the mortals but looked at the representatives of other important figures in the clan.
"...but if it is a lie, part of a scheme to make the great Huo clan lose face, I swear by my honor you will face a fate worse than death!!"
Huo Xi could hear clear sounds of various people swallowing in fear and nervousness, but he was disappointed when he couldn't see any reaction on the faces of the representatives who watched everything silently.
His confidant, seeing the scene, simply nodded without hesitation while quickly withdrawing to carry out his orders as quickly as possible.
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