Chapter 138 - 135: The Small Tree on the Mountaintop

Chapter 138: Chapter 135: The Small Tree on the Mountaintop

The workers had just gotten off for the day, and the sky hadn’t yet grown completely dark.

But there weren’t many people around. The Blood Qi Avatar, moving with practiced ease, slipped past everyone and entered Black Mountain.

After entering the Spirit Wood Forest on Black Mountain, the Blood Qi Avatar didn’t go far before concealing itself.

A moment later, the figure of a cold, stunning woman appeared up ahead.

Jiang Zuo was no stranger to her. She was He Suzhu, a concubine of Xu Wencai, the second-in-command of the Xu Family.

Though she was a concubine and possessed a cold, stunning beauty, she was no mere trophy wife within the Xu Family.

She was in charge of the blacksmiths like Jiang Zuo, as well as the lumberjacks and other laborers.

He Suzhu would inspect the logging camp periodically, and she would occasionally bring fruit and chilled tea for the blacksmiths and lumberjacks.

As a result, she had a good reputation among the workers.

As for why Jiang Zuo had come here to lie in wait...

Before long, a young man appeared, coming from higher up on Black Mountain.

The moment they saw each other, they were like tinder and flint, erupting into a fierce tryst in the wild.

It was rumored that when He Suzhu was in her early twenties, she was attacked by bandits and rescued by Xu Wencai, who happened to be passing by.

Captivated by her beauty, Xu Wencai couldn’t resist taking her as his concubine.

Twenty years later, not only had Xu Wencai not grown tired of her, but he had even elevated her to the position of his favored concubine.

This showed that He Suzhu’s beauty was truly extraordinary.

He Suzhu was now over forty, but with her fifth-level Qi Cultivation, her focus on skincare, and some careful makeup, she didn’t look old at all. On the contrary, she possessed an exceptional, cold beauty, combined with mature charm.

Faced with He Suzhu, the young man looked utterly enthralled, unable to control himself.

Even though Jiang Zuo was watching through his Blood Qi Avatar with a critical eye, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

In his past life, he’d seen his fair share of adult films, but that was nothing compared to the thrill of witnessing something like this firsthand, as if he were right there.

It was only because Jiang Zuo’s current mindset was somewhat detached that he could treat it like watching a dirty movie.

Any other hot-blooded man with Jiang Zuo’s abilities would have likely throttled the youth and taken his place.

Of course, Jiang Zuo hadn’t come here just to watch their outdoor romp.

In fact, through his Gray Rock Rats, Jiang Zuo already knew that He Suzhu and this young man had met here for a tryst five or six times.

It hadn’t mattered before, but now that he knew someone was plotting against the Xu Family Marketplace, Jiang Zuo suddenly realized their meetings might be more than just a simple affair.

"The Xu Family seems to have discovered something. Xu Yuelin and Xu Wencai’s recent actions have been a bit strange."

"But they’re still wary of me, so I don’t know what they have planned."

After their passionate encounter, He Suzhu straightened her clothes and fixed her makeup, speaking slowly.

"They must have found what Yang Shouli hid. That guy is unreliable to begin with. We had him do it specifically so the Xu Family would find out. If no one had stumbled upon that spot soon, we were planning to expose Yang Shouli ourselves."

The youth sneered.

"So you’re planning to use their own plot against them?"

He Suzhu understood at once.

"Of course. The Xu Family is probably trying to figure out how to deal with us right now. But they don’t know that Yang Shouli was a trap we set. They think they’re ambushing us, but we’re the real predator waiting in the wings!"

"When the time comes, we’ll catch the Xu Family completely off guard. They’ll go to their graves never understanding why they fell at our hands!"

"Don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll hand over any Xu Family survivors to you. You can have your revenge and finally put your hatred to rest."

The youth said with a laugh, his hands giving He Suzhu’s body a couple of rough, possessive squeezes.

He Suzhu couldn’t linger, so the two parted ways.

He Suzhu headed back down the path as if nothing had happened. Jiang Zuo ignored her.

Following her usual routine, she would go back now and bathe for over half an hour, washing away every trace and scent from her body.

Jiang Zuo directed his Blood Qi Avatar to follow the young man.

The young man wasn’t from the Xu Family, and Jiang Zuo had no idea where he came from or even what his name was.

The Xu Family had patrols around Black Mountain, but the youth was extremely familiar with their routes. He left Black Mountain stealthily and without much effort.

Jiang Zuo had it tail him in secret for a while before the Blood Qi Avatar was forced to stop.

It had reached its ten-li limit; the Blood Qi Avatar could go no further.

’What a headache. I can’t believe Yang Shouli was just a trap. No wonder that storage pouch with such an important Defense Map sat there for days with no one coming to get it.’

Back in his wooden cabin, Jiang Zuo thought with dawning realization.

Jiang Zuo had found it strange a few days ago that after Yang Shouli hid the Defense Map, no one had come to retrieve it for days.

But it was also possible that Yang Shouli had only agreed on a location but not a time, or that the person meant to retrieve it had been delayed.

So Jiang Zuo hadn’t given it too much thought.

Only after tailing He Suzhu today did he learn that Yang Shouli was just bait for a trap, waiting for the Xu Family to bite.

’Well, I’ve already interfered. No sense in quitting halfway.’

"If it meant risking his own neck, Jiang Zuo definitely wouldn’t have gotten involved. But now that he had the Blood Qi Avatar, there was a lot he could do."

’It’s a bit of a hassle, but having to flee and find a new place to live would also be a hassle.’

’That being the case, rather than let others cause trouble for me, I might as well cause trouble for them.’

Jiang Zuo slightly regretted not having spent time learning to draw. Otherwise, he could have sketched the young man’s face.

It was too late for that now. Jiang Zuo shook his head and wrote down Yang Shouli’s name, adding the word "Trap" beside it.

Next to He Suzhu’s name, he wrote two words: "Tryst" and "Mole."

Jiang Zuo even carefully drew a crude map, marking the location of their tryst.

Just as before, Jiang Zuo had his Blood Qi Avatar deliver the intelligence to Xu Xiuyun.

That same night, Xu Xiuyun was cultivating as usual.

Suddenly, she felt a subtle disturbance.

This time, however, she didn’t cry out like before. She simply stepped out of her Cultivation Room.

A blurry figure flickered and vanished once more, leaving only a crumpled ball of paper in the courtyard.

She picked it up and glanced at it. Her expression changed instantly, and she hurried off with the note to find her father.

Xu Yuelin and Xu Wencai were both present. When they read the note, their expressions changed drastically as well.

"It’s true, Yang Shouli is not someone capable of great things. I originally thought that if our opponents were using him, they couldn’t be that formidable."

"But if what’s written on this paper is true, then the people we’re up against this time are likely extraordinary!"

Xu Yuelin said after a moment of contemplation.

If the note was true, not only had their plans likely been leaked, but the Xu Family was also in danger of severely underestimating their opponents and being caught completely off guard.

"That bitch, He Suzhu! She’s been having an affair behind my back and acting as a mole?"

Xu Wencai’s face was livid.

He doted on He Suzhu and believed he had never wronged her in the slightest. Aside from the position of his primary wife, which was impossible, he had given her everything he could.

And in return, he received infidelity and betrayal.

"This is a grave matter. We must verify it first. Since the informant gave us the location of the tryst, we can go there and check. There should be traces left behind."

"And as for He Suzhu... I suspect her meeting you back then, Second Brother, was no coincidence. She may have held a grudge against our Xu Family for a long time. Otherwise, given her personality, she wouldn’t do something like this."

"Have someone investigate her past in secret and see what you can find."

Xu Yuelin waved a hand, urging Xu Wencai to calm down.

"This informant... why didn’t they just tell us who is targeting the Xu Family? If we knew that, we wouldn’t be so passive."

Xu Xiuyun interjected.

"Perhaps the informant has his own agenda, and telling us directly doesn’t suit his interests. In any case, we can’t treat him as a simple whistleblower. We must be wary of him as well."

"Especially you, Xiuyun. You must not be careless. What if he is targeting you specifically?"

Xu Yuelin glanced at Xu Xiuyun.

The informant could have easily approached him or Xu Wencai, but chose not to. Instead, he only contacted Xu Xiuyun.

Xu Xiuyun’s beauty and talent were renowned within a thousand-li radius. Countless young men wished to marry her and form an alliance with the Xu Family.

"Father, rest assured. My future husband must be one of the most outstanding young geniuses of this era. I won’t be deceived by some minor favor!"

Xu Xiuyun said proudly, puffing out her chest.

Although she had only recently established her Dao Foundation, her cultivation had progressed by leaps and bounds ever since.

Publicly, she was still in the initial stage of the Dao Foundation realm.

In reality, however, she was already at the mid-stage and nearing the Perfection level, about to advance to the late stage of the Dao Foundation realm.

And she was only twenty-eight years old.

With her level of talent, how could she possibly fall for an ordinary man?

She could have easily joined any of the surrounding sects as an Inner Sect Disciple, but she had other plans and had chosen not to.

Xu Yuelin nodded in satisfaction. The Xu Family had great expectations for Xu Xiuyun.

...

’I’ve done what I can. As long as the Xu Family aren’t complete idiots, they won’t be defeated so easily.’

’But there’s always a chance... if the enemy is too strong, I still need to prepare to flee.’

’If I really do have to run, then...’

Jiang Zuo’s gaze shifted toward the peak of Black Mountain.

The Xu Family had designated the entire upper half of Black Mountain as a Forbidden Land, off-limits to ordinary people.

Even lumberjacks had to be escorted by a member of the Xu Family and were strictly forbidden from straying.

The reason for this was a small tree located at the very peak of Black Mountain.

All the Spirit Wood the Xu Family harvested on the mountain grew from the roots of this little tree.

Jiang Zuo didn’t know what the small tree was called, but he knew for a fact that without it, the Xu Family’s Spirit Wood business would be nowhere near as prosperous.

Everyone assumed the Xu Family was highly skilled at cultivating Spirit Wood, but in reality, it was all thanks to that little tree.

Without it, the rate at which the Xu Family grew Spirit Wood would plummet. They’d be lucky to maintain even half their current scale.

The only reason the Xu Family hadn’t been targeted before now was that the Spirit Wood they sold was considered fairly common in the wider Cultivation Realm.

However, he didn’t know if the people targeting the Xu Family this time were after the Marketplace or the small tree on the summit.

Regardless, if he did have to flee, Jiang Zuo would definitely dig up that little tree and move it into his Pet Beast Spirit Garden.

The Pet Beast Spirit Garden needed exactly these kinds of resources for its next upgrade.

As long as it was the Xu Family’s property, it would be awkward for him to make a move.

But if the Xu Family couldn’t hold on to it... well, then he wouldn’t be so polite.