Chapter 139

The train arrived at the station.

Brother Hu and his two companions stepped off the train, their faces beaming with smiles as they carried their duffel bags. Zhangjiajie was their San Francisco. Here, they would embark on their own gold rush dream!

Li Zhuiyuan stepped off the train, his backpack slung over his shoulder. Outside, the sun was bright and a little dazzling. Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou, both disguised, walked past him. Li Zhuiyuan gave them a slight nod, and they continued to follow Brother Hu's group. According to the plan, given "ample funding," the three thugs would be highly motivated in the initial days after arriving in Zhangjiajie to search for the non-existent village. During this period, Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng's primary role was simply to accompany them. Once the thugs' enthusiasm waned and they considered backing out, Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng would "bait" them. This involved, for example, bribing passersby or beggars to drop hints, thereby reigniting their confidence and keeping them in Zhangjiajie to continue their "gold rush." The idea was to keep them strung along until Li Zhuiyuan uncovered specific new clues, at which point they would be led into the plan to complete the canal construction and await the river's filling.

"Grandma Zhu's Last Wish" and "The Wanted Notice for Tian Meihong" were open-ended missions. For the former, recalling her hometown meant anywhere in Zhangjiajie could be considered her home; Li Zhuiyuan simply needed to check in at her actual old village. The latter was even simpler: even if Tan Wenbin was just strolling the streets, visiting a night market, or eating snacks, it could be considered part of his undercover search for the wanted criminal. Therefore, these two storylines offered high flexibility. As long as the painting, photos, and wanted notice were in his bag, all subsequent actions would have justification.

However, the three thugs were living people and needed constant surveillance. One person wasn't enough; another was needed for shifts and to maintain constant contact with the team. Most importantly, Li Zhuiyuan was uneasy about letting Lin Shuyou handle a mission alone. Ah You (Lin Shuyou) certainly had enough combat strength; even without using his full abilities, he was more than capable of handling three petty thugs. But sometimes, he could be a bit dense. Yin Meng was very pleased with this arrangement. As the last person to join the team, now that she could mentor a new junior, she felt like a senior, practically the leader of an action squad.

After exiting the train station, Li Zhuiyuan, Tan Wenbin, and Runsheng followed Runsheng's suggestion and walked a considerable distance down the street. They chose a rice noodle shop, settled into a corner, and ordered ten bowls of rice noodles. The reason they walked so far was Runsheng's belief that restaurants near the train station were overpriced. Additionally, the area around the station was rife with illegal taxis, and even legitimate cabs would often quote a fixed, inflated price to take you to a more distant location.

After eating, Tan Wenbin hailed a taxi, asked about the nearby antique market, and had the driver take them there. Arriving in Zhangjiajie, their next objective was to find the Xie family. An antique market was an excellent point of contact. These markets often had an "outer market" and an "inner market." The outer market dealt in so-called genuine and counterfeit antiques, while the inner market sold special items like talismans, ritual objects, or cursed artifacts. Most antique markets had such inner-market stalls. They were usually quiet, with owners and staff sitting inside without calling out, simply waiting for discerning customers or those in need to approach them.

Upon arrival, they found the antique market quite large, with a construction site outside, seemingly for an expansion into a tourist and cultural street. Inside, there were many tourists, including a significant number of foreigners; occasionally, they could hear Korean being spoken. The outer market wasn't worth exploring; there was no need to bother distinguishing genuine articles from fakes, as it was mostly filled with handicrafts and souvenirs.

"Did the driver bring us to the wrong place?" Tan Wenbin asked.

"This must be the antique market he knows," Li Zhuiyuan replied. The driver hadn't taken them to the wrong place; he simply only knew this one.

Fortunately, as they browsed, Li Zhuiyuan eventually spotted an inner-market stall. Like the outer market, the inner market was a mix of genuine and fraudulent, as many contemporary wealthy individuals, having become rich through sheer luck and being in the right place at the right time, held deep convictions about "feudal superstition." Their influx had also led to a distorted inner market, where there was no reason not to profit from easy targets.

They passed three inner-market stalls, all of which were merely for show with nothing authentic for sale. At the fourth, Li Zhuiyuan paused, looking at the two paper figures displayed at the entrance. Tan Wenbin and Runsheng also noticed something unusual about the paper figures. Both were experienced in paper crafting and could discern quality.

"Why don't these paper figures have eyes?" Runsheng asked.

"These are paper figures for ritualistic use, not merely sacrificial offerings to be burned," Li Zhuiyuan explained. The presence of these two paper figures at the shop's entrance spoke volumes about its deep background and authenticity.

Li Zhuiyuan stepped inside. The shop didn't have many goods, just enough to sparsely fill the cabinets and display cases. An old man with a goatee, wearing a long blue gown, sat drinking tea. He didn't rise to greet the new customers. Three candles sat on the counter, and an oil lamp hung from the ceiling beam.

After observing their surroundings, Tan Wenbin deliberately approached the three candles. Seeing this, the old man slowly put down his teacup, ready to get up and greet them. Tan Wenbin began lighting the candles: one, then two... One candle signified a person from the same "Jianghu" (underground community), meaning a fellow professional who understood the ways of the trade. Two candles indicated an equal, someone confident enough in their status to converse with the shop owner and their associates as peers. By the time the second candle was lit, the old man had already changed to better tea leaves and was preparing to brew tea.

But when he saw Tan Wenbin light the third candle, the old man's hand trembled. He put down his teacup and teapot, quickly trotted over, and bowed, asking, "Pardon my lack of foresight in not greeting you sooner, esteemed guest. May I ask who you are...?" Lighting the third candle signified a superior status, implying that they deserved exceptional service. Of course, one could light three candles even without the true standing, just to show off, but they would have to bear the consequences.

Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuiyuan, who then began to perform a salute: "My spirit extends to Jiujiang, my courage brightens Xunyang, my ambition covers Lushan, and my presence commands Poyang. From Jiujiang—Zhao Yi." When traveling, one's identity was often self-proclaimed. Just like the candle-lighting custom, it was acceptable to impersonate another family, provided one could endure the retaliation once the truth was known. The old man immediately returned the bow, saying, "The Zhao family of Jiujiang, I've long heard of your esteemed name. Please, Young Master Zhao, take a seat."

Led by the old man, Li Zhuiyuan and his two companions entered the shop. After serving tea, the old man withdrew. Soon, a beautiful woman in her thirties, with a plump figure and a mole below her lip, walked in. As soon as the woman entered, Li Zhuiyuan noticed her gaze briefly sweep across his forehead. It appeared the shop's background was deeper than he had anticipated, as this woman knew about the "life-and-death seam" on Zhao Yi's forehead. This meant that she had already realized he was an imposter.

"Young Master Zhao, I am..." The woman smiled, carrying herself with grace and charm. With a flick of her sleeve, things in the cabinets on both sides of the room seemed to open their eyes. Li Zhuiyuan pressed down on the untouched teacup in his hand onto the table. As his palm turned downwards, the "four ghosts lifted the sedan chair" (a spiritual technique), and all the eyes in the cabinets on both sides closed. The woman's smile immediately widened. She stopped walking forward and instead bowed deeply: "To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Young Master Zhao? If there is anything you require, please do not hesitate to command." It didn't matter if she knew he was impersonating someone; in the Jianghu, ultimately, it was strength that mattered. The truth or falsity of identities was of little concern.

Li Zhuiyuan got straight to the point: "I've come to ask about something."

"Please ask, Young Master Zhao."

"I'm looking for the Xie family."

"Are you referring to the four corpse-driving families of the Old Heavenly Gate?"

"Yes."

"Then, Young Master Zhao, are you looking for the 'Ox Blade Xie' or the 'Word Family Xie'?" The four great corpse-driving families of the Old Heavenly Gate were Xie, Xie, Wang, and Bu. As the surname 'Xie' (解) is pronounced the same as 'Xie' (谢), they were distinguished as "Ox Blade Xie" and "Word Family Xie."

"I'm looking for the Ox Blade Xie."

"To be frank, Young Master Zhao, if you were looking for the other three families, it wouldn't be difficult. Our humble shop could even help you contact them and provide directions. But the Ox Blade Xie family fell into decline as early as the late Yuan Dynasty. Though some Xie family members still practiced corpse-driving during the Ming and Qing dynasties, they were no longer a significant force. The last I heard of any Xie family member appearing was twenty years ago, during Old Master Wang's birthday celebration. The Xie family sent a young child who, when asked about their family situation, claimed to know nothing, and proceeded to eat an entire table of food by himself. After that, there's been no news of the Xie family. Twenty years have passed, and I suppose that child from the Xie family would be my age now."

"Where can I find them?"

"Are you asking about the Xie family ancestral home, Young Master Zhao?"

"Yes."

"Peach Blossom Village in Meiling Town. Old Master Wang's birthday invitation was sent there, and we thought it would fall on deaf ears, but surprisingly, someone actually showed up. However, subsequent attempts to contact or locate them proved fruitless; even the child could not be found again."

"Why did the Wang family keep trying to find them?"

"After all, they were once among the four great families of the Old Heavenly Gate. There's a certain bond of kinship. If their family was truly reduced to a few isolated individuals, out of respect for our ancestors, we'd have to offer a helping hand, wouldn't we?"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the woman and said, "Not everyone has the right to lie."

The woman covered her face, offering an apologetic smile. "It's said that the Xie family has hidden a great secret for hundreds of years, and everyone is interested in this secret. Back then, Old Master Wang also wanted to arrange a child marriage with that child and conveniently get his hands on that secret. But who knew that child would just eat his fill, mouth covered in grease, utter a couple of blessings like 'May your fortune be as vast as the East Sea, and your life as long as the South Mountain,' and then scurry away from the table. We did send people to follow him then, but they all lost track of him."

Upon hearing this, Tan Wenbin involuntarily raised an eyebrow. Knowing the details of an event from twenty years ago so precisely—could it still be called "hearsay"? However, since Young Master Li was currently asking questions, he found it inappropriate to interrupt.

"So, the only clue to finding the Xie family right now is Peach Blossom Village in Meiling Town?" Li Zhuiyuan asked.

"Young Master Zhao has deep fortune. If you truly go looking, you might very well find them."

"I appreciate your kind words." Li Zhuiyuan stood up, preparing to leave.

The woman stepped aside, making way. However, as Li Zhuiyuan passed her, she spoke again: "May I ask, Young Master Zhao, if you are looking for the Xie family for revenge, or