In a dense forest at the base of a mountain, a small road made by human hands extended into the distance.

A convoy was making its way through the forest. There were seven large wagons in all, each one carrying four large crates. Around twenty people were guarding this convoy.

The head and tail wagons each had a large flag flying from them. On one side was written “Wei”, and on the other side was written “Gu”, indicating that this was a convoy of the Wei and Gu Clans.

At the very front, four people mounted on horses were leading the way. Two of them were none other than Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing.

Upon returning from the academy, these two had begun to manage the clan business. This trade route was newly opened, and so the most important thing besides making connections with the various local governments and sects was to guard against bandits and fiends. Sufficient guards were needed, and so Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing had been entrusted with this task.

The Wei Clan had gone to great lengths to open up this route, and it was quite valuable. If not for the matter of Wei Tianchong’s engagement, the Wei Clan would have never let the Gu Clan use it for its goods.

Seated on his horse, Wu Xing pointed into the distance and said, “Through this forest is the Warsong Mountains, and past the Warsong Mountains is Duskland. There, the status of our sect will have no meaning, so everyone will have to rely on their fists.”

The youth next to him said, “And here I thought that we would have to rely on our fists once we were through the Lotus Pass.”

Everyone laughed.

The youth was called Gu Changan, a member of the Gu Clan’s direct line of descent. He had a scheming personality and was considered quite the shrewd one among his peers, earning him the favor of the patriarch. The partnership between the Gu Clan and Wei Clan was of great significance, so the Gu Clan had sent this person to serve as the connection with the Wei Clan.

The middle-aged man next to him said, “It’s difficult to make one’s way through this forested and mountainous region. It must have taken you significant resources to open up this road, no?”

This man’s name was Zhu Kaishan, and he was the leader of the Gu Clan’s escort company. He had abundant experience in this field and was a very sly person. His primary duty was managing the caravan.

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“Indeed,” Wu Xing replied. “There are far too many checkpoints on the Upwater Plains. It would be fine if it were just us, as Basking Moon students, but if we were carrying so many goods with us, we would have to subject ourselves to exploitation far too many times. To save on expenses, we had no choice but to find another path, so we opened a road through this forest. Elder Young Master and I busied ourselves for more than a hundred days on this road.”

“You’ve been through a lot.” Gu Changan nodded. “An illustrious cultivator, even if not a Spirit Master, still has a noble status beyond compare, yet you had to run off to this forest to open a road. You’ve truly been greatly wronged. But I’ve heard that the Wei Clan has heaped even greater praise on the second young master for this trade route?”

Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing grimaced.

Wu Xing fawningly said, “This is understandable. He was the one who came up with the idea. When they went to participate in the Immortal Fortune Conference, they passed through the secret market at Watcher River Town and discovered that there was a lot of potential there. Later on, the second young master requested permission from the lady to open a trade route to there, and also to make a friendship with the Ayia there… The second young master has done a lot for our sake.”

“But he was mostly just using his mouth, right?” Gu Changan smiled. “The world has never been fair. Those who haven’t done much of anything or have done very little stand above and enjoy everything while those who put in all the work end up with none of the fame or fortune.”

Wei Tianzhi snorted, “It was all for the sake of the clan, so there’s no need to try and haggle over who did what. Moreover, if we really had to do that, in the future, this Wei will inherit the Wei Clan, while my little brother has potential on the Immortal Path and will have to keep working on that in the future. He is bound to become the protector of the Wei Clan, and he certainly won’t try and struggle with me over the family property. Now that I think about it, I would be the one owing him. Since that is the case, is there any problem with allowing him to have a little fame and fortune?”

Hearing this, Gu Changan quickly smiled and said, “Ah, this one is ignorant and rarely considers things this far.”

Wei Tianzhi coldly replied, “Perhaps it’s not a matter of thinking too little, but of thinking too much.”

Gu Changan froze, and in the end, it was Zhu Kaishan who smiled and said, “Changan has a forthright personality and says what’s on his mind. If he offended you, it was purely unintentional. But Elder Young Master is wise and virtuous, displaying such affection for your brother. With such descendants, the Wei Clan has a prosperous future before it!”

It was hard to strike a smiling man, and with Zhu Kaishan’s praising words, Wei Tianzhi could only shoot a glance at Gu Changan before falling silent.

Before setting off, he had been reminded by Zheng Shufeng multiple times to be wary of the Gu Clan’s people, and it now appeared that his mother was right. These guys harbored ill intentions and were trying to pull apart him and Wei Tianchong. But while Gu Changan could try to sow discord, this wasn’t the place to try it. Wei Tianzhi and Wei Tianchong had shared fraternal affection and had never quarreled over wealth and power. Gu Changan’s attempt was more like the instinct of a petty person rather than some calculated plan.

The convoy slowly rolled forward in the middle of the dark and quiet forest.

Nobody knew that the convoy was being watched by three people from a bunch of shrubs in the distance.

It was Tang Jie, Wei Tianchong, and Shi Meng. On Tang Jie’s shoulder was Yiyi, and Wei Tianchong was holding the little fox.

Upon learning that the Gu Clan had already borrowed the Wei Clan’s trade route, Tang Jie headed straight for Canglong Prefecture. Shi Jingzhai had already achieved his goal of getting Tang Jie to leave. As for what sort of thunderous rage he would display after discovering the corpses, Tang Jie didn’t even think about it.

Upon arriving at Canglong Prefecture, Tang Jie found Wei Tianchong and took him and Shi Meng to this place. On the way, they conversed and exchanged information on what had been happening. When Wei Tianchong learned that the Stone Gate Sect had embezzled resources with a total value of more than one hundred million, he was blown away, and Tang Jie himself was startled by the scale of the Wei Estate’s investigation into the materials market.

But the past was the past, and there was no preventing it. As for the matter before them, they needed to resolve it as quickly as possible.

They rushed to Lotus Pass, where they finally caught up to the convoy. Any farther and they would have been in Duskland.

Looking at the convoy, Shi Meng asked, “What do we do now?”

Wei Tianchong snorted. “You need to ask? No matter what, these goods can’t enter Duskland while still in the hands of our Wei Clan, as that would be aiding the enemy. Even if we didn’t know beforehand, we would still be guilty of not checking the goods. This damn Gu Clan—I’ll flay off their skin!”

Just as he was about to rush out, Tang Jie held out a hand and stopped him. “Wait.”

Wei Tianchong was startled. “Why?”

Tang Jie replied, “The Stone Gate Sect is still in the middle of preparing to ship the goods. This should only be a preliminary test. If we come out now, the enemy will get an early warning.”

“So what do we do?” Wei Tianchong asked.

Tang Jie chuckled. “We can’t act openly, but we can still act covertly.”

He took out a black head cover and placed it over his face, upon which Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng understood.

“Robbery?” Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng shivered. Even the normally lazy little fox raised her head.

Yiyi was the only one who excitedly clapped her hands and shouted, “Great! Great!” Her face was the picture of someone whose only fear was that the world was not in chaos.

Wei Tianchong looked at Tang Jie in disbelief. “You’re asking me to rob my own caravan?”

Tang Jie firmly nodded. “Do you have a better idea?”

Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng racked their brains, but they really couldn’t think of anything better.

Tang Jie handed over the prepared head coverings, saying, “Remember: you can’t say a word. Don’t let Elder Young Master hear your voices. Secondly, don’t use any weapons or spell arts in case they find out what’s going on. Thirdly, don’t kill anyone, and if you run into a troublesome foe, retreat and lure them farther before fighting. In short, concealment is the number one priority. Yiyi, Luo Yue, the two of you should stay out of this.”

The little fox nodded while Yiyi sat down on the ground in a huff.

Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng put on the head coverings so that only their eyes and mouth were showing. They also changed their clothes.

Tang Jie looked them over and saw that there was nothing that might expose them, but he still couldn’t rest easily. Turning to Wei Tianchong, he whispered, “Your body isn’t very easy to hide.”

He took out a strip of cloth and bound it around Wei Tianchong’s belly before saying in satisfaction, “That’ll do.”

Wei Tianchong’s face twitched while Shi Meng and Luo Yue tried their best to not laugh. As for Yiyi, she heartlessly laughed.

With their preparations done, the three of them exchanged looks and shot toward the convoy. They didn’t reveal themselves, concealing themselves with spiritual energy before approaching. This wasn’t some particularly advanced spell, but it was enough to deal with Spirit Disciples like Wei Tianzhi and Wu Xing. But as they drew close, one of the twenty-some escorts suddenly looked up and shouted, “Someone is approaching!”

Upon hearing this, Wei Tianzhi and Zhu Kaishan immediately turned to look.

Tang Jie immediately knew that things had gone awry. Zhu Kaishan’s eyes glinted with a savage light as he shouted, “Who’s sneaking around out there? Get out right now!”

He chopped with his palm.

This palm chop unleashed a blast of wind that disturbed the air currents. While it couldn’t harm Tang Jie’s group, it did force them to appear.

Three masked and black-clothed people appeared. Before everyone else could understand what was going on, Wei Tianzhi, Wu Xing, and Gu Changan attacked in unison, various spell arts flying out. The twenty-some escorts attacked after them, throwing out caltrops, flying knives, and poisonous darts. Although these things were of little threat to Tang Jie’s group, they served to conceal the spell arts from Wei Tianzhi’s group. It was often the case where there was no time to pick out the spell arts from the weapons, so one had to sweep aside all of the attacks rather than allowing any of them to get close, wasting spiritual energy.

Tang Jie simply grunted and threw out a palm. Spiritual power rippled out, blocking all these attacks. At the same time, he said in a raspy voice, “Leave behind your money and goods and we can spare your lives. Otherwise, all of you will be slain without mercy!”

According to the usual script, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng should have repeated “Slain without mercy!” to make the threat more intimidating, but they had been ordered by Tang Jie to not speak, so they simply nodded to acknowledge Tang Jie’s words.

Without the additional intimidating factor, the scene became rather comical.

Not exactly the best acting performance. Good thing it’s not their day job.