“This is a lot of work.”
On the morrow, Li Mo stretched and put away the memory metal.
He got three more strands of impurities out, all in a night’s work. By the look of things, he’d be at it for six months before he’d ever finish.
Li Mo was in no hurry, however. Even if he had it purified on hand at this instant, he still couldn’t add it to his magic weapon. The best moment to use it was in the completion phase.
Li Mo put away the jar as well. He wanted to continue, but he was just too weary.
He then walked out of his room.
Zheng Hualong stood right in his face. Li Mo noticed a snort coming from him.
‘What gives?’
“You’ve overdraft your longevity by using the chief’s magic weapon. You may have won but at the price of years off your lifespan.”
Zheng Hualong snickered then walked out.
Talk about a gross misunderstanding. He took Li Mo’s pale and weary walk as the backlash for using chief’s magic.
“If a rock could use up my life, wouldn’t Staff of Origin have killed me a thousand times over by now?” Li Mo shook his head.
At noon, Wang Yexing held a banquet, with all inspection team members present.
He knew Zheng Huahu took up some medicine to bounce back, and a night of rest. He couldn’t strain himself, but walking was fine.
Zheng Huahu glared at Li Mo, still unwilling to call it quits.
“Come you two, sit!”
Wang Yexing jumped between them and took them to their seats, making sure they were as away far as possible.
Wang Yexing took the main chair, with Zheng Hualong on his right and Li Mo on his left. As for Li Mo’s left, it belonged to Lin Qingrou.
She never took off her disguise, still covering her face nice and tight.
Zheng Huahu squinted at her then snickered, “Silver Heroine, I’m just wondering. How do you eat in that get-up?”
Lin Qingrou leaned back, clearly stating she didn’t.
Zheng Huahu laughed. Teasing Lin Qingrou lifted his spirits somewhat.
Wang Yexing offered a toast and went right down to business.
His pretext was crudely simple. The ancient site was real, no doubt about it, while stating that the Dragon Herb and Farmer God Cauldron were fake.
“If you are skeptical, tomorrow, I shall take you all to the ancient site to see for yourselves.”
Zheng Hualong said, “This isn’t about believing, it’s about proof. Leader Wang, we shall now conduct an investigation regarding the truth of this matter. Please give us your full cooperation.”
“Why yes, of course.”
Zheng Hualong added, “Then let us go to the ancient site, today! Let’s not waste a single day. What say you, leader Wang?”
Wang Yexing smiled, “Then that’s what we’ll do. Let me get ready and we’ll be going in an hour. Is that alright, captain Zheng?”
“Fine.” Zheng Hualong nodded.
Wang Yexing got his men working on getting the cars ready, while he never left the room, chatting away with the rest.
The hour was soon up and the teams left Wang Estate. At the gates, Wang Yue and Wang Ying were still kneeling before the three-wheeler.
A crowd formed around them, pointing and laughing.
Zheng Hualong frowned, “Leader Wang, it was a minor misunderstanding yesterday. Did you have to go so far?”
“This is not up to me, but captain Li.”
Li Mo smiled, “Let them kneel then.”
Wang Yue and Wang Ying shuddered.
Li Mo was remorseless to any that came after him. Was he supposed to feel sorry for them? Would they appreciate it? When pigs flew, maybe. So why then should he care?
Li Mo and the Zheng brothers sat in Wang Yexing’s car. The rest got in their cars as well. But just as they rode off, Wang Yue sent them off with a roar of anger.
Once out of the city, they kicked it in high gear and, two hours later, Zheng Hualong asked, “Leader Wang, is the site far?”
“Very. It is located on a mountain nearby our ancestral home.”
Li Mo’s heart jumped.
Others had no clue where that was, but not Li Mo. The Wang ancestral home was precisely the residence of Wang Yexing’s ugly son, Wang Huan, in Huanglong Mountain.
“My ancestral home is at the foot of Huanglong Mountain. The ancient site is on that mountain. It was quite well hidden from both common folk and experts alike. Only by sheer coincidence did we find it. This revolves around a tale long spoken by my great-great-grandfather.”
Wang Yexing’s tale was simple. His great-great-grandfather was out looking for herbs one time and he stumbled onto the ancient site. He then used the countless herbs there to get rich, laying down roots for his clan, and making it into what it was today, one of the glorious three great Chuan Province clans.
From then on, the way into the ancient site was a closely guarded secret of the Wangs. It had been their foundation for centuries.
“Team leaders, we had no choice but to search the ancient site since all the herbs were collected, despite not wishing to go any deeper. We were at a turning point.”
Zheng Hualong asked, “What of the ba serpent then?”
Wang Yexing spoke, “Although the Dragon Herb and Farmer God Cauldron we got from within are fake, the ba serpent is very much real.”
Wang Yexing was downcast, “For ten years I tried everything, only to drive it into the deepest parts where poisonous plants are everywhere. Killing it is impossible.”
“What’s that about poisonous plants?”
“It is the core of the ancient site. It is a place filled with unknown poisonous waters, where countless deadly plants grow. Just sniffing the fumes is enough to give a fourth level expert to a violent death. We couldn’t even approach it.
“Antidotes and gas masks are useless. The fumes are so toxic it even eats through the mask. The mask would turn to nothing in seconds.”
“What plant could make such deadly poison?” Zheng Huahu wondered.
“Even with my clan’s knowledge of plants, we could only recognize three of them. Yet from afar, we could see as many as two dozen types.
“But do not fret. The fumes are only around the pond’s vicinity. We’ll be safe as long as we keep our distance!”
Zheng Huahu and Zheng Hualong kept Wang Yexing busy by making him answer questions. Li Mo? He closed his eyes and dozed off.
Li Mo’s display was a clear and irrefutable proof of having used his life energy to power the magic weapon.
Wang Yexing pointed at the jutting mountain in the distance.
“That’s Huanglong Mountain. We’re almost there.”
