In the midst of all the tension and unease, Chen Xiao remained relatively calm. He was certain that Xi Yunqing wasn't someone who fated to die young. The immense and radiant aura surrounding him was steady and vast, clearly capable of persisting for centuries. On this, Chen Xiao had absolute confidence. He believed Xi Yunqing must have been delayed by some unexpected incident; that was the only explanation for why he hadn't returned or even sent word.
In such a perilous environment, every second of hesitation could bring danger crashing down on them. Acting on Chen Xiao's suggestion, the group moved to a small inn that only housed visiting cultivators. It catered mostly to those who had just arrived in Hanshan City by boat from across the sea, or to itinerant cultivators temporarily short on funds. The rates were extremely cheap, unsurprisingly, so were the accommodations and service. But Chen Xiao wasn't looking for comfort. The colder the inn staff, the better.
They rented a four-person room, though it didn't have four separate beds, just one large sleeping platform. The room was bare of furniture, simple to the point of being crude. The four of them either sat or stood as Chen Xiao said, "Things are getting murkier by the minute. Until we get more information, I think it's best we lay low here."
Unknowingly, Chen Xiao had become the one calling the shots. The group followed his lead. Under normal circumstances, Wu Qing should've been the one making decisions, but his judgment was clouded by grief and rage. Deep down, everyone felt that if they let Wu Qing take the lead, they might end up dying even faster.
Chen Xiao turned to Du Rong and said, "Uncle Rong, could you find out more about the person in charge of the Zhishi Hall, what their background is, which faction they belong to? If you can uncover anything about recent changes within that faction, even better. And if possible, look into whether anything unusual happened here yesterday. That last part is secondary, though, don't force it if nothing turns up."
Du Rong nodded solemnly. "Yes, Master."
Wu Qing stood and added, "I'll go with Cultivator Du. It's too dangerous for him to go alone."
Chen Xiao's brow furrowed for a moment, then relaxed as he nodded. "Your safety is the top priority. I don't want to hear any more bad news about our own people."
Wu Qing responded in a low voice, "Don't worry. I'd lay down my life before I let anything happen to Cultivator Du." With that, the two of them left the room.
Chen Xiao watched them go, frowning slightly before closing the door. Tong Nuonuo, who hadn't spoken until now, said, "What's wrong? You're afraid Wu Qing will act recklessly?"
Chen Xiao sighed. "I can't help but worry. With Big Brother gone, we have to be extra cautious. If something goes wrong, we won't even have the means to protect ourselves." Wu Qing's earlier comment about capturing the Zhishi Hall manager and forcing out the mastermind still echoed in his mind, it was far too reckless.
Tong Nuonuo said, "You can't entirely blame him. Brother Wu Qing came here with his long-time training companions. Now only one of them is still alive, his grief and anger are understandable."
Only now did Chen Xiao learn of this. He sighed again. Then, as if remembering something, Tong Nuonuo reached into his mechanical box and pulled something out. "Well, maybe we're not entirely without means of protection. Look at this—"
Chen Xiao looked over. It was a dark purplish-red sphere about the size of a ping-pong ball, dull and without a trace of shine. "What is it?" he asked.
Tong Nuonuo's expression grew serious. "This is the most powerful hidden weapon I've made so far, thanks to your inspiration. I changed the main ingredient in the formula, replacing it with mineral core essence. I also upgraded the auxiliary components to greatly enhance its power. If it hits a target, the explosion can seriously injure a cultivator in the Golden Core stage."
Chen Xiao inhaled sharply. Injuring a Golden Core stage cultivator, this thing was practically a bomb, no different from the explosives of his past life.
Tong Nuonuo rummaged through his box again and laid out five purplish-red spheres. "I used up all my mineral core essence to make these five. Unfortunately, that's all I had on hand." It was clear that Nuonuo had worked through the night to forge them. If he'd had weapons like these before, perhaps his teammates wouldn't have looked down on him.
Chen Xiao felt a mix of emotions. He'd always known how precious those mineral core essences were to Tong Nuonuo, how much he'd dreamed of using them to advance his mechanical studies. And now, without hesitation, he'd turned them all into disposable bombs.
Chen Xiao said softly, "Nuonuo, don't worry. Once we're safe, I'll get you more, I promise."
Tong Nuonuo's usually serious round face finally broke into a smile. "Okay. I believe you." Lifting one of the spheres, he added, "I didn't bring these out earlier not because I don't trust those two, but because I was worried. If Brother Wu Qing knew we had such a powerful weapon, he might do something reckless and put everyone in danger."
Chen Xiao nodded. "You were right to be cautious."
Tong Nuonuo pressed one of the spheres into Chen Xiao's hand. "Take this, just in case. These only activate when they come into contact with true essence, so only cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage or higher can use them. But if you manage to toss it at an enemy just as they're attacking, their own energy will trigger the bomb and cause double the damage."
Chen Xiao accepted the sphere, his heart heavy. Tong Nuonuo didn't even know that he now had both innate talent and vitality, more than enough to activate the weapon himself. Tong only gave it to him hoping that, if things came to the worst, Chen Xiao could at least drag an enemy down with him instead of dying in vain.
The atmosphere had grown too heavy, and Chen Xiao couldn't help but crack a joke. "Does this purple ball of yours have a name? I think we should just call it a bomb. Kinda looks like one."
Tong Nuonuo replied, "It used to be called 'Blast Beans.' Mechanism masters used them during expeditions to drive off wild beasts. You'd toss a handful, and they'd go off with loud bang-bang noises that scared the animals away. But now, their function is totally different, 'bomb' works too."
In other words, it had originally just been the size of a bean, nothing more than a glorified firecracker that made noise without doing any damage. But after a few modifications from Tong Nuonuo, it had turned into a deadly explosive the size of a ping pong ball!
Chen Xiao stared at her in disbelief, a little awestruck. In some ways, Tong Nuonuo was terrifyingly talented.
Tong Nuonuo didn't notice the look on Chen Xiao's face. She lowered her head and stuffed the remaining four bombs back into the mechanism box. Without even looking up, she said, "There are five in total. I was thinking we could each have one. The rest, we'll hand out when the others get back." As she spoke, her hands kept rummaging through the box. Whatever she was looking for, it didn't seem easy to find. Her movements grew more frantic, and finally, she stood up, bent over, and reached her arm in deep.
"Where did I put it?" she muttered, then her eyes lit up. "Found it!"
She pulled out something that looked like a folded umbrella. It was a mix of metal and wood. The metal gleamed with a cold sheen, while the wooden parts were lacquered in a deep color, polished to a glossy finish. She gripped the umbrella handle tightly with her fingers, and with a faint whir, a mechanical sound reminiscent of a sci-fi weapon hummed to life. The umbrella's frame split apart along several thin seams, forming two interlocked circular layers. Every single degree around the 360-degree ring had a small spoke.
She mounted the device on her arm and aimed it forward. Then she turned to Chen Xiao and said, "This is for you. I'll teach you how to use it. Just aim like I'm doing now. See that raised bump near the handle? Hook it with your finger. Once you trigger it, metal-element spiritual energy needles will shoot out, covering the entire area in front of you with no blind spots."
She paused, then added, "Because of my limited ability, this weapon can only harm cultivators below the Foundation Establishment stage. It won't work against anyone stronger. But it should be enough to slow down a Foundation Establishment cultivator, giving you time to wait for reinforcements."
What she didn't say aloud was this, if no help came, then just toss a bomb and take the enemy down with you.
She shoved the weapon into Chen Xiao's hands. With a rare touch of sentimentality, she gazed off into the distance and said, "My research direction has always been to achieve the greatest damage with the smallest energy output from the user. This piece was an early prototype from when I first began thinking about that. Even a regular person with no cultivation can use it. I honestly thought it would just gather dust at the bottom of a box. Never imagined it would actually be useful one day. If I'd known, I would've made it way more powerful."
Chen Xiao stood there with a bomb in one hand and a weapon scarier than a machine gun in the other, completely dumbfounded. Based on his very limited knowledge of the cultivation world, he'd thought mechanism masters just made traps and wooden oxen and such. He never expected Tong Nuonuo's specialty was mechanical weaponry!
With just the two of them staying behind at the inn, there wasn't much to do. Tong Nuonuo ended up pulling Chen Xiao aside and giving him a hands-on lesson in using the weapon she claimed had "limited power."
By the time Du Rong and Wu Qing returned, Chen Xiao looked utterly drained and dazed, it had all just been too much.
He wiped his face and solemnly asked, "Du Rong, Immortal Master Wu, did you find anything?"
Du Rong had spent the whole day out. Wu Qing, still not fully recovered and needing to stay extra alert to avoid recognition, looked exhausted too.
Du Rong replied, "We found out that the one in charge of the Zhishi Hall is an important member of the City Lord's family. He's Han Yuanchun's younger brother, Han Yuanzhi, of Hanshan City."
"And here's something you probably didn't know," he added. "Right now, neither Han Yuanchun nor Han Yuanzhi are in the Gengsheng Minor Heaven Realm. They've both gone to another Middle Heaven Realm!"
Chen Xiao was stunned. "They're not in Gengsheng?"
Wu Qing nodded. "That's right. Word is that City Lord Han Yuanchun took his brother Han Yuanzhi and sister-in-law to another Middle Heaven Realm to seek medical help and find a way to have children."
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