Chapter 137 – Open a net and the fishes come running
(Friday’s regular Chapter. I’ve been thinking of changing spiritual divine Xuan to Spirit Xuan since it suits the context better, and I haven’t really found spiritual and divine together in reference inside the raws.)
“There haven’t been any wars in the recent years, so the income of the Jun household has reduced greatly. The Fief only generates a revenue of two million a year; there’s no other source of revenue.” Jun Wu Yi’s face reflected mixed emotions as he said the words since he knew that Jun Mo Xie wouldn’t like hearing them, but stated the truth since he didn’t have another option.
“That seems a little too less, right?” Jun Mo Xie stated bluntly: “Only a mere two millions…. I’m afraid that such a low sum of money isn’t enough to support a family as big as our Jun Family.” Two millions a year in revenue might seem very high to normal people, and most would even call it an astronomical sum of money, but in the contrast of a family as big as the Jun Family, this sum was too less. Even though the Jun Family didn’t have too many descendants, but there were still at least thousands of people who worked for the family! Providing clothing, food and salaries to just the household worker itself would reach a very alarming expense.
“Kindly hand over the financial matters to me, and I’ll make some changes around the house for the sake of improvements as well.” Jun Mo Xie started pacing about. His mind was secretly contemplating means to sell his wine to support the Jun Family’s expenditures: That shouldn’t be a problem…. I really don’t have a choice now. I’ll sell it at a reduced price first, but later, when they need the cure, I’ll only sell it at a very high price. They won’t have an option; they’ll either have to buy it or die.
The young master Jun thought for a while and said: “As for the remaining twenty four children, Third uncle, you must initiate their preliminary recoveries, but watch carefully as to which of them can be of use later in the future when we need them. Although this wasn’t the intended reason for rescuing them, but we can’t feed them in vain; so if they have the ability to repay us and they still don’t, then what’s the point of keeping them in the first place?”
“People also have their own value! If a person doesn’t have any value, then they are only as good as a breathing corpse and must be abandoned!”
Jun Wu Yi nodded his head heavily, as a familiar feeling washed over his being.
“Unorthodox gambits could also help us out.” Jun Wu Yi helplessly shook his head. He knew that even though his nephew had an utterly unorthodox thought process, which was morally differential from the rest of the family, the young man was still extremely practical. Though, Jun Wu Yi still wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or bad…..
The hitman on the other hand was secretly lamenting; uncle is a very noble man, but he isn’t yet qualified enough to be the leader of a family as big as the Jun Family! Even though being the head of the house isn’t a cold hearted job in its entirety, but sometimes tough decision are required to be made! Personal compassion and mercy cannot be the basis of every action…. The code of conduct must be based on the overall interests of the Family!
However, these thoughts hadn’t crossed Jun Wu Yi’s consciousness yet since he was still stuck in the state of being a war general!
Jun Mo Xie left towards his chambers, but Jun Wu Yi was unable to find any sleep. So, he stationed himself in his wheelchair again, and strolled over to the coffee table, and intentionally poured himself a large cup of wine to keep him company in the cold of the night. Slowly, his mind went back a decade into the past…
Jun Wu Yi was already upset at the thought of those children’s fate, and then Jun Mo Xie’s words made things even worse for him. It took him a long time to calm down, but the wine still ended up amplifying the feeling of sadness, making him even unhappier, leaving him feeling very dejected once again.
“My beloved Yao, if you were by my side, then what would you have asked me to do…..? Help me make a choice….. you know…. I miss you… I miss you very much….” Jun Wu Yi’s words were muffled in whispers as he raised his glass once again and drank more wine to drown his sorrows. The cool distant moonlight continued to shower a faint and brilliant light over his body…..
He continued to listen to the insects as he stayed awake till late, but even their sounds sounded like sobbing to him….
Jun Mo Xie returned to his courtyard, where two black clothed people had been waiting for him for a while now.
“Young Master, this carrier pigeon flew out of the Ni Chang pavilion.” One of the black clothed man bent over in courtesy and then handed over a pigeon to Jun Mo Xie.
“It’s not hurt, is it?” Jun Mo Xie looked at the pigeon and asked.
“Since the Master had already instructed very clearly, then how could I have hurt him; if you set this pigeon free now, then it will still be able to fly high and far, and will even reach its intended destination without much delay.” The Black clothed man smiled as he stated confidently.
Jun Mo Xie nodded as he gently lifted the bamboo tube off the pigeon’s leg, and retrieved a crumpled ball of paper from inside it.
“Slay the entire Jun Family in one month’s time! Jun Mo Xie mustn’t live!” the illegible handwriting of this single sentence was enough to indicate that the writer must have been in a very excited frame of mind. The note carried a tiny ‘Yue’ signature at the end.
“Ha Ha, this woman is so silly, why would she do such a thing? Did I even retaliate after she slapped me in the face? Does she really think that getting me killed is a good punishment for calling her a ‘slut’? She’s got no tolerance at all!” Jun Mo Xie smiled as shook his head disdainfully.
The faces of the two other men twitched. That woman would try to kill the young master of the Jun Family over such an incident? She’s no fool… she a Xuan Qi expert in her own right….
“If this pigeon is sent out, then will you be able to track it?” Jun Mo Xie raised the hand which held the pigeon.
“I cannot trace it.” the black clothed man’s face seemed a bit embarrassed. “These pigeons have a tendency of flying high and for long distances. Except for capturing or killing them at the time of their ascent, my strength renders me helpless.”
“Oh, that’s also alright.” Jun Mo Xie carefully restored the paper to its original position inside the bamboo tube, while carefully determining that the paper and tube were bundled together in the exact same manner as they had been by Yue’er. “Well, set it out again.”
The black clothed men took the pigeon and left. Jun Mo Xie smiled as the cool midnight breeze gently brushed past his cheeks, “Open a net and the fishes come running in, ha ha …..?”
That night however, was bound to be another unusual night for the Tian Xiang imperial city.
Gold, silver, and yellow lights were constantly flashing throughout the city like fireworks in the night sky, but in the silence of darkness.
Countless pairs of eyes were alertly watching the imperial city, while their ears were busy listening to any and all signs of trouble.
Whenever two such opposing parties came together, a blood bath would inevitably follow. But these teams continued to carry on leaving blood and dead bodies in their path as the continued on their mission.
Li Family, Meng Family, Song Family and Mu Rong Family had been on the move ever since the Xuan Core had been stolen from the Tang Family. Over the course of this sudden change in environment, the Tang Family’s reaction had been the most unexpected and the most tolerant one. Instead of sending out their troops to enquire, the Tang Family had receded backwards, and had put strict restrictions on the activities of their personnel.
In the dark of the night, eight shadows seemingly flew over the high walls of the city, and entered into it, and slowly concealed their way through the darkness towards the Li residence….
The silence of the northern part of the city was being crushed by the rolling of wheels.
A team of people were speeding at full pace as the marched through the city. This group was travelling in luxurious bogeys, which were being pulled by large and powerful horses, which were far taller than average horses. Moreover, these horses had two weird horns on their foreheads, while the four legs were covered with scales. It was obvious that these weren’t ordinary horses, and were a special kind of Xuan Beasts.
Each and every carriage of this team was being pulled by four of these mysterious Xuan Beasts, and they were travelling at such a fast pace that even a war horse on a battle field at full gallop wouldn’t be able to match up to the pace of their carriages.
~ The First Carriage ~
“….. Grandpa Liu, this mysterious Xuan Core rumor may not even be true, but we’ve still travelled thousands of miles in such a hurry…. Don’t you think that we’re overdoing it a bit? Besides, this city isn’t our territory….. given the power we are investing in this matter, don’t you think that the nine elders will question us?” The voice and manner of speech of the speaker indicated that the man was quite young, and clearly full of impatience.
“Feng Wu, since this matter relates to a Xuan Core from a peak level Nine Xuan Beast, we had to be careful; your experience is still shallow, so you may not be aware of the situation. The nine elders had previously sent out a communication asking a peak Spirit Xuan expert to investigate the matter; that by itself is enough to validate the authenticity of the matter. My only fear is that even all of us together may not be able to outdo a peak Spirit Xuan expert…. After, a peak Spirit Xuan expert is no ordinary thing…..” a hoarse voice replied.
“Would anyone in the world go against the Blizzard silver city? Not to mention that three elders are also accompanying the grandfather in this venture. Even a peak Spirit Xuan will not be able oust the preparations that we’ve made to acquire the treasure.” The young man’s voice seemed too full of arrogance, and it seemed that being born into such a high family greatly affected his judgement.
“Boy, do not blame me for calling you a frog whose stuck at the bottom of a well! Even if the strength of the Blizzard Silver City is sufficient to look disdainfully at the rest of the world, we still can’t be careless.” The old man sighed, but even his voice reflected a faint hint of pride as he said: “We might be the overlords of this world, but no one can overlook that a man once challenged the might of the Blizzard Silver City ten years ago….”
“The little Princess had come to this place to understand and experience the meaning of life, and had been allowed to travel unaccompanied by the Blizzard Silver City; if it hadn’t been for that careless decision, then an ordinary man would never have been able to challenge us.” The old man sighed again as his eyes narrowed.