The wooden chest was opened, and the first thing that entered his eyes were five waterproof leather packages.
"Wait..."
Sun Mo was a cautious person. He was worried that there might be some sort of mechanism and wanted to check it before opening it. However, Xuanyuan Po and Ying Baiwu were both faster than the other.
Ying Baiwu took the packages, while Xuanyuan Po directly took the longsword that was stuck to the wall of the chest.
"Give it to me!"
Li Ziqi stretched out her hand toward Ying Baiwu. Although she hadn't opened it yet, she could already guess what was inside.
It was wrapped in leather, moisture-proof and insect-proof. It was definitely an account book.
As expected, after Ying Baiwu opened it, there was a stack of account books. Judging from the color of the paper and the words, it had been here for quite a long time.
Li Ziqi took it and casually flipped it open.
On the pages, the contents were densely packed. When did they abduct a girl, where did they sell her, and how much money was sold for.
The little sunny egg flipped through it and felt her scalp turning numb.
The content was too shocking, because every time a sum of money went in or out, it meant that the girl's future was ruined.
"Scum!"
Li Ziqi was enraged. Letting that Daoist White Bird die so quickly was letting him off lightly. He should have been executed by a thousand cuts.
Sun Mo's heart softened and he couldn't stand this the most. He put it down after reading a few pages.
"Ziqi, I'll leave this to you. Find out the mastermind."
"Alright!"
Li Ziqi flipped through the pages rapidly, reading ten lines with a single glance, picking out the important information. All of a sudden, her hand stopped.
A somewhat familiar name appeared on the page.
Li Ziqi didn't know her, but she had heard that she was a young miss from a wealthy clan with some fame. Three years ago, when she went out for a walk in the spring, she disappeared.
Some people said that she fell into the water and died, while others said that she eloped with a wild man. In any case, after that incident, that wealthy clan's reputation took a nosedive.
Moreover, because he lost his beloved daughter, the clan's business declined day by day. In the end, after selling his assets, the entire clan left Jinling, this sad place.
One couldn't help but say that Li Ziqi's memory was very good. Moreover, her logical deduction ability was also terrifyingly strong.
Very soon, Li Ziqi discovered that this wasn't a simple case of human trafficking. There was also a type of illegal business competition involved.
The ultimate goal of abducting someone else's beloved daughter was to deal a blow to the family head.
Although Li Ziqi hadn't gone to understand it before, she could guess that when this young miss went missing, her family's business must have been at a critical juncture.
"Damn scum!"
Li Ziqi cursed again and then coldly laughed.
"What happened?"
Sun Mo frowned.
"The mastermind is indeed the Zhou family!"
Li Ziqi gritted her teeth.
"Let me see!"
Sun Mo took the account book. "Can we convict him?"
"Even if he wants to quibble, he won't have an excuse!"
Li Ziqi's lips twitched. That Daoist White Bird was either too uncultured and didn't know how to use a secret language that only he knew to keep accounts, or he was worried that the Zhou Clan would get rid of him after he had outlived his usefulness one day. Therefore, the method he used to keep accounts was very clear. He was just short of writing Zhou Yuanzhi's name a hundred times.
This sin could not be washed away.
Li Ziqi then opened up the other leather packages. Other than the account books, there were also a few personal letters. Although there weren't many, after the little sunny egg saw the words and contents, she knew that Zhou Yuanzhi was dead for sure this time around. No, he was dead through and through.
"Do you think there are others?"
Sun Mo frowned. He thought of Li Can.
"You are talking about Prince Li?"
Li Ziqi also thought of the same question.
"Zhou Yuanzhi is just a wealthy merchant. No matter how great his capabilities are, can they be greater than the provincial governor of Jinling?"
Sun Mo knew that the Middle-Earth Nine Provinces were the same as China. They were all officials, and authority was greater than money.
"Let alone the provincial governor, even if he met the prefectural magistrate of Jinling, he would have to kneel to welcome him."
Li Ziqi knew that there were major characters in the imperial court behind these wealthy merchants. There was no solution to this. Without a backer, they would have long since been targeted and sucked dry of their blood.
"What are the two of you talking about? Quickly come and admire the spoils of war! "
Ying Baiwu took out two small porcelain bottles that were filled with alchemy pills. "What are these?"
Li Ziqi glanced at them. "Blood Ginseng Pill. It's used to stop bleeding and replenish blood. From the looks of it, it should be at the heaven-tier."
The grades of alchemy pills were the same as cultivation arts. They were divided into saint, heaven-tier, and earth-tier. Each grade was further divided into inferior-tier, medial-tier, superior-tier, and peerless-tier.
As the cork of the small porcelain bottles was pulled out, a dense medicinal smell permeated the air.
It was truly not low. Daoist White Bird's shady business often caused him to risk his life. Hence, he had prepared enough healing medicine and they were all medial-tier heaven-tier ones.
A portion of these alchemy pills were bought by him, while the other portion was sponsored by Zhou Yuanzhi. In total, they were worth over 100,000 taels.
Every time he went out, Daoist White Bird would bring enough medicine. It was just that this time around, he didn't expect Sun Mo to suddenly kill his way into his territory. Hence, all of them benefited Sun Mo.
Clank!
Xuanyuan Po tossed the longsword away.
"What are you doing?"
Ying Baiwu was unhappy. She had long since wanted to admire this longsword, but since Xuanyuan Po was holding it, she felt too embarrassed to ask for it. Who knew that he would casually toss it away?
"Nothing much?"
Xuanyuan Po liked to fight and naturally had a special liking for weapons. However, after admiring them, he would toss them away. (No matter how good they are, they wouldn't be as good as my Silver Paste.)
"Che, it's actually a famous sword, White Bird. Could that human trafficker's dao name be based on this sword?"
Li Ziqi was surprised.
"This is a famous sword?"
Ying Baiwu's eyes brightened and she immediately picked up the longsword.
"Mn, judging from the design, it should be!"
Li Ziqi had a wide memory and knew many things.
This longsword was one and a half fingers wide and five feet long. There was a diagram of a flying bird on the body of the sword. It looked delicate and beautiful, like a budding young lady.
The sword's hilt was also in the shape of a hundred birds spreading their wings. Under the illumination of the oil lamp, the tassels and pearls at the end of the sword hilt were extremely colorful.
"What grade is it?"
Xuanyuan Po was curious.
"A superior-grade spirit weapon."
Li Ziqi recalled the information on this sword. "It might not be as sturdy as other weapons, but it has a special characteristic. After the user channeled spirit qi into the blade, they would be able to shoot out a sword qi in the shape of a white bird, killing people from a thousand miles away."
"Wow, a thousand miles away?"
Lu Zhiruo exclaimed in shock.
Everyone turned their heads and saw the papaya girl coming down. Earlier, she had been busy taking care of those girls who had been rescued.
Speaking of kindheartedness, Lu Zhiruo was definitely number one.
"It's just an analogy!"
Li Ziqi explained.
"Why is there an analogy again? Speaking of which, who is this Fang Fang exactly? "
Lu Zhiruo scratched her head, feeling that Fang Fang was very pitiful. However, this fellow was definitely a bad person because she had heard many people saying that they wanted to beat him up.
Ying Baiwu couldn't wait any longer. She circulated her spirit qi and channeled it into the blade before slashing out.
Swish!
A white bird the size of a coconut whistled out like a swift, piercing through the sky and hitting the wall over 30 meters away.
Cha!
A sword mark that was half a finger deep was left on the wall.
"Good sword!"
Ying Baiwu cheered. She instantly fell in love with this sword. Her dream was to be like the Gongsun Sword Niang in the history of Tang Country, famous throughout the world and living off sword dances. This way, her descendants wouldn't have to worry about being down-and-out and living off doing manual labor.
After stroking the white bird a few times, Ying Baiwu suddenly lifted her head and looked at Sun Mo. She wanted it, but she was too embarrassed to say it.
Even if she wasn't sensible, she knew that a superior-grade spirit qi weapon like this was insanely expensive.
The grades of weapons were divided into spirit weapons and saint weapons. Each grade was further divided into inferior-grade, medial-grade, superior-grade, and peerless-grade.
An ordinary person wouldn't even be able to obtain a spirit weapon in their lifetime.
"What else is there?"
Lu Zhiruo crawled beside the chest and curiously rummaged through it.
Li Ziqi took out a small box and there was a walnut-sized voice-recording stone inside.
"Just these?"
Xuanyuan Po was very disappointed.
"Let's play it out!"
Sun Mo indicated for Li Ziqi to activate the voice-recording stone.
Ying Baiwu sighed and sheathed the white bird back into the scabbard, placing it back into the chest. She was really gauging the heart of a gentleman with her own mean measure. She was even worried that her senior martial sisters would want it too.
But looking at them, they didn't seem to care at all.
Li Ziqi channeled her spirit qi into the voice-recording stone and a strange laughter immediately rang out.
Jejeje!
"Ah!"
Lu Zhiruo immediately screamed and rushed to Sun Mo's side, hugging him. Although Li Ziqi didn't do so, her hand that was holding the voice-recording stone was trembling.
"Who is this person?"
Xuanyuan Po frowned. Just as the laughter rang out, he felt an immense sense of terror. It was as if a large hand of the grim reaper was clutching his neck, causing him to almost suffocate and tremble.
"Trash like you want to kill me, the Evil King? Just keep dreaming. Ji Zongyuan, just wait. I will definitely wipe out your entire clan! "
"Huh?"
Li Ziqi blinked her eyes. The information revealed by this sentence was truly explosive.
"Your Nine Greats, the royal clans of various countries, and the hundred aristocratic clans have come to hunt me down. Isn't it because of my treasures? Haha, I won't let you guys do as you wish. I want to use them to nurture my successor, topple the Saint Gate, cripple the Nine Greats, and destroy the various countries. Just wait, my successor will definitely kill his way back!
"My treasures are buried on the other side of the clouds. If you pass my test, you will be able to obtain my peerless-grade saint-tier cultivation art and endless wealth!"
It was just three short sentences, but each of them was filled with boundless tyranny. Look at the people Sun Mo had offended. Any one of them could cause him to die without a burial ground.
"Treasures?"
Ying Baiwu's eyes brightened. She touched the famed sword White Bird in passing.
"Don't believe it. If you believe it, you will die."
Jiang Leng, who had been silent all this while, suddenly spoke.
"The flaw of the clouds?"
Xuanyuan Po had a look of shock on his face. This was the Darkness Continent, right?
"That's for sure. Only in a place without an owner like the Darkness Continent would someone like the Evil King be able to roam unhindered. If he was in the Nine Provinces, which ruler would allow him to plunder so brazenly?"
There was no need for Li Ziqi to explain the Evil King's origins to everyone. This was a terrifying evil character that could stop children from crying at night.
Since young, as long as a child was disobedient, their mother would say that if they continued to be disobedient, the Evil King would come to capture them and eat them.
The Evil King was born in the Darkness Continent and grew up there. His talent was outstanding and he had already made a name for himself in the Darkness Continent at a young age.
In the beginning, the Evil King relied on leading people to make a living. Other than wealth, he wanted secret manuals, cultivation arts, alchemy pills, secret treasures, powerful spirit weapons, and divine weapons.
The Evil King dared to go to places that others didn't dare to go. One could say that he was a living map of the Darkness Continent.
During one of his leading, the Evil King met a girl and fell in love with her. However, that girl was the fiancée of the Saint Gate's sect leader's son.
This time, the Evil King could be considered to have poked a hornet's nest.
After that, a series of events happened. In the end, that girl committed suicide for the Evil King. The crazy Evil King didn't lie low. Instead, he snuck into the Saint Gate and massacred more than half of the Saint Gate's sect leader's family.
From then on, the Evil King started to recruit troops and build a powerful bandit group that specialized in dealing with people who had entered the Darkness Continent.
This was especially so for great teachers and students. Because they were under the Saint Gate's control, the Evil King would force them to swear an oath to leave the Saint Gate or he would kill them without mercy.
The Saint Gate had sent people to eliminate the Evil King before, but this fellow was too powerful. Regardless of whether it was his individual martial prowess or his commanding ability, they were both rarely seen in the world. He had killed many geniuses from the Saint Gate.
In such battles, the Evil King's fame grew greater and greater, and the wealth he amassed also increased.
The Evil King's existence could be said to be a humiliation to the Saint Gate's sect leader. Hence, after one of his sons was killed, his anger burned.
The sect leader paid a huge price and gathered the elites of the Nine Greats, the various countries' royal families, and the hundred clans to set up an inescapable net to hunt down the Evil King.
During that great battle, it was said that too many people died and too much blood was shed. The sky of the Darkness Continent was dyed blood red.
After that, the Saint Gate's sect leader announced that the Evil King had died. However, half a year later, the Saint Gate's sect leader was heavily injured while hunting the Evil King and died as well.
During the sect leader's funeral, the Evil King suddenly appeared and created a huge ruckus. After flipping the coffin, he announced the contents of the voice-recording stone.
It was said that there was a total of 99 voice-recording stones that recorded the Evil King's treasure trove.
"Is this treasure trove real or fake?"
Ying Baiwu looked at Li Ziqi. Among everyone, this girl had the highest status and would naturally have access to some secrets.
"The Evil King's treasure trove is real, but I have no idea if the voice-recording stone is real or fake!"
Li Ziqi passed the voice-recording stone to Sun Mo.
In the pugilistic world, who wouldn't have a few enemies? Hence, some people with evil intentions started to make use of the Evil King's treasure trove to create all sorts of traps to kill their enemies and achieve some ulterior motives.
For a time, all sorts of Evil King's voice-recording stones were spread everywhere.
If Ying Baiwu went to the underground black market now, she might be able to meet two or three people who were peddling the Evil King's voice-recording stones.
"Who wants it?"
Sun Mo looked at it and lost interest. Looking for the treasure trove? He might as well focus on teaching students and work hard to gain favorable impression points. There was nothing in the system merchant store?
Earning 100,000 favorable impression points would allow him to buy a peerless saint-tier cultivation technique. Wasn't it safer than risking his life to snatch it from the Heretic King's treasure trove?
Just when Jiang Leng was hesitating if he should raise his hand or not, Lu Zhiruo and Ying Baiwu both raised their hands.
Sun Mo casually tossed it to the papaya girl.
"I feel that it's real."
Lu Zhiruo caught the voice-recording stone and touched it. Earlier, when the voice rang out, it gave off a terrifying feeling. It was the aura of an expert.
Ying Baiwu's lips twitched.
"If you want White Bird, just take it. But you better forget about the treasure trove. The right path is to focus on your cultivation."
Sun Mo lectured. He had long since noticed Ying Baiwu's actions. This girl was good in all aspects, but because she was afraid of being poor, she was a little money-grubber.
Ying Baiwu immediately hugged White Bird in her arms. As she stroked it, she guaranteed, "Teacher, I'll definitely work hard and won't embarrass you."
Ding!
Favorable impression points from Ying Baiwu + 100. Friendly (700/1,000).
(Mn, when I have time, I'll look for Zhiruo to research this voice-recording stone together. If it's real, wouldn't I have profited greatly?)
That was the Evil King's treasure trove!
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