It was the middle of autumn now, so even the northern regions of Cloud Realm Continent weren't cold yet. But to the north of Cloud Realm Continent, the Mysterious Continent was already snowing by the Ice Sea. Although the Mysterious Continent had four seasons, its winters were especially long. In some ways, winter had long begun here.
Ning Cheng was a winter lover. Besides his addiction to alcohol, he had another secret hobby: he liked to sleep in the sun on winter afternoons. If he couldn't be found anywhere in winter, he'd definitely be found in the sunniest places. Unfortunately, no one knew where he was now. Every winter, he would be in a good mood. He followed Le Zheng to the Mysterious Continent and stayed there for one winter before deciding never to go back.
Le Zheng was the first to catch wind of Jin Zi's invasion of Wintercrow Country and the first to flee. Many of the slave masters who followed him had no choice but to sneak into Northern Li to avoid being caught red-handed. Only Le Zheng escaped to the Mysterious Continent without hesitation. Ning Cheng didn't contact Jin Zi to capture Le Zheng. Instead, he helped the man escape Jin Zi's eyes and reach the shores of the Ice Sea.
This was Jin Zi's first real battle, but his biggest regret was that he couldn't catch Le Zheng. What would he think if he knew it was Ning Cheng's doing?
Naturally, Ning Cheng hadn't helped Le Zheng for nothing!
He wanted to use him to cross the Ice Sea and investigate Jin Zi's origins while getting a feel for Le Zheng's background. He had long confirmed that Jin Zi was sold from the Mysterious Continent to the Wintercrow Nation. After ten rounds of reselling, his true identity was concealed. Only then did he become a slave of the Wintercrow Nation and was sold to the Three-Way Black Market. But he still couldn't figure out how Jin Zi had been sold from the Mysterious Continent to Wintercrow Country, or where he came from.
What he didn't expect was to find out the origins of the beast taming arts and the existence of the Black Forest as soon as he set foot on the Mysterious Continent. Although he hadn't gone there himself, he was certain that the ancestors of the Black Clan had to have come from there. Jin Zi's ability to control tigers had to have come from the Black Forest's former rulers, the Ling Clan!
No wonder Jin Zi had been sold to Cloud Realm Continent instead of Mysterious Sky Continent. Cloud Realm Continent and the Mysterious Continent had always been two separate worlds, making it difficult for news to travel between them. Everyone in the Mysterious Continent knew about this, but it was a huge secret in Cloud Realm Continent.
Ning Cheng did not know that Goldie had already met the people in the Black Forest. He was anxious to tell Goldie everything. Unfortunately, he'd just arrived at the Mysterious Void Continent and was unfamiliar with the place, so he was truly unable to find a way to send the news to the other side of the ice sea.
There was a rumor on the Mysterious Continent that the divine bird, the Phoenix, had once appeared on the Ice Sea. Only the Phoenix could fly across the Ice Sea. Of course, it was impossible to use eagles and pigeons to deliver letters, and if one was not capable enough, they would not be able to leave either.
The Ice Sea was a very unique existence. Although it was located between Cloud Realm Continent and the Mysterious Continent, its temperature was much lower than the north and south shores. Within the Ice Sea region, there had never been any rain or snow. It was always sunny. The vast expanse of ice that stretched as far as the eye could see was like a large, glossy mirror that could clearly reflect all the colors in the sky. This ice surface was not only more slippery than the average ice surface, but the most terrifying thing was that its temperature was much lower than half of the ice surface. Ordinary horses and carriages were useless here, but even ordinary sled dogs wouldn't be able to travel on it.
To cross the Ice Sea, one had to use a type of dog called the Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiff to pull the sled. Otherwise, one would be stuck between a rock and a hard place and die on the ice. The Ice Sea had existed for thousands of years, so it was inevitable that some ignorant people would wander in and freeze to death on the ice. Their corpses were preserved in the cold for eternity.
The Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiff was a strange beast that lived on the shores of the Ice Sea. It had an eccentric temperament and was amenable to force, but not persuasion. If you treated it well, it would look down on you and bite you. But if you were tough enough to subdue it, it would obediently pull the sled for you and take you across the Ice Sea in the shortest time possible.
The only way to subdue a Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiff was through a duel. Of course, some powerful martial artists didn't even need to fight. They just needed to stand on the shore and the Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiff would obediently submit and lick their feet. This was the case for people like Han Chen. As for martial artists like Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi, no one knew what the situation was like. They had always wanted to come to the Ice Sea to take a look, but they never had the time. As for Gu, he had to fight with a few Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiffs every time he came to the shore. Gu had been traveling between Cloud Realm and Mysterious Realm for many years, so many Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiffs were familiar with him. He often stood on the shore and looked back, only to see dogs behind him.
As for Ning Cheng, he didn't have the chance to fight with the Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiffs when he came to the Ice Sea with Le Zheng. Although Le Zheng didn't know how to fight, the Golden-Eyed Snow Mastiffs were afraid of him and submitted to him.
Le Zheng brought a group of more than ten people to the northern shore of the Ice Sea, the Mysterious Realm Continent, in half a month.
Ning Cheng was very puzzled at first, but when he learned about the Black Forest, he guessed that Le Zheng had most likely come from there. It was also very likely that Le Zheng had personally taken Jin Zi out of the Black Forest!
Ning Cheng thought that Le Zheng would return to the Black Forest, but not only did Le Zheng not return, but he also led the Liubei Chamber of Commerce to do all kinds of business on the Mysterious Realm Continent.
Ning Cheng was even more valued by Le Zheng because he had helped him escape from Wintercrow. After arriving at the Mysterious Realm Continent, he had also helped Le Zheng earn a lot of money. Now, Ning Cheng's position in the Liubei Chamber of Commerce was not only on par with Le Zheng's adopted daughter, Le Le, but also had the potential to surpass her.
Ning Cheng didn't forget to secretly inquire about the Black Forest as he tried to please Le Zheng. Unfortunately, not everyone could enter the Black Forest, and not everyone knew about it. Even though he had been on the Mysterious Realm Continent for a few years, he still couldn't find out much inside information.
The sun was warm in the afternoon.
It was deep in the night, and snow swirled in the air.
Ning Cheng was boiling wine by himself in his room. No one knew how he did it, but the fragrance of the wine filled the room. Someone with a poor tolerance for alcohol might really get drunk if they stayed too long in the room.
He was still used to the black robes he always wore when he was at Cloud Realm Trade Consortium. There were no superfluous decorations, only simple and neat.
In private, he always took off his eye patch. Unless one looked closely, one wouldn't be able to tell that his eyeballs were damaged, much less that he was blind in one eye.
He sat by the stove and scooped up a spoonful of warm wine. He sniffed at it lightly before his lips curved into an evil smile. This wine was like prey in his hands, tasting as he pleased.
Nobody would believe that he wasn't lonely on a snowy winter night in a foreign country, but some would believe that he was enjoying himself.
Ning Cheng's greatest regret when it came to wine was that he could never drink to his heart's content.
Drinking wine required a good mood, but getting drunk was even more important. This was especially true for someone with a high tolerance for alcohol.
Just as the fragrance of the wine was beginning to build up, Ning Cheng suddenly paused in the middle of scooping it up. He stood up and leaned against the window, peeking through a crack, only to see a figure vanish from the window above.
Someone's broken in?
The courtyard he was staying in was a large courtyard house. He lived in the left wing, Lele in the right, and Le Zheng in the upper room. Le Zheng didn't know martial arts, but he'd raised a group of experts to protect him on the Mysterious Continent. This courtyard was heavily guarded, so anyone who could sneak in in the middle of the night had to be highly skilled in martial arts. There was no way the guards outside wouldn't have noticed the intruder, but he himself.
Ning Cheng seemed to think of something, because he immediately went out the door to chase after the intruder and sneak into Le Zheng's room. He saw the black-robed man approaching the sleeping Le Zheng with a blade in hand.
Just as he was about to speak, a dagger suddenly reached out from behind him. The tip of the dagger was pressed against his back.
So the real expert was behind him!
Before the person behind him could speak, Ning Cheng spoke first, "Lele, if you take another step forward, I guarantee you won't be able to walk out of this room."
The black-robed man in front immediately turned around, only to discover that Ning Cheng had sneaked in. She pulled off her mask, and it really was Lele!
Although she was surprised, she remained calm. Her lips curled into a sinister smile, and she whispered to the person behind Ning Cheng, "Jin, do you think your blade is faster, or his mouth is faster?"
The person behind her didn't answer, so Lele continued, "But even if his mouth is faster, he'll definitely die."
From Lele's point of view, the only thing Ning Cheng could do was to call for the guards.
Unexpectedly, Ning Cheng said, "Your godfather is dead, and I'm dead. You'll never know where the treasure is hidden. There's only ten taels of silver in the Boundless Mountains. "
Not long ago, Le Zheng had hidden all his wealth from the slave trade in a secret place and told Ning Cheng and Lele about it. He promised that if the two of them got married and inherited the Liubei Chamber of Commerce, he would give them the wealth.
From then on, Lele wanted to kill Le Zheng. She was originally a slave that Le Zheng had bought and kept by his side, taking her as his goddaughter. She often said that she would never marry and that she loved her godfather the most, but in reality, what she loved most was Le Zheng's wealth.
When Ning Cheng said this, Lele couldn't remain calm. "Don't try to trick me! If I don't know where the treasure is hidden, it's even more impossible for you to know! "
Ning Cheng laughed contemptuously. He was obviously under someone's control, but he still acted high and mighty, not showing the slightest bit of embarrassment. He whispered, "There's a key in the third drawer of the cabinet on the left."
Lele was shocked. She had already checked everything in Le Zheng's room. She didn't know that there was a secret room in the third drawer!
"There's also a key under your godfather's pillow." Ning Cheng said again.
Lele was clearly not calm. Ning Cheng continued, "I also have one on me."
Lele followed Ning Cheng's words. Her gaze kept shifting from the cabinet to the bed, and then back to Ning Cheng.
"The one in the cabinet was prepared for you. You need to use all three keys to open the lock of the treasure. "Ning Cheng said again.
Lele was a greedy person. After hesitating for a moment, she walked towards the cabinet and decisively opened it.
Who knew that as soon as the cabinet opened, an arrow would shoot out.
Lele was stunned.
The person behind Ning Cheng was also surprised. He immediately chased out and shouted, "Jin 'er, be careful!"
Almost at the same time, Lele's arm was pierced by the arrow. The girl called Jin rushed to her side and grabbed her hand. Le Zheng sat up from the bed in shock. The guards outside heard the commotion and rushed over. Ning Cheng didn't move from his spot. Ning Cheng's lips curled into a cold smile.
Jin made a prompt decision and pulled Lele to escape through the window. Soon, they were engaged in a fight with the guards outside.
Le Zheng looked at Ning Cheng in shock. "What … what's going on?"
Ning Cheng said, "Godfather, Lele betrayed us. She wants to assassinate you."
Le Zheng was so shocked that he couldn't speak. When he got down from the bed and chased after them, Jin had already fought her way out of the encirclement and escaped with Lele.
Ning Cheng followed them out and stood behind Le Zheng. He said calmly, "Godfather, this kind of traitor should be killed without mercy!"
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