Book 4: Chapter 58: The Four Clans

Creak!

Gu Hai pushed open the doors, coming out of closed-door cultivation with the purple Life Executioner Saber on his back.

“Brother-in-Law, you finally came out!” Long Wanyu immediately rushed over.

Meng Tai, Tang Chu, Bing Ji, and the other officials came over as well.

“Welcome back, Your Majesty!” the officials greeted.

Gu Hai nodded. Suddenly, he raised his eyebrows, having noticed a gray-clad man nearby. This person looked ordinary yet eye-catching, as Gu Hai did not know who this person was.

“I am a centurion of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s Divine Night Guards. Greetings, Elite Hall Master!” the gray-clad cultivator said.

“The Divine Night Guards?” Gu Hai echoed, feeling puzzled.

“His Holy Eminence has a decree for Hall Master Gu!” That gray-robed man handed over a decree.

“I already said that you could just give it to me. How troublesome!” Long Wanyu rolled her eyes.

“Princess, please forgive me. This is His Holy Eminence’s decree. I dare not disobey. Now that I have handed the decree to Mister Gu, I shall not impose any further,” the gray-robed man said respectfully.

Gu Hai received the decree, still feeling puzzled.

The gray-clad man bowed slightly. Then, he took a step and flew out of the palace.

The Divine Night Guards? This was Gu Hai’s first time hearing of this group.

Gu Hai opened the decree only after the gray-clad man left.

He read carefully, raising his eyebrows as he did so.

“Brother-in-Law, what did the old fogey say?” Long Wanyu asked out of curiosity.

Rip!

Gu Hai ripped the decree in half and handed one half to Long Wanyu.

Everyone felt confused. However, everyone here was Gu Hai’s man, so they did not say anything about it.

Long Wanyu immediately grabbed the proffered half and started reading carefully. As she read, her eyes lit up.

“Hahahaha! That old fogey finally came to his senses. He is letting me go to Major Metropolitan City to have fun? That’s great! Brother-in-Law, when are we setting off?” Long Wanyu said, incredibly excited.

Gu Hai remained silent for a while. After some thought, he eventually nodded.

“Let’s wait for a while. It said that Li Shenji would be coming soon. We will depart then. We just got back, so rest for a while first. Go see if Venerable Liu Nian has come out of closed-door cultivation yet,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

“We arrived in Chaoge City long ago. It is just that you remained in closed-door cultivation. I have already checked. Old baldy Liu Nian is not out of closed-door cultivation yet.” Long Wanyu immediately shook her head.

“Alright. However, we still have to wait a few days. I just returned and need to deal with some administrative work.”

“Alright.” Long Wanyu nodded.

After placating Long Wanyu, Gu Hai dismissed the officials and returned to his study to deal with the accumulated administrative work.

Some of the more important officials accompanied Gu Hai. They immediately answered any questions he had.

Gu Hai spent two days going through everything, quickly making official replies. After that, he sent out some of the officials that accompanied him, only leaving Bing Ji, Meng Tai, and Tang Chi.

“Bing Ji has done pretty well in dealing with some of these urgent matters,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

“Many thanks, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, this official has also trained a Frost Crow Corps during this time,” Bing Ji said seriously.

“Oh?” Gu Hai said.

“Since this official is the Third Corps commander, how can I be a corps commander without a corps? Your Majesty, this is the proposal for establishing a corps. Please grant your permission.” Bing Ji proffered a document.

“There’s no need. As a Han Nation corps commander, you have the right to establish a private army of one million. Come seek my approval when it exceeds that,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

“Yes!” Bing Ji nodded, her expression remaining cold like an icy mountain.

“Bing Ji, you previously told us that you have an understanding of all the major factions in the world. What about the Yuan Imperial Dynasty?” Gu Hai asked seriously.

“This official does have a cursory understanding of the Yuan Imperial Dynasty. Imperial Emperor Xi Yu established the Yuan Imperial Dynasty. There are four major clans there,” Bing Ji replied.

“Oh?” 

“They are the Chang Clan, the Mo Clan, the Qin Clan, and the Xi Clan,” Bing Ji explained.

“Four major clans?” Gu Hai’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Yes, the Chang Clan’s clan head is Chang Sheng. Your Majesty had seen the vampire clan before. There is also that Chang Ming, another member of the Chang Clan. As for the Mo Clan, the disciples and the former subordinates of the Mo Clan are scattered across the Yuan Nation. However, the Mo Clan members are sparse. It seems to have a single line of inheritance. The previous clan head’s lifespan ran out fifty years ago, and he died. Everyone expected the Mo Clan to decline and fall. Unexpectedly, a Mo Yike appeared in the second generation of the Mo Clan. Your Majesty knows that person as well,” Bing Ji said.

“Chang Sheng? Chang Ming? Mo Yike?” Gu Hai frowned slightly.

“Your Majesty has also met a second-generation disciple of the Qin Clan, Qin Zibai. He is the most outstanding representative of the Qin Clan’s second generation,” Bing Ji explained.

“What about the Xi Clan? Is that not the Yuan Nation’s royal clan?” Gu Hai asked.

“No, it is not. Like Huangfu Chaoge, Imperial Emperor Xi Yu is a bachelor, so he does not have any descendants or a royal harem. However, the Xi Clan’s clan head—Archduke Xi Kang—is a paternal cousin of Imperial Emperor Xi Yu. Archduke Xi Kang is also the principal of Five Sacred Mountains Academy. He holds an extremely respected position in the Yuan Imperial Dynasty as well as great authority.”

“Archduke Xi Kang? Five Sacred Mountains Academy?” Gu Hai frowned slightly.

Gu Hai took out the decree from the Qian Heavenly Emperor with a flip of his hand. Although he had handed half of it to Long Wanyu, he had retained the other half.

“Five Sacred Mountains Academy is not a sect that stands among the peak. However, as Archduke Xi Kang is a calligraphy Dao expert, he supports this academy. Archduke Xi Kang’s talent in poems and song lyrics is excellent. He once wandered the world and even challenged the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s imperial academy. However, he left after a defeat. After that, the chancellor of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s imperial academy also wandered the world and visited Five Sacred Mountains Academy. However, there was no more news of him after he started his journey back,” Bing Ji recalled.

“The chancellor of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s imperial academy, Gongyang Sheng?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.

“That’s right. It is Gongyang Sheng. Unfortunately, he vanished.” Bing Ji nodded.

However, Gu Hai took a deep breath as he looked at the half of the decree that he held.

There was a line on that half that said, “The chancellor of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty’s imperial academy, Gongyang Sheng, is trapped in Five Sacred Mountains Academy. Rescue Gongyang Sheng, and it will be considered a major contribution to the Qian Heavenly Dynasty. All the Divine Night Guards stationed in Major Metropolitan City are to assist Gu Hai and Li Shenji.”

This was the content of the half that Gu Hai retained.

Overtly, we are going to Major Metropolitan City to establish a friendship after the two nations stopped warring with each other. Covertly, it is to save Gongyang Sheng?

Gu Hai looked at the decree for a while. Then, he put this half of the decree away with a flip of his hand.

“Five Sacred Mountains Academy, how far is it from Major Metropolitan City?” Gu Hai looked at Bing Ji.

“Five Sacred Mountains Academy is right outside Major Metropolitan City; they are quite close to each other,” Bing Ji said.

Gu Hai nodded. “Bing Ji, since you are familiar with Major Metropolitan City, you shall come with us.”

“Yes!” Bing Ji answered.

Then, Gu Hai turned his head and looked at Tang Chu and Meng Tai.

“Tang Chu, Meng Tai,” Gu Hai called out seriously.

“This official is present!” the two answered.

“You both know what happened in Dragon Vein City, right?” Gu Hai said.

“Yes! While Your Majesty remained in closed-door cultivation, the officials who followed you spoke about it. Your Majesty is awe-inspiring!” the two said respectfully.

“Ha! At that time, we saved more than one hundred thousand people, all of them experts from various cities. Most of them feel grateful to us. They likely will help when we ask for it,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

“They will remember the life-saving grace.” Meng Tai smiled.

“We do not seek for them to repay this favor, nor do we expect them to do much. Tang Chu, make use of this connection to spread This Street’s Best Zither Pavilion to those places. Meng Tai, use these connections to extend your information network quickly,” Gu Hai said seriously as he looked at the two.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. This official will not let down your expectations,” Meng Tai said with a solemn expression.

“This official obeys!” Tang Chu answered.

This was a life-saving grace. If they could not handle even such a minor matter over this kind of favor, they might as well resign.

Gu Hai nodded.

——

Outside the study:

Long Wanyu lay on a hammock in the yard, looking at the tree above as she ate candied fruits. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

“This is strange! This is strange! This is very strange!” The demonic phantom’s depressed voice came from Long Wanyu’s body.

“What’s wrong?” Long Wanyu asked lazily.

“That purple saber on Gu Hai’s back. Why…why does it feel so familiar?” the demonic phantom said, at a loss. 

“You’ve seen it before?” Long Wanyu asked.

“No. I have not seen it before. However, its material seems similar to the Heaven Punished Stone for some reason, right?”

“So what if it is similar?” Long Wanyu retorted insensitively.

“That’s not right. That’s not right. If it really is the Heaven Punished Stone, this Gu Hai is too uncanny,” the demonic phantom said, feeling depressed.

“Huh?”

“Gu Hai managed to turn certain-death situations into fortune twice already. Not long after I mentioned the Heaven Punished Stone to you, he managed to obtain it. Obtaining it is one thing. To think that he could even forge it? Is this Gu Hai not uncanny? Is he some kind of demon or monster?” the demonic phantom said, feeling conflicted.

“Ptooey! Demonic phantom, I’ll ignore you if you keep saying bad things about my brother-in-law. I’ll make sure you have no one to talk to. Let’s see how unbearable that will be!” Long Wanyu glared.

“Huh? Alright, alright. I won’t say anything more. It’s just that this Gu Hai is really uncanny!”

“You are still saying it?” Long Wanyu glared.

The demonic phantom: “…”

——

Ten more days passed:

Gu Hai made arrangements for everything.

Li Shenji’s flying ship also reached the Han Nation’s capital.

“Mister Gu, it has been a long time!” Li Shenji smiled at Gu Hai.

Gu Hai had brought Long Wanyu and the others out to welcome Li Shenji.

Seeing Li Shenji’s cordial smile, Gu Hai smiled back coldly and said, “Battalion Commander Li, it has been a long time. Many thanks for the matter in Dragon Vein City!”

“Huh?” Li Shenji raised his eyebrows.

How did Gu Hai know about it? Did the Qian Heavenly Emperor mention it? That’s impossible. The Qian Heavenly Emperor could not possibly have told him.

Gu Hai had been thinking about how strange that day was, especially what the foundation rock golems said.

Xi Yan and Qin Zibai’s trapping Fairy Waner was something hidden and secret. Yet, the foundation rock golems managed to find that place quickly? That was too coincidental, illogical. After all, the foundation rock golems were not that smart, according to Gu Hai’s analysis.

Gu Hai felt that someone had been behind this.

Gu Hai had a few suspects; Li Shenji was just one of the possibilities. After testing Li Shenji out, Gu Hai confirmed that the mastermind was indeed him.

Gu Hai’s smile recovered after he took a deep breath. Li Shenji’s expression also recovered. However, Gu Hai now became even more guarded against Li Shenji. 

Li Shenji also immediately raised his guard against Gu Hai.

It does not matter whether Gu Hai was testing me out or not, but he is quite capable to have suspected me.

“Mister Gu is very wise. If I have any doubts while escorting Princess Wanyu, I hope that Mister Gu will generously give me pointers,” Li Shenji said with a faint smile.

“I don’t dare to call it giving pointers. This humble one is only a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, incomparable to Battalion Commander Li. If I run into any assassinations on this trip, I hope Battalion Commander Li will lend a hand.” Gu Hai smiled.

Long Wanyu did not notice this verbal clash.

“Well, he arrived. Let’s go, then!” Long Wanyu said excitedly.

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