Chapter 504: Chapter 420: Return

It was the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The moonlight flowed like water.

In previous years, Chen Shouyue would almost always be at her home in Lingxi at this time, celebrating with her parents and siblings.

The Chen Family celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival quite grandly. They performed moon worship, offered vegetarian sacrifices, and presented food offerings—not a single ritual was skipped.

Chen Shouyue had once curiously asked her father why they placed so much importance on this festival. He had simply replied, "A full moon for a full reunion—it has its own deep meaning."

For her, the happiest part of the Mid-Autumn Festival was the whole family gathering in the courtyard, admiring the bright moon and sharing the various mooncakes her mother had made by hand.

But as she grew older and her thoughts grew more complex, that simple, pure happiness seemed to fade with the years. It had become bland, and even felt... a bit forced.

But this year was different.

It was her first time celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Liyang Commandery City.

Liyang was the central hub of the commandery. With a population of several hundred thousand, the commandery city’s prosperity was far beyond what a quiet little village like Lingxi could compare to.

For the Mid-Autumn Festival, the city was already decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, bustling with extraordinary liveliness.

There were grand music and lantern festivals, with actors singing and chanting on stages. The long streets were lined with lanterns as bright as day. Jianghu heroes set up arenas for martial arts contests, while scholars and poets gathered to recite poetry and compose couplets.

Women took part in "moon-walking" and "autumn-touching" rituals to pray for good luck, while children, holding all sorts of small lanterns, laughed and chased each other...

After nightfall, fireworks and firecrackers occasionally burst in the night sky, their brilliant light illuminating the whole of Liyang City like a city that never sleeps.

Of course, no matter how lively it was, celebrating the festival alone was bound to feel a little lonely.

Fortunately, Sun Shouyi had rushed over from Qingshui County to Liyang two days prior.

Chen Li had previously given strict orders forbidding anyone from speaking about Chen Shouyue’s kidnapping and ransom.

But with so many people in the mansion, gossip was inevitable. And since the incident was over, some loose-lipped servants eventually grew careless and secretly spread the news.

After Sun Shouyi heard the news, he hastily delegated his tasks and rushed back without stopping.

Coinciding with the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was the first time for both of them to celebrate in this prosperous commandery city, and they naturally found it incredibly novel.

They slipped out of the mansion and plunged into the shoulder-to-shoulder, clamorous marketplace.

They admired lanterns, guessed riddles, listened to folk songs, and tasted all sorts of street food... Having the time of their lives, they vanished into the vast sea of people in a flash.

Liu Zongying was under Chen Li’s orders to guard Chen Shouyue and ensure her safety.

But he also understood that his main duty was to prevent accidents. As for what Shouyue wanted to do or where she wanted to play, he couldn’t interfere too much as long as there was no danger.

Besides, public order within Liyang Commandery City was decent. Under normal circumstances, there was little cause for concern.

So, he simply locked onto the pair’s auras with his Divine Sense from a distance, just in case.

When Chen Li returned to the Liyang Mansion, the decorative lanterns were just being lit and the bright moon was high in the sky.

He asked a maidservant and learned that his daughter was out having fun with Sun Shouyi and probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

Chen Li didn’t mind. ’Let them be,’ he thought.

He summoned the maidservant Bi He and instructed her to take Li Sanli, Feng Qingxuan, Peng Anmin, and the four Hall Masters of the Tuo Long Bang to a mansion in the south of the city to be temporarily settled.

At the same time, he allocated forty servants from the mansion to attend to their needs.

Even Chen Li couldn’t predict how long the earth-shattering storm over the opium at Jiangkou Pier would last, or how far its repercussions would spread.

But he was very clear on one point: they absolutely could not stay long in Linjiang County, especially in the two counties of Jiangkou and Thunder Shock.

Anyone who often killed knew that returning to the scene of the crime to linger was a surefire way to get killed.

The true principle of self-preservation was to stay far away from the storm’s center and avoid being caught in any possible aftershocks.

It was equally dangerous for the members of the Tuo Long Bang to remain in Thunder Shock Marsh.

’Li Sanli knows my identity. During the Celestial Sword Sect’s operation to annihilate the Netherworld Ship, although I killed almost all the witnesses, no one can guarantee that one or two didn’t slip through the cracks. If they investigate along the Netherworld Ship lead, Li Sanli and his men will sooner or later come into someone’s sights. The only solution is to have them disappear for a while.’

’As for the Netherworld Ship’s black market...’

’Li Sanli still holds the contact channels for some of the surviving black market merchants. With the help of Gossip, that old local boss from Hidden Emperor Castle, it wouldn’t be entirely impossible to rebuild a black market on the ruins. The huge daily profits are indeed tempting.’

But after weighing the pros and cons, Chen Li chose to give up on it.

’The Celestial Sword Sect’s purge was too ruthless. They slaughtered almost all the core merchants and regular customers of the black market. Rebuilding it is not something that can be done in a short time. Compared to the risk of exposure, the remaining benefits are no longer worth it.’

Therefore, he simply brought Li Sanli and the four Tuo Long Bang Hall Masters back to Liyang to hide.

The rest of the gang members were to disperse on the spot, going underground as dormant agents, not to gather unless summoned.

As for the Little World at the Kao Mountain Wall...

When Chen Li had returned to Heitan County in Nanjiang County to retrieve the Opium Paste, he had taken a detour to sneak into the County Magistrate’s Office and interrogate the County Magistrate using A Dream of Millet Porridge.

He learned that Governor Xu Yuanzhi and the Duke of England were lingering in Nanjiang County, clearly obsessed with this Little World.

’With those two personally overseeing things, that place has already become the center of a vortex.’

Chen Li instantly extinguished any thought of getting involved again.

’Let them fight it out themselves. The farther I stay away, the better.’

Li Sanli, Feng Qingxuan, Peng Anmin, Bai San, Gossip, plus the four Hall Masters of the Tuo Long Bang, and also Mu Wanqiu...

’This is a motley crew with diverse backgrounds. Placing them all in the main residence is clearly inappropriate.’

Chen Li had Bi He take nine people away, leaving only the still-unconscious Mu Wanqiu behind. He instructed a maidservant to prepare a secluded side room and place her inside.

The woman’s Primordial Spirit was on the verge of collapsing and she was in grave danger, but only by keeping her under his nose could Chen Li be at ease.

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