The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 423 Getting More and More Crazy
The sun sets and night falls.

A crescent moon rises from the east and hangs obliquely on the treetops.

In Suzhou, bathed in silvery sunlight, firelight twinkled throughout the city.

In places where people often gather, such as brothels, restaurants, teahouses, and eateries, the place is bustling with noise and excitement.

The events that took place during the day on the lakeside outside the city have now spread throughout the entire city of Suzhou.

Apart from those who are too busy making a living to leave the city, most people, upon meeting, would gesticulate wildly, whisper among themselves, and chatter excitedly.

"Have you heard? The Jade Fairy possesses divine power; those who see her are compelled to worship her in unison."

"Have you heard? The Jade Fairy is radiant with light and auspicious colors! My God! Could she really be an incarnation of a celestial being on earth?"

"Impossible! How could an immortal's incarnation in the mortal realm be a jade statue?"

"Why is it impossible? Don't you see that the statues of gods and Buddhas in those temples and Taoist monasteries are all sculptures?"

"Hahaha, I've really seen something new today, it was definitely worth the trip!"

Having changed his clothes and put on a straw hat, Xu Xingchen sat in a corner of the restaurant lobby, drinking tea and eating while listening to the exaggerated discussions of the other people in the lobby.

He thought to himself, "The influence is gradually spreading. If I'm not mistaken, the Murong family and the people of Mantuo Manor should receive the news soon."

"Given the personalities of Lady Wang and Murong Fu's four powerful retainers, they certainly won't let this go unpunished; they will definitely come looking for trouble."

"What should I do then?"

Xu Xingchen picked up a piece of pork belly, put it in her mouth and chewed it gently. Her eyes were introspective, and her mind was filled with thoughts.

A moment later, he poured himself another cup of tea, sipping it while glancing lightly at the crowd in the hall discussing "Jade Fairy".

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, they paid the bill, strolled out of the restaurant, and leisurely made their way back to the inn where they were staying.

Not long after I returned to my room, there was a knock on the door.

"come in!"

As Xu Xingchen spoke, the door creaked open, and several scoundrels with bowing backs and fawning smiles walked in.

Good evening, hero!

"Great hero, you're awesome!"

"Hero, we're back!"

Xu Xingchen raised his arm to stop the chattering greetings and calmly asked, "How's the matter I asked you to handle going?"

One of them immediately said, "Great hero, we will certainly handle your orders perfectly; those carpenters and bricklayers, their eyes widen like frogs at the sight of silver, they'll agree to anything we say."

"With money, the owners of those rice shops started to look at us differently. The hero ordered so much grain that the shopkeepers were grinning from ear to ear."

Xu Xingchen nodded and said, "Tomorrow, you will go with the carpenters and bricklayers to buy materials, and then be on standby."

After giving them a few more instructions, he sent them away.

The next morning, Xu Xingchen ignored the rumors about Jade Fairy spread by the people in the city and left the city early, heading deep into the nearby mountains to find a place to build a mountain villa.

The place where the mountain villa was built.
It's not advisable to be near a main road, as it's too noisy.
It is also not advisable to go too deep into the mountains, as they are not only remote and difficult to travel through, but also teeming with wolves, tigers, and leopards.

It should be built in a place that is not far from the main road, yet not easily accessible; in the depths of the mountains, yet not too deep.

Xu Xingchen was incredibly fast; in half a day, he had searched an area spanning dozens of kilometers.

Around noon, they found a location on a large mountain about 20 miles from Suzhou.

The mountain is thousands of feet high
The upper half is a cliff, and the lower half is a gentle slope ridge.

To the left and right, ravines descend; on one side, a mountain spring gurgles down; on the other side, a small river flows gurglingly.

The hillside faces southeast, covered with dense, lush trees. Most of the path is relatively easy to walk, with only a few sections being steep and difficult to traverse.

This mountain is some distance from the main road, but it doesn't go deep into the mountains, so its geographical location is just right!

However, ordinary people would never build a mountain villa in such a remote place.

This place is too far from the city, and there are no villages nearby; if ordinary families build their manors here, they would have no way to call for help, resist, or escape if bandits broke in.
Xu Xingchen naturally had no intention of forcibly climbing over the wall to commit crimes.

The only thing he needs to consider is whether the location is suitable.

The reason he was interested in this mountain was because the cliff face on the hillside was actually a circular valley that was recessed inwards.

The three sides are sheer cliffs so steep that even monkeys couldn't cross them, and the opening on the southeast side faces directly down the hillside.

The valley is undulating and uneven, covered with low vegetation such as thorns, thickets, and bushes. Small animals run and leap about, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. It covers a considerable area, several hundred acres, more than enough to build a mountain villa.

Xu Xingchen leaped and bounded through the valley, arriving at a rock several meters high in the center. Looking around at the three sides of the cliff face, which seemed to pierce the sky with sharp swords, he smiled with satisfaction: "This is a good place."

Looking up at the sun, which was approaching noon, I turned and left the valley, stepping on the treetops on the hillside, and flew downhill like a big bird.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, we leaped and bounded swiftly across the mountain walls, streams, rocks, and grasslands, our figures as swift as the wind and as fast as lightning.

In the blink of an eye, it had gone far away, leaving only a gust of wind swirling and whirling through the trees, chasing after the blurry figure ahead.

When Xu Xingchen carried the jade statue to the grassy area by the lake outside Suzhou City, a large crowd had already gathered there.

They surrounded the small pyramid that Xu Xingchen had built yesterday, whispering and discussing amongst themselves while looking around for the figure of the Jade Fairy's "guards".

As if in retaliation, these people mentally downgraded Xu Xingchen's status to that of Jade Fairy's guard.
Who told that guy to only let them see the Jade Fairy for half an hour yesterday before carrying her away?!
Soon, someone shouted, "Look! What's that? It's so fast!"

Everyone turned to look, and saw a blurry figure seemingly merging into the wind, carrying something wrapped in a black cloth, flashing past overhead and instantly arriving at the top of the central pyramid.

"So fast!"

"This person's lightness skill is unparalleled in the world."

"Is this the Jade Fairy's guard? And the one wrapped in black cloth is the Jade Fairy?!"

"This man's martial arts skills are extraordinary; we must not offend him!"

"Quickly open the black cloth! I really want to see just how stunningly beautiful and radiant the Jade Fairy you all speak of truly is!"

Amidst the murmurs of the crowd below, Xu Xingchen placed the jade statue on her shoulder atop the pyramid.

First, a thunderous shout of "Silence!" silenced everyone, then the black cloth was torn off, allowing the jade statue to once again bask in the dazzling sunlight.

Auspicious rosy clouds, ethereal mist, unparalleled beauty, and the celestial essence of heaven and earth.
Everyone who saw the jade statue for the first time gasped in surprise, but quickly recovered and shut their mouths.

When Xu Xingchen returned to the stone at the bottom of the pyramid and sat down with her eyes closed, the gazes of the onlookers gradually became fascinated and mesmerized.

Then, some people began to kneel down and worship him.

The Jade Fairy represents the purest and most beautiful truth, goodness, and beauty in their hearts, captivating them and leaving them unable to control their emotions.

Those martial arts practitioners were mentally prepared and did not want to get too close, lest they look like fools standing out awkwardly among the kneeling crowd.

So they all retreated far away, standing at the back of the crowd, watching the spectacular yet bizarre scene before them.

Some newcomers to the martial arts world, confused by the situation, consulted their fellow practitioners and echoed their exclamations of astonishment from the previous day: "This jade statue is incredibly eerie."

Regardless of their thoughts, they dared not act rashly and offend the Jade Fairy's "guard" whose martial arts were unfathomable.

Some people with a strong sense of justice waited and saw what would happen, thinking to themselves, "If that guy is just faking it, even if we can't do anything about it, we'll still call in a real hero to punish the wicked, eliminate evil, and vanquish the demons."

Xu Xingchen was unaware of what those martial arts figures on the outside were thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

After the jade statue had been exposed to the sun for half an hour, it was wrapped in a black cloth again, then carried on his shoulder. He quickly leaped up and bounced over the heads of the crowd, disappearing into the distant mountains and forests.

After a long while, those kneeling on the ground finally came to their senses, sighed in frustration, and got up from the ground.

They discussed it amongst themselves as they walked back together.

Xu Xingchen hid the jade statue, changed into a new set of clothes, put on a bamboo hat, and quietly merged into the crowd on the main road, returning to the city with them.

On the way, a question lingered in his mind: "Why didn't anyone from the Murong family or Mantuo Manor come to cause trouble today? Could it be that they haven't received the news yet?"

"As one of the local strongmen in Suzhou, the Murong family and Madam Wang shouldn't be so slow to react, right?"

"Could it be that both families are simply not home? And none of the maids or servants in the estate have come out to buy anything?"

"Fine, let's exhibit for a few more days. I refuse to believe I can't lure you out."

That evening, the people in the restaurant talked about the Jade Fairy again at the dinner table.

They gestured wildly, spitting as they spoke.

Some people held a portrait of the Jade Fairy in their hands, gazing at it intently while continuously gulping down wine from their cups.

Even more intoxicated was a scholar who pounded on the table and rambled on, saying, "I dreamt of the Jade Fairy last night. I dreamt of strolling with her under the flowers and moon."

Various sounds, various actions, all aspects of life, too numerous to mention.

exactly at this time
Four middle-aged men entered the restaurant, one of them laughing loudly as he said, "We've come back too late today. Let's have a meal here first, then stay at the restaurant for the night, and return to Canhe Village early tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)