Scourge Messenger

Chapter 222 Preparation for the Crime
Why is she being held in a place like this?

Looking at the lava prison projected on the sand table, Shang Xinlei suddenly had a question: "If Master Suolong really values ​​Little Rabbit, why doesn't he imprison her in a place closer to himself?"

Although they couldn't reveal the secret that Bunny Girl was a descendant of the Calamity, since they were going to break into the prison together to rescue people, they naturally had to explain the whole story, including information about Master Lock Dragon.

The pharmacist was still quite nervous when she recounted the situation. After all, "saving someone while stealing" and "offending a Foundation Establishment cultivator" are two completely different concepts. It would be reasonable for the Red Serpent and White Fox to back down or even object because of this. She was prepared to spend a lot of money to bribe her two companions, and if all else failed, she would have the Yellow Dog pay a little as well.

However, Shang Xinlei and Ying Ru didn't care about this. Shang Xinlei was the daughter of the Prime Minister of Liang, and Ying Ru was a member of the royal family of Qi. They didn't eat rice from Zhou, so how could they be afraid of the ancestor of the Yaoshi family? They might even be a little excited. Stealing to save people and causing trouble for the enemy's foundation building, they both felt that they were doing chivalrous deeds this time.

“Indeed.” Ying Rushi was also somewhat puzzled: “If Master Suolong had a reason to imprison her, why would he keep her in this dungeon? Could it be that Master Suolong is in Chang’an City?”

Upon hearing this, Yan Qing recalled her encounter with the Hermit Yu Li at the Jiangnan Imperial Palace. She glanced at Shang Xinlei, but Shang Xinlei was staring intently at the hammer falling on the sand table projection, as if she suddenly found blacksmithing quite enjoyable. She didn't give Yan Qing a chance to look down on her—it seems she had also remembered this incident.

“Impossible,” the pharmacist said with certainty. “Master Suolong has already returned to Mount Li. Few Foundation Establishment cultivators are willing to stay in the main city of Chang’an… Even mortal messengers would feel restricted in such a place, let alone Foundation Establishment cultivators who control celestial phenomena.”

“Because it’s more troublesome to keep her by your side.” Yan Qing calmly analyzed: “Master Suolong needs Rabbit Girl to live. Keeping her by his side would only give others an opportunity to assassinate her. Imprisoning her in a place that is secluded enough but that ordinary people would never be able to reach is indeed the safest option.”

"The Lava Prison should be a hidden location of the dungeon secret realm. Only a Foundation Establishment messenger could possibly cross the lava river to discover this place. If this secret realm has always belonged to the Pharmacist family, then the only people who know about this prison are probably the Foundation Establishment members of the Pharmacist family."

The pharmacist immediately added, "Now, the only Foundation Establishment cultivator left in the pharmacist family is Master Suolong."

Ying Rushi's heart skipped a beat; the apothecary Changqiu was really dead.

She made this judgment upon receiving news of the execution of the Medicine Master Moke and submitted a memorial to the court. Generally, it takes at least six months to a year to confirm the death of a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator, but she never expected to have this unexpected surprise at the Thieves' House... although His Majesty probably won't care about such a trivial matter.

"A secluded prison known only to himself, with a molten lava river outside that can block all mortals, and the secret realm is located in the military headquarters of the main city, where even Foundation Establishment cultivators can hardly run wild. The prisoners are also in a deep sleep, completely unaware." Yan Qing glanced at Yao Shiyuan: "Master Suolong has indeed made very thoughtful arrangements."

The pharmacist remained silent. The Dragon-Locking Immortal's arrangements were so meticulous, it was as if she had packed the bunny girl up perfectly, which meant that she really believed that the pharmacist would come to take the little girl away one day.

But Yaoshiyuan was going to disappoint her. Rather than accepting the path arranged by the Foundation Establishment True Person, Yaoshiyuan preferred to trust Yan Qing's judgment and believe in this thief of unknown origin, bad character, cowardice and lust.

"So what exactly is this ore?"

Shang Xinlei zoomed in on the scene in the dungeon secret realm, pointed to the piece of ore that had been hammered day and night without showing any wear and tear, and asked, "This is a secret realm in the main city, and they actually used the entire secret realm to refine this piece of ore... Isn't that too extravagant?"

In a sense, secret realms are similar to real estate. Their value depends not only on the resources and difficulty but also on location. The best example is the Wolf's Den Secret Realm in Shudao Mountain. The resources are decent, but because it is too remote, almost no one visits it except for demonic messengers.

What makes a good location?
The closer to the main city, the better.

Because any military town can perish in war, only the main city can remain peaceful even when the world is in turmoil. Therefore, the secret realms closest to the main city are the first to be fully developed. For example, Xuanwu Lake Military Town, where Rat Monk is located, is only a few hours away from Jiangnan City, yet it has three secret realms. It has almost become a must-visit on Dianping (a popular Chinese review platform) for Liang Kingdom messengers. If you want to advance, Xuanwu Lake Military Town is definitely the right choice.

In Shang Xinlei's view, if this dungeon secret realm could be developed, it would definitely be a better messenger cradle than Xuanwu Lake Military Town, because it is located in Chang'an Military Prefecture, and there are too many people in Chang'an.

In her father's words, this secret realm could transform the surplus population of Chang'an into more useful messengers, and this reduction and increase was enough to affect the balance of national power!

“I haven’t been able to find out any specific information about this secret realm either,” said the Pharmacist. “The only thing I can be sure of right now is that this secret realm is directly under the jurisdiction of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and only a very small number of people know about it.”

Today, Yaoshi Yuan requested detailed information on the secret realms near Chang'an from the Six Ministries. The Ministry of Revenue then sent over details of secret realms nationwide, including those controlled by other families. While detailed strategies were lacking, the specific resources, demonic information, and other secrets were all included. However, even so, there was not a single piece of information about the dungeon secret realm. Given Yaoshi Yuan's current status, the court had no reason to conceal it; it was only possible that very few people within the court knew of its existence.

Only a master who has achieved a foundational level can weave a vast, unseen net in Chang'an.

“I observed during the day that after about five hours of hammering, a lot of fine debris would fall off the ore. At this time, the dungeon would stop working, and someone would use a specially made long pole to collect the debris,” Ying said. “For a Foundation Establishment messenger to go to so much trouble to obtain something, it means that this ore is also a rare treasure for Foundation Establishment cultivators, and it must be a secret realm ore of level four or above.”

“Unlike the Bingzi Pepper Forest and the Heaven-Slaying Sword, these weapons, although treasures with extremely high cultural value, are ultimately just works of art to be played with and appreciated. Stealing them would only be a disgrace, not something to be hated.” She said slowly, “But this ore is a treasure that even Foundation Establishment Messengers value highly… I don’t think Master Suolong can just laugh it off.”

This is also one of the reasons why Ying Ru didn't care about Black Wolf saving people. They were going to steal the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's treasures anyway, so what difference would it make if they stole another person? Maybe it could even distract the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

Yan Qing wasn't surprised. After all, where would you find so many national treasures to steal? Besides, stealing things that others don't care about is pointless. As a fellow wicked planner, he naturally wanted to incite conflict between players when designing the dungeon.

Right now, it's just stealing materials. But as the Thieves' Den develops into its mid-to-late game, the targets for theft will become increasingly outrageous, ensuring that thieves become infamous and universally hated. After all, when you discover that your cherished treasures have been stolen by thieves, and then reappear in a form more suited to thievery, no one can bear such humiliation.

"On the other hand, this reward is a weapon custom-made with materials that even Foundation Establishment Messengers value; it's definitely a third-tier legendary weapon!" Shang Xinlei rubbed his hands together excitedly: "It's my turn to get the reward this time!"

Ying Rushi was tempted. Although she already had the Heaven Sword, according to the principle that the more difficult the task, the better the reward, this reward would definitely be more outstanding than the Heaven Sword. It was also custom-made. Who wouldn't want it?
Legendary tokens are like lovers with flawless temperament, appearance, and personality; you can never have too many, and even if you never use them, they are worth treasuring forever. However, her points were completely used up in the last auction, making it difficult to compete for this reward. Red Serpent wasn't much better off, and Black Wolf and Yellow Dog were the most promising contenders, but... Ying Ru glanced at the Pharmacist Yuan beside her. In the past, Pharmacist Yuan would have slammed her fist on the table and declared the reward was already hers, but now she was as quiet as a lamb, carefully observing the sand table illusion.

It seemed that she could obtain a more important reward in this mission than the legendary third-tier item.

"Black Wolf," Ying Rushi suddenly asked in a low voice, "If Yellow Dog had rejected you just now... would you have hated him?"

The pharmacist gave her a strange look: "Even if he agrees, I'll still hate him, but what if he refuses..."

"I will hate myself even more."

……

...

With the insider, Pharmacist Yuan, who had personally investigated the situation, the action plan was formulated very smoothly. In less than an hour, three action plans were discussed, which included eighteen contingency plans to deal with unexpected situations.

Ying Rushi was the first to take her leave. "We'll meet again at midnight tomorrow to review the plan and check the sand table for any omissions or deficiencies. I'm heading back now, everyone should get some rest." She was quite perceptive, sensing that they still had things to discuss privately, so she didn't linger and get in their way.

After Ying Rushi left, Yan Qing and the other two remained seated. After a while, Yan Qing finally couldn't help but look at Shang Xinlei: "Aren't you going back to sleep? Staying up late will make your skin worse."

“I’m waiting for you guys to finish talking!” Shang Xinlei looked at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"It's none of your business!"

"Hey, what did you promise me before? How dare you talk to me like that!"

"Because it's really none of your business! I'm going to talk to Black Wolf about her, why would you listen?"

"I'm going back now." The pharmacist stood up, turned around, and walked towards her room.

"Wait!" Yan Qing glanced at Ying Rushi's door, beckoned, and said, "Come here for a moment."

"Why should I—" The pharmacist instinctively wanted to retort, but stopped halfway through his sentence and then obediently walked in front of Yan Qing.

Not only Shang Xinlei, but even Yan Qing was surprised. He subconsciously shrank back, his right hand pressing on the hilt of the Bingzi Jiaolin sword, as if he thought the apothecary would take action without saying a word.

“I said I would obey your orders, and I mean what I say.” The pharmacist was somewhat displeased by his gaze. “This applies only to this mission.”

"Are you really prepared?" Yan Qing glanced at Shang Xinlei, who had also come over to eavesdrop openly, and said helplessly, "Although we will conceal our identities when we do missions, there are only a handful of people who will save the Bunny Girl. Once the Bunny Girl is rescued, Master Suolong will definitely suspect you... Foundation Establishment Messengers don't need any evidence to kill someone. Even if she's just in a bad mood, it's enough to sentence you to death."

“Isn’t there you?” the Pharmacist said. “When the Bunny Girl took out the Bingzi Pepper Forest in Shudao Mountain, Master Suolong already knew that you were the Bunny Girl’s brother. She must have thought that you led the Thieves’ Family to rescue the Bunny Girl… and that was indeed the case.”

“But your fighting style is very clear, and it’s almost impossible to avoid combat in this mission,” Yan Qing said in a deep voice. “What if someone survives and tells you about your performance, attracting the attention of Master Suolong?”

"Does this mean that if I don't save Bunny Girl, my fighting style won't be exposed in this operation?" Pharmacist asked rhetorically. "Whether it's stealing the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator's treasure or saving Bunny Girl, I really can't say which is more serious."

"You can change your weapon."

Yan Qing took out a Seven Star Sword from his storage ring. "We will be working together this time. The three of us can handle any enemy. Unless you really need to go all out, you can use this Seven Star Sword to defend yourself during the mission."

The pharmacist accepted the Seven Star Sword, saying, "I am the strongest fighter in the team. Your arrangement will put you in more danger. Aren't you more concerned about your own safety?"

"Because I also want the rewards from this mission. Your thief points are too much of a advantage, so I have to use this method to keep you on the sidelines, so you don't have a chance to compete with me for this custom legendary item." Yan Qing raised his eyebrows and said, "What, you're not convinced? But you said you'd follow my orders, you're not thinking of going back on your word, are you?"

Although I didn't know the idiom "cold bench" before, Yan Qing's arrogant and irritating attitude was enough to make his meaning clear.

Even Shang Xinlei looked at Yan Qing in shock, never expecting that Yan Qing would have such a plan, setting up a scheme step by step to weaken the pharmacist's hope of competition, and letting the Black Wolf, who had been accumulating two missions, continue to stagnate!

The pharmacist glanced at him, then looked down at the bright blade of the Seven Star Sword. A gentle smile curved her lips, and she nodded helplessly: "Alright, I'll listen to you."

(End of this chapter)