Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 388 Inquiring into the Secrets of Zhou Tian
The main road leading to the mountain gate of Jiangcheng Mountain faces south and leads to the Xianhe Boat Company.

Pei Xia descended the mountain steps, where bloodstains could be seen from time to time, and occasionally, a hand, foot, or head left behind could be glimpsed in the grass.

On the way here, Pei Xia was dressed in black with a hood, acting suspiciously.

I never expected that I could descend the mountain so openly and honestly.

As we reached the foot of the mountain, the slope gradually became gentler, the trees began to thin out, and the wind became noticeably stronger due to the proximity to the stream.

The nose was slightly wrinkled, and a faint smell of blood could be detected.

Pei Xia had almost forgotten.

Compared to the battles on Jiangcheng Mountain, the fighting among the boatmen was probably much more intense.

Even if one side is leaderless and the other side has made a long-distance raid, it is still a battle between regular armies.

The battlefield appeared to have been specially cleared; only pitted and uneven remnants remained at the boatman's bridgehead, with few corpses in sight.

The closer they got to the ship's headquarters, the stronger the stench of blood became.

"It seems that the most intense fighting was in the urban warfare."

Li Xu's garrison lacks coordination and will not rush out to fight Li Qing's elite troops head-on. It is likely that most of the fighting will take place within the shipyard.

As they got closer, they saw that the bridgehead was under martial law, with two soldiers whose armor was still stained with blood standing guard.

Seeing Pei Xia approaching from a distance, about fifty paces away, he shouted sharply, "Who goes there?"

Pei Xia pointed to Jiangcheng Mountain and replied, "The new mountain lord was appointed by Minister Li."

The two soldiers exchanged a glance: "Wait!"

One of them went back to report.

Not long after, a short-haired man in a black shirt came out; it was Chen Qianye.

"Hey, Master Pei, why aren't you enjoying the soft and fragrant embrace of the mountains? Why are you down here?" Chen Qianye pointed at him and laughed.

The details are unknown to outsiders, who only know that Jiang Chengshan is dead, leaving only two women for Pei Xia to keep.

Pei Xia, unfazed by the teasing, calmly replied, "I'm bringing you paper down the mountain, but I'm afraid you won't be able to hold it in place and it'll leak."

Chen Qianye smirked: "What did you say? I don't understand."

Pei Xia, along with Feng Yao and Chen Qianye, entered the shipyard.

With martial law in effect at the bridgehead, the ship's internal operations naturally required wartime control as well.

Compared to when we smuggled ourselves here that night, there were significantly fewer pedestrians on the road, many shops were closed, and a patrol of soldiers would occasionally walk by.

Chen Qianye had no intention of accompanying her. He led Pei Xia in and leaned against the wall by the roadside, reminding her, "It's stricter now. Tell me in advance what you want to do, and I'll see if I can get you some kind of permit."

"I understand. It's normal to be a bit tense during a light cavalry expedition due to a shortage of manpower. We'll be fine once more reinforcements arrive."

Pei Xia nodded and tentatively asked, "I'd like to hire some people. Is it convenient for the shipowner right now?"

“It’s inconvenient,” Chen Qianye refused without hesitation. “Li Xu has been in power for many years, and the situation among the ship owners is not transparent. We will not let anyone out at the moment.”

Expected.

Pei Xia simply said, "Then give me a few people, consider it an official business."

Chen Qianye was stunned for a moment, then laughed in anger: "You surnamed Pei, get this straight, people like you who manage sects are just dogs we keep. Who gives you the right to make demands of us?"

"So I'll tell everyone about you picking up poop?"

"...Here's the thing, Mr. Dog, when we go on official business here, we usually work in teams of ten. Is that alright with you?"

Pei Xia nodded, then took out the list in his hand. "I still have some food and drink on the mountain that I can't use up, so I thought I'd use it to reward the brothers. Of course, I can't let the brothers take it for free, otherwise it would affect our military image. Just send a hundred or so people to help me with some work."

As Chen Qianye listened, he felt that something seemed off.

In other words, is it possible that those things on the mountain originally belonged to us?

Taking the list, Chen Qianye clicked his tongue and asked, "Do you want some more grain seeds?"

"No need, I'll buy them myself. You guys just need to give me a few knives, I'll use them as farm tools later."

The communication with Chen Qianye went more smoothly than expected.

Pei Xia understood that it was probably not because the threat of pinching excrement was really effective, but because Li Qing had probably given prior notice.

"By the way, where's your boss?" Pei Xia asked. Chen Qianye leaned against the bridge and gestured towards the other side with his chin: "Over by the Lu River."

Both ships were recently captured. Since Chen Qianye is here, Li Qing must be on the other side.

Pei Xia's original intention was to take advantage of the opportunity to ask her for clues related to Qu Ying.

It was not a coincidence.

“Okay,” Pei Xia nodded, “then I’ll wander around by myself.”

Chen Qianye waved his hand, signaling him to get lost.

Seeds are actually not easy to buy. Given the situation in Qin Prefecture, farming is a real luxury. The task of selecting and keeping seeds is generally not done by anyone.

But Pei Xia didn't care. The soil on the mountain was exceptionally fertile. Even if things went badly, just two drops of the Glazed Immortal Elixir would make the spiritual plants grow like crazy.

Even if the grain seeds are substandard when they are planted, they will all be top-quality seeds when the first crop is harvested.

This job isn't difficult.

The reason Pei Xia still wandered around the shipyard was actually to find someone.

From the implied meaning in Qu Ying's words, it was clear that Zhou Tian was no ordinary person. If he intended to leave, even Li Qing's blockade of the ship captain should not have been able to stop him.

So when Pei Xia walked to the door of that small inn, she had a bit of a "let's try our luck" mentality in mind.

The proprietress behind the counter at the entrance recognized him at a glance, and was somewhat surprised: "You're still alive?"

The boatmen all heard that not a blade of grass remained on Jiangcheng Mountain, and that there wasn't a single survivor.

Pei Xia gave an awkward smile: "More than that."

I've become the mountain lord.

"Is Mr. Zhou still alive?" Pei Xia asked.

The proprietress gestured towards the stairwell: "The innermost room upstairs."

Still here!

Pei Xia let out a breath, told Feng Yao to wait downstairs, and went upstairs alone.

Because of the blockade by the ship operators, many travelers were detained, and the upper floors of the small inn were overcrowded, with noisy sounds coming from every room.

What Pei Xia didn't expect was that even Zhou Tian's room was crowded with other people.

There wasn't just one; there were three burly men sleeping on the floor in his room.

Pei Xia was stunned when she came in.

The old man, on the other hand, was quite calm. Hearing the door open, he glanced up at Pei Xia, then sat down at the table without moving, pouring himself some tea.

The three men were probably not from the same group; one of them was sitting in a corner with his eyes closed, resting, while the other two were playing a drinking game.

Pei Xia pointed at them and looked at Zhou Tian: "What's this?"

"Li Qing closed the ship company; it was fully booked, and people were paying extra to share a room."

"Uh……"

Pei Xia hesitated for a moment, but Zhou Tian glanced at him and waved his hand, saying, "It's okay, just say what you need to say."

Pei Xia thought so too. For a reclusive master like Zhou Tian, ​​blocking sound would be a piece of cake.
"Is it about Qu Ying... uh?"

There was no isolation.

However, the three men were clearly not interested in Pei Xia and Zhou Tian, ​​and were still busy with their own things.

Pei Xia understood; this was the carefree attitude of a wise person, not attached to so-called secrets.

However, Pei Xia was still a little uncomfortable talking about things that might involve the "disaster pig" in front of outsiders.

He pulled out a barrier talisman somewhat embarrassedly: "How about we wait a bit?"

Zhou Tian craned his neck to look at the talisman in his hand, blinking his eyes: "Why didn't you use this good thing earlier?"

So you're not exactly carefree either!

(End of this chapter)