Chapter 601: The Efficient and Decisive Zhou Yushu! A Disobedient Son! Secrets of the Zhou Family! An Old Friend Cheats at Chess!

Bang!

The single slap shattered all of Zhou Yushu’s teeth and completely destroyed his Immovable Golden Body.

Zhou Yushu reverted to his disguised form as Wang Wencai. But now his mouth was a mess, and his cheeks were swollen high; he looked utterly miserable.

“This Transformation Art of yours is crude. That’s a common

jianghu

disguise skill, isn’t it?!” Li Yanchu glanced at him and said coldly.

Zhou Yushu’s head throbbed with pain, but he could vaguely hear Li Yanchu’s words. No wonder he could stand out in the Zhou family.

He gritted his teeth against the agony, rubbed his face a few times, and returned to his true self, a refined, broad-minded young man. Unfortunately, his face now looked like a bloated pig’s, and all his teeth were gone.

“I’ll ask only once: who are you, and what are you doing here?” Li Yanchu said calmly.

“Senior, I am Zhou Yushu, a member of the Zhou family from Linjiang County. I came here to capture the goods, meaning the people in the city.”

Zhou Yushu didn’t hesitate, especially when he saw Li Yanchu’s cold, detached gaze. This person’s cultivation was earth-shattering, and his aura was clearly someone who killed decisively and without hesitation. Without a second thought, Zhou Yushu revealed his family’s secrets.

“Goods? Human trafficking?” Li Yanchu asked.

“Exactly. I’m merely following orders, acting on the instructions of the family Old Ancestor. We use these ‘goods’ to trade with the demons for treasures.”

Zhou Yushu spoke with a mouthful of broken teeth, showing no hesitation, even if it implicated his own ancestor. The main reason was simple: if he didn’t give a satisfactory answer, this cold, composed young Daoist might slap him to death.

The Third Devotee was a martially skilled and powerful demonic cultivator, yet even he couldn’t approach this young Daoist. His longsword was shattered by the shock, and he was then sealed by a special magical artifact.

Zhou Yushu understood clearly that this young Daoist was so powerful that he only left him alive to interrogate him. He realized that someone like Xiahou Zhen would never risk his life for Zhou family loyalty. So it was better for Zhou Yushu to reveal everything himself.

Zhou Yushu’s words left Li Yanchu in silent thought. He exchanged a glance with Minghe.

“What is the relationship between your Zhou family and the Shanhai Tower?” Li Yanchu asked.

“Senior, you know about Shanhai Tower?” Zhou Yushu froze in surprise.

Li Yanchu said impatiently, “Don’t waste my time.”

“Yes, yes.” Zhou Yushu hurriedly put on a flattering smile. “Our Zhou family

is

Shanhai Tower. For years we’ve hidden ourselves in Linjiang County, doing good deeds as a cover. That’s how we deceived the world.”

His words made Minghe frown. “The Zhou family

is

Shanhai Tower? And it’s in Linjiang County?”

At this point, Zhou Yushu no longer dared harbor any lustful thoughts toward the young celestial maiden. He quickly said, “That’s right. Our family’s ancestor reached an agreement with Lady Hu, the temple deity of Donglin Prefecture. Taking advantage of the chaos and warfare there, we plundered ‘goods.’”

Li Yanchu asked, “Who is this Lady Hu?”

Zhou Yushu explained, “Lady Hu is a temple deity in Donglin Prefecture, a Fox Immortal Lady with boundless powers. Though she isn’t widely known, her cultivation has reached the Yang Spirit realm, just like our family’s Old Ancestor.”

Hearing this, Li Yanchu fell silent for a moment.

Celestial Master Zhao had once said that Shanhai Tower likely harbored Yang Spirit realm experts. And now it turned out to be true.

What’s more, they had stumbled upon Shanhai Tower’s secrets by accident, upon entering Pu City.

“You’re being remarkably forthcoming, revealing all of your Zhou family’s secrets,” Li Yanchu said.

“To be honest, Senior,” Zhou Yushu replied, “I’m doing this to stay alive. The one whose cultivation you sealed is Xiahou Zhen, the Zhou family’s Third Devotee. He’s killed countless people, and he’s far more ruthless than the other two Devotees. But he’s also fickle and treacherous. I’m certain he wouldn’t keep the Zhou family’s secrets anyway, so I might as well confess first.”

“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll still kill you after you’ve said all this?” Li Yanchu frowned.

Zhou Yushu was being

too

cooperative; he’d confessed before even being pressured. Had his aura really become so overbearing that people surrendered immediately?

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yushu said quietly, “If you still intend to kill me, then you might as well wipe out the Zhou family completely. At least I won’t be lonely on the road to the underworld.

“I have seven brothers. For years, they’ve all been capturing ‘goods’ for the Zhou family. Their sins are monstrous. If you kill me, Daoist Master, you absolutely must not spare them.”

This guy was truly absurd. Li Yanchu’s mouth twitched; for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

What Zhou Yushu said sounded absurd, but on second thought, it actually made a disturbing amount of sense. If Li Yanchu went after Zhou Yushu’s brothers or the Zhou family Old Ancestor: either he’d be killed by the Old Ancestor, indirectly avenging Zhou Yushu, or he’d uproot the Zhou family entirely, killing all of Zhou Yushu’s brothers along the way.

If I can’t have it, no one can.

Li Yanchu glanced at Zhou Yushu and realized this man was no fool. On the contrary, he was dangerously shrewd.

Li Yanchu seized Zhou Yushu and sealed his powers with the Judge’s Brush. At that moment, Mr. Jinyan withdrew his righteous qi and approached the students of Mount Wen Academy to offer thanks.

“Thank you, Daoist Master, for saving us,” Mr. Jinyan said, bowing deeply. “I’m profoundly grateful.”

His gratitude toward Li Yanchu was utterly sincere.

“Mr. Jinyan, it’s been many years, yet your elegance remains unchanged,” Minghe said with a smile.

Mr. Jinyan looked up, slightly stunned as he glanced at Minghe. “Miss... you are?”

“You played seven rounds of Go with me and stole twelve of my pieces, have you forgotten?” Minghe smiled.

“It’s you? You’re that little girl from the Ming Royal Mansion!” Mr. Jinyan exclaimed.

The Ming Royal Mansion...

Li Yanchu quietly glanced at Minghe. So this girl was some kind of princess or noble of the prefecture?

Minghe smiled faintly. “It’s natural that after so many years, you might not remember my face clearly.”

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Back then, you left a deep impression on me. Yet who would have thought, in the blink of an eye, you’d grow into such a breathtaking beauty,” Mr. Jinyan said with admiration.

Back then, he had been ambitious and full of energy, and he was the third-place finisher in the imperial examination.

At a banquet, he had noticed a little girl playing Go by herself. With one hand holding the black pieces, the other with white, she played with endless delight.

Mr. Jinyan, being extremely skilled in the Dao of Go[1], could not resist joining her for a match. To his surprise, it didn’t take long before he was utterly defeated, completely humiliated. Refusing to accept defeat, he played again, determined to win against the little girl.

Yet her skill was extraordinary, like an antelope hanging its horns, leaving no trace[2]. He simply couldn’t contend with her.

With no one around, Mr. Jinyan had even tried cheating a few pieces from the girl, but still lost. He later learned that she was from the Ming Royal Mansion in the capital, which left a deep impression on him. He marveled at the extraordinary talents hidden among the people of the capital.

“The city’s people will be in your care, Mr. Jinyan. I must go meet the Zhou family’s Old Ancestor,” Li Yanchu said calmly.

1. Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players in which the aim is to fence off more territory than the opponent. The game was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago and is believed to be the oldest board game continuously played to the present day. ☜

2. An antelope rests at night by hanging its horns on a tree, keeping its hooves off the ground to avoid danger. In classical usage, this is often used as a metaphor for poetry whose artistic conception is ethereal and transcendent, leaving no obvious trace. ☜