Chapter 167. Little Valley's Evil Dao (1)

Two days later, Zhou Xuchuan returned to the butcher shop's basement.

"It’s complete. Please come closer," said the old man.

He massaged Zhou Xuchuan’s face for a bit, and then he put something on it.

Zhou Xuchuan checked his own face and noticed that the old man had put on a skin mask over his face.

This was the best tool for the job at hand, except for a disguise art. With a master craftsman’s expertise, the skin mask looked indistinguishable from a genuine face.

Zhou Xuchuan took a look at a mirror, and an unfamiliar face stared back at him.

It was a man in his early forties boasting a sharp, scary countenance.

Zhou Xuchuan curiously asked, "But this isn’t a man in his thirties?"

The old man replied, "My apologies for changing the age without discussing it with you first. I thought this would be a better appearance to avoid others underestimating you."

"Well, if you say so," said Zhou Xuchuan. He had no reason to insist on an around-thirties appearance, anyway.

The old man added, "Avoid getting cut in the face, and no one will suspect anything. If you wish to use this mask for a long time, please return it to us and have it maintained periodically."

"I see. Thanks." Zhou Xuchuan grinned in satisfaction. There was no problem with changing his expressions, such as opening his eyes wider or letting his jaw fall.

After paying the old man a hefty sum of silver for all his hard work, Zhou Xuchuan left the basement. He saw the member of Xia Wu Sect waiting by the exit and nodded once before following him elsewhere.

"Welcome, dear honored Elder. A letter from the sect master has arrived, and it's a letter meant for you."

The Branch Head of the Xia Wu Sect's Fuzhou Branch greeted Zhou Xuchuan with an obsequious smile.

I’m an elder now?

That greeting almost made Zhou Xuchuan tilt his head, but he controlled himself admirably well. He accepted the letter from the branch head and confirmed the contents.

Hoh!

While confirming the price for his disguise, Zhou Xuchuan requested Jiang Ningchu’s help in infiltrating the Evil Valley. He figured the help was in the shape of connecting him to the old man, but as it turned out, that wasn’t everything.

So, you want me to visit the Evil Valley as one of Xia Wu Sect’s elders?

The Xia Wu Sect and the Evil Valley were fairly close. Every now and then, a Xia Wu Sect elder would show up at the Evil Valley to sell valuable information.

Perhaps it was because he didn’t want to lose the Xia Wu Sect’s ability to gather information, but the Evil Valley Master ordered his people to leave the Xia Wu Sect’s members alone if they could help it. The Evil Valley was basically acting as a guardian to the Xia Wu Sect.

I'm an elder of the Xia Wu Sect—Phantom Bow Swordsman?

***

The Evil Valley’s territory started from Zhejiang and encompassed Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, and Guangxi. Out of these provinces, one could say Hunan, Guangdong, and Guangxi were the central areas, as even the Evil Valley’s main base was located there.

The new identity was ready, so it was time to leave.

Zhou Xuchuan was told that the Xia Wu Sect’s people would help him once he reached the Evil Valley’s headquarters.

He departed from Fuzhou on horseback and diligently headed in the southwesterly direction. He stopped at the Zhejiang Branch of the Phantoms and recruited some of them to come with him.

Zhou Xuchuan would sometimes be surprised by his own appearance. Of course, he gradually got used to it. The skin mask was so comfortable to wear that he even forgot that there was something attached to his face. As expected of a master of their craft!

"Hey, you f*cker! Did you eyeball me just now?"

"Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? Fine! I eyeballed you. So what are you gonna do about it?!"

"I’m gonna kill ya!"

After riding on horseback for three—no, four days. Zhou Xuchuan arrived at Guangdong’s Phantom branch. However, he did not stay long and simply stopped by to say hello. After another journey lasting several days, he eventually reached a village near the Evil Valley’s headquarters.

As expected of an evil faction’s "capital," the place was rowdy, to say the least.

Brawls broke out easily in the village, and no one batted an eyelid at the sight of corpses rotting away on the street.

Compared to the Righteous Faction, the Evil Faction boasted a higher number of cultivators, and almost every single one of them had a short temper, leading to violent incidents breaking out more often than not.

Anyone who looked like easy prey would get bullied, but Zhou Xuchuan easily escaped that fate thanks to his new appearance. Of course, it didn’t completely stop any troublemakers from blocking his path.

Some idiots

did

try to pick a fight, but Zhou Xuchuan gave them a taste of his knuckle sandwiches made from his overwhelmingly superior martial arts, ultimately chasing them away.

"Welcome, Elder!"

When Zhou Xuchuan arrived at the designated meeting point, several members of the Xia Wu Sect greeted him.

Zhou Xuchuan turned to the leader of the group and asked, "You know who I am?"

"The Sect Master has already informed us, sir!"

"It’s our honor to serve you like this, Elder!"

Perhaps it was because these people were from Black Hand, but they were very eager to flatter Zhou Xuchuan. For them, it was natural for the weak to grovel and yield before the strong.

Their sycophantic behavior soured Zhou Xuchuan’s mood, and he unknowingly recalled Li Yicai of the Gold Will Merchants.

"What we wish to deliver cannot be entrusted to ordinary sect members, so I decided to come here personally," said Zhou Xuchuan.

"

Ehehehe!

I see, I see! Please give us your orders, sir."

They clearly did not want to get on Zhou Xuchuan’s nerves, and it was evidenced by how they gauged his mood nonstop.

"Then tell me what's going on with the Evil Valley’s halls nowadays. And since I’m here, I might as well test your abilities."

Zhou Xuchuan heard the general outline of the situation but not the details. The report from the people on the field could contain slightly different information, so he asked, just in case.

"Of course, please leave it to us!"

As if afraid to miss this opportunity, the Xia Wu Sect members earnestly explained the situation to Zhou Xuchuan, and their eyes were sparkling brightly as they talked.

Most of the information concerned the current state of Hunan and Guangdong. Of course, they also knew information about the Evil Valley’s headquarters.

"As you may know, Elder, the Evil Valley has gotten rather heated post-Seven Swords War. Especially the appearance of Plum Blossom Order Sword, the rising hero of the Righteous Faction! His appearance has put the Evil Valley Sect Master on edge."

The only side that profited from the abrupt conclusion to the Seven Stars War was the Righteous Faction. The Evil Faction and the Demon Cult had walked away with nothing.

The Evil Valley Sect Master was obviously angry about it. His side had done everything, but he couldn’t acquire even the leftovers on the table.

Things were already chaotic as they were trying to fill in the void that the destruction of the Flashing Waterfall Saber Gate had left behind. So for the outcome of the war that happened soon afterward to be poor as well... No wonder the Sect Master was furious.

It made sense that the overall atmosphere wasn't so great. The Sect Master’s sour mood always heralded the arrival of the winds of blood, causing new corpses to pile up.

"That event triggered worsened the air in the Evil Valley’s halls, Elder. The mood of the Libertine, Dan Libai, is particularly worse. His behavior has been rather concerning lately."

Zhou Xuchuan’s eyes changed as soon as Dan Libai was brought up.

"Perhaps it's because the righteous factions have produced excellent juniors in droves, but Evil Valley Sect Master is unhappy with the Evil Faction’s younger cultivators, including his own son. As a matter of fact, the Sect Master has recently humiliated Dan Libai in front of his subordinates."

Huh. To think that history would flow like this!

It wasn’t as if the future that Zhou Xuchuan knew had changed completely.

It was still on course, even if the starting points had shifted around somewhat.

Dan Libai's rebellion began with him getting humiliated by his father before his underlings, after all!

"And then, there’s also the destruction of the Green Dragon Stockade. The prestige of the Righteous Faction has gone up thanks to that incident, and it further soured the Sect Master’s mood. His ire led to various feuds and disagreements with the people around him, causing much chaos within Evil Valley!"

Nothing is easy, isn’t it?

Resolving one problem was like a trigger to another. Zhou Xuchuan groaned deeply, feeling like he was walking on a path paved with thorns.

More importantly, to think my actions are the reasons behind this situation!

The world didn't move according to one’s wishes. It was all good and well to save

Murim

, but Zhou Xuchuan’s efforts had ended up creating issues elsewhere.

"Elder, this is just a rumor at the moment, but important people with a bone to pick with the Sect Master are gathering around Dan Libai. The Evil Valley’s internal situation has become such a mess, so please be careful while visiting the sect, Elder.

"Of course, I’m sure you were already well aware of all these before coming here.

Ehehehe.

How could lowly underlings like us know more than someone of higher standing, anyway?"

Zhou Xuchuan learned a few more pieces of sundry information.

The harvest was more bountiful than expected, so Zhou Xuchuan wanted to praise himself for asking these people from the Xia Wu Sect.

Zhou Xuchuan was sure that these bits of information would come in handy later on.

"Excellent. I’ll put in a good word for you all with our sect master."

"

Aigoo

! Thank you so much! Elder!"

The time to depart had come. Zhou Xuchuan secured a longbow to his back, and then he inspected each arrow. He left his Tai’e with Little Ghost, as someone could recognize that sword. He got himself a fairly usable steel sword as a replacement, and he tied it to his waist.

"You will be on standby here," said Zhou Xuchuan to the Phantoms.

He had brought four of them from the Zhejiang branch, five if Little Ghost was counted. However, he couldn’t take them with him into the Evil Valley.

The headquarters would surely be teeming with powerful experts, so it was only a matter of time before any Phantoms were discovered. It didn't matter, even if they hid their presence.

***

The Evil Valley’s headquarters was located on the border splitting Hunan’s south and Guangdong’s north. As befitting the center of the evil faction, the headquarters turned out to be impressively vast.

"Sect Master, an elder from the Xia Wu Sect has entered the sect grounds."

"An elder? How unusual," said the Evil Valley Sect Master.

One of the Ten Empyrean Overlords and a leader of the Evil Faction couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

The Xia Wu Sect’s executives were well known for rarely showing themselves in public. Despite the Evil Valley Sect Master conveying his displeasure several times, they still rarely showed themselves.

However, it wasn’t something to lose his temper over. The Xia Wu Sect was a Black Hand organization, after all. It wouldn’t pose much threat, and besides, the people from that neck of the woods were famous for their cowardice, weren’t they?

The subordinate said, "Perhaps it's because of the recent change in the Xia Wu Sect's leadership?"

"

Aha,

that’s right. What was his name, again? Tough Bastard, was it?"

Jiang Ningchu was famous enough for everyone in Black Hand to recognize him but throughout

Murim

? That wasn’t the case at all. He was seen as nothing more than the boss of some riffraff off the street.

"Yes, Sect Master. We heard that he seized the position from the previous leader. I think the way he does things is a bit different from his predecessor."

"So, they finally know their place. The previous Xia Wu Sect Master was quite arrogant for a coward. But this new one? I like him. Very well! Give this elder a suitable lodging."

The information that the elder had brought along with him wasn’t that important. It simply contained detailed information regarding conflict zones with the Righteous Faction that the Evil Valley had requested earlier.

The Evil Valley Sect Master figured that the new Xia Wu Sect Master had sent a high-ranking executive to offer his greetings and to build bridges, so he stopped caring about it.

The news also reached the ears of the son, who had begun opposing his father.

"An elder from the Xia Wu Sect, you say...?"

Dan Libai grunted while rubbing his chin.

"This is an opportunity," said the masked shadowy figure after appearing silently.

"An opportunity? How so?"

"Your father. Although not all, he gets most of his information through the Xia Wu Sect. If you bring that sect to your side or even threaten him to cooperate with you... You cannot blind your father, but perhaps you can deafen him."

"Even if you say that... How can a gang of ruffians from the Black Hand play such a role?"

Dan Libai sneered, sounding like he could not believe it at all. His reaction demonstrated what he thought of the Black Hand.

In his eyes, it was fine for the Xia Wu Sect to exist, but nothing would change even if the Xia Wu Sect were to disappear.

"You shouldn’t underestimate Xia Wu. Yes, individually, those people don’t amount to much. However, their ability to gather information is something else. You see, men are generally weak to women and alcohol. Although the sect can't gather as much information as the beggars, the quality of information they find is pretty high."

"

Hmm

..."

Dan Libai didn’t seem all that interested, but he still nodded and replied, "Well, I’ll use them frequently once I become this sect’s master. It won’t be a bad idea to meet one of its elders now and make them loyal to me."

Dan Libai shrugged casually, then got up from his chair.

Just then, his eyes burned in a crimson hue.

"Besides all that. It’s about time, so I should head

there

. What should I use to cleanse my palate today?"

Dan Libai's sinister cackle echoed into the darkness.

***

Winds as sharp as blades blew in. The weather had gotten cold enough for one’s breath to become visible to the naked eye.

Zhou Xuchuan looked up and could see how dark the skies were despite it being the middle of the day. The ash-hued clouds rolled in to seemingly blanket the entirety of the Central Plains.

Soon afterward, pure-white snowflakes descended.

This was the first snowfall of Zhou Xuchuan’s nineteenth year in existence.

It had been a few days since his infiltration of the Evil Valley’s headquarters.

The treatment he had been receiving so far wasn’t bad, but he was still subjected to plenty of mocking gazes. He was an elder of a sect, but the sect happened to be the Xia Wu Sect. Thus, this type of treatment didn’t surprise him in the least.

Today, a messenger came up to Zhou Xuchuan and abruptly said, "Our master wants to see you."

"Our master...?"

At first, Zhou Xuchuan wondered whether the so-called "master" was the Evil Valley’s Sect Master, but it was someone else unexpected.

It’s Dan Libai?

Zhou Xuchuan had been thinking of meeting the man to confirm his suspicions, but for some reason, the target had requested to meet him first.

After a few moments of contemplation, Zhou Xuchuan found a plausible answer.

I see. Is he thinking of alienating the Xia Wu Sect from the current Evil Valley Sect Master?

It wasn’t a bad plan, but how did that insanely arrogant libertine even come up with such a scheme?

That man probably isn’t even worried about the Xia Wu Sect since it’s from the Black Hand, but this private meeting... this meeting definitely wasn’t his idea.

Someone was clearly feeding ideas to Dan Libai.

Very well. I should go and see for myself, then.

It was still unclear whether Zhou Xuchuan’s opponent was the Dark Heavens Association or the Eight Gates of the Evil Dao. Thus, he decided to hide his identity for a bit longer to speak with the people involved and figure out their intentions.

Having made up his mind, Zhou Xuchuan resolved himself and followed the messenger to speak to one of the major players in the previous timeline, Dan Libai. On his way, many different thoughts flitted in and out of his mind.

"You’re finally here."

The door opened to reveal Dan Libai sitting on a fancy chair.

As expected, he wasn’t alone.