Volcanic Age

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

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?"

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.