The Biao Bureau
Guo Shengwei was already in his sixties but still possessed a robust and vigorous physique, showing no signs of aging or declining strength. Since the age of fourteen, he had been traversing the martial world, and three decades ago, he established the mighty Biao Bureau, which thrived ever since. As the head of the escort bureau and the father-in-law of the Magistrate, his status in the bustling city was unparalleled.
Mei Chuxi and Xia Xu had not yet returned to Biao Bureau when news of Xia Xu’s defeat at the gambling house by a young man reached Guo Shengwei’s ears. His face that was as cold and unyielding as iron showed a hint of astonishment, and the atmosphere in the main hall became heavy.
“An outsider?” Guo Shengwei asked calmly.
The messenger replied, “Yes, I have never seen them before in the city.”
“In your opinion, how skilled is this person?” Guo Shengwei lifted his teacup and took a sip, unhurried and composed.
The messenger hesitated in his expression. “Well…”
“Speak the truth,” Guo Shengwei’s tone remained gentle, but his eyes grew colder.
The messenger finally spoke frankly, “From this servant’s point of view, that young man appeared quite at ease when sparring with Xia Xu.”
“In other words, that person’s skill far surpasses Xia Xu,” Guo Shengwei said in a deep voice.
The messenger fell silent. He knew that Xia Xu was personally trained by Master Guo and was the most prideful among the three disciples. Xia Xu’s defeat at the hands of a stranger was equivalent to a slap on Master Guo’s face.
Guo Shengwei gestured to a servant, who rewarded the messenger with some money and sent him away.
After the messenger left, Guo Shengwei’s eldest disciple, Bai Tian’an, spoke up, “How dare an outsider be so arrogant in our city! Master, I will go find him and teach him a lesson!”
The second disciple, Wu Chongwen, interjected, “Senior Brother, if you couldn’t defeat our youngest junior brother, how could you defeat that person?”
Bai Tian’an was momentarily speechless and turned to Guo Shengwei. “Master, will you personally take action?”
Wu Chongwen chimed in, “Does someone unworthy of your intervention deserve your personal attention, Master? I believe we should find another way to teach him a lesson.”
“Grandfather—”
Mei Chuxi’s voice, filled with grievances, came from outside the door. Guo Shengwei’s iron face immediately softened, replaced by a kind smile. He put down his teacup and warmly welcomed him.
“Chuxi is here.”
“Grandfather!” Mei Chuxi affectionately hugged Guo Shengwei’s arm. With just a simple gesture, Guo Shengwei’s face lit up with joy.
“Grandfather! I’ve been bullied, you must seek revenge for me!”
Xia Xu nodded, “Yes, Master. They know full well that Young Master has you as his grandfather and are aware of your position and prestige in the city. Yet, they still dared to bully Young Master in front of so many people. This is simply going too far!”
When no one was looking, Wu Chongwen pursed his lips disdainfully, his scornful gaze shifting from Mei Chuxi to Xia Xu.
These two individuals, one only capable of being coquettish and the other only skilled at flattery, he couldn’t understand whether his Master’s eyes were flawed or if his mind was for him to only favored these two.
It’s a pity that he couldn’t win over his junior sister before she got married. Otherwise, the Biao Bureau would have long been in his grasp.
The group settled in the main hall.
“I already know what happened,” Guo Shengwei said. “Chuxi, don’t worry. Grandfather will definitely help you vent your anger. However, a mere youngster is not worthy of my personal intervention. Chongwen, you have always been resourceful. Do you have any ideas?”
‘This old guy only thinks of me when he needs a solution. The rest of the time, he ignores me.’ Wu Chongwen cursed silently in his heart before he felt slightly relieved. After some thought, he spoke, “Master, two senior escorts from Biao Bureau resigned last month, and you have already approved it. We have also spread the news that Biao Bureau is offering a generous reward to hire new senior escorts. In recent days, many skilled experts who are tired of wandering the martial world have come to the bustling city, preparing to participate in the competition. Why don’t we leave this matter to them? It serves two purposes: it can teach that Zhangyang a lesson, and it can also assess the skills of these experts. Killing two birds with one stone.”
“Good!” Guo Shengwei praised. “I entrust this matter to you. Chuxi, come, Grandfather recently acquired a pot of camellias. Grandfather will take you to see them.”
“Great! If Grandfather thinks they’re good, then they must be worth seeing.”
After they left, Mei Chuxi tugged at Guo Shengwei’s sleeve. “Grandfather, when we catch that person, can you let me handle him?”
Guo Shengwei frowned. “Chuxi, what good qualities does a man have?”
“Grandfather!” Mei Chuxi hugged his arm. “Qian Shi has been pregnant for three months. She will definitely give birth to a chubby and obedient great-grandchild who will be respectful and filial in the future! Grandfather, I know you love me the most.”
“Alas, I can’t do anything with you,” Guo Shengwei helplessly shook his head.
………
Yan Ge was sleeping soundly when he was awakened by the commotion outside the inn. He opened his eyes slightly and looked out the window. It was still dark outside, with a faint light breaking through the darkness. He asked in a drowsy voice, “Zirui, what’s happening outside… so noisy.”
“A large group of people is passing by the inn. They should be martial arts factions,” came Huangfu Yuchen’s voice from a distance.
Yan Ge opened his eyes in confusion and looked to the side. The room was dim, and he couldn’t see anyone near the pillow.
“Where are you? Did you fall to the ground?”
“Here,” replied Huangfu Yuchen as he sat up from the other end of the bed.
“Why did you go over there?” Yan Ge was puzzled.
Huangfu Yuchen opened his shirt and showed the two dark marks on his chest. He helplessly said, “I don’t know what dream you had last night, but you kept pinching me here… So, I had to move to this side to sleep.”
Yan Ge rubbed his cheek, trying to recall. “Oh, I remember now. I dreamt that the peanuts in the ground were ripe, and it was going to rain heavily, so I was in a hurry to harvest the peanuts. But there was a rope that kept tying me down and preventing me from moving, so I picked them even faster…”
Huangfu Yuchen massaged his forehead.
Yan Jin snickered and the small bed creaked.
“Children shouldn’t eavesdrop on adults’ conversations!” Yan Ge scolded him with the authority of a father.
He moved to Huangfu Yuchen’s side, planted a comforting kiss on his lips, and said, “It’s not my fault. It must be because I’ve been thinking about developing the local economy along this journey, so I dreamt of picking peanuts.”
Huangfu Yuchen sighed helplessly, pulled the blanket to cover Yan Ge, and hugged his waist. He whispered ambiguously in his ear, “Perhaps I should be grateful that you didn’t dream of picking something else.”
Yan Ge opened his mouth but remained speechless, so he simply sealed Huangfu Yuchen’s lips with his own.
Huangfu Yuchen smiled and took the initiative. The two of them entangled and caressed each other in the darkness for quite a while before finally separating.
Yan Ge waved his hand and used his true qi to push the window open. He leaned out and looked outside. The people had already gone far, and there was no one on the street. “Which martial arts faction was that?”
“Not sure,” Huangfu Yuchen said. “From the sound, there were over a hundred people. It seems they are up to something significant, we’ll go out later to inquire. It’s almost dawn. Shall we get up?”
“Let’s get up,” Yan Ge stretched lazily.
After the two of them got up, they practiced for half an hour, and then it was already bright outside.
Once the family of three finished getting ready, they went downstairs to have breakfast and asked the waiter about the morning’s events.
The waiter whispered, “Please don’t inquire openly, honorable guests! Those were people from the Luna Worshipping Sect. According to the folks in the martial world, they are a demonic sect. Every year at this time, their sect leader leads the disciples to Mount Fan’an to worship the moon. It is said that they pray for their faction’s status to rise and for smooth operations throughout the year. As long as we don’t provoke them, they won’t bother ordinary people; but if we do provoke them, they won’t show any mercy.”
“Worship the moon? How do they worship?” Yan Ge asked curiously.
The waiter hesitated, “Young Master, it’s better not to inquire about this. The Luna Worshipping Sect is very dangerous.”
Huangfu Yuchen flipped his palm, and a five-tael ingot appeared on the table.
Only then did the waiter become willing to speak, but his voice remained low, indicating the genuine taboo nature of the subject. “People from the Luna Worshipping Sect believe that in the lunar calendar’s third month, Fangcheng is the closest place to the moon. On the eighth day of the third month, they carry the Holy Maiden and circle around Fangcheng three times to inform the Moon Goddess that they will worship her. In the evening, the formal worship begins. It is said that their sect possesses a moon-shaped gem, which chooses a person capable of communicating with the Moon Goddess. This person is usually one of their disciples. After the worship concludes, the Holy Maiden accompanies this person in kneeling until midnight, and then she releases all the blood from this person’s body, soaking the moon-shaped gem. Once the gem absorbs all the blood, it blesses the Luna Worshipping Sect for a year.”
Yan Ge asked, “Why is it not worshiping the full moon but the moon on the eighth day? The moon on the eighth day is not full.”
The waiter smiled, “I also heard this from someone else. The fifteenth day has the fullest moon, but by the eighth day, more than half of the time from the fifteenth has passed, and the moon is getting closer to being full. It symbolizes something even better than the full moon.”
“I see,” Yan Ge still had doubts. “Can the moon-shaped gem really choose a specific person? How does it choose?”
This time, the answer came from a fellow guest, who happened to be an acquaintance—the “Deceptive Duo”. Yan Ge’s group were currently using the identities of the Luo family, but they still had the appearance of the Fang family, so the couple didn’t recognize them.
*The Deceptive Duo are Huang Shuya and Pei Jinde, the couple they met at Thunder Valley. Yan Ge and Huangfu Yuchen met them with the appearance of the “Luo family”.
“It’s true,” Huang Shuya said. “There was once a master thief who wanted to steal this gem. He witnessed one of the worship ceremonies, and it is said that after the moonlight shone upon the gem, it emitted a strange allure. This power only affects a specific individual, who would be unconsciously drawn to the place of worship.”
Yan Ge asked, “Have all the individuals who were drawn to it been members of the Luna Worshipping Sect?”
If that were the case, it could be some kind of drug at work.
The waiter said, “There was only one exception, three years ago. A girl from the eastern part of the city was drawn there.”
Yan Ge asked, “Was she used for the ritual?”
“Yes,” the waiter shook his head. “It’s a pity. That girl was in her twenties and had yet to marry.”
Yan Ge asked, “Is the Holy Maiden beautiful?”
