If it really comes to the surface, without the officials stepping in, just a few prominent families can crush Iron Tomb.
Lu Hongwei waved his hand, saying, "No problem, officials colluding with bandits is a capital offense. As long as we put the evidence in front of the government, even if we kill the town mayor, the government will not pursue it."
"Moreover, we just need the mayor to show us the way, not necessarily kill him."
Lu Hongwei looked at the person beside him fiddling with three jade plaques and asked, "Have you unlocked the secrets within the jade plaques yet?"
Li Zhiqing instinctively adjusted his glasses, then remembered he no longer wore glasses in the game, looked up and said, "I've unlocked them. I've already deciphered the arrays within the jade plaques. As long as we find the location of the treasure, I can open it."
"Alright, we start the operation after dark," Lu Hongwei said. "Cao Hong, you're responsible for taking the mayor to the back mountain without alerting anyone. The others will go to the back mountain first to wait for Cao Hong."
Spiky-haired Cao Hong nodded, agreeing, "Got it."
After discussing the matter, they left the room to attend to their tasks, and Lu Yu quietly left as well. He didn't use the Fire Demon Eyes to check the strength of the other two, afraid of alerting them prematurely.
It's not too late to strike after they retrieve the treasure, and one must consider the possibility of the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
He certainly didn't want to fight tooth and nail with Iron Tomb, only for another group to emerge from behind and reap the benefits.
Lu Yu returned to the Divine Weapon Pavilion shop.
Shopkeeper Wu brought items up to the third floor, opened the door to find Lu Yu already in the room, hurriedly walked over to Lu Yu, and respectfully handed him the letter paper.
"Sir, after you left, someone delivered a letter for you."
"A letter?" Lu Yu reached out for the letter paper, confirming there were no hidden traps or poisons, and while opening, asked, "Who sent it?"
Shopkeeper Wu replied respectfully, "I don't know, the gatekeeper said a child delivered it, probably someone else using the child to send it to you."
"Alright, you can go now!" After reading the contents of the letter, Lu Yu told him.
Shopkeeper Wu respectfully retreated downstairs.
"Oh, by the way, those red, blue, and green berries you brought, I'm very satisfied." Lu Yu thought of it just then and casually mentioned.
Shopkeeper Wu showed a pleased expression, "I'm glad you're satisfied, Sir."
Shopkeeper Wu happily left the third floor.
Lu Yu gazed out the window at Meishan Town, contemplating.
That letter should be from the shadow he inadvertently discovered, who seems to think Lu Yu took an internal Divine Weapon Pavilion mission to investigate the Cyan Mountain Town property theft, representing the pavilion.
In the letter, the sender stated their forces were willing to abandon this operation, allowing the Divine Weapon Pavilion's assets to be returned. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt
Assuring Lu Yu not to worry, that he would not act.
Whether the claims in the letter are true or not remains to be seen, and Lu Yu couldn't simply trust the shadow's forces have truly abandoned the treasure over one letter.
There is indeed an internal pavilion mission hanging to retrieve the stolen property from Cyan Mountain Town, but that mission requires disciples at the Qi Cultivation level to take it, and they must be quite strong.
The entire assets of Cyan Mountain Town's pavilion branch are valued at millions of gold, truly luring hearts with wealth.
No one easily gives up so much money.
Even if the shadow's backing forces believe Lu Yu represents the pavilion, they might still act.
Currently, there's no clue pointing to which force backs the shadow, Lu Yu can only proceed step by step, potentially giving up revenge on Iron Tomb.
As he pondered these issues, Lu Yu felt a movement from the Storage Ring, delved into its consciousness, discovering Huang Ying had sent him a message asking why he hadn't arrived in Yunhai City yet.
Lu Yu told Huang Ying he encountered unexpected trouble during teleportation and ended up somewhere else, informing her he would reach Yunhai City tomorrow, advising her to return without waiting at the pavilion's branch.
Upon hearing Lu Yu had experienced trouble during teleportation, Huang Ying quickly asked if he was hurt.
Teleportation mishaps have high chances of death and also high chances of injury or disability.
Knowing Lu Yu was alright, she advised him to be careful and send her a message once he reached Yunhai City tomorrow.
After eating the dinner Shopkeeper Wu had meticulously prepared for him, Lu Yu left the Divine Weapon Pavilion, telling Shopkeeper Wu he needn't wait for him to return at night.
Shopkeeper Wu, however, indicated the pavilion would have someone on duty all night, so Lu Yu could return anytime, even staying on the third floor.
He even had someone replace Lu Yu's bedding with a new one.
Lu Yu headed directly to the vicinity of the mayor's house, seeing the mayor still dining, confirming the Iron Tomb people hadn't made a move yet, wearing the Shadow Cloak, he quietly stayed within the shadows, awaiting Cao Hong's arrival.
By around nine in the evening, Meishan Town's residents had extinguished their lights and entered sleep.
The small town lacked the vibrant nightlife of big cities, motivating people to sleep early during monotonous nights.
The mayor stayed in the study until past ten when he extinguished the study lights, preparing to retire for bed.
"It's happening." Lu Yu used Earth Escape, entering the ground, observing Cao Hong kidnapping the mayor, following his steps to the back mountain.
The mayor of Meishan Town possessed the strength of roughly a seventh level Qi Cultivation, facing Cao Hong from the Disciple level, he had no resistance and was abducted without even being able to call for help.
Meishan Town's back mountain was originally for planting red, blue, and green berries, but a year ago, the mayor fenced it off, driving the townsfolk who were planting there to other places.