65: Chapter 62: Fireworks 65: Chapter 62: Fireworks Fifteen minutes later, the large fire at Long’s Warehouse had been extinguished with combined efforts from several Seventh Rank sorcerers.
Some embers were still burning on the scene, but they no longer posed a major threat.
Jinyi Thousand Households, Cao Xuan, had arrived at the scene early.
The wind was strong today, and the air was dry and arid.
He worried that the sparks scattered by the fire would ignite other buildings in the city, leading to the spread of the fire.
Cao Xuan was both shocked and furious.
He was furious that the Iron Banner Gang dared to strike against the Long Family within the city and even resorted to arson.
He was shocked that the Iron Banner Gang had such capability to silently take down Long’s Warehouse, while the surrounding City Guard Army and the guards of the aristocratic families were completely unaware.
Once the fire had been extinguished, Cao Xuan saw the words ‘Blood Wind Thieves’ on the wall.
Due to the fire, the blood on the wall had already dried up, leaving only a brown stain.
The scorched blood characters were distorted beyond recognition, making it difficult to discern the handwriting.
However, experts from the Six Gates dug out the wall on the spot and found that the blood had seeped deep into the stone wall, similar to the markings left by the Blood Wind Thieves during previous crimes.
The surrounding City Guard Army and experts of the Six Gates were quietly discussing.
“The Long Family is truly unlucky, having suffered heavy losses from the Iron Banner Gang during the day, including the death of their eldest legitimate son, and then having their warehouse burned down at night by the Blood Wind Thieves.”
“They must have taken a hit to their vital energies this time, with merchandise here likely exceeding eighty thousand taels of Demon Silver.”
“Li Daogui acted swiftly, with news of his recovery and return to Xiushui County just emerging yesterday, yet today he struck against the Long Family.”
“But why are there no bodies?
There are no bodies at the scene, including that of the elder of the Long Family, Long Shengxie, who is neither seen in life nor found in death.”
This was precisely what puzzled Cao Xuan.
The Blood Wind Thieves were not known to kill and dissolve bodies.
The murderer had dissolved the bodies—were they trying to hide something?
At that moment, a General Flag of the Police Pool of Blood approached and whispered in his ear.
The General Flag spoke of gold and silver; not even one tael of silver, not a mace of silver was left at the scene.
The personal weapon of the Long Family elder, Long Shengxie—a Seventh Rank Rune Blood Refining Saber—was also missing.
It seemed the murderer was after wealth—
But the real value in this warehouse lay in the merchandise.
How much silver could have been taken?
Cao Xuan couldn’t understand and, shaking his head slightly, commanded, “Send orders down, to capture the Blood Wind Thieves throughout the city.
Also, get in touch with Chief Li of the Six Gates and tell him not to make unnecessary complications out of this matter.”
The General Flag of the Police Pool of Blood understood implicitly and departed.
The intention of the Households Commander was clear—better to avoid trouble where possible.
This case could only be pinned on the Blood Wind Thieves for now.
Cao Xuan heaved a deep sigh, thinking to himself that this was truly a troublesome autumn, with one problem not yet settled before another arose.
The troubles with the Blood Wind Thieves and the Rebellious God Flag hadn’t been resolved yet, and now a group of criminals of unknown origins had emerged.
Cao Xuan believed these were the acts of a gang, otherwise, it would have been impossible to silently slaughter over eighty of the Long Family’s elite forces.
At that moment, he glanced sideways at an elderly man standing thirty paces away, roughly eight feet tall, with white hair and beard, high nose, deep-set eyes, and an ominous air.
Cao Xuan recognized him as the Long Family Master, Long Nanshu.
Unlike the Long Nanshu he remembered, this old man no longer carried his usual energetic demeanor.
Now, his towering figure seemed slightly stooped, his complexion pale as paper, his facial muscles slackened as if he had aged decades overnight.
However, in Long Nanshu’s eyes, besides the desolate and sad hue, there was also a fierce and stern essence hidden within.
This fierce essence even overflowed, causing the nearby moths and flies attracted by the firelight to fall to the ground, lifeless.
Cao Xuan felt a chill down his spine, realizing that while the Long Family head may have declined, a sick tiger still has its ferocity.
The dispute over Xiushui County’s water transport was still a fierce battle between dragons and tigers.
With that, Cao Xuan then dismissed his thoughts and walked outside without hesitation.
The immediate priority of the Police Pool of Blood was still the Rebellious God Flag—
Besides that, everything else was insignificant.
At the same time, Chu Xisheng and Chu Yunyun arrived at the Golden Water River.
This was a tributary of the Shenxiu River, flowing through Xiushui County and serving as an internal river in the county town — also the main source of water for the majority of the citizens.
The pair came here to dispose of some items they had brought from the warehouse.
For instance, the bloodstains on Chu Xisheng’s body and the large bundle that Chu Yunyun had brought with her.
The bundle contained gold and silver, about three hundred taels of Demon Silver, and approximately three taels of “Divine Gold.”
This was all the gold and silver that Chu Yunyun had scavenged from the warehouse; the elite clan soldiers of the Long Family didn’t carry much cash on them.
However, there were quite a few silver notes; Chu Xisheng counted them, amounting to more than three thousand taels.
Chu Yunyun forcefully snapped the Seventh Rank Rune Blood Refining Saber she brought into over ten pieces and threw the fragments far into the middle of the river.
This blade harbored the Essence Blood of Long Shengxie, which could easily be traced by sorcerers.
Next, she made a spiritual formula with both hands, summoning a burst of flames, ready to burn all those silver notes to ashes.
“Don’t do that,” Chu Xisheng quickly intervened.
“It’s such a shame to burn so many silver notes.”
“If we can’t use them, what’s the point in not burning them?” Chu Yunyun frowned in confusion, looking at Chu Xisheng: “We can’t afford to be greedy given our situation.”
The turbulence in today’s Life and Death Arena had arisen from greed.
“I understand,” Chu Xisheng smiled slightly.
“We can’t use them, but that doesn’t mean others can’t either.
I won’t use them now, we can just bury them somewhere and retrieve them for disposal after the Long Family has fallen.”
Ancient silver notes were issued by banks, and were categorized into registered and bearer types.
The registered silver notes were more akin to modern bank books, wherein only the owner of the silver notes could redeem the money from the bank by verifying their identity in person.
Bearer silver notes, on the other hand, were much more convenient; as long as the issuing bank’s reputation was sound, they could be used almost anywhere.
However, these silver notes also had unique markers, somewhat similar to modern cheques.
They also required specific procedures to withdraw cash from the bank.
So, as long as the Long Family remained, these silver notes were unusable.
The Long Family could easily trace their roots through the bank and find their trail.
Burning the silver notes would be easy, but doing so would merely benefit the bank.
Chu Xisheng’s plan was to wait until the downfall of the Long Family, then sell these silver notes at a discount.
Ordinary people couldn’t make the banks disburse money willingly, but the wealthy and powerful elites could.
Upon understanding Chu Xisheng’s intention, Chu Yunyun was likewise reluctant to destroy these silver notes.
After a moment of thought, she naturally went to the nearby stone bridge, dug a deep hole under it, and buried the notes there.
Next came the over 300 taels of gold and silver.
Below each silver and gold ingot was marked with the character “Long.”
This was a simple issue for Chu Yunyun; she casually kneaded and pinched the gold and silver into smooth spherical balls, leaving no trace behind.
In the future, when they needed it, they could just chip a bit off to use as broken gold and silver.
After dealing with all their loose ends and washing off all scents in the river, they then returned to the Zhengyang Martial Arts Academy.
Chu Xisheng went straight to his room and fell into a deep sleep, entering the Virtual Space.
He was indeed mentally exhausted and struggles to continue.
Three rounds in the Life and Death Arena by day and committing arson and murder at night had nearly depleted his energy.
However, virtual training not only didn’t drain energy but also had an excellent restorative effect.
Practicing with a saber in a fatigued state was also beneficial for honing his resolve.
But in the early morning, while in the dream illusion, Chu Xisheng saw numerous small fireworks continuously bursting in front of his eyes.
A total of more than twenty bursts in just fifteen minutes raised his Martial Arts Points to twenty-two.
Chu Xisheng was astonished and wondered what the Hu Brothers had done to cause such an exaggerated increase in his Martial Arts Points.