Chapter 284: One, Two, Five
Translator: ChibiGeneral Editor: ChibiGeneral
"I admit defeat!" Li Ran suddenly half kneeled on the ground, shouting loudly.
His opponent stopped charging forward, holding back his attack as he did not want to drive Li Ran into a corner. There was no benefits in doing that for both parties.
Li Ran spit out a mouthful of blood, standing up shakingly.
In order to quickly leave the battlefield, he purposely took a few hits from his opponent.
The hosting Gu Master walked in front, announcing the results of the battle.
Li Ran was extremely anxious, after taking back the vine information Gu, he quickly left the battle stage after pretending to be dejected.
He half-heartedly bandaged his injuries before rushing back to his house.
"God damn it, how can this happen? What in the world happened, why did I lose connection with flowerbud Gu?"
Li Ran’s heart was engulfed by a dark cloud.
The flowerbud Gu was a Gu he had refined, the moment Fang Yuan refined it, he could sense it.
"Only two possibilities exist for such a situation. One is that the flowerbud Gu was destroyed, the second is that someone else refined it! Was I discovered? No, maybe the situation isn’t as bad as I imagine, a burglar could’ve entered my house. F*ck, I have lived in Shang clan city for eight years, I know almost all the thieves there are, why would someone want to steal from that house of mine!"
Li Ran walked quickly, the stellar stone was extremely important, even with his calm nature, he could not help but feel anxious.
He should’ve hid the flowerbud Gu at a safer location, and not place it in the secret compartment under his bed.
But the truth is, that was not his fault.
He had gone undercover, to conceal himself, he did not have any friends, and for the last few years, he had not contacted his wife or child. He often went to brothels, gambling dens, restaurants, those areas were full of people and he could not hide anything there.
He could hide it at a pawn shop, but placing so much attention on a scrap grade fossil was too peculiar. When Shang clan investigates in the future,that would create huge suspicion.
In Shang clan city, all sorts of people existed, there were many thief Gu Masters. But to forcefully take over the flowerbud Gu, a rank three Gu is required. The problem is, why would any rank three Gu Master want to steal from a run down place like his?
Li Ran had lurked for eight years, so long that he almost forgot his past. When he hid the flowerbud Gu, he was very confident but now his confidence turned into regret and self blame.
"Hopefully, the situation can still be salvaged!"
He returned to his home feeling uncertainty, the door was closed.
He opened it, and saw the place was in a mess.
"It was a thief!" He suddenly had a thought.
Encountering a thief was not scary, as long as his identity was not exposed, all could be salvaged.
"That’s right!" Li Ran consoled himself: "Every time I contacted Wu clan, it was a one-sided transmission. There are no evidence on me, and that legendary Gu is inside the stellar stone. If it is not opened, who would know the value of it? As long as I find the thief, with my eight years of experience in this city..."
As he thought about it, he calmed his emotions, and stopped panicking.
"Should I report the case? Using the guards’ ability to arrest the thief? No, I should be polite before resorting to brute force, it is best if I can get back the stellar stone peacefully. The city guards can’t be trusted too, they would not spend effort for a small fry like me. Maybe I should hire a Tie clan Gu Master?"
"Eh? This is..." At this point, he concentrated, and found a Gu after flipping over his bed.
This Gu was rank two, green and black in color, around the size of a baby’s thumb. It was shaped like a conch shell, one end was large while the other end was tiny, and had a spiral appearance.
"Heart sound Gu comes in pairs, it can allow two Gu Masters to speak internally within a hundred steps. Don’t tell me... the thief left this behind specially for me?!"
Li Ran’s eyes shone with hesitation, but he gritted his teeth and placed the heart sound Gu into his ear, like a earplug.
"Who are you?" Li Ran injected primeval essence, and activated the heart sound Gu, concentrating his mind and asked.
"That question is not important. The important thing is, Li Ran is a fake name right? Hehehe." Soon after, Fang Yuan’s voice appeared in Li Ran’s head.
That instant, Li Ran’s pupils shrunk as he looked like he was struck by lightning, stunned on the spot.
"Not good, he found out my identity!" Li Ran was horror stricken.
The situation had become the worst!
But he was after all, a spy for eight years, even with this turn of events, he calmed his mind and spoke to Fang Yuan: "Fake name? What fake name, what do you mean?"
He said as he carefully tiptoed, walking around in the shabby house.
He next leaned on the wall, looking at the street outside the window.
"The heart sound Gu has an effective range, only a hundred steps away at most, he must be near me." He rapidly thought of a solution.
To use the heart sound Gu, one has to concentrate in order to speak, ordinary thinking would not be transmitted.
But Fang Yuan was well aware of his mental state, lightly laughing: "Don’t bother acting Li Ran. I am not your enemy, as long as you cooperate, to express my sincerity, we can meet up."
"Meet up?" Li Ran was shocked.
Next, Fang Yuan’s voice rang in his head: "Now, walk out of your room and turn left around the door."
"Why should I listen to you?" Li Ran called out in his mind.
Fang Yuan laughed: "Don’t try to test how much I know, it is beyond your imagination. I will count to five, consider well."
"One." Fang Yuan counted.
Li Ran rapidly thought about the situation.
Even though the flowerbud Gu was in the thief’s hands, they had no evidence that he was a Wu clan spy.
He had lurked for eight years, how could there be evidence?
"Two." Fang Yuan spoke casually.
If at this time, he listened to Fang Yuan, and gets spotted by others, that would be concrete proof that he was a spy.
But if he did not listen, what happens to the stellar stone?
"Five." Fang Yuan continued to count.
Li Ran’s mind was thrown into chaos, as he scolded: "God damn, can you even count properly?!"
"Hehehe, it seems you have come to a decision." Fang Yuan laughed.
Li Ran breathed deeply, his fists clenched tightly, as he gritted his teeth and left the house.
He walked out of the door, and arrived at a busy street. Next, he turned left.
About fifty steps later, Fang Yuan’s voice rang out again: "Turn right, at the third cross junction, turn left."
"He can see my movements, he has to be beside me, but who?" Li Ran had sharp vision, like an eagle sweeping the crowd.
"I would advise you not to look around, that is not your usual behavior. Hehe, after eight years, you want it all to go down the drain?" Fang Yuan quickly said.
"Damn it..." Li Ran gritted his teeth till they squeaked, Fang Yuan’s threat made him lower his head as he looked ahead.
Following Fang Yuan’s instructions, he turned and walked around in circles, until Fang Yuan told him to stop.
"Turn around." Fang Yuan quickly followed: "In your vision, there should be a restaurant, go to the third storey, I will be waiting there."
Li Ran looked, and his heart jumped.
This restaurant, was the one he often came to, Fu Tai Xiang He restaurant.
"Don’t tell me..." He had a bad feeling in his heart. The thief held so much information about him, it felt like he was stripped bare naked in the winter snow plains.
He entered the restaurant.
The familiar shop assistant looked at him, enthusiastically calling out: "Lord Li Ran, you are here, please come upstairs!"
Li Ran’s grim face smiled slightly as he carried his utmost vigilance and ascended the ladder.
Halfway through, before the second floor.
"Wait." Fang Yuan suddenly said.
Li Ran stopped his movement, asking: "What?"
"Go downstairs, and out of the door." Fang Yuan instructed.
Li Ran snorted, having no choice but to leave.
The shop assistant looked at him, feeling confused, quickly asking: "What is the matter lord, are you not eating anymore?"
Li Ran waved his hand, asking him to leave, as he walked out of the restaurant.
"Opposite you, there is a shop selling baked pancakes, go buy a few." Fang Yuan continued.
Li Ran’s eyes twitched, but he followed the instructions, buying a few pancakes.
"Okay, now return to the third floor of the restaurant." Fang Yuan said again.
Li Ran’s forehead was popping with veins as he held the pancake and returned to the restaurant.
The shop assistant saw him entering again, looking at him weirdly: "Lord Li Ran, if you want to buy pancakes, just call me, I can buy it for you."
"Scram." Li Ran shouted, scaring the shop assistant as he shuddered and stopped talking.
He got to the third floor, and stopped after the ladder.
"Continue, take two to three steps and turn left, you will see me." Fang Yuan instructed.
Li Ran followed the instructions, as he walked around a pillar, and finally saw Fang Yuan, sitting at his usual spot.
Next, he saw Fang Yuan stretch out his hand, inviting him to the seat. At the same time, he heard in his mind: "Please take a seat."
Li Ran did not speak, quietly sitting before Fang Yuan, then staring at him without blinking.
The truth is, Fang Yuan’s youthful appearance gave him a huge shock.
When they conversed, Fang Yuan held him tightly by the collar, he subconsciously pictured the image of Fang Yuan as an unscrupulous middle aged man, or an elderly wearing a hat, hiding his face in the darkness.
But the truth was completely the opposite.
The voice from the heart sound Gu would always be tuned, it cannot ascertain age, but could easily determine the gender.
If he did not see it with his own eyes, Li Ran would never have thought the mysterious man was so young!
Fifth inner city’s street lights passed the windows and shone on Fang Yuan’s face. Although he had a plain look, his eyes were as black as ink, like an abyss, deep and mysterious.
Li Ran memorised Fang Yuan’s face deep in his heart.
Although this was the first time they met, he could swear, he would never forget Fang Yuan’s appearance in this life.
Because it was due to this young man that all his plans were foiled, and in such a helpless way!
Translator’s Thoughts
ChibiGeneral ChibiGeneral
Eight years of experience heh.