Book 2: Studying for the Rise to Prominence of the Human Race – Chapter 92: Book Stealing
When they heard what Su Chen said, they instantly perked up.
“How do we find the masked person?”
Su Chen pointed at the Imaging Disk. “Look, although the masked person was able to steal Kaihuang’s Heaven, they still activated a small trap I set up for them. They knocked over that vial of medicine.”
The two of them looked where Su Chen was pointing and saw that the masked person did indeed knock over a vial of medicine as they were taking the manual. It was probably more accurate to say that the vial of medicine had been placed with the book, and a hook had been connected to both the drawer itself and the vial of medicine. When the masked person pulled open the drawer, they unstoppered the vial as well, causing the medicine inside to pour out. However, nothing seemed to happen or come out of the vial; those unaware of what was happening might have thought that it was just empty.
However, since Su Chen said that it was a small trap he had left behind, it wouldn’t actually be that simple.
“What’s inside the vial?” Zhu Xianyao asked.
“Thousand Kilometer Incense,” Su Chen replied.
When they heard Su Chen, their eyes lit up. There was no need for Su Chen to explain anything.
Zhu Xianyao said, “Go find an Incense-Sniffing Mouse quickly! We can track the scent to determine who exactly dared to steal the Zhu Clan’s secret technique.”
To Zhu Xianyao, Kaihuang’s Heaven already belonged to the Zhu Clan alone.
“What should we do once we find it?” Zhu Chen asked.
“Kaihuang’s Heaven cannot be exposed. Anyone who has come into contact with it….. must die!” Zhu Xianyao said, her voice filled with a thick killing intent.
Zhu Chen left to follow her orders. Most likely, he had gone to gather people for the chase.
When Zhu Chen left, only Su Chen and Zhu Xianyao remained.
Su Chen sighed, “I never expected that matters would take such a drastic turn. I hope that this won’t affect the agreement between us.”
Zhu Xianyao naturally knew what agreement Su Chen was referring to. She originally felt like the man before her was smart, but when she thought of their kiss earlier, she knew that he was actually just a lecher. The disdain in her heart greatly increased, and she regretted allowing herself to be taken advantage of by him. As such, she lost all pretense of cordiality as she said coldly, “As long as you cancel the clan’s notice and accept the Zhu Clan’s Sorrow-Erasing Baptism, we will follow through on our end.”
“What is the Sorrow-Erasing Baptism?” Su Chen didn’t understand.
“The Sorrow-Erasing Baptism is one of the Zhu Clan’s Absolute Techniques. It causes a person to forget everything that has happened within a certain period of time. As long as you accept this baptism and completely forget Kaihuang’s Heaven, our cooperation will be considered complete.” Since matters had progressed to this point already, Zhu Xianyao felt that there was no need to keep certain things concealed from Su Chen.
So that’s how it is?
Su Chen finally realized what was happening.
He and Shi Kaihuang had been unable to understand one thing. The Zhu Clan could deal with Su Chen, but how would they take care of Shi Kaihuang?
If Su Chen was killed, then he was killed, but Shi Kaihuang was one of the Hidden Dragon Institute’s instructors. No matter where they killed him, it would definitely cause a great uproar.
With the Sorrow-Erasing Baptism, however, the end result was much simpler.
The Zhu Clan was without question planning on using this technique to deal with Shi Kaihuang. That way the matter could be concluded without ever killing anyone, and from that point onwards Kaihuang’s Heaven would belong to the Zhu Clan alone.
If they had a significant amount of control over the Sorrow-Erasing Baptism, they could even cause Su Chen to forget the contents of their agreement.
And if Su Chen couldn’t remember the terms of their agreement, they wouldn’t need to pay any price at all.
Quite a good plan.
Su Chen silently laughed, his heart cold.
Zhu Xianyao didn’t know that the single sentence she had just said had revealed so much to Su Chen. She was still preoccupied with what had just happened. In fact, she was also confused as to why the situation had developed the way it had. Was it just a coincidence that someone had stolen the technique right when they had finished their negotiations with Su Chen?
Though she had some suspicions, there was no way that she could evaluate every probability.
The two of them were still harboring their own sinister motives and plotting against each other when Zhu Chen sent word that he had already found a Incense-Sniffing Mouse and also gathered other members of the Zhu Clan.
Zhu Xianyao was jolted into action and was about to give chase when she suddenly thought of something and turned to look at Su Chen. “You aren’t trying to pit two groups of people against each other for your own benefit, are you?”
A confused expression appeared on Su Chen’s face. “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
In order to tell a convincing lie the stage needed to be set, but the actor also needed to be talented.
Su Chen’s innocent expression appeared very genuine, and even Zhu Xianyao was unsure about whether she was thinking too much into it.
But she still said an instant later, “Come with me.”
She grabbed Su Chen.
Even though she was also in the Qi Drawing Realm, Su Chen had no way of avoiding her grasp. He was stunned; he had experienced firsthand the power of the Slyheart Demon Bloodline, and he knew that he was not her opponent even if she didn’t use her mesmer abilities.
As she grabbed Su Chen, Zhu Xianyao ran out of the tower.
After they had disappeared for some time, a person emerged from a side door. It was Cloud Leopard.
He patted Iron Cliff and said, “Get up, they’ve already left.”
“I can’t get up, it hurts……” Iron Cliff gritted his teeth and said. “Dammit, they didn’t even verify my injuries! All the time I spent beating myself up was completely wasted.”
“……”
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Su Chen was dragged out of the Hidden Dragon Institute. He found Zhu Chen, Zhu Yanniang, and others waiting for them. Apart from those two, there were four burly men, likely the Zhu Clan’s hired guards. This lineup was not particularly impressive, but the Zhu Clan didn’t seem to even consider it a problem. Zhu Yanniang held a small beast in her arms. It was the Incense-Sniffing Mouse, which was constantly shrieking as it pointed straight forward.
As soon as Zhu Xianyao walked out she said, “Let’s go!”
Although she was the weakest in the group, she possessed the highest status.
They all jumped into action. Zhu Yanniang stared at Su Chen and said, “Why did you bring this kid along with us?”
Zhu Xianyao replied, “Everything is because of him, so I brought him with us just in case. If something goes wrong, we’ll kill him!”
“Okay!” Everyone agreed.
Su Chen was unhappy with that statement. “You just agreed to be my woman, but now you’re merciless at the flip of a dime. If that’s how we’re going to play, there’s no point in continuing to do business.”
“Shut your mouth! It’s all because of your uselessness that Kaihuang’s Heaven was stolen by someone else!” Zhu Xianyao said angrily.
“That’s because I never planned on keeping it for myself. If you hadn’t come, people would’ve been able to buy it on the Dreamrealm for only a hundred Dream Droplets each. Why would anyone need to steal with it?”
“Enough! Selling such a divine technique for that kind of a price makes you an idiot that doesn’t know the value of anything!”
“But it was this idiot who created this divine technique, not someone smart like you. If you want to control this technique, you will need to acquiesce to an idiot like me. You’d best be clear about this point. Otherwise, even if you kill the person who stole the manual, you will not be able to complete our transaction.”
“You!” Zhu Xianyao was angered to the point of speechlessness.
As they argued, the group of people continued to race forwards, following the Incense-Sniffing Mouse