Cao Yun was able to sense a very familiar aura. And when he inspected the man closer, he soon understood what it was. Everything came from his eyes. They were deep and looked way older than he was. In those eyes, Cao Yun was able to sense a great sorrow and a powerful rage combined. He knew what those meant better than most.
"Senior Guai, I am sorry to have kept you waiting. As Hall Master, I have so many matters to attend to. Of course, as soon as I heard about your arrival, I did everything I could to come as soon as possible. I hope that my subordinates have treated you well..."
"Of course. They did a good enough job. But they couldn't replace you for the matters that truly interest me. I would talk with you alone if possible."
Cao Yun did not even look at Ye Zhiyun. It was as though the young man was not even in the room. For Guai Mo, such a man was insignificant. In fact, Hall Master Fang was only worthy of Guai Mo's time because he was a representative of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Otherwise, Fang Shaolong was just a 2nd-grade Mortal Warrior and was older than him by a couple of decades. This wasn't too bad for a cultivator but it wasn't very good either.
In Cao Yun's mind, many things were coming together. This man had the same age the boy who had helped his mother should have. In fact, he also somewhat looked like his mother on certain tiny aspects. Almost no one would have noticed as his physique was rather different. But Cao Yun could tell that there was something in his mannerism and in his way of speaking. Although it wasn't obvious, it was still there. However, Cao Yun could also tell that he was trying to hide it as much as possible which made it paradoxically more apparent to someone who was looking for it.
Of course, Cao Yun could not be sure of what he was thinking. Thus, he could not just ask straight away whether he knew Cao Shui. But this was the only question he had in mind now. From Huang Liyue, he had heard that this Fang Shaolong had also intrigued Huang Cixi because of his past. Indeed, Fang Shaolong had no past at all prior to his arrival in Baziyun City.
Thankfully, Cao Yun had other questions to ask him as he wasn't ready to ask this one yet.
"Hall Master, I intend to participate in the Alchemy Conference."
"And I am sure that you will fare very well from what I've heard about you. However I am sorry. Our Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall has already chosen a candidate and we cannot interfere with Governor Leng's decision in that matter."
"Do not worry about those things. I have no intention to enter as the Wu Province's candidate. In fact, I am soon going to the Subei Province for personnel reasons. And I hope to use my time there in order to develop my alchemy and be chosen as the next candidate. Thus, I'd like to buy whatever you know about the Subei Province, the great families there, the officials, anything weird that I should be wary of, especially with those demonic cultivators and the demons at the border. Besides, I am particularly interested in the alchemists there. A friend of mine told me that some Spirit Warrior alchemist might even be there."
"Senior, our Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall cannot sell information so freely. Of course, we could reveal some known information. But I am afraid that it wouldn't be as good as what the Huang family or Governor Leng can do."
Cao Yu chuckled a bit. From his spatial ring, a card appeared. It was black with four cherry petals on it. In Yinmen City, Cao Yun had received a similar card but this one had come from Xiao Xuefeng herself. Using her contacts in the Main Hall, she had obtained this card. In simple terms, this was proof that Cao Yun was a good and trusted patron of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall.
Although the Hall was known to also deal in information, they would not sell it to just anyone. And the more the customer was trusted by the Hall, the more he could know and buy.
Fang Shaolong was surprised by this card as this was almost the highest level of trust from the Hall to an individual. This meant that this young man could definitely buy anything he wanted in the Major Hall. As such, Fang Shaolong had no reason to hide anything from him.
"Forgive me, esteemed client, I didn't know of your status."
"I don't like to flaunt too much."
Everything he had seen and heard about Guai Mo was contrary to what he just said but Fang Shaolong did not point it out.
"However, what you asked for will require a bit of time. And I'm worried about the price as well..."
Interrupting him, Cao Yun activated his spatial ring once more. This time, a Yuanbao came out of it. This was a small boat made out of gold. Such a statue was worth fifty taels of gold. Many mortals would need to work at least five years to earn a Yuanbao. Of course, by subtracting their spending, they would need somewhere between ten to twenty years to get that amount of money. For a powerful cultivator, this time was not very long, but for a mortal, this was a substantial fraction of their life.
For Fang Shaolong, this wasn't necessarily a lot of money, but it proved that Cao Yun truly had the ability to buy the information he was after. In his spatial ring, Cao Yun had the equivalent of ten Yuanbao given to him by Sect Leader Xuan and Xiao Xuefeng. As an alchemist, Xiao Xuefeng was extremely wealthy and obviously, a sect leader was filthy rich as well.
Considering that Cao Yun's cover was the one of an alchemist, he had to own some wealth too. Besides, alchemists had received a lot of work recently with the stampede. And the manner in which Cao Yun was taking out such a large sum of money as though it was nothing added to his character. He truly was behaving like an arrogant brat, like a nouveau riche. Fang Shaolong was used to deal with those kinds of characters. But he was acting differently today as though he was trying to figure out something about this Guai Mo.
Both men were in fact gauging each other.
"If you just give me a few hours, I will compile everything we know about the Subei Province. And I can guarantee you that our information is always accurate. We do not claim to know everything, but what we know is certain or we wouldn't sell it to anyone."
"While your subordinates prepare that, I'd like to talk to you for a bit if it's fine."
"Of course, esteemed guest. Ye Zhiyun is very competent, he'll be able to handle the work without any problem at all."
"Good."
Fang Shaolong gave orders to Ye Zhiyun who immediately got to work. Although Cao Yun had shown a 4-petal card, that didn't give him access to everything. A 4-petal cards was almost the highest level for a patron, five petals being the limit. For example, Xiao Xuefeng had a 5-petal card. However, there were also cards for organizations and for personnel of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall as well. The highest card was the 8-petal cards. Only the Myriad Master, the one who was behind the entire Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall, could issue this card to anyone. To this day, the only other man who had one was Emperor Weide.
Each card had benefits and privileges attached to it. The first levels were given to customers and only gave them privileges when it came to buying, selling and participating in the auctions. At the 4-petal cards, the Hall recognized the individual as an important patron. As such, this gave the individual access to rare resources and important information no one else could buy. With a 5-petal card, Xiao Xuefeng was recognized as an essential part of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. She was treated as royalty by anyone who valued their position in the Hall.
Then, the higher cards were giving privileges within the institution itself and were mostly reserved to powerful families, influential organizations and of course the members of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall itself.
While Ye Zhiyun was compiling the information asked, he made sure to check what was the degree of certainty as well as the importance of the information. Even a 4-petal card did not give access to everything. He was also evaluating the price of the information he was handling. This was a very difficult task to give a fair price on something that was so immaterial but Ye Zhiyun was very gifted and Fang Shaolong trusted him fully on this kind of task. Even though he was still feeling betrayed by the young man, he was forced to admit that his work was always impeccable.
-
At the same time, Cao Yun and Fang Shaolong were discussing various things. Slowly, Cao Yun was trying to veer the conversation toward Baziyun City. Of course, Fang Shaolong saw that but he wanted to see where his guest was going with this.
"The demonic beasts stampede seems to have left some stigmata behind. However, the Huang family and Governor Leng both told me that the damage had been mostly dealt with."
"Indeed, esteemed guest. Unfortunately, or not, we do not require the services of such a great alchemist right now."
"Do not flatter me too much. I'm still only a 1-star Human alchemist."
"Given your age and what you've already accomplished, I am certain that you will distinguish yourself in the upcoming Alchemy Conference. Before long you'll be a pillar of alchemy in our kingdom. I am certain of that."
"Well, flattery is not displeasing. But I do not need it to show my worth to everyone else. I am aware of my own talent. And although your words may not be entirely sincere, I will prove you right nonetheless. But I was speaking with various people and I heard that your city had also met with disaster even before the stampede. I heard about this Cao family. They were slaughtered by some demonic cultivators as I heard..."
"Indeed, it happened a few years ago. Everyone was massacred. This was a true disaster. After all, that family had a good reputation. Some believed that with time it would surpass the Huang family. In fact, there were some baseless rumors stating that the Huang family had had a hand in that carnage."
"Did you know the Cao family?"
"Not that much, no. But everything I heard about them was very flattering."
"And what about Cao Guang? I heard that he was on the brink of breaking through to Spirit Warrior at 45, that's impressive."
"Indeed, nothing for you to feel envious about though. I only saw him in passing. But he was a true hero of mankind. I wonder though. Why are you interested in what happened to the Cao family?"
"Well, I happened to learn of something recently and it seems awfully similar to what transpired here."
"Oh? Do tell."
As they were speaking, each man was evaluating the other. And slowly, tension was building up between them. In fact, Cao Yun was ready to take out his weapon at any moment. His intent was focused on his spatial ring just in case. Fang Shaolong was not any less stressed. Both of them knew more or less where this conversation was going. But they didn't know the intent of the other one and they didn't know how far the other one was willing to go.
"Recently, I've heard that a family named Shui had met the same fate. But apparently, two young kids had survived. I wonder whether your Hall would be able to confirm that or not."
For a split second, Cao Yun saw raw rage in Fang Shaolong's eyes.
"If you want to buy that information, we can check once Ye Zhiyun is back. Unfortunately, I do not know either."
"I see. Too bad..."
"But tell me, why would you care so much about the Cao family and this Cao Shui?"
"Well, why would you care so much about people going to their tomb?"
When he had entered the city, Cao Yun had immediately gone to the tomb of his family. Despite the emotions, he had clearly noticed that someone was observing him. And Huang Liyue had confirmed that that someone was reporting directly to the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Now that Fang Shaolong was controlled by Huang Cixi, he couldn't hide anything at all. From that moment, Cao Yun had been in doubts. There were several possibilities. But after seeing Fang Shaolong, he was almost certain of himself. His eyes were slightly different but he had recognized something more than emotions in them. The aura he had felt right away was clear in his mind.
For just an instant, Cao Yun let go of his 'Ashen Feather Seal'. He controlled it perfectly so that only his eyes would appear clear. For someone like Fang Shaolong, just a glimpse was enough. In that moment, he saw Cao Yun's eyes and jumped from his seat.
"I brought Blue Cedarwood because it was Cao Huiying's favorite scent, but Cao Shui also loved it."
"You... You're..."
Seeing Fang Shaolong's emotion, Cao Yun knew he was right. However, Fang Shaolong calmed himself very fast.
"We shouldn't talk here... Come with me!"
Hall Master Fang lead Cao Yun in another chamber that was beneath the Major Hall. In there, Cao Yun could tell that the walls were lined with Void Nurtured Platinum as well as several isolating array formations. Apart from Matriarch Huang, no one could pierce through this chamber. Even Matriarch Huang would only be able to perceive a tiny bit of what was going on inside, and only if she used all of her spiritual senses focused on this single point.
For all intents and purposes, Cao Yun and Fang Shaolong were completely isolated from the outside world.