Chapter 197
Chapter 197: Ten Li Palace
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“Brother, that man was extremely strong,” said Nian Nuer .
“Yes, I know,” said Mu Yi nodding .
When he was facing the mysterious man, Mu Yi had wanted to attack a few times . He had a bad feeling each time he had thought about it . He was also connected to Nian Nuer in the Bamboo Tree of Life . Mu Yi hadn’t done anything because both of them had the same impression of the man .
He wasn’t worried about his own safety . He just didn’t want the mysterious man to fly into a rage and kill Mister Mo . He was convinced that even if he couldn’t compete with the mysterious man, he could at least escape safely . He had many trump cards .
Mu Yi would feel guilty if Mister Mo died though . The mysterious man had kidnapped Mister Mo just to pressure Mu Yi . Mu Yi couldn’t just leave him to die .
The man didn’t dare show himself so there was definitely something else going on . Mu Yi had managed to get a few clues during their interaction . He would use them to learn who the mysterious man was eventually .
First, he had to find the imperial jade seal and bring it back . Qian Butong was strong enough to injure Mister Mo . He wasn’t someone that would be easy to deal with either .
A shout interrupted Mu Yi’s thoughts . Mo Xiao Yu was reaching out a hand to slap at a flame in front of him . His heart was pounding and he looked terrified . Mu Yi looked at him with a confused expression .
Mo Xiao Yu was stronger than he had thought . He hadn’t hidden anything though . He was really an ordinary person but there was something special about his body . That’s why the meditation body charm didn’t work well on him .
“Master, is my boss alright?” asked Mo Xiao Yu .
He was clearly scared . He had never heard of a piece of paper which could immobilize people . It was incomprehensible for him .
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“Yes, he’s fine . Don’t worry,” said Mu Yi .
“Thank you, Master . I will go back then and take care of him,” Mo Xiao Yu said sighing in relief .
“Wait,” said Mu Yi .
“Anything else I can help you with, Master?” said Mo Xiao Yu .
He had already started leaving but stopped . His remained on alert though . He was afraid Mu Yi would throw another piece of paper at him .
“Your boss is not at home,” said Mu Yi straightforwardly .
“Not at home?” said Mo Xiao Yu .
“The enemy was too strong so your boss is hiding . He’ll probably come back in about four days,” said Mu Yi
He had quickly thought up an excuse to give Mo Xiao Yu . He was worried that he would do something stupid if he told him the truth . He was going to bring Mister Mo back as soon as possible anyway .
“He’s hiding?” Mo Xiao Yu said with wide eyes .
“Yes . He told me to tell you not to go back for the time being . If you do you may accidentally bump into the enemy,” said Mu Yi .
Mo Xiao Yu’s worry was evident . His expression turned sad and he started shaking .
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“Master, is the manager…” Mo Xiao Yu started .
“Your manager is not dead,” said Mu Yi .
“Really?” Mo Xiao Yu asked hopefully .
“Of course, why would I lie? Mister Mo can also be considered to be my elder . I wouldn’t possibly let him down,” said Mu Yi straightforwardly .
“If the manager is hiding, why didn’t he take me with him?” asked Mo Xiao Yu .
“I don’t know either . You can ask him personally when he comes back,” said Mu Yi .
“Alright, I will,” said Mo Xiao Yu clenching his fists .
“There’s a room next to this one . You can stay there for now,” said Mu Yi .
“Thank you, Master,” said Mo Xiao Yu .
He only believed half of what Mu Yi had just told him . When Mu Yi was gone, Mo Xiao Yu had a lot of time to think about things . He wondered why the manager had sent him to Mu Yi . It probably wasn’t just to save him .
Mu Yi had come back and said that the manager was hiding . The manager wouldn’t have done something like that . Mo Xiao Yu knew that at least . That’s why he was worried .
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Mu Yi had said that he would come back though . Since Mu Yi cared about Mister Mo, there was hope . He had seemed quite confident when he said he should be back in a few days . He concluded that if Mu Yi really wanted to lie to him, he would have said a couple of months .
Mu Yi disguised himself the next day and went to see Xie Zheng . He needed help to understand everything about Qian Butong . What Mu Yi didn’t expect was that Xie Zheng wouldn’t need to carry out an investigation . He already had information about Qian Butong .
Mu Yi was shocked when he learned that Ten Li Palace wasn’t an influential group in martial arts circles . They were blacksmiths . They were famous for making the iron lion .
According to legend, on the coast of Cangzhou, a black dragon had wreaked havoc . It made life impossible for the people . They were in a desperate situation . A lion had suddenly appeared and defeated the dragon, thus saving the people’s lives .
The people had looked for the best blacksmith to make a statue of the lion after it disappeared . It had taken him eighty-one days to forge the statue . They took it to the seaport to serve as a guardian preventing the black dragon from coming back .
It was strange because it seemed to work . Since they had put the lion statue at the port, nothing ever happened at the seaport of Cangzhou . The people had a lot of faith in the lion . The blacksmith and his colleagues had settled in the area . Their reputation grew exponentially . Ten Li Palace became their headquarters .
Nobody knew whether the legend was true or not . However, anyone could go look at the gigantic lion statue at the seaport . When people talked about the blacksmiths who had made it, most people mentioned Ten Li Palace .
Apparently, Qian Butong was the descendant of the blacksmith who had forged the lion statue . He was famous for that reason and also because he was a very good blacksmith . Plus, he was the leader of Ten Li Palace .
“He’s just a blacksmith?” Mu Yi asked .
He didn’t believe that Qian Butong was just a blacksmith . The mysterious man wouldn’t have done all of that last night if that was the case . Why would he have captured Mister Mo and blackmailed Mu Yi to fight a blacksmith?
Mu Yi was convinced Qian Butong was more than just a blacksmith . It was like how Xie Zheng wasn’t able to find out Leng Yu’s background . There were some things he wouldn’t be able to find out . Even Mister Mo was just known as a regular papercutting artist . .
After Xie Zheng left, Mu Yi didn’t waste any time and walked towards Ten Li Palace . He hoped that Qian Butong hadn’t hidden after obtaining the imperial jade seal . It would be impossible to find him in two days if he had . Mister Mo would be in danger if he didn’t finish this quickly .
Ten Li Palace was huge and there were a lot of blacksmiths . It might not really be ten li wide, but it was at least four li wide which was already quite big .
When Mu Yi entered Ten Li Palace, he listened closely to what the people were saying . He could hear the loud sound of pumping bellows . He raised his head and saw countless chimneys with black smoke coming out of them .
There were many people on the main path . Mu Yi immediately noticed two travelers . They were leaving Ten Li Castle holding swords . They looked rather excited . It seemed that the blacksmiths of Ten Li Castle also forged weapons in addition to statues of lions and ordinary agricultural tools .
Xie Zheng had told Mu Yi that the largest and tallest chimney was where Qian Butong worked . Mu Yi didn’t need to ask for his whereabouts, he could easily find him . It was a bit strange to call the place a smithy when it looked more like a massive factory .
Since the beginning of the Westernization Movement, the Great Qing Dynasty had been absorbing knowledge from the western world . Even the secretaries of the dynasty imitated western methods . That’s why this place had become a gigantic factory, yet people continued calling it a workshop .
QIAN’S WORKSHOP was written on the top of a gigantic gate in front of a building . The building was built around a gigantic chimney . There was a steady stream of people coming in and out .
Mu Yi entered and glanced around . He noticed a lot of weapons and grey armor . A person would feel that Qian Butong was a just and honourable craftsman when seeing such things . It seemed like he was specialized in making weapons and armor for the military .
“Hey, who are you? You can’t just come in here,” someone said .
Since Mu Yi was wearing a plaited bamboo hat, he looked as if he were sneaking about . He was noticed by someone immediately . A burly fellow stepped in front of him . He was carrying a big hammer . He let his hammer fall to the ground not caring as the cement cracked .
“I came to see someone,” said Mu Yi indifferently .
He could tell that the man was putting on a show . However, it wasn’t that easy to scare Mu Yi away .
“Who are you looking for?” said the big fellow .
Once he noticed that Mu Yi didn’t have a weapon and wasn’t a loud person, he puffed his chest out a bit more .