Chapter Seventy: He Kun of the Imperial Capital

That was close! After entering the city, the vests of He Chen and his two companions were damp with sweat. Aside from Xu Wen, who kept blabbering on about food to draw the convoy’s attention and cleverly distract them, the three wasted no time once they left the city gate, exchanging glances and preparing to slip away.

“Oh dear,” Xu Wen exclaimed exaggeratedly as he stepped down from the carriage, pointing at a tightly shut tavern by the roadside. “Why is it closed? How infuriating! My apologies, everyone. Take this lunch as my treat; please find somewhere to eat and drink as you wish. I’ll head back first to see what’s going on.”

Under He Chen’s gaze, mingled with admiration and disdain, Xu Wen easily extricated himself with five gold coins, leaving the convoy feeling awkward and waving him off for quite some time.

“Where do we go now?” Having successfully entered the city, the trio dared not relax for a moment. All eyes turned to Xu Wen for guidance; his insight and conduct along the way had already won them over.

The town was indeed sealed by some mysterious force… All four city gates were likely controlled in the same covert manner as the one they’d just passed, and Teacher Long, who went ahead, was probably in grave danger now.

“The merchant houses of West City and the Nangong family are likely under surveillance. Let’s go to the merchant house of the Hortonklin family. As a minor family, no one pays them much mind, and I can send word through our own people.”

“Agreed!” All three nodded in unison. It was a sound plan—strangers entering the merchant houses of prominent families could arouse suspicion, but locals went unnoticed.

...

In the towns near the imperial capital, the Hortonklin family played a minor role, almost insignificant amidst the gathering of great clans. Their alchemy shop was plain and unremarkable, blending into the background.

Four youths filed in, catching the attention of a rather ordinary-looking maid, who immediately came forward.

“May I help you...?”

Xu Wen glanced around the empty hall, frowning slightly. The business here must be quite bleak.

“We’re family. Take me to see the steward.” He flashed a silver family emblem and gave instructions.

The maid was startled and fell silent, handing the hall off to another maid and respectfully leading the four into the inner chambers and upstairs.

They had barely reached the second-floor landing when a cold, aged voice sounded from above. “Yu girl, don’t you know I don’t receive guests at this hour? If you ruin my alchemy, can you afford to pay for it?” Clearly, the footsteps had prompted the outburst.

The maid paled and turned to speak, but Xu Wen’s nose twitched and he retorted, “Is the Three-Star Xuanhuang Pill more important, or is the survival of our Hortonklin family?”

His words hung in the air, silencing the upper floor.

When the group reached the top, the old alchemist at his furnace had already stopped his work. His gaze swept rapidly over the four, settling on Xu Wen with a grave expression. “I’d like to see what could threaten the survival of our family! If you can’t explain, prepare to compensate me for a hundred batches of Xuanhuang Pills.”

“The El family, the Salem family, have joined the Dark Empire. The undead army has invaded the imperial capital. This **** town also seems to be secretly controlled. Is that enough for you to leave your thirty-gold-piece Xuanhuang Pill?”

“Ah!” The maid who had brought them up gasped, covering her mouth and staring at Xu Wen in disbelief. Each piece of news was more shocking than the last.

If Xu Wen hadn’t revealed the steward’s emblem from his ring, the old man was already poised to use the ‘Hand of the Fire God’ to toss them out the window.

“Absurd!” The old man scowled, refusing to believe it. The boy holding the steward’s emblem was barely fifteen or sixteen, and his cultivation level was only at the first star… Had the family’s younger generation fallen so far?

Xu Wen bristled with anger. The authority of an inner steward outweighed that of an outer steward!

He was about to snap when someone hurried out from behind him, speaking urgently, “I am a third-year student at Qingyun Academy. Perhaps you’ve heard of the He family from the capital—my father, He Kun, serves as the commander of the Imperial Guard. These two are descendants of the West City and Nangong families.”

“We were personally teleported out by the academy’s dean before the five-colored barrier was breached. Now, a large group of students is trapped fifteen miles away in the forest. Time is of the essence. I hope you can send someone with our tokens to our families' merchant houses to deliver the news that the capital is besieged. Any further delay spells disaster for the capital and our empire!”

West City Shusheng and Nangong Xueyan, perfectly coordinated, presented their golden family emblems to bolster their plea.

Yu girl’s face turned ashen; she was too shocked to speak.

The old man involuntarily drew a sharp breath, eyeing Xu Wen’s grim expression. “The capital is protected by tenfold barriers and guarded by magi. How could it be breached so quickly?” He still struggled to believe it.

But in the next instant…

Xu Wen conjured a fireball in his palm, its color shifting from dark red to purple-red, then purple-blue, and finally deep blue!

The deeper the fire mage’s spiritual power, the higher the grade, and the flames they could command grew darker! Only a four-star fire mage could summon deep blue flames!

The old man’s eyes widened in disbelief… Such a young four-star fire mage? An inner steward of the family?

Xu Wen gave him no time for further nonsense, speaking coldly, “It seems you truly are old, your mind filled with trivialities and gossip after years of quiet town life. Stop testing my patience and the fate of the Hortonklin family with your age and empty words! As Elder Xu’s adopted grandson and inner steward, I order you: send our tokens to the West City and Nangong family merchant houses at once, inform them of the situation, and urge them to contact the six great families to seize control of **** town!”

Xu Wen’s authoritative command left the outer steward’s face alternately pale and flushed.

Staring at the unmistakable deep blue flame and inner steward emblem in Xu Wen’s hand, his gaze flickered ceaselessly.

At last, the old steward gritted his teeth and walked over to a table in the room.

He hastily penned a letter, then turned to Yu girl. “Go downstairs and give this letter to Qiao girl. Have her deliver it to the Nangong family merchant house immediately—no delays, hurry and return. And not a word to her about what you just heard.”

Yu girl nodded solemnly, took the sealed letter and West City Shusheng’s token, and hurried downstairs.

Once she was gone, Xu Wen withdrew his magic and bowed deeply to the old steward. “This is a matter of utmost urgency. I truly have no time to explain in detail. I apologize for any offense just now and hope you can forgive me.”

Steward He scrutinized Xu Wen, then waved his hand. “Just call me Old He. You’re right, lad. I’ve spent a lifetime as a nobody in this small town; the ambitions of my youth have long faded, leaving only these old bones and, perhaps as you said, nothing else.” Suddenly, he seemed much older, his face deeply wrinkled and worn. “But if I can wake up once more before I die, I should thank you for it. Come!”

With that, Old He stood and shared a bit of good news with the four. “Let’s visit the city guard commander’s residence! After living most of my life in this little place, I know well whether he has the guts to collude with the Dark Empire.”