Chapter 78: To Trade Information
Hui Yue stood outside a heavy wooden door, waiting patiently as his guide had just went into the room to announce his presence. The room belonged to Lord Rong Liang, and it was his office where he dealt with everything to do with running the city.
Hui Yue spent three days of his ten days of rest to settle into his new mansion, although the majority of his time was spent within the back garden where he trained his skills and refined essence into Qi.
The refining process was important as Hui Yue needed to rush into the Master rank as soon as possible, yet he knew that if he stopped refining his Qi as purely as he always had to quicken his breakthrough, then his entire cultivation base would have been a waste up until now.
Although Hui Yue had absorbed immense amounts of essence and he could now refine Qi much faster than ever before, he still knew that he was not going to break into the Master rank in ten days. This resulted in him seeking out the City Lord, hoping that the man could give him some useful information.
Looking at the situation, Hui Yue had gone so far as to hire guards to look after his home. All of these guards were Master ranked and this decision took much consideration. Hui Yue hated to admit that he was too weak to deal with his own situation, yet there was nothing he could do as rushing his refinement was a no go.
Hui Yue’s only option right now was to get information about the Silent Raven and act on it. He had previously asked Gao Yan to see whether or not his network had ever heard about such a group, yet no matter how many people they talked to, no one knew anything, not even when a reward of one spirit coin was offered.
Looking at the heavy wooden door in front of Hui Yue, he could not help but sigh, as he knew this was his only chance to solve the problem on his own. He could allow Lan Feng to come out and deal with the man, yet that decision was just as risky.
If Lan Feng were to deal with this problem, he would obviously leave traces behind, and by analyzing those traces people would be capable of determining that they came from a Saint ranked expert. What Hui Yue could not currently afford was to have people believing these big events were happening because of him.
It was not only because of the risks that Hui Yue so far had refused Lan Feng’s help. Hui Yue was a proud person, and he wished to progress on his own, to evolve through the hardships he faced. It was, however, true that last time he was almost done for, but Hui Yue knew that currently only one assassin was after him, and using Velocity Flow it would be possible for him to escape.
Unfortunately, the bearded assassin was obviously very clever, and it was likely that he would set up some traps for Hui Yue in the future.
While Hui Yue was in deep thought the heavy wooden door opened and the guide appeared, bowing slightly to Hui Yue and gestured for the white-haired boy to enter.
Hui Yue dragged himself back from his thoughts and he quickly gave a polite nod to the person who had guided him all this way before he entered the room.
Looking around, Hui Yue was gobsmacked to see that everything was tidy. No documents were placed randomly on the desk and everything was placed neatly in boxes. There was not a speck of dust anywhere and even the floors were sparkling clean.
Lord Rong Liang had a scroll in his hands which he gently wrapped up with the greatest care and precision before he placed it next to the other documents in a straight line.
“This is quite the surprise.” Rong Liang said, as he gestured for Hui Yue to take a seat. The two of them had not had much interaction with one another and Hui Yue would usually avoid Rong Liang whenever he had the chance to do so. Yet both of them were considered friends, or allies, and Hui Yue had no one else to turn to so he was ready to gamble.
“I am sorry for intruding like this.” Hui Yue started, as he instantly knew what he could do to convince the City Lord. “I need some information, but I don’t expect for you to part with it for free.” Hui Yue had a theatrical pause before he continued, “I’ll give you the tools to clean the city. This is a way to avoid having a foul smell even in the poor areas. I’ll even toss in a way to make your roads much more stable and you will be able to avoid them turning muddy during the rainy season.”
Hearing all those promises, Lord Rong Liang’s eyes narrowed, as though he felt that a trap was being set for him. “What information do you need?” He asked hesitantly. Although he was on guard, the promised information truly was tempting.
“What is Silent Raven?” Hui Yue had no intention of beating around the bush. He had already thrown out his bait for Lord Rong Liang, and the longer it took for him to get to the subject, the harder it would be for the middle-aged man to agree.
As soon as the words escaped Hui Yue’s lips, Lord Rong Liang stiffened and his eyes were filled with shock, yet after only a few moments he calmed both his body and his soul, appearing as if he had never been shocked in the first place.
“How do you know about them?” Lord Rong Liang asked, this time he was following every expression on Hui Yue’s face trying to determine if he was lying.
“I don’t know much.” Hui Yue said while shrugging his shoulders, “I overheard you at the housewarming party when you spoke with a bearded man, and I got curious.”
Looking at Hui Yue, Rong Liang was able to tell that the boy was indeed not lying, causing him to grumble slightly. If this was true, then telling the boy about the Silent Raven should not be too troublesome, but somehow the older man felt that although Hui Yue was not lying, he was not telling the entire story either.
“Are you sure that you can come up with a way to remove all the filth in my city?” Rong Liang finally asked, his eyes slightly red, due to his excitement. Rong Liang hated filth. He especially hated how some areas of his beloved city were mired in filth. Currently people would dump all their crap at specific locations throughout the city, yet the stench was unbearable and Rong Liang had long looked for a way to remove it and improve the situation.
Rong Liang was not stupid. He knew that Hui Yue had a secret, but he did not know what that secret was. He was, however, aware that it was Hui Yue who taught the insurance policies to the Ma family and because of this it was obvious that Hui Yue had an amazing idea in mind.
Having seen that Hui Yue guaranteed that he would be capable of coming up with an idea concerning the filth, Rong Liang heaved a heavy sigh as he gave a slight nod.
Hui Yue understood that the best senario was to give Rong Liang his information first and then get the answers afterwards. Lord Rong Liang was after all a City Lord, and he would never go back on his word, therefore Hui Yue pulled out three memory stones which he placed on the desk in front of him.
Frowning Lord Rong Liang moved them slightly so that they were all in line in the exact middle of the table, before he picked them up one at a time and allowed for the information to flood into his brain.
The first memory stone which Rong Liang used made him gape in astonishment as he saw the blueprints of a whole city sewer system falling into place. These sewers would make everything Hui Yue had promised possible, and their structure was extremely simple, it could be implemented within a few days as long as there was enough Earth affinity cultivators available.
Putting down the stone, Lord Rong Liang had to admit that the results were far above anything he had expected. As soon as he grabbed the second stone, he found the recipe to create concrete like the kind used in ancient Rome. This recipe was of no use to Hui Yue, as he never planned on getting into construction so instead he handed it over to Rong Liang, so that he could get rid of the dusty roads which were currently the menace of everyone in the city. During hot days dust would rise from the streets while wet days would make everything soaked in mud.
These two memory stones were already of great importance to Rong Liang, yet there was one more memory stone. As he sucked in a deep breath and steeled himself for what earth shattering idea could possibly be waiting for him.
Grasping the third memory stone with his hands and slowly placing it against his forehead, Rong Liang’s face twisted as the information streamed into his brain, painting elaborate blueprints of an underwater system where the trash of the city would be burnt and the heat used to fuel a steam engine.
Yet something was missing. It was as though the blueprints lacked the one detail to make them complete. The last bit to allow for Rong Liang to truly understand what a steam engine was.
Seeing that Rong Liang was sprouting a confused expression, Hui Yue smirked.
“I will provide you with the missing parts as soon as you give me the information I need on Silent Raven.” Rong Liang could not help but allow for a wry smile to appear on his face, as he would have done the exact same thing if he were in Hui Yue’s place.
Hui Yue had offered him a way to remove the filth which was what the sewers accomplished. He had offered a way to get rid of the muddy streets which was solved by the concrete.
Yet this last invention… This steam engine was without a doubt the real investment. Looking at the broken information he already had, Rong Liang was certain that even he would approve of this particular technological marvel.
“The Silent Raven is an organisation of assassins. Officially they are an independent and frowned upon organisation, but the truth is that they are working under the Royal Family’s direct orders. Being an assassin’s’ organization they also take on private assassinations much like the one currently on your head.”
“You knew?” Hui Yue sighed, and Rong Liang nodded his head saying, “When I met old beardy at your place I knew he was there for his task. I must say that I am quite astonished by your ability to stay alive.”
“Tell me some more about the Silent Raven.” Hui Yue sighed. To think that it was a royal assassin who was after him. It was truly a pain to have to deal with an assassin of that caliber.
“To become a Silent Raven one must be at least Master ranked. Upon joining the Ravens one must go through a hellish training period, before they are allowed to take on missions. Although old beardy is only a nine-star Master ranked cultivator, he is able to get rid of cultivators whom are even Grandmaster ranked.”
Hearing the words Rong Liang said, Hui Yue sneered slightly. If the bearded assassin had been a simple Master ranked cultivator, Hui Yue would have had no problem fighting him, yet this man was much more challenging to deal with.
Excitement grew within Hui Yue, as he started to consider which options he had and a few plans started to sprout in his mind. The previously worried eyes turned bright and a smile plastered his face. Hui Yue knew what to do with the man.
Flicking his hand, Hui Yue withdrew another memory stone which he threw to Lord Rong Liang before he clasped his hands and left the office.
Left behind in the office was Rong Liang who quickly grasped the memory stone and placed it to his forehead before he completely stilled, shock evident in his eyes.
After learning the information in this memory stone Rong Liang looked at it in his hand and immediately crushed it to pieces, before he sent for a servant to bring all the information he had about the mines producing magical gems.