Discussing Matters

"Shirakawa Clan—Japanese!"

Gu Xuanwu’s brows furrowed, and his tone toward Gu Sheng turned cold. "Old Zhang, you should know my temper, right? Do you think I’d be the kind of person to ask the Japanese for help?

"We Chinese solve our own problems. Even if I’m killed by that so-called Ghost, I still won’t ask the Japanese for help."

Gu Xuanwu was different from his son, Gu Ji. Like most warlords of the Republic of China, he didn’t care how fiercely his own people fought among themselves, but outsiders who wanted to interfere could get lost—and the Japanese could get lost even farther away.

"You’ve misunderstood me. When did I say we should ask them for help?"

Gu Sheng remained perfectly composed. After obtaining one Bronze Mirror, he had become increasingly greedy and had grown interested in the other Bronze Mirror that dealt with demons. After all, they were a pair of Mystic Items, and their power would be even greater when combined.

"My ancestors had some influence, so I know a few secrets. Old Gu, you should understand that a capable Sorcerer isn’t easy to cultivate. Just look at Qingyun Temple. They aren’t lacking in talented disciples, ancient texts, or experts, yet their Sorcerer lineage still ended up broken."

Gu Sheng continued, "The most important thing about becoming a Sorcerer is cultivating magical power. Society wasn’t as developed in the past, and magical power could accomplish many things, so there may have been more Sorcerers back then than there are now.

"In this day and age, are airplanes, steamships, cannons, and Fire Guns not all more powerful than magical power? On top of that, many Sorcerers are solitary wanderers, so their inheritances have serious problems. As a result, very few people can cultivate magical power now.

"But the Shirakawa Clan is different. Every generation of theirs can cultivate magical power, which is why they enjoy such a lofty reputation in Japan. Do you know why? It’s because they possess a treasure—a treasure specifically meant to deal with demons.

"This treasure can seal demons, monsters, and ghosts. It can also use those evil entities to increase its owner’s magical power. That’s why every generation of the Shirakawa Clan produces capable people, and why they take a greater interest in evil entities than ordinary Sorcerers do."

"You mean…"

Gu Xuanwu had some idea of what Gu Sheng was getting at, but he still wasn’t entirely certain.

"Release the news and let them turn on each other!"

Gu Sheng sneered. "Have someone contact Shirakawa Trading Company. Tell them you’ve learned that the Shirakawa Clan has always wanted to seal a powerful demon, and that you know where one is. As for the price…

"Have them provide a batch of weapons. Japanese-made goods may be inferior in performance to others, but they’re still better than those made by some of our domestic Arsenals. If you’re feeling ambitious, ask them directly for a Weapon Production Line and have them help build an Arsenal."

"Will they agree?"

Gu Xuanwu swallowed. Although he had principles, Gu Sheng’s proposal was simply too tempting. A Weapon Production Line, an Arsenal—good heavens, if he got those things, wouldn’t Commander Gu become Marshal Gu?

In this era, high-end facilities like Arsenals were exceedingly rare across the Central Plains. To put it bluntly, if you had an Arsenal you could defend, your territory definitely wouldn’t be small.

"Whether they agree or not doesn’t matter. It’s only one condition. It’ll be great if they agree, but even if they don’t, what does it matter? We can still extort a batch of weapons from them. We won’t lose anything, will we?"

Gu Sheng spoke casually. He had only mentioned the Arsenal in passing. The Japanese had indeed helped warlords build Arsenals in China.

"But that was in Northeast China. Japan had long been planning to make a move against the Northeast. Their help in building industry for the Northeastern Army was entirely for the sake of making their future invasion of China easier. Judging by the later Great War, they achieved most of what they wanted."

"True. We haven’t even met them yet, so why am I worrying about this?"

Gu Xuanwu gave an awkward laugh, but after sitting down, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. "Wait, Old Zhang, you’ve led me right into a ditch! I just said we shouldn’t seek help from the Japanese, and now you’re having me slap myself in the face!

"Besides, the Japanese aren’t easy to deal with. Once we let them in, how are we going to get rid of them? You also said that the Shirakawa Clan has Sorcerers. How could people like that be easy to deal with? It’ll be easy to invite them in but hard to send them away!"

Gu Sheng sneered. "Send them away? Why should we send them away? Do you think they’ll be able to leave after touching that thing?"

"Gulp!"

Gu Xuanwu swallowed dryly. "What do you mean? Didn’t you say they were capable of dealing with what’s in my residence? So you were just messing with me? The Shirakawa Clan can’t deal with it after all?"

"A Ghost is naturally easy enough to deal with, but did I ever say there was only a Ghost in your residence?"

Gu Sheng glanced at Gu Xuanwu. "The Ghost in your residence’s courtyard is merely a gatekeeper. There’s something even more powerful sealed by an expert inside. I don’t know what it is, but killing the Shirakawa Clan’s people won’t be a problem."

"Wait, what did you say? There’s something even more powerful? Damn!"

Gu Xuanwu instantly bristled. "So it’s a haunted house! I was wondering why that fellow had been so quick to sell it! You get what you pay for. No wonder buying that place for a single Little Yellow cost me so dearly."

"Wait, you just said there’s something even more powerful, but it’s sealed?"

Only now did Gu Xuanwu realize the implications. "When you said the Shirakawa Clan’s people wouldn’t be able to return, you were serious? You’re not planning to release the thing inside, are you? Do you even know what it is? If you let it out, won’t something terrible happen?"

Gu Sheng feigned composure. "I don’t know, but whatever’s inside won’t have trouble killing the Shirakawa Clan’s people. As for how we’ll clean up afterward, I haven’t thought about it yet."

Gu Sheng was telling the truth. Yue Qiluo certainly wouldn’t have trouble killing the Shirakawa Clan’s people, but the most important thing was figuring out how to keep that old lady from causing trouble. That hundred-year-old pretty little girl was not someone who was easy to reason with.

"Good grief, could you stop talking so calmly about something that could get people killed? You’re even joking about it."

Gu Xuanwu was so angry that he laughed. "How about we think this through some more? We lure the Shirakawa Clan’s people here and have them deal with the Ghost. Once they get what they want, we let them leave. We’ll reason with them if we can. If that doesn’t work, we’ll think of another way to drive them away. Only if we have no other choice will we release the thing in the residence. That would be better."

"No need to go to all that trouble!"

Gu Sheng smiled, then looked at Gu Xuanwu with an inscrutable gaze. "Since you think releasing the thing in the residence is unsafe, there’s another way. Do you know Pig Head Mountain? I heard there’s gold inside!"

"Uh…"

Gu Xuanwu’s expression became flustered, and he spoke unnaturally. "What are you talking about? Pig Head Mountain? How could anyone possibly have hidden gold in a place like that?"

A storm raged in Gu Xuanwu’s heart. What kind of place was Pig Head Mountain? Wasn’t it where he had hidden gold in case he ever fell on hard times, so he could use it to make a comeback? There was gold there, certainly, but he, Gu Mengmeng, had personally hidden it after making his fortune. He hadn’t entrusted the task to anyone else. How had this news leaked?