Heading to Hot Springs Villa

"Hehe~ Who said anyone was hiding gold? I said there was gold inside—a gold mine."

Gu Sheng looked at Gu Xuanwu, whose face was inexplicably tense and who did not dare meet his eyes. A trace of cold laughter rose in his heart. Gu Xuanwu appeared to trust Zhang Xianzong, and he was indeed very good to him, but he had still held something back. Otherwise, he would not have escaped with his life from Zhang Xianzong in the original story.

In this warlord-ridden Republican era, the banners on the city walls changing hands was nothing unusual. In this age, whoever was the commander became the local ruler. Anyone who believed they had the ability would not willingly serve beneath another.

Although Gu Xuanwu trusted Zhang Xianzong, he was also very wary of his subordinates rebelling. This could be seen from how he had investigated through the night after learning that the weapons had been stolen. He was extremely sensitive about certain matters.

Gu Xuanwu guarded against his subordinates, while the original Zhang Xianzong had never thought highly of Gu Xuanwu either. He felt that Gu Xuanwu was nothing but a good-for-nothing. From his manner of speech to his actions, Zhang Xianzong felt that he was more suited to be commander, which was why he had secretly plotted a rebellion.

Of course, that had been the original Zhang Xianzong’s thinking. In Gu Sheng’s view, Gu Xuanwu bore no small amount of responsibility for their relationship eventually turning hostile. One could make out a few things from what Gu Xuanwu said later, when Zhang Xianzong married his Eighth Concubine.

"She’s only an Eighth Concubine. Once your brother’s in a good mood after a while, I’ll get you a Ninth Concubine, a Tenth Concubine…"

Hearing such words was genuinely hurtful. Gu Xuanwu and Zhang Xianzong had grown up together as brothers, yet now one was the commander and the other his second-in-command. There were distinctions between master and servant, and some things could never return to how they had been.

Zhang Xianzong was very particular about how he addressed Gu Xuanwu. "Commander" was how he addressed him in public. Gu Xuanwu truly treated Zhang Xianzong well, giving him many things and even saying, "We’re brothers. What’s mine is yours." But he had never considered what Zhang Xianzong might think.

Gu Xuanwu believed that being good to Zhang Xianzong meant giving him women. Zhang Xianzong, however, saw it as an insult. Words like "When your brother’s happy, I’ll get you one!" carried the implication of superiority. Yet Gu Xuanwu would occasionally say, "What’s mine is yours." Over time, Zhang Xianzong’s thoughts changed.

Zhang Xianzong was a warlord too, and he had ambitions of his own. Military power, weapons, and military funds were what he truly wanted. To a warlord, ordinary women were merely cheap commodities—just look at the Tianjin Marshal’s attitude toward his concubines. What exactly was the point of sending him women?

"A gold mine! There’s a gold mine on Pig Head Mountain? That’s impossible!"

Gu Xuanwu came back to his senses from his distraction. He had concealed the matter of Pig Head Mountain from his brother Zhang Xianzong, so he had been extremely nervous about whether Zhang Xianzong knew something. But then Gu Sheng had mentioned a gold mine, leaving him completely baffled. When he had hidden the gold back then, he had searched many places on Pig Head Mountain. Could there really be a gold mine there?

"There is indeed a gold mine."

Gu Sheng said firmly, "But its location is extremely problematic. It’s a dead end. There’s a huge creature inside that eats anything and everything. Once you go in, you won’t be coming back out."

"Gasp~ Are you saying there’s—there’s—there’s an Evil Spirit?"

Gu Xuanwu broke into a cold sweat. There was an Evil Spirit on Pig Head Mountain? And he had wandered around blindly for so long when hiding the gold that day!

"Mm-hmm. Otherwise, why wouldn’t I tell you about Pig Head Mountain?"

Gu Sheng smiled. Before Zhang Xianzong and Gu Xuanwu had turned against each other, their relationship had truly been excellent. It would not have been an exaggeration to say that they had grown up sharing the same pair of trousers. "However, the thing inside isn’t an Evil Spirit. It’s something even more troublesome than the one sealed in your residence.

"Even a powerful Sorcerer can deal with the thing in your residence. But the one on Pig Head Mountain? No matter how powerful you are, it won’t help. It isn’t an Evil Spirit at all, so exorcising it is practically useless. Trying to subdue it would be suicide. Lead the Shirakawa Clan inside, and there’ll be no return!"

The thing stored in the Ghost Cave beside the gold mine on Pig Head Mountain was the ancient beast Taotie, a creature from this world. In the second story, it became Xiao Dingmao, who had sealed Yue Qiluo within himself. It was an ancient beast without any weakness, and only overwhelming strength could subdue it.

The reason it was captured by Gu Ji in the second story was that it had swallowed Yue Qiluo but could not digest her. Once Wu Xin’s blood touched it, Yue Qiluo would make trouble, preventing it from displaying much of its strength.

"That sounds even more dangerous!"

Gu Xuanwu’s face turned green. "According to what you’re saying, the thing on Pig Head Mountain is more powerful than the one in my residence, and it isn’t even an Evil Spirit. No Sorcerer can deal with it. What are we supposed to do if it gets lured out?"

"What are you worried about?"

Gu Sheng laughed. "Since I made this decision, I naturally have my reasons. The one inside Pig Head Mountain has some problems of its own and has been trapped in a deep sleep. Although the people of the Shirakawa Clan are powerful, they don’t have the ability to awaken it."

Gu Sheng had considered this carefully. The Shirakawa Family that Shirakawa Rin belonged to relied on the ancient monster-suppressing Bronze Mirror passed down by Bai Liuli. For more than a thousand years, they had subdued and suppressed countless monsters. The owner of the ancient mirror could use its contracts to control and harness these demons, ghosts, and monsters to increase their magical power.

But there was a problem as well. Not every generation of the Shirakawa Clan could suppress every evil entity. Take the later Shirakawa Rin, for example. Overconfident, he provoked Shuten-dōji, the leader of the demon clan in Tōei territory. In the end, the Bronze Mirror was destroyed, and he became a half-human, half-Evil Spirit monster.

Shirakawa Rin in the television series was very young, and Gu Sheng was not certain of his true age. After all, he was someone who had cultivated magical power, and Gu Sheng did not know whether he was the current owner of the ancient mirror.

But it did not matter whether it was him or not. No matter which member of the Shirakawa Family came, facing Taotie, Yue Qiluo, Wu Xin, and the ill-intentioned Gu Sheng, they were doomed to meet a miserable end.

"Really? You’re not lying to me? The thing inside Pig Head Mountain won’t wake up?"

Gu Xuanwu was still somewhat nervous and wanted to confirm it again from Gu Sheng.

"Really. It won’t wake up that easily. Even if it does, it may not cause any major trouble."

Gu Sheng answered irritably. A Taotie that had awakened was safer than one that had not. The sleeping one was simply a glutton that ate anything and everything, with no way to communicate at all. Once awake, it could actually communicate and was easier to get along with than before. Hadn’t Xiao Dingmao left Wu Xin alone as well?

"All right. We’ve had our drinks and eaten our fill. It’s getting late, and Daimei and I still have to hurry to Hot Springs Villa, so we won’t stay. Old Gu, you should think carefully about how to arrange what I told you."

As Gu Sheng spoke, he pulled up Liu Daimei’s novel. After calling out to Gu Xuanwu, he stood and left.

"Hey! Old Zhang~"

Gu Xuanwu froze for a moment, but by the time he called out again, Gu Sheng and Liu Daimei had already stepped out of the private room. He stretched out a hand but said nothing more, then sat back down.

"Giddy-up~"

The carriage set off again. In the slightly bumpy carriage, Gu Sheng rested his head on Liu Daimei’s slender thigh, enjoying the gentle pressure and massage of her small hands against his temples.

"He was lying!"

Liu Daimei gently eased the soreness around Gu Sheng’s temples. Then, all of a sudden, she added, "Gu Xuanwu lied to you. When you mentioned Pig Head Mountain, his reaction was very strange."