Castle of Black Iron

At dusk, the shrine palace of Huaiyuan Palace in Embracing Tiger Mountain, Embracing Tiger City…

When Zhang Tie’s airboat arrived at Embracing Tiger Mountain, the sun was going to set. On the top of Embracing Tiger Mountain, one could see a pretty beautiful scenery——dense sunglow gradually sunk in the sea level.

The Embracing Tiger Mountain appeared pretty majestic in the sunset; especially the shrine palace of Huaiyuan Palace. In the afterglow of the sunset, the three characters Huaiyuan Palace above the gate of Shrine Palace appeared especially magnificent.

The afterglow gradually moved to the top of the gate of the shrine palace from the square outside the shrine palace, and finally went to the golden glazed tiles and auspicious beasts on the eaves of the shrine palace.

Before the afterglow moved away from the row of auspicious beasts on the top of the shrine palace, bronze cauldrons being filled with whale oil had been lit inside the shrine palace and over the square. The light inside the cauldrons brightened up the entire shrine palace.

“Elder Mushen…”, two clan deacons had come over here to greet Zhang Tie the moment he got off the airboat which was suspending above the square outside the shrine palace.

Zhang Tie came here alone, even without the accompany of Bai Suxian and Yan Feiqing. He wanted to meet Zhang Taixuan alone.

“Has clan head arrived?” Zhang Tie asked calmly when he threw a glance at the two deacons.

“Yes, clan head has already arrived. He’s waiting for Elder Mushen in the shrine palace!” a clan deacon answered respectfully.

“Deliver my order. Nobody else is allowed to approach the shrine palace tonight without my consent. I would negotiate with the clan head tonight. Anyone dared violate my order would be beheaded!” Zhang Tie said before walking towards the gate of the shrine palace.

“Yes, Elder Mushen!” the two clan deacons exchanged a glance with each other as they both felt Elder Mushen’s faint, shrill tone. Hearts pounding, they became quiet at once.

After Zhang Tie entered the shrine palace, the gate of the shrine palace had been closed from outside.

Zhang Taixuan was standing in front of the statue of Lord Huaiyuan as he watched Zhang Tie coming in with a solemn look, eyes squinting.

“I’ve heard about Miss Ma’s death. What a pity! However, now that your beloved one is already deceased, Elder Mushen, you’d better not be too grieved…” Zhang Taixuan comforted Zhang Tie.

Hearing Zhang Taixuan’s words, Zhang Tie didn’t reply at once; instead, he just walked to the front of the statue of Lord Huaiyuan. After looking up at the heroic statue, he lit 3 incenses and bowed towards it before inserting them into the censer. After that, he turned around and told Zhang Taixuan, “Indeed, I would like to pay anything I could to save her if possible; if not, we could merely do something to soothe the deceased!”

After hearing Zhang Tie’s words, a sagacious light flashed across Zhang Taixuan’s eyes. Closely after that, Zhang Taixuan turned serious as he said, “You’re right, Elder Mushen. We shouldn’t call it an end. I’ve already used 10 million gold coins to reward people who could catch those escaping members of Huang Clan, Mercury Palace, Qizhou Province and Qitian Sect; additionally, I’ve assigned some corps of elites to look for clues in Qizhou Province!”

“Thank you so much, clan head!” Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he added, “I’m especially here for negotiating about this thing with clan head!”

After hearing Zhang Tie’s words, Zhang Taixuan let out a sigh of relief at once as he revealed a smile and recovered his composure, “Elder Mushen is the pillar of Huaiyuan Palace. You’re an integral part of Huaiyuan Palace. Don’t be that polite. As long as you deliver an order, the entire Huaiyuan Palace would spearhead the efforts to do that…”

“It’s not proper. There’s something that I have to negotiate with the clan head face to face…” Zhang Tie said calmly.

Zhang Tie said as modestly as usual. Therefore, Zhang Taixuan didn’t discover anything special from Zhang Tie’s words.

“Go ahead, Elder Mushen?”

“As I’ve come from a long way. I’ve not taken supper yet. How about eating and chatting…”

“That’s fine!’ Zhang Taixuan nodded as he suggested, “How about changing a place?”

“No need. Let’s do it here. It’s much more tranquil here. Hopefully, only you and I know what I’m talking about. Therefore, no need to be that ostentatious!”

“It’s said that Elder Mushen has a great capability for liquor. Although I’ve acquainted with Elder Mushen for so long, I’ve not drunk with you alone. I will not feel regretful if I could have a drink and chat with you in the shrine palace of Huaiyuan Palace tonight…” Zhang Taixuan said straightforwardly as he took out a voice-transmitting jade plate and flicked it for three times.

Only after a short while, the gate of the shrine palace had been opened while some butlers served many trays of dishes and drink in the middle of the shrine palace before leaving there.

Watching the dishes and drink on the table, Zhang Tie took that silver flagon and made a cup of spirit for Zhang Taixuan. After that, he made one for himself. Then, he raised the cup as he looked into Zhang Taixuan’s eyes, saying, “The other elders have told me that clan head had been busy receiving people from all walks of life in Embracing Tiger Mountain and made arrangements for the sake of my event these days at your full effort. You look even more haggard than before. Therefore, I will pose a toast to appreciate you about your concerns these days…”

After saying that, Zhang Tie bottomed it up at once.

The dishes and drink were all from Embracing Tiger Mountain, which belonged to Zhang Taixuan. Even those people who served dishes and drink were Zhang Taixuan’s trusted subordinates. Of course, Zhang Taixuan believed that the dishes and drink were safe.

After the dishes and drink were served, Zhang Taixuan had been stealthily observing Zhang Tie’s movements. He found that Zhang Tie didn’t make other strange movements at all. After watching Zhang Tie making cups of drink and having a cup of drink without making any trick, Zhang Taixuan also took the cup and bottomed it up.

Closely after having a cup of drink, Zhang Taixuan’s face had frozen. Like a wooden sculpture, he became still at once as he watched Zhang Tie in a shocked manner.

Letting out a sigh, Zhang Tie twiddled with his cup as his eyes gradually turned icy, saying, “A few days ago, in Wild Lake Building, after three senior sister apprentices posed a toast to me, I had been poisoned by Soul Leave, which was colorless and tasteless. That was really irresistible. Now, the clan head, you’ve tasted the wholly new Soul Leave. How do you feel…”