Death… and me

"Lan Xiang, come here and help me massage my temple." Tie Bu Tian said as he sighed.

Although it might have seemed as though Tie Bu Tian already knew Lan Xiang was there, she knew that when he was in such a state, he wouldn't have been able to perceive her presence. This was simply because of who Tie Bu Tian was. He would simply never show weakness to anyone!

As Tie Bu Tian raised his head to look at Lan Xiang, his eyes straight away returned to their usual glamour and brightness as though it was all along like that. The aura that came from him returned to that of the reigning Prince Tie Bu Tian and his original splendor of before!

Lan Xiang realised this and walked towards him gracefully as she thought to herself "The prince is already feeling exhausted! What can I do to make him feel a little better?"

However, after Tie Bu Tian laid down for a while he suddenly got up as he remembered something. He concentrated as his forehead creased and thought before saying, "Send someone to see if Miss Wu Qian Qian and Bao Kuang Lei of Beyond the Heavens Sect are asleep. If they aren't, ask them to come to me."

All of a sudden, he remembered Du Shi Qing mentioning something earlier that day in which he referred to Chu Yang as an expelled disciple of Beyond the Heavens Sect!

Tie Bu Tian was confused by the words "expelled disciple" as he believed that an individual like Chu Yang would have been a prominent character in whichever sect he was. It made more sense that a sect would pour all its resources into keeping and nurturing such a talent. Why would he be kicked out of the sect?

I have interacted with Beyond the Heavens Sect's Master, Wu Yun Liang many times before and I am sure that he would be able to recognise his talent and try his best to keep him! Could there be a hidden conspiracy or some secret behind this?

Lan Xiang hesitated for a moment and politely replied, "Yes."

At this time, Tie Bu Tian lay down once again. His white cloak covering every single part of his body as he lay down.

It wasn't long before two individuals, Bao Kuang Lei and Wu Qian Qian arrived.

After a long time, as he looked at Bao Kuang Lei and Wu Qian Qian leaving, Tie Bu Tian seemed to be in deep thought as he lay back down.

From Bao Kuang Lei and Wu Qian Qian's description of Chu Yang, he was not the same individual that Du Shi Qing had talked about! As for what happened between Chu Yang and the sect about his discharge, perhaps both of them were unaware of the entire story. The only news from the sect was that Chu Yang had killed his elder martial brother and violated the laws of Beyond the Heavens sect. However, given that, the fact that he was not executed on the spot was extremely lenient!

Tie Bu Tian frowned slightly. A very long time after, he muttered something under his breath, "This Chu Yang is extremely interesting." His voice was so low that, other than himself, no one else would have heard it.

…

Chu Yang entered the citadel and the impression of his face changed slightly. He walked straight before turning into a narrow alley. After which he took two sharp turns. However, the moment he emerged from the citadel, he looked almost like a completely different person. He had a slightly hunched back and looked as though he was thirty years old as he had a mean expression on his face.

Every single step was perfectly imitated; he was just like a real hunchback.

It wasn't because he didn't want to be recognised by Tie Bu Tian's people but rather it was because he wanted to earn some capital before they found him. After all, if he wanted to raise his status, he required not only power but also money!

Thus, Chu Yang decided that if he was going to complete his mission, he would do it well! He began to use his money-making tactics in broad daylight. However, his methods were a little unscrupulous…

The main reason behind Diwu Qing Rou's desire to conquer the Iron Cloud Nation was because of its large amount of iron mines. Moreover, most of these iron mines were of an extremely high quality! This was one of the Iron Cloud Nation's sources of income and the reason they could afford to be so extravagant to the extent that even ordinary foot soldiers had arrows made of high-grade steel.

Even though Great Zhao was wealthy as a nation, their soldier's arrows were made of wood with only its tip being made from steel.

Moreover, the Iron Cloud nation was located at the border of the grassland which belonged to the north. Its citizens were naturally strong and sturdy fighters. Therefore, if the nation of Great Zhao did not take over Iron Cloud Nation first, they would feel uneasy about their situation solely due to the military might of the Iron Cloud Nation.

As Chu Yang exited from a narrow alleyway, he ran into a stout man who happened to be walking by.

This guy had a chubby face, large ears and womanising eyes which were constantly glancing here and there. His clothes weren't very fancy and he walked slightly awkwardly. This made him seem like an individual which was not very difficult to deal with. In addition, apart from ogling at young ladies, he tended to avoid other people; which revealed that he had a cowardly personality and afraid of trouble…

Chu Yang walked swiftly and grabbed the fat man's sleeve. He then turned almost immediately back into the narrow alley, dragging the man along with him.

The speed of Chu Yang's actions was so fast that it looked as though there was a flash which made the fat man suddenly vanish into thin air.

This man was so frightened and caught off guard that he started shaking in terror and begged softly stuttering between words, "Great man, please I have an old mother and young children, this… this…"

"What this and that!" Chu Yang glared intently and yelled, "Do you know who am I? I am none other than Five Flower Mountain's Ma Tuo Zi from outside the citadel. Today I entered the citadel intending to do business. I liked the way you looked so I wanted to show you how to make a lot of money!"

"Five Flower Mountain… Ma Tuo Zi?" The fat man shivered in fear as he looked at Chu Yang's 'hunched back', slowly he spoke, stammering word by word "oh.. Great… great man, there is no Five Flower Mountain outside the citadel…" almost fainting in terror.

"Blop!" Chu Yang slapped him and continued, "You don't need to worry whether or not there is a Five Flower Mountain or not. I have a simple question for you. Do you want to live or die?"

"Live, my lord, I want to live. Please don't kill me." The fat man answered in desperation.

"Quickly tell me everything you know about Iron Cloud Citadel!" Chu Yang said in a thundering voice. "If you leave out anything at all, I will make sure your fat will be used as oil for my lamp!" As he finished his sentence, he clasped his hands together, cracking his joints. The cracking sound coupled with the intense gaze of Chu Yang frightened the man, scaring him witless.

It was no brainer that he needed to have a clear picture of Iron Cloud Citadel.

The fat man sat paralyzed on the ground. The tears and snot ran down his face. This was accompanied by a foul smell as a wet patch began to appear on his pants.

An hour passed, and Chu Yang quickly stepped out of the narrow alley with his hand on his nose. He moved quite a distance away before taking in big breaths of the clean air.

Oh dear, I almost died from the smell! That was really stinky.

Later on during the conversation, that fat man, likely due to his fear and anxiety caused him to begin farting non-stop while talking as he shivered. This made Chu Yang extremely annoyed because of the disgusting smell.

Even though this fat man was not well educated, he was familiar with Iron Cloud Citadel

He had given Chu Yang a very detailed breakdown of the area and its people. This included the smallest details about who's daughter was particularly well endowed or which maid was exceedingly flirty or which lady was beautiful… all of which he told Chu Yang with great detail.

"That girl's skin is white as ivory, the body has beautiful curves in front and back, that lady has seductive almond eyes…"

The different socioeconomic boundaries of town areas which included which house had a lot of money or power… The citadel was being divided into clear areas, where the business district was inside the citadel and the mines were outside the citadel…

Which house should not be messed with, which house should be avoided, etc.

Hearing everything made Chu Yang dizzy. Finally, following the fat man's direction, he went out to buy a map.

The moment he was a good distance away, that fat man shakily stood up on his two fat legs. Like a weak willow in the wind, he leaned on the wall. After that, with dripping pants, he ran. Wherever he went, a foul stench followed, making everyone hold their nose and look in surprise…