Chapter 35: Bloody Past

Chapter 35: A Bloody Past

In the central district of Qingyang, Chengdu Prefecture, a strikingly conspicuous skyscraper towered into the sky.

Holographic projectors cast the image of four divine, magnificent steeds, galloping ceaselessly around the building's midsection.

This was the headquarters of the Shudao Logistics Group.

At this moment, in the East Master's office atop the tower, Gu Yong—possessing a pale, elongated face and lips as thin and sharp as knives—stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing at the holographic projections in the night sky that resembled deities.

Gu Jia, squat and sturdy as a wooden stake, stood a few paces behind Gu Yong, hands folded over his abdomen, a fawning expression plastered across his face.

"Gu Jia, what do you think that old dog is up to right now?"

Upon hearing the question, Gu Jia hurried forward in small, quick steps, looking in the direction Gu Yong's finger indicated.

It was a building of comparable height to the Shudao Logistics headquarters; countless phantasms of sharp weapons and firearms floated around its exterior, and the four large characters "Tianfu Heavy Industry" atop it were glaringly conspicuous.

Gu Jia instantly understood, chuckling with a "hehe," "Replying to the Young Master, Old Dog Wu is surely frantic with rage right now, racking his brains on how to explain things to the Main Family."

"Hahaha," Gu Yong laughed loudly at this, his face alight with an indescribable pleasure and satisfaction, "Zhao Ding played his part well; his death held value."

"He made us a tidy sum on Nine Dragons Street these past years; this year's cut, we'll give the Paoge Association half—consider it a burial gift from this Young Master."

"I'll see to it at once," Gu Jia nodded in agreement, his expression growing even more obsequious, "It is still the Young Master who is kind-hearted."

Gu Yong smiled: "Enough bootlicking. Who is the new helmsman of the Paoge Association now?"

"Kuang Qingyun, a Sequence Nine of the Soldier Path, equipped with a Strength Witch Mechanic Heart of the Witch Clan series. Limited room for advancement; he won't stir up much trouble."

Gu Jia's eyeballs rolled, his tone shifting: "However, the one who made the move this time... wasn't him."

"Oh? Then who?"

"Li Jun, a Martial Nine Madman. He was the one who snatched the goods back from the Tianzhi Association last time."

"A man of the Martial Path Sequence." Gu Yong pondered slightly, casting a meaningful glance at Gu Jia, smiling, "Looking at how eager you are, are you planning to recruit this Li Jun into your ranks?"

"Only the Young Master understands me; this lowly one's petty thoughts are seen through completely by you."

Gu Jia hurriedly laid on another thick layer of flattery, saying: "Those rats of the Tianzhi Association are rearing their heads again, and now the Wu family has lost face at our hands. I fear it won't just be the Jie'e District transactions—the whole of southern Chengdu Prefecture will be restless. Finding a capable fighter to stand at the front at a time like this will save us no small amount of trouble."

"You've thought far ahead this time."

Gu Yong praised Gu Jia with a half-hearted tone, pacing over to sit behind a massive desk. He lifted the purple clay lidded bowl on the desk, leisurely blowing on the hot steam, and asked without raising his head:

"Have you investigated Li Jun's background? Is he clean?"

Gu Jia answered with absolute conviction: "Rest assured, Young Master, his background is spotless. Otherwise, Zhao Ding wouldn't have used him as a backup against Luo Zhen, nor would he have entrusted him with that 'Spring Equinox' from the Agricultural School."

Upon hearing the words 'Spring Equinox', Gu Yong's tea-tasting motion paused for a beat. "So... he's a 'living' Martial Nine?"

Gu Jia smiled: "With that 'Spring Equinox', even if Li hasn't fully come back to life, he won't die anytime soon. And a man who's walked through the gates of hell once... he's easier to control."

Gu Yong nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on the lidded bowl suddenly flashing with thick mockery; he shook his head in a cold laugh.

"The Buddhist and Daoist sects' table manners are truly unsightly, using such an underhanded, root-severing scheme to uproot the Martial Path Sequence. These martial practitioners, one misstep onto a crooked path, and it's a dead end—life and death fading away. Without millions in treasure notes, finding a way to survive is nigh impossible."

"But nowadays, how many people who can cough up that kind of money would choose the Martial Path Sequence?" Gu Yong sighed, shaking his head to himself.

Gu Jia's face displayed a perfectly calibrated curiosity, picking up the thread of Gu Yong's words: "Why would the Buddhist and Daoist families do this?"

Gu Yong didn't answer directly, instead countering with a question: "Let me ask you—if you, Gu Jia, were a destitute commoner wanting to change your fate, what would you do?"

"Naturally, I would bury my head in books, study until my hair turned white, and strive to become a Confucian disciple!"

Gu Jia replied without the slightest hesitation, but his peripheral vision caught the disdain on the face before him, and he instantly pivoted, "However, studying relies too much on talent. A coarse man like me would choose the Martial Path Sequence; the odds are low, but at least there's a sliver of hope."

"Why not the Buddhist and Daoist families?" Gu Yong pressed.

Gu Jia froze, blurting out: "Because it's expensive! And the thresholds for those two Sequences are equally insurmountable."

"The vast majority of ordinary people think like you; the Civil and Martial Sequences are the first choice for class transcendence."

Gu Yong spoke in a deep voice: "But have you ever considered? My Great Ming Empire has hundreds of millions of subjects, yet those qualified to Break the Lock and Ascend the Sequence are but one in a thousand. Those with potential to advance further are one in ten thousand. Screened down like this, precious few remain."

"Talent is the foundation of all major Sequences, and can be viewed as a market. If the Civil and Martial families gobble up the entire market share, what is everyone else to do?"

Gu Jia was struck with sudden enlightenment; without a massive talent base, an entire Sequence would rapidly wither.

Even with population turnover, the number of people carrying that Sequence's genes would plummet, the final result being the Sequence's total extinction.

Just like the Hundred Schools of Thought that shone brilliantly a thousand years ago, only to vanish into the river of history.

A cold light flickered in Gu Yong's eyes, his words resonant: "So, eliminate one of the Civil or Martial, and the other Sequences have room to grow."

"Then why..." Gu Jia's lips moved, but at the last moment he clamped his mouth shut, swallowing the words that had risen to his tongue.

"I know what you want to ask." Gu Yong smiled faintly, "They chose to move against the Martial Path Sequence because the Martial Path and the Buddhist-Daoist sects have a Great Dao conflict."

Gu Yong lifted the tea bowl, took a sip, and spoke slowly: "Martial Path practitioners are all flesh-and-blood believers; their bodies are untainted by machinery in the slightest, claiming to 'see the divine at the peak of the fist,' believing not in gods or Buddhas, but in themselves."

"This runs almost completely counter to the Buddhist and Daoist paths, which utilize the Yellow Millet Dream to construct virtual grotto-heavens and electronic Buddha-lands, cultivating the spirit while slighting the flesh!"

"Different Great Daos, naturally incompatible as water and fire. During the Martial Path's heyday, they didn't exactly spare these two families from bullying."

"You think the Mohist Tianzhi Association bunch are true Madmen?" Gu Yong sneered disdainfully, "What they do pales in comparison to the martial husbands of sixty years ago."

"Back then, you cannot imagine how miserably the Buddhist and Daoist people were plundered by the Martial Path; the number of collapsed Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries was countless!"

"Even a saying circulated at the time: 'A Daoist's Dao Foundation is the best nutrient for expanding a Martial artist's Dantian; the Buddhist Joyous Buddha-land is their best outlet for lust.'"

"With such a conflict of interest, a conflict of the Great Dao, how could those Dao Grandmasters and Buddhist Grandmasters not roll up their sleeves and fight the martial husbands to the death?"

Gu Jia was hearing such secrets for the first time, stunned into wide-eyed silence, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"But Young Master, if the Martial Path Sequence was truly that tyrannical, how did they lose so badly?"

"Because no one wanted them alive."

Gu Yong spoke blandly: "When a giant tree falls, the earth shakes at first, but in the end, it nurtures countless weeds and fungi. The other eleven Sequences all took part; no matter how prosperous the Martial Path was, utter defeat was its only fate."

Horror filled Gu Jia's eyes; he couldn't help but marvel inwardly—in such an environment where everyone was an enemy, no wonder the title of Martial Nine was such a vicious, hostile name.

Madman.

Gu Jia's eyelid suddenly twitched, worry creeping into his voice: "Did we make a move too?"

"Just going with the flow, reaping the benefits without effort."

Gu Yong wrote it off lightly: "Besides, these past events are unknown to ordinary people; even if Li Jun knew, what could he do? What would he dare do? At most, curse his predecessors for incompetence, curse himself for entering the Martial Gate."

Gu Jia chuckled, feeling he had indeed made a mountain out of a molehill; so many martial husbands died decades ago, was there any need to fear a small fry like Li Jun?

He lowered his eyes, thinking, and seeing that Young Master Gu Yong was in a good mood for talking today, decided to ask all the questions in his heart at once.

"Young Master, I have one more doubt. Since it's already a fight to the death, why not just uproot them entirely, to prevent future troubles?"

Gu Yong's next words sent cold sweat instantly breaking out all over Gu Jia's body.

"It's not that they don't want to uproot them; it's that they can't. Before a human learns to speak, they learn to swing a fist. It's an instinct etched into the genes, impossible to erase."

"Furthermore, look at who walks the Martial Path now? Gangs, bandits, the destitute—what waves can they stir up?"

"Moreover, the Martial Path still has old monsters who haven't died. Leave a sliver of hope dangling for these people, and they won't go completely mad. After all, no one wants to be dragged down to die with them."

Gu Jia nodded repeatedly, lingering fear deep on his face.

"However, Martial Path people are indeed a fine blade. This time, I'll give Li Jun a chance."

With a snap of Gu Yong's fingers, a map depicting the entirety of Shu suddenly materialized on the massive floor-to-ceiling window. At the southwestern tip of Chengdu Prefecture, a red dot pulsed incessantly.

"Songpan Wei?" Gu Jia focused his gaze, and was instantly shocked.

Gu Yong instructed, "Word has it a decree of solace penned by the Chongzhen Emperor himself has surfaced here. Send Li Jun to retrieve it."

Gu Jia weighed the matter for a moment, then ventured cautiously, "That place is a lawless den occupied by the Western Tribes. Should we dispatch a security detail to accompany Li Jun?"

"Merely a rich man's curio. Such a trifle hardly warrants mobilizing the troops."

Gu Yong flung his wide sleeve. "Let Li Jun handle it alone. If he succeeds, I shall appoint him to fill Gu Ding's post as section chief."