abnabooks Chapter 37 Secret Preparations
Chapter 37 Secret Preparations
Chen Ye looked at Su Guang and asked, "Brother Su, I need a poison, preferably one triggered by scent, with enough potency to incapacitate a Dragon Elephant Martial Master. You've been with the Feng family for eight years; have you ever heard of such a thing?"
Su Guang pondered for a moment, then frowned slightly and said, "When I was following the Third Young Master, I had dealings with the 'Medicine Gang' a few times and got to know some old acquaintances in the medicinal herb industry."
They said there's a poison called "Datura," which dissolves in water but requires black tarantula powder to be effective. If an ordinary person is poisoned by it, they will certainly die.
Even a martial artist at the Dragon Elephant Realm, with a powerful physique, would experience numbness throughout their body, which would take at least an hour to subside.
Chen Ye clapped his hands and laughed, saying, "That's exactly what I'm looking for. Do you have any connections to get your hands on some?"
Su Guang shook his head with a wry smile and said, "I've already been kicked out of the Feng family. Those people from the medicine gang might not give me face, and even if I have money, I might not be able to buy it."
Chen Ye smiled dismissively, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "That's not necessarily true. Tell me, did the Feng family leak the news of the poisoning of the third young master?"
"No, not at all." Su Guang recalled, "I heard from my former brothers that the Third Young Master's funeral was held in secret, without any public announcement. This was a scandal for the Feng family, and even if outsiders knew about it, they certainly didn't know much about it."
"Alright." Chen Ye said with gleaming eyes, "Then will they know that you've been expelled from the Feng family?"
Su Guang's expression froze, as if he had been enlightened, and he said, "It seems... I don't really know either."
"That settles it then." Chen Ye said with a hint of slyness, "As long as you don't expose it yourself, who knows what's going on in the Feng family? Go find your old acquaintances from the Medicine Gang. They'll recognize your face. If you don't mention being expelled from the manor, they'll consider you a member of the Feng family."
Su Guang lowered his head and thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it really made sense.
He paused for a moment, then said, "But I need something to prove I'm a member of the Feng family. They won't hand over this poison just because of a face and a few words of acquaintance."
Chen Ye smiled.
What a coincidence!
He took out a jade pendant from his pocket, gently placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Su Guang.
Su Guang picked it up with a puzzled look. He saw the character "Zhou" engraved on the jade pendant and asked, "What is this...?"
"The jade pendant that Third Madam Zhou wore close to her body."
Su Guang and Zuo Dongxi both looked at Chen Ye simultaneously, genuinely surprised.
They never expected that Chen Ye would even have something like this.
Su Guang picked up the jade pendant, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said solemnly, "Brother Chen has already gone to such lengths, so it would be unreasonable for me to fail in this matter. Give me a few days, and I will bring the medicine to you."
"Hurry!"
Chen Ye said, "We can't get involved with the Dragon Elephant Realm martial artists from the Liu and Cui families, so we don't need to worry about them for now. Let's focus on that group of desperados. Once the medicine arrives, we'll have to trouble Brother Zuo to make sure that group of desperados takes it."
Zuo Dongxi laughed heartily, patting his chest and saying, "Brother Chen, don't worry. We roughnecks aren't good at killing people head-on, but we're good at petty theft, drugging, and ambushing. If things don't go well, you can hold me responsible."
"I'll go with Brother Su to meet us outside. That way, in case anyone tips us off and ruins our plans."
"Okay." Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief and said, "These are all prepared. There are still some details I'll explain to you one by one."
"..."
They chatted until late at night, and Fengqinglou had already closed before the three of them got up.
When Chen Ye walked out of the restaurant, the night breeze was cool.
He stood at the alley entrance for a moment.
In the distance, in the direction of the Cui residence, there were faint lights.
He straightened his clothes, turned around, and disappeared into the night.
The next morning.
A member of the patrol caravan squatted at the entrance, idly shaking his leg and looking around.
As soon as Chen Ye came out, he immediately got up and went to greet him, bowing and scraping as he said, "Master Chen, you're awake? The gang leader asked me to take you there."
Chen Ye glanced at him and saw that the young man was not old, but as thin as a bamboo pole and looked frail.
Yesterday at Fengqing Tower, he mentioned that he wanted to go alone to check out the Liu family's ambush site outside the city and make some preparations in advance.
Zuo Dongxi then assigned a reliable member of the gang to guide him.
"What's your name?"
"Master Chen, my name is Skinny Monkey, you can just call me Monkey."
"Don't you have a proper name?"
The young man grinned, revealing a set of yellowed front teeth, and said, "Hey, my family died young, so I don't have a proper name. I'm just used to being called Monkey. To be honest, I share the same surname as you, Master Chen. If outsiders really respect me, they'll just call me Chen Er at most. You can just call me Monkey."
Chen Ye nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
"Lead the way, let's go take a look."
"This way, Mr. Chen."
Along the way, Chen Ye has experienced many trials and tribulations, and has inevitably acquired some of the bloodthirstiness of a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person of the martial arts world), giving people an invisible sense of oppression.
When the monkey was around him, something felt off.
I just instinctively felt that I should restrain myself a bit.
He abandoned his former gangster ways, focusing intently on his journey, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
Xiangguo Temple is located on a mountain about 50 miles outside the capital.
Starting from the capital, one needs to travel about 20 li on the official road and then 30 li on the winding mountain road to reach the destination.
Based on the intelligence gathered earlier, the Liu family planned to make their move along that thirty-mile mountain road.
The two jogged along for about an hour and arrived at the section of road that the martial arts masters had repeatedly scouted.
"Mr. Chen, this is the place."
Following the direction Chen Houzi pointed, Chen Ye looked over.
Ahead, the mountain path was flanked by dense forests on one side and a narrow path through rocky cliffs on the other.
On this side of the dense forest, the tree canopy blocks out the sun, and the undergrowth is thick with shrubs, making visibility extremely poor.
The forest has naturally formed shallow ditches and earthen slopes, which are very suitable for Tibetans.
Chen Ye went inside.
The ground beneath my feet was covered with a thick layer of dead leaves, which rustled as I stepped on them.
But if you are careful enough, these slight noises can be masked by the sound of the wind and birdsong in the forest.
After passing through this dense forest path, you will reach a narrow path through the rocky cliffs.
One side of this road is a steep cliff, with a rock face several meters high and a smooth surface, making it difficult to climb.
On the other side is a deep ravine and cliff, making passage impossible.
The mountain road narrows abruptly here, allowing only one carriage to pass at a time, with no room to maneuver.
There is a bend between the dense forest section and the rocky section, which blocks the view.
If the narrow mountain path ahead is blocked, the desperate men prepared by the Liu family can attack from behind and cut off their retreat, catching the Cui family off guard.
It's a natural place for an ambush.
Chen Ye groped around in the same spot for a while, and only left after he was sure he had everything in mind.
On his way down the mountain, he passed a flat area between two mountains, which the locals called "Wangjiachong".
On both sides of the road are square plots of farmland, with scattered ponds used for irrigation.
After glancing at it a few times, Chen Ye seemed to be deep in thought and memorized the terrain.