TGCFNM -Chapter 264 Snow Among the Plums

Inside the thatched hut, Mei Zhongxue invited everyone to sit down, and personally placed a pot of hot tea nearby. He said, “Help yourselves to the cups, pour your own tea.”

Uncle Wu waved his hand. “No tea this time. I’ve come on urgent business.”

Mei Zhongxue laughed heartily. “Wasn’t this supposed to be a gift for me?”

Uncle Wu nodded, stood up, and solemnly handed over a jade box before sitting down again. “We offer gifts because we know you’ll know best how to use this. As for the matter we seek your help with—even without the gift, you would still assist us.”

Curious, Mei Zhongxue opened the jade box first, and his eyes widened in surprise. “A stone lotus? How did you manage to find this?”

“It was dug up from the mountain. Quite a bit of effort,” Wan Sanjin said.

Yan Sheng and Cao Tong stared at Wan Sanjin in shock. “From the mountain? Just dug up like that?”

Wan Sanjin turned to them. “Why are you so surprised? Never dug one before?”

Yan Sheng and Cao Tong shook their heads. Such a precious item—how could they ever have gotten their hands on one!

Mei Zhongxue closed the jade box and looked seriously at Uncle Wu. “This is extremely valuable. To be honest, I really want it. But you said that even if you didn’t bring this gift, I would still help—so I want to ask, what exactly is the matter?”

Uncle Wu took a deep breath, his expression grave. “The Bai Zhuoxing may have arrived at Tianjian Mountain.”

Mei Zhongxue frowned tightly. “Is this news reliable?”

“Absolutely!” Chu Ling said immediately. “We are certain. And remember, not long ago, there was that blood corpse appearing on the market street? That could have been him. When I was handling a case in Changzhou, I encountered him—he had killed someone. Later in Dongle City, he killed Nangong Jue. So I suspect he’s serving someone within the imperial court.”

“Of course he serves someone in the court—otherwise he wouldn’t survive. He’d have been torn to pieces by martial artists long ago!”

Mei Zhongxue looked up. “Yubai.”

Xie Yubai stepped forward and saluted. “Master.” Then he sat down and looked at Chu Ling. “We haven’t fully investigated the blood corpse matter yet.”

“Is the body still available?” Su He asked.

Xie Yubai nodded. “It’s at the sect.”

Su He stood up and looked at Chu Ling. “I want to take a look.”

Chu Ling immediately turned to Xie Yubai. “Sect Master Xie, this is a coroner from our office. May he examine the body?”

Xie Yubai thought for a moment, then called out, “Yuan Luo, take this coroner to examine the body. Follow his instructions exactly. No one is to interfere.”

“Yes, Master.” Yuan Luo came in and gestured politely.

Su He picked up his toolkit and followed Yuan Luo out.

Mei Zhongxue handed the jade box to Xie Yubai. Xie Yubai opened it, glanced inside, and then looked at Uncle Wu with a smile of delight. “Uncle Wu, I won’t hide it from you—some of our disciples secretly ingested snow python blood, which caused their energy to go haywire, leading to internal chaos. We need this item to calm them.”

Uncle Wu smiled. “This is naturally for those who need it.”

Xie Yubai closed the lid. “This is extremely precious. The matter Uncle Wu mentioned is precisely what we, as martial world practitioners, are obliged to handle. How should I properly thank you all?”

Wan Sanjin turned his head and asked directly, “Divine Water?”

Xie Yubai shook his head awkwardly. “There are a total of six hundred bottles of Divine Water. Due to the sect disciples mistakenly consuming Snow Python blood, one hundred bottles have already been used. That leaves exactly five hundred bottles—one for each of the five hundred people holding invitations. Just enough.”

Wan Sanjin tilted his head slightly toward Chu Ling, raising an eyebrow: Looks like we’ll still have to snatch them.

Chu Ling glanced at Uncle Wu. A sly old fox like him would never let them be at a disadvantage.

Uncle Wu leaned slightly forward with a smile. “You all must know how rare and valuable these three Stone Lotuses are, Master Mei and Master Xie. Moreover, the lotuses are flawless, top-grade. If sold, each would fetch at least 150,000 gold coins. But remembering how Bai Zhuoxing massacred the common people and left without care, Master Chu’s anger could not be contained, so he decided to give the lotuses away. The purpose is that after the Tianjian Sect catches Bai Zhuoxing, he can return to the government offices for the trial…”

Xie Yubai frowned and said to Uncle Wu, “Bai Zhuoxing is extremely dangerous. If captured, he should be executed on the spot.”

“Well…” Uncle Wu hesitated, “handling it sooner is indeed better, but the official homicide case is truly troublesome.”

Xie Yubai said, “It’s troublesome, yes, but Bai Zhuoxing is far too dangerous. I don’t think it’s safe to send him for a proper trial.”

Uncle Wu tilted his head to look at Chu Ling, then chuckled softly. “Then let Master Mei make the decision.”

Mei Zhongxue thought for a moment and said, “I am willing to give a few of my sect’s internal cultivation manuals free of charge to some of you.”

Wan Sanjin exclaimed, “No need! We already have them.”

Chu Ling nodded from the side. “We once captured a flower thief and obtained the Mengjiang manual and the Myriad Poisons Scripture from him.”

Mei Zhongxue: “…This junior brother is a menace to the very end.”

Xie Yubai was also surprised, then suddenly laughed. “So it turns out we belong to the same lineage, all disciples of the Xuangizi branch.”

Chu Ling tugged at the corner of her mouth. Starting to network already?

The Stone Lotuses were useless to them, but to the Tianjian Sect, they were extremely precious. Even if the Tianjian Sect didn’t plan to pay, they would still need to offer something of equal value in exchange. After all, they were not the type to suffer a loss.

Bai Su looked at Uncle Wu’s expression, studied it carefully for a while, and then seemed to realize something, patting Chu Ling on the shoulder.

“The Stone Lotus’ special use is said to calm the mind. So to an expert, it’s extremely valuable. But to someone who doesn’t understand, it’s like sandalwood—something you could sell for a fortune or casually for thirty taels of silver.”

Chu Ling’s eyes widened: 150,000 gold coins versus thirty taels? That’s quite a difference.

“The Tianjian Sect urgently needs this item. That’s why Uncle Wu initially quoted you 150,000 gold coins, and told the same to the sect masters—to inflate the perceived value of the Stone Lotus. He never sought a greater profit. Truly a businessman,” Bai Su explained.

Chu Ling was stunned. So Uncle Wu had a plan from the very beginning.

Uncle Wu was sending the Stone Lotuses to the Tianjian Sect to solidify relations—after all, he had long been running his shop in Tianjian City. At the same time, he wanted something of equal value in exchange, and could even play the justice card, letting the Tianjian Sect eliminate a threat to the martial world.

No wonder Wan Sanjin’s father sent a martial artist over to handle business. They really know how to do business.

Uncle Wu said a bit sheepishly, “It might seem like I’m putting you in a difficult spot, but these are things the younger generation worked hard to obtain. If I just gave them away without reason, I’d have no face before them. So giving one Stone Lotus to the Tianjian Sect seems only fair, as their hard work in capturing Bai Zhuoxing deserves it.”

Xie Yubai instinctively clenched his fingers around the jade box: He must find a way to keep all three of these!

Mei Zhongxue looked at them. Whether in casual conversation outside or in their straightforward honesty after coming inside, he realized that some worldly things might not move them. That’s why he offered cultivation manuals—but even that didn’t work…