In this town where everyone was busy minding their own business, Lu Tianzi stuck out like a sore thumb as he casually walked down the streets, visiting the shops one after another just to take a look at their wares.
But while he was excited about exploring Bog Town, Lu Tianzi could not help but think about what happened back at the Dongran Residence.
After Housekeeper Heng left the front hall, Madam Dongran let out a tired sigh before similarly excusing herself as well. Still, she made it a point to remind everyone to make themselves at ho, and instructed the servants to bring them anything they needed.
The mont Madam Dongran left the front hall, Jue began cursing Housekeeper Heng for stepping all over Madam Dongran's head just because he had the backing of the Old Master Dongran.
Xing and the rest of the Iron Claw Brigade imdiately echoed his thoughts, and even Dongci Ze seed to have forgotten his depression for a mont just to agree with them.
Lu Tianzi simply listened, but he could not help wondering in his head as well.
To be able to empower an Essence Condensation realm servant like Housekeeper Heng to go against the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm Madam Dongran, just what kind of a character was this Old Master Dongran?
While he was lost in thought, Lu Tianzi had subconsciously walked to the end of the street and arrived at a large square.
There were nurous shops lining the edges of the square, but they did little to help alleviate the lack of footfall in the area.
For the ti being, Lu Tianzi showed no interest in these shops as well.
Right now, the one thing that had fully captured Lu Tianzi's attention was the glowing green boulder sitting in the middle of the square.
It was a Sky Crystal, its size similar to the one sitting in the Dongran Residence garden.
Lu Tianzi slowly approached the Sky Crystal, until he was standing right before the shining boulder.
There were two words carved into the Sky Crystal Bog Town.
Co to think of it, the directional sign he had seen before arriving at Bog Town was of a similar size as well.
Even if there were people who had failed to notice Lu Tianzi while he was casually walking through the empty streets, there was no way that they would miss the weird guy standing in the middle of the square right now.
"Master Dongran would be happy to see that soone shares his liking for the Sky Crystals," a voice sounded behind Lu Tianzi.
Lu Tianzi turned around to see an old lady flashing an amiable smile. It seed that one of the older townsn had co over to talk to him out of curiosity.
"Does Master Dongran really like these Sky Crystals so much?" Lu Tianzi asked.
"Why, that's common knowledge here in Bog Town!" the old lady laughed. "But while Sky Crystals are beautiful to look at, it is still the glow effect that is of importance. It was Master Dongran's idea to leave many of these Sky Crystals all around town. This way, they can both act as decoration and illuminate the town at night, making sure that the poor and holess do not lose their way. Despite the costs required for such huge pieces of Sky Crystals, Master Dongran willingly paid for the arrangent out of his own pocket. I have to say that he and his wife are truly the pride of Bog Town!"
Lu Tianzi smiled in response. "So this is placed here by Master Dongran as well how admirable."
He could see from the old lady's body language that she truly respected the Dongran couple, and it was easy to understand why.
After all that he had heard about them so far, the Dongran Family sounded like people who truly deserved their great reputation.
"Since you are new here, you must be shocked about the situation in Bog Town and have plenty of questions," the old lady said. "Why don't you co back with to my shop? I can tell you everything that you want to know."
"You are that certain that I am not from here?" Lu Tianzi asked.
The old lady had imdiately assud that he was not from Bog Town, not even bothering to ask and make sure.
"Why won't I be? The locals certainly won't act like you do," the old lady laughed. "Co on, even if you aren't interested, why don't you just treat it as doing a good deed by entertaining this bored old lady?"
"Senior must be joking, it'd be my pleasure."
***
Master Dongran patiently followed a servant through the long winding aisles, finally arriving before a huge door.
"Master Dongran is here to see you," the servant called out after knocking twice.
"Let him in," a deep masculine voice ca from behind the door.
As instructed, the servant imdiately pulled open the door for Master Dongran.
"Thank you," Master Dongran nodded to the servant before stepping into the room.
It was not a large room by any asure.
After installing a single desk and a few cabinets, there was barely any space left.
Behind the desk sat a man who looked to be in his late fifties, with slight wrinkles starting to appear on his otherwise charming face.
"Dongran Bu greets Town Lord Dongwei," Master Dongran clasped his fists in respect.
"You are finally here, Master Dongran," Town Lord Dongwei quickly put away the papers on his desk before leaning into the table to look at Master Dongran. "Do you know why I have called for you?"
"Is it about the unrest of the townsn?" Master Dongran guessed.
"That's right," Town Lord Dongwei nodded solemnly before pushing a piece of paper forward on his desk. "Have a look at this."
Master Dongran picked up the piece of paper and scrutinised the contents carefully. A frown quickly found its way onto his face, growing deeper with every word that he read.
"Is this report reliable?" Master Dongran asked after he was done.
"Absolutely," Town Lord Dongwei nodded. "It is from one of my closest aides."
"If I understood it correctly, what the report is saying is that the unrest in town is due to a mber of the Radiant Raven Sect creating so sort of branch organisation here, inciting the townsn to go against the authorities in a bid to take over," Master Dongran summarised. "Does Town Lord Dongwei really believe this?"
"It seems that Master Dongran doesn't?" Town Lord Dongwei asked in return.
"My apologies, but I certainly have my reservations about this report," Master Dongran said while placing the piece of paper back on the desk. "The Radiant Raven Sect might have a bad reputation, but their strength is real. I don't an to be rude, but with their capabilities, there is absolutely no need for them to incite unrest among our townsn. They can simply walk in and take over Bog Town by force if they wanted to do so."
"That is the one thing I am confused about as well," Town Lord Dongwei rubbed his chin in contemplation. "But there is no doubt about the reliability of the report. There must be sothing brewing that we are unaware of."
"I am not doubting the reliablility of Town Lord Dongwei's sources. It is the contents that I am concerned about," Master Dongran added. "No matter how trustworthy, it is easy for information to be misconstrued, especially when soone is trying to gather such information without being found."
"I understand Master Dongran's point," Town Lord Dongwei nodded. "But what if it is true?"
"Since Town Lord Dongwei is still concerned about this matter, I shall start looking into it as well," Master Dongran said. "Though I hope for all of our sakes that the Radiant Raven Sect is not involved. If they really are, none of us would be able to stop them."
"That is exactly why I need your help with this matter. If the Radiant Raven Sect really is involved and we are able to find that out early enough, we might still have ti to request for backup," Town Lord Dongwei explained.
"Understood," Master Dongran nodded. "Then I shall take my leave for now."
"Wait, there is sothing else that is not written in the report for the sake of maintaining absolute secrecy," Town Lord Dongwei added. "The mbers of the branch organisation are currently working in the shadows. For them to identify each other, they use a special code."
"What is it?"
"When asked how they were doing, mbers of the organisation will reply in the following manner I am not a poison master but I am trying to collect poison materials, so which cannot even be found on Wondertrap Mountain."
Master Dongran frowned. "What a ridiculous statent."
"Ridiculous indeed," Town Lord Dongwei agreed.
***
"So the Dongran Family has been trying to ease the tensions in the town, but even their influence is starting to wane as the other nobles stubbornly refuse to give in. Now, so frustrated townsn are beginning to demand that the noble families give up their resources to help the poor, just like what the Dongran Family has been doing," the old lady explained. "The Town Lord must be having a major headache right now."
Lu Tianzi listened intently with a cup of tea in his hands.
He had followed the old lady back to her small restaurant that was situated along the edges of the square, though there was hardly any business at all.
No wonder the lady said that she was bored.
Right now, he and the old lady were the only ones seated in the restaurant.
"But why are the townsn able to get away with this?" Lu Tianzi asked. "Are they strong enough to resist the strength of the noble families?"
In fact, this was sothing that had been bothering Lu Tianzi since he first heard of the situation within Bog Town.
After all, this was still a world dictated by strength.
Due to that reason alone, the townsn openly expressing their unhappiness towards the noble families was sothing that would never have happened in Scarlet Moon Kingdom.
Yes, the townsn might have the numbers. But numbers alone were of no significance in the face of absolute strength.
No matter how many ordinary Essence Building or Essence Condensation realm martial artists there were, they would not be able to do much against a single Origin Core realm opponent.
Despite how unhappy the townsn were, a single powerful figure should have been more than enough to shut them up.
Without the strength to match that, what could the townsn possibly do to the noble families?
Yet this was obviously not what was happening in Bog Town.
He could still understand why the Peak Essence Condensation realm Housekeeper Heng was able to talk down to the Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm Madam Dongran, because Housekeeper Heng had the Old Master Dongran as a backing.
But what about these townsn?
There must be more to Bog Town than what he already knew sothing that was able to keep these noble families in check.
"How can the townsn be able to match the noble families?" the old lady let out a bitter laugh. "But the noble families cannot just do as they wish either. No matter what, Bog Town is still under the rule of the Divine Storm Sect. If they overdo things and the Divine Storm Sect gets to know about it, Town Lord Dongwei would be in big trouble."
"The Divine Storm Sect" Lu Tianzi thought out loud.
If even the town lord had to report to them, it ant that this Divine Storm Sect should be acting more like so sort of kingdom, with Bog Town likely to be only one of the many places under its rule.
The question was how strong this Divine Storm Sect truly was.
Was it on the sa level as the Scarlet Moon Kingdom?
Or perhaps even stronger?
"So that's about it for the situation in Bog Town. Rather complicated, isn't it?" the old lady laughed. "In any case, what are you doing all the way out here in Bog Town? This is not a particularly popular destination for travellers."
"That reminds ," Lu Tianzi turned his attention back towards the old lady. "Do you know anywhere I can purchase herbal materials?"
"Herbal materials?" the old lady blinked blankly. "I do know of places where you can get them, but do you have anything specific in mind? Herbal materials are a little too vague. Is it for making food or for dicinal purposes?"
"This might sound strange, but I need materials for making poison," Lu Tianzi said awkwardly.
"Poison?" the old lady looked rather surprised. "Are you a poison master?"
"Well, not really," Lu Tianzi shrugged. "I just happen to be looking for so poison materials for personal use. To be frank, so of these materials cannot even be found on Wondertrap Mountain, so it is fine even if I am unable to find them here. I would just have to continue looking until I do."
"There's no need for that," the old lady narrowed her eyes and flashed a aningful smile. "I know just the place you can go to find what you are looking for."
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