Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1098: Inheriting the Wisdom of the Ancients

As the man in the Tang suit threw his punch, even Mo Mo, standing behind him, felt a powerful gust of wind rushing forward.

The dense mist in front of them was instantly blown away by the force of his punch—revealing the three would-be ambushers clearly.

Black robes. Bronze masks.

The masks were almost identical to the one worn by that mysterious bronze-masked figure. Mo Mo's heart tightened at the sight.

The punch from the Tang-suited man was overwhelming—one of the three black-robed men was struck directly and violently by its force!

He spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground in an instant.

The remaining two masked figures were immediately horrified.

At that moment, the commotion in the courtyard had already alerted the logistics personnel of the Management Bureau who were stationed at Crouching Dragon Estate. The sound of them rushing over echoed nearby.

Seeing the situation turn against them, the two remaining attackers clearly intended to retreat.

“Firecloud Evil God! We’ll settle this next time!” one of them shouted.Clapping his hands together, he unleashed an intense burst of icy air that exploded throughout the courtyard—like liquid nitrogen under high pressure, instantly frosting the area in white.

The Tang-suited man snorted coldly. With a motion of his hand, a few frozen phoenix tree leaves flew into his palm, which he then shot into the icy fog.

A pained scream followed. The freezing mist gradually dissipated.

Mo Mo looked closely and saw one of the black-robed attackers impaled on the shattered courtyard wall, his fate uncertain.

The third had taken the opportunity to flee.

At that moment, the logistics personnel rushed into the courtyard. The Tang-suited man ignored them and walked straight to the first attacker he had downed, then removed the attacker’s bronze mask.

But once the mask came off, his expression shifted slightly.

Mr. Blind, with his sharp hearing, frowned and asked, “Dead?”

The Tang-suited man nodded. “He was ruthless—shattered his own meridians. Clearly a suicide operative… The other one probably did the same.”

He then looked toward the body impaled on the wall before turning to Mr. Blind. “Old Blind, take a guess—know who this guy is?”

“Who?” Mr. Blind tilted his head, his ears twitching slightly.

The Tang-suited man said gravely, “One of those who left early during yesterday’s mobilization meeting. Seems your senior brother was even more prepared than we thought.”

Mr. Blind said nothing, turning and silently walking into the house.

The Tang-suited man shook his head, then turned to the logistics team. “Handle the two corpses. Try to get in touch with Yan Xiaoxi and inform him of what happened here.”

“Understood!”

Everyone responded with respectful nods.

Afterward, the Tang-suited man slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then exhaled even more slowly. Miraculously, as he did, the dense mist covering Crouching Dragon Estate began to rapidly clear.

Not magic—but true force.

Mo Mo was shocked. The man had dispersed the fog using nothing but internal martial force… How terrifying must his inner strength be?

However, just as his exhale ended, the scattered mist began to reconverge.

“This is getting boring,” the Tang-suited man muttered, yawning as he walked back into the house alongside Mr. Blind. “Oh right… kid, come in.”

Mo Mo blinked. “Senior, you mean me?”

“Yes, you. Come tell me about those two Xuanyuan Palace attackers—what techniques they used, how it looked, as detailed as possible.”

Mo Mo had no choice but to follow, nervous but compliant.

In his mind, the name Firecloud Evil God had already been burned into memory.

…

In a cavern, a lone figure staggered forward, a phoenix leaf still lodged in his back. At last, he reached his destination—the end of a large, dry cave.

The area was lit with torches.

Around him were others dressed the same—black robes, bronze masks—all sitting cross-legged in neat rows.

At the center stood a 10-meter-tall altar.

The injured man stumbled to its base. Above him, another masked figure stepped to the altar’s edge and looked down.

“My Lord, the Firecloud Evil God was too strong… I failed to capture Qingxiaozi.”

The masked figure atop the altar said calmly, “The Firecloud Evil God is known as the strongest human below the True Dragon. Not undeserved. But only you returned out of three—your identities must have been exposed.”

“I have failed you…” the injured one lowered his head.

“No matter.” The masked figure replied indifferently. “Your meridians have been destroyed by the Firecloud Evil God’s true force. You know what you must do for our cause now, don’t you?”

“I do.”

With that, the injured man removed his bronze mask—revealing the horse-faced features of none other than Junbo Wentian, the one who had questioned Yan Xiaoxi at the earlier Crouching Dragon Estate meeting.

Junbo Wentian also took off his clothes, folded them neatly, and placed the mask atop the bundle.

His gaze was calm, his expression devout.

Fully unclothed, he then knelt and solemnly declared:

“Thank you, my Lord, for your guidance!”

Then, Junbo Wentian stood up.

At that moment, a two-meter-high door beneath the altar opened, and a surge of intense heat poured out—it was like a furnace behind the altar.

Junbo Wentian shouted:

“Inherit the wisdom of the ancients! Open the Immortal Path for all generations!”

Inside the cavern, all the black-robed followers shouted in unison:

“Inherit the wisdom of the ancients! Open the Immortal Path for all generations!”

Amid the cries, Junbo Wentian stretched his arms wide, his face filled with fanaticism and joy—and leapt into the furnace inside the altar!

“Inherit the wisdom of the ancients! Open the Immortal Path for all generations! Inherit…”

As the chanting continued, the bronze-masked leader turned and entered the altar.

At the center of the altar was a massive crystal, inside of which a small figure was sealed—Hope.

Suddenly, a light glowed at the base of the crystal, gradually illuminating the whole thing, as though something were being infused within it. The masked figure stared at it for a long time.

“You’ve already alarmed the Firecloud Evil God. The rest of the plan will be much harder.”

His gaze shifted behind the crystal—where a figure stepped out from the shadows.

It was none other than Gongsun Shiyu of the Qian Department from Xuanyuan Palace.

“They don’t know the time. They don’t know the place. Once the Jade Dragon Pillar is planted, it will be protected by Hope’s power—no one will be able to touch it. Besides, your clan’s Four Seasons Glazed Scroll isn’t just for show.”

Gongsun Shiyu stared silently at the masked man before finally speaking.

“Be careful. There’s still a mysterious power hidden in Mount Tai.”

The masked man frowned.

“You mean that mysterious foreign woman who broke your Xuanyuan Sword?”

Gongsun Shiyu’s face remained stern, but he still nodded.

“She hasn’t appeared again since that night,” the bronze-masked man said slowly. “I didn’t sense any hostility from her, but we still can’t let our guard down… Take this.”

With a wave of his hand, a fist-sized pearl flew toward Gongsun Shiyu.

The moment he caught it, Gongsun Shiyu’s pupils shrank slightly. He instinctively looked at the bronze-masked man. “This is… a Dragon Pearl?”

The bronze-masked man replied calmly, “It’s from that Dragon Fiend that died years ago… To be more accurate, you could call it an Evil Dragon Pearl. With it, you should be able to fully activate the Yellow Emperor bloodline within you.”

Gongsun Shiyu sneered, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll use this Evil Dragon Pearl against you?”

“Go.” The bronze-masked man remained indifferent. “Remember, don’t use the Evil Dragon Pearl for too long. Otherwise, even with the protection of your Yellow Emperor bloodline, you’ll still be corrupted by the Dragon Fiend’s resentment… In fact, someone with your bloodline might be the perfect vessel for the Dragon Fiend, second only to the Dragon Vein.”

Gongsun Shiyu stepped back slowly, eyes locked on the masked man, until he disappeared from the altar.

The altar returned to silence. The black-robed followers below it closed their eyes once again, meditating quietly.

At that moment, the bronze-masked man took out a talisman.

It instantly burned into ashes in his palm. He flipped his hand again, and the scattered ash began to swirl and return to his palm.

The ash reformed into a charred, burnt talisman.

The bronze-masked man sighed lightly, waved his hand again, and let the ashes fall back to the ground. He muttered,

“Just how did that young man beneath the ancient well… manage to restore what had been shattered?”

…

Mount Tai Region

Thick fog had completely severed communication with the outside world, throwing the entire hundred-kilometer radius into chaos.

Song Family Village was also within the fog-covered zone.

“I’ve seen this fog before,” said Princess Chuyang.

Whether she had figured things out or if Song Haoran’s words had worked, the self-proclaimed princess had stopped making “let’s all die together” comments. Still, Song Haoran kept a safe distance from her.

“You’ve seen it?” he asked curiously.

Princess Chuyang nodded. “This fog comes from a secret treasure called the Four Seasons Glazed Scroll, crafted from the bones of the Wind God and Rain Master. During the imperial dynasty’s construction of the Great Wall, when evil foreign beings invaded, they borrowed this scroll to summon storms, lightning, and dense fog, covering a thousand miles to annihilate the threat. But this item belongs to a hidden holy land in the Divine Land—it’s rarely used. Why it’s being used now…”

Song Haoran frowned. “Whatever the reason, this fog lingering like this isn’t good for ordinary people. The chaos inside is bad enough, but the outside world will struggle to even explain it. Since you recognize it, is there any way to dispel it?”

Princess Chuyang shook her head. “Unless the one who cast it stops it, or the Four Seasons Glazed Scroll is destroyed, there’s no other way.”

Song Haoran sighed. “Then I can’t take you to your father’s tomb.”

Even satellite positioning had failed. Song Haoran prided himself on a good memory, but no one could navigate over 100 kilometers just by memory—besides, Princess Chuyang had said Emperor Qin’s burial site definitely wouldn’t be on Mount Tai.

With the roads blocked and communication down, all they could do was stay put and wait for change.

…

The fog thickened by the day—over ten days passed in a blink. Now, the fog stretched nearly 200 kilometers around Mount Tai.

White covered everything—visibility was zero. Public systems had long since collapsed, and crime festered in the fog.

In many places, generators had run dry. At night, the area became terrifying. People locked themselves indoors, not daring to step out, waiting for rescue.

As the days dragged on, the situation grew increasingly dire.

Some, like headless flies, eventually stumbled out of the fog and back into the normal world—only to discover that the outside had already descended into chaos because of it.

Experts were dispatched to the edge of the fog.

Reporters and media outlets flooded the area.

A helicopter hovered at the fog’s edge, unwilling to fly in—any electronic equipment that got close would instantly fail, and vehicles entering would stall on the spot.

…

At that moment, a taxi with a Shandong license plate slowly drove into a small town just outside the fog.

“Ladies, this is as far as I can take you. Beyond this, the area’s locked down!” the driver said, holding up a payment code.

“Li Zi, pay up!”

“Huh? Me again? I’ve almost used up all my food money for this month…” the young woman named Li Zi complained.

“If not you, who? Akiko? She’s a rookie and still on probation—she only gets 1,800 a month!” the fierce-looking woman beside her growled.

“What about you…”

The fierce woman huffed, “Don’t you know my Luo Qiu is about to study abroad? Do you know how expensive tuition is overseas? And what about living expenses? If I don’t save money, you want him to eat dirt? Don’t worry—I’ll expense this later! No more snacks for you! Start dieting!”

“But… this trip wasn’t even approved by the editor-in-chief, right?”

“One more word and no lunch later! We’ll use the lunch money for hotel fees!”

Li Zi clutched her stomach, then gave the driver a pitiful look. “Sir… can I use my student discount?”

(End of Chapter)