Chapter 20

Gui Buigui, with a smile, said, "That little brat, the Wu Ancestor, is not important. He's different from you. You have plenty of time to grow, and sooner or later, you'll become a great figure that will make him wake up in fear. When that time comes, you can come back and take your revenge, which will be easier than drinking and eating. Now, Guangxiao is the one with a headache. Given that little bastard's personality, after suffering such a big loss, he will definitely come back for revenge. When he sees the Wu Ancestor and Lin Hu lying dead everywhere, he'll think it was you who killed them to cover your tracks. That little bastard is somewhat clever, even Xu Fu acknowledges that. As long as there are some clues left, he can trace your whereabouts. To put it bluntly, if you meet him now, you're as good as dead."

While Gui Buigui was speaking, Wu Mian was looking at him coldly. After he finished, Wu Mian said, "Guangxiao will also deal with the Wu Ancestor and Lin Hu when he returns. They will also leak some clues."

"Maybe not," seeing Wu Mian's expression soften a bit, Gui Buigui felt a bit more at ease. He spoke with more confidence, squinting his eyes, "The Wu Ancestors of each generation are not just for show. To prevent such things, didn't you see that the Miao people have retreated to the cave behind the waterfall? There are traps set up on the altar inside the cave. There are several ten-thousand-pound stones enchanted with spells. If they really fall, it will be enough to give Guangxiao a hard time."

After hearing Gui Buigui's words, Wu Mian silently looked at the iron lump in the old man's arms, making Gui Buigui's heart race again. After a while, Wu Mian suddenly said, "What about those Ying fish?"

Gui Buigui blinked his eyes, smiled, and cautiously said, "I couldn't carry that stone trough, so I let the Ying fish go into the pond below the waterfall. But don't worry, as long as there's water, the Ying fish will be fine wherever they are..."

Gui Buigui's words were only halfway through when Wu Mian walked over to him and touched the iron lump. The moment Wu Mian's hand touched the iron, an electric arc appeared on his hand. Conducted through the iron, Gui Buigui fell to the ground, convulsing. Wu Mian's slow voice echoed in his ears, "Who told you to make your own decisions..."

Two months later, in the military stronghold of Bashang, a thousand miles away, two strange people appeared. They were strange because the younger one, who was only in his twenties, had snow-white hair. The older one looked so old that he could easily be over a hundred.

Their relationship was also hard to figure out. If they were master and servant, their expressions suggested that it was a young master traveling with an old family retainer. But the old one was so old that who would bring such a half-dead old man on a trip? Yet, they didn't seem like grandfather and grandson either, as the grandfather was the one smiling and the grandson was the one giving him a stern look.

These two strange people were Wu Mian and Gui Buigui. Their destination was the Qin capital, Xianyang, but they were now stuck in Bashang, unable to move forward or backward. Since the death of the First Emperor three years ago, the entire Qin Dynasty had fallen into chaos. Heroes from all over the country had risen up, and the once unbreakable Qin Dynasty was now on the brink of collapse.

Outside Bashang, the army of Peigong Liu Bang was densely stationed. To prevent Qin spies, Bashang was under strict martial law. Wu Mian and Gui Buigui had to find an inn and pay ten times the room rate to stay.

If it were only Wu Mian, it would be easy. He could use the techniques passed down by Xu Fu to leave Bashang and reach Xianyang on a moonlit night. But with the old burden, Gui Buigui, who now only knew some simple arrays, Wu Mian had to stay with him, trapped in Bashang.

On the tenth day of their confinement, at noon, someone outside the inn suddenly shouted, "Peigong is entering the city! Everyone, come and see... Peigong is entering the city, come and welcome him, the early ones will be rewarded..."

Gui Buigui, who liked action, immediately wanted to drag Wu Mian out to see the scene. Wu Mian, who didn't want to cause trouble, was also a bit bored after being cooped up for so long. With people constantly running out of the inn to welcome Peigong, he was also curious about the person who could push the Qin Dynasty to this point. So, he and Gui Buigui walked to the main street of the city and saw a large group of people marching towards them.

Surrounded by several squads of soldiers, a man in his forties rode a horse through the crowd. This man was undoubtedly Peigong Liu Bang, the one who almost brought down the Qin Dynasty. He didn't look particularly special. As he moved forward, he laughed and talked with his subordinates. Just as Wu Mian was about to return to the inn, feeling bored, a figure appeared in the middle of Liu Bang's entourage.

Wu Mian was taken aback when he saw this person. Before the person noticed him, he took off his outer coat and put it over his head to cover his distinctive white hair. The person Wu Mian saw was dressed as a fangshi (alchemist), smiling obsequiously at the general in front of him, completely unaware of Wu Mian's cold gaze from the crowd.

Wu Mian's unusual behavior quickly caught Gui Buigui's attention. He followed Wu Mian's gaze and, after looking at the fangshi on the horse, whispered in Wu Mian's ear, "Just a fangshi, I don't see anything special about him. Do you know him?"

Wu Mian lowered his head, trying not to attract the fangshi's attention, and gritted his teeth, answering Gui Buigui, "I almost died at the hands of this fangshi. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be like this now." He paused, then looked up at the fangshi passing by. After the fangshi was far away, he looked at his back and said, "I didn't expect the fangshi in charge of the First Emperor's alchemy to now be serving Peigong. It seems the Qin Dynasty is truly finished."

The person Wu Mian saw was the fangshi in charge of the imperial alchemy who had almost killed him with a poisonous pill three years ago. He never thought he would see him again, now serving Liu Bang, and he looked about the same as when he was the fangshi in charge of the Qin Dynasty.

That night, in a side camp in the inner city, the former fangshi in charge of the Qin imperial alchemy was lying on a bed, planning his next move. Three years ago, after the First Emperor's death in Shacheng, Zhao Gao conspired with Li Si to keep the news secret and alter the emperor's will, forcing the crown prince Fusu to commit suicide and installing the youngest son Huhai as the Second Emperor. After the coup, Zhao Gao began to ruthlessly hunt down those involved in the Shacheng incident.

The fangshi, skilled in reading people, sensed the danger before Zhao Gao acted. Taking advantage of the chaos during the Second Emperor's ascension, he escaped from Xianyang and found a secluded place to hide. Soon, heroes rose up, and the country fell into chaos. The fangshi, unwilling to hide forever, assessed the situation and decided to join a powerful faction.

At first, he intended to join the Western Chu Overlord, Xiang Yu. Who would have thought that Xiang Yu didn't believe in fangshi techniques and only saw him as a clown for entertainment. Every time Xiang Yu was slightly drunk, he would call him out, "Come, the magician. Perform some tricks to sober me up..." The fangshi always had to carry a dozen peaches in his sleeve whenever he met Xiang Yu, or he wouldn't feel secure.

This life didn't last long before Xiang Yu and Liu Bang's armies met. At the banquet that night, the fangshi met his future benefactor, Peigong Liu Bang. Compared to Xiang Yu, Liu Bang was very interested in fangshi techniques. Hearing that the man who could produce peaches at banquets was the former fangshi in charge of the Qin imperial alchemy, he used the cover of a few drinks to ask Xiang Yu for the fangshi. After a few more drinks, Xiang Yu, being more talkative, said, "We're all brothers. Take him if you want. It's just a few baskets of peaches..."