Chapter 401: Chapter 401. Burn The Entire Forest

During the first two weeks since everyone used the Spring of Life, Amon learned that there was a limitation. He learned about it because there was a time when Lu Fei had to leave the capital for four days. Because of his absence, his portion of the time was given to others. When he returned, everyone agreed to let him use the Spring of Life for sixteen hours straight to cover for his lost time.

He ended up leaving the water after only twelve hours. He explained to everyone that the ecstatic feeling from the water turned into extreme discomfort after twelve hours of constant submersion. His body developed rashes when he insisted on staying. He needed to wait until the next day because he could submerge himself back into the water again. This meant there was a limit to one’s body from the constant exposure to the Spring of Life.

Amon found that strange because he never had such a problem. He was once in the water for a whole month before he came out. The blissful feeling from the water indeed diminished after some time, but he never experienced the discomfort described by Lu Fei.

He wondered if this was another specialty of his Demon Body.

While the five diligently cultivated using the Spring of Life, they didn’t neglect the main task Amon gave them. Unfortunately, the search for Huang San turned out to be harder than expected. No one found any news about the thirteenth prince’s whereabouts. As for Xa Jien, San Guo learned that Xa Jien was out of the capital. There was no telling when he would return.

It was Shi Hei who completed his task next after three weeks. He came with the four new alpha flying knives Amon ordered. The knives were high-tier engraved weapons, the same as Amon’s previous alpha flying knives.

The material selection in the capital was much more varied than the markets in Qishurg City. This provided Shi Hei with a rich selection. Following Amon’s preferences, Shi Hei used materials that were sturdy yet light to craft the knives. The four new alpha flying knives had the same sturdiness as Amon’s previous ones but were lighter. With decreased weight, they could fly faster.

Amon wasted no time engraving the words of power required for the Flying Sword art. After he was done, he proceeded to give them a test run.

He asked Shi Hei to make four alpha flying knives instead of two not because he wanted spares. With his Master-level mastery, he had increased control over the alpha flying knives. His Mystic Stage cultivation also helped. He believed he could control four alpha flying knives at the same time.

After trying it, he learned that it was indeed possible. However, the four knives flew clumsily. The concentration needed was enormous. It was thanks to his incredible thought process that such a feat was possible.

He spent several days familiarizing himself with using the four alpha flying knives simultaneously. That was all he did daily aside from cultivating until Xin Wuming came bearing terrible news.

“Brother, something bad has happened!” He exclaimed.

“Calm down,” Amon said. “Tell me.”

“The authorities came to our workshop this morning. They accused us of producing kingdom-regulated goods without a permit. The problem is they found such goods in our workshop even when we never produced them.”

“Those goods were planted…,” Amon uttered.

“That must be the case. Someone must have bribed one of our workers to plant them. As a result, the workshop was ordered to close from doing all activities until the situation was cleared. Without the equipment and ingredients in that workshop, we can’t produce the Thousand Dream Powder and the Serene Tranquilize Powder. Kingdom guards are stationed around the workshop to prevent us from getting anything from the workshop.”

Amon pondered the situation. This was bad. The powders were their main source of income. If they couldn’t produce the powders, their finance would be stuck.

“That is not the worst thing,” Xin Wuming added. “Since Ah Bin was listed as the overseer of the workshop, he has been taken into custody along with Bian Cheng and a few other supervisors.”

“What about Shi Hei, Hu Hua, and Diao Xin?” Amon asked.

“They are safe. They are working on something at our smaller, secret workshop,” Xin Wuming answered.

Amon nodded. They were working in a hidden location because they were working on the battle puppet’s power sources ordered by Amon. These power sources were regulated goods. If the authorities found them, they would be confiscated. It was ironic that they were safe because of making illegal goods, while Ah Bin and the others were apprehended for being in a place where they should be conducting legitimate business.

“San Guo had gone to the constable office to negotiate and bribe the officers, but it was no use,” Xin Wuming said. “The officers said this case was directly handled by a high-ranking official from the city hall. This official went by the name So Fulao. We did some digging. It seemed that this official was on Gao Clan’s payroll.”

“So, this is an attack on us by the Gao Clan,” Amon concluded. “They can’t take us down using their underworld forces, so now they use their contacts inside the kingdom.”

“I don’t understand. Even though we are always on bad terms with the Gao Clan, they have never treated us seriously. We are just small fries to them. We also never directly antagonize them because we don’t want to escalate the situation… Brother, could it be because we spread the rumor about them in league with the bandits who attacked our courier service? Maybe they are mad because we ruined their reputation?”

“They can easily deny the allegation because the only incriminating evidence is one bandit’s testimony. Their reaction is too exaggerated if that is the case,” Amon said.

“By the way, that bandit lost his life in the prison a week ago,” Xin Wuming informed.

“That is expected,” Amon muttered.

“So… What should we do, brother? Considering their method, I fear for Ah Bin and Bian Cheng’s lives… They might do something to them while in custody like they did to that bandit.”

“You are right. We will not leave our people when they are in trouble. This happens not because of their mistake, after all. Our main priority should be to free them.”

“How should we do that? San Guo is trying to free them using lawful means, but he told me he was not confident. None of his contacts have more authority than So Fulao. Unless we find Huang San and he is willing to help us, it is unlikely we can free Ah Bin and Bian Cheng before something happens to them…”

“If we can’t do it using lawful means, then we do it using criminal means,” Amon uttered.

“Brother… Do you mean…”

“We are going to break them out of prison,” Amon declared.

*

“Did you get the intel?” Amon asked. He had a meeting with Xin Wuming, San Guo, Gao Lan, Qiang Dan, and Lu Fei one day after Xin Wuming came to him with the news.

“We only have a limited time, but we managed to get the map layout of the jail and the constable office,” San Guo answered.

“Excellent works,” Amon praised. “What about the prison guards working there? Can you find any dirt on them?”

“Due to the time constraint, we only found three prison guards with something that may be exploitable,” Gao Lan replied. “However, we don’t have evidence. They are just rumors. Whether this rumor is true or not is questionable.”

“Hm… That is not encouraging, but let’s hear them,” Amon said.

“We have one prison guard with an adultery problem. Rumors swirl that he cheated with a lot of people’s wives. There is even gossip that he slept with the wife of a high-ranking official from the city hall. Another prison guard is known to have a gambling problem. He owes aer stones left and right. The last one is said to have a questionable background. Some people say that he used to be a bandit, that he entered the capital and applied for his current job under false identity.”

Amon went into contemplation after hearing the information.

“Should we make a move on them?” Gao Lan asked.

“Before that, how about the warden and his two assistants?” Amon asked. “Do you get the details on their relatives like I asked?”

“This is the list of their relatives. What we can find on them is written on that list,” Lu Fei answered while handing Amon a stack of papers.

Amon accepted the papers and looked through them.

“Boss, I must point something out,” San Guo uttered.

“Speak,” Amon said. His eyes never stopped browsing the papers.

“Considering the authorities have just detained our people yesterday, won’t it be obvious if they got saved so soon? The authorities will no doubt suspect we have something to do with it.”

“That’s why we will break everyone out. Not just our people,” Amon answered.

“Huh?” The others were confused by his answer.

“We are going to burn the entire forest to get one tree,” Amon said.

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