CHAPTER 171: CHAPTER 171: CITY OF COIN

The silence that settled over the metropolis was not one of peace, but of held breath. Li Wei stood at the edge of the vast city that sprawled before him, a labyrinth of opulent pavilions and squalid alleys built upon a foundation of relentless commerce.

The air thrummed with the rhythm of clinking scales and the low, constant chant of sellers and buyers haggling over everything from spirit stones to mortal souls. It was a formidable settlement, a bastion carved from persuasion and cold, hard coin, where influence was the true currency and information the sharpest blade.

Yet, the most dangerous enemy was never the one you could see swinging a sword in the open. It was the one that poisoned the well before you ever felt thirst.

A subtle shift in the wind—a scent of spiritual decay woven into the city’s potent aromas of spice, sweat, and forge-smoke—made the hairs on the back of Li Wei’s neck rise. It was faint, a corruption so delicate only senses honed by the Celestial Realm’s purer energies would perceive it.

His gaze swept across the bustling metropolis, noting the vibrant, chaotic activity, but his focus turned inward, to the intricate map of the city’s spiritual and physical alleyways he held in his mind’s eye. The Oolong Group’s pavilion was his destination, but a blind charge was the strategy of a fool.

"A roaring river is dammed not by a single stone, but by many," he murmured to himself, a proverb from the Immortal Ice Sect surfacing. He needed local knowledge, the small stones that could guide the current.

He found a likely source near a market square where a section of the western palisade was being reinforced. A foreman, a woman with a sturdy build and a face etched with the grit of her trade, was barking orders at a crew hauling timber. Her robes were practical, stained with clay and soot, and her voice carried the sharp authority of one used to being obeyed.

"The construction proceeds with admirable speed," Li Wei stated, his voice calm yet cutting through her shouted commands like a knife through silk. She turned, wiping a smear of soot from her brow with the back of her wrist, her eyes assessing him in a single, shrewd glance. "I wish that were the case, young master," she replied, her tone weary but not unfriendly.

"We build with the assumption that our efforts will be rewarded before the next tax levy. What do you require? You have the look of a man not from these parts." Li Wei offered a slight, disarming smile. "A perceptive eye is a treasure greater than gold. I am looking for a companion of mine. A woman, traveling with a child. They were taken, and I fear the worst."

He let his expression darken, a shadow of genuine concern that was not entirely feigned. "The maiden is not of strong constitution. I suspect... poison may be involved. Do you know of anyone in this city capable of orchestrating such discreet... acquisitions?"

The foreman’s fierce eyes narrowed. "Poison? Are you certain?" She lowered her voice, stepping slightly closer. "That is a serious accusation. The city guards do not take kindly to talk of poisons, not since the incident with the previous governor’s son."

Li Wei nodded gravely. "As certain as the sunrise follows the night. The signs are subtle, but to a trained eye, unmistakable. A slow, wasting ailment that mimics a common fever, but carries the faint scent of Withered Lotus Blossom." He invented the name on the spot, but it sounded suitably sinister and plausible.

The woman’s face paled slightly. "Withered Lotus... I’ve heard whispers. Not from the street-level thugs, mind you. That’s an... expensive poison. The kind used when someone wants a death to look natural."

She glanced around furtively before continuing. "If your friend was taken and poisoned, you’re not dealing with common slavers. You’re looking at one of the high-tier syndicates. The Blue Carps, perhaps. Or... worse, the Oolong Group themselves. They have ’recruiters’ who are not picky about their methods."

Li Wei’s heart tightened, but his face remained a mask of polite inquiry. "The Oolong Group? I have heard their name. They are merchants, are they not?" The foreman let out a short, harsh laugh. "Merchants? Aye, they trade. They trade in anything that turns a profit, including people with ’potential’. They have a special compound near the Jade Pavilion.

Heavily guarded. If your friend is there..." She trailed off, her meaning clear. "They have enforcers, men who walk with the aura of cultivators but the morals of starving jackals. They answer to a man they call Steward Huo. Cold as a mountain stream in winter, that one."

Li Wei absorbed this, filing away the name ’Steward Huo’. "This Steward Huo... where might one find such a man when he is not... overseeing his acquisitions?"

"Ha! You don’t find him. He finds you, if he has a use for you. He frequents the high-end establishments—the Gilded Teahouse, the Pavilion of a Thousand Delights. Places where a single cup of tea costs more than my crew earns in a month."

She looked him up and down again, taking in the fine, if travel-worn, quality of his robes. "A man of your bearing might gain entry, but asking after Huo directly is a good way to disappear. The Oolong Group does not like questions."

"A wise man learns the path before he walks it," Li Wei said, bowing his head slightly in gratitude. "You have my thanks for your guidance. May your walls stand strong and your labors be fruitful." He discreetly pressed a small, low-grade spirit stone into her hand—enough to be a generous token, not enough to draw undue attention.

The foreman’s eyes widened at the unexpected payment, and she quickly concealed it within her robes. "Thank you, young master. Be careful. The shadows in this city have teeth." She turned back to her work, her shouts to the crew resuming with renewed vigor.

Li Wei melted back into the flow of the crowd, his mind racing. The foreman had confirmed his fears and given him a name and a direction. Steward Huo. The Oolong Group’s compound near the Jade Pavilion.

The use of subtle poisons suggested they wanted Tang Li and the child compliant, not dead. They still had "potential" that was to be preserved, not destroyed. It bought him time, but not much.

He needed to see this compound for himself. He needed to understand its defenses, its rhythms. A direct assault was still folly; he was but one man, even if a powerful one, against an entrenched organization in the heart of their power. He needed to use a syringe, not a hammer.

As he navigated the teeming streets, the faint scent of spiritual decay seemed to grow stronger, leading him not towards the opulent city center, but down a narrower, filth-strewn alley that reeked of stagnant water and despair. It was a place the city’s prosperity had forgotten. And there, huddled in a doorway, was the source of the corruption.

It was a man, or what was left of one. His robes were in tatters, his skin pale and waxy. But it was his spiritual aura that was truly horrifying—it was unraveling, dissipating into the air like smoke from a dying fire.

This was not a natural illness. This was the aftermath of a failed spiritual binding, a backlash from a cruel and unstable talisman. The man was evidently a discarded experiment. Li Wei approached slowly, his own aura carefully suppressed. The man’s eyes were glazed, but they focused on Li Wei with a flicker of terrified recognition.

"You... you shine," the man rasped, his voice a dry rustle. "They... they take the light... twist it..." He convulsed, clutching his chest. "The Steward... the ledger... he writes our names in blood ink..."

A cold fury settled in Li Wei’s gut. The Oolong Group wasn’t just trafficking people; they were experimenting on them, carelessly damaging spiritual foundations in their greed. This man was a testament to their brutality.

"What is your name?" Li Wei asked softly, kneeling.

The man shook his head, a spasm of pain wracking his frame. "Gone... all gone... The ledger... in the vault... beneath the stone serpent..." His eyes rolled back, and the last vestiges of his qi dissipated into nothingness. He was gone.

Li Wei stood, his hands clenched into fists. A ledger. A vault. Beneath a stone serpent. It was a cryptic clue, but it was more than he had moments before. This was not just a rescue mission anymore. It was a reckoning.

He looked in the direction of the Jade Pavilion, his gaze sharp enough to cut diamond. The Oolong Group had built their empire on poisoned wells and broken spirits. They believed themselves untouchable, hidden behind walls of gold and influence.

This would not remain the status quo