Chapter 132: Coming Clean
"Xiaowen? You’re out of seclusion!" Seeing the person who entered, Tangtang cheered and brought Peach Blossoms and Xiaoliu with her to greet Tang Wen.
"Yeah, training in seclusion wore me out. I came back for a break."
Tang Wen forced a smile at his sister.
"Mhm, come on in. Goodness, how long has it been since you changed your clothes?"
Tangtang wrinkled her nose in disgust and turned to shout,
"Cui Lian! Come give him a haircut. You all give him a bath, get him cleaned up."
"Yes, Miss!"
The three women happily agreed.
Tang Wen touched his face. Stubble had sprouted on his upper lip and chin.
’He had focused on nothing but his Martial Arts Training in the secret chamber, and he’d really let himself go. It was definitely time to get cleaned up.’
A hair washing, a haircut, a shave, a bath, a foot soak, and a massage.
After enjoying the full-service treatment, he was a new man.
Tangtang walked in carrying a large pot of freshly cooked donkey meat.
"It smells amazing!"
The fragrant donkey meat, sprinkled with bright green scallions, looked incredibly appetizing.
On the table were also plump, white cloves of garlic, peeled by Xiaoliu’s slender, jade-like fingers.
He didn’t know how the young woman had managed it, but there wasn’t a single scratch or nick on the cloves; each one was perfectly whole.
It wasn’t a normal mealtime, so Tang Wen thought that a pot of donkey meat was already a top-tier welcome home.
To his surprise, a continuous stream of food was then brought to the table:
Roasted pork ribs, Beggar’s Chicken, braised mutton, beef with potatoes, shredded potatoes with lard, cold-dressed radish...
The dazzling array of dishes left Tang Wen stunned.
When his sister came in, he said, looking a bit dazed, "What’s the special occasion? Not even the General in the camp—no! Not even the Queen at home would eat like this!"
Tangtang shot him a look. "Stop talking nonsense. This trip to that... what’s it called, Ganshan City, is thousands upon thousands of miles away. Who knows when you’ll be back! We don’t know when we’ll have our next meal together! Xiaoliu, go get the alcohol! Get the beer!"
Xiaoliu acknowledged and walked out the door.
Tang Wen was completely bewildered. "What Ganshan City? What do you mean, you don’t know when we’ll eat again?"
His sister whipped her head around. "You don’t know?!"
"Miss Tang! Commander Tang Wen! Are you home?" A woman’s pleasant voice called out from outside the door.
"No need to shout! This is my home, just follow me in." The voice of the woman behind her was slightly hoarse and very blunt.
It was Zhou Bing.
The door swung open.
Xiaoliu, who had gone to get the alcohol, also called out at this moment, "Miss, Sir, Commander Zhou is here! General Zhao and Miss Bai and the others are with her."
In the inner room, Tangtang subconsciously glanced at the feast on the table. ’Never mind Sister Bing, but have the others eaten? Will all this food be enough?’
Tang Wen suppressed his confusion and, with a bad feeling, opened the door.
A large crowd of people stood there: the Queen, Zhou Bing, General Zhao, Qian Sanduo, Qian Dong, and three remarkably beautiful women.
It took Tang Wen a moment to react before he remembered they were Bai You Ruo and her companions.
"Her Majesty the Queen, everyone, what’s with the big entourage?"
"Everyone, please come in!" Tangtang pulled aside her brother, who was blocking the doorway, and called out a welcome. She then turned to tell Xiaoliu and the other two women to bring more stools, bowls, and chopsticks.
"Tang Wen, the food at your place is pretty good, eh?" General Zhao said with a laugh. He picked up a pair of clean chopsticks, took a bite of beef, and then exclaimed, "Not bad, this meat is great. Much better than the canteen. Oh! And there’s alcohol. Perfect."
Tang Wen, still confused, sat down next to Zhou Bing. His heart couldn’t help but pound. ’So many people showing up... something big must be going on!’
But he deliberately didn’t ask, instead just kept urging everyone to eat and drink.
From time to time, he would use his chopsticks to put meat and vegetables on Zhou Bing’s plate, playing the part of a warm and attentive host. But as for the purpose of their visit, he didn’t ask a single word.
"I say, you brat, aren’t you the least bit curious why we’re here?" After they had eaten and drunk their fill and the dishes were cleared away for tea, General Zhao was the first to speak.
Tang Wen thought, ’It can’t be good.’
He said, "I know why!"
"Oh? You know?"
Tang Wen nodded. "You’re here to congratulate me, of course!
Under Her Majesty the Queen’s personal guidance and selfless instruction,
I’ve mastered the final form of the Mountain-Opening Cannon Fist: Mountain-Shattering Cannon!
It’s something well worth celebrating."
He smiled at Zhou Bing and said, "Her Majesty the Queen is an excellent teacher!"
In the presence of outsiders, the Queen always put on a cold and aloof act.
Since walking in today, she had barely said a word, aside from telling everyone to take a seat.
But upon hearing Tang Wen’s praise, she couldn’t help but offer a few modest words in return.
By speaking up, she successfully derailed the conversation.
General Zhao had no choice but to sigh in resignation and get straight to the point. "Tang Wen, there’s a mission for you from the camp."
Tang Wen was just about to shirk all responsibility, claiming he needed to go back into seclusion to get out of it!
Bai You Ruo spoke up directly. "This matter began with me, so allow me to explain.
My Bai Family is willing to offer three vials of Protective Marrow Liquid,
a Cultivation Technique above King Level, the Spiritual Meditation Method,
five factories, and an alliance with your Flame Camp.
And, we request that Commander Tang Wen lend me his aid."
’What generous terms!’
Tang Wen was speechless.
’Protective Marrow Liquid? With my Experience Panel, I don’t care about things like that.’
’An alliance? I’m even less interested in that.’
’But, a Cultivation Technique?’
Tang Wen’s heart stirred. He hadn’t told anyone that he had awakened a Dark Ability.
There were no Cultivation Techniques related to Dark Abilities in the camp.
He had been worrying about how to continue his training.
After some thought, Tang Wen calmly tried to decline, "With such generous terms, the task must be extremely difficult. I’m afraid I’m not up to the task!"
Bai You Ruo replied, "Indeed, it is difficult! But it doesn’t require you to risk your life. You just need to enter Ganshan City, find something, and bring it out. Then the matter will be considered resolved."
"What is it?"
At this point, there was no longer any need for secrecy.
Bai You Ruo said bluntly,
"A map!
Beneath the Northwest desert, there are many mineral deposits.
Our Bai Family’s exploration team has been surveying this land for ten long years.
We’ve identified several large mineral veins."
Hearing this, Tang Wen frowned. ’They explored for ten years, but the Bai Family doesn’t have the map?
Instead, it fell into the hands of Ganshan City?
Isn’t that just bullshit?’
He asked bluntly, "Did your Bai Family lose the map?"
"Commander Tang Wen, please let me finish. We do have maps of the mineral veins.
But the exploration has been ongoing. From the moment we discovered the first vein, my Bai Family began establishing a foothold in Ganshan City.
However, without being able to dispatch an absolute expert, everything was done in secret."
That sounded much more reasonable.
’Sanlian City is powerful, true, but the Bai Family alone probably couldn’t take on all of Ganshan City.’
Bai You Ruo continued, "A few months ago, we received a report.
A new mine was found near Ganshan City!
A Silver Gold Ore mine! And samples were sent over.
At the time, the extent of the deposit and the richness of the gold and silver content had not yet been determined, so a map was not included.
A month later, the specific scope of the Silver Gold Ore was determined. The initial assessment was that it’s a medium to large-sized vein.
But after the exploration team delivered the map back to the Bai Family’s stronghold in Ganshan City, they disappeared.
I led two Extraordinary Guards to retrieve the map, but the news was leaked, and we were ambushed on the way."
A large Silver Gold Ore mine represented enormous stakes.
It could decide whether the Bai Family went to war with Ganshan City.
It would affect the entire regional situation and involve the lives of tens of thousands of people!
It was definitely not a small matter.
General Zhao asked, "But Miss Bai, you also said that your attackers were from within your own ranks?
How can you be sure it wasn’t people from Ganshan City who got the news, stole the map, and then set an ambush?"
Bai You Ruo sighed. "At the time, I recognized one of the ambushers. It was only because he showed me mercy that I was able to escape.
Otherwise, myself, Bai Xue, and Bai Ying are only Martial Artists.
Even with our two Extraordinary Guards fighting for their lives,
how could we have possibly survived an ambush by three Extraordinaries and five First-class Martial Artists?"
In fact, not only had the three of them survived, but they had done so without any serious injuries.
Bai You Ruo laid all her cards on the table, stating frankly that upon entering Ganshan City, they would need to be cautious and act according to the situation.
She wasn’t sure about the current situation at the Bai Family stronghold inside the city.
She didn’t know if it had betrayed them or thrown its lot in with another branch of the Bai Family.
Next, Bai You Ruo explained a great deal about the mineral vein and the situation in Ganshan City.
She laid out her intentions clearly. If they could get the map of the Silver Gold Ore mine, that would naturally be for the best.
If they couldn’t, she still intended to cooperate with Flame Camp, but she would need Tang Wen to return with her to White Stone City.
Tang Wen fell silent. ’An expert with a Dark Ability in Ganshan City... that meant a corresponding Cultivation Technique had to exist there.
For the sake of the Cultivation Technique, he’d have to make a trip there sooner or later anyway.
Rather than going in alone and stumbling around blindly later, getting involved with the Bai Family now might be a much better opportunity.
Besides, since Miss Bai is in such a hurry, I can probably squeeze a few more benefits out of this deal, right?’