Chapter 86: Plans

Zuo Zhicheng heard the name, and his eyes flickered with thought. He didn’t know what ideas were forming in his mind.

Over there, Qingyue Qiu continued, “Of course, whether what we found is the real White City still needs to be verified. But there is indeed Spiritual Energy Food inside.”

“Half a year ago, Brother Pa, in order to evade loan shark debts, fled to the area near Dog Head Mountain west of Xinlu Port. There, in a small stream, he discovered Spiritual Energy Food floating along with the water.”

Of course, the reason Brother Pa fled was also related to the time when Haoran Martial Hall was surrounded, and he was defeated by Zuo Zhicheng, who broke through. However, Qingyue Qiu didn’t feel it was necessary to elaborate on that detail.

She went on, “Afterwards, we searched deep in Dog Head Mountain for several months and finally discovered a ruin there. The Spiritual Energy Food was drifting out from the entrance river of this ruin.”

“At first, we thought it was just an ordinary ruin. But because of the words ‘White City’ and the disappearance of two teams, it’s clear that it’s very dangerous inside.”

Under his mask, Zuo Zhicheng’s mouth twitched slightly. Looking at Qingyue Qiu’s icy expression, he thought that all her talk about Amariken and White City was just a way to paint a tempting picture for him. Her earlier attempts to build suspense and haggle were merely to increase his anticipation.

He didn’t expect that behind her cold demeanor, she would play such tricks. It seemed Qingyue Qiu wasn’t as frosty as she appeared.

Zuo Zhicheng asked, “What does the entrance to that place look like?”

“You go through a cave in a lake, take a boat along an underground river. The entire ruin is inside the mountain. We’ve already set up a camp by the lake. The people there will take us in when the time comes.”

Zuo Zhicheng nodded and asked, “Are you going too?”

“Of course. After all, it’s Spiritual Energy Food, and the dangers in the ruin are uncertain. With both of our abilities, it’s safer to go in together.”

This was something Zuo Zhicheng hadn’t anticipated. Given the recent situation and yesterday’s events, he thought it was related to the Hundred Families Association and the local natives, and that Qingyue Qiu needed to stay in charge. He assumed she sought his help due to a lack of manpower, but he didn’t expect her to go along as well.

However, from this, it was clear that Spiritual Energy Food was also a very precious resource for Qingyue Qiu and the people of the Shadow Corps. Besides helping Zuo Zhicheng explore the ruin, Qingyue Qiu also had a role in keeping him in check, to prevent him from turning on them.

He nodded, “I understand. Give me the specific documents and information about the personnel.”

“Here is all the information, along with the action plan.” Qingyue Qiu handed another file to Zuo Zhicheng. “The members of this team are all valuable talents of the Imperial Court. After you go down, you must ensure their safety.”

“Also, rescuing the two teams that fell earlier is one of our tasks.”

Zuo Zhicheng casually asked, “How long have they been down there?”

“Already ten days. But they brought half a month’s worth of dry rations, so it’s very possible they’re still alive.”

Zuo Zhicheng nodded, “We’ll see. But this place is a bit strange. Whether I’ll go or not, I still need to think about it.”

Qingyue Qiu said, “We’ll leave by tomorrow night at the latest. You have only one day to consider.”

Zuo Zhicheng stood up with the documents and, as if by chance, glanced at Qingyue Qiu’s desk. He pointed to a file on it and said, “Can I take a look at this?”

Qingyue Qiu glanced at it. Though she found it odd that Zuo Zhicheng wanted to see it, it wasn’t anything important, so she handed it over.

It was a document of about two or three pages, with a man’s portrait on the cover. This man was the reason Zuo Zhicheng had noticed the file.

Flowing long hair, a gaunt face—it was a portrait of Shen Zong.

“Do you know this man?” Qingyue Qiu asked.

“Not really,” Zuo Zhicheng shook his head and continued reading. The report described how the man single-handedly destroyed sixteen warships and killed five generals. The portrait was drawn based on the memories of survivors.

Seeing the description of Shen Zong’s displayed power, Zuo Zhicheng’s heart sank. The other’s strength was beyond what he had expected. He never imagined the upper limit of individual combat power in this world could reach such heights.

But on the surface, he didn’t show any sign of this, which was also due in part to the white mask he wore.

After thinking for a moment, Zuo Zhicheng slowly said, “Although I don’t know him, a former colleague once mentioned this man to me. He’s very troublesome. You’d better capture him as soon as possible, before he causes more damage.”

“I’ll consider reporting this suggestion.” What intrigued Qingyue Qiu more, however, were the words “former” and “colleague.” It was unclear how much speculation she would attach to these words, which was exactly Zuo Zhicheng’s method of obfuscation.

“I’ll give you my answer after I finish reading this report.” With that, Zuo Zhicheng leaped out, crossed the window, and disappeared into the vast night.

Half an hour later, Lin Ganghao and the others returned to Qingyue Qiu. He asked, “Miss, has Ghost Fist been here?”

“Yes, I’ve told him about the Amariken ruins, but he hasn’t confirmed whether he’ll go.”

“He’s still wary of us.”

“For experts like him, being cautious is normal. In fact, if the situation in Xinlu Port weren’t so unstable and we couldn’t request help from headquarters, I wouldn’t have sought Ghost Fist’s assistance so soon,” Qingyue Qiu said calmly. “But we can’t leave A He and the others trapped down there.”

“Besides, the Spiritual Energy Food and the Amariken documents are also very important. If nothing else works, we’ll have to stick to the original plan—I’ll go myself.”

Due to changes in the environment, Spiritual Energy Food had become increasingly scarce, which was why Zuo Zhicheng hadn’t seen any in the six months he’d been in Xinlu. For Qingyue Qiu, Lin Ganghao, and the others, Spiritual Energy Food was also a very important and rare resource.

Her unwillingness to summon help from headquarters clearly showed she didn’t want to hand over the Spiritual Energy Food.

…

Meanwhile, after returning to his base, Zuo Zhicheng skimmed through all the documents and plans, but his mind kept returning to the Great Qi Dynasty’s report on Shen Zong—all of it was bad news.

The only good news was that Shen Zong hadn’t come to the New Continent but had gone to the Central Plains instead. However, his immense strength still placed enormous pressure on Zuo Zhicheng.

“We must speed things up,” Zuo Zhicheng thought to himself.

As for whether he would go to the mountain ruins to search for Spiritual Energy Food, he had already made up his mind. He needed to grow stronger, faster, and faster—to possess power that could rival Shen Zong’s before they met.

The Spiritual Energy Food—he was determined to obtain it.

Looking at the secret manual in his hand, Zuo Zhicheng had originally planned to carefully and gradually increase his power. However, the intelligence on Shen Zong had spurred him, making him decide to explore the dangerous ruins in search of Spiritual Energy Food.

Similarly, he revisited the translation of Night Sea in his hand that evening. After revising a few points, Zuo Zhicheng decided to try cultivating it, as a way to boost his chances for this expedition.