Chapter 43: Bracelet (4)

He spent the next few days gathering information and dodging bar fights. There was a limit to what he could pick up without being nosy enough to draw attention, but Muchen was able to confirm the basic outline of the situation.

Zihan was from a small family. Her father was a government official in the Qianzhan Empire, but with mediocre talents and no major backer behind him he wasn't able to wield any real power. He'd been able to secure a do nothing job in Jiaoqu Town that paid enough to feed his family largely by virtue of his willingness to move to such a desolate place.

Zihan herself was something of a martial prodigy. If she'd grown up closer to civilization, she may well have caught the eye of a large sect. As it was, in order to get into a sect, she would have to brave the journey to a sect's grounds and then put herself through their entry test. Both the journey and the test would be fraught with peril. If anything went wrong then she would be lucky to get away with her life, let alone gain admission to a sect.

If she didn't want to take that chance, then her cultivation progress would only go as far as her family's arts could take her. Considering that her family had no history of cultivation whatsoever, she would have a hard time even getting started building a foundation. Her father earned a comfortable living, but high end cultivation and technique manuals cost a fortune, on the rare occasions that they were put up for sale.

Her fiance's family, on the other hand, had a long lineage of successful cultivators stretching back centuries. The strongest of them had topped out in the core formation stage, but even so the Gao family could claim parity with many small sects when it came to cultivation.

Her father would benefit from having a family tie to the local powerhouse, while Zihan herself would get access to cultivation techniques that would let her build a proper foundation. On the surface, it was a win-win transaction. Win-win-win, even, when you took into account that her husband would be welcoming a beautiful and talented bride to the family.

The only problem was that Zihan was openly unhappy with the betrothal, and seemed poised to do whatever she could to delay the wedding if not cancel it altogether. She still seemed to hold her father in high regard, at least, and refrained from publicly announcing her intention to see the engagement annulled.

Muchen wasn't quite sure what had her so upset. There wasn't even the whisper of a rumor suggesting that she had her eyes on some other man, and Gao Shuchang was by all accounts a capable and handsome man. He'd have understood a modern woman rejecting an arranged marriage on principle, but by the standards of the Qianzhan Continent her father had really knocked it out of the park.

He'd have to hope that he could complete his mission without a full understanding of Zihan's heart. At the end of the day, he didn't need to achieve some masterful level of control over the events to come, or play out some kind of grand strategic game. All that he needed to do was to get his hands on that bracelet.

Muchen's tentative plan was to try and prod their relationship into collapsing, then swoop in and buy the bracelet afterwards. Alternatively, even if the marriage ended up going through, Zihan seemed perfectly capable of selling her betrothal gifts in order to piss off her husband. That kind of situation would be fine with Muchen, just so long as he had time to get out of town before her husband found out.

All of those plans were subject to change, of course. Muchen would keep his ears and eyes open during the coming hunt, looking to dig up any useful information. Or rather, he'd do his best to learn what he needed, provided it didn't distract from the effort needed to keep himself alive out in the wasteland.

Muchen had also spent those few days picking up what he needed in order to prepare for the hunt. The Gao family had been thoughtful enough to provide a list of recommended equipment, most of it the usual sort of thing you would want to bring with you on a trip to the wilds. Flint and steel, a small shovel, a basic knife, a coil of rope, that kind of thing. Muchen had most of it stashed on his cart already, although he appreciated the reminder to gather everything together in a single pack.

Other recommended supplies were more esoteric. The quantity of ground salt they wanted him to pack was far more than he would need for culinary purposes. Similarly, the assortment of herbs he ended up buying went well beyond what a campfire cook would bother keeping in stock. Muchen grumbled a bit, but made sure to buy everything on the list. It would be foolish to ignore the local experts.

The overall structure of the hunt wasn't that different from what mortals would get up to. Muchen's cart was one among many gathered together in front of the Gao family compound. The plan was to march out into the wilds, set up a base camp, and then conduct hunts ranging out from that secure location. The absolute majority of the people coming were the mortals and low level cultivators who would keep the camp running and secure against any minor beast incursions. The cultivators who would actually be going out on the hunt numbered only a dozen. Muchen was in the upper tier among them with his own cultivation near the peak of the meridian opening realm.

The whole crowd moved with a great deal of pomp and circumstance. They put on a parade through Jiaoqu Town, much to the enjoyment of the locals, before heading off to the wilderness. It was an impressive sight, even if it fell short of what Muchen had imagined when he thought of cultivators on the hunt.

To his mind, the most efficient hunting method would be for high level cultivators to sweep across the wastes from above. They'd be well out of range of retaliation atop their flying swords and free to rain deadly attacks on the beasts below. The lower level cultivators could tag along in their wake and collect the spoils. It might not be sporting, but it would be effective.

Muchen's first thought was that Jiaoqu Town simply didn't boast any cultivators strong enough to bring that kind of overwhelming force to bear. Even so, it seemed like a bit of adventure tourism would be profitable enough to be worth even a golden core cultivator's time. He didn't understand why none of the Qianzhan Continent's powerhouses had been lured north by the potential profits, not until he voiced the question to Xinyi.

"If it were so simple, would the northern wastes still be the northern wastes?" Xinyi asked, shaking her head. "The twisting of the natural order of things gets worse the farther north we travel. For a mortal, it's nothing more than an eerie feeling on the back of his neck. Even lower level cultivators will only lose a bit of strength. For anybody capable of using a flying sword... well, they wouldn't be flying back out of the wastes, that's for sure."

Muchen nodded, giving their surroundings around them another quick scan, just in case. They were a few hours north of Jiaoqu Town, and so far the forest didn't lok much different. He felt a tingling on the back of his neck, but that could easily have come because of Xinyi's reminder.

"Will you be all right?" he asked. Part of the reason he'd been so willing to join what was usually a dangerous venture was because he thought he had a safety talisman by his side.

Xinyi smiled. "I know a thing or two about surviving in a place like this. It might take a bit more effort, but the low level beasts here aren't enough to put me in danger."

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Muchen would still do his best to make sure that she didn't have to make a move, but it was nice to know that he was working with a safety net. Even a diminished Xinyi inspired more confidence than his other hunting companions.

Shuchang was the leader of their group, currently marching at the head of their traveling column. He was Zihan's betrothed and a cultivator in the process of building his foundation. He was also an all around good guy, according to the rumors, and Muchen hadn't seen anything to contradict it.

He'd given a speech before they headed into the wilderness, reminding them of the dangers they were about to risk and the money they stood to make if they succeeded. Even if he was just putting on a show to con the masses, it still took skill to give a good speech. For that matter, his position at the head of the formation wasn't just a point of pride. When they were on the march, it was the head of the column that was the first to disrupt the natural order of the forest and the first to face the wrath of the local animals. They had already had to fight off two attacks from spirit beasts, so far with zero casualties.

Muchen was broadening his horizons by traveling out into such a dangerous area, but so far he hadn't made any progress on his mission of finding a reason to derail the betrothal.

Shuchang had brought along four other regular hunting buddies. Muchen would be working with them, the six of them together comprising one of the two hunting teams. The other six cultivators were a team from the Indomitable Sword Sect, which despite its domineering name was an unregistered sect located somewhere off the beaten path between Jiaoqu Town and Jiulu City.

The sect had sent one cultivator in the foundation building stage. The remainder were in the middle to high realm of meridian opening, as were the rest of Shuchang's team. If Xinyi was included on their roster, they had enough cultivators traveling together to found a reasonably promising sect, if they were so inclined.

It was a testament to the foundation of the Gao family that they were able to bring such a powerful force together. It was also a testament to the profit motive. The weird twist to spiritual energy that kept high level cultivators out of the area had strange and unpredictable effects on the local wildlife. While that made for a lot of touch and go battles, it also meant that almost everything out here was valuable in one way or another.

The whole land was a vast alchemical storehouse. If it weren't for all the deadly threats, the north would be the most prosperous region of the Qianzhan Continent. As it was, the fact that high level cultivators couldn't bulldoze the place opened up economic opportunities for those lower down on the totem pole.

Well, the locals probably thought of it that way. No doubt the Gao family would be opposed if there were some magical method available that would undo the taint. Muchen could only shake his head at the short sighted thinking. Right now, they could only raid the treasures of the northern wastes, coming back with what they could carry before the dangers grew too great.

It was enough to make a living, true, but it paled in comparison to the kind of profits they could make if the whole region could be exploited properly. Even giving over the lion's share of the profits to the high level cultivators who would swoop in, what was left over would be riches to dwarf what the Gao family was earning now.

Or rather, that should be the case. Unfortunately, the Gao family were far from the only group that took a short sighted view of their own economic interests. Golden Core cultivators were people who had made great achievements in the single minded pursuit of their dao. That didn't necessarily make them wise, or equip them with management abilities. Muchen could imagine a scene where the newcomers deliberately oppressed incumbents like the Gao family in order to try to squeeze every drop of profits for themselves.

It was only natural that the Gao family would try to avoid risks whenever possible. Muchen couldn't help but wonder if that was the reason they refused to build any settlements more permanent than a hunting camp on the northern wastes.

Fortunately, while the forest grew ever more foreboding, they didn't suffer any serious attacks on that first day. Only sporadic spirit beast assaults that were easily taken care of by the vanguard. It was a good sign for the rest of the hunt.

They set up a basic defensive camp in the evening. Muchen enjoyed the privilege of a high level cultivator for the first time, as his relatively advanced cultivation base excused him from taking watch duty. Not quite as dramatic as the goodies sects would hand out to successful cultivators, but Muchen was grateful for it all the same. He slept like a baby.

They set out bright and early the next morning. Once again they made good time, reaching their stopping point for the day just as the sun reached its peak.

At first glance, the site that was to be their camp for the duration of the hunt didn't look too impressive. A log palisade had been erected, but large gaps in each wall allowed the wildlife free access to the inside of the camp. The inside was at least mostly level ground, but the forest had already started trying to reclaim the area. Instead of a neat grid of streets and campsites, the area inside the palisade was a sea of tall grass dotted with saplings.

To be fair, this was a hunting trip, not a vacation safari. Muchen pitched in along with the rest of the team, and by the time they took a break for dinner the camp was rounding into shape.

The trees that had invaded the camp were gone, and the grass had been cut down to size. The gaps in the wall had been filled with gates that they had carted in with them, and the half filled ditch outside the walls had been turned into a proper defensive work, at least for the length of the north wall.

All in all, if Muchen had to sleep in a monster infested wilderness, this was the kind of setup he'd like to have guarding his bed.

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