Lin Mu had not expected the start of Wu Hei would have been . It was evident that he had gone through a lot, and that was why he was at the position he was right now. But he was still a bit confused about one thing, Wu Hei’s cultivation. The mayor and his elder brother seemed to think he had a low cultivation, but Lin Mu could clearly sense that he was at the Mid stage of the core condensation realm at the very minimum or likely even higher.
"It is likely due to an auxiliary cultivation technique that he practices. It is able to hide his cultivation base and makes it seem like he has a lower cultivation base than it actually is." Xukong explained.
Lin Mu internally nodded his head before continuing to listen to the story that Wu Hei was saying.
"I then had a few minor encounters with the Gu legion but there wasn’t much I could do except let them escape. Eventually while on my journey I came across a village at the border of the Shuang Qian kingdom. It was nighttime, and it seemed like everyone in the village was asleep.
This was strange, as even the guards who should always be alert were fast asleep. We checked them and discovered that they were not sleeping, but rather unconscious. No matter what we tried, we couldn’t wake them up and knew that something must have happened.
Our fear turned out to be true, as most of the people in the village seemed to unconscious as well. We waited and observed until morning arrived. The people eventually woke up but seemed to have no memory of the night before.
I questioned them and found out that a curse had been put on the village. People would fall asleep into a deep sleep and through the night at least one person would go missing. This had been happening for the past month and nearly fifty five people had disappeared since then.
Eventually, I was able to figure out that this was no curse, but rather someone was poisoning the villagers." Wu Hei said.
When Lin Mu heard this part he instantly recognized this as this was the very thing that happened in the Northern town as well.
"It was the memory confounding poison, wasn’t it?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Yes, it was indeed. But we were still a bit late in finding it out as some of my men were affected by it too. Thankfully, I had people that were cultivators and were able to stop the Gu legion that night. But what I had not expected was that they would have cultivators too, and more numbers than I had.
I lost half of my men in that conflict but was able to finish all of them off. Then, after mourning for a bit, I found out that this village was not the only one that was affected. Three more villages were too, and all of them had people missing.
The villagers learned of this and were angry. The ones that were willing joined me in my venture and became part of the Hei corps.
Over the years more and more incidents happened, but not all were related to the Gu Legion. I learned a lot of things and gained even more experience before reaching the stage I am in right now. Finally, I decided to return to the Wu Lim City and properly establish the Hei corps as a power.
I expanded its ranks and made an information network across the empire. In the years that I had traveled, I learned one thing that was at the very apex: Knowledge. If you had knowledge, you could change the very fate itself." Wu Hei explained.
Lin Mu was lost in thought after hearing the entire story and spent a minute on it. During this time, they had finally reached the district where the Mayor’s manor was located.
"My Lord, we’re here," The carriage driver lightly spoke from behind the blinds.
Lin Mu snapped out of his thoughts and looked out of the window, only to learn that they were at the manor of the mayor.
"You want me to come with you?" Lin Mu asked with raised brows.
"Yes. I was hesitant at first, but seeing that we are on the same page about the Mayor, I believe this would be best. Perhaps, brother Lin Mu would be able to see something here that I was unable to all these years." Wu Hei answered.
Lin Mu then remembered the tunnels and nodded his head.
"Alright, but I also want your help with another thing." Lin Mu stated.
"What do you need?" Wu Hei questioned.
"I need access to the Ancestral temple." Lin Mu answered.
"Hmm... that is something even a bit difficult for me." Wu Hei replied with hesitation.
"Why? I thought it would be easy with your authority?" Lin Mu asked, feeling confused.
"The problem lies with that very authority. Not many people know this, but the ancestral temple is actually run by a different power and even the mayor has barely any control over it." Wu Hei answered.
"What?! How’s this possible? Who runs it then?" Lin Mu questioned, feeling extremely shocked.
He had not known that there was another power here that he was unaware of. When he had talked with Jing Wei and Duan Ke they had talked about a few powers, but this was not one of them.
’Perhaps it is not as important for them.’ Lin Mu thought.
"Well, it is run by an organization of priests who take care of all ancestral temples of the Shuang Qian kingdom. Their head is none other than the High Priest of the Royal court of the Shuang Qian Kingdom.
Though they are not a threat and they only deal with the temple matters. As for the entry to the temple, while I’m allowed inside and commoners are allowed on certain days, getting permission for another person from those stubborn priests is difficult.
They would simply say that we are ’Disturbing the rest of the ancestors’ and push the request aside." Wu Hei explained .