Volume One: The Youngest of the Three Hundred Chapter 123: "Gaude" Positioning

Chen Changan looked at the cloaked man’s smug expression, feeling truly disgusted. Coughing up several mouthfuls of bright red blood, he stood up and asked, "Why... why do this?"

"Bah! I should have known better than to try and make any so-called deal with a pack of dogs like you."

"Ha! Hahaha!"

Tao Yuan looked up to the heavens and laughed wildly. "But in reality, not only did you talk, you seemed quite satisfied with it. Chen Changan, only when you are dead will that list of Dragon-Slaying Society members within the imperial court appear authentic and valid. Do you understand?"

"After you die, the Left Imperial Guard will present your corpse and the list found on you to Bai Wan. Rest in peace."

Seeing him severely wounded, Tao Yuan took a long blade from his subordinate and walked over, stopping right before him. With a powerful swing, he thrust the blade directly toward Chen Changan’s heart.

No mercy, determined to kill!

"Clang!"

However, to his surprise, the moment the tip of the blade pierced his clothes and was about to sink into flesh and bone, a crisp metallic sound rang out. The long blade in his hand snapped into two pieces without any resistance.

At the same time, the heart-protecting mirror Chen Changan had placed on his chest cracked with fine, web-like fissures, though it had not yet completely shattered.

"This..." Tao Yuan was stunned.

Chen Changan seized the opportunity to draw his blade, Cangming. Without giving him a moment to breathe, he slashed horizontally with all his might, cutting through Tao Yuan’s neck. His head, still wearing an expression of shock, flew off and rolled along the ground with a rhythmic clicking sound before finally coming to a stop.

The process was fast—so fast that at the moment his head hit the ground, Tao Yuan’s consciousness was still present. He witnessed the entire process of his own head detaching from his neck and becoming a headless corpse.

"You..." the cloaked man roared in fury.

Chen Changan sneered, "From start to finish, I never intended to kill anyone. You were the ones who broke your word first."

"Good... very good!"

The cloaked man’s chest heaved violently, his words filled with resentment. "Since that’s how it is, go accompany Tao Yuan to his grave!"

As the word "grave" left his lips, the cloaked man lunged forward like a cannonball, his fists raised high.

Chen Changan remained calm, his tone light and breezy. "Do you know why I chose this place to hand over the record? Because there is a way out."

As he spoke, he stepped onto the trunk of a tree in front of him, using the force to leap backward. Simultaneously, he unleashed the "Spirit Weaving" technique to its full potential, drawing the natural essence of the surrounding vegetation and creatures into Cangming.

But the cloaked man’s pursuit speed was far faster than his retreat; the distance between them was now less than eight meters.

Sensing he had absorbed enough spiritual energy, Chen Changan ended the "Spirit Weaving" and activated the "Immortal Slaying Mind Technique," swinging his blade to unleash a green arc of light that rolled forward like a surging tide.

Massive, sturdy trees that stood tall toward the sky all toppled over half a second after he retreated, crashing to the ground with thunderous thuds. This forced the pursuing cloaked man to dodge left and right, slowing his pace.

"Very well!"

Seeing his goal achieved, Chen Changan launched a second wave of attacks. He unleashed the full power of the "Xinglang Demon Bone," sending purple lightning crackling forward. The fallen tree trunks instantly billowed with thick white smoke, forming a choking barrier.

The cloaked man wove through it. Although his Sixth-Grade peak cultivation allowed him to block the smoke and avoid suffocation, his vision was obstructed, forcing him to slow down yet again.

As a result, Chen Changan, retreating rapidly, grew further and further away until he finally vanished from sight.

***

"Damn it!" The cloaked man gritted his teeth, his face twisted in rage!

His subordinates caught up one after another. Seeing that Chen Changan had escaped, one of them said, "My lord, please calm your anger. Regardless, the record is in our hands, so perhaps we should..."

"Slap!"

Before he could finish, the cloaked man struck his head, shattering his skull. He roared, "Calm down? I’ll show you calm down! With so many men, and after losing Tao Yuan, we still let him escape! Ah!"

At this moment, Chen Changan was running frantically. Even though he had subjectively shaken off the cloaked man, he dared not stop for a second. When he reached the foot of the mountain near the market, he quickly scooped up a handful of mud and smeared it on his face to obscure his features, then darted into a small beef noodle shop.

After finishing a bowl of noodles to fill his stomach, he was about to leave when he encountered Zhou Guifeng, who was leaning on a crooked cane.

"Huh... why are you here?" Chen Changan walked over to greet her.

"Ah, Chen... Master Chen..."

"Shh!"

Chen Changan quickly stopped Zhou Guifeng, who was so excited she nearly cried out. He gave her a few taels of silver to rent a room at a nearby inn and snuck in himself. Finally having a place to stay, he asked, "How did you end up here?"

Zhou Guifeng’s expression was inevitably sorrowful. "Master Chen, it’s like this: yesterday, government soldiers suddenly surrounded the entire Su family residence. Madam Su and Master Su were all taken away. I escaped only because my household registration was checked and found to be unrelated, but... but Abao still hasn't been found. I can't return to Ganquan Village yet."

"Master Chen... what is going on? They say you rebelled against the imperial court, but I refuse to believe it!"

Hearing this, Chen Changan’s mood turned unusually somber. The thing he felt most guilty about in this entire plan was bringing the disaster of arrest upon the Su family. But the situation had been urgent, and there was no other way. Fortunately, with his brother-in-law protecting them, they wouldn't suffer too much.

He picked up a piece of pastry from the table and chewed on it, saying, "I would certainly never rebel against the court. It’s just that some things... alas, everything will be fine!"

"Stay here for now. I’m going out for a bit!"

Chen Changan left without mentioning a word about Abao. After all, he was currently the "Divine Deer Boy" by Bai Wan’s side, and it was hard to explain; he feared Zhou Guifeng wouldn't be able to handle the truth.

About three or four hours later, he returned with a map of Changan City. Upon entering the room, he collapsed onto the bed. Thinking he was exhausted from evading the soldiers, Zhou Guifeng didn't ask questions and sat by the window, lost in thought about Abao’s whereabouts, wondering when she could find him.

She didn't know that Chen Changan wasn't sleeping; his consciousness had entered the "Piaoxiang Courtyard."

In front of the courtyard, Chen Changan stretched with vigor, humming a song in high spirits. He used his fingers as a comb to part his hair down the middle and gave it a stylish flick. "It feels so good to have a cheat code. Now... it’s time to witness a miracle... oh, no, it’s time for high-precision GPS."

He pushed open the door and went straight to Taohua’s room. "Sister Taohua, everything is ready. Now it’s up to you."

"Good, don't worry, I’ve recorded everything!"

Taohua, who was sitting before a bronze mirror brushing her hair, nodded gently. "After they knocked you out, they put you in a carriage. Everything they passed was a busy street; I heard it all clearly."

"Great!"

Chen Changan spread the map of Changan City on the table. He dipped his brush in red cinnabar and marked the spot where the deputy leader of the Dragon-Slaying Society—the cloaked man—had knocked him out, halfway up the mountain. He then gestured for her to begin.

Taohua understood. She recalled the details and described them clearly: "After they knocked you out and put you in the carriage, the first thing I heard was the sound of iron being forged at a blacksmith's shop."

"A blacksmith's shop... forging iron!"

Chen Changan muttered to himself, radiating outward from the red dot he had just drawn, searching for blacksmith shops in the area on the map. He eventually marked four shops in three different directions.

Taohua continued: "Next, we passed through a busy market. There was a pork butcher shouting very loudly."

Chen Changan immediately began searching for pork butchers near the four blacksmith shops he had marked. He drew dots for those as well, effectively eliminating the three blacksmith shops that couldn't be connected to a pork butcher.

"Sister Taohua, what about after that?" Chen Changan dipped his brush in cinnabar again.

Taohua spoke fluently: "After that was a long alley filled with seafood and fruit vendors. I heard people shouting about selling fish and shrimp at low prices."

"Right after that came the sound of a theatrical troupe beating drums and gongs, and then we entered a relatively quiet street. It seemed like there were only the sounds of children playing."

"After passing through that street, all the sounds became very quiet. It must have been a remote place, or somewhere with very few people coming and going. Then the carriage opened, and you were taken inside."

"Yes, excellent!"

As Taohua finished, Chen Changan’s brush stopped. On the map of Changan City, many winding dots had appeared. Connecting them formed a line—the path taken to the Dragon-Slaying Society’s hideout after they knocked him out.

And at the end of the line was, undoubtedly, the hideout.

Changan was the most prosperous city in the nine provinces of Great Min; every sound represented a specific location.

"Hmm, using the same method to scout a new nest—I don’t believe I’ll fall for their trap again this time."

Since his defection from the horse ranch, Chen Changan had been planning how to turn the situation around. He finally decided on a "no guts, no glory" approach: pretend to surrender to lure them into revealing their route. The two secret arts he had asked Taohua for previously were essential. The first, "Soul Locking," ensured that after a person’s life force faded, their soul would not leave the body, allowing for later rescue via special means like the "Life and Death Mirror" techniques of Cao and Cheng. This was to guard against the Dragon-Slaying Society forcing him to kill friends or family to prove his loyalty.

After all, such melodramatic tropes were common in the shows he had watched in his previous life.

As for the second secret art, "Synesthesia," it could be understood as the sharing of information from the peripheral nervous system. Through this, even if Chen Changan lost consciousness or suffered localized sensory shock, everything he saw, smelled, or heard would appear to Taohua in a magical—or even perverted—way.

This was to prevent the Dragon-Slaying Society from using some method to numb his senses while taking him to their hideout.

After all, those melodramatic tropes were also common in the shows he had watched in his previous life.

Both of the enemy’s lethal tactics had been anticipated by him and neutralized using the secret arts obtained from Taohua. It could be said that this operation was truly playing at a higher level, anticipating the enemy’s anticipation.

"Hey!"

Taohua’s beautiful eyes blinked twice. She pointed to the end of the winding red line on the map and asked, "What place is this?"

"Oh, right, let's see where their nest is!"

Chen Changan snapped out of the joy of the "mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind" strategy. He looked down and gasped, "Holy crap, so it was him!"