Chapter 55: The Casting Master Ye Xiaosheng

  The most famous thing in Daye Country is the forest, which stretches as far as the eye can see.

  At this moment, a horse team is slowly passing through the jungle, dressed as merchants, and although they are not moving fast, they are in an orderly manner.

  Su Dong rode his horse in the center of the team, with royal guards in front and back. In order to cover up, they disguised themselves as a merchant team. The supplies on the horseback were for Ye Xiaosheng, the uncle of Emperor Ye.

  Although Ye Xiaosheng was a casting master and had left the royal family, he still needed to be taken care of. Every now and then, the imperial court would send an elite soldier to Douhu to look after that legendary casting master, the emperor's uncle.

  "In front is Douhu Lake, a lake on the mountain waist, not big in size, but with good scenery. Standing on the mountain waist, you can clearly see this vast forest and Yecheng." said Ye Wei, the head of the Imperial Guard who accompanied Su Dong.

  Su Dong nodded and said, "Yes, I really hope to see this legendary casting master soon. To become a great casting master with the identity of the imperial family is truly a rare thing in the world, and Ye Lao is also a rare figure."

  "Yes." Ye Wei sighed and said, "Originally, the call for Prince Huang to inherit the throne was very high. After all, he is a great hero in our family, and among the many generations of the Ye royal family, only he is a master craftsman who excels at using spiritual energy. However, Prince Huang has no interest in worldly affairs, and would rather stay in the Douhu Workshop than live in the imperial palace."

  "It can be said that Huang Shu is the guardian deity of the imperial clan's bloodline, and even the national teacher Kaiyuan was personally invited by Huang Shu."

  The Ye family's imperial clan people are full of admiration for Ye Xiaosheng, Su Dong heard a lot of praise for Ye Xiaosheng and had high expectations for this casting master from the imperial family. Being able to get a custom-made Ling Jia from him would be a stroke of luck for Su Dong.

  ……

  As the sky was about to darken, Su Dong and his party finally arrived at Douhu Lake, where they saw a round lake nestled in the mountainside like a shining pearl.

  It is said that Douhu Lake is funnel-shaped, with a very deep lake center, and it is also connected to the underground water system. The water brought by several rivers will leak into the ground, hence the name.

  By the lake and at the foot of a mountain, there was a simple courtyard with four tile-roofed houses, green fences, and some melons, fruits and vegetables planted. It looked like a small farmhouse. This was Ye Xiaosheng's home.

  The soldiers unloaded the goods from the horse's back and moved them into the yard. Ye Xiaosheng was not there, so these things were placed under the eaves of the house.

  Ye Wei drove everyone away and sat in the courtyard with Su Dong, waiting for the imperial uncle who was a master of casting.

  "The emperor's uncle doesn't see outsiders, but you're an exception. His Majesty has already sent a message to inform the emperor's uncle about your matter." Ye Wei said in a low voice, as if he was afraid of Ye Xiaosheng and didn't dare to discuss it loudly here.

  Just before the sun sets, a tall and thin figure is seen walking down from the mountain, not very old, probably under fifty, compared to the white and fat emperor, this imperial uncle is much more capable, with a pair of bright eyes and swift footsteps.

  "You've arrived." Ye Xiaosheng nodded and opened the door of the room.

  Ye Wei hastily made a bow, and Su Dong also softly called out "Master Ye".

  Ye Xiaosheng saw the pile of packaged gifts at the door and frowned, saying: "Didn't I say not to bring too many things? I live alone on the mountain, what do I need so much for?"

  Yue Wei argued: "These are all expressions of Your Majesty's filial piety towards you, a manifestation of his filial heart."

  Ye Xiaosheng sighed and said: "Forget it, you two move the things into the house and put them on the west side."

  Su Dong and Ye Wei started carrying big and small packages into the house, Ye Xiaosheng lit a lamp in the courtyard, picked some melons, fruits and vegetables from the garden, washed them clean in the well, and arranged them on the table.

  "Come and have dinner." Ye Xiaosheng called out.

  Su Dong and Ye Wei hastily gathered around to sit down. Su Dong was relatively used to being a vegetarian, thinking that occasionally eating some vegetables wasn't bad. Ye Wei, on the other hand, looked very uncomfortable, taking a cucumber and slowly chewing on it.

  After having a purely green dinner, the three of them sat in the yard to enjoy the cool breeze. Ye Xiaosheng said: "You saved my nephew, which is considered a favor to the Ye family. Tomorrow, follow me up the mountain and I will personally forge a spiritual armor for you at the workshop."

  Su Dong hastily nodded and said: "Then I'll have to trouble you."

  Ye Xiaosheng nodded and said: "However, I must say this beforehand, your spiritual power is very special, so the spiritual armor that will be forged later may not necessarily fit, it can only be said to try it out."

  Su Dong was taken aback and hastily asked: "Is there a relationship between spiritual power and spiritual armor?"

  "Of course, it's related. The spiritual armor is like another layer of skin and flesh for the warrior. If the spiritual armor and the warrior are not well combined, it will reduce the defensive effect. Anyway, your matter is very troublesome, let's go to the workshop tomorrow and study it carefully." Ye Xiaosheng said calmly.

  ……

  As night fell, Su Dong went to sleep, but Ye Xiaosheng and Ye Wei were still in the courtyard, lighting lanterns and talking through the night.

  Ye Wei detailed the recent events in the palace and at home and abroad, Ye Xiaosheng listened carefully, it was clear that this imperial uncle, although already claiming to be retired, was still paying attention to every move of the Great Ye Kingdom.

  The conversation took a sudden turn as Ye Xiaosheng asked about Su Dong's situation, and Ye Wei hastily recounted everything he knew from start to finish.

  Ye Xiaosheng furrowed his brow and said in a deep voice, "What did Ye An say?"

  Ye Wei said in a low voice, "The Second Prince said that he personally saw Su Dong behead Ding Ziwu and then feed him to the thing behind his back. The scene was extremely bloody, and we all suspected that Su Dong must have had guidance from a superior, and it was a ruthless method close to the demonic path."

  "The undercover agents on their way to Hanshing City have already set out, hoping they can gather some information about Su Dong. After all, this kid is really too special, nobody can figure out his true identity."

  Ye Xiaosheng let out a long breath, looking very surprised, and then burst out laughing again. "This Su Dong is quite something," he said with a chuckle. "My nephew is being played around like a fool, and he doesn't even realize it."

  Ye Wei was taken aback and unclearly said: "Are you saying that His Majesty was deceived by Su Dong?"

  Ye Xiaosheng shook his head and said, "It's not a scam, but Su Dong is very good at borrowing power, and he set up Ye Ming for one move."

  "All this was calculated by him, leaving Dingziwu alone, because Su Dong and Dingziwu didn't get along, he beat him up, Su Dong feared Dingziwu's revenge, so he decided to take his life early on."

  "Yea An saw Su Dong cut off Ding Ziwu's head to feed that monster, he will definitely tell his father. This way, even if Ye Miao doesn't want to, he has to cover for Su Dong. After all, on the surface, it seems like he killed Ding Ziwu to save Yea An, which is equivalent to a life for a life."

  "As for whether Ye An needs to sacrifice Ding Ziwu's life, apart from Su Dong, no one else knows. Even if we suspect it, we can only accept it. In this way, Su Dong killing Ding Ziwu actually achieved merit. Being able to kill someone with such a method and still leaving everyone speechless, you tell me, isn't Su Dong's move ruthless enough?"

  Ye Xiaosheng is formidable, and his psychological analysis of Su Dong is very thorough. As he said, Su Dong had been plotting against Ding Ziwu from the beginning, after all, it was Su Dong who injured him, and Ding Ziwu had a very powerful master, so Su Dong decided to take care of Ding Ziwu once and for all, eliminating future troubles.

  Ye Wei swallowed a mouthful of saliva, exclaiming in surprise: "You put it that way, and I get goosebumps all over my body! Where is Su Dong poisonous? It's simply boundless! Looking back, the situation was so urgent at the time, but he actually calculated Ding Ziwu, Your Majesty, the Crown Prince, and everyone else within such a short period of time!"

  After finishing speaking, Ye Wei took a deep breath of cool air, feeling that the mountain was even colder. Ye Xiao Sheng said indifferently: "The world is difficult, just take our casting master's lineage as an example. I've climbed to where I am today, and there are countless lives under my hands. Since Su Dong is a disciple of some powerful person, this powerful person must also teach him the way to survive."

  With a somewhat disdainful glance at Ye Wei, Ye Xiaosheng said: "We people of the Ye family are just too kind-hearted by nature. Fortunately, our family's bloodline is not suitable for learning casting, astrology, and star-gazing. If it were, with you joining the Star Society, I'm afraid even death wouldn't know how to die."

  "Go back and tell Ye Miao, Su Dong must be the descendant of some unborn old demon, he is deliberately doing Ling Nong to hide his identity. For such a person, our Dye country cannot afford to offend him, can only win him over. Even if he can't be used by us, we must not provoke him."

  "As for Kaizhong's side, don't bother with it for now. With me around, let's just clean up the people who know about this matter, except for our own family members, bury them all."

  Ye Wei hastily nodded, his face covered in cold sweat. Fortunately, he shared the same surname as Ye, or else he might have also been included in this round of cleaning.

  In the dark of night, Su Dong smiled slightly and finally fell asleep, muttering softly to himself: "Pretty sharp, huh."

  His arm slowly drew out from under the pillow, where a dagger was hidden, its blade broken and worn.

  People in the strange gate have always been like this, even when sleeping, they also carry a knife!