Eternal Life: I Can Control My Essence Qi-Chapter 34: Dust Settles

"... Cough cough."

Zhang Yao was slightly startled by the sound, awkwardly coughed twice.

He looked at Zhao Donglai outside the funeral hall, who was dumbfounded, and said with an embarrassed smile, "Hall Master Zhao, please forgive me. I was overly curious about the Grandmaster’s body, so I inadvertently offended this Wang ancestor..."

Zhao Donglai came to his senses and said with a peculiar expression, "My dear nephew, your behavior... is indeed not quite right, you need to be more careful."

As he spoke, he quickly walked over, his tone slightly changing, "But the Grandmaster’s body, I am indeed very curious about it, I’ve never seen one before..."

Soon, he also discovered the mystical aspects of the Grandmaster’s corpse, marveling incessantly, touching here and there, and began discussing it with Zhang Yao.

The two chatted for quite a while, and Zhang Yao seemed to react, asking, "Hall Master Zhao, weren’t you outside handling matters after the battle?"

Upon hearing the words, Zhao Donglai’s eyes suddenly became a bit evasive and stammered, "Well, I just suddenly remembered that there might still be remnants of the Wang Family hiding, so I came in to take a look."

He simply couldn’t say that he was worried Zhang Yao would secretly take all the treasures, right?

Things like cultivation insights could be transcribed and copied, so he wasn’t afraid of Zhang Yao keeping them, as it wasn’t worth falling out over such things.

But the Wang Family is a big and affluent family, perhaps hiding some unique rare treasures, he was afraid Zhang Yao would hit a big jackpot and swallow them secretly.

"Ha..."

Zhang Yao chuckled, guessed his thoughts, but didn’t point them out, and shifted the topic, "Just rightly, I haven’t had time to search Wang Dezhai’s study and bedroom, these important spots."

"Since Hall Master Zhao is here, why don’t we search together."

"Alright!"

Zhao Donglai was waiting for these words, naturally nodded in agreement promptly.

Soon, the two teamed up for a search, but ended up greatly disappointed.

Wang Dezhai’s study and bedroom indeed had quite a few things, but truly valuable items like account books, secret records, martial arts manuals were nowhere to be found.

With Zhao Donglai’s seasoned experience, they even found a few secret rooms, but it was the same situation inside—empty.

Facts proved—

The Wang family’s higher-ups were cautious. These truly valuable items, including gold, silver, and wealth had been transferred in advance.

They indeed did not wish to abandon Changping City, preferring to use favors to invite experts and lay traps, but also prepared for everything.

"Damn it!" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Zhao Donglai’s expression turned fierce, cursing bluntly, "These bastards of the Wang Family, even dead, aren’t at peace, causing us unnecessary trouble!"

"But don’t worry, they’re not going anywhere!"

He sneered, saying, "Changping County is only so big, they must be hiding somewhere, waiting to meet up with Wang Dezhai!"

"Otherwise, carrying so many treasures, wealth, without experts guarding, they’ll be sitting ducks wherever they go!"

"Yeah."

Zhang Yao nodded, saying, "Hall Master Zhao, I have no manpower or influence."

"The task of chasing these treasures and wealth, I’ll leave it to you guys, I won’t be involved."

"Once you retrieve these things, I just want the agreed share."

Hearing his words, Zhao Donglai’s face immediately showed a smile, saying repeatedly, "Alright, then it’s settled."

......

After the dramatic change that night, Zhang Yao moved out of the Governor’s Mansion, returning to the Golden Furnace Martial Arts Hall.

Zhou An had reached the final stage of his life, his consciousness was a bit unclear, spending his days dozing and dreaming, most of which were about his son he couldn’t let go of.

But despite more than a dozen letters, Zhou Changgui showed no sign of returning, later not even responding to letters.

This made Meng Zongwei very angry, and Zhou Hongxiu even cursed, wanting to sever ties with her brother, burning the few items he left behind.

Zhang Yao was helpless about this, he could only stay by Zhou An’s side, accompanying him through his final journey.

Outside the martial arts hall, the chaos only lasted a few days before a new order quickly formed.

The Martial Arts community, Commerce Association, and noble families joined forces to divide everything the Wang family left behind, taking over the entire Changping City.

The Wang family had dominated Changping for decades, often referred to as "half the city", with industries all over, most of which were taken over by the city’s commerce association.

The martial arts community’s personnel moved largely into the City Defense Army to take on military roles, secretly taking over several local gangs, significantly improving their lives.

The most powerful noble families reunited, jointly controlling the government office of the Governor’s Mansion. A letter was sent to Jiangzhou City, and before the appointment was officially confirmed, the new Governor was freshly in place.

Everything settled down.

The Wang family’s influence might still have deep roots in Changping City, but lacking experts and key members, they can no longer stir up trouble.

Perhaps in a few years, as the citizens get accustomed to the new reality, they will clean forget about them.

......

Half a month later.

The long street was bustling with a sea of people, all in mourning white as far as the eye could see.

It wasn’t just the swirling snowflakes; there were also figures draped in hemp and wearing mourning bands in the wind and snow, a group of two to three hundred people.

With drums and gongs, they moved forward gloriously, paper money fluttered all over, and there were people singing mourning songs and reciting scriptures.

"Master..."

Meng Zongwei, eyes red, holding onto the memorial tablet at the very front, his steps somewhat staggering.

Zhang Yao, wearing mourning cloth on his head, dressed in plain white clothes, looking somber, followed behind him, supporting Zhou Hongxiu, who had fainted from crying twice.

Zhou An had opened the hall and taken in hundreds of disciples in his lifetime, and his funeral was indeed a grand one.

Especially after that night battle at the Governor’s Mansion, the upper echelons of the city became vaguely aware of Zhang Yao’s presence, naturally treating him with respect.

During this funeral, various wealthy merchants, noble families, and martial arts welterweights gathered together; it could be said that all the prominent figures of Changping City were present, giving due respect.

But unfortunately, the honor in death cannot cover the pain in life.

Even on his deathbed, Zhou An couldn’t see his long-missed son, only having a few disciples to send him off.

"Alas, birth, old age, illness, and death, none can escape."

Zhang Yao sighed deeply, his mood increasingly heavy:

"Though I possess an ageless body, I still fear the calamities of swords, soldiers, heavens, and earth, ultimately hard to achieve freedom... My skills are still insufficient!"

The funeral procession moved all the way out of Changping City, reaching the mountain of graves a few miles away.

After the coffin was buried, the soil was quickly filled and bricks laid. After several hours of work, a stately tomb dwelling was finally completed.

The people gradually dispersed, leaving only Zhang Yao, Meng Zongwei, Zhou Hongxiu, Zhang Yannian, and the lonely Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao caught sight of Zhang Yao several times, his expression awkward, seemingly wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing, only standing in the corner, maintaining a slight distance from them.

"... Junior brother."

Kneeling before the tombstone, burning paper in a copper basin, Meng Zongwei suddenly spoke up, "Do you really plan to leave Changping?"