Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 143: Surveillance

After almost no rest, it wasn't until the evening that Tang San finally finished forging the black gold. Watching the Black Crow Stone transform into black gold, Zhang Haoxuan's face was astonished.

"Where did you get this spatial bag?" Zhang Haoxuan asked. Now that the forging was done, he remembered noticing something that he hadn’t seen his pupil use before.

Tang San couldn't just conjure Black Crow Stone out of thin air, and transporting it was troublesome, so he decided not to hide the existence of his spatial bag from Zhang Haoxuan any longer.

"I brought it from Wind Wolf Town. Master, when I was leaving there, I encountered the Lord of Wind Wolf Town. I killed him and I devoured his bloodline power. That's why I was already at the fifth order when I arrived here," Tang San explained candidly.

After spending these days together, he gradually accepted the Redemption Society and his master. There was no longer a need to hide certain things.

Zhang Haoxuan's eyes flickered slightly. "You were at the fourth order then, no? And he was at the fifth?"

Tang San nodded. "I know what you’re thinking, but he was really badly injured from his fight with a powerful member of the Flash Leopard clan. I guess I just got lucky."

Zhang Haoxuan's mouth twitched slightly. "So...you're saying you instigated the war between the Wind Wolf and Flash Leopard clans? It was quite a heated battle, you know? Many powerful demons kicked the bucket. Even the Ancestral Court was alarmed, and it took great effort to suppress the conflict."

Tang San blinked innocently. "He wanted to kill me at the time; I couldn't just let him, could I? As for what happened afterward, I wouldn’t know."

"Nice way to sidestep responsibility!" Zhang Haoxuan's expression was priceless as he gave Tang San a thumbs-up. "You sure are ruthless, kid!"

He had noticed it when Tang San led the team to kill demonic beasts—not only was he decisive and struck hard when time came, but he was also able to keep his cool when needed.

He had observed Tang San's team's performance throughout their journey. He was confident that without Tang San, the team would have likely achieved less than half of their results, not to mention taking down not one, but two Winged Tigers.

Tang San's guidance in teamwork and combat skills, as witnessed by Zhang Haoxuan, had greatly impressed him. This child's display of selflessness and leadership talent was very satisfying.

The reason he had agreed to that training was partly to assess Tang San. Only in real situations, hazardous ones is one's true character revealed.

"Thank you, Master." With the last piece of black gold forged, Tang San contentedly stored it away.

Zhang Haoxuan asked, "What about your hammer? Aren't you forging it today?"

Tang San shook his head, "Not today. I'm out of strength. I'll do it another day. After refining the Black Crow Stone into metal, it feels much more malleable but less heat resistant. Next time, I’ll just use the blacksmith's shop; there's no need to trouble you."

"Alright. Then you should also head back and rest early," Zhang Haoxuan nodded. With this child, he was unsure how to guide him further. Or rather, there wasn't much for him as a teacher to do, given Tang San's astonishing rate of growth.

Tang San added, "Oh, Master, where can I buy a detailed map of Kali City? I'd like to purchase one. The small shops don't seem to have it."

Zhang Haoxuan asked in puzzlement, "What do you need a detailed map for?"

Tang San replied innocently, "To study! Getting familiar with the city should be good, right? Plus, it helps me avoid danger and places I shouldn't go. The maps used by the teachers in class are quite basic. Not very detailed."

Zhang Haoxuan said, "Then come with me. I have one that you can use for now. Detailed maps are very precious, all hand-drawn. They are quite expensive. You can return it to me when you're done with it."

"Okay, thank you, Master."

Not having to spend money was, of course, the best. The need for hand-drawn maps showed that the technology of the Daemon Continent was quite behind, still in the era of cold weapons through and through. Of course, the fact that firearms and the likes had not been developed could be simply because such things couldn’t hold a candle to the individual strength of the beings here.

When Tang San went to get the map from Zhang Haoxuan, he understood why the mayor had said it was very precious. The complete map was huge, made of a single piece of leather. It was about six square meters, and even folded, it was a large piece.

Tang San brought the piece of leather back to his residence and hung it up on the wall. A detailed and colorful map was immediately presented before his eyes.

This map was many times more detailed than the ones Guan Longjiang used in class, depicting everything about Kali City in great detail. Even the surrounding mountains and the paths there were clearly marked.

Tang San quickly located their academy town on the map, which even clearly showed the approximate number of houses in the city. The Redemption Academy wasn't on this map, either because it was built later or because the mayor had felt it was better not to include it.

Tang San began to search for the symbols of all the schools, memorizing them.

There were three main levels of schools: the most common lower-level schools provided elementary education, which most demons and some vassals could attend. More advanced education required a certain status to attend. The top tier was naturally the nearby Kali Academy.

Judging by Mei Gongzi's age, she likely wasn't attending the lowest level of elementary education. The mid-level general education was the most probable. And such schools in the vast Kali City numbered only twelve.

It became much more manageable after narrowing down the range—like waiting for a hare at a tree stump.

For the next few days, Tang San spent his days attending school, and in the afternoons, he either went to the blacksmith to forge or down the mountain to observe the target schools. His days followed a regular pattern.

However, after several days of continuous surveillance, there was no result. Mei Gongzi was nowhere to be seen. Tang San even revisited Kali Plaza but still did not spot Mei Gongzi. He couldn't keep asking around, so he had to resort to the most straightforward method: continue surveying the schools.

Through observation, Tang San noticed that these schools dismissed their students near dusk. After school, the demons would leave all at once. He also learned from his master that regular schools didn't have boarding facilities, meaning students would definitely go home after school.

He devised a plan for himself: observe each ordinary school for three days. If Mei Gongzi appeared, he would surely spot her.

As he watched the pupils come out, Tang San noticed that only some of these schools had human vassals attending. These were likely vassals of stronger bloodline races, but they were not on the same level as the demons and had to exit the school through side gates.

This made Tang San's surveillance a bit easier, but after six continuous days and two schools, he still found nothing.

The forging of black gold, on the other hand, was progressing smoothly. Tang San was also looking for metals that complemented black gold but couldn’t find any. On the bright side, he had already forged a pair of hammers for himself from black gold. They were tailored to his use, making his future forging much easier.

Zhang Haoxuan was still very kind to him, having designated a special area for him in the blacksmith shop, separated from the other blacksmiths. Others could, at most, hear the sound of his hammering but couldn't see what he was forging.

Not long after, the team that had left for training returned.

The best way to describe their appearance upon returning was "dirty and dusty."

The group of five was almost all injured. Though the wounds didn't seem severe, their rather dejected expressions indicated that the results were not as good as they had expected.