CHAPTER 64: CHAPTER 60: AH LIU 3’S METHODS

Black Mountain’s lair was not a fixed, hidden location. As the leader of Black Mountain, Aliusan had thoroughly learned the cunning of a rabbit. Just as a cunning rabbit has three burrows, Aliusan had prepared at least three nests for his own newly hardened wings, ensuring that in a crisis, he and his loyal disciples would have enough dens to escape to.

This shadowy faction on Guru Mountain had not been established for long; Aliusan had almost single-handedly gathered Guru Mountain’s dark elements. However, this didn’t imply Aliusan himself was exceptionally powerful. A cripple, regardless of his personal strength, would find it unrealistic to expect others to willingly lay down their lives for him.

Previously, Aliusan had been a Spider within the dark forces, a position that required building networks. It was this very process of constructing networks that allowed Aliusan to grasp many simple yet profound truths. Unlike the Mice, who dealt in illicit goods and spent their days furtively scouting about, the Spider’s job demanded immense patience. When cracks appeared in a network of connections, Spiders needed to dismantle the old one and build new bridges. This often repetitive work was a test of patience.

The Mice could never possess such patience. The quicker the illicit goods in their possession were disposed of, the smaller the remaining risk. The hurried, furtive manner of these Mice always drew ridicule from the Crows. The Crows, however, were hardly any better off. They had to gather and disseminate all sorts of information daily. This information—often trivial or monotonous, a repetitive jumble of truth and falsehood—always left the Crows harried and frazzled. For once a certain time passed, this information would become utterly worthless.

It seemed that only the Earth Wolves within the dark forces had a somewhat easier time. They merely needed to receive orders and complete their tasks, without considering too many minor details. After all, most Earth Wolves let their physical prowess do the talking. As long as their fists were hard enough, they could undoubtedly secure a firm footing within the Earth Wolf ranks. Therefore, patience was a foreign concept to the Earth Wolves.

In those days, Aliusan spent every day building networks. He had to use information obtained from the Crows to bribe, threaten, and buy over certain individuals. This meticulous, tedious, and thankless work gradually cultivated immense patience within Aliusan. This patience didn’t bring about any drastic changes in Aliusan. Unconsciously, his words grew fewer, and his gaze began to seem unfocused. Without careful observation, many would assume Aliusan was merely a down-and-out cripple with poor eyesight, an unsociable disposition, and a taciturn nature.

Aliusan paid no mind to the strange looks from others, for he was a Spider—a creature that dwelled in corners. Even in the dark world, he was merely a representative of the lowly and weak. Unlike the world of daylight, the dark world operated on the principle of "the weak are prey to the strong"; the slightest misstep could lead to being eliminated entirely, life and all, from this world.

Faced with such peculiar glances in this dark world, the choices were starkly clear: one either had to become strong enough to inspire fear in everyone, or be so insignificant as to be utterly ignored. To this day, Aliusan deeply believed in this law of survival; it was also the very purpose behind his establishment of Black Mountain. His heart’s desire was to become a true power, a genuinely strong individual feared by all.

How had the wings on the shoulders of this cripple—seemingly with poor eyesight, an unsociable disposition, and a taciturn nature—grown and hardened? This question still puzzled those groups who had once cast those strange glances his way. In their eyes, Aliusan was utterly transparent, a complete nobody.

That unlucky fellow hadn’t even grasped basic Spirit Sensing, let alone undergone higher-level professional experiences. He was an insignificant little Spider from start to finish. Such an extraordinarily ordinary person shouldn’t have been capable of establishing his own faction, unless he had traded his Spirit to a Devil. This was their assessment of Aliusan—fairly pertinent, and it stated more than half the truth.

Aliusan was, from beginning to end, a Spider. In the process of weaving his webs, with those unfocused, seemingly poor eyes of his, he saw many, many things that others could not. These things were always concealed, not easily perceived. Only through patient and meticulous refinement could these hidden matters reveal a glimpse of themselves.

Aliusan saw how a jungle treasure map of dubious authenticity could cause partners, who usually acted like sworn brothers, to part ways, even turn on each other. The reason was simply that one of them wanted to monopolize the treasure.

He had also seen how a gleaming gold bar led to an exceptionally filial daughter being ruthlessly abandoned by her own parents. The reason was merely that this gold bar could ensure the parents wouldn’t have to worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.

And Aliusan had seen how a crumpled piece of paper could cause a high-ranking, powerful Politician to call off the execution of a heinous criminal. The reason was only that this piece of paper recorded a certain unmentionable little secret of this Politician.

The Spiders of the dark forces built their networks relying on precisely such despicable means. The connections between people were sometimes just that simple and brutal. Many unrelated individuals would, without realizing it, leave behind nodes in this world that connected them to others. These nodes lay hidden in the shadows. The Spiders merely gave them a gentle nudge, and one node would link up with another. Take the relationship between the Politician and the criminal: originally unacquainted, they became connected because a small, inadvertently left secret of the Politician was spotted by the criminal’s accomplice.

Threats, buy-offs, bribery, sowing discord... these despicable ploys were the Spiders’ customary tactics within the dark forces. The aim of these tactics was to control others, pinning them firmly to the web, thereby compelling them to serve the faction obediently.

Aliusan was well-versed in these ploys, but in his heart, he admired Politicians even more. Politicians also lacked superb Physique Techniques, yet they could command vast, violent forces. Politicians also didn’t possess large amounts of gold bars, yet they could still construct magnificent palaces...

It was precisely this layer of admiration for Politicians that caused Aliusan’s wings to suddenly unfurl from his shoulders.

The patience honed during his career as a Spider, combined with his mastery of despicable methods, allowed Aliusan to quickly learn the Politicians’ ways of rallying people to their side. As long as one could provide what the other party desired, they would willingly dedicate their lives to you. These desired things might be money, the satisfaction of greed, or perhaps a form of validation. Threats, violence, enticement... there was always a method to make others submit.

Having learned the rudiments of being a Politician, Aliusan established Black Mountain.

Now, he needed to use his own methods to prove to Elder Rostellum—the Politician he had always admired—that Black Mountain could bring considerable benefits to Guru Mountain and to Gaga County.

As for dealing in illicit stones, I’ll start by investigating from the source.

I should be able to extract some information from that unlucky Treasure Hunter.

Now, all that’s left is to capture that poor devil.