Chapter 23: The Proprietor Was Scammed

Silver City, Qingyun Street.

The night had grown deep, and even the most bustling Qingyun Street was gradually falling asleep.

As one shop after another closed its doors and locked up, the bright lamplight was extinguished one flame at a time, until in the end, only Strange Treasure Hall at the very center of Qingyun Street still had its lights on.

“Their family’s always like this. They’re making it obvious, aren’t they? Saying everyone else is inferior to them, that only their place can keep burning bright forever.” In a shop tucked away in a corner, a clerk came out to dump water. When the water splashed onto the street, it reflected the octagonal glazed lamp in the distant Strange Treasure Hall. He could not help spitting.a

Another clerk beside him told him to keep his voice down and not stir up trouble. “Careful those black-hearted people hear you and make things hard for us.”

“Hmph. Just wait and see. Their lamp won’t stay lit for much longer.” The clerk dumping water shook the droplets from the copper basin, then turned back and shut the shop door.

The door slammed shut with a bang, the gust of air lifting the shop sign beside it. Four words were revealed with startling clarity: Swift Wind Trading Company.

Swift Wind Trading Company occupied two neither-large-nor-small shopfronts in a neither-good-nor-bad location on Qingyun Street. In the past, it mostly sold things like silk, spices, and jewelry. Tonight, however, its owner, Luo Yanxing, had invited an artifact refiner upstairs.

This artifact refiner was even older than Uncle Qi, and his cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Refining. At his age, the possibility of advancing further in this lifetime was vanishingly small.

Twenty years ago, when he was already middle-aged, he had finally summoned his own life-bound artifact, a small hammer that could change its shape. This little hammer did not hurt much when used to hit people, but it was perfectly suited to patching and repairing. After several years of feeling his way through it, he learned to make armor and a few simple weapons. From then on, he relied on that skill to make a living and support his whole family, young and old alike.

There were so many life-bound artifacts in the world. For him to rely on his own life-bound artifact to earn a respectable livelihood already made him one of the lucky few.

“Mister Yuan, I bought a batch of armor plates at a high price, but I’m afraid I may have been deceived. I thought that since you are an artifact refiner, you would certainly be able to judge their quality, so I specially invited you over today to take a look.” Luo Yanxing smiled broadly as she invited the old gentleman upstairs.

Yuan Zhiwang waved his hand. “I’m just a craftsman. What kind of artifact refiner am I? Boss Luo, you’re really embarrassing me by saying that.”

Indeed, in the Longevity Realm, true artifact refiners were all cultivators. But in a barren place like the Easternmost Continent, where would true artifact refiners ever deign to visit? Even if an artifact refiner were willing to stay, no one would hire them to refine artifacts. It was not that they did not want to. They simply could not afford it.

So someone like Yuan Zhiwang, who could make armor and weapons, became a prized figure and was respectfully addressed as an artifact refiner. Yuan Zhiwang knew the truth perfectly well. Other people were only being polite and flattering him. It was like how roadside vendors would respectfully call any practitioner they saw a “cultivator.” If he really went around thinking of himself as an artifact refiner, then he would be truly shameless.

As soon as he went upstairs, he saw more than a dozen sets of armor plates laid out on a square table in the center. Many lamps had been lit in the room, illuminating the armor plates until their sheen looked warm and smooth, almost as if they had been coated with glaze.

Yuan Zhiwang gave a soft sound of surprise and quickly stepped forward. He wiped his rough hands on the hem of his white robe before picking up the armor plates and examining them closely. After a long while, he sighed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen armor plates this good. Are these mystic armor beetle shells?”

Luo Yanxing smiled. “Exactly. Mister Yuan truly has keen eyes.”

Yuan Zhiwang stroked the armor plates with cherishing care. “It would be a pity to use these armor plates for wrist guards and knee guards. If they were all made into heart-protecting armor and paired with ordinary armor plates, they could produce more than a dozen sets of top-quality armor.”

But Luo Yanxing had several boxes carried forward. Once they were opened, they were filled with armor plates of the same quality.

Yuan Zhiwang was somewhat astonished. Then he broke into a smile. “In that case, there’s no need to pair them with ordinary materials.” He looked at Luo Yanxing. “Congratulations, Boss Luo. This time, you’ll be able to earn quite a bit from Boss Jia.” The Boss Jia Yuan Zhiwang referred to was naturally Strange Treasure Hall’s deputy hall master.

But Luo Yanxing shook her head. “Mister Yuan, I don’t intend to sell them to Strange Treasure Hall.” She spoke of her plan to compete with Strange Treasure Hall in the armor business. “I ask Mister Yuan to assist me.”

Yuan Zhiwang had not expected her to have such courage and hurriedly waved his hands. “Boss Luo, don’t make fun of this old man. This old man absolutely cannot afford to offend Strange Treasure Hall.” He even tried to advise her. “Boss Luo, on account of my old acquaintance with your mother, this old man will also offer you one word of advice. It is better not to go against Strange Treasure Hall. You know their methods.”

Over the years, there had been no small number of people whose families had been ruined and destroyed by Strange Treasure Hall because of business competition. But Strange Treasure Hall had a cultivator holding the fort. What could anyone else do?

Luo Yanxing said, “Then what if the supplier providing me with armor plates also has a cultivator behind him?”

Yuan Zhiwang’s eyes widened slightly. “What did you say?”

Luo Yanxing said, “Mister Yuan, I know you have suffered plenty of indignities working at Strange Treasure Hall over the years. You are an artifact refiner. There are countless people who would like to hire you but cannot. Yet because Strange Treasure Hall monopolizes the armor trade, you can only take a position inside Strange Treasure Hall. Your monthly wages are whatever Strange Treasure Hall says they are, and even taking on private work has to be done secretly and guardedly. Strange Treasure Hall can only sell armor because of you, yet you are constrained at every turn. Are you truly willing to accept that?”

Of course Yuan Zhiwang was unwilling. Back then, he had entered Strange Treasure Hall for the sake of Strange Treasure Hall’s hall master, who had Foundation Establishment cultivation. He had thought that a lower wage from Strange Treasure Hall was fine as long as he could receive even one word of guidance from a cultivator. Then this lifetime of his would have been worth it.

But Strange Treasure Hall’s cultivator had eyes higher than the top of his head and simply disdained to meet him. And Yuan Zhiwang was not the only craftsman inside Strange Treasure Hall. By the time he realized what was happening, the armor business had already been completely monopolized by Strange Treasure Hall. Outside, he could not find much work at all. Helpless, he could only continue working at Strange Treasure Hall for wages even lower than what he had earned working on his own before.

Luo Yanxing continued, “You had ties with my mother, so you can also be considered one of my elders. Before Mother passed away, she told me to rely on you more. I truly cannot bear to see you suffer inside Strange Treasure Hall.”

She had already struck Yuan Zhiwang’s sore spot, and now her words carried considerable warmth, lacking some of the scheming calculations found among merchants. Yuan Zhiwang’s expression softened quite a bit, and he could not help considering her proposal. “That cultivator—can he truly back you up?”

Luo Yanxing actually could not be certain either. But when doing business and trying to draw someone into a partnership, some credit and loans were unavoidable. She smiled and said, “That supplier very much disapproves of Strange Treasure Hall’s conduct, which is why he bypassed Strange Treasure Hall and supplied the armor plates to my Swift Wind Trading Company. From this, it can be seen that the cultivator behind him feels the same. You need not worry too much. If Strange Treasure Hall’s hall master truly makes a move, that cultivator will not sit by and do nothing.”

Uncle Qi, who had been watching quietly all this time, added a sentence. “Our proprietor is right. No matter what, we cannot let Strange Treasure Hall dominate alone any longer. Only when a hundred flowers bloom is it truly spring!”

What had Strange Treasure Hall relied on to develop to its current state, if not a cultivator? Now that this hidden danger had been set aside, there was nothing much to fear.

Yuan Zhiwang finally nodded and agreed.

After seeing the old gentleman off, Uncle Qi looked at Luo Yanxing, who was checking the accounts by candlelight, and said, “Proprietor, is this matter a little too risky?”

In truth, before Yuan Zhiwang, they had also sought out other people. Not artifact-refining craftsmen, but other merchants in Silver City who had some capital. These merchants all had old grudges with Strange Treasure Hall, so once they heard there was a chance to topple Strange Treasure Hall, they were naturally interested.

However, when they heard Luo Yanxing say that the supplier of the armor plates and pills was in the Nameless Desert, they all shook their heads and left. A few with worse tempers even cursed Swift Wind Trading Company for being dishonest, saying that it had proposed cooperation while wanting to hold an armor plate supply channel all to itself. How was that any different from Strange Treasure Hall? So after Strange Treasure Hall was brought down, it would be Swift Wind Trading Company’s turn to dominate alone?

No one believed that someone could open a shop and do business in the Nameless Desert. A cultivator’s methods were endlessly varied, and they did indeed have the ability to shelter a corner of land in the dangerous Nameless Desert. But if a cultivator had that intention, why would they not choose an auspicious and favorable place? Was the Nameless Desert somewhere people could live comfortably?

If Luo Yanxing had not personally experienced it while leading a caravan, she would not have believed it either.

Luo Yanxing said, “In a few days, we’ll send some goods into the desert ahead of schedule. Uncle Qi, help me prepare some generous gifts as well.” No matter what, they had to win this battle with Strange Treasure Hall. They also had to win the favor of Zhaoge’s master.

Luo Yanxing recalled what she had seen and heard inside Zhaoge and felt she had a fifty percent chance.

Cultivators were people too. They also had desires. Song Dianlai held the fort for Strange Treasure Hall and collected more than half of Strange Treasure Hall’s profits every year as offerings. Zhaoge’s master might not be without the same thoughts.

It was just that whether they could turn that great mountain into their own backer would still require careful planning.

…

Zhaoge, Medical Workshop.

Wan Tianyou was sitting behind the counter, burning the midnight oil as he studied a medical text, when his vision suddenly blurred. In the next instant, one bowl after another of steaming fresh pork wontons appeared before him.

Wan Tianyou froze, then called over all his companions.

Not long after, thirty laborers stood neatly before thirty portions of piping hot wontons, their expressions blank for a brief moment.

“This is… from the proprietor?”

“Who else besides the proprietor?”

“The proprietor really is…”

Someone choked up without realizing it.

Back when they were at Strange Treasure Hall, it was common for them to work until midnight. Strange Treasure Hall did not lack late-night snacks to fill the stomach, but they had to spend their own money to buy them. Sometimes, if they wanted to eat something better, they even had to slip benefits to the kitchen and speak nicely.

In Strange Treasure Hall, never mind the hall master—even a single steward had never looked at them properly. But their proprietor was a cultivator! Yet after going out, he still remembered to bring them back a snack. What virtue or ability did they possess to deserve this?

“The proprietor… If not for this bowl of wontons, I would not even have known he had already returned,” Ma Hongxuan said in a low voice.

Fan Huilan said, “Eat quickly! They’ll get cold soon.”

The room filled with the gurgling sound of soup being drunk, the clinking of chopsticks against porcelain bowls, and the sound of satisfied chewing.

Over these past few days in the valley, they had eaten either grain or wild beast meat. It had indeed been a long time since they had eaten such delicate food.

As they ate, someone said, “Why is there only scallion in all of them? What about cilantro and chili oil?”

Guo Qianshan’s expression turned somewhat cold. “I can tell. These are Madam Zheng’s Wontons from near Strange Treasure Hall.”

As soon as Guo Qianshan said this, Wan Tianyou understood why his expression had turned cold. He slapped the table and cursed, “Madam Zheng’s Wontons are delicious, but she’s always treated customers according to status. Sometimes, if she can muddle through with fewer ingredients, she does. She must have bullied the proprietor because he didn’t understand and fobbed him off with just some scallions!”

As soon as Wan Tianyou said this, everyone began recalling it one after another.

“That’s right. Madam Zheng’s wontons are unmatched only when extra chili oil and cilantro are added.”

“Other people sell a bowl of wontons for eight copper coins, but she sells hers for ten. What she relies on is that her family adds extra chili oil. A few scallions aren’t worth anything at all. The proprietor must have been deceived by her!”

Guo Qianshan was so angry that his saber came halfway out of its sheath. “She actually dared to neglect the proprietor like this!”

The gentleness on Ma Hongxuan’s face also froze into ice. “Sooner or later, I will go settle this account with her.”

Fan Huilan said, “No one is to make this matter public. If we are to settle accounts, we’ll go quietly.”

Wan Tianyou nodded heavily. “Yes. We cannot make the proprietor lose face. But we absolutely cannot let her off lightly either!”

Qiu Ping’an sighed. “The proprietor is untouched by worldly affairs. He was only thinking of showing consideration for us, and that was why he was deceived.”

The room fell silent for a time. After a long while, Ma Hongxuan finally said with difficulty, “It is because we are useless.”

Guo Qianshan tightened his grip around his saber hilt and said as if making a vow, “I will become stronger. Sooner or later, I will make it so that no one in this world dares to neglect the proprietor.”

Wan Tianyou also clenched his fists. “Otherwise, they will pay a thousandfold, a hundredfold price!”

Fan Huilan’s lips moved, and she was just about to speak…

…

Smack! Chi Yixuan once again swatted the image away. He lay on the bed, so embarrassed that he started picking at the corner of his quilt.

Unfortunately, his life-bound artifact was still giving live commentary beside him: “The reaction you expected: The proprietor only knew to add scallion and did not know about cilantro. The proprietor can also make mistakes and has a down-to-earth side that doesn’t consider everything thoroughly. Take the opportunity to narrow the distance between himself and the laborers, and dispel their excessive fantasies.”

“In reality, their reaction…”

“Ah!” Chi Yixuan shouted. “Stop talking!”

The life-bound artifact readily complied. “As you command.”

Chi Yixuan: “…”

He began to wonder whether there was something wrong with his own magnetic field. Why did the people around him always inexplicably fall into strange atmospheres?

After thinking and failing to come up with an answer, he gave up on sleeping too. He opened the game panel and continued building his career.

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