Chapter 12 Spring Swallow
"Red Pavilion's rule is to stay out of the imperial court." Wen Yao crossed his arms over his chest. "Wu Chongguang is already the King of Qin's man, and he serves by his side, so his status is quite high. Even if there's a business like killing him, Red Pavilion won't take it."
Lou Chengyi scoffed, his wrist straining, the veins on the back of his hand throbbing. The string stretched taut as a full moon. He suddenly let go, and another arrow smoothly and cleanly split the previous one in two. The pile of thin, odd-looking arrows beneath the target likely came from this source. He was about to continue, releasing an arrow, when a hand suddenly reached out from the side and easily snatched his arrow mid-flight, grasping it in its palm.
"Thank you." Wen Yao came up, looked at him with the arrow in his hand, and said sincerely, "Thank you for killing him for me."
Lou Chengyi threw the longbow worth a thousand taels of gold to the ground with a "bang".
Perhaps it was Wen Yao's tone that was so confident and self-righteous that Lou Chengyi's pent-up anger dissipated a little, and he found it somewhat amusing. His appearance already exuded a sinister aura, and this made the usual sarcasm and ridicule on his face even more pronounced. Even his calm words felt harsh: "It's either Hongge or me. What's the matter? Are Jiang Qiaosheng and I the only ones capable of killing people?"
"But you're the only one in Bianliang who knows about my feud with Wu Chongguang. He died right after I left, and you got angry and told me to leave immediately. It was really too obvious." Wen Yao shook his head and sighed, "But you also have to know that if you blame Hong Ge for this, Qiao Sheng might come and kill you."
Lou Chengyi snorted coldly: "She can try."
This is an admission.
"You're lucky Wu Chongguang didn't recognize you on the spot. He went to the wine shop to drink that night, and his head was permeated with the alcohol, so he thought of Xingyi Sword Wen Yao. He only mentioned it to the attendants around him, and the King of Qin didn't know yet." Lou Chengyi looked at Wen Yao, the corners of his mouth straightened again, and he said stiffly: "I'll say it one last time, I will repay your favor for you. The Tianshui Emperor has four sons. Prince Xiang is a waste, Prince Yong and Prince Qin are fighting each other, and Prince Yan, humph, is a black heart and lungs. I can hand over the secret agents around Prince Yong and Prince Qin to him, you get out of here quickly, go wherever you want, and don't bother with the surname Zhao."
"That sounds like a good deal."
"But I don't know what Zhao Xuanxu is thinking. You must have misunderstood me." Wen Yao took a deep breath. "I won't ask you to repay my favor. Besides, you, you asked me not to get involved in the affairs of the Tian family? You are a private enterprise, a news dealer, and you think it's okay for you to get involved?"
"Nonsense." Lou Chengyi knew that Wen Yao would occasionally say strange words and sentences. He frowned and couldn't help but ask awkwardly, "What is a private enterprise?"
"That's your Qiong Yu Lou." Wen Yao patted his shoulder. "Don't blame me for not warning you. You're running a brothel on the surface, but you're actually selling information. How many people have you deployed inside and outside the palace in Bianliang? That's not how you make money. The people shouldn't fight the officials. You'll definitely not end well if you get involved in the palace's mess. I don't care. I'm not afraid of shoes when I'm barefoot. At worst, I can ride a camel to Daluo. What about you? You're giving up your hard-earned family business and riding a camel with me?"
Lou Chengyi's eyes moved slightly, and he looked at Wen Yao deeply.
"I know my limits and what's going on. You don't have to worry about me." Wen Yao sighed. "Anyway, I'm glad my name won't be on the invitation to the Ten-Year Alliance Meeting. I'll treat you to a drink later. But don't practice your archery anymore. It's useless at such a short distance."
After leaving Qiongyu Tower, Wen Yao originally planned to go back to Prince Yan's Mansion to sleep. But then he changed his mind and went to a food stall at the night market, picked up several large bags of moxibustion bone medicine, and headed to Zhouqiao.
Zhouqiao was the busiest area in Bianliang City. Even at three in the morning, the lights were always on, and at five in the morning, the morning market would begin. Wen Yao brushed shoulders with the crowds, scanning the shops on the street until he spotted a red cloud-patterned logo on the sign of a pawnshop.
The pawnshop wasn't big, but it was crowded with customers, most of them wearing masks. The shopkeeper and his assistant, with their swords and axes at their sides, greeted everyone with a smile. Wen Yao walked in, pulled out a silver ingot, and placed it in front of the shopkeeper. Feeling the weight in his hand, he beamed, "Who are you looking for?"
"Spring Swallow."
"Him," the shopkeeper thought for a moment. "He owed the owner of Yongzhou Restaurant money last month and is now cutting vegetables to pay it back. Look, go down and turn right, take the third street. It's the biggest restaurant you can see. How come this old man also owes money to the girl?"
Wen Yao shook his head, thanked him, and walked back to the yard. Soon, a strange scene unfolded. Thirteen wells were dug in the small pawnshop yard, and in front of each well stood a queue, people climbing down or out using ropes. Wen Yao descended the rope, and a long, dark tunnel suddenly opened up, suddenly brighter.
If the throngs of people on the Zhou Bridge above represent the hustle and bustle of the human world, then the numerous shops in the tunnels before us, each door decorated with red lanterns painted with cloud patterns, represent the bustle of the ghost market. While people on the surface must abide by the laws of the human world, underground, there are no such rules; the bigger the fist, the more powerful the deceit.
For example, when Wen Yao just came in, perhaps because she was a woman and not physically strong, four or five burly men immediately jumped out from the alley and walked towards her with machetes in their hands.
The leading man, carrying a broken bamboo basket on his arm, smiled maliciously: "Young lady, come here to find something new."
The man squinted his green eyes, his face twitching with a frivolous smile. He pretended to lift the dirty cloth covering the bamboo house, revealing an even dirtier, filthy block of salt underneath. "Brother's salt is fresh and tastes better than the official's. You can have as much as you want. Do you want to go to the back with your brothers and talk it over? I'll buy some good salt and go home to cook for my husband. If he's happy, he'll have the strength to love you well, right? Hahahaha!"
During the Tianshui Dynasty, monopolies were banned, with salt, iron, and tea being the most important items. If caught selling them illegally, not only would you lose your head, but your entire clan would also be beheaded. But in the ghost market, not only salt, iron, and tea, but even banned drugs from the previous dynasty, official weapons, and even clothing and food used by the imperial court—as long as you had enough money or a strong fist, you could get your hands on them.
Chu Yutang's daytime restaurant and shop business was relatively normal. To be modest, with the exception of Fanlou, the rest of his shops and businesses were only famous near the capital. But Mr. Chu's nightlife was much more lavish. Every prefecture in Tianshui had a ghost market, where humans and ghosts mingled without restraint.
Wen Yao recalled what the pawnshop owner had just said, raised his eyes and looked around, his gaze falling on the alley behind the group of people.
Turn right and take the third road. Yes, this is the road.
She tilted her head slightly and said, "No, get out of the way."
"Oh, my dear, your voice is nice and powerful. I like it! You don't want to buy it? It's fine if you don't want to buy it. Just have fun with us brothers and ignore your husband. How about that?"
They say the laws under the emperor's rule are exceptionally strict, allowing the people to live and work in peace and contentment. But the Bianliang Ghost Market, under the rule of Chu Yutang, the ghost market lord, remains a ghostly sight. The constant stream of people passing by seems oblivious to what's happening to Wen Yao, continuing to walk the other way. However, these local thugs are quite polite, narrowing their circle and not blocking anyone's way in and out of the alley.
Wen Yao sneered. Under the indifferent gazes of the others, he raised his hand and slapped the spitting man away three feet! The man was caught off guard and his back hit the ground hard. His throat suddenly felt fishy and sweet, and he spat out large mouthfuls of blood mixed with blood clots.
Wen Yao didn't give others time to react. She grabbed the neck of a nearby person roughly, stretched out her arm and easily lifted up the man who was half a head taller than her.
"You have done this many times, I think you are very skilled at it." She curved her eyes and said, "You beast have a really dirty mouth." Then she let go and slapped the man in the face with a mixture of internal force, sending him flying against the wall. His jaws loosened and a row of teeth fell out.
The others, seeing they had hit a tough nut, immediately abandoned their brothers and ran away in panic. Then one had his left leg broken by Wen Yao, and the other had his right leg broken by Wen Yao.
"You're lucky. I have something to do today and don't want to delay you." At this moment, Wen Yao's voice sounded to these people like the Shura King of Hell demanding his life in the middle of the night, cold and cruel: "But we have a deal, don't let me see you here. Otherwise, I will knock your teeth into pieces and stuff them into your stomachs, leaving you to lick salt blocks for the rest of your life."
At this moment, someone from the surrounding shopkeepers finally spoke up. It was a pretty woman with a jade hairpin in her hair.
"Good fight! These scoundrels are harassing the young lady every day. I'm getting tired of watching them." The woman smiled charmingly. "Young lady, you have great kung fu skills, but I've run a restaurant here for over ten years and I've never met you. You're a chivalrous woman who came to Cunying Mountain to participate in the Ten-Year Alliance Meeting. What sect are you from?"
Wen Yao looked over.
She was standing at the entrance to the alley. On the other side of the alley, a row of shops lined the street. The shop behind her had the largest sign, with the words "Yongzhou Restaurant" written in bold, imposing characters. The windows were wide open, and every table inside was filled with people. The aroma of wine and meat wafted out, making one's mouth water.
Wen Yao: "I don't have any sect or school, I just learned some boxing and kicking to keep fit. But boss lady, what a coincidence, I'm here to look for someone, to Yongzhou Restaurant to find Chunyanzi."
The beautiful proprietress was stunned for a moment. She hadn't expected that she had just casually spoken to someone who was actually related to her: "Chun Yanzi, is that so? Are you here to see that old scoundrel? Who are you to him? Does he owe you money?"
"No, he doesn't owe me any money." Wen Yao shook his head: "I am his friend."
When the proprietress heard this, her beautiful eyes widened: "Rare, really rare, Chun Yanzi also has friends." Not only her, but also the people around who heard Wen Yao talking covered their mouths and whispered to each other.
"Since you're his friend, could you please pay me back the eight hundred taels of silver he owes me? This old scoundrel, relying on the meager wages of washing and chopping vegetables, he'd rather die in my place!" the proprietress said coquettishly, then twisted her waist, leaned into the store and shouted, "Chun Yanzi! You damned bastard, your friend is here to see you!"
Unexpectedly, the sound coming from the kitchen was even more surprised and frightened than that of the onlookers around.
"Friends? What friends? I don't have any friends! I'm afraid it's some debt collector looking for me. He Niang, please be kind and cover up for me and don't let her in!"
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