Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 609 - 609 608 Zhongqing Prefecture City

609: Chapter 608: Zhongqing Prefecture City 609: Chapter 608: Zhongqing Prefecture City Pingliang State, Zhongqing Prefecture, is a city within Shan Country that doesn’t quite fit in with other cities.

This becomes clear just from the style of its architecture.

Cities in Shan Country are mostly built with brick and stone, simple and substantial, rough and solid; however, the buildings here are primarily wooden, extremely intricate, bearing the essence of Anhe’s water towns.

If it belonged to Anhe Country, Pingliang would undoubtedly be a typical southern city.

The whole of Pingliang State is surrounded by mountains on three sides and water on one, a typical basin terrain; the mountains on three sides are close to other prefectures of Shan Country, while the waterside faces Anhe Country.

From a geographical point of view, it is natural for the cultural traditions to be close to those of Anhe.

This was originally Langzhong Country, an incredibly small nation that survived the chaotic wars of early years due to its unique terrain, but ultimately could not escape being swallowed.

Initially targeted for takeover by the sphinx-like Anhe Country, it was mistakenly devoured by the shark-like Shan Country, leading to Pingliang State’s particularly unique environment.

The people of Pingliang State partly identify as Shan Country citizens, some see themselves as people of Anhe, and others still insist they are from Langzhong.

In such a cultural environment, secular management becomes very troublesome; thus, here lies a prefecture purely controlled by cultivators, with limited secular power, virtually unmanageable.

The people of Pingliang are wealthy, with the basin rich in resources and unique mineral veins, a relatively small population, and a strong commercial atmosphere—all of which are intricately linked to Anhe Country across the river.

In the central city of the state, Zhongqing, one can discern the overall layout of the city.

The local cultural forces and business associations are very dominant, while the presence of the Shan Sect’s Capital Commandant’s office is not as strong.

In central Zhongqing, countless shops are bustling with guests from north and south, all attracted by the fine art of artifact-making here.

The original Daoist lineage of Langzhong Country is a rather rare purely supplemented Daoist path, skilled in artifact-making, with clever design and superior craftsmanship.

Backed by the core material of Geng Ore, the region became one of the Southwest’s renowned centers for artifact distribution, comparable even to the craftsmanship of the Wu Sect.

But while the Wu Sect’s artifact-making serves its own sect, this place can create different magic artifacts for various Daoist sects, as long as the request is made, thus favored more by the lower and middle-class cultivators.

It’s surprising for Shan Country, which is not adept in artifact-making, to have such a unique place.

But understanding the history of the continent explains the reason behind it.

To many, this place is still regarded as an independent small country, not merely controlled by the Shan Sect.

Zhou’s Unique Curiosities is a shop in the west of the city specializing in practical oddities, dedicated to treating infertility, erectile dysfunction, enriching romantic life, and enhancing the quality of life’s basic cultural needs of ordinary people…

It represents the application of true cultivation in the lives of mortals.

Don’t underestimate the customers—mostly mortals—and their buying potential, as human pursuit in this aspect is relentless, lamenting the days aren’t longer, and the nights too short.

Zhou Laoxi, leaning on the counter, felt somewhat irritable.

His Zhou family had run this shop for generations, for over three hundred years, and even in the commercially vibrant Zhongqing Business District, it was considered an old and established brand.

The key was that, although fundamentally a cultivation shop, its services targeted ordinary mortals.

While the profit margins were not substantial, the consistent demand ensured sustained success.

However, just a few days ago, Zhongqing’s Military Mansion ordered all merchants to strictly implement identity verification for their clients, ensuring checks are mandatory and daily reports to the two offices.

Such regulations were quite inhumane for merchants, as many clients did not wish to expose their movements readily, an issue regarding cultivators’ privacy, a matter all cultivators took seriously.

For a true cultivation shop, this was less of a problem since their clientele were mainly cultivators; newcomers to Zhongqing only needed to report to the two offices to get their credentials and could freely move among the city’s various shops without refusal.

But for a shop like Unique Curiosities, which catered partially to mortals and partially to cultivators, things were awkward.

Its products came from cultivators, yet the clientele was primarily mortal, since cultivators generally had no such issues…

This client base outlined the difficulty in obtaining credentials.

For ordinary mortals, getting a pass from the two offices was challenging, reasons too embarrassing to state, with numerous reasons too sensitive to mention, plus the sheer volume of people.

How could the offices have time to manage that?

Thus, several days later, customer traffic had drastically reduced, becoming sparse…

the doors nearly shutting.

The two offices were quite serious about this ordinance; it wasn’t just talk, and it couldn’t be discretely disobeyed.

Since the rule was set, undercover inspectors from the offices occasionally visited, penalizing businesses that didn’t comply with fines and warnings, or even closing them down, causing many businesses operating across the mortal and cultivator realms to complain endlessly.

According to well-informed sources, this unconventional rule was for welcoming a high-ranking individual from the Shan Sect, fearing he might wander around the world and make covert investigations into the operations of the Zhongqing Business District, a temporary measure whose duration no one knew, dependent entirely on the actions of this high-ranking individual.

Hopefully, this would pass soon.

For small merchants like themselves, power struggles among Zhongqing’s higher echelon were beyond their participation, and they could only passively endure it.

“I’ll go to the back hall to check the merchandise, you keep watch here.”

He instructed his worker, Sister Ajuan, to manage the shop since it was sparse, and one person could handle it easily.

Over the entire day, there were only two or three customers, no need to keep too many people around.

Sister Ajuan, bored to death, responded nonchalantly.

She was the shopkeeper’s niece’s wife, closely related.

For a place like Unique Curiosities with its special merchandise, having robust young men as workers was not suitable; there were no concerns about protecting the house, and a woman’s soft speech was more likely to induce customers to buy.

She busied herself with embroidery behind the counter when the doorbell rang, and two customers walked in.

Sister Ajuan instinctively said:

“Welcome, please show your credential…”

The two unfamiliar men browsed around the shop, and one coldly said, “Too late…

You’ll pay a fine at the Sima Mansion later.”

Sister Ajuan was puzzled, “What do you mean, too late?”

One man snorted, “Too late for showing the credential…

You should have said that first.

Tell your shopkeeper, if you don’t pay the fine within three days, expect to close your doors.”

Sister Ajuan finally realized their identity; they were undoubtedly undercover inspectors from the offices.

Knowing she had caused trouble, she hurriedly called for the shopkeeper, but Zhou Laoxi had no solution.

They could only pay the fine.

After all, what’s the point of evading such a fine at the cost of more favors?