Green Mountain -
Chapter 327 - 267, Black eats black
Chapter 327: 267, Black eats black
In the backyard of Yuancao Hall, the Shopkeeper summoned four workers to carry the boxes of ginseng on their backs and gestured to more than ten workers to take broadswords from the storeroom and hang them at their waists.
He whispered his instructions: "You must protect this batch of ginseng well; bring back both the food and the ginseng for me. When you arrive at the location, probe into that lad’s background to see whether he’s an over-river dragon or a greenhorn. If he’s just a greenhorn, make your move directly."
A worker asked, "And if he’s an over-river dragon? Shall we just hand over the ginseng to him?"
The Shopkeeper sneered, "Even an over-river dragon needs to show his strength first. Now go!"
Chen Ji stood in the main hall, watching the workers armed with knives and said nonchalantly, "Shopkeeper, your Yuancao Hall is quite thoughtful. We’ve already settled the money and goods, yet you still guard this ginseng as if it were your own, as though afraid of it being stolen. How righteous."
The Shopkeeper made his case, "You are a major patron of our Yuancao Hall. Us helping you escort the ginseng is also to build good karma, to avoid it being stolen on the way."
Chen Ji feigned confusion, "Who would come to rob it, and how would they know there’s ginseng in these boxes? It couldn’t be an inside job, could it?"
The Shopkeeper felt a sudden alarm, "What do you mean by that? You’re not suspecting me, are you, Guest?"
Chen Ji smiled, "The Shopkeeper worries too much. I was referring to that Hu Laosan just now."
The Shopkeeper continued, "What you don’t know is that Hu Laosan is one of the biggest local tyrants in Guyuan, cunning and ruthless. Many people have fallen for his tricks."
"Oh?" Chen Ji asked with curiosity, "What has he done?"
With recollection, the Shopkeeper said, "A big incident happened the year I first came to Guyuan. Dragon Gate Inn was not initially called Dragon Gate Inn, but Fuyun Inn, owned by one of the biggest local tyrants in Guyuan City, surnamed Zhang. Later, this Zhang offended Hu Laosan and overnight, his entire family was wiped out—twelve people including the Inn’s owner and workers were hung on Zhongyi Street’s twelve imperial flagpoles."
Chen Ji puzzled, "Imparial flagpoles?"
Explaining, the Shopkeeper said, "Those flagpoles were bestowed by Your Majesty to General Wen Tao as a symbol of loyalty. After General Wen Tao was imprisoned, the court intended to leave the flagpoles to placate the border army, but then, the Eunuch Party discovered someone had secretly built a shrine for General Wen Tao, which had inscriptions cursing the current emperor with treasonous words. The court then demolished both the shrine and the flagpoles. So, Guest, you haven’t seen them."
Chen Ji was more puzzled as the case did not seem like a simple fight for dominance, but rather was connected to an old case involving General Wen Tao.
He asked nonchalantly, "How did Fuyun Inn offend Hu Laosan?"
Unaware of the details, the Shopkeeper only suggested, "It might be that Hu Laosan coveted the route Fuyun Inn provided for sending people to the Jing Dynasty. Later, I heard the Inn was taken over by the sworn sister of General Wen Tao and got renamed Weiyuan Inn. A year passed, and for some reason, it changed names again to Dragon Gate Inn; perhaps there was another change of ownership."
Chen Ji had a thought.
The sworn sister of General Wen Tao?
He asked softly, "Where did General Wen Tao’s sworn sister go?"
The Shopkeeper shook his head, "I’m not aware of that... Guest, you should set off now."
Chen Ji smiled, "Sure."
The Shopkeeper’s eyes shifted as he probed, "May I know where your grain is stored? So I can inform the workers where to deliver the ginseng."
Chen Ji casually mentioned, "Duoku Fang, at Zhang’s Grain and Oil Shop."
Immediately, the Shopkeeper signaled to the workers with his eyes, "Let’s depart!"
"Hold on," Chen Ji said with a smile, "just to deliver some ginseng, there’s no need for so many people, right? Having four workers carrying the ginseng boxes is enough. Otherwise, if the neighbors see this, they will all know there are treasures in my house."
The Shopkeeper argued, "Fewer people means less safety."
Chen Ji spoke with a meaningful tone, "More people means even less safety."
Seeing Chen Ji’s vigilance, the Shopkeeper thought for a moment and gestured to the workers, leaving behind only four carrying the boxes.
He smiled and bade Chen Ji, "Guest, would this be satisfactory?"
Chen Ji returned the gesture, "Thank you for your trouble, Shopkeeper. Until we meet again."
Shopkeeper returned the courtesy, "Until we meet again."
Chen Ji lifted his robes and stepped across the threshold, leaving Yuancao Hall. The Shopkeeper slowly let his smile fade behind him, "Everyone, come out. Split into two and follow them quietly; the rest take a detour, get ahead of them to Duoku Fang to Zhang’s Grain and Oil Shop!"
"Yes!" Over ten armed workers filed out.
...
...
Chen Ji strolled leisurely, just turned four streets and was going north, when a worker stopped him.
Curious, the worker said, "Guest, this is not the way to Duoku Fang."
Chen Ji explained, "I need to make a detour somewhere else first, don’t worry, it won’t take long."
The worker urged in a deep voice, "Guest, this batch of ginseng is quite valuable; we should hurry to the grain and oil shop to avoid any trouble that may come with the night."
Chen Ji thoroughly observed the men, then smilingly said, "Actually, my grain and oil shop is not in Duoku Fang, it’s in Taohuai Square."
The worker’s expression changed, and he turned to head back.
Chen Ji laid a hand on his shoulder, lightly asking, "Where might you be going?"
The worker felt a great force press down on his shoulder, almost causing his knees to buckle and fall. His expression changed several times as he hurriedly explained, "Guest, I just remembered I left something back at Yuancao Hall."
Chen Ji smiled and let go of his hand, "What’s the rush? Could it be lost at Yuancao Hall? Let’s deliver the ginseng first."
Suppressing his feelings, the worker agreed, "Alright, I’ll do as you say."
Along the way, the shop assistant was anxious and restless, glancing around to the east and west.
Once at the grain and oil shop, Chen Ji pushed open the door, and the assistant’s eyes widened at the sight of the mountain-like piles of grain in the courtyard.
Chen Ji pointed to the ground in the courtyard: "Just put the ginseng down on the ground."
The assistants entered the door and unloaded the boxes from their backs, their eyes greedy for the grain.
Chen Ji closed the big door behind them, and upon hearing the door shut, the assistants instinctively looked towards the side rooms, on alert for someone emerging to attack.
A moment later, when the assistants saw Chen Ji still by himself, they felt slightly relieved.
One of them tried to lighten the mood, smiling as he asked, "Guest, why close the door? Surely you’re not planning to keep us here for lunch before we leave?"
Chen Ji shook his head: "You won’t need to eat lunch anymore."
The assistants’ expressions changed, and one of them uttered in a low voice: "Hold him down!"
With that, three assistants drew their broadswords and lunged at Chen Ji, while the one speaking made a bold leap to grab the eaves in an attempt to escape and alarm others.
But just as he propped himself up ready to climb onto the roof, he saw a black cat squatting on the grey tiles in front of him, quietly watching him.
The assistant didn’t pay Wu Yun any mind, taking it for some stray cat from nowhere.
The next moment, Wu Yun lifted its paw and gently swiped through the air.
The assistant’s pupils suddenly contracted, as though the paw was still half a pace away, yet a streak of white light burst forth, lightly slicing across his neck.
Blood sprayed from his neck, the assistant’s hands lost strength, and he toppled backward onto the ground.
With a thud, blood began to spread beneath him on the floor, his eyes fixed on the roof, breath gone yet unwilling to close his eyes.
Wu Yun turned its head to Chen Ji, who was just twisting the neck of the last assistant, and signaled to it: "Time to eat, have your fill this time."
Finishing his sentence, he flipped open the box, revealing the slender and withered old ginseng inside.
Chen Ji had never seen so many old ginsengs before. He casually touched them, and as the old ginsengs absorbed Ice Flow’s energy, they turned into sparkling transparent beads that fell to the bottom of the box, and Wu Yun’s eyes gleamed: "Strong stuff!"
...
...
Outside the grain and oil shop, two assistants from Yuancao Hall who were following them sensed something was wrong when they saw the door close.
Just as they were about to climb over the wall to investigate, they heard a thud from inside the courtyard, followed by the sound of bones cracking.
They looked at each other, then immediately turned and ran: "You go to Duoku Fang for help, I’ll return to the hall to report to the Shopkeeper!"
As their words faded, they disappeared down separate paths.
Running as fast as they could, by the time the assistant reached Yuancao Hall, ten minutes had passed.
Shopkeeper was standing outside the door, and upon seeing him gasping for breath, his face instantly darkened: "What’s happened?"
The assistant urgently said: "That guy double-crossed us, the hidden grain isn’t in Duoku Fang but in Taohuai Square! I came back to inform you, Zhao Zhong went for more people... those four assistants who accompanied him are probably already dead."
The Shopkeeper cursed angrily: "Damn it, they all see Yuancao Hall as an easy target. Go to the back and call some people, bring that bastard to me, I’ll skin him alive with my own hands!"
The assistant dashed to the backyard and in a moment returned leading over ten assistants with broadswords, heading out the door without a word.
Shopkeeper watched his assistants leave and was about to turn back inside with a frosty face, when he saw someone wearing a bamboo hat coming towards him.
He said sternly: "We’re closed, please leave."
But the person lifted their head to reveal the cloudy grey eye underneath the bamboo hat.
Shopkeeper was horrified: "Hu Laosan!"
The Shopkeeper wanted to call the assistants for help, but then he remembered he had sent them all away.
Third Master Hu wordlessly landed a palm strike on the Shopkeeper’s neck.
On the street, two Feet Tilting workers pulling a dung cart passed by. Third Master Hu whistled, and the Feet Tilting workers dropped the cart’s head, stuffing the Shopkeeper into the dung cart and left.
A few onlookers approached silently and closed the doors of Yuancao Hall, cutting off everything.
A moment later, they removed the door planks, carried away boxes of wild ginseng, leaving only Third Master Hu standing in Yuancao Hall.
Third Master Hu stuffed the nine Buddhist Treasure coins that Chen Ji had previously given to the Shopkeeper into his chest pocket and then casually walked away as if nothing happened.
From beginning to end, not a word was said.
Just then, the long-ringing bell of Guyuan City sounded again, and Third Master Hu abruptly turned his head to see the Guyuan Border Army flag on the distant city wall slowly falling.
Hu Junxian was about to open the gates and surrender the city!
...
I’ll ask for a day off in advance for tomorrow, I see the reading schedule is full, with rehearsal in the morning, meetings in the afternoon, and the ceremony at night...
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