Chapter 259: Lines Gradually Overlapping

Chapter 259: Lines Gradually Overlapping

Zhao Changhe immediately took out an ingot of silver and placed it on the table.

Sanniang’s eyes lit up as she scooped the silver into her arms, smiling radiantly. "Actually, it’s nothing too special. They consistently sell grain this way, and after selling it off, they transport Western Regions jewelry and the like back to sell. Over the years, they must have made a fortune."

Zhao Changhe said wordlessly, "You don’t have to tell me that for me to see it."

"Then what is it you want to know?"

"Their strength, the faction they consistently interface with here, and their network of connections in the Central Plains—if you know it."

Sanniang broke into a laugh. "Hey, are you from the Great Xia’s Demon Suppression Bureau?"

Zhao Changhe was expressionless. "If I want to root them out completely and eliminate them down to the last weed, of course I need to know this information. What does it have to do with the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

Sanniang smiled and tapped the table. "You’re asking me, but who am I supposed to ask? I’m just an innkeeper."

Zhao Changhe looked at the rhythm of her tapping the table and smiled slightly. "Then I won’t disturb you further."

Sanniang cast an interested glance at him, then smiled and withdrew.

It was already dark after the meal, but the market was ablaze with lanterns everywhere. Standing at the guest room window and looking out, the lights of countless homes stretched for a hundred miles.

This was not an exaggerated description; it might even be an underestimate.

Putting aside that the market itself was huge, countless caravans were stationed in their own camps around the periphery, all moving goods out and bringing goods in. Torches flared and voices boiled, faintly audible even from far away inside the market.

Zhao Changhe’s gaze withdrew from the firelight of the distant camps and landed on the street outside the inn.

Those two Qiao family merchants, one with his teeth knocked out and the other with his hand crushed, had originally been expected to find someone to retaliate immediately, but unexpectedly they actually hadn’t come, leaving everything calm and tranquil.

Zhao Changhe believed the other party didn't dare to truly drive a thousand-man army into the market, as Timur’s garrison here was no joke, but gathering dozens of people to come in and cause trouble shouldn't be much of a problem. It felt like this place should frequently host group brawls, yet not a single person had come.

It seemed Sanniang wasn’t bragging; her deterrence truly existed.

She might not care about fights inside the shop, but if people really looked for someone outside to beat up her guests, it seemed no one dared.

Zhao Changhe raised his hand and rotated his shoulder; speaking of crushing someone’s hand today, even he felt surprised. It seemed the fruit given by Xia Longyuan, the breakthrough of the seventh layer of external cultivation, and the entry-level attainment of the so-called Blood Asura Body had brought changes greater than he had originally imagined.

External cultivation was all about the physique—to put it bluntly, it was the body's strength and ability to take a hit. Under normal circumstances, they actually advanced together; once the physique was well-trained, both attack and defense would naturally increase. It was just that because everyone’s cultivation methods had different orientations, it caused each style to distinguish its own characteristics.

Just like how he leaned more toward offense and someone like Situ Xiao leaned more toward defense, the actual difference wouldn't be too obvious. Assuming Situ Xiao’s defense was a hundred points, his attack would at least be an eighty or ninety, not a case of high defense and low attack. And he himself was the opposite.

After all, everyone was still within the scope of humans, and human physique was just that sort of thing...

But starting from now, there was a more significant distinction.

He absolutely did not have such great divine strength before; breaking through a single profound pass shouldn't cause it to grow like crazy, so it could only be understood as the effect of the preliminary modification of the body. This kind of physique seemed to head in a direction of "infinite strength," beginning to become inhuman.

This was merely the manifestation of the seventh layer of the profound pass; what if he peeked into the Secret Treasury? What about even higher places? Could he move mountains and fill seas?

It could be imagined that while he was in the direction of "infinite strength," Situ Xiao’s kind was in the direction of "invulnerability," and the two poles of attack and defense began to have significant differences. It felt like the Eldest Brother and Third Brother from the Calabash Brothers.

And what would the qualitative change of internal cultivation be like?

He could finally understand Xia Longyuan’s performance; looking at it this way, there was a path to follow.

Zhao Changhe silently cultivated for another period, calculated the time, and when the night deepened further and many of the torches transporting goods in the distance had gone out, he slowly turned around, went out the door, and arrived in the wine house hall once more.

The wine drinkers had already dispersed, and Sanniang was propping her pink cheek on the counter in boredom with nothing to do, her lotus feet swinging back and forth as she kicked a Persian cat by her feet. Every time she kicked, the cat would shiver, but it just wouldn't leave, looking exactly like the wine drinkers who lingered by her side in the evening.

Hearing someone enter from the back door, Sanniang lazily raised her eyes to look, and seeing it was Zhao Changhe, she slouched back onto the counter with some listlessness. "What, buying wine? Or Jiangnan dishes?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Why can't it be to chat with you?"

"Oh, please, you even complained that my scent affected your eating."

"But you invited me, and didn't I come anyway?"

"When did I ever invite you?"

"Back when you tapped the table three times." Zhao Changhe smiled. "There are no more customers, yet you’re still here completely bored. Why don’t you go to the gambling house you mentioned and play a few hands?"

"Too noisy, just like this place during the day. It’s hard to even find someone to chat with."

Zhao Changhe nodded. "I think so too."

Saying this, he plopped down in front of the counter and slapped down a piece of broken silver. "Two more flasks of osmanthus wine. The one I drank earlier felt quite authentic."

"Why two flasks?"

"To treat you to one."

Sanniang’s listless appearance quickly vanished, and she turned around gleefully to fetch the wine.

Zhao Changhe smiled. "Could it be that the people treating you to wine are very few? Look how happy you are."

"No matter how many there are, who would complain about someone treating?" Sanniang nimbly took two flasks of wine and poured them for Zhao Changhe, looking just like a youthful young girl.

Zhao Changhe thought of the various brand-new, unopened phones listed on second-hand apps, "gifted by simps," and indeed, no one complained about having too many.

Yet he heard Sanniang add a sentence: "Just like you men never complain about having too many women."

Zhao Changhe was just taking a sip of wine and almost sprayed it out upon hearing this, his old face beneath the disguise feeling a bit hot. "I am really not here to hit on you!"

"I know." Sanniang said leisurely, "There are many people who come here to buy intelligence, especially during this period when Central Plains people have come here more often. Every single one opens their mouth wanting to ask about the Hu military situation. Some time ago, there was a drunkard carrying a heavy sword who stayed here like a dead-drunk mess for nearly a month. This old lady poured a body full of urine on him before he was willing to leave, and now I don’t know where he died."

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Sanniang squinted at him. "Do you understand? It’s not that we dare to sell just anything. In the end, we have to make a living here, and if you don’t want to die, you have to keep your mouth shut. For things like military situations, we won’t sell even if you add money."

Zhao Changhe said, "Understood. But for the stuff that was half-said earlier, we should be able to finish it?"

Sanniang said, "The ones they interface with are precisely the managers of Yellow Sand Market, the Khan’s trusted favorite general, Ubalu. In the past, their grain was actually transported directly to Yellow Sand Market, but this time for some reason they came with empty carts, presumably having unloaded the goods elsewhere on the way first."

Zhao Changhe thought for a moment, then handed over another piece of silver. "Does Ubalu’s strength count as a military situation? It should be known by many people."

Sanniang curled her lips in some mockery. "Ordinary trash of the sixth or seventh layer of the profound pass, and no good at fighting either. But there’s no way around it, he’s the Khan’s trusted aide. He doesn’t go to the front line for battles, so isn't coming to the rear market to collect some materials and play with women enough for him to flaunt his power?"

Zhao Changhe secretly thought that at least he could confirm she was not his person.

While thinking about what articles could be made out of this, Sanniang suddenly asked, "What is your name?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Wang Daozhong."

"That Wang Daozhong from the Langya Wang family? Or just someone with the same name and surname?"

"Take a guess?"

Sanniang sized him up suspiciously for a long while, then suddenly said, "If you really are a member of the Wang family, I suggest you run quickly."

Zhao Changhe blinked. "Why?"

"Helei sent a letter to the tribe a long time ago, saying that his matters were ruined by Wang Daozhong, and told the Khan not to lightly believe the words of the Wang family’s envoy. Now Helei has died at the hands of Vermilion Bird, and all the tribes are guessing whether it has to do with the Wang family—I heard that the Holy Maiden of the Four Symbols Sect was also present during the Langya Sword Discussion, so it’s estimated that the Four Symbols Sect and the Wang family have some sort of alliance."

Zhao Changhe’s stomach almost burst from laughing, but his face remained solemn. "What does the Khan think?"

"What the Khan thinks, I wouldn't know. I only know that if the War Lion Tribe knows you are here, they will fight you desperately."

"The War Lion Tribe is nearby?"

"Not only are they nearby, but their days have been a bit difficult recently, with various factions glaring like tigers, wanting to swallow them up. If I haven't guessed wrong, this batch of Qiao family grain was originally meant to be sold to the War Lion Tribe... where is it now?"

Zhao Changhe suddenly felt that the affairs of the world were truly interesting.

To think that even such things could generate an inexplicable connection, as if in the dark, there were lines tying them together.

And this Sanniang... didn't you say you didn't dare to mention the military situation? Does this count?