Chapter 501: Chapter 296: Reform Without Killing—How Does the Young Hero Display His Thunderous Means!
On the way back, Duan Yun and the Murong brothers stopped to buy some rice and pork.
Both of them realized that the prices changed day by day, and even shiny Silver was becoming hard to keep.
Clearly, someone in the city was manipulating prices.
"Damn it, even a hero like me can’t get what I want to eat or drink without manipulation. I’ll go back and find out who’s behind it and kill their whole family," Duan Yun muttered, holding the overpriced pork.
The Murong brothers asked doubtfully, "Just kill them, and not reform them?"
"Even if we reform, there must be killing. Reforming without killing doesn’t showcase our thunderous methods," Duan Yun replied.
The Murong brothers knew very well that if this guy went back and had Fan Gao investigate the situation, there’d probably be more names added to his little notebook.
You could say Young Hero Duan hadn’t forgotten his roots.
Back in his hometown Lishui Town, due to the rampant collection of protection fees, he slaughtered the entire Xuanxiong Gang and even dealt with the County Magistrate afterwards.
Now, with this price manipulation, he’s feeling that even the unjustly wealthy people are noticing the expensive prices. Are we keeping them alive until New Year?
They walked along the riverside.
During this season, the riverside was lined with lush green willow trees.
A lot of men and women were washing clothes by the riverbank, chatting with each other.
"Li, this time I’ll wash your clothes. Next time, you help me wash the chamber pot."
"Senior sister, got it. This Qinghe City is really hard to handle, even hiring servants is ridiculously expensive. Outside, I could hire ten young ones to do my laundry and cook for me."
"You say it as if I don’t have ten young men in the sect washing my chamber pot."
"Senior sister, how about we go back?"
"Go back? Going back without besting Senior Sister, without obtaining the Divine Skill, I’m not going back to slap Master in the face!"
...
Needless to say, walking by the river, Duan Yun felt somewhat at peace.
Not only because of the beautiful scenery with lush green willows but also due to the everyday life atmosphere.
Here, he could feel that ordinary people and Martial World folks were living too, needing to eat and wash clothes.
Unlike those places where sects gather, it’s either fighting and killing or boundless business dealings, all like lunatics.
No, they were indeed lunatics!
At this moment, Duan Yun couldn’t help but recall the sharp eyes of "Medical Practitioner’s Compassionate Heart."
They had just noticed that people were gradually leaving the city and heading into the mountains.
Originally, according to Fan Gao’s information, this summer season wasn’t suitable for going into the mountains.
In the summer, poisonous insects, snakes, and ants were active in the forest, and the vegetation was particularly lush; some Martial World folk hadn’t even found the path before being poisoned to death by insects or snakes.
Usually, early autumn is the peak season for entering the mountains.
But there are always impatient people, or those afraid others will beat them to it; they brave the dangers to enter the mountains even in summer.
For instance, the group they had just passed were people from Red Tower Mountain.
Each one puffing on opium, carrying baskets as they left.
Mainly because Red Tower Mountain’s opium is quite comprehensive, not only relaxing but also addictive, and even feared by poisonous insects, snakes, and mice.
Thus, they had an advantage entering the mountains in summer.
Actually, this season also has benefits, at least competition is relatively low.
In autumn, when the season for entering the mountains is right, the people aren’t; there are more entrants, inevitably leading to conflicts, resulting in death during a fight.
Walking past the willow-lined river path, their new Yuliushan Villa was almost there.
And here, they saw several men plastering a new house.
These men were dressed in gray clothes, with Grey Eagle Embroidery resembling a small chicken on their chest, evidently people from the Grey Eagle Gang.
Only a few days ago, Duan Yun and the others learned that Qinghe City had regulations requiring newly built residences to not only be purchased from the sects but also handled by the Grey Eagle Gang.
Prices were notoriously high.
The owner of the house being constructed should be the couple by the roadside; the woman was supervising, occasionally reminding the people from the Grey Eagle Gang.
The man had a pouch hanging from him, unsure if it held poison or medicine.
Duan Yun quickly realized he was mistaken.
At this point, the man pulled out a small throwing knife from the pouch, trimming his nails.
His hands were very clean, and the nails were clearly neat, yet he continued trimming them slowly, as if crafting a piece of art.
Seeing Duan Yun and the Murong brothers, the man smiled warmly and said, "Hello, friends. Do you also live around here?"
Duan Yun nodded and said, "Yes, we live upstairs."
The man replied, "Then we’ll be neighbors in the future. My surname is Li, and this is my humble wife Lin Yin."
Saying this, he let the woman come over.
Brother Murong quickly cupped his hands and responded, "Brother Li, Mrs. Li, hello. I am Mu Dehua, and this is my sworn brother Duan Chengwu. We’ll be neighbors from now on, please look out for us."
As an old hand in the Martial World, Brother Murong was still a notch above Duan Yun when it came to greetings.
After exchanging pleasantries, both parties left.
On the way, Duan Yun pondered, "Did those two people wear disguises just now?"
Brother Murong was surprised, "You noticed it too?"
Duan Yun said seriously, "The couple has an extraordinary demeanor, and it’s clear they take good care of themselves. They may seem ordinary, but their temperament can’t be hidden, such people shouldn’t have such plain faces."
Brother Murong looked at Duan Yun again.
He noticed they were disguised from a professional standpoint because he specifically consulted Feng Ling’er, who said that if a human skin mask is worn for a while, there’ll be tiny wrinkles at the neck when speaking.
But Duan Yun saw it from a different angle.
He also had a similar experience back in the Iron Blood Sect, where despite disguised as an ugly person with a scar on his face, it still looked pleasant.
Damn it, you good-looking people have a temperament that upholds your disguise of ugliness, right?
He couldn’t help but wonder, "So, Mrs. Lin Yin might be a stunning beauty!"
Duan Yun commented, "Why did you only mention the wife?"
"Do you have an interest in the husband?"
As they were talking, they arrived.
At this moment, they found someone had come to the house.
Four men in gray stood there, opposite them were Fan Gao and Panda Dabai.
From Dabai’s standing and fist-grasping posture, they didn’t look like guests.
"What’s going on?" Duan Yun asked.
Fan Gao, seeing Duan Yun and Brother Murong return, couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, "These are from the Grey Eagle Gang. Miss Feng said she wanted to brush the walls herself, but these folks..."
At this point, one of the Grey Eagle Gang members spoke up, "There’s a rule in Qinghe City; all plastering and house repairs must be done by us, the Grey Eagle Gang."
Duan Yun was surprised, "We aren’t building a new house, just doing some renovations."
"Renovations also have to be done by us," the Grey Eagle Gang disciple said.
"How much will that be?" Duan Yun asked.
"It depends on how much you want to renovate and to what extent, depends on our schedule. Typically, for a house like this, if it’s just plastering, it’s fifty taels, during renovations you have to provide meals, with at least a pound of meat per person per meal," explained the Grey Eagle Gang disciple.
Duan Yun finally understood why, despite giving Fan Gao quite a bit of silver, he hadn’t used it to send them away.
Turns out they’re asking a hefty price.
Duan Yun’s temper flared up.
He had just bought expensive pork, and now even brushing walls and plastering had to be forced upon them with exorbitant prices?
These people surely have untreated issues.
"Who set that rule?" Duan Yun asked.
"It was set by the gang leader along with prominent figures in town. So, you..."
"Brother, why are you explaining to him? In a word, either don’t plaster or pay us to do it."
Brother Murong said, "We temporarily don’t want to plaster."
"Fifty taels," the Grey Eagle Gang disciple said.
"What fifty taels?" Duan Yun asked in confusion.
"You think we’d come all this way for nothing? If our people hadn’t discovered your intent to plaster and stopped you in time, do you know the consequences of renovating privately? It wouldn’t just be a matter of fifty taels."
Duan Yun, holding the pork, said, "Give it to them."
Fan Gao handed over the silver.
Brother Murong watched them leave and said, "Brother, did we really give it? Didn’t we bargain at all?"
Duan Yun said to Fan Gao, "Go and find out which prominent figures the Grey Eagle Gang set the rules with. By the way, with Feng Ling’er and them gone, prepare me a mask."
Brother Murong was surprised, "Why do you need a mask?"
"It’s unclear who the prominent figures setting the rules are now, but the gang leader of Grey Eagle Gang is definitely one of them. Taking my silver and still wanting to live past tomorrow?" Duan Yun replied.
Brother Murong and Fan Gao simultaneously sucked in a breath of cold air.