Chapter 278 The So-called Heavenly Way (Part )
According to the word-of-mouth passed down in Raojiang, in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, no matter whether it is the Southern Xinjiang or the Northern Xinjiang, or the Ten Thousand Poison Cave established more than ten years ago, as long as one is strong, one can break the rules. The Hundred Thousand Mountains admire and respect the strong.

When the Gu King and the Witch King established the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, they did not resolve the century-long war with just a word of their mouths, but conquered each village one by one.

But this statement is not applicable in Guishizi.

Everyone knows that the rules of Guishizi cannot be violated.

Even if one is born in a den of poisons, even if one has a rich background and powerful elders, one still has to abide by the rules when one comes to Guishizi. No matter who is buying or selling, as long as the transaction volume reaches a certain amount, Guishizi will take a 30% cut.

The one hundred and three points drawn are the rules. Anyone who breaks the rules here, such as forced buying and selling, stealing, robbing, and randomly injuring people, will be driven out by Guishizi. Some may even be killed directly. Of course, in most cases, people will be detained in Guishizi's prison and will not be released until a certain amount of ransom is paid. Otherwise, their martial arts skills will be broken up by Guishizi, and they will be sold as slaves.

But in fact, whether being driven away, detained, or killed, these are not particularly serious consequences. These only work on ordinary independent cultivators. After all, such people may only come to Guishizi once in their lifetime, and can only be deterred by tough measures.

What is really a headache is that Guishizi will remove the offenders and register them permanently. In addition, it will use a poisonous insect called "vine insect" to preserve the scent of the offenders. This vine-like poisonous insect is usually only placed in a specific place, but it has a strong sensing ability. Once a criminal with the scent left behind enters Guishizi, this thing will automatically flash to alert the manager.

Not only that, Guishizi will also impose restrictions on the related villages and families behind the offenders, such as doubling the commission, limiting the types of transactions, limiting the transaction amount, and putting them on a list to remind the trading parties. Those who are seriously offended will be directly disqualified from buying and selling, not to mention participating in the auction of some rare items in Guishizi.

These are the headaches for the truly powerful forces.

Guishizi has been operating in Raojiang for hundreds of years. It is said that it existed when the Twelve Dongs were in charge of Raojiang. It is the only trading place for communication between the Central Plains and even further places and Raojiang. Merchants in the place travel far and wide and bring back all kinds of new things to Guishizi. Large quantities of goods from the Central Plains as well as things from the Western Regions and Mobei will only flow into various places in Raojiang through this place.

After hundreds of years of operation, Guishizi has a good reputation, and its hidden interest network is extremely large, which can be said to be spread all over Raojiang. There may not be many masters in Guishizi, but those who can be shaken are top-notch and never afraid of anyone.

Although Xiao Weng, the helmsman of the contemporary Guishizi, is not a top-notch person in terms of strength, he has a lot of face. His only daughter was engaged to the only son of the Long family, the largest family in southern Xinjiang, at an early stage. This is a good example.

In the early years, there was a large village that did not believe in evil. After the young men in the village robbed and looted in Guishi, they insisted on standing up to fight with Xiao Weng. Who would have thought that in the end it was the Gu King himself who came forward to settle the matter. In addition, several large families in the Wandu Cave put pressure on this large village, so that the large village had to grit its teeth and deal with the troublemakers personally.

Not only that, this large village with a population of 10,000 people became weaker and weaker in the following years. The young men in the village encountered obstacles everywhere and were bullied. Not only did their foreign trade plummet, the poison master in the village left, and the population loss was serious. In just a few years, the village split into two villages, which are still at odds with each other. Although they are from the same lineage, they hate each other and regard each other as great enemies.

So Xiao Yan and his three companions entered Guishizi in a very low-key manner, and with Xiao Yan's considerable financial resources, they successfully checked into the only inn that welcomed guests. Fortunately, it was around the Spring Festival, otherwise in this usually crowded place, there might not be enough rooms for the four of them.

If you don't have a place to stay in Guishizi, you will be asked to leave by the manager after the market closes, so as to clear out the idle people in Guishizi and maintain order. At first glance, it seems to have some shadows of the system of the Tang Dynasty market, but I don't know if there is any connection between the two.

As for why there was only one inn that could accommodate less than a hundred people, Chi Meng couldn't explain it clearly, but You Chuan knew a little bit of the inside story. It was said that a hundred years ago, a faction coveted the profits of Guishizi, and let nearly a hundred subordinates stay in several inns in Guishizi with different identities. During the chaotic time after Guishizi closed and before it reopened, they suddenly launched an attack together, causing countless deaths and injuries. A large number of goods were burned to ashes, and they almost overturned Guishizi's status in Raojiang in one fell swoop.

If the person in charge of Guishizi at that time had not been willing to spend all his wealth to compensate the various forces that had suffered losses, Guishizi might not have survived to this day.

Since then, Guishizi introduced the rule of closing the market and clearing out the people, and demolished a large number of inns, leaving only one inn blocked by the underground river, which has remained unchanged for hundreds of years until now.

Chi Meng listened with great interest, and Xiao Yan did not comment on it. Behind every seemingly incomprehensible rule, there were mostly unknown precedents.

In the next two days, Chi Meng and You Chuan went out to inquire about the news of the anti-poison bead. After all, this item was rare. The last time it appeared was a few years ago. Chi Meng only heard from Gu King that Xiao Weng had one. Regardless of whether he sold it or not, they needed to prepare for the worst. If they could get the location of the item, wouldn't they also have a backup plan?
Xiao Yan and Ji Ruxue also changed into Raojiang attire. After all, according to You Chuan, the prejudice against the Central Plains in Guishizi was not small. Although there was trade between the two, the goods were all transported through Shuzhong. The only ones who dealt with the Central Plains people were the few managers. Moreover, it was said that trading in the Central Plains was the most troublesome. The merchants there were blinded by greed and were very difficult to deal with. As a result, the Central Plains people were even less welcomed.

However, the two did not go out to gather information easily. Ji Ruxue only learned a little Raojiang dialect. Although Xiao Yan could speak fluently, his accent could not deceive people. It was easy to be exposed and attract attention.

So as the four of them expected, they stayed in Guishizi until New Year's Eve. Xiao Yan was not in a hurry. He asked Ji Ruxue to make a list for the inn and asked them to prepare a good New Year's Eve dinner.

Chi Meng drove You Chuan out early in the morning to discuss the news, and stayed in the inn to help Ji Ruxue run around, not only pasting Spring Festival couplets outside the door, but also writing a big blessing character and pasting it. However, Xiao Yan gave enough silver, and the inn was happy to see this kind of atmosphere, so no one interfered.

Ji Ruxue watched Chi Meng busying around so that people here would not suspect the two of them, but she understood that this was the best way for Chi Meng to distract attention. The Gu King was imprisoned in the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, and the situation was unclear. As his only daughter, Chi Meng could not help but worry at this time.

Ji Ruxue had no choice but to spend more time with her.

That night, the conversation between the bad guy who called himself Kuijia and Xiao Yan deliberately isolated Ji Ruxue and the others, so the three of them were not aware of the game between Xiao Yan and Yuan Tiangang. However, Ji Ruxue could clearly feel that Xiao Yan began to think alone often, and his state was slightly different from when he first entered Raojiang. He no longer had the leisurely feeling of traveling around.

Ji Ruxue always felt that Xiao Yan was a very capable person. He had his own opinions and plans, so she would not ask him without permission. She would only share some of the burden with him when necessary. Normally, she would just support him silently.

So as for the question of when to rescue the Gu King, although Ji Ruxue also wanted to help Chi Meng as soon as possible, she would not bother Xiao Yan about this matter. Moreover, with the experience of the past two years, she has gradually thought more and will no longer act on her own as she did in Caozhou and Luoyang. Therefore, even if she is worried about the safety of the Gu King, she will just calm down and wait like Xiao Yan.

Chi Meng went downstairs to ask the shopkeeper to prepare the food, and Ji Ruxue stayed in the room to continue practicing. This was the only thing she could do in the past few days. If necessary, she could ask Xiao Yan to teach her some moves. However, the room was not big, and the two of them felt a little restrained when fighting.

Xiao Yan was writing letters on the table. One of them was sent to Gongyang Zuo and You Yi of Nanping State. He had received a letter from them a few days ago, saying that the Chu army had already captured Shaozhou and would be arriving at Panyu, the capital of Nanping State, in the next month. Nanping King Liu Yin was panicked and ordered his brother Liu Gong to return. As a result, the troops of Raojiang in the west were unable to resist for a while and captured cities one after another.

It seems that the day of Nanping Kingdom's demise is not far away.

The letter that Xiao Yan wrote to the two of them was nothing more than asking them to protect Nanping King Liu Yin. If Liu Gong, who later proclaimed himself emperor and established Southern Han, could not defend Panyu, he should take Liu Yin to the Central Plains. At worst, he could just give the territory to the State of Chu, which would end the war sooner.

As for the survival of Nanping, Xiao Yan didn't care. The threat from Du Gong was much more dangerous than that from King Ma Yin of Chu. It would take Chu less than two years to digest Nanping, not to mention there was an "evil neighbor" like Raojiang.

The most important thing is to keep Liu Yin in hand. There is no need to give more instructions. Gongyang Zuo and the others must be able to understand Xiao Yan's intention. As for whether Liu Yin was willing to abandon his family business and escape at that time, that was not something he, Liu Yin, could decide.

The second letter was written to Anle Pavilion.

The last time we communicated was more than 20 days ago. The letter at that time only stated that Anle Pavilion was operating well and the huge profits in the football market were stabilizing. The only trouble was that the Ghost King was said to want to seize the profits.

The plan Xiao Yan proposed at that time was to retreat temporarily, let the Ghost King in, and give him a sweet date to eat, so as to stabilize the Hades Emperor and Zhu Wen behind him. If they really wanted to fight, they only needed to usurp those generals to fight the Ghost King. Anle Pavilion only needed to hold the key thing of "money" and set up the Huitong Ticket Office as planned.

This time, the letter was written to ask Duan Chengtian and Miao Chengtian to prepare and send a caravan to Raojiang with all kinds of goods. Xiao Yan wanted to do a second experiment, and he could start from Guishizi.

Since ancient times, the beginning of peace between two powers has always been to establish frequent contacts through trade, such as Zhang Qian's diplomatic mission to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty and the opening of mutual trade in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, which led to the presence of all nations.

Raojiang and the Central Plains culture have been separated for a long time. If one wants to cultivate a sense of identity and stability, the only way is to migrate the population. However, Xiao Yan does not have such great ability at present, so he can only use this opportunity to try to influence them slowly and subtly.

This is also one of his experimental methods to try to continue the "game" with Yuan Tiangang.

However, Guishizi is located underground, with caves extending in all directions and countless cave dwellings. It is obviously impossible to release the carrier pigeons and find the Saker Falcon. Only after going out in two days will there be a chance to send the letter.

Xiao Yan spread out the letter with the ink still wet on it, squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then picked up the pen again and wrote a few more letters.

One letter was addressed to Han Yanhui who stayed in Bian Jing, two were addressed to Feng Dao and Tian Daocheng in Hebei, and two more, one to Yuan Xingqin in Mobei and one to Queen Shulido.

After writing this, he stopped writing. The following letters can be sent to Anle Pavilion together. Li Mang who stays there will make arrangements.

The situation in the Central Plains seems calm, but in fact there are undercurrents beneath the surface. The opportunity is fleeting, and a quarter of the two years given to him by Yuan Tiangang has passed. Time is running out.

And for the next three quarters, he has a big appetite.

"If you're in a hurry, I can go out and send the letter for you." Ji Ruxue opened her eyes, sat in meditation, and said softly.

Xiao Yan shook his head, picked up the pen again, and began to think.

Yuan Tiangang would not play any games with him for no reason. This abrupt and weird feeling made him quite puzzled these days.

This strange feeling was as if Yuan Tiangang was betting with someone, and the game was about the Raojiang Poison Cave, but he, Xiao Yan, was the only chess piece, and he was the one who decided the outcome.

Betting.

Xiao Yan slowly wrote down these two words on the paper, thought for a while, and then wrote down four more words: Heaven's Way, Tyranny.

So behind these four words, he extended and wrote several pieces of information about Li Chunfeng, Yuan Tiangang, survival in troubled times, and the survival of the Li Tang Dynasty.

Finally, he drew a stroke under the three words "Li Chunfeng", then pondered for a long time and was still unwilling to put pen to paper.

It was not until he heard footsteps outside the door that his thoughts returned and he slowly wrote down eight words:

Survival of the fittest.

"Little Pot!" Chi Meng's excited voice came, but she just rushed in. When she saw Xiao Yan frowning and thinking, she immediately covered her mouth and looked at Ji Ruxue with questioning eyes.

Ji Ruxue shook her head slightly, indicating that she didn't know the situation, but still pointed outside the door and said with her lips: "Let's talk outside."

Xiao Yan had already stood up. His thoughts just flashed through his mind, and he seemed to have grasped something, but it suddenly disappeared.

But he was certain that he seemed to understand why Yuan Tiangang did this.

Xiao Yan put away the paper, but did not use his internal force to shatter it as usual. Instead, he carefully put it in his arms, then turned back to look at Chi Meng and asked with a smile: "What's wrong?"

Chi Meng was a little worried about disturbing Xiao Yan's thoughts, but he immediately put it behind his mind and said in a low voice: "You Chuan, that idiot, actually got the poison-avoiding bead!"

Ji Ruxue widened her eyes in disbelief.

Xiao Yan smiled knowingly, as if he had thought of this result, even though he had only just been inspired.

------

"I wonder what the Witch King means by this?"

Hiding high in the shadows, a burly middle-aged man smacked the pipe in his hand and looked indifferently at You Chuan below as he carefully put a wooden box into his arms, walked out of an unattended building, and then quickly flashed and disappeared into the darkness.

After seeing all this, he asked while exhaling mist.

Beside him, Du Gong crossed his arms over his chest, just laughed, then patted the big man on the shoulder, turned around and left without answering.

This big man is none other than Xiao Weng, the helmsman of this Guishizi.

But after the Poison Master left, he stopped smashing his pipe and smacked his lips as if he was not enjoying the taste.

"The Ten Thousand Poison Cave has really changed..."

(End of this chapter)