Chapter 168: Chapter 90: The Sea-Sealing Mountain Demon Tuo, Twin Phoenixes Competing for the Dragon
During their journey through a certain mountain forest, Zhang Fanyang felt as though someone was watching from above. He looked up but saw nothing, and since nothing happened afterward, he dismissed it as a mistake.
In fact, there really was surveillance in that mountain forest.
Coincidentally, the ones observing were people from Guan Fei.
Noticing the large number of people, one of the underlings went to report.
This report reached the leader of the group, who realized they were the "Li family commerce association" and decided to follow them with his crew.
But the following was not for robbery, it was to provide an extra layer of protection.
The underlings were puzzled.
The leader explained, "You don’t know the power of Prince Qing."
An underling said, "Even if he’s powerful, we just won’t rob them."
The leader said, "If something happens here, Prince Qing will definitely come after us, and then we’ll all be dead. So the Li family commerce association absolutely can’t have any incidents here."
This leader had considerable authority and was extremely courageous in battle, showing no fear of death and always leading by example, earning him the admiration of the underlings.
Since he said so, the underlings, though unwilling, also carried their weapons and secretly escorted the group along the way, while being internally curious about "just how terrifying Prince Qing must be to make their leader so respectful and fearful."
Needless to say, this leader was naturally one of the evil spirits "released into the wild" by Li Xuan.
Initially, the evil spirits split into two routes.
The northern route led by Liu Yingyi, the southern by Guan Wu.
As it turned out, the northern route was wiped out by the Yu Sect.
However, the southern route, mainly consisting of Guan Wu’s own people, had a simpler organizational structure, so nothing happened to them.
As for Guan Wu, upon detecting something amiss, he decisively crossed the river and escaped to develop in Yunmeng Province. Unexpectedly, he managed to amass a group of bandits "that could at least give the locals a headache." Though their numbers were only five or six thousand, they were elite, like cunning mountain wolves.
With such robust protection, Tian Yuan’s transportation encountered no issues.
Soon, she arrived at the agreed location west of Rougu City to make the delivery.
The process was smooth.
She sold ten boxes of "Firefly Fragrance" and earned a whole five thousand taels of gold.
Moreover, Tian Yuan successfully established a long-term trade partnership with the other party.
The agreed time for trade was once a year.
Tian Yuan happily returned.
For her, the cost of "Firefly Fragrance" was actually just labor, transportation, and warehousing.
It was a true profit.
It could almost be called a business with no cost, with huge earnings.
And on her way there, she had already learned that the other party was a major commerce association called "Pole Star" in Yunmeng Province, Bailang Province.
This Pole Star Commerce Association not only did business in the Great Yin but also seemed to trade with some savage natives on distant islands overseas.
To venture out to sea, one needs clear sea charts and a special compass.
The sea charts included matters like "departure time," "shipping route," and involved tide directions, deep-sea beasts, and island landmarks, among other elements. Without a sea chart, it was very possible to drift off course and get lost in the boundless East Sea.
As for the "special compass," it was a magical "directional compass."
A regular compass only shows north and south, but this "special compass" can accurately point to the intended island once you are within a certain range.
Without these items, it’s impossible to conduct overseas business.
Clearly, the Pole Star Commerce Association had control over some resources.
And the reason they were willing to spend a fortune to procure "Firefly Fragrance" was surely because the spice could fetch an even higher price elsewhere.
...
...
Pole Star Commerce Association.
The ten boxes of "Firefly Fragrance" did not enter any warehouse for transfer but were directly transported northeast.
Passing through a barren land, they reached the confluence of river and sea.
The deep sea was vast, with waves rolling like a giant beast breathing.
The man transporting the goods bowed deeply toward the sea as if in response, the deep ocean currents slowly parted, and an enormous black presence resembling an island slowly surfaced.
It was a towering and fierce black tuatara, like a mountain.
On the black tuatara, a dozen or so figures shrouded in black mist could be vaguely seen.
The man hastily pushed the fragrance to the edge of the sea.
A shadow appeared on the ridge of the mountain-like black tuatara, opened the box, pinched a little fragrance to his nose, then closed the box again, extending "both hands," grabbing a cart, and leapt back to the creature’s ridge.
The shadows dumped the ten boxes of fragrance on the black tuatara’s back, and other shadows came over to repack the fragrance into an iron box, inserting it into the ridged and peculiar bumps on the creature’s back.
Then, the shadow carrying the cart casually tossed it aside.
The cart, with its cargo, spun in mid-air.
The cattle kicked wildly, mooing fiercely.
The black tuatara opened its mouth, swallowing the cart along with two cattle, chewing twice before swallowing.
The man who transported the goods seemed used to it and had thus prepared horses, tying them some miles away in the woods from this place.
However, even so, the distant horses seemed to sense an utterly terrifying aura and kept neighing aggressively.
...
A long time passed.
The people from the Pole Star Commerce Association left.
The mountain-like black tuatara sank back into the near sea.
Undersea...
The black shadows were rapidly conversing in a language not from the Great Yin.
"The Pole Star Commerce Association has searched for so long and finally found the Corpse Purification Incense. Since this continent really has Corpse Purification Incense, should we... take it over? Make the people here work for us?"
"Forget it, they seem to have resolved the Headless Buddha. The Headless Buddha may not amount to much, but it does have connections with that terrifying Divine Realm.
