Chapter 549: Chapter 179: Identity! Orphan! The Old Emperor Passes Away! (A 10,000-word mega Chapter, please subscribe)_1
"Have you heard? Yesterday, a really fierce outsider cultivator destroyed the Imperial City’s walls! I went to take a look myself, boy, a huge section of the wall had collapsed."
As Fan Wu walked on the road, he heard common folks passionately discussing.
"Hiss! For real? Those walls must’ve been at least ten zhang thick, right? And several zhang high? They were actually destroyed?"
"Why would I lie to you? If you don’t believe it, you can go see it yourself, and then you’ll know."
"It must be true! After all, I’ve heard about it elsewhere too, lots of people are talking about it. And did you hear? Yesterday, the Fu Clan of the Imperial City was attacked, their whole clan was leveled to the ground!!"
"The Fu Clan of the Imperial City? Which Fu Clan? There are several big and small clans with the surname Fu in such a big city!"
"The biggest one, you know, the one with the ironclad deeds of exoneration? That’s the one. They got into big trouble, and I’ve heard... many people died."
"Ah... How can you guys spout such outrageous stuff?!"
"Yeah, we’re talking about the Fu Clan here!"
"..."
Fan Wu could hear that these people were discussing none other than the two incidents he had caused the day before. Unbeknownst to him, he had become the focal point of the Imperial City.
However, these people only knew that someone had knocked down the city walls of the Imperial City and nearly annihilated the Fu Clan.
But they didn’t know the identity of this person.
Therefore, as Fan Wu walked on the streets of the Imperial City, he only attracted some attention and did not cause any unusual commotion.
The reason he attracted some attention was mainly because he was exceptionally tall and was also leading an ox, with a strange object on his back.
To prevent the Destiny Coffin from attracting too much attention,
Fan Wu covered it with another layer of black cloth.
Then, he also tied it with a rope.
As a result, the self-moving Destiny Coffin, in the eyes of the common people, seemed to be led by Old Blue Ox.
It seemed very reasonable.
And it did not cause any stir.
As time went by, Fan Wu had visited several pawnshops by the name of "Fuyuan Pawnshop." This was the place mentioned in the letter left by his swindler master before he died, located in the Imperial City.
The time had come to the afternoon.
Fan Wu looked at the signboard ahead, lowered his head slightly, and then stepped slowly into the pawnshop before him.
This pawnshop...
Was also called Fuyuan Pawnshop.
"Do you realize what nonsense you’re spouting? That’s blasphemous talk!" Inside the pawnshop, an old shopkeeper was scolding a shop assistant: "If any young master from the Fu Clan heard what you just said..."
Continuing, the old shopkeeper tapped the assistant’s head disapprovingly and said through clenched teeth, "Even I would be dragged down by you!"
"I’ve just paid them double the rent the other day, and I don’t want to pay twice the amount again over your remarks!"
"Even... Eh?"
Mid-speech, the old shopkeeper suddenly noticed that the light in the pawnshop had dimmed. As he turned to look towards the entrance, he saw an incredibly burly figure blocking the light from the doorway.
"Hiss!!!"
The presence of Fan Wu, with his bear-like torso and tiger-like build, clearly frightened the old shopkeeper, especially with a sword strapped to Fan Wu’s back, which was even more daunting.
"This... this esteemed guest..." the old shopkeeper swallowed nervously as he spoke to Fan Wu, "May I ask what your business is? Are you here to pawn an item or to purchase something?"
Inside the pawnshop, some of the pawned items are deemed ’dead pawns,’ meaning the people who exchanged these items for money didn’t intend to buy them back.
These dead pawns would be sold by the pawnshop.
"It was roughly twenty-three, or maybe twenty-two years ago, did your pawnshop take in a jade pendant?" Fan Wu didn’t waste any more words.
He got straight to the point to explain his purpose for coming.
"Twenty-two years ago? Twenty-three years ago?" The aging shopkeeper was in a state of mental shutdown, as that was quite a distant past.
He seriously doubted whether this tall man came to cause trouble. Who would remember such ancient affairs?
To find such an old item, one would have to dig out ledgers from over two decades ago, then go through them page by page.
He had intended to refuse.
After all, in his eyes, regardless of how tall and mighty Fan Wu was, he was just a man. A government office was located near their pawnshop, just less than a half cup of tea’s distance away, and he didn’t believe any thugs would dare to make a move in such a location.
However, those words of refusal hadn’t yet been spoken when they were staunchly blocked by the same shop assistant he had scolded earlier.
Moreover, the shop assistant had roughly covered the old shopkeeper’s mouth with his hand.
"Mmmph!" The old shopkeeper struggled to pull away the shop assistant’s hand and then glared at him, his teeth clenched in anger: "What are you doing, boy? Are you trying to rebel?!"
