39 Treasures Merchant

  New book rankings are fierce, seeking votes.

  －－－－－－－－－

  A man wearing a black tunic, with a bamboo hat on his head and an iron greatsword strapped to his back, walked slowly along the streets of the northwest city district of Zhujici County, occasionally looking around at the people coming and going in the Jianghu world, as if searching for someone.

  Mysterious figures hiding their faces with a bamboo hat are not uncommon in Takegawa County. Many people in the rivers and lakes like to cover their faces with a bamboo hat to avoid being pursued by enemies and hide their tracks.

  This big fellow is none other than Ye Qin.

  Ye Qin wore a very common black tunic, and even found a large chopping knife to carry on his back, trying to mislead others into thinking he was an outsider swordsman. He also wore several thick and heavy coats on his body, wrapped in thick coarse cloth, making himself look sturdy and robust, looking like a man in his twenties or thirties. He applied a kind of herb that made him turn black, making his face and hands as dark as coal. And he put a walnut in his mouth to make his voice hoarse and low.

  Disguise technique is a must-learn skill for the disciples of Cao Yi Tang when they go out to collect medicine, and he is extremely proficient in it.

  Ye Qin spent most of the day wandering around the markets, post stations, inns and taverns in the northwest city district, constantly looking for a buyer for the Qingxin Pill. After what happened at Chunyu's shop, he had become much more cautious and did not casually look for someone to sell the medicine to, but instead sought out the most suitable buyer.

  Such a person needs to meet several conditions. Firstly, he must be a very wealthy Jianghu guest who can afford the top-grade Qingxin pills in his hands. Secondly, he must be a Jianghu guest with a deep and powerful background, so that the medicine hall dare not casually inspect him, and then follow the trail to implicate himself. Thirdly, he must be an outsider in the Jianghu world, unfamiliar with the local Jianghu figures, and will leave soon after. As long as the other party leaves Zhutai County, he will be forever safe afterwards, without having to worry about exposing his identity.

  Recently, there has been a large increase in outsiders coming to Takegawa County. It's not too difficult to find wealthy and influential figures from the jianghu.

  Ye Qin was very cautious in repeatedly selecting targets. In order to minimize his exposure, he only planned to find one of them for a stable private transaction, trying to avoid having too much contact with people from the rivers and lakes.

  He sized up several groups of Jianghu big shots from Wan'an City, the capital of Pingzhou, in the most luxurious taverns and inns in Zhujique County. These people were almost all disciples of the top ten large gangs within Pingzhou's borders. Even the Medicine King Gang wouldn't easily provoke them to avoid disputes between gangs. Therefore, selling medicine to them privately shouldn't be easy for the Medicine King Gang to investigate.

  At noon that day, Ye Qin was sitting in an open-air teahouse by the street, taking a break and drinking iced tea. Suddenly, he saw a luxurious four-wheeled carriage driven by three white-maned fine horses, with gold-plated decorations all over its body, entering the city under the escort of dozens of robustly dressed strong men on horseback. The carriage slowly stopped at the relay station in the west of the city. These strong men held their heads high and puffed out their chests, with a sharp glint in their eyes that was not to be trifled with - any one of them could be picked out as a top-notch expert in the martial arts world. Dozens of strong men stood guard at the relay station, sealing off all possible lines of attack that could harm the luxurious carriage, clearly well-trained.

  A luxurious carriage with a golden silk flag embroidered with the words "Treasures" in large letters. A ruddy-faced old man in yellow robes got out of the carriage first, followed by a white-clad young disciple with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, as well as a slender red-dressed young woman. They entered a nearby luxurious inn under the escort of dozens of robust men in simple attire.

  Inside the open-air teahouse, several ordinary Jianghu men saw this luxurious horse-drawn carriage and the people who came out of it, and suddenly whispered in shock.

  "Treasured Treasure Gang, the ninth largest gang in Pingzhou! That old man, the emblem on his shoulder seems to be a high-ranking elder!"

  "A big shot like you, how come you're here in Takegawa County so early? Isn't the Medicine King's Pharmaceutical Convention still two or three months away?"

  "Brother, you don't know this. Zhen Bao Gang is best at hosting various auctions, and Medicine King Gang must have invited someone from Zhen Bao Gang to host this medicine trading conference. They appeared here early to make preparations, which is not surprising."

  Ye Qin listened to their words without missing a single syllable, and her heart skipped a beat.

  People who travel the world can't help but know about Pingzhou's top ten gangs. The Zhenbao Gang is actually a pretty good trading partner. Some information about the Zhenbao Gang floated into his mind.

  Zhen Bao Gang, the ninth largest gang in Pingzhou, is slightly lower than Yao Wang Gang's ranking, but it is also a well-known large gang. The disciples inside the door all like to call themselves treasure merchants. Their only main business is to collect various rare and secret treasures, and then engage in low-buying and high-selling transactions and auctions. No matter what kind of treasure, treasured swords, treasured armors, high-level secret books, treasured medicines, or treasured objects, they don't ask about their origin, but only ask about the price, directly purchasing them. Top-grade medicinal materials are naturally also included in their procurement list.

  And if those Jianghu men are right, this Zhenbao Guild should be the one invited by the Medicine King Guild to host this auction of medicinal materials in Zhukai County. It's much stronger than the backstage of that Chunyu shop or whatever Eight Harmony Society.

  Ye Qin thought that selling the Qingxin pill to Zhenbao Gang would be the best choice. Zhenbao Gang had a rule of never asking about the origin of treasures, which was very beneficial for him to hide his identity.

  For this, Ye Qin waited outside the inn where the Treasure Gang elder was staying for two whole days, looking for an opportunity to make contact with someone from the Treasure Gang alone. During these two days, there were constantly big shots from the Bamboo Creek County guild coming to visit this Treasure Gang elder, but no one from the Treasure Gang came out of the inn.

  It wasn't until the third day that Ye Qin saw the elder of the Zhen Bao gang leave the inn alone, wandering around the county town to clear his mind.

  Ye Qin immediately followed up.

  That Treasure Pavilion elder was a fifty or sixty year old old man, with a ruddy complexion and always wearing a smile on his face. His temples were bulging and full, clearly indicating that his internal strength was extremely profound. With Ye Qin's current cultivation level, he actually felt a hint of pressure from this old man. It was likely that this old man wasn't much weaker than him.

  This old man is quite interesting, seemingly having noticed that Ye Qin was following him, yet he strolled around the county town market with ease, picking up this and that, even haggling with a street vendor for half a day.

  Finally, he stopped at a quiet alley with few people and asked in a low voice: "Young man, you're quite bold. You've been following me all the way, I, Huang Jintao, have dominated Pingzhou for decades, it's been a long time since I met such a brave young man. Speak up, what do you want from me? If you can't give me a good reason, be careful not to lose a few bones."

  Ye Qin's figure stopped more than a dozen steps behind the old man, pressed down his bamboo hat, and held a walnut in his mouth, saying softly: "Senior is a high-ranking person in the Jianghu, how could you be afraid of being followed by an unknown junior? With senior's experience, I suppose you can also guess that junior has been following senior all along, what for."

  "The young man is quite clever, isn't he?" The old man snorted, "Those who follow the Treasure Merchant are usually one of two kinds. Either they want to get something from me, or they want to sell something to me. Youngster, tell me, do you want to buy something or sell something?"

  "Senior is indeed wise and discerning. My master was practicing his skills too hastily some time ago, unfortunately, he suffered a mental breakdown and now relies on the strong suppression of our fellow sect's uncle. I urgently need a top-grade calming medicine 'Clear Heart Pill' to save him. Does the Treasure Association have this precious medicine? What is the price? I am willing to buy it at a high price."

  Ye Qin didn't know the market price of Qingxin Pill, and he didn't want to lose out himself, so he made up a story to trick the old man into revealing his buying price. Once he knew the buying price, he naturally also understood the approximate selling price.