Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 91 Information Trading
At a glance, Song Xian immediately understood that the people sitting at the desks must be the middlemen responsible for liaison in this intelligence exchange.

They are not buying or selling intelligence, so there is no need to hide. Instead, they need to be recognized by others.

He walked straight to one of the desks, behind which sat a man in his forties with a fair complexion and the sixth level of Qi Refining.

"How can I help you?" the man smiled at him.

"This is my first time in your place, and I'm not very familiar with the rules and procedures here. Could you please explain them in detail?"

The man smiled and said, "So this is your first time here. It's okay, we all start from the first time. Let me introduce myself first. My last name is Wang, and my given name is Fan. I've been in this business for 20 to 30 years, and I'm considered a senior intelligence broker in Bianxi City."

"The process and rules are actually very simple. Fellow Daoist, you only need to tell me your requirements. No matter what information you want to buy or sell, I will find sellers and buyers for you."

"You two won't meet each other, and the price is determined by the seller."

Song Xian nodded and said, "If I want to buy a piece of information, such as the whereabouts of an item, how can I receive the information in time after entrusting this task to you?"

"Fellow Daoist, please let me know where you're staying. If I get any information about the seller, I'll let you know immediately. Of course, many people in this business don't want to reveal their identities, let alone their whereabouts."

"Generally speaking, we have two options. First, the buyer leaves their contact information, such as leaving the message under a tree somewhere, or directly arranges for someone to wait somewhere to receive it."

"Secondly, come find me directly. I have a fixed place to stay and I will come here on fixed days. I guarantee that you will be able to find me."

Song Xian glanced at the intelligence brokers sitting behind the desks around him and asked, "Are they on the same team as you?"

The man said, "No, we are all independent cultivators, working on our own. Of course, this circle is quite special. Although we are independent intelligence brokers, we will exchange information with each other because we all have our own network of contacts, and no one person can cover all aspects of the information."

"Let me give you an example. If a fellow Daoist wants to inquire about the news about the Qianqing Sect, but I don't know anyone there, and there's an intelligence intermediary who's in charge of the Qianqing Sect, I'll go to him to get the information."

"Of course, fellow Daoist, rest assured. We are simply gathering intelligence and will never reveal information about the buyer or seller to each other. This is the principle and bottom line of our circle. We only exchange specific intelligence, not the information of the informant."

"I won't reveal any information about the buyer, and he won't reveal any information about the seller. I have a single line of communication with you, and the seller also has a single line of communication with him."

"Similarly, I will not tell the buyer which intelligence broker sold the information. He will not tell the seller which broker bought the information."

"Although this information passed through four people, there was no crosstalk. It was all communicated between two people, with a single line of communication. He got the information from the seller and told me, and then I told the buyer."

"This method is very safe. Fellow Daoist, there is no need to worry about the news leaking out, because only the two parties with a single line of contact know about this matter, and these four people are all interested parties and will not reveal it to others."

"Even the intelligence brokers don't know the specific identities of the buyers and sellers. Fellow Daoist, you've also seen that many people who come here are wearing hats and masks."

"Those who do long-term business in this circle usually have a code name. For example, I know someone named 'Scorpion'. I've never seen his true face, and I don't know his specific identity. I only know that he's responsible for selling information on the Qianqing Sect."

"We have a special channel of communication. If a buyer wants to buy information about the Qianqing Sect, I will tell him through this special channel. And I won't tell the buyer that the information was provided by Scorpion."

Song Xian nodded: "I understand."

"What do you need, fellow Daoist? Whether you want to buy or sell intelligence, I can give you a reference price based on the importance of the information. Of course, the exact price is still determined by the seller."

"I'm really sorry, I don't have any needs in this area at the moment. I'm just curious, so I came to ask."

The man didn't get angry after hearing this. Instead, he smiled politely, "It's okay. Just consider it a friendship. If you need anything in the future, you can always come find me. My residence is next to the row of sycamore trees northwest of Fengyao Valley. There's a word 'Cheng' written on it. I come here on the even-numbered days of every month, such as the second, fourth, and sixth day of the lunar month, waiting for buyers or sellers to come."

Song Xian didn't ask any more questions, got up and left, and came to the east side of Fengyao Valley again.

Looking around, scattered vendors occupied both sides of the street, shouting, hawking, and arguing constantly filling the air. They were selling relatively inexpensive spiritual items, and since there was no one to manage them, no one dared to take out valuables, fearing they would be targeted and robbed.

Slightly more expensive items are taken to the market to be sold, so although there are many people here, there are not many good things.

After strolling around, Song Xian and Zhang Yi left. He originally planned to find an influential person here and then hang up the sign of his own Yuxiangdan at an important location of the import and export.

But after a field trip, I was greatly disappointed. There was no order here and it was very chaotic.

In addition, those who came to buy and sell were all poor monks, and it was impossible for them to spend so many spirit stones to buy the Jade Fragrance Pill.

It is possible that the intelligence exchange in the west is full of hidden talents, and there is no guarantee that his target group is among those who buy and sell intelligence. However, there is no place like a management office there, and the middlemen in the intelligence transaction are all independent cultivators, and they will not help him do this job.

If you just put up a sign randomly, it will probably be taken down by bored people within a few hours.

Therefore, Song Xian decided to find a mortal to stand here with a sign day and night. Since this place was unmanaged, no one should meddle in other people's business. Even if some cultivators disliked it and drove the person holding the sign away, it didn't matter. He could just move to another place.

When they arrived, they happened to see a village not far from Fengyao Valley. So they went to the village, found some villagers, paid them some silver, asked them to form pairs, and took out the wooden signs promoting Yuxiang Dan that they had prepared long ago from their storage bag and handed them to them.

They were asked to go to several halls of the intelligence exchange, stand there with signs, and warn them that if anyone caused trouble, they should say that this was the instruction from the head of the Hunyuan Sect. If the person causing trouble did not give them face, there was no need to argue, just stay away.

It was such an easy job with good pay, so the villagers all rushed to sign up.

Song Xian picked out a few smart-looking ones and brought them to several halls in Fengyao Valley where intelligence transactions were conducted, and asked them to stand aside holding signs.

He was also observing the situation from a distance. Seeing that the villagers had been standing there for a full hour and no one had driven them away, he felt relieved and left.

.........

Fengwei River is located in the southeast of Bianxi City. At night, the boats on the river are like dragons, with lights of various colors intertwined, and the sounds of stringed instruments and orchestras can be heard from far away on the boats.

This is the most famous fireworks place in Bianxi City, and many monks like to come here to have fun.

The attics on both sides of the river were full of lights and wine, and there was an endless stream of monks coming and going.

The seven emotions and six desires of cultivators are no less than those of ordinary people. No matter whether they are from a sect, aristocratic family or a casual cultivator, there are many who cannot stand the boredom of hard training or are bothered by trivial matters, and inevitably need to seek pleasure.

There are no such places in regular markets. One reason is that many of these places of entertainment force women into prostitution, which can easily cause trouble. Therefore, in order to avoid trouble, regular markets generally do not allow the opening of such places.

The second reason is that the conditions are not available in the market town. These fireworks venues are not opened in one attic at a time. They are all connected by pavilions on a street. The market town is a place where every inch of land is valuable. If you want to rent a whole street of shops to open a fireworks venue, you will definitely lose everything.

Furthermore, the unique scenery of Fengwei River is not available in Fangshi. There is no river for cruise ships like this in Fangshi.

The attics on both sides of Fengwei River are used to receive monks, and they include gambling houses, brothels, inns, and one-stop services.

The big boss behind this is none other than the Luoyun Sect, the largest force in Bianxi City. Needless to say, the gambling houses here all use spirit stones as chips.

The prostitutes in brothels are all trained from a young age. They are proficient in the art of sex, and are proficient in piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, stringed instruments and even have female nuns to accompany them.

These female nuns are different from ordinary prostitutes. Most of them owe huge debts in gambling houses and have to sell themselves to pay off their debts.

As for the inn, it is mainly used for gamblers to rest and provide spiritual wine and food.

(End of this chapter)