Searching for the best path, starting from Renjia Town

Chapter 120 Chemical Means
Deep in the rolling hills, amidst lush vegetation, stood a four-story building with a cross-shaped hip roof and twelve eaves on each floor. It was called Yinghe Tower.

This is Liu Wei from Jianghu Inn, a restaurant he opened specifically for making friends. Now it has become a gathering place for all kinds of strange people from Jianghu.

"drink!"

"Manager Liu, bring two more jars of good wine!"

It was already late at night, but the lights in Yinghe Tower were still brightly lit. The lobby on the first floor was full of guests, who were drinking, playing drinking games, and chatting, making it a very lively scene.

"Let's sit here."

The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan came in, found an empty table in the corner and sat down. They looked around and found that no one had arrived yet.

Then he waved to the waiter and ordered some wine and food to eat while waiting.

"Congratulations to the seven of you for wiping out the Jin Gang Village and eliminating a threat to the people of Jiaxing."

The waiter came over and said with a smile while wiping the table.

Even the waiter at Yinghe Tower knew about this. Old Man Sun, Wang Yidao and the others couldn't help but straighten their bodies slightly, unable to hide the pride in their eyes.

Li Kunshan drank tea, but thought to himself that Jianghu Xiaozhan was worthy of being the first intelligence agency in the world of extraordinary people, and it was well-informed.

After being flattered, they were happy and ordered a few more dishes and gave the waiter a few coins.

"Old man Sun, you're here."

Then, four or five tables away, a young man raised his glass towards us.

"Brother Ruan, long time no see."

Old man Sun also quickly raised his glass and greeted with a smile.

Ruan Tao, the eldest disciple of Qingzhuyuan, although he is not very old, but as the eldest senior brother of Qingzhuyuan, he has some status in the circle of extraordinary people.

Old Man Sun and Ruan Tao had only met each other two or three times. This time, Ruan Tao took the initiative to greet him, which made Old Man Sun straighten his back much more. Even before he drank, his face was already flushed.

"Big brother."

A thin young man next to Ruan Tao asked in a low voice.

"Who are those people? Why haven't I heard of them?"

"They're active in the Jiaxing area. The leader, Old Man Sun, is a beastly master. The others are mostly wandering around or using street tricks. They don't have any masters, so of course you haven't heard of them."

"Tsk, this kind of street performer has come to Yinghe Tower to join in the fun, without even considering his own status."

The young man snorted coldly, confused again.

"Big Brother, why are you interacting with them?"

"What do you know? More friends mean more paths. It never hurts to get to know more people."

Ruan Tao said this, then picked up his wine glass and went to socialize with the disciples of other sects in the lobby.

The Seven Freaks of Jiangnan hardly knew anyone here. After greeting Ruan Tao, they just drank and ate while chatting.

"Wait a minute, don't talk. I'll talk to him and try to catch ten small yellow croakers!"

"It should be about the same. I've already inquired about it. The old man was so poor that he even sold his wife and daughter. Maybe five or six small yellow croakers will do the trick."

"What on earth are you going to buy?"

Li Kunshan only knew that they came to Yinghe Tower this time to buy something, but he didn't ask what it was.

Originally, he just wanted to see the Yinghe Tower where strange people gathered.

When I heard the price, I couldn't help but feel curious.

"What? They need small yellow croaker, and so many of them."

"Of course it's a good thing."

They looked at each other with mysterious expressions.

"coming!"

As he was speaking, a skinny old man with a goatee and ragged clothes walked in.

Old man Sun quickly stood up and waved to him.

The man saw it, walked straight over and sat down in the last empty seat.

He picked up Zhou Qi'er's wine glass next to him and drank. Without chopsticks, he just reached out and grabbed the food and stuffed it into his mouth.

Li Kunshan put down his chopsticks and looked at the man with his wine glass. The way he dressed and ate, he thought he was crazy because of poverty. He couldn't help but become more and more curious about what treasures he had that were worth a dozen small yellow croakers.

"I don't know how much meat it is."

After cleaning the last chicken claw and throwing the bone on the table, the old man with a goatee picked his teeth with his fingernails, snorted coldly and said directly.

"Thirteen small yellow croakers, one cent short, forget it!"

"How many!"

When they heard this number, they couldn't help but widen their eyes, all looking surprised.

Mr. Feng pressed his hand, signaling everyone not to worry and to just look at him. Then he turned to the old man with a goatee and said with a smile.

"Let's be frank. We've already found out that you've been smoking opium for years. Not only have you lost all your money, you've even sold your wife and daughter."

"What? I'm happy with it!"

"Yes, it's really none of our business."

Mr. Feng continued speaking with a calm expression.

"I'm afraid you don't have a penny on you right now. If you leave this house, you'll probably starve to death on the roadside within ten days or half a month. With your body, the opium has already hollowed you out. Even if you try to rob someone, you won't be able to do anything."

"Well, you're right, so what?"

"Now, if you make this deal with us, not only will you have food and drink, but you'll also have enough money to smoke opium for the rest of your life. You can even redeem your wife and daughter."

"Could you please stop dithering?"

The old man with a goatee looked impatient and suddenly sneered.

"Are you trying to say that, apart from you, no one buys my tricks, and without you, I'll starve to death?"

"Well, you know it yourself."

"Of course I know! But you also have to know that my methods were taught to me by my master. If I were to exchange them for money now, I would be doing him an injustice. But there's nothing I can do. Who got me into that habit?"

"Then why don't you..."

"but!"

The old man with a goatee snorted lightly, his cloudy eyes surprisingly firm.

"If I sell off the skills he taught me, I won't be able to face him even after I die! So, thirteen small yellow croakers, not a single one less. If I fail, I deserve to die of starvation on the roadside!"

"you……"

Mr. Feng, who had seemed confident before, was suddenly speechless.

He never expected that the old man who was willing to sell his wife and daughter in order to smoke opium and had fallen to the point of begging would still have something to hold on to.

The six people looked at each other and frowned.

"Let's discuss it."

Then, the six people stood up and went to the side to discuss.

The old man with a goatee glanced at it without paying any attention, and scooped the soup from the plate into his mouth with his hand.

After a while, Old Man Sun and the others came back with gloomy expressions.

"Twelve! We agreed that twelve small yellow croakers are the maximum!"

"What's the point of talking if you don't have money!"

The old man with a goatee snorted coldly, stood up and walked out.

"Hey~! Wait a minute."

Seeing this, several people hurriedly stopped him, looking embarrassed.

"Let's discuss it later!"

"Thirteen small yellow croakers."

"But when we gathered together, we only had twelve small yellow croakers."

"Then let's talk about it after you all get together."

"No, we can wait, can you wait!"

Mr. Feng looked anxious. By the time they collected thirteen small yellow croakers, the old man would probably be dead. How could they make the deal?

"Hey~ That's just bad luck for you."

The old man with a goatee grinned, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth, still leaving no room for maneuver.

"I said."

After listening for a long time, Li Kunshan understood the general idea.

Old man Sun and the others want to buy this smoker's methods, extraordinary methods!
For each family, the methods are all secrets that are not passed on. It is not easy for this old smoker to be willing to sell it. It must be because of his addiction to smoking, so it is understandable that he uses small yellow croaker.

But Li Kunshan didn’t quite understand why Old Man Sun and the others wanted to buy it and who they were buying it for.

After all, each of them has his own methods. The methods of extraordinary people are different from talismans. The more methods they have, the better. Instead, the more refined and higher the quality, the better.

Instead of learning a skill from scratch, it is better to continue to refine your own skills.

If he was going to pass it on to other people, why not teach them their own methods instead of buying this old smoker's? "I'll pay for the remaining one."

Although I don’t understand, I support it.

After all, they are accomplices. It’s just a small yellow croaker. Li Kunshan can afford it.

"no!"

But who would have thought that Old Man Sun and the others would oppose it in unison and with a very firm attitude.

Li Kunshan blinked his eyes. What was going on?

"That's impossible."

The old man with a goatee snorted, pushed Old Man Sun away, and walked away.

"Everyone, I happen to have a small yellow croaker here."

At this moment, a middle-aged man in a suit came over, took out a small yellow croaker and put it on the table.

Old Man Sun and others were startled and looked at the middle-aged man warily.

"Sir, we don't seem to know you."

"Now we know each other."

"Oh, but no reward without merit."

Old man Sun smiled and spoke directly.

"We don't want this money of unknown origin."

"I think you may have misunderstood."

The man in the suit said directly with a smile on his face.

"Actually, I'd like to entrust you with a favor. This gold bar serves as a deposit."

"so……"

The six of them looked at each other and relaxed a lot, but they still remained vigilant.

"What business? Let's make it clear in advance that we, the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan, will not do anything that goes against morality!"

"You guys are overthinking it."

The man in the suit smiled again and continued.

"Actually, I just want to entrust you with a few things."

"So he's an escort."

Several people breathed a sigh of relief and finally felt completely relieved.

It's just a few gifts, it really has nothing to do with morality.

However, it is a business after all, and the other party gave out a small yellow croaker as a deposit, so the gift must be something special, and the specific details still need to be communicated.

Immediately afterwards, Old Man Sun, Mr. Feng and the man in the suit found a place and talked alone for half an hour.

"Okay, no problem."

Old man Sun came back and said something to the others with a happy face, then picked up the small yellow croaker from the table.

"Then let's make it a deal."

The man in the suit said one last thing and turned away.

Old Man Sun and the others watched the man in the suit leave the restaurant, and then the six of them each took out two small yellow croakers, including the one they had just obtained, a total of thirteen, and handed them to the old man with a goatee.

"Woo woo! Master! I'm so sorry!"

He put the small yellow croaker in his arms, threw a yellowed booklet on the table, and ran out of Yinghe Tower crying.

“Finally got it!”

He quickly picked up the booklet and took a quick look. Sure enough, Old Man Sun and others were excited again.

Li Kunshan stood by and couldn't help but wonder what kind of magical power it was.

“Qi and the instrument resonate with each other; the instrument is the form of Qi, and Qi is an extension of the instrument…”

He peeked in and couldn't help but curl his lips.

I thought it was some powerful magical power, but it turned out to be a transformation.

The so-called transformation is a means of extending Qi by using a certain object as a mold.

For example, sword energy. The sword blade acts as a mold for energy, thereby condensing an energy blade that can be swung out. This is a branch method of transformation.

In general, it is a relatively simple but practical method, and it can also increase combat effectiveness after being practiced well.

"Give!"

Old man Sun suddenly stuffed the booklet into Li Kunshan's arms, and then the six people looked at him with smiles on their faces.

"Ok?"

Li Kunshan was stunned and looked at the six people.

"What's the meaning."

"What else could it mean? It's for you!"

"You've been with us for a while now, and this is a gift we brothers agreed to give you!"

"Honestly, your swordsmanship is pretty good in combat, but it's too simple. If you could learn this transformation skill and develop sword energy, it would be a completely different story!"

"No."

Li Kunshan never expected that these mysterious people were actually preparing gifts for him. No wonder they didn't want him to give up the last small yellow croaker.

Then he was about to return the booklet. What a joke! He hadn't even mastered the basic skills yet, so why did he need to learn this little trick of chemical reactions?

"Why are you being so polite to us?"

The six people thought Li Kunshan was being polite and pushed him back again.

Old man Sun smiled, quite sincerely.

"Honestly, with your abilities, you would be welcomed into any sect you join, but you chose to look up to us brothers. It's only right that we give you something."

"We've already spent the money, and there's no way we can get it back! And if you don't want it, we don't have time to practice."

"If you don't accept it, then..."

"Okay, I want it."

Not wanting to argue with them any further, Li Kunshan simply put the booklet into his arms.

"Hehe, that's right."

Seeing Li Kunshan accept it, the six of them smiled and were as happy as the children.

Li Kunshan couldn't help but smile, then shook his head secretly, and then shouted loudly.

"Waiter, change the table of food and wine. I'll pay the bill."

"Yes! Let's celebrate!"

The six of them were also happy and sat down again.

Two days later, Jiangxi and Hubei met at the border.

As agreed, the seven people took over the goods to be escorted from the man in the suit, which consisted of four large boxes that were one and a half meters long and wide.

Since I am responsible for the escort, I naturally have to inspect the goods before departure.

"Tsk tsk, what a good thing."

Four large boxes filled with various antiques.

Not to mention those bronze artifacts, even a random vase or a painting is priceless. No wonder the other party was willing to offer four small yellow croakers for the escort this time.

After checking that there were no problems, Old Man Sun and his team were ready to set off.

"There's something wrong with this batch."

Looking at the evil aura on the antique, Li Kunshan frowned and pulled Old Man Sun and the others aside.

"I'm afraid these things are not clean."

"Not clean? None of our business. How many clean coins are there in this world?"

A few people smiled and didn't care at all.

They are only responsible for escorting. As for the origin of these things, they do not ask, and it has nothing to do with them.

"That was not what I meant."

Li Kunshan said directly with a serious expression.

"These things look like funerary objects to me!"

"Fungerary artifacts? From a tomb."

The six people were startled, and then looked at the well-dressed man in a suit not far away, and couldn't help smacking their lips.

He looked like a decent person, but I didn't expect him to be a tomb robber.

(End of this chapter)