Tomb raiding: Intercepting Yin Xinyue and building a family of immortals

After resting in Sujia Village for about half a month, Su Chen and Partridge Whistle and others set off again.

Our destination this time is Zhelong Mountain in Yunnan.

I took a train from Changsha to Kunming, and then traveled through the night by horse-drawn carriage to Tengcheng.

The journey was tiring.

Su Chen planned to rest in Teng City for half a day before setting off for the Tomb of the King of Xian.

Inside the inn, Yin Xinyue stood by the window.

"During the chaos of war, even remote places like Yunnan were not at peace."

She sighed.

Soldiers were everywhere on the streets, and vendors hurried by.

Four out of ten shops were closed.

"Once the supplies are replenished, we'll set off early tomorrow morning and not linger here any longer."

Su Chen had already sent Su Yitian and another younger member of the Su family village to buy food.

Although Su Chen has a system space, he doesn't want outsiders to know about it.

Su Chen also had a lot of food stored in the system space, and he didn't plan to take it out unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Brother Chen, something bad has happened! Xiao Hu has been captured by those thugs."

Su Yitian rushed into Su Chen's room in a panic, panting as he spoke.

"Don't rush, tell me exactly what happened."

Su Chen handed him a bowl of tea to help him calm down.

"Gululu..."

Su Yitian finished his tea in one gulp, and after catching his breath, he said, "Brother Chen, please give me and Xiaohu twenty silver dollars so we can buy some fresh ingredients and food that is easy to store."

"We did exactly as you said, but when we got to the rice shop, the owner quoted a high price, asking us for two silver dollars per pound of rice!"

"We wanted to leave, but the boss wouldn't let us. He insisted that we buy something. In a fit of anger, Xiao Hu punched the boss twice."

"Then, as soon as we stepped outside, five or six guns were pointed at our heads! Several soldiers said that Xiao Hu was causing trouble, so they took him away."

In Changsha, one silver dollar can buy 20 jin of rice. Even though it's more expensive in Tengshi, it can still buy about 15 jin at most.

As a result, one silver dollar can now only buy one pound, which is equivalent to at least fifteen to twenty times the original price.

Su Chen subconsciously thought that he must have been set up.

Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the other party was arrested as soon as they stepped out of the rice shop?

The purpose of letting Su Yitian return was to have him tip off Su Chen so that he could use the money to ransom Su Yitian.

But Su Chen thought back carefully and realized that he hadn't done anything special since entering the city.

"Did you flaunt your wealth on your way to the rice shop?"

Su Chen asked.

"It's not really showing off wealth. Xiao Hu saw a little gadget on the road and thought it was nice, so he planned to bring it back for his younger brother."

Su Yitian suddenly realized, "Could it be that they were watching us when we took the silver dollars from the money bag?"

"That's normal!" Su Chen roughly understood.

At the time, Su Yitian and Su Hu had very bulging money bags. When they went shopping, someone with ulterior motives saw them and then followed them.

After learning that they wanted to buy rice, he gave the rice shop owner a meaningful look.

Teng City is not large, and its population is predominantly ethnic minorities, mostly locals. Moreover, it is geographically isolated, and few outsiders come in.

It's not uncommon for someone to be targeted and ripped off.

"You rest in your room. Partridge Whistle and I will go. Old Knife, you stay in your room too and protect the lady."

Su Chen gave the instructions.

Regardless of the circumstances, Su Chen had to find a way to bring Su Hu back.

As the clan chief, he couldn't possibly stand by and watch his people be in danger.

After leaving the inn, Su Chen led Partridge Whistle to the local military camp.

"Stop whoever comes!"

Upon seeing unfamiliar faces, the guards immediately drew their guns and aimed at Su Chen and Partridge Whistle.

"Please inform them that a friend of mine offended the soldiers and was arrested half an hour ago. I've come to apologize to the soldiers on behalf of my friend!"

Su Chen took out four silver dollars from his pocket and gave them to the two guards.

"Go in, just look for Master Liu."

The guards knew all about this.

They're just taking advantage of these out-of-towners; they have to fleece them.

Before long, Su Chen arrived at a camp.

The soldier, referred to as Master Liu, was sitting in a chair, legs crossed, smoking a cigarette.

He was sitting there waiting for Su Chen to come over.

“Master Liu, my little brother is blind and doesn’t know your place. He dared to cause trouble on your turf. I apologize on his behalf.”

Su Chen cupped his hands and said, "I hope Lord Liu will be magnanimous and not hold it against us!"

You can't hit someone who's smiling; it's always good to be polite on someone else's turf.

"Too late. This kid was rude just now and even dared to curse me. Now I'm going to take his life."

The soldier, known as Master Liu, slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. "Who did they have to mess with? How dare they provoke me? Don't they know that rice shop is under my protection?"

Su Chen had originally planned to wait for him to ask for money, but he didn't expect that this man was also a cunning old fox and didn't say anything.

It seemed like they wanted to kill Su Hu, but in reality, they wanted Su Chen to make an offer.

"I'll give you ten silver dollars as an apology on his behalf."

Su Chen took out ten silver dollars and placed them on the table.

"This little bit? Are you trying to feed a beggar?"

"I'll chop his head off tonight!"

Mr. Liu was somewhat dissatisfied with the ten silver dollars.

"Yes, yes, I didn't think it through. Thirty silver dollars."

Su Chen took out another twenty silver dollars and placed them on the table.

"You think you can redeem someone with this little money? Five hundred silver dollars, or we'll talk face to face."

Mr. Liu quoted a price directly.

Hearing about all this suppression, Partridge Whistle was somewhat alarmed.

They really dared to open their teeth!

Five hundred silver dollars is no small sum.

A large yellow croaker only costs four hundred silver dollars.

With that much money, you could buy sixteen or seventeen acres of the best paddy fields.

Asking for exorbitant prices, then haggling on the spot.

"Sir, we've come to Teng City to do business. We only have a few dozen silver dollars on us, that's all we have."

Su Chen said, "Fifty silver dollars, fixed price!"

This is already Su Chen's bottom line. If the other party does not agree, he will have to take other measures.

There are probably around four hundred people stationed here.

It's called a regiment, but in reality, it's probably only a battalion.

It wouldn't be too difficult to rescue Su Hu from these lazy, undisciplined soldiers.

If all else fails, let Yin Xinyue and the others leave the city first, and then Su Chen can hold a gun to their leader's head and force them to release Su Hu.

"Two hundred dollars!"

Master Liu said, "If you don't agree, then you can expect to be collecting your corpses. Not collecting your brother's corpses, but finding someone to collect yours."

"You think you can leave once you've entered my tent? Are you kidding me?"

Master Liu clapped his hands and gave a signal. Instantly, more than ten soldiers rushed into the tent with their guns pointed at Su Chen, Partridge Whistle, and Su Yitian.

"Platoon leader, should we detain these three?"

The soldier standing at the door asked.