Chapter 15: There’s a Great Demon Hidden Here

On a wide platform, there were two elegant small pavilions on the left and right sides.

Ning Xuan sat in the pavilion on the left, while in the pavilion on the right was a dark, fat man in brocade clothes.

That fat man in brocade clothes was the young master of the Fugui Merchant Guild, named Liu Shirong.

The young miss who had previously sent Ning Xuan the Spirit Pearls from the Western Regions was his younger sister, Liu Yushu.

The two had the same father but different mothers. One had turned into a dark, fat man, and the other had turned into a merchant guild lady who “looked like a young miss.”

Of course, this Liu Shirong also had a younger brother of similar age, his full brother – Liu Shihua.

The Fugui Merchant Guild was not big, but not small either. Although its foundation was in Star River County, its trade routes crossed several prefectures, even the state capital, and reached the Western Regions. It could be said that in the eyes of ordinary people, it was an unattainable behemoth.

The president of the Fugui Merchant Guild was not young. It was said that he had accidentally entered a miasma-filled land while trading one year and had contracted a disease. Although he had recovered, the root of the disease had remained, and he was now getting worse year by year.

Therefore… the Fugui Merchant Guild needed to consider the issue of a successor early on.

And the successors, in theory, were those three: Liu Shirong, Liu Shihua, and Liu Yushu.

As for the method of selecting a successor, it was mostly “testing abilities.” Specifically, the three of them would each be in charge of a part of the family business, and whoever could make a name for themselves would then inherit the merchant guild.

But, the Fugui Merchant Guild did not do this.

The successor of the Fugui Merchant Guild had been decided long ago, and it was this dark, fat man in front of them.

And this dark, fat man was the most dandy of the three, eating, drinking, and playing, mixing with dandies from all over every day, either feasting and visiting brothels, or hunting and horse riding, or fighting beasts and gambling. In short, he was just having fun, playing everywhere.

In contrast, Liu Shihua and Liu Yushu were truly in charge of the merchant guild, worrying about the big and small matters below every day. Now, one was a smooth and worldly, mature young man; the other was an intellectual and charming, very sociable lady…

But the successor of the Fugui Merchant Guild was not those two, but this dark, fat man.

In the eyes of outsiders, this dark, fat man had only brought his own chicken to fight with the young master of the Ning residence.

But in fact, this dark, fat man had already become brothers with Young Master Ning.

He was a dandy.

But he was a dandy who walked the upper-class route.

He was the young president. Although he didn’t need to worry about the matters below, he needed to raise his hand to cover the entire merchant guild and protect the merchant guild from disasters from above.

You know, no matter how chaotic it was below, at most it would be a loss of some silver and a batch of goods. But above… even a single snowflake falling from a high place was a weight that the people below could not bear, a devastating disaster with no possibility of recovery.

Therefore, this dark, fat man was like a money-scattering boy, making friends with nobles everywhere and currying favor with them.

And Ning Xuan was an important person he was making friends with.

At this time, the two of them sat in the pavilions on the left and right, like marshals pointing at their generals, and Young Master Ning’s “Golden-Winged Thunder Duke” and Young Master Liu’s “Iron-Beaked General” were already “gearing up” in their cages.

Cockfighting was a very addictive thing. To use some phrases from Ning Xuan’s previous life, this was probably a fusion of the fun of “catching pets, raising them, and fighting,” and was comparable to the fun of “Pokémon” and the like.

Liu Shirong shouted, “Young Master Ning, my Iron-Beaked General has returned from secret training, it’s impossible for it to lose to you again!”

Ning Xuan said, “Heh, my Golden-Winged Thunder Duke is in secret training every day.”

The lackeys of both sides were behind them, like soldiers cursing at the city walls, and they started to curse at each other with all their might.

The scene was extremely lively.

The two young masters each took a few sips of the tea and drinks in the pavilion.

Liu Shirong pointed at Ning Xuan and said, “Today, I’ll put my words here. If your Golden-Winged Thunder Duke can win, I… I…”

Ning Xuan said, “What will you do?”

Liu Shirong said, “I’ll marry my sister to you!”

Ning Xuan laughed loudly and said, “You’ve made a good plan, I won’t marry her!”

Liu Shirong said helplessly, “What’s wrong with my sister? She has the looks, she has the ability. When she comes to your family, she can save you a lot of trouble.”

Ning Xuan said, “Marriage is a major event, a matter of parents’ orders and matchmakers’ words. Liu Shirong, are you going to make your own decision about your marriage?”

Liu Shirong cupped his hands and said, “Then… then we have to bet something, right? Otherwise, it’s not exciting to fight. I… I’ll bet my sister.”

Seeing that Ning Xuan was not speaking, Liu Shirong changed his words and said, “Forget it, if I lose, I’ll give you two ox cart spaces on my merchant guild’s Western Regions line for free. Whether you want to arrange for people or buy and sell things, those two spaces are yours. I don’t want your capital. If you make a profit, it’s yours. If you lose, it’s on my Fugui Merchant Guild.”

Ning Xuan knew that the Fugui Merchant Guild’s Western Regions line was a major line. Every time a cart was sent, there were forty to fifty boxes of goods, and the various expenses on the way were quite large. It was really good of him to give him two boxes to play with.

And if he could have these two box spaces, it would be equivalent to having an intelligence line that could explore the Western Regions.

He knew too little about the outside world.

The existence of demons such as the Mountain-Crashing Bear demon and the Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey made him realize the importance of intelligence.

He had to have some of his own people who could bring him news from afar.

For example, that “Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey,” with a constitution of 3.5, did not seem to be as good as him, but Ning Xuan did not intend to refine the record directly.

He only had one life. Since this Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey had already appeared, he naturally hoped to know as much as possible about what the Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey’s demonic art was, to collect as much information about the Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey as possible, and even to kill a few of them himself before making a move.

After all, in the fierce battle with the Mountain-Crashing Bear demon before, he already knew that if he wanted to refine the record, he had to deal with the strongest demon of the opponent in his nightmare.

Intelligence was very important.

He needed more intelligence.

It was impossible to explore intelligence by himself, so he began to consciously want to obtain some “tentacles” to explore the outside world.

After all, for so many years, although his father had doted on him and given him whatever he wanted, he had no intention of letting him take charge of any power.

He didn’t understand why.

At this time, Liu Shirong’s proposal moved him.

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and Ning Xuan smiled and said, “If I want to go to the Western Regions, is that okay?”

Liu Shirong was stunned and said, “Why are you going to the Western Regions?”

Ning Xuan said, “I’m just asking, is it okay?”

Liu Shirong said, “Of course it’s okay, but you, Young Master Ning, have a precious life. If something happens on the way, my merchant guild can’t afford such a big responsibility.”

Ning Xuan smiled and said, “I’m just asking.”

Then, he said, “If I lose, I’ll give you that Purple Shadow. You’ve been coveting it for a long time, haven’t you?”

Purple Shadow was his second-best horse.

Liu Shirong said, “It’s a deal!”

Ning Xuan said, “Open the cages!”

A guard in the center holding a bronze gong hurriedly entered the field.

The cages on both sides were opened. The Golden-Winged Thunder Duke’s wings rustled, as if the Thunder Duke statue in the temple had become a spirit. The Iron-Beaked General’s beak was still stained with the blood from the previous day’s fight, and at this moment, it was impatiently pawing at the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Clang clang clang!

The guard sounded the bronze gong.

The two chickens immediately shot out like arrows from a bow, rushed towards each other, and fought together.

The lackeys ran over and began to cheer, shouting things like “Peck it, peck it,” “Dodge, quick, dodge,” “Thunder Duke, quick, cut its lower part, cut its lower part.”

Han Ba shivered.

Since they had killed that bear demon yesterday, their small team had been advancing steadily, and now they had basically completely determined the situation in the mountains.

The bear demons were all dead.

A tragic death.

Piles of corpses were stacked together, with no survivors.

The yellow-robed Taoist’s face was also solemn. He picked out two from the bear demon corpses: one with a ten-foot-tall body whose head had been smashed, and one whose head and body were separated.

“If I’m not mistaken, these two are the strongest of this batch of demons. If either of them had come out, we would have had to suffer at least half casualties to solve them. If they had appeared at the same time, we would have only had one way out: complete annihilation.”

Han Ba said, “But they are all dead.”

He carefully scanned all the dead bear demons.

He had already checked the wounds.

“They are all saber wounds. Although some are very exaggerated, they are still saber wounds,” Han Ba said. “Could it be a martial artist?”

The yellow-robed Taoist had not yet spoken, but the Taoist boy next to him was already amused.

“Old Han, this is not a person with profound martial arts who has mastered some strange power, but a demon who knows martial arts has appeared…”

“A demon who knows martial arts…” Han Ba couldn’t help but shiver.

In his heart, the most terrifying things about demons were three things: one, a terrifying physique; two, strange demonic arts; three, mysterious treasures…

And they could only rely on the mysterious power of the Daoist Masters to suppress the demons, restrain the demons, and then use various weapons to kill them…

Fortunately, the demons did not know martial arts at all, and seemed to be unable to master the fine use of force. Even if they did, it was just for show, the kind of show that would be虐杀 by him at the same level of power.

But…

He looked at the wounds on the dead bear demons on the ground.

Swift, and domineering.

He also remembered the “save me, save me” that the bear demon they had killed had shouted before it died…

Han Ba felt a chill all over his body. He turned his head to look at the yellow-robed Taoist, his mouth dry, and said, “Daoist Master…”

The yellow-robed Taoist said solemnly, “This may be an internal strife among the demons, and here… there must be a more terrifying great demon hidden.”

Han Ba said hoarsely, “What should we do?”

The yellow-robed Taoist raised his hand and pointed, and a golden, transparent talisman appeared in the air.

He pointed and circled on the talisman in the air, and then with a shake, the talisman burned and disappeared into the ground.

“I request the Heavenly Master!”