SFS Chapter 35 First Battle
Chapter 35 First Battle
Gong Lei was three times more robust than he was half a month ago. His breathing was steady and powerful, and the previous dejection was gone from his eyes. He was full of energy and spirit.
As if looking in a mirror, Zhou Qiuyuan witnessed firsthand the transformation from an ordinary person to a body cultivator.
Instead of paying five thousand coins to become an apprentice, Gong Lei used one thousand coins to bribe a metal-type body refiner from the Qi family, thus gaining an opportunity to prove his talent.
From then on, he transformed into the head waiter of Tianxiang Tower, responsible for dealing with troublemakers who caused trouble at the tower. He received a monthly salary of 1,500 coins and half an hour of free use of the Golden Spirit Tool.
The manager who used to beat him with a whip no longer dared to provoke him and even offered a sum of money as an apology.
"My waiters are all gathering gossip for me, but unfortunately, I can only influence Tianxianglou in the West City."
Gong Lei has never forgotten how he rose to prominence and has always worked diligently for Dark Night.
After more than ten days without any useful information, he felt ashamed and spontaneously recruited more people to expand his network of informants.
"Don't expose the Dark Night organization."
"Any news lately?"
Gong Lei sighed and said helplessly, "There's not much valuable information, but there's something I'm not sure if I should say."
Zhou Qiuyuan said in a low voice, "Speak freely, and I will judge whether the information is valuable."
"Tianxianglou secretly purchased a steady stream of rice and meat this afternoon, and all the remaining rice and grain were sent to the Qi family's grain reserves..."
"I tried to sound out the Qi family's steward, but he kept his mouth shut and told me not to meddle."
"I glanced at the rice shop again; the price of rice had gone up slightly, by three coins per dou (a unit of dry measure)..."
A slight increase in the price of rice meat is not unusual, but Tianxianglou's quiet stockpiling of rice meat is quite unusual.
Some families in the outer city of Black Swamp have intricate connections with the inner city, and some family members are even cultivators within the inner city. Their information network is far more extensive than that of ordinary people; they are the first to sense the coming autumn winds.
Large families secretly hoarding goods for speculation, much like rats and ants moving house, foreshadowing an earthquake.
Has something big happened in Black Swamp City?
Zhou Qiuyuan couldn't help but think of the shrinking of the city, an event that caused grain prices in the city to skyrocket and nearly two-thirds of the population in the outer city to die.
Black Swamp City's grain production is already limited. Once the major families hoard large quantities, the amount of grain on the market will decrease, inevitably causing prices to skyrocket. The same amount of money will buy less than half the original amount of grain.
I would rather trust it to have it than to trust it to have nothing.
"This information is very useful!" Zhou Qiuyuan nodded approvingly. "As long as it is verified, there will be a reward from above."
Gong Lei smiled broadly and quickly replied, "As long as it works..."
Zhou Qiuyuan obtained satisfactory information and pondered countermeasures as he walked back.
When food prices rise, ordinary people can only passively bear the consequences. If they don't stockpile food in advance, they can only suffer the negative impact of high food prices.
But if he got involved, he would also become a culprit in driving up grain prices... Zhou Qiuyuan quickly put this thought out of his mind.
His financial resources are limited, and how many people can he influence?
He hoarded food only to protect himself.
The real culprits are the large families who hoard goods and speculate on prices.
The courtyard houses had limited space and couldn't hold much grain.
Buying or renting a house or yard not only allows you to raise turkeys, but also to store rice and other grains for emergencies.
As Zhou Qiuyuan stepped into an alley, he heard Gong Lei's angry roar behind him: "Who are you? Why are you stalking someone like that?!"
After returning to Tianxiang Tower, Gong Lei unexpectedly noticed someone following behind the contact.
He had always suspected that the person who changed his fate was Zhou Qiuyuan, and now that he finally had a chance to repay the favor, he secretly followed him.
Gong Lei hadn't taken more than two steps when he was spotted. Faced with this person's sudden attack, he shouted with all his might, trying to warn Zhou Qiuyuan, who hadn't gone far.
Who?
Zhou Qiuyuan's expression changed drastically. He turned his head to look behind him, only to see complete darkness.
A gust of wind came from behind, but he dodged it at the last moment.
boom!
The dark shadow grazed past Zhou Qiuyuan's shoulder and crashed into the wall in the distance.
With the help of the dim light, Zhou Qiuyuan could vaguely see that the person lying in front of him was Gong Lei.
Gong Lei's neck slumped down, as if it had been violently snapped. He looked at Zhou Qiuyuan, blood and foam continuously flowing from his mouth, but he couldn't utter a sound.
However, we can deduce from his lip movements what he meant to say: "Brother Yuan, run!"
Zhou Qiuyuan took a deep breath and felt a chill run through his body. An indescribable anger rose from his chest.
If I hadn't come to Gong Lei today to obtain information, Gong Lei wouldn't have died because of my warning.
This is a dream of the future, where everything can start over.
Oh, that's alright then.
A figure emerged from the shadows, its face seemingly blending into the darkness, making its appearance indistinct; only a mocking voice could be heard.
"Kid, you've made quite a bit of money selling treasures at Huixianzhai, lend me some!"
Song Ming originally planned to find this person's residence, locate the hidden Nine Dragons Golden Pot, and then secretly kill him.
Unfortunately, the guys from Tianxianglou ruined his plans.
He could only pretend to be a robber to avoid the bad reputation of robbing customers' treasures and damaging Huixianzhai's reputation.
Zhou Qiuyuan's face darkened; he knew this person had come specifically for him. He secretly swallowed a Spirit-Burning Pill, having somehow produced one with his left hand.
The spicy flavor explodes in your mouth, then transforms into a scalding stream of air that rushes into your limbs and bones.
A tiny bit of lightning spiritual power was growing within his body. It was far more violent than the lightning spiritual power absorbed by the lightning spiritual roots of the Thunder Blade, like a wild horse running rampant within him.
Zhou Qiuyuan was already adept at dealing with out-of-control lightning spiritual power, gradually gaining control of it and quickly weaving it into a lightning net.
The amount of lightning spiritual power transformed from the Exploding Spirit Pill was enormous, far exceeding his control limit...
Suppressing his physical discomfort, Zhou Qiuyuan took out a hundred-tael gold note with his right hand and slowly approached the man. "I only have a hundred-tael gold note on me. I'll give you all the money. Would you please spare my life?"
As the two drew closer, Zhou Qiuyuan realized that the man was a middle-aged man with short, stubble-covered beard. His pupils had somehow turned golden, and his face was full of amusement.
"Exploding Spirit Pill, what's your relationship with the Fang family?"
As Zhou Qiuyuan handed over the hundred-tael gold note, he secretly accumulated thunderous spiritual power in his lungs to simulate a tiger's roar, which suddenly erupted into the sound of a thunderous tiger.
"roar!"
This was the first time Song Ming had encountered a sonic attack; the sudden thunderous sound caught him completely off guard.
The two were only two steps apart; the closer they were, the greater the destructive power of the tiger's roar and thunderous sound.
Song Ming's eyes went unfocused, and he froze on the spot.
The opportunity is coming!
Zhou Qiuyuan let the gold notes fall to the ground, then channeled the lightning spiritual power he had just acquired into his fist, which he then slammed into the man's throat.
Use their own methods against them!