The old man never could have dreamed in his wildest sleep that in this shipyard crawling with swindlers, someone had genuinely set up a stall with actual goods.
What was more, the assortment of goods on display was an all-encompassing mishmash—there was a bit of everything.
The old man pointed at a bright red item on the ground and said, "Unless my old eyes deceive me, is that a woman's dudou?"
Seeing this, Li Guanqi felt an immediate flash of embarrassment. He picked up the dudou, raised a hand toward the old man with a smile, and said, "How about I just give it to you, Old Sir?"
Hearing this, the old man straightened up with solemn decorum. Even as he insisted it would be far too improper to accept, he tucked the bright red dudou away. Bringing it beneath his nose, he took a deep sniff, an expression of sheer bliss spreading across his face.
In truth, Li Guanqi did not underestimate the old man in the slightest. To maintain a lasting foothold in a place crawling with dragons and snakes, the old codger was clearly no pushover.
After carefully stowing the dudou into his robes, the old man sat beside him and spoke with a beaming smile. "This old fellow's name is Miao Rongchang. Might I ask what to call you, young friend?"
Li Guanqi spouted off the top of his head, "Li Dahu. And my brothers: Li Erniu and Li Sangou."
At this, Cao Yan immediately gestured around his head to indicate he was Li Erniu.
As for Ye Feng, he tilted his head to play dumb, not saying a word and doing nothing but giggling like an idiot.
Looking over the wares in front of Li Guanqi, Miao Rongchang clicked his tongue in wonder. "I reckon your stall's goods are going to be snapped clean up in no time, young friend."
The envy in his eyes was completely undisguised.
Li Guanqi did not say much in reply. With a flip of his wrist, he produced three black robes and draped them on. Naturally, he had to help Ye Feng put his on.
Once draped in the black robe, Ye Feng wore a look of utter helplessness, relieved that he finally did not have to drool and act like a fool anymore. "Boss, can't we let Big Head do this job next time...?"
Cao Yan almost burst out laughing. He chose not to say anything, simply sitting cross-legged on the ground and focusing his mind in meditation. Being unable to cultivate for so many years made him relish every moment of the process.
As for Miao Rongchang, he could naturally tell these three were no ordinary folk, but in a chance encounter across the jianghu, neither side felt the need to point it out. The old man did not bother hiding his true nature either; after all, those in his line of work basically swindled and ran—good luck ever tracking them down.
Before long, quite a few people found spots to set up stalls. Seeing that the prime intersection spot was not occupied by the old man, they laughed and teased, "Yo, Old Miao didn't get here early enough today, eh? Didn't even manage to snag the spot!"
Miao Rongchang immediately snapped back, "Shoo, shoo! The lad and I hit it off, so I let him have it for a day."
Hearing this, Li Guanqi merely smiled without speaking, his mind churning with unspoken calculations. Although he was interested in that broken jade pendant, he had not spared it a single glance from beginning to end. When buying something, you could never let on what you actually wanted—a principle he understood all too well.
And just like that, cloud boats soon began docking one after another along the rim of the high mountain. The cloud boats here followed virtually identical routes, all heading toward the Eastern Domain, varying only in distance.
Soon, the previously quiet shipyard saw streams of cultivators arriving through the air. Some hurried straight for the cloud boats, but even more were willing to pause, stroll around, and browse.
The moment Miao Rongchang saw the crowd arriving, he immediately began hawking his wares at the top of his lungs. Shards of thousand-year spiritual treasures, century-old spirit herbs, five-hundred-year medicinal pills... In short, whatever sounded most intimidating, he yelled it out.
Beside him, Li Guanqi was thoroughly astounded. He never imagined that a pile of ordinary broken tiles and rubbish could be painted into something else entirely through the old man's mouth.
Drawn by his shouting, many passersby crowded over to take a look, but the more they looked, the more they realized something was amiss. This damn junk had nothing in common with what the old man was claiming!
However, because of the old man's zealous hawking, many people ended up noticing Li Guanqi's stall as well.
Three black-robed figures sat behind the stall, neither speaking nor hawking. A multitude of items shimmering with spiritual light were laid out casually across the cloth. Their nonchalant demeanor paired with an elusive, faint aura of pressure immediately lent them substantial credibility in the eyes of onlookers.
The people originally gathered around the old man turned away one after another and flocked to Li Guanqi's stall.
Yet, just as the crowd was browsing the wares, Li Guanqi's eyes snapped open beneath his black robe!!
Clang!!!
A black iron sword as ordinary as could be shot out from behind him with a resonant hum!
The sword was blindingly fast, plunging straight down from midair to pin a retreating hand firmly to the ground!
"Ahhh!!!"
This scene startled the cultivators browsing the goods.
More and more onlookers gathered, many shocked by the black-robed figure's methods! Such a display of sword control technique was not something just anyone could pull off.
A rat-faced fellow screamed in agony, blood pouring from his right hand. "Ah!! Ow!! It hurts!!"
"Let me go!!! Do you have any damn idea who I am?!"
Li Guanqi rose slowly, his face completely concealed beneath the black robe. He tossed down a dagger and spoke in a disguised, raspy, chilled voice. "No matter who you are, we follow the rules of the trade.
"Cut it yourself, or do I do it?"
The man shuddered, a trace of panic finally creeping into his eyes as he looked up at Li Guanqi. In the end, he gritted his teeth, reached out to pick up the dagger from the ground, and viciously severed the pinky finger of his right hand!
Clutching his right hand, the man gave Li Guanqi a deep, meaningful look, then bowed slightly before darting through the crowd and disappearing in a few flashes.
The reason Li Guanqi handled it this way was already giving plenty of face to the backing behind the shipyard's pickpockets. If he had stepped in and chopped off the man's entire hand himself, it wouldn't have broken the rules either, but it would have trampled the face of whoever stood behind him. Li Guanqi did not want to invite unnecessary trouble, but an example still had to be set!
Li Guanqi raised his foot, crushed the severed finger on the ground, kicked the remains aside, and turned around, his voice cold. "Ask the price if you want to buy. Move along if you don't. No bargaining."
Li Guanqi did not notice that Cao Yan's eyes were shining with brilliance, as though filled with light. Cao Yan murmured to Ye Feng beside him, "Eldest Brother... is so cool!"
Ye Feng bared his teeth and replied via voice transmission, "What's this? When Boss slaughtered Ziyang Palace all by himself, that was truly cool!"
Cao Yan's eyes went wide, and he said in shock, "Could it be... that person whose name spread across the entire Northern Region...?"
"Yeah, that's right. It was Boss."
Cao Yan murmured softly, "Great Xia Sword Sect... Li Guanqi!"
"You've actually heard of him?"
"Yeah! This matter spread far and wide. After all, Boss is very likely to make it onto this term's Core Formation Prodigy Ranking!" Cao Yan said with utter seriousness.
At those words, Ye Feng quickly leaned in close to him and transmitted in a low voice, "What's the Core Formation Prodigy Ranking? How come I've never heard of it?"
Cao Yan looked at the two of them with a hint of surprise, clearly feeling that they should have known about something like this long ago. Out roaming the jianghu, yet the two of them knew remarkably little about its affairs.
Chapter 205