By the time Min Tianxi stood before He Lingchuan, his mind was still replaying the earlier card game.
"What were you doing just now?"
Min Tianxi pressed his hands respectfully against the seams of his trousers. "Just eating, drinking, and having fun with the brothers, Boss."
They had indeed been drinking wine and eating meat while playing cards.
He Lingchuan could naturally tell he had been drinking, and he smiled faintly. "Gambling to kill time is harmless enough, but remember, no general remains undefeated forever at the gaming table. A man who leads troops must learn self-restraint in solitude, guard his mind, and maintain a clear nature."
So the boss was well aware of his every move. A chill went through Min Tianxi, and he hurried to reply, "Understood!"
Around here, gambling was also called "playing for money."
"How is the recruitment for the guards coming along?" Sitting upon an enterprise as vast as the Yangshan Archipelago, He Lingchuan naturally needed to foster his own military strength and make early plans for the future.
"We recruited three hundred and seventy able-bodied men from Blade Harbor and Bailie, and the brothers brought in another one hundred and eighty relatives and friends from their hometowns. On top of that, among the laborers who came to farm the islands, more than seventeen hundred actually signed up for the guards! But they come in all ages—there's even a sixty-year-old geezer insisting on enlisting, claiming he was a soldier before and has experience." Min Tianxi scratched his head. "Added to our original six hundred and ten or so men, that makes exactly two thousand eight hundred and sixty in total."
"Qiu Da said the trials are tomorrow; only those who pass will be kept." 'Qiu Da' was Qiu Hu, which was how everyone in the guards addressed him nowadays.
Was that a lot? He Lingchuan wasn't surprised in the least. If the migrant laborers drawn to the Yangshan Archipelago could be tempted by the wages of farming and harvesting palm oil, they would be even more enticed by the guard's higher pay—which was more than double the former.
Since they were already on the islands and would be working under the sun and wind regardless, they figured they might as well try their luck with the guards; if they passed, they would earn top coin. Such was the mindset of most farmhands, which explained why even old men wanted to give it a shot.
This was also why He Lingchuan had recruited laborers to the islands in such large numbers: the source for recruits was naturally prime working-age men, and the more, the better.
Selecting recruits required standards, testing physical strength, endurance, speed, and courage. Having served as supreme commander of the Yuheng Army for the better part of a year, He Lingchuan was already well-versed in choosing and training soldiers.
If they strictly followed He Lingchuan's standards, the first batch of elites would have to be the best of the best, and out of those seventeen hundred applicants, keeping four hundred would already be doing well. But the Yangshan Archipelago was currently starved for armed forces, so standards inevitably had to be relaxed.
Most of the time, one had to bow to reality.
This task would be overseen by Qiu Hu going forward, and He Lingchuan had already imparted some of his experience to him. For now, he had more important business to attend to.
"Have you ever been to Platinum Island's ghost market?"
An island named after platinum—how intriguing.
"I've been five or six times, bought and sold things there." Min Tianxi had gradually figured out He Lingchuan's temperament; this boss preferred concise, efficient reports without veiled insinuations. Whatever he asked, answering plainly was the right way to go. "It's a lawless place, a prime spot to fence stolen goods. It gathers buyers from all over the world and all kinds of fine goods of dubious origin. When we have loot that's hard to move in the open, we like to take it there to sell."
"Whose territory is it?"
"On the surface, Platinum Island is a no-man's-land beyond anyone's control, but in truth, the Taihang Sect has the greatest sway."
The Taihang Sect? "How far is it from here?"
"With favorable winds, about two and a half to three days by ship."
"Go ready a ship." He Lingchuan glanced down at the letter on his desk. "We're making a trip to Platinum Island."
"Ah? Right away!" Min Tianxi turned and went to make sailing preparations.
***
Glittering waters, dense jungle, silent reefs, soaring gulls and egrets, and, of course, the unending roar of the surf.
After staying long enough, one realized island scenery was much the same everywhere.
To the east of the Yangshan Archipelago lay several other chains of islands, numbering in the hundreds altogether. Platinum Island was merely one among them.
Yet its local business was unique.
It belonged to no single power—or rather, dozens of factions coexisted across these archipelagos, creating a peculiar ecosystem far freer than any free port. With limited land area and relatively narrow waterways, large-scale shipping was out of the question, but opening gambling dens, running black markets, and conducting all manner of strange enterprises suited it perfectly.
It was a veritable outlaw sanctuary where outsiders had no chance of muscling in.
Thanks to fair winds the entire way, He Lingchuan's ship reached its destination in just two days, faster than originally planned.
The waterways around these islands were even more intricate than those of the Yangshan Archipelago. Punting a boat between them was like navigating a city's dark back alleys; without a local guide, one was certain to get lost.
Min Tianxi counted as half a local. He led He Lingchuan and Dong Rui ashore at the Platinum Island dock, finding it resembled an ordinary harbor:
Fishing boats were unloading cargo at the piers, seagulls squawked and fought boatmen for scraps, and tavern hands swatted flies by open windows.
Yet deeper inside, the stone-paved streets were spotless, and the buildings lining both sides were neatly maintained. Dong Rui was somewhat surprised. "This place looks fairly decent, doesn't it?"
He had assumed that since Platinum Island was a lawless enclave, it would be chaotic, filthy, and rough-and-tumble. But looking at it now, it seemed brighter and cleaner than most ordinary towns, and no fierce-eyed ruffians were glaring holes into them.
Even in the rural corners of Beijia, where wasn't there dust flying everywhere?
Taverns and inns lined the streets, seeming to cater to every kind of trade, but He Lingchuan quickly noticed pawnshops at street corners and "materials shops" tucked away at the ends of alleys. These two types of storefronts flourished all over Platinum Island.
Everyone knew what a pawnshop did. But what about a materials shop?
Min Tianxi explained at once, "Those materials shops all take in goods. If you've got valuable merchandise, you can bring it in for them to inspect, and they'll give you an appraisal. If you find the price fair, the deal is done."
Dong Rui immediately asked, "And if you can't agree on a price, and the shopkeeper gets greedy and decides to murder you for your treasure?"
"If you make it out of the shop alive, you can take your grievance to the Taihang Sect, and they'll see justice done." Min Tianxi chuckled. "Ahem, just a joke. Buying and selling here is generally safe; otherwise, if an incident happened once or twice, nobody would dare come anymore."
No matter how lawless a place was, so long as people lived there, order would gradually emerge from chaos.
"It seems the Taihang Sect manages this place quite well, though it's a bit too quiet." Platinum Island was by no means small, yet everywhere was serene, with few pedestrians on the streets.
Walking along the thoroughfare, the three could even hear birds warbling melodiously in the trees.
"Since it's called a 'ghost market,' business naturally only kicks off in earnest after dark." Min Tianxi pointed east. "Where we came ashore, there's a Cape Tower perched on the eastern cliff; you can see it from right here. Once it lights a lamp, the ghost market opens. If it lights two lamps, there's an auction that night."
He Lingchuan, however, had not rushed to Platinum Island to gawk at the ghost market; he had come to find someone.
Min Tianxi led the two through a maze of streets and alleys, venturing deeper into Platinum Island.
Foot traffic grew sparser, while the buildings grew taller and grander, taking on the imposing air of vast walled estates. Min Tianxi was less familiar with this area and had to ask for directions twice before finally bringing He Lingchuan to their journey's destination:
Old Bai Materials Shop.
Compared to the sprawling compound beside it, its storefront was rather modest. When they had asked passersby earlier, everyone had pointed straight here, and one person had even said, *You can't miss it; there isn't a second Old Bai Materials Shop on the whole island.*
Still, it looked far too ordinary. Min Tianxi looked up several times before saying, "This should be it."
He Lingchuan stepped inside. A wind chime above the entrance chimed softly, and the clerk behind the counter looked up.
"Welcome, esteemed guests! How may I help you?"
The place looked like a secondhand junk shop. Most of the displayed wares were dusty and unremarkable, possessing neither elegance nor distinction.
Yet there was one item on the shelves that caught He Lingchuan's eye the instant his gaze swept past it, freezing him in place.
A short stub of a candle, pale platinum in color.
Wasn't that something from the Heavenly Palace?
Normally, such candles were either displayed in Zhaixing Tower or found in the hands of lamp wardens and acolytes. He Lingchuan had never expected to lay eyes on one inside a secondhand shop.
Could it be a counterfeit?
He pointed at the half-stub of a candle. "May I take a look at that?"
"Certainly." The clerk took down the candle and set it on the counter. "Please, have a look."
Standing before the counter, He Lingchuan examined the candle stub under the wall lamps. Though coated in a layer of dust, its texture and the faint fluctuations pulsing from within proved beyond doubt that it was no fake.
"Do you sell this as well? How much?"
The clerk smiled. "Since you know what it is, sir, you must also know it doesn't come cheap." With that, he held up three fingers. "This much."
Goods from the Heavenly Palace truly were exorbitant—even a broken stub of a candle commanded such a steep price.
Dong Rui couldn't help chiming in, "Isn't there any risk in buying this and taking it back?"
The clerk had his well-rehearsed pitch ready. "Risk is entirely relative. Once you buy it, just don't go flaunting it around, and trouble won't come knocking on its own."
*When you buy goods from a black shop, do you really expect a no-questions-asked refund policy?*
He Lingchuan smiled, returned the candle, and retrieved a letter from his robe, laying it flat on the counter. "Someone arranged to meet me here."
The moment the clerk saw the wax seal on the envelope, he said at once, "Please, follow me."
Leaving Min Tianxi behind in the shop, He Lingchuan and Dong Rui followed him inside.
After passing through a long winding corridor and taking several turns, He Lingchuan reckoned they had crossed into the expansive compound next door.
The garden aesthetics here looked familiar no matter how he looked at them.
Three men approached from ahead, chatting as they walked.
One of them looked up and spotted He Lingchuan. First startled, he broke into immediate delight. "Brother He, you're finally here!" Turning to the two beside him, he said, "Gentlemen, an honored guest has arrived, so I won't see you out."
The two clasped their fists. "Brother Songyuan, please tend to your affairs. We shall take our leave!"
As they brushed past He Lingchuan, they nodded in polite greeting, and He Lingchuan returned a smile.
Once their figures had disappeared, the remaining man looked He Lingchuan up and down, clucking his tongue twice. "In one piece, head to toe. Impressive."
He Lingchuan's gaze fixed on the signet ring on the man's left hand. "Mr. Fang may have put on a new face, but you're glowing with vitality. It seems you've lived quite well this past year."
The two clasped each other's arms and burst into hearty laughter, thoroughly delighted.
The person He Lingchuan had traveled all the way to Platinum Island to meet was none other than Fang Canran.
The two chief culprits who had wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace and thrown Lingxu City into turmoil had finally reunited after an entire year!
Chapter 951