PDLP Chapter 132 Forced Buying and Selling
Chapter 132 Forced Buying and Selling
The group merged into the flow of people and entered the village.
At the village entrance, two elderly martial arts masters dressed in servant's short clothes checked the invitations in everyone's hands, and let them pass after confirming that they were correct.
Once inside the village, servants would guide you every few dozen feet along the way.
Judging by the direction, it's heading straight for the center of the village.
Yang Silang rode on Daqing's back and looked around. He saw that there were only buildings in the village, and apart from them, there were no original residents.
The village is only average, with many fenced courtyards and thatched houses, few wooden houses, and brick and tile houses are even rarer. There are a few courtyards built of stones, which should be the residences of the village's wealthy farmers.
The village appears to have suffered an accident.
Some courtyard walls have collapsed, as if they were smashed open by large wild beasts; some wooden doors still have deep claw marks, narrow and deep, and brown bloodstains on the wood.
Yang Silang made his own guess.
The opening of the secret realm and the passageway may not necessarily mean that humans will go in to explore first; it's possible that the creatures within the secret realm will come out and wreak havoc first. This village seems to be the latter.
As for the survivors...
If so, since the four great families want to occupy this secret realm, they should naturally relocate all irrelevant people; otherwise, the nearby farmland would not have been abandoned as a result.
As the group continued onward, before they even reached the center of the village, they spotted a fortress-like building in that direction.
This place must have been cleared out by the powerful families beforehand.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the fortress had a circular blue brick wall about ten feet high, which was completely out of place with the style of the village. It was topped with parapets and arrow towers.
Soldiers in armor are now patrolling.
Yang Silang glanced at them and noticed that the soldiers' helmet plumes were different colors, divided into yellow, white, red and black. A dozen soldiers with the same colored plumes were lined up in a row, carrying guns and swords. They were all tall, with ruddy complexions, and wearing real iron armor, not leather armor.
He figured these were probably the private soldiers of the four great families: Huang, Bai, Zhu, and Wu.
Only by eating well can one grow strong and tall, and each of them looks like they have practiced martial arts. They are probably even more elite than the government troops. Just look at the envious look in Yan Nanxing's eyes.
As expected, powerful families possess considerable strength.
However, judging from the fact that the Great Shun Dynasty openly maintains private armies, it is likely that the dynasty has almost no control over these aristocratic families. In the event of a turbulent era, these aristocratic families may become a force that determines the course of the world.
The group rode their horses through the city gate.
Once inside, a wide-open space opened up before them, with a small, square house standing alone in the center, no more than a dozen steps long and wide, built of bluestone. This house was extremely tall, at least ten and a half feet high.
On the wall facing everyone, two heavy, tall iron doors had been opened, and an old martial arts master servant stood beside them.
There is only one entrance, and there are no windows in the wall.
The house was surrounded by a dense array of barricades, their sharp edges pointing inwards.
Those who came to attend the meeting lined up in front and rode their horses into the room one by one. The iron gate was high enough that people could enter without even dismounting.
There were no soldiers or servants from wealthy families managing the order around the house.
Many people, including Yan Pei and Jin Yang, rode their horses around the house to take a look.
Yang Silang was surprised to find that this room had only one door on all four walls, and no windows. If the iron door were sealed off from the outside, it would be almost a prison—no, even worse than a prison, since at least a prison has windows.
Also.
Yang Silang observed.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, dozens of people had entered from both the front and back.
This house doesn't look very big from the outside, so how can it fit so many people inside?
Unless, this is the entrance to the secret realm.
The four great families built fortresses here, not to defend against foreign invasion, but mainly to prevent the ferocious creatures in the secret realm from escaping.
It seems this secret realm is not peaceful. It is indeed an unexplored secret realm, but precisely because of this, entering now may yield the greatest rewards.
But the four great families didn't lose out either.
Their plan was undoubtedly to leverage the power of the provincial capital's younger generation of elites to explore the secret realm, after all, they had come a long way...
Yang Silang looked back again.
At the foot of the fortress walls, dozens of houses and stables were found, which were probably for the soldiers stationed there. There were at least several hundred soldiers stationed here.
It seems there are quite a few risks in the secret realm, but fortune favors the bold. If you really encounter danger, all you have to do is run faster than others.
Yang Silang looked down at the large blue beast between his legs and immediately felt much safer.
soon.
After a long queue, it was everyone's turn.
The old martial arts master servant guarding the door advised that because the room was too small, only groups of four people and four horses could enter.
We're close enough that we can already see a faint green light emanating from the house.
Jin Xiangyu and Yan Nanxing went in first.
Next was Sun Shiwei, and right behind him was Yang Silang. He turned his head and saw Ye Liuyun staring longingly, so he simply turned his donkey around and made way for him.
"Brother Ye, please go ahead. I need to have a few words with Brother Pei."
Yan, Sun, and Ye were all originally from the General's camp and were skilled at working together. Moreover, Sun and Ye certainly wouldn't want to be separated. Yang Silang was still more familiar with Pei Zhuangbai and the other two.
Ye Liuyun was overjoyed. He tried to suppress his smile, but his feet were very honest. He lightly tapped the spurs and followed.
Thus, Yang Silang, Pei Buqi, Zhuang Sheng, and Bai Lang entered in the next round, the four of them and their four riders almost filling the room to capacity.
Inside the room, an old martial arts master's servant stood with his hands at his sides. Behind him should have been a thick stone wall, but there was a pale green, irregularly shaped oval hole in the wall, which was emitting light.
After watching for a few moments, Yang Silang felt that the green halo in the cave was slowly rotating, making people dizzy.
The old martial arts master bowed, extended his hand, and said something.
Pei Buqi spurred his horse forward and disappeared into the green circular cave. Yang Silang patted Daqing's head, and Daqing leaped forward, also disappearing from the world.
The world seemed to spin and turn, as if a long time had passed, yet it also seemed like only a moment or two!
Yang Silang's eyes lit up.
He appeared on a large blue horse in an open square, where there were about thirty or forty riders.
All around were the restless neighing of warhorses, and some were even running wildly, which their owners could not control no matter how hard they tried.
The warhorses were trained to be superior horses, capable of going to the battlefield, fearless of bloody battles, unafraid of sharp neighing, and even trampling on Pei Buqi on Yang Silang's left and Zhuang Bai on his right. The warhorses under Yang Silang would panic and jump, and it took the three of them a lot of effort to calm the horses down.
Daqing, on the other hand, remained calm as he watched the panicked reactions of the horses around him, a hint of mockery even appearing in his eyes.
Although we all eat from the same manger, you are just mounts, while we are demon riders!
You carry ordinary people, we carry great power!
How can you compare to me?
Snapped!
Yang Silang looked around.
Upon discovering the core members of the Huang and Wu families, Huang Shouren and Wu Shuying calmly rode their respective strange beasts in the center of the arena, each followed by four or five people.
Strangely, I didn't see Yan Jinsun and Li, who had come in earlier.
Yang Silang looked at the messy horses around him and slapped the big green head.
His intention was to praise the donkey for its calm and composed demeanor, which he described as that of a great general.
Little did Daqing know that it misunderstood Yang Silang's meaning, thinking that its master wanted it to show its face and overpower all the other mounts.
Then it let out a long hooves and galloped happily around the field, kicking up thick smoke. All the people could see was a green shadow quickly circling the field, which attracted countless eyes.
After Yang Silang finally managed to get Daqing to stand still.
Pei Zhuangbai and the other two had already calmed their horses and rode over to comfort him.
"Brother Yang, your medicine probably only cured his body; this donkey seems to be mentally ill too."
"It runs pretty fast, but it's unpredictable. Look, it's even baring its teeth at me. This... I'm afraid it might be dangerous?"
"It is, after all, a demonic donkey. Although Brother Yang saved it, I'm afraid he hasn't completely tamed it."
Daqing was unconvinced and bared his teeth, trying to throw a punch.
Yang Silang hurriedly slapped it hard on the head to stop it from causing any more trouble, and spent some time persuading the three of them to believe that what had just happened was just an isolated incident.
The four people were talking.
Then several riders charged towards them.
The young man at the front wore a long-feathered golden crown, had a face as white as jade, wore bright silver armor, carried a long-handled serrated knife, and rode a black steed. He was very handsome and spirited, and the horse also had a strong demonic aura, so it was actually a demonic beast.
Yang Silang noticed that the long sword in his hand seemed similar to the one used by Pei Buqi, and wondered if he was a member of the Pei family.
This man looked very young. He rode up on horseback, his eyes fixed on Da Qing with great delight. He then turned to look at the group, his gaze sweeping over Yang Silang. When he saw Pei Buqi, his eyes lit up.
"Bu Qi, is this your friend?"
He looked almost a decade younger than Pei Buqi, but his tone was very loud.
Pei Buqi hurriedly dismounted and bowed.
"Greetings, Fourth Young Master..."
Yang Silang's heart skipped a beat. This guy was from the Pei family. This was bad news. Had he taken a fancy to Daqing?
The fourth young master clapped his hands and laughed.
"Alright, since you're my friend, I'll give you face."
He casually pointed to Da Qing's crotch.
"I'll offer a hundred gold pieces for one item from this monster."
"Recently, I have been practicing the Six Yang Palm and trying to break through to the Mercury Blood Realm. I am only one step away from it, but I lack an extremely yang substance as a medicinal guide."
"This donkey is so-so, but it's to my liking, and I can use it to some extent."
Upon hearing this, Daqing immediately felt his whole body bristle.
On one hand, it tucked its legs and tail in to protect itself tightly, and on the other hand, it was about to bare its teeth at the Fourth Prince. Yang Silang hurriedly grabbed its neck to prevent it from rioting.
"this……"
Pei Buqi dared not agree, and hesitated as he looked at Yang Silang, his eyelids blinking slightly, his face stern.
Yang Silang knew that this fourth young master was probably not easy to deal with—what kind of decent person could offer a hundred taels of gold to buy Daqing's special talent?
Daqing is a demon. If he really wanted to sell that special skill, it would be normal for him to sell it for seven or eight hundred gold coins.
This guy is maliciously driving down the price and forcing me to buy!
He cupped his hands and said earnestly.
"Fourth Young Master, this donkey is lewd and unrestrained. He was seriously ill and almost died, but was just saved."
"Everyone knows about this."
"Don't let its imposing appearance fool you; it's actually quite frail!"
"Using it as a medicinal ingredient might ruin the Fourth Young Master's important plans!"