noveltune Chapter 6: Prisoner
Chapter 6: Prisoner
No matter how powerful the Great Zhao is now, even with extraordinary military force maintaining order, there will always be dark places where the light cannot reach.
Dirt and decay are the dominant colors of the outer counties. The inner counties and even the future prefectural city, those places of extravagance and debauchery, are at least beyond Fu Que's reach now.
Fu Que held a piece of rough paper in his hand, with simple strokes outlining a location among the rows of sheds in front of him.
The toilet paper was given by a newly reorganized gang in Gaoyang County. The reason it was reorganized was that Fu Que killed the prison chiefs of several small gangs and then used force to combine the three small gangs together.
Everyone makes mistakes, and as a reserve Tiger Cavalryman, even with Hu Liangyu's backing, he couldn't keep going through the case files in the Tiger's Den.
Therefore, he chose to subdue a few small gangs as his eyes and ears.
With the county magistrate turning a blind eye and the Dragon Cavalry collectively going blind, the inner counties were still alright, but the outer counties of Gaoyang County had almost completely fallen and become playgrounds for wealthy families and gangs.
"What time is it now?"
Fu Que asked his subordinates, who were in charge of gathering intelligence and sweeping the floor, that it was almost time to begin today's work.
"The third quarter of the hour of Yin."
The man holding the dagger answered.
"That's about it. I have to report to the tiger's den tomorrow, so I need to go back early. After we finish this batch of goods, we'll hand it over to the black market people at the usual place tomorrow night. You can negotiate the price yourselves; I won't interfere. Thirty percent."
Fu Que shook out his raincoat, revealing a simple martial arts uniform, all in black.
Because it was an illegal business involving double-crossing, there was a certain risk of identity exposure, so he wasn't wearing the Tiger Rider's Wind Chaser set.
Tomorrow I think it's a standing meditation class or something, and in the evening we have to go to the quiet room at Tiger's Den to sit cross-legged and practice breathing exercises. The cost for a regular quiet room seems to be one qian of silver per hour.
"Brother Fu, the Imperial Guards aren't very prestigious, they're dangerous and poorly paid. You're good enough to pass the martial arts exam, so it's fine if you don't report for duty. Once we've finished our business, let's go have some fun in Nei County."
After spending the past two weeks together, the man with the short sword guessed that this person was not as simple as a prospective Tiger Rider. On the surface, he was just a guy who had just broken through the Bone Gate, but in reality, he had hidden his strength in some way.
Those who failed to break through the blood barrier were usually dismembered in one fell swoop, which was incredibly brutal.
In the Great Zhao Dynasty, where scholars were poor but martial arts were abundant, learning martial arts was a considerable expense.
The man with the short sword was originally a high-ranking member of a gang that collected protection money. Fu Que crippled several of the gang's thugs who collected protection money. The gang leader, who had failed to break through the Blood Barrier, led the man with the short sword to seek revenge, but the gang leader was directly killed by Fu Que.
There is no loyalty or righteousness in this line of work. Whoever is stronger, whoever can earn more money, is the one who gets the most prison time.
In this world where might makes right, if Fu Que wants to achieve something, he must control the interest groups himself; otherwise, killing more people is just killing people and cannot maintain order.
Just like the previous dynasty, the Heavenly Army, blessed by good fortune, almost swept everything, but was still beaten into a state of idiocy by the current Emperor Wu Hong.
However, Emperor Wu Hong, who turned the tide and possessed extraordinary personal martial prowess, still managed to establish the Great Zhao Dynasty.
Driven by a desire to gather intelligence and a sense of responsibility that comes with great power, Fu Que took over the protection money gang and became its leader.
Besides collecting protection money, they also run other businesses, such as smuggling goods from wealthy people in the county and then selling them to the black market.
The man with the short sword knew that Fu Que was no ordinary leader; he was so young and his strength was unfathomable. He was bound to enter the martial arts academy and drink wine with heroes from all over the world.
With his abilities, there's nothing the tiger's den in Gaoyang County can teach him; he can just report to the authorities.
"Now that the system has changed, people have to change too. The national fortune is so strictly controlled. If you don't get into the system, you can't play DaZhao Online at all."
In order to exercise the imperial power of acting first and reporting later, and also to facilitate the use of the national destiny aura to enhance the abilities of the alternate painters.
To avoid becoming a Khorne champion who only knows how to kill, Fu Que had no choice but to stay in the Tiger Cavalry.
"Rules are made by people. As long as you, Brother Fu, demonstrate your abilities, won't the tiger's den in Gaoyang County just let people use the back door for their own political achievements?"
The man with the short sword really couldn't understand why a martial arts genius like Fu Que would need to play dumb to deceive others in such a tiny place as Gaoyang County.
Fu Que remained silent. The values he had cultivated in the peaceful era of his previous life were vastly different from those of these people who lived on the edge of death, with no tomorrow in sight.
The current abilities of the alternate painter are only just beginning, and the scroll swordsman's state is only at the level of a beginner martial artist.
Even martial artists who haven't opened their Qi Sea can use the Reality Mirror combined with basic paintings and sketches to cheat and kill, and can also escape from martial artists who have just entered the Qi Refining Realm.
However, when faced with a ruthless person like Hu Liangyu, Fu Que basically had no ability to fight back.
Although Fu Que believed he had become familiar with the sword technique by copying sketches over the past two days, he was still not confident that he could hold out against Hu Liangyu for long.
Although the ability of the alternate painter is extraordinary, it has only just been awakened, and he must proceed with caution step by step.
Although the original owner's parents had both died, fortunately, he had an uncle who treated him like his own son and who also had a certain amount of power and status.
Fu Que did not face an imminent crisis, and implementing the nine-character strategy of "building high walls, storing up grain, and delaying the declaration of kingship" was the best choice.
At this moment, a silver-patterned copper coin felt slightly warm to the touch on my wrist.
Fu Que gestured, instructing his men to disperse according to the plan. He would infiltrate and eliminate the most ruthless individuals from both sides of the transaction, leaving the remaining henchmen to be dealt with.
Immediately, the Reality View is activated, and in a world of simple black and white line drawings, one silently approaches the marked location on a crude paper map.
The fish processing workshop was located on the edge of the outer city and next to the only river in Gaoyang County, making it even more chaotic and disorderly than the black market.
On both sides of the narrow alley, each shack was tightly closed, and the inside was pitch black.
Apart from the occasional beggar rummaging through the sewage ditches for food scraps, uttering a few low whimpers, the endless rows of shacks were completely silent, like a ghostly realm.
The air was filled with the stench of dead fish, putrefaction, and excrement, and occasionally fragments of something could be seen rotting in the corners.
In a place like this, the death of a person is no more surprising than the death of a rat.
Fu Que lay lurking in the shadows of the eaves, scanning the narrow alleyway below formed by black and white lines.
Needless to say, the subordinate who had dropped out of prenatal education lost track of the person, but fortunately, he wasn't discovered.
The copper coin signaled not to inform Fu Que, but to say that he had lost track of the person.
Fu Que was too lazy to argue with them. He only needed a general area to deal with them. He could even track down and kill the Golden Toad and the Treasure-Seeking Rat that had been enlightened by the God of Wealth, let alone a few smugglers.
Suddenly, he noticed something unusual.
Four figures emerged from the alleyway, walking hurriedly. One of them had a slightly clearer outline, while the other three were only slightly better than stick figures.
Each of them carried a package on their shoulder, their expressions were wary, and even as they hurried along, they did not forget to keep watch around.