Du Kang and Qing Dai each held an umbrella and walked on the bluestone path of Tongqufang in Canglan City. This was a path along the river. Pedestrians were hurrying in the rain on the road. There were many people on the two-foot-wide river next to them.
The boat was sailing in the rain.
At the docks and warehouses built along the river, you can see many laborers wearing raincoats carrying and unloading bags of rice in the rain, providing the necessities for the operation of this vibrant city.
Even if there are few pedestrians on rainy days, all the shops on both sides of the river are open, including restaurants, restaurants, inns, medicine shops, pawn shops, tea shops, and gold and silver jewelry shops.
There were beggars huddled under the long eaves of the shop to take shelter from the rain, but they were chased away by the waiters for fear that they would affect their shop's business.
There were well-dressed ladies going in and out of jewelry, gouache, and cloth shops, choosing what they wanted to wear.
In the restaurant, there were only a few well-dressed guests sitting there, and a singer hired by the restaurant was playing the piano and singing softly, but in such weather, even the cheerful tune seemed sparse.
The teahouse was filled with thinly dressed coolies. A few people could sit around for a day just by ordering a pot of bad tea that cost two pennies. They looked at the dense ripples caused by the drizzle falling on the river, with sad eyes, as if they were worrying about today's future.
livelihood.
Looking into the distance, not far away is the towering city wall, which tightly encircles Tongqufang and separates it from other city areas. From time to time, patrolling demon soldiers of the Sheng family and the bones of the Bai family can be seen on the broad wall.
Demon soldiers came and went with guns and swords.
Du Kang took in all the sights he saw along the way, and secretly thought about his plan for territorial management after he became stronger, and how to spread the faith of calligraphers.
No matter how huge the cities in this world are, they are far from being comparable to the reinforced concrete forests of the previous life. A city like Canglan City with a population of one million was only the population size of an ordinary prefecture-level city in the previous life.
But the consequence of not having dozens of floors of high-rise buildings to save construction land is that the city is spread out like a pie, occupying nearly 10,000 hectares of huge land.
Although we have magic in this world, the power of magic is not cheap enough to be integrated into the production and life of ordinary people. Most of the mortals living in Canglan City rely entirely on water transportation and animal transportation for their huge daily material consumption.
Even manual transportation.
Among them, several waterways introduced from the Canglan River, as well as many tributaries drawn out from these waterways, formed a dense water network that covered almost the entire city, and shouldered 80% of the material transport burden.
If you want to build a big city, under the productivity of this classical society, water transportation is always the most suitable choice.
As for the spread of faith.
The poor at the bottom are constantly running around and can only afford three meals a day. They naturally desire power and wealth, and dream of having the power to change this situation;
People who have a certain amount of wealth want to control more wealth and gain a certain amount of power to trample more people under their feet;
A wealthy girl who has no fingers in the aphrodisiac wants a beautiful face and a husband with good looks and financial resources;
Swordsmen who lick blood with their swords in the world want to live longer than others and have stronger power to stand out;
…
There are too many, too many. When Du Kang walks on the street and looks around, he can feel the dissatisfaction with reality roaring in everyone's heart. These can be turned into material and resonate with the audience in the communication of stories.
This world is really great. Darkness, cruelty, and pain are happening all the time. The reality of despair is the most fertile soil and source of inspiration for creation. After Du Kang sows the seeds, only in this kind of land can he
Only then can he grow fruits that satisfy him.
A person's creativity is limited, and the stories he has heard and read in his previous life will eventually run out.
But before that day comes, Du Kang must already have a large number of true believers in this world. They will take over the pen and continue to create, and the excellent chapters will also be included in Du Kang's own books to serve as his immortal life.
Add bricks and mortar.
"Sir, here we are, this is the family."
The voice of Qingdai came from behind, interrupting Du Kang's meditation. He turned to look at the shops around him.
This is a small shop on the street, with blue bricks and black tiles, and a small front. Whether it is the mottled corners covered with moss, the severely worn threshold, or the plaque that has become dull due to age, it all shows that this is an old shop.
shop.
"Gui Ling Pawn Shop. What a good name. As the saying goes, "Gui Ling Pawn Shop" means that the owner of your shop must be a long-lived person."
Du Kang glanced at the name on the shop plaque, walked straight into the small street shop, and asked the shopkeeper who was holding an agate on the counter to take a closer look.
When he heard that there was a visitor, the shopkeeper, who had a half-bald head but still stubbornly supported the central hairstyle with his surroundings, put down the agate in his hand, glanced at Du Kang and the indigo behind him and said impatiently.
"You're here again. I've told you a long time ago that our store is a small shop and we have never received any Kunlun jade from anyone pawning it. You'd better look elsewhere."
In Du Kang's eyes, although this pawn shop mixed in a row of mortal shops looks unremarkable, the shopkeeper is full of aura and is a mid-level expert. Therefore, he did not panic when he saw a monk coming to the door, but hurried out as soon as he opened his mouth.
people.
"Don't refuse the store. The so-called pawn is, after all, a business that makes money. If there is a price issue, we can discuss it easily."
Du Kang had already known from Qingdai the attitude of the pawnshop towards those who redeemed Kunlun jade, but the information from the Hidden Dragon Society was very certain that someone had pawned a piece of Kunlun jade weighing over a hundred kilograms here three days ago, and what the shopkeeper said was not true.
Although he was not sure whether the piece of Kunlun jade had been sold by the pawnshop in a few days, Du Kang still wanted to try his luck here.
"When you open a business, who would have trouble with money? But it's not about money. This is the first time I've even heard the name Kunlun Jade mentioned by this little girl. Our store really can't afford this thing."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! I can do the monk's pawn business, and the shopkeeper's eyesight is not bad. From the moment I walked in, I could tell that Du Kang was much more dangerous than Qingdai, so I spoke to him
His tone immediately softened a lot.
"It seems that the shopkeeper cannot finalize this Kunlun Jade business. Can you let me meet your boss? I have come with enough sincerity and strength, and I will not let your family suffer."
Du Kang put his hand on the counter and touched it from left to right. The counter was covered with a dazzling array of pearls and gems. Before the shopkeeper could see clearly, he looked back and all the items were put into the Yutie ring again.
After that, Du Kang repeated the above behavior several times. The items he took out were different each time, but the same thing was that these items were all valuable.
The shopkeeper was a little dizzy when he was shaken by the flickering light. He lost consciousness for a few breaths before he came back to his senses and subconsciously put away the blue agate in his hand.
The piece of agate in his hand was just collected at the opening this morning. He estimated that it should be worth a thousand taels.
But Du Kang estimated that there were nearly a thousand items that Du Kang had shown several times, and the value of each item was no less than the agate in his hand, which was equivalent to nearly one million taels of silver. After one year of operating this pawnshop,
They may not necessarily produce that much running water.
The shopkeeper came back to his senses and stared at Du Kang's face. A faint green light flashed in his eyes. He looked at it for a long time before speaking solemnly.
"This distinguished guest, as it is said that wealth should not be exposed lightly, please keep your belongings away. If you lose something, even if it is lost in our store, we will not be responsible."
"Of course I won't blame you if I lose something. Now, can I talk to your boss?"
Du Kang also looked at the shopkeeper confidently.
"Our boss always likes big customers. With a fortune like this, he is naturally qualified to meet our boss. Please wait here for a moment, and I will go and inform you."
The shopkeeper bowed politely to Du Kang, then patted the two waiters beside him who were stunned and signaled that they would look at the store first, while he opened the curtain behind the counter and walked to the back hall.
The two waiters also suppressed the shock in their hearts and quickly motioned to Du Kang and the others to sit down in front of the counter.
The two young men were also monks, so they naturally understood the rules of the shop. They knew that most of the monks who came to pawn and redeem their purchases were very suspicious, so they neither watched the tea nor greeted them, and just continued to calculate the account books on their hands.
But their hearts could not calm down at all. They made several wrong calculations and secretly wondered which god of wealth favored the store recently.
I just received a piece of Kunlun Jade that was worth a lot of money a few days ago, and someone came to buy it today. This kind of big business, once in and out, can make a lot of money that ordinary monks can't make in a lifetime.
After decades of hard work in a pawn shop, can I earn the money to practice my magic to an intermediate level? Why is the gap between rich and poor in this world so huge?
The two boys were in ups and downs, while Du Kang opened his spiritual eyes and looked through several walls, watching the spiritual light that symbolized the shopkeeper walk all the way into the backyard, where he stopped and stopped moving.
Regarding this obviously weird sight, Du Kang felt no fear or uneasiness in his heart. He even vaguely expected that the store would get rich and do something to him, so that he could save a large sum of money to buy Kunlun jade.
Sold.
You know, when Du Kang came to Canglan City this time, he not only brought enough money, but also several magic weapons and all the Five Elements Demon Boys.
With the strength of Yajue's clone, coupled with these assistances, as long as the Shengbai family does not control the clan's divine weapons, Ten Thousand Demon Bells and Heisha Banners to control a large number of demon soldiers to attack, there will be no other forces left in Canglan City.
Get off him.
Even if he encounters a few unbeatable masters, with the help of the Five Elements Escape Technique, he is confident that he can escape from the city.
The shopkeeper in the spiritual eye stood alone in the backyard for a long time. When Du Kang became a little impatient, a dazzling wave of spiritual light suddenly flashed around the shopkeeper, and then, a dark and grand spiritual light appeared out of thin air in the backyard.
"If you guessed correctly, this black aura is the owner of the pawnshop. He has a teleportation method that can be used in Canglan City. This pawnshop has a lot of background."
Du Kang tried it last night, and he didn't know what formations were arranged in Canglan City. The thoroughfare road could not be opened in the city. He had mastered a method that allowed him to come and go freely in the city. From this, it can be seen that this
The strength of a pawn shop cannot be underestimated.
After the boss arrived, the shopkeeper in Lingyan left the backyard. It wasn't until Du Kang followed him in a circle that he realized that he had taken a detour to the main entrance of the pawn shop.
"Dear guest, my boss is in the back house, please come with me."
Before anyone came in, the shopkeeper's hearty laughter came from outside the door. Du Kang and Qingdai also got up and walked out of the store.
"Thank you, the shopkeeper, for leading the way."
Following the shopkeeper, they walked for more than ten steps on the street. They turned into a narrow alley and walked dozens of more steps in the alley. When they came to an inconspicuous little door, they pushed it open and came into view.
It is another world.
In this place not far from the busy city, there is a quiet and elegant courtyard.
The yard is not big, and there are several small gardens separated by gravel roads where ornamental plants such as bananas, peonies, and pomegranates are planted. The raindrops hit the branches and leaves of the plants, making a rustling sound, and the faint sound of people by the river is heard.
Isolated outside the hospital.
Walking along the path in the courtyard, we came to a small house. After the shopkeeper made a gesture to invite us in, he turned around and stood at the door. It seemed that he did not intend to enter the house.
Du Kang was not afraid at all when he came to someone else's property. He opened the door and walked into the house, leaving only Qingdai outside. When they looked at each other with the shopkeeper, the two of them were smiling, but their eyes were full of vigilance.
The room is well-lit and elegantly decorated. There are various potted plants and lacquerware in the corners. There are some paintings on the walls that Du Kang cannot understand. There is an old man with gray hair sitting on a tatami-like mat carrying a huge turtle shell.
On the low bed, he looked at the arriving Du Kang with a kind smile.
"I'm getting older, and my legs and feet are far less agile than before, so I keep my guests waiting for a long time."
"Mr. Chai is the eldest man in Canglan City. He is the younger generation, so it is appropriate to wait."
Du Kang's words were polite, but his actions were not revealing at all. He stepped on the clean insoles in the house with his wet shoes, strode to the tatami, and sat down cross-legged opposite the old man.
On the way here, Qingdai had already told Du Kang all the news about the owner of Guiling Pawnshop.
In the Hidden Dragon Society, information about this person was extremely expensive, and Qing Dai spent a lot of favors and money to buy some of his information that was unknown to be true or false.
This old man’s name is Chai Guiling, a mid-level monk who has mastered the turtle shell technique to his own level. Records from the Hidden Dragon Society show that at the end of the previous dynasty, when the Hidden Dragon Society first came to Bibohai to establish a foothold, Chai was still in his prime.
He has been hanging out in Bibohai since he was a turtle.
It has been nearly 600 years since the Hidden Dragon Society moved to Bibohai, which means that if this old man's identity has not changed, he has lived for at least 600 years.
Not to mention the entire Canglan City, even the entire Blue Wave Sea, only those demon kings with long lives and the alien sea monsters with long life spans can live longer than him.
Don't think that six hundred years is a short period of time. Since the ancient human emperor, as long as a human being ascends the throne, he will automatically control the dragon energy of a country, directly possessing powerful power that is stronger than ordinary high-level monks and demon kings. However, those who practiced before ascending the throne
All spells will also be washed away by dragon energy, so they will not live long.
It has only been more than 400 years since the founding of Daliang, and there have been five emperors.
And with the passage of time, although the territory of Daliang is getting larger and larger, the population is also getting larger and larger, but the local tycoons, aristocratic families, and religious sects in the country are becoming more and more prosperous and powerful, and they occupy more and more resources.
, after hundreds of years of hard work, the strength of the dragon energy in Daliang was no longer comparable to that in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Up to now, Long Qi has been unable to completely suppress the situation in the country, and Daliang is already facing a precarious state of subjugation.
Six hundred years is equivalent to the age of a dynasty.
Before Du Kang met Chai Guiling, he was still dubious about his age. However, after meeting, Chai Guiling felt a shocking amount of water-type demonic power in his body, as well as a sinister and twilight energy that could not be concealed by the strong vitality of his body.
Nothing can be hidden from the eyes of the spirit.
Du Kang no longer had any doubts in his mind. This man must have lived for a long time, so long that his body, which had been warmed by magic and various means, still had strong vitality, but the fragile Yin Shen born as a human being had almost reached the limit of his lifespan.
Perhaps because he has lived for too long, Chai Guiling is a loner. He has no children or friends. Even the shopkeeper and clerk in Guiling's pawnshop have a simple employment relationship with him.
Faced with such a person, what price should Du Kang offer to sell the Kunlun Jade?