Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 359 The Shipowner
Chu Yun is an old man who came from the glorious era of the old country.

To be fair, Su Yan was a relative of the former imperial family, and such behavior naturally disgusted Chu Yun.

Unfortunately, just like Su Yan couldn't stand him but was helpless to do anything about it.

Chu Yun, an old servant, was no match for this harlot.

He straightened his sleeves, called a few disciples to clean the palace, and then he had to go down the mountain to give instructions to the Liangjiang Shipping Company.

The Xianhe and Lushui rivers flow from the west and converge here, with Jiangcheng Mountain situated at the angle between these two rivers.

To the north is the Lu River, and to the south is the Xian River. To facilitate supervision, under Li Xu's arrangement, Su Yan built a huge "shipping agency" on the two rivers after taking over Jiangcheng Mountain.

From a distance, the ship looked like a giant city on a bridge. It was ten zhang high above the water, divided into three levels, and wide enough to build two rows of houses on the left and right, with a bridge avenue wide enough for eight horses to ride abreast.

The market town that the practitioners referred to actually consisted of these two boat houses. The buildings on the bridge included pharmacies, craft workshops, inns, and so on. It was one of the very few places that still maintained its function as a town.

Many refugees hope to stay in the ship's lodgings, even if it means begging in the slums, rather than being hunted in the wilderness.

Unfortunately, both the North and South ship captains needed to verify their identities to enter. They were either temporary practitioners or people with status, such as those under the command of the Eastern Marquis or disciples of Jiangcheng Mountain.

Of course, with Qin Prefecture in such a dire state, there will always be those who will try to take risks.

They either secretly hid in the caravan's wagons or swam and climbed across the treacherous river.

Among these people, some were able to hide in the ship's crew, eke out a living in dark alleys, or endure inhuman humiliation, while a very small minority were able to change their fate by chance.

For example, one could receive alms from a certain practitioner or be enslaved by Jiang Cheng's disciples, thereby changing one's fate—this is necessary, otherwise how could one continuously attract these animals to work?

Jiang Chengshan had also considered the possibility of it causing chaos.

Every year, as the number of boatmen increased, Jiang Chengshan would send people to catch a few illegal immigrants, then skin them alive and hang them under the crossbeams of the bridge.

Seeing these skinless animals struggling under the bridge, even the bravest person would have to shut up for a while.

While waiting in line for inspection, Qu Ying saw several bodies swaying in the wind under the bridge in the distance.

It had long been dried up by the wind and sun, and pecked at by birds, so that even squinting your eyes, you couldn't make out much of its shape.

Qu Ying subtly pulled down the hood of his black robe, concealing the expression in his eyes.

If Jiang Shu were here, he would definitely recognize that this outfit is exactly the same as the one worn by the Jade Man who helped him kill Feng Laoqi.

In fact, Qu Ying recognized Jiang Shu when they met in the cave that night. He remembered the young man as tenacious, cautious, and decisive, a promising talent. Otherwise, he would not have invited him to join the Shattered Jade Clan.

The only thing he concealed was that he lied when he mentioned the nature of the Broken Jade Man to Jiang Shu.

The Broken Jade Man is no ordinary cultivator or connection.

Thinking of the suspicion that kept flashing in Jiang Shu's eyes that night, Qu Ying couldn't help but chuckle again.

The young man lacked experience. Because Qu Ying was open and honest when he revealed his identity as the Broken Jade Man, and because he didn't pay any extra attention to Jiang Shu, he failed to connect the long-haired man he met that night with the black-robed man who helped him kill his master.

However, the man from out of town who was traveling with Jiang Shu was very observant and did not seem like an easy person to get along with.

A sudden sense of tension made Qu Ying tug at her clothes. She needed to resolve Jiang Chengshan's matter as soon as possible to avoid any further trouble.

The ship's inspector quickly arrived at his side.

It wasn't difficult to confirm that he was a cultivator, but since he was neither a military strategist nor a master cultivator, Jiang Chengshan's disciples still took a closer look at him.

If Qu Ying hadn't been without a child behind him, he probably would have been mistaken for Cheng Han.

In this respect, Pei Xia actually had a wrong understanding due to the influence of Jiang Shu.

To the impoverished people of Qin Prefecture, Guo Han from another state was indeed seen as a bodhisattva guiding their children to a better life.

However, in the eyes of the warlords, they were extremely annoying flies. The reason is simple: the reason why Qin Province was powerful was because the earth's energy remained after the Dragon Cauldron shattered, making the Qin people's fighting power on their homeland formidable.

This inevitably leads to a premise: prohibiting large-scale migration of Qin people from famine.

For the past twenty years, this has been a top priority for border warlords, and it has been no easy task for the Qin people to cross the border.

Fortunately, the neighboring states were quite cooperative in this regard. After all, there were tens of millions of Qin people. If they were allowed to flee the famine, who could handle it?

The Jiangcheng disciple, holding a long whip made of oil-soaked hemp rope, poked Qu Ying's face, pulled down his hood, and remembered that the mountain had recently issued an order to be wary of suspicious people.

He asked one more question: "What brings you to the ship's office?"

Qu Ying then put on a flattering smile: "I'm here to buy supplies."

Where did it come from?

"West side."

Where to go?

"Yicheng".

Yicheng is an important town in the Eastern Qin Dynasty. Li Xu has troops stationed there, so ordinary people cannot go there.

The Jiangcheng disciple scrutinized Qu Ying twice more, but due to his limited perspective, he couldn't discern anything and could only awkwardly say, "Go in."

Qu Ying nodded and thanked her politely.

However, watching Qu Ying's retreating figure, the disciple hesitated for a moment, then called over a fellow disciple and whispered, "Go find Elder Shu and tell him..."

……

A small boat drifts downstream on the Xianhe River.

Feng Yao sat at the stern of the boat, her long, jade-like legs bare, her small, white feet submerged in the river water, occasionally waving them to create some ripples.

Beside the girl's buttocks was a long rope she was clutching, the other end of which seemed to be connected to something else, also dangling underwater.

A blurry shadow thrashed about underwater, struggling to break through to the surface.

He was a middle-aged man with a stubble beard. Like many people from Qinzhou, he had a large frame but thin skin.

Even with his excellent swimming skills, he swallowed quite a bit of water. After surfacing, he took a breath before looking at the girl at the stern: "You little bitches, do you even know that you've stolen my boat, the River Dragon of the Mossy River!"

Pei Xia, who was munching on a radish on the boat, couldn't help but burst out laughing when she heard this: "Wow, a river dragon!"

The man continued to roar, "Our Xianhe Gang stretches for a hundred li along the river. I'm telling you, release me right now, or you won't get out of this water... *glug glug glug*..."

Before he could finish speaking, Feng Yao lifted one foot out of the water, splashing water as she stomped it wetly onto his face.

He stepped back into the river.

Suddenly, a gong sounded ahead, and several small boats emerged from several bays, with about fifteen or sixteen people standing there, seemingly waiting for Pei Xia and the others.

Jiang Shu glanced at the bow of the boat and muttered, "There really is a Xianhe Gang."

He turned around and called out to Pei Xia, "Water pirate."

Jiang Shu himself may not have realized that he has recently become more and more accustomed to handing over the initiative to Pei Xia.

Pei Xia looked at him, then glanced at Feng Yao: "You guys go ahead, but be careful when you're doing it, don't damage the boat. Later, see if there's a bigger one to replace ours."

(End of this chapter)