Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

Chapter 187: Thunderous Sweep of the Acupoints

The next morning.

Chen Ping left Cangwu and headed straight for the south of the city.

The Xinglong Chamber of Commerce's shop was not far from the Huaishui Chamber of Commerce, separated by only two streets.

The three-story building has a fairly large storefront, and the signboard is newly painted with the gold lettering still shining.

Chen Ping pushed open the door and went inside.

Several customers were browsing in front of the counter, while the shop assistant was attending to them.

There was a person standing behind the counter.

He was in his early thirties, wearing a silk dress, but he wore it wrong. The collar was crooked, the belt was too loose, and the silk looked wrinkled on him, as if he were wearing a layer of skin that didn't belong to him.

He doesn't have the air of a businessman.

His eyes held a fierce glint, and there were several old scars on the back of his hands. Standing behind the counter, he didn't seem to be doing business; he looked more like a bouncer.

He was a thug by trade. Chen Ping knew perfectly well that this guy was just a scapegoat.

The shopkeeper saw Chen Ping walk in and his gaze lingered on him for a moment.

Cangwu, in his uniform, stood out from the crowd, appearing young and composed.

His eyelid twitched, but he didn't panic.

He greeted the customers in the shop, his voice unchanged, and he even managed a forced smile.

Chen Ping walked to the shelf and casually picked up a finely crafted celadon porcelain bottle.

I held it in my hand, spun it around a couple of times, and looked at the signature at the bottom.

"The shopkeeper is kind-hearted."

His voice wasn't loud.

But several customers in the shop heard it.

They glanced at Chen Ping's physique, then at his uniform, and involuntarily shrank back.

Chen Ping put the porcelain vase back on the shelf, turned to look at the customers, and said indifferently, "We're not doing business here today, everyone, please leave." No one dared to ask a single question.

The guests lowered their heads and walked quickly outside, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Chen Ping walked to the door and gently closed the chamber of commerce door behind him.

He turned his head and looked at the shopkeeper, whose face was ashen.

The shopkeeper stood behind the counter, his hands supporting the dough, his knuckles white, but he stubbornly refused to back down.

He asked in a low voice, "Sir, which faction are you from?"

He forced a smile, but it looked very stiff.

"How domineering! I'm just running a small business in the south of the city. Do you really need to come here and cause trouble?"

Chen Ping took the porcelain bottle in his hand, walked to the counter, put it down, and looked down at the shopkeeper who was a head shorter than him.

"My name is Chen Ping."

Four words.

The shopkeeper's stiff smile vanished. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he took a half-step back, his back slamming against the shelf behind him.

"You asked me, so I came."

Chen Ping's voice was calm, as if he were talking about something very ordinary.

The shopkeeper felt a chill run down his spine.

He himself was also a master of internal energy cultivation and was considered a capable fighter in the gang. He had never been afraid of anyone.

But the man standing in front of him seemed to have no will to resist at all.

But the ferocity he had developed from years of mingling in the streets prevented him from kneeling down immediately.

He gritted his teeth and forced a smile.

"Master Chen, fighting and killing in the streets is not allowed in Tianyan City. Our chambers of commerce are just competing for territory. Are you, a big shot from Cangwu, going to personally get involved with a nobody like me?"

He mustered his courage and took half a step forward, lowering his voice.

"Master Chen, I'll be frank with you. If you touch even the smallest thing in my shop today, you will face a thousandfold retaliation in the future, which will fall on your Huai River Chamber of Commerce."

A glint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. "Even if you twist my head today, a new scapegoat will come to take my place in two days!"

The voice just fell.

The chamber of commerce's main door was forcefully pushed open from the outside.

boom.

The door slammed against the wall, and dust fell in clumps.

A dozen or so thugs armed with knives poured in from outside the door. They were all burly and strong, clutching sharp knives and staring menacingly at Chen Ping.

The shopkeeper took a step back and stood among the thugs, his smile now more confident.

"Chen Ping, you have guts! Draw your sword and kill us all right here in front of everyone!"

He deliberately shouted at the top of his lungs, so loud that people across the street could hear him clearly.

"Even if you are a high-ranking official in Cangwu, if you were to slaughter a dozen or so of us honest, law-abiding citizens in the street, the Governor's Office would absolutely not let you off the hook!"

Good citizen.

Chen Ping glanced at the dozen or so fierce-looking, burly men around him, each wielding a sharp knife, and a slight twitch appeared at the corner of his mouth. The way they were saying that word was rather interesting.

At this moment, a number of pedestrians who had heard the commotion had gathered outside the shop's entrance.

People peeked into the doorway, gathering in twos and threes on the steps and whispering among themselves. The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, soon surrounding the entrance of the shop in layers.

"What are you all standing around watching? Get out of here!"

An angry shout came from outside the crowd.

The crowd was separated.

Zhao Hu walked at the front, wearing the uniform of the government army, with a sword at his waist, followed by ten fully armed government soldiers.

He pushed through the crowd, strode to the entrance of the Xinglong Chamber of Commerce, and looked inside.

stunned.

When the shopkeeper saw Zhao Hu, it was as if he had seen a savior. He rushed over, grabbed Zhao Hu's arm, and spoke urgently and quickly.

"Captain Zhao, you've finally arrived! This man, relying on his official position in Cangwu, dared to come to our legitimate business in broad daylight, causing trouble and bullying innocent people!"

To make his act convincing, he forced a few tears from the corners of his eyes, putting on a very convincing performance with his roguish expression. Zhao Hu glanced down at him expressionlessly.

Ignore the poor acting.

He shook off the shopkeeper's hand and strode into the shop with the soldiers.

With a swift pull, he slammed the two wide-open shop doors shut, shutting out all the probing gazes and whispers from outside.

Then, he turned around and looked at Chen Ping, who was standing in the center of the room.

The shopkeeper was still crying and complaining beside him, and even reached out to tug at Zhao Hu's sleeve.

Zhao Hu lowered his head and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"grown ups."

The shopkeeper's voice abruptly stopped.

His hand, which was outstretched in mid-air, froze.

He glanced at Zhao Hu in front of him, then at Chen Ping.

Zhao Hu. Commander of the Tianyan City Army.

He bowed and clasped his hands in front of Chen Ping, addressing him as "Master."

The shopkeeper still had a few tears on his face, but his expression was completely frozen.

The dozen or so ruthless thugs behind him, all wielding knives, were dumbfounded.

He was caught between holding the sharp knife in his hand and not knowing whether to raise it or put it down.

Chen Ping glanced at Zhao Hu, said nothing more, and pointed to the dozen or so thugs.

"This group of people, armed and provoking trouble, should be put in jail on any pretext."

He then pointed to the shelves in the shop.

"Empty out all the inventory in Xinglong Trading Company and send it all to the Huai River Chamber of Commerce."

Finally, his gaze fell on the trembling shopkeeper.

"As for this person, I need to borrow him separately."

After saying that, he reached out and grabbed the shopkeeper's head, lifting him off the ground like a chick. The shopkeeper's feet left the ground, his arms and legs flailing wildly, and he made incoherent noises.

Chen Ping carried him and strode up to the second floor.

The stairs creaked underfoot.

Zhao Hu watched Chen Ping's figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, then turned around and looked at the dozen or so thugs still standing there in the shop. His face darkened.

"Throw away all the weapons you're carrying! Hands behind your head, squat down against the wall!"

The ten guards behind him had already drawn their swords.

The second floor.

Chen Ping tossed the shopkeeper onto a chair.

The shopkeeper was thrown around and was completely disoriented. He slumped in his chair, panting heavily, his eyes staring at Chen Ping in terror.

Chen Ping sat down opposite him.

The two had just sat down when the sounds of clashing armor and shouts came from downstairs.

It was brief and chaotic, but it quickly subsided. Then came the sounds of goods being moved, wooden crates clattering, heavy footsteps, and someone giving instructions in a low voice.

Chen Ping looked at the shopkeeper who was still in a daze and spoke.

"Tell me who's behind you, and I might spare your life."

The shopkeeper gritted his teeth, his lips trembling, and squeezed out a single word.

"No……"

He didn't finish his sentence.

A sharp pain, like lightning, spread from his right hand throughout his body.

"Aaaaaah!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed from the private room on the second floor.

The shopkeeper was in so much pain that his whole body convulsed instantly, curling up like a cooked shrimp.

He rolled directly off the chair onto the floor, writhing and tumbling in agony.

His entire right palm had been twisted into a pretzel at some point, with bone fragments protruding from the skin and blood trickling down between his fingers. Chen Ping reached out and pressed him back into the chair, his voice calm.

"This is your last chance. If you keep quiet, you'll lose more than just a hand."

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything!!"

The shopkeeper cried out, his face covered in tears, snot, and sweat, his voice as shrill as a pig being slaughtered.

"I'm from the Black Tiger Gang! A month ago, the gang leader suddenly gave me a bunch of silver and told me to come here and start a business association..."

He spoke haltingly, interspersed with sobs and groans.

Black Tiger Gang.

The gang leader is called Ma Sandao, and his internal energy has reached perfection.

The territory spans two county towns to the west of Tianyan City, covering an area of ​​more than ten miles.

The gang has more than two hundred members, with more than a dozen at the Transformation Realm or above, and the rest are all thugs with Hidden and Manifest Realms.

The gang leader lived in a mansion in the eastern part of one of the county towns. He rarely went out and had someone run errands for him.

The gang leader didn't say who gave him the silver, but the shopkeeper had seen someone who had come twice. This person was very well-dressed, had fluctuations of qi around him, and was at the Yuan Gang level. He had a private talk with the gang leader behind closed doors, and each time he left before even an incense stick could burn. Chen Ping kept this information in mind.

Black Tiger Gang.

It spans two counties.

The leader has reached the pinnacle of his martial arts prowess.

There was a person at the Yuan Gang level relaying the message from behind.

Footsteps echoed down the stairs.

Zhao Hu stepped forward, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said, "Sir, the situation below has been handled."

Chen Ping stood up and pointed to the shopkeeper who was slumped in the chair.

"You guys handle this guy as you see fit."

Zhao Hu nodded.

Chen Ping went downstairs and out of Xinglong Trading Company.

Across the street, at the entrance of the Huai River Chamber of Commerce, Bai Ming stood watching the government troops carrying boxes of goods inside, his expression complex. Chen Ping didn't go over to greet them.

Xinglong Trading Company has resolved the issue.

Next up are those two Yuan Gang martial artists.

There's also Ma Sandao, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang.