From slave trader to the Immortal Lord of Ten Thousand Laws

With a thud, the head fell to the ground.

Jiang She was astonished and momentarily stunned.

"What are you standing there for, young master? Run!"

Seeing Jiang She lost in thought, the old man quickly called out to him.

Jiang She snapped out of his daze, and couldn't help but glance again at the head rolling by the door, saying with lingering fear:

"What a horrible market! It's a real killer!"

"hehe!"

The old man grinned, revealing his gap-toothed mouth, and laughed, "The world is vast, how can it be without wonders? Once you, young man, have lived past my age, you will know the immensity of the universe and what is truly bizarre and wondrous."

"I've learned a lot, sir."

Jiang She clasped his hands in a respectful bow.

The old man smiled, glanced back, and saw several figures trailing behind him at a distance.

"Oh no! Those idiots are catching up with us."

He quickly pointed to an alley, "This way!"

Jiang She nodded and rushed into the alley with him.

The alley wasn't very deep. Once inside, it was like a narrow, winding path. After only a hundred or so steps, you would emerge from the old bluestone alley and see a vast expanse of dark, dense forest.

It was located in the woods and suburbs of the abandoned neighborhood in the west of the city.

This forest doesn't seem to occupy much land during the day, but once it gets dark, it becomes a good place for Tibetans to hide.

At this moment, the group of thugs stopped outside the forest.

"Brother, the fat sheep has gone into the woods."

"Heh! We've managed to get the better deal!" The scarred man at the head sneered, then turned his head, pointed at a few people, and ordered, "Let's drive these two fat sheep into the wolf's den and eat them."

...

As dawn broke, the sky was still dim, and footsteps echoed softly in the dark forest.

"Old man, do you know this way?"

Jiang She stared intently around for a moment, then turned to ask the old man beside him. His mind was clear and lucid; even if his eyes were gouged out, he could still see clearly in the dark.

The old man turned his head in all directions, glanced at the road, and confidently replied, "This is the road; it's the easiest to walk on and keeps people away."

Oh?

Is that so?

Jiang She frowned, glanced around, and seeing figures approaching in the distance, he changed the subject: "In that case, why don't you tell me, what method of bartering in this ghost market yields the greatest profit?"

Seeing that the pursuers hadn't arrived, seemingly having lost him, the old man was in high spirits and granted Jiang She's wish, saying, "What's wrong with saying that?"

"Let me tell you now."

The old man stroked his beard and smiled slightly, saying, "There are three main things to sell in this ghost market: First, it sells novelty. People are all drawn to new things. Once they've tasted something new, they'll know whether it's excrement or urine. Second, it sells reputation. This is the most difficult to sell, but it's also the most profitable. However, the difficulty here is like studying hard for ten years versus four generations of businessmen."

"You can't go down either of these two paths."

The old man held up two fingers and shook his head.

Jiang She raised an eyebrow slightly. "Then what should we do?"

The old man chuckled: "I told you to think it through long ago, but there's still a third one left to sell. This path requires taking advantage of supply shortages. For example, my medicine pot is made using this kind of opportunistic trick to sell for a good price."

"Once this path is gradually broadened, it will become the second type of sales mentioned earlier. In this way, even if it's not a well-established brand, it can still build a reputation in the ghost market!"

Original origin...

Jiang She understood.

It turns out that the old man wasn't following the path of low profit margins and high sales volume, but rather acting as a manipulator to control a monopoly, waiting for the right moment to come down and make his goods so that demand exceeded supply during that period.

Over time, they gradually built up a good reputation.

At that time, it will become a ghost market known to everyone.

"That is a good point to consider."

Jiang She nodded secretly, making a mental note of his words.

After walking for a while, he suddenly reached out and stopped the old man, then turned his head and looked around:

"Old man, this road is probably going to be difficult to travel."

"!"

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately understood. He quickly became alert, his gaze deep and focused, as if he were looking in all directions.

"call--"

The wind rustled softly, creating a constant whispering sound all around.

The old man was terrified and hurriedly hid behind Jiang She, craning his neck to look around. The night was already dark, and with the wind blowing, it felt even more like everyone was on edge, making the old man tremble and his heart pound wildly.

Jiang She clasped his hands in a fist and bowed slightly to all four directions:

"You fellow forest dwellers, having traveled far and wide, are unsure which mountain to worship?"

These words were the jargon of the Great Qian镖师 (bodyguards/escorts), a polite way of introducing oneself. But Jiang She said them not to be polite to the other party, but to convince the shrewd old man behind him that he was just a lowly martial artist from a poor family.

"Oh? A镖师 (镖局 is a type of security escort agency)? May I ask which镖局 you are from?"

Someone on the other side made a sound.

Seeing this, Jiang She raised his head and, mimicking Li Nian's tone, feigned an arrogant demeanor: "Let everyone know that I am a newly accepted disciple of the Zhenyuan Escort Agency, under the command of the Thunderbolt Hand!"

"Chen Kun, the Thunderbolt Hand?"

"Exactly!"

whispering sound--

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped, and even their breathing became extremely cautious.

Who is Chen Kun, the Thunderbolt Hand? He is known as one of the Eight Little Heroes of the Jianghu. His methods and connections far surpass those of these thugs and ruffians.

If his disciples suffer, wouldn't that be a disgrace to him?

At that time, I'm afraid those thunderous hands will pierce my flesh and give me a good beating, tearing out my heart and gallbladder...

"hiss..."

Everyone paused for a moment, but dared not think about it anymore.

The leader apologized, saying, "We almost caused a major disaster. My master has been having quite a bit of contact with your esteemed escort. If you're worried, sir, you can always go back and ask Master Chen..."

Ah!

Jiang She sneered inwardly, "Where am I supposed to ask him?"

But he said:

"Oh? That's unnecessary. I have confidence in you."

Upon hearing this, the people on the other side immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang She then pressed further, "May I take my leave?"

The voice on the other end spoke hurriedly: "Please proceed, sir."

"But I dare not let my lord take this old sheep with him..."

Oh?

Jiang She paused, momentarily contemplating leaving, but before he could fully process this thought, he felt someone tug at his sleeve from behind.

"Young man, don't forget the money I promised you."

"hehe!"

The man opposite laughed: "Don't let him fool you. Whether you take him with you or not, you'll get more silver. Aren't you sure you can figure it out?"

Jiang She smiled slightly.

He glanced back at the old man behind him, a malicious smile on his face: "Old man, I've managed to persuade him, what should I do now!"

"Alas!"

The old man was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan: "Young friend, don't let him trick you! I'm willing to split the money I have with you fifty-fifty!"

"Oh? Is that really true?"

Jiang She's eyes lit up.

The old man patted his chest: "I am willing to guarantee this with my life and fortune."

As he spoke, he glanced disdainfully at the crowd gathered in a circle, and mocked them as if victory was assured: "I'm afraid these filthy worms are not worthy of such a sum, sir."

"Oh?"

Jiang She raised an eyebrow: "Gentlemen, did you hear me clearly?"

"This old man said you can't afford to pay him that amount."

"this...."

The room fell silent.

The hooligans looked embarrassed, their lips trembling but unable to utter a word.

They usually only bully ordinary people; they would never have the chance to bully the disciples of a security escort agency.

I dare not deceive him now.

This is really a headache.

Just then, Jiang She broke the silence.

He glanced around, his gaze sweeping over the hooligans and the old man, and chuckled, "In my opinion, you needn't bother arguing. Why don't I just kill you all? Then the money... won't need to be divided!"

"!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately became alert, and some of the more timid ones even tremblingly drew their knives.

"Young man, you're joking."

The old man smiled sheepishly, hoping to salvage the situation, but when he looked expectantly at Jiang She's expression, he saw that Jiang She was only moving his lips, as if he were talking to himself in a low voice.

I could only vaguely hear:

"You all... go and kill each other."

call--!

Before Jiang She could finish speaking, a sudden wave arose from the ground, whipping up strong gusts of wind, like a thousand giant waves crashing against the shore.

"What is that?"

"The external release of a sixth-rank martial artist's internal energy?"

Everyone stared in disbelief, when suddenly they heard a soft "thud" behind them, as if a sharp knife had pierced their heart from behind.

I turned my head and looked.

But then they saw a huge heart that had been stabbed out with a knife, still bloody and red, hanging on the tip of the knife and beating loudly.

"Little Stone, you...?"

The leader of the hooligans spoke up in bewilderment.

But before he could even open his mouth, the sound in his throat abruptly stopped, replaced by another soft chuckle.

"puff!"

Blood flowed freely.

The leader of the hooligans felt a sharp pain in his chest.

He looked down and saw a sharp knife piercing his heart. Then the world spun around him, and he collapsed limply to the ground, blood gushing from the hole in his heart, staining the ground red.

In just a few breaths, the dozen or so people in the forest fell silent, leaving only blood and entrails stained the ground, and the eyes of those still filled with terror and fear.

"That's not bad."

Jiang She looked around and, seeing the ground covered in crimson, was finally satisfied. He simply said:

"The Third Madam's words are indeed effective. Compared to the Golden Light Technique, which requires the exhaustion of one's magic power to cast, this technique only requires a few strands of spiritual energy to bewitch people's hearts and kill them all in one fell swoop."

"If my magical power hadn't recovered so slowly, accumulating only seven or eight strands of spiritual energy in several hours, then... the power of this rhetoric would have been even greater."

As Jiang She spoke, he searched the corpses thoroughly. After searching for a while, he found that the ruffians had no jewelry or money on them. The most they had were a few large coins, and the least they had only a few copper coins. However, the old man had a bag of gold beans and a bag of money on him.

However, even on his deathbed, he clung tightly to this money, unwilling to let go.

Ah!

"What a miser!"

Jiang She looked into the old man's still terrified eyes and took the eggplant bag from his tightly clenched hand.

Then we began to estimate.

During the Great Qian Dynasty, one jin of gold was worth ten thousand coins, and one yi of silver was worth a thousand coins. Therefore, one tael of gold could be exchanged for approximately five taels of silver.

Jiang She made a rough estimate.

He earned about forty or fifty taels of silver on this trip, and it was a sure-fire way to make money, since it was a business with no initial investment.

Thinking of this, Jiang She was in a great mood.

He chuckled and said, "Finally, I've raised enough money. Once I get back, I can finally have my way with Madam Xu!"