The Melon-eating Swordsman In The Ancient Dragon World Chapter 190: Traveling for Two Months, I Became a Spectator - Novel Cool

Chapter 190: Traveling for Two Months, I Became a Spectator

Chapter 190: Traveling for Two Months, I Became a Spectator

With the red cargo gone, the escort warriors dead, and the Azure Serpent disappearing without a trace, the group naturally set off again.

However, everyone except Jiang Feng noticed that the green snake mark imprinted on Chief Du's sleeve had been mysteriously torn off and vanished.

Aside from this incident on the Yellow River's shore, the rest of the journey was uneventful. After all, while Jiang Feng's eight carriages carried a significant amount of goods, they were not as valuable as a single piece of jewelery, so they didn't attract the interest of the Twelve Constellation Thieves or other bandits.

Nonetheless, the escorting warriors were in low spirits, evidently feeling dejected after their comrades' deaths. It wasn't until Jiang Feng paid them three times their usual fee upon delivering the goods to Jingzhou that their moods improved.

"Young Master Jiang is truly generous and open-handed, benevolent and charitable, just as the rumors say!"

"Thank you, Young Master Jiang. If you ever need our services in BJ again, we'll make sure to take extra good care of you!"

The young escorts expressed their gratitude and left. Jiang Feng then handed over the goods to the old steward, who distributed them to their own shops for sale, earning a profit of five times the original value.

Sometimes, making money is just that easy!

...

In the following days, Jiang Feng didn't stay cooped up at home. He traveled to Hankou, visited friends in Yueyang, and through Chen Jing's introduction, he met the couple, Murong Yong.

Unfortunately, there weren't many opportunities for him to be a spectator to others' dramas. On the contrary, he became the subject of gossip himself. In just two months, without even displaying his martial arts skills, the name 'Jade Youth' Jiang Feng had already reverberated throughout the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Jiangnan region.

Fortunately, the current Jiang Feng knew how to conduct himself appropriately. Not only was he backed by his substantial family wealth, but he also had Yan Nantian's support. Otherwise, he would have become the public enemy of the young male martial artists in the Jiangnan region.

As the two months passed and summer turned to autumn, Jiang Feng still hadn't seen Yan Nantian return. However, he heard in Jiangnan that Yan Nantian had headed south by boat after slaying someone called Blood Eagle in Dengzhou. Later, he eliminated Blood Eagle's brother, Blood Vulture, in Minnan, and then disappeared.

"I knew it..."

Jiang Feng possessed the original body's memories and recalled that he had sworn brotherhood with Yan Nantian three years ago.

But aside from the initial six months when Yan Nantian frequently stayed in Yunhan, he had been traveling all over the country, and their meetings were infrequent. Yan Nantian often dropped by to see him when he was in the area on his heroic adventures.

This time, he must have headed directly from Shandong to Minnan via the sea, probably planning to visit Lu Zhongyuan along the way. Then, after traversing half of southern China in pursuit of some unknown villain, he would finally remember to return to the Yangtze River region, where Jiang Feng resided.

Given this, it was understandable that Yan Nantian felt he wasn't suitable for Zhang Fengxi.

"Young Master."

As Jiang Feng was deep in thought, the old steward, Jiang Ping, approached him. By this time, Jiang Feng had already returned to Jingzhou.

"What is it?" Jiang Feng asked.

"It's about our business dealings with the Wu family from Shu. It's time to settle the accounts, and we need to send a batch of jewels to them," Jiang Ping explained.

Jiang Feng nodded, "Then send it."

"However, no escort agency dares to take on the job of delivering these jewels, which are worth three hundred thousand taels of silver," Jiang Ping said in a low voice.

"Why?" Jiang Feng's eyes narrowed.

"Because the infamously ruthless Twelve Constellation Thieves have been spotted along the Yangtze River," Jiang Ping replied.

"Oh?"

"Just last month, the Liu family from Xiangjiang suffered an ambush on their escort party. A hundred thousand taels of silver and red cargo worth another hundred thousand taels were stolen. It's said that the leader of the thieves was none other than the Twelve Constellation Thieves," Jiang Ping continued.

In recent years, the reputation of the Twelve Constellation Thieves had reached its peak. They roamed far and wide, from Qinghai in the west to Ningbo in the east, Guangzhou in the south, and as far north as beyond the Great Wall.

It was a mystery how they obtained their information, but they always seemed to pinpoint the escort parties carrying red cargo. They would then present their 'star stickers,' appearing refined and polite, but in reality, they were blatantly robbing people in broad daylight.

"The last time I went north to the capital, Yan Nantian mentioned the Twelve Constellation Thieves. He even spent time investigating them, but after two months, he didn't find a single clue and had to give up."

"So, many escort agencies suspect that they're still in the Yunhan area, which is why they're reluctant to take on this job?" Jiang Feng asked.

Jiang Ping nodded. "Exactly."

While the Twelve Constellation Thieves acted without restraint, they still maintained some rules. They only targeted escort agencies and not merchants, turning the conflict into a matter between the agencies and merchants. This way, they only had to deal with the escort agencies.

Although the government in Gu Long's world had a weak presence, they were still the orthodox power and held a certain level of intimidation over the martial arts world. Additionally, they would handle law-abiding merchants but stay out of escort agency business since it was their means of livelihood.

This explained why the eighty thousand taels of silver were safe in Jiang Feng's hands, but once they were handed over to the Golden Lion Escort Agency, they were stolen. Otherwise, how could the lavish mansions of wealthy merchants withstand the onslaught of the Twelve Constellation Thieves?

"However, the manager sent by the Wu family is quite anxious. Their business has encountered some setbacks, and they have already arranged to borrow from a money house in Shu. They urgently need this batch of red cargo," Jiang Ping explained.

The business dealings between the Jiang and Wu families were established by Jiang Feng's father. If Jiang Feng couldn't deliver this batch of red cargo to Shu on time, their future business collaborations might be affected.

"What about offering a higher price?" Jiang Feng asked.

"No one is willing to take it," Jiang Ping replied. "Even the Mighty Escort Agency, a well-known agency in the martial arts world, declined, citing that their chief escort, Shen, is currently in the north on another assignment. They claimed that this escort mission is too large for them to handle."

Jiang Feng chuckled. "Is thirty thousand taels of silver too big a sum for them?"

Jiang Ping smiled proudly. "At the very least, they can't afford the loss."

Jiang Feng shook his head. It wasn't that the Mighty Escort Agency couldn't afford the loss of thirty thousand taels of silver; the risk of this escort mission was simply too high, and the reward didn't justify the potential consequences.

Jiang Feng stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What should we do, then?"

Jiang Qin, who had been quietly standing by, spoke up with a twinkle in her eyes. Seeing that Jiang Feng seemed interested, she quickly stepped forward and suggested in a low voice, "Master, why don't we try a diversionary tactic?"

Jiang Feng's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Go on."

"You can openly hire two escort agencies, one for a public escort and the other for a secret one, to send the cargo to Shu," Jiang Qin proposed.

"That's just a common tactic used by escort agencies. The Twelve Constellation Thieves are famous in the martial world. How could they not uncover the secret escort?" Jiang Ping frowned.

"But what if the secret escort is also a decoy?"

Jiang Qin smiled. "We can hire a third escort agency to also travel in secret. The Twelve Constellation Thieves will likely assume that this time, the real cargo is being escorted."

"And then?" Jiang Ping asked.

"Then, Master, you can take the opportunity to visit the Wu family in Shu since it's been a while. With the pleasant autumn weather, it's a reasonable trip to make along the Yangtze River," Jiang Qin explained.

"Nonsense!" Jiang Ping exclaimed, his face paling in shock. "How can you suggest such a risky plan for the Young Master? He could be in grave danger!"

Jiang Qin immediately lowered her head and clasped her hands nervously. "I'm just thinking of our family's interests, and the Young Master's martial arts skills are quite formidable now. If the Twelve Constellation Thieves split up, they may not be a match for him."

Seeing Jiang Qin's reaction, Jiang Feng couldn't help but smile.

(End of Chapter)

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