Chapter 143: Slop-Liu

Liu Genshan lived in a tenement in the South City; he was an old widower with no children, making a living by collecting slop.

Stinking leftovers were piled up by the doors of various restaurants that had already closed for the night; he would haul this slop away and sell it to pig farmers in nearby villages in exchange for meager rations.

Because the stench was overwhelming, he often performed this task early in the morning, pulling a dilapidated cart to scoop the slop from each restaurant into large barrels on the cart, then hauling it out of the city...

Ruan Fengshan was worrying when he suddenly saw a dark shadow on the road, pulling a broken cart and walking toward him with a stumbling gait; the large wooden barrel on the cart was greasy and emitted a nauseating odor...

Ruan Fengshan turned his head to look at Luan Jingfu and said, "Find your own way out of the city. You must not alert the yamen runners signaling at the city gate, or I will slaughter you."

"Yes, Helmsman!" At this moment, Luan Jingfu's attitude was as respectful as a slave's.

At this time, only Ruan Fengshan and Luan Jingfu were in this dark alley; Luan Jingfu did not call Ruan Fengshan Manager, but instead called him Helmsman!

Ruan Fengshan's figure flickered as he darted out of the alley, hugging the shadows along the wall to circle behind the old widower pulling the slop cart; then, Ruan Fengshan lowered his body and, like a ghost, suddenly vanished.

Ruan Fengshan had actually slipped under the slop cart, hooking his hands into the gaps of the cart boards to hang himself beneath it.

The old widower felt his shoulder suddenly sink; he looked back, thinking the cart wheel had snagged a small pebble, adjusted his direction slightly, and continued to pull the slop cart slowly toward the South City gate with a stumbling gait.

The slop cart was still three zhang away from the city gate when the yamen runners were already so stifled by the stench that they covered their noses; a young yamen runner cursed, "Slop-Liu, why aren't you dead yet? It stinks to death!"

"Quick, open the city gate and let him out!"

Ruan Fengshan hung beneath the slop cart, motionless, but the cart swayed incessantly; slop bubbling with grease spilled continuously from the greasy wooden barrel, dripping through the gaps in the cart boards onto Ruan Fengshan's face, sliding down his cheeks and across his lips...

In the Southern Suburbs of Xiangu County, there was a Luanfen Mound.

The Jiuzhou Continent placed great importance on funerals, and most families had ancestral graves.

But this Luanfen Mound was usually for the Public Mortuary.

Many people who died unnatural deaths, or corpses that went unclaimed, could not be left to rot, as that would easily cause a plague.

After the Coroner examined the nameless corpses, they were carried to the Public Mortuary; if unclaimed after three days, they were wrapped in straw mats and buried in this Luanfen Mound.

Therefore, those buried in this Luanfen Mound were all vengeful spirits and evil ghosts who had died unnatural deaths!

At this time, it was the Mao hour, the darkest and deepest time of the night; there was no moon in the high sky, only one large star hung inverted on the horizon...

Duan Rong carried a lantern and drove the cart from the Official Road, turning into the Luanfen Mound area...

In the pitch-black night, countless grave mounds looked like steamed buns, with a few scattered ghost fires drifting with the night wind...

Duan Rong sat on the Escort Cart, his eyes scanning his surroundings, his ears pricked to listen for any movement.

Just as Duan Rong's Escort Cart turned in, two heads poked out from behind a grave mound not far away; both were dressed like Personal Attendants. Another person was lying prone on the grave mound beside them; this person had a short stature and a fat face with big ears, and he said to the two, "Did you see clearly? Who is this person?"

"It seems to be Duan Rong, an Intern Escort from the Second Escort Team!" one of the Personal Attendants replied.

"Seems to be?" the short-statured fellow asked with a piercing gaze.

"It is Duan Rong! The Intern Escort!" the other Personal Attendant replied.

"As long as it's the Intern Escort!" The short-statured man suddenly stood up and whispered to those behind him, "Brothers, grab your weapons, charge!"

In the dark night, figures moved among the grave mounds, causing several ghost fires to flicker and drift erratically...

Duan Rong noticed the abnormal movement of the ghost fires on the grave mounds and immediately focused his eyes, seeing figure after figure dart out from where the ghost fires were flickering!

More than a dozen people, dressed in tight-fitting clothes with sabers at their waists, instantly surrounded Duan Rong; the sound of blades being drawn rang out, and flashes of saber light illuminated the dark night.

Duan Rong stood on the Escort Cart, scanning his surroundings; he noticed that among these people, four were holding crossbows, hiding at the very back, with the tips of the Crossbow Arrows aimed directly at him.

In this dark night, Duan Rong's eyes shone; he was weighing whether, if he used the Cloud Snake Step and the Bone Shrinking Technique together, he could avoid the siege of those Crossbow Arrows...

At this moment, all the enemies hidden in the darkness had revealed themselves; in his view, this was actually the safest time for him.

With Proficiency-level Cloud Snake Step combined with the Bone Shrinking Technique, he was confident he could save his life; as long as they didn't catch him off guard and shoot cold arrows, he estimated that crossbows couldn't hurt him for the time being!

At this moment, a short-statured man suddenly jumped out holding a saber and said, "Kid, where is the gold?"

Duan Rong's eyes flashed as he looked at this person; he saw that the man was round, like a meatball, and on his fat face, his features were squeezed together, his fleshy nose reflecting a greasy sheen under the dim lantern light.

Duan Rong knew this man was their leader and likely the mastermind behind this affair. Duan Rong's gaze hardened; he drew his saber to slash the iron lock of the box at his feet, infused it with Internal Breath, and flipped it with the tip of his toe. The heavy box lid, cast from refined steel, opened with a *clack*, and the golden-bright gold suddenly spilled its radiance into the dark night.

Duan Rong also gasped. The golden light in the dark night was so dazzling, and more importantly, Ruan Fengshan had really let him haul a thousand catties of gold over.

In fact, when he flipped open the box, Duan Rong had already prepared himself for the possibility that there was no gold inside at all.

A thousand catties of gold glittered at Duan Rong's feet!

"Gang Leader! It's gold!"

"I know it's gold!"

Yu Wenlong smiled, his fleshy nose trembling with his laughter; he held his saber and looked at Duan Rong, saying, "Little brother, you've worked hard. I'll send you on your way!"

Yu Wenlong suddenly attacked Duan Rong with his saber; Duan Rong immediately jumped off the Escort Cart and drew his saber to fight back.

As their weapons clashed, Duan Rong instantly knew Yu Wenlong's realm: Inner Breath Realm Second Layer! Duan Rong's mind raced; he suddenly dissipated the Internal Breath he had infused into his Ox-Tail Saber. Having lost the reinforcement of Internal Breath, the Ox-Tail Saber in his hand suddenly flew backward!

Yu Wenlong's gaze was vicious; the moment Duan Rong's Ox-Tail Saber was knocked away, he thrust his saber into Duan Rong's chest, right at the position of the heart.

The cold-glinting blade pierced through Duan Rong's body, the tip of the saber poking out from his back, soaked in bright red blood...

A look of bloodthirsty excitement appeared on Yu Wenlong's face, but the dazzling golden light of the gold nearby continued to stimulate his nerves. Seeing that this Intern Escort was indeed of low realm, allowing him to pierce his heart in a single exchange, he withdrew his saber and kicked Duan Rong away.

Yu Wenlong kicked Duan Rong away and threw himself onto the gold on the Escort Cart, a look of obsession on his face; he picked up a palm-sized gold cake, bit into it, and shouted with a crazed, intoxicated look, "Gold! A thousand catties of gold!"

This Yu Wenlong was the leader of the Bitter Fate Gang, one of the two major gangs in Xiangu County.

The surrounding gang members, seeing that Duan Rong had been killed by their own leader in a single exchange, immediately felt relieved and stared greedily at the gold on the Escort Cart.

Seeing everyone crowding around, Yu Wenlong slammed the refined steel box lid shut and said with a solemn expression, "Brothers, the gold is in hand. This job was finally worth it! Let's finish cleaning up and then go hide at my uncle's place in the countryside for a month, so the people from the Yuanshun Escort Agency don't come looking for trouble with us!"

The surrounding gang members heard this and all cheered happily.

(End of chapter)