Chapter 1279: Transporting Treasure

This meant that Fu Liushan was willing to stay. "The story of the Pu Nation?" He Lingchuan knew that Fu Liushan was probably stirred up by the past of Concubine Mei. Men, you know, but no, "Let him tell the Battle of Cotton Village first, focusing on the execution of Ghost King Xuan Lu. This battle happened not long ago and was a major event that occurred in the Situ territory, closely related to the people. As for news, one must pay attention to timeliness."

The real body of Ghost King Xuan Lu died in the underground palace of the Howling Forest, but the common people didn't know. Even the Situ family's army thought Ghost King Xuan Lu was beheaded at Cotton Village, after all, there were countless people who witnessed it with their own eyes at the time.

Then, this was the fact. Anyway, the Ghost King had been eliminated and wouldn't appear in the future.

The point is:

The Ghost King died at the hands of He Lingchuan.

Whether it was in the story of the Battle of Cotton Village or in the reality of the Qu Yu underground palace, he had personally killed the Ghost King!

Since getting the Qiang Dragon Battle Armor, He Lingchuan had wanted to do another experiment.

Dou Wenguan immediately said: "Good, I'll go notify him in a while."

"Have the storytellers been recruited?"

"Only thirteen were recruited from the ten miles and eight villages." Dou Wenguan shook his head, "The folk are impoverished, and few people make a living this way. Unlike Bailie and the Qing Nation, where there can be four or five in a small city."

"The poorer and more distressed the people are, the more they need spiritual adjustment." He Lingchuan knew very well that these jobs had to be subsidized in the early stages. "Fu Liushan knows what kind of stories he needs to tell, and he also needs you to check them."

Dou Wenguan nodded and agreed.

The mirror in He Lingchuan's bosom muttered: "Organizing a few storytellers requires your personal inquiry; it's truly laborious."

Was his master not busy enough?

He Lingchuan smiled, and there was a tacit understanding:

The fundamental purpose of Yangshan hiring Fu Liushan and other storytellers lay in "preaching."

Legends and stories have the simplest power among the people, spreading knowledge and enlightening wisdom.

He needed to borrow this power, commonly known as smuggling private goods, to let himself and Yangshan's influence seep into the places he passed. This method seemed harmless and wouldn't attract the resentment of local regimes.

After suffering a loss in Jade Balance City, he deeply understood the importance of public opinion propaganda.

Besides, since having the Qiang Dragon Battle Armor, this was an important step to pave the way for his subsequent plans.

Dou Wenguan had just left when Dong Rui came: "Wanqi Feng's troops have all arrived, are we leaving?"

"Go." The main event was coming, and He Lingchuan stood up immediately.

The Changlong Martial Arts School had two hundred people on duty outside, and Wanqi Feng led the remaining eleven hundred or so to Ju City.

He Lingchuan took them to the Howling Forest thirty *li* away to transport Ghost King Xuan Lu's treasure! Those few big mountains couldn't be moved by him and Dong Rui alone, and a few storage spaces couldn't hold them at all.

With the help of the Divine Bone Necklace, all the Yin *sha* within ten *li* was sucked away, so

Just moving the goods out of the underground palace took over ten hours.

All the transport fleets of the Yangshan Society were filled to capacity, and yet only half of the underground palace's treasures had been cleared out.

There was no help for it; they would have to come back and move the rest next time.

Thus, the Changlong Martial Escort Agency launched the largest armed transport operation since its founding! This joint fleet was vast and magnificent, a truly spectacular sight.

The matter was of great importance, so He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had to personally oversee the formation—who would have dared to imagine escorting a massive amount of wealth through such a chaotic land half a year ago?

From the Howling Forest to Giant Deer Port, the Changlong Martial Escort Agency was already very familiar with the route. Wan Sifeng had long since memorized where they could stop, where bandits lurked, and where the terrain was dangerous and prone to ambushes.

The Yangshan Society had even set up dedicated outposts along the way to facilitate the transport of their own merchant fleets and security teams.

During this escort mission, the Changlong Martial Escort Agency fought off or drove away three groups of robbers.

The reason they were only attacked three times was that the escort team numbered over a thousand, with a menacing momentum and well-equipped gear, their lineup rivaling that of a small nation's army. Ordinary bandits, upon seeing them, would mostly choose to retreat.

Furthermore, Wan Sifeng had led the Changlong security teams to escort Allied grain supplies several times previously, effectively "plowing" through the bandits on this road back and forth, pinning at least three hundred unlucky souls to the roadside as human banners. Consequently, the road conditions had improved, and no one dared to rob the Changlong Martial Escort Agency anymore.

The Yangshan Society's own fleet was already docked at Giant Deer Port, waiting to be loaded.

He Lingchuan took Wan Sifeng and a portion of the security team aboard, while the rest returned to the Changlong Martial Escort Agency's main base at Giant Deer Port.

It was already spring, and He Lingchuan needed to return to the Yangshan Archipelago before the hurricane season arrived.

In two months' time, when the maritime hurricanes appeared, it would no longer be a good time to transport wealth.

￥￥￥￥￥

The return journey happened to catch a southwest wind, and the ships traveled very quickly.

He Lingchuan had been away on this long journey for quite some time; it was time to return to his lair.

Firstly, there was an Earthly Yin Qi exit beneath the Yangshan Archipelago, and he had to go back to replace the Punishment Dragon Pillars; otherwise, if the evil energy filled up and overflowed, neither man nor beast would survive.

Secondly, Yangshan's industries were still flourishing, and he couldn't truly be an absentee proprietor; he had to return periodically to look after things.

Anyone who has done business knows that the efficiency is completely different when the boss is present versus when he is not. The organizational structure of the Yangshan Archipelago had not yet reached a redundant stage, but precisely because of that, many matters still required his personal decision. Sending bird demons back and forth between Yangshan and the Flash Gold Plain to deliver messages was, after all, neither sustainable nor secure.

Thirdly, the treasure of the Xuanlu Ghost King had to be transported back to Yangshan! The Xuanlu Ghost King who guarded the underground palace was gone, so the security of the palace was greatly diminished; besides, money is only money if it circulates—piling it up underground was completely useless.

He Lingchuan decided to let them serve their proper purpose.

The moment the Yangshan Archipelago appeared on the horizon, the security team on the ships cheered aloud.

Their nerves had been stretched tight throughout the journey, and even He Lingchuan felt exhausted.

Back on his own turf, both the treasure and he were finally safe.

The scene on the day they docked and unloaded was spectacular. Box after box of treasure was moved from the large ships and piled into mountains in the secret warehouses deep within Yangshan.

This trip to the Flash Gold Plain had been fruitful.

Lei Ni and the others, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, gasped in shock: "No wonder it's called the Flash Gold Plain; it's truly wealthy!"

He Lingchuan only needed to send the treasure back to the Yangshan Archipelago; the subsequent tedious tasks of sorting, categorizing, and recording were left for Ding Zuodong to arrange.

It is good to have subordinates, and it is good to have capable subordinates.

Even with Ding Zuodong adding more manpower and working overtime, it still took a full five days to finish cataloging the treasure.

According to the final report, the actual value of the Ghost King's treasure He Lingchuan brought back, when converted, was approximately 5.2 million silver taels! With Ding Zuodong's current experience, his eyes still lit up when reporting these figures.

He was truly worthy of being the Proprietor; he had quietly pulled off a big score! Not to mention the boxes upon boxes of gold and silver, which were the easiest to count;

there were also brilliant, shimmering gemstones, both raw stones and finished jewelry.

(End of Chapter)