Chapter 2621: Trade and Advancement (10)

Ax Merchant Guild...

Zhao Chi didn't really remember where it was.

The guild names here were all translated names.

With a name like that, it should be a guild from a Western-style city; the architectural style was a bit different.

Zhao Chi looked left and right, noticed the guilds on the opposite diagonal corner all had different styles, so it must be over there.

Passing through a small path lit by cold spirit-energy lamps, Zhao Chi and his two companions arrived at the area diagonally ahead.

Sure enough, his guess was right.

The Ax Merchant Guild was not far ahead.

It was a small two-story wooden building.

Not very big, but quite distinctive.

Full of Western-city style, clearly different from the architecture of Snowfield City.

At this moment only a few spirit-energy lamps outside were glowing, the Ax Merchant Guild's wooden door was tightly shut, and there was not a single person nearby.

According to Li Ruanyu, Yin Wanyan had also just arrived, and the moment she got here she started asking about Gu Qing.

So Li Ruanyu immediately contacted Zhao Chi.

The Ruby Merchant Guild had a good relationship with the Ax Merchant Guild, so Yin Wanyan had temporarily come here to stay.

Since the door was closed, they'd just have someone open it.

Although it was already past three in the morning, there were definitely people on duty inside.

Moreover, Zhao Chi could clearly hear people talking inside.

The voices weren't loud, seemed to be coming from within the building.

But Zhao Chi's super-sharp hearing still picked up the faint sounds.

So Zhao Chi lightly knocked on the door.

Bang bang bang!

The talking inside stopped.

Now it was completely silent.

Just as Zhao Chi was about to knock again, a cold male voice suddenly came from inside.

"Who is it?"

Zhao Chi said, "I'm here to see Manager Yin."

"I asked who you are!"

The attitude was extremely harsh.

"... I'm Zhao Si's contact."

"Zhao Si? Perfect! Open the door!"

Perfect?

What did that mean?

Zhao Chi had never heard this voice before, but the man seemed to also be waiting for Zhao Si? Was he one of Yin Wanyan's people?

But he couldn't let his guard down now.

Zhao Chi immediately stepped back a few paces.

At the same time he said to Tang Ruan and Qi Yue, "Stay sharp."

The two women silently nodded.

Creak—

The heavy wooden door swung outward.

Bright light from inside poured out.

Backlit by the light, over twenty armored soldiers suddenly rushed out.

From the look of them they were high-rank soldiers from the training grounds, each wearing super-improved-grade steel armor with steel sabers at their waists.

Within seconds they had Zhao Chi's group of three surrounded in the middle.

Zhao Chi was a bit dumbfounded.

What was going on?

The ones who rushed out were all soldiers; the important people were still inside.

The interior of the guild was very spacious; the first floor was a great hall.

There were some small meeting rooms along the edges; the talking just now had come from the meeting rooms.

Now all those people had come out into the great hall.

The spirit-energy lamps lit the great hall bright as day, and Zhao Chi could clearly see over ten people.

Those people were clearly divided into three groups.

On the far left was the military.

In the middle of the military group was a lord wearing black armor, staring at Zhao Chi with a scrutinizing gaze, while his eyes kept sweeping back and forth over Tang Ruan and Qi Yue.

Behind him were four subordinates also in black armor, who looked like adjutants and were very strong.

On the right there were two groups.

One group of seven were obviously merchants, with blond hair and green eyes—merchants from a Western-style city.

They were dressed in finery and wore all kinds of jewelry; one look told you they were very rich.

Especially the two female merchants among them, who had ordinary looks, but heavy makeup forcibly bumped up their looks a bit, and with the foil of their clothes and jewelry they actually looked somewhat presentable.

There was even a strange sort of beauty to them.

The merchants' faces were all anxious, as if they were trying hard to explain something.

But now they had all stopped talking and were looking at Zhao Chi and his group; there was nothing particularly strange in their eyes.

The other group on the right had four people.

It was Shopkeeper Wanyan and her three female shop assistants.

Shopkeeper Wanyan's hair was somewhat disheveled.

In his memory, she was a woman who paid great attention to her appearance, especially in the service industry, where personal grooming mattered even more.

But now she seemed to have no time to worry about such things.

The three female shop assistants beside her were all subordinates of Shopkeeper Wanyan; Zhao Chi had seen them in the clothing shop before, and this time they had come along with Shopkeeper Wanyan as well.

They were all wearing a set of dark-brown leather armor, looking travel-worn; they had probably indeed only just arrived.

Shopkeeper Wanyan's expression was somewhat anxious, her delicate brows tightly knit, her pretty face taut, and she looked at Zhao Chi with great surprise.

She had never met Zhao Chi before; this was the first time.

All these people were standing inside the hall.

From their positions, one could tell that Shopkeeper Wanyan and the Exx Trading Company were one side, and the military was the other.

But the few people from the Exx Trading Company were clearly keeping a little distance from Shopkeeper Wanyan's group, as if wanting to draw a clear line between themselves and them.

Zhao Chi was very puzzled.

What was going on?

Shopkeeper Wanyan's group seemed to be in a bad spot.

He wondered where they had offended the garrison of Shubei Town?

After the soldiers charged out, the lord inside coldly gave the order: "Bring those three in!"

From that cold tone, one could tell he was the one who had been asking questions behind the door just now.

The soldiers around Zhao Chi stepped forward, clearly intending to force Zhao Chi and his group inside.

Zhao Chi was not afraid of them.

No matter how strong they were, they were only at the level of 6th-tier soldiers, and merely human 6th-tier soldiers at that; Qiyue alone could cut them to pieces in a matter of seconds.

Even if Tang Ruan stood still and let them hack at her, they couldn't kill her even if they wore out all their weapons' durability.

And Zhao Chi's stats had now gone explosive; even without relying on those two women, he still had strong combat power, let alone being able to enter them at any time.

So he really had nothing to fear.