Chapter 497

The deck of the large ship was as flat as a plaza. The two leaped up, and the first thing they caused was silence.

The boatmen hauling cables and steering the rudder cast their gaze toward them and slowly stopped their work. Those sturdy bodies stood out vaguely in the morning wind. Seeing Pei Ye scanned them roughly; almost everyone had a sword or blade at their waist or hand.

"... Inspector Xie is a new face." Chen Renzhong walked over, dragging his broad sword, his hard face tanned to a bronze color, "I don't know what brings you here?"

He said these few words extremely slowly, just like his footsteps. And on this giant ship, more and more gazes were cast over. The morning mist was dim, the river was flowing, and here there were indeed only the two of them with their swords.

"Suspecting your ship of smuggling contraband, lower your sails and submit to inspection immediately." Xie Chuantang raised her token to him again, her words still as cold and indifferent as her gaze.

Chen Renzhong was silent for a moment, his expression without fluctuation. In the silence, he slowly raised his hand and said: "Obeying the official's order, lower the sails."

The fully unfurled sails slowly lowered. Seeing Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang exchanged a glance and turned to head toward the cargo hold below the deck. Xie Chuantang signaled to Chen Renzhong, and the man walked silently in front of her.

"Everything we carry is purchased in the Central Plains and transported to the South for sale." Chen Renzhong invited Xie Chuantang into the room. Thick walls isolated the morning wind, leaving only silence, "The Feng River Dock has been eating the water's food under the Son of Heaven's city for twenty years. If the Inspector says there is contraband, I'm afraid there is some misunderstanding."

"If you have nothing to hide, why have you been sailing at full sail for these past few days?"

Chen Renzhong was a famous great ship captain on the Feng River. Years ago, he had already stepped into the Eighth Life Realm. At this distance, he wouldn't need a fourth move to take the head of a young woman in the Sixth Life Realm. But Xie Chuantang didn't seem to be aware of this, or perhaps her courage was truly extraordinary. In any case, her gaze went straight to Chen Renzhong's face.

"The official is joking. The entire ship's cargo has a time limit. It was rainy and windless a few days ago, so we moved slowly. Now that the weather is better, we have to make up for the lost time." Chen Renzhong took out the manifest and handed it to Xie Chuantang, his voice deep and thick, "All one hundred and forty-nine types of commercial goods on this trip are here. Please take a look."

Seeing Pei Ye followed the sailors down the deck, down the stairs. Once the cabin door above his head closed, the only light source left was the fire candle.

The cabin was filled with dampness and body odor. The boatmen here were more mixed; many looked like laborers doing odd jobs, barefoot and wearing headscarves, and they didn't carry swords or blades. The people of the Feng River Dock all wore shirts with tight cuffs, mixed with the laborers, leaning against sacks, without any clear boundaries.

When Seeing Pei Ye came down, he was again met with that kind of silent gaze, pairs of pupils shining in the darkness.

The one who led Seeing Pei Ye down was a younger man named Chen Yingfeng, whose face also looked wind-blown and sun-tanned, his features somewhat similar to Chen Renzhong's: "Whatever the young hero wants to check, everything can be opened one by one."

This level was filled with rows of neat cargo shelves. Looking further out of the cargo hold, it was where the boatmen lived and moved about.

Seeing Pei Ye withdrew his gaze and shook his head: "Go down."

On the second level, the light source was more concentrated toward the fire candles, and the shadows were even more vague. The space here was very large, and the cargo was stacked high.

Seeing Pei Ye walked around twice and signaled to continue downward.

Chen Yingfeng was silent for a moment and walked down to the third level.

The third level had no lights at all. Chen Yingfeng lit one himself, and the faint light could reveal the edges of some stone piles—heavy, dark, rough, with almost no place to step. The moldy smell of no ventilation drifted into his nose and mouth, showing that even on this ship, very few people came here.

Seeing Pei Ye just stood in front of the door, as if nothing had aroused his interest.

"The first level contains some treasures and wealth, all tied firmly to the shelves." In the cabin, Chen Renzhong didn't have any emotions because of the woman's pressure. He poured a cup of tea and pushed it to Xie Chuantang's side, but he leaned against the wall without sitting down.

Xie Chuantang didn't even touch it, her eyes skimming over the items on the manifest.

"The first forty-eight are all of this type." Chen Renzhong's voice was deep and thick, "Jade and porcelain from Central Plains craftsmen always sell for a good price in the South."

Mentioning the "South" seemed to make him more relaxed, a look of longing appearing on his face, but when he spoke again, he had already restrained it: "The second level contains specialties from the North and West—silk, wood carvings, medicinal herbs, and tea... a total of sixty-six types. There are also some grain and vegetable seeds, but those are afraid of rain and moisture above and lake vapor below, so we carry few."

Xie Chuantang inspected them silently.

"The third level contains raw materials not found in the South, such as timber and minerals—all heavy objects." Chen Renzhong's fingers tapped lightly on the broad sword beside him, but his eyes were looking out the window, "That paper has just these things, and there's nothing much to see."

Xie Chuantang closed the manifest: "What about those not recorded on the paper?"

"Those not recorded on the paper don't exist."

"These things are just over half of your load capacity."

"There is a lot of gold, silver, and jewelry, so that's how it is." Chen Renzhong leaned against the wall, his bear-like body looking very relaxed, "Inspector Xie doesn't know much about business—every trip we spend all our money, but we don't necessarily fill the ship."

"What is the principal for this trip?"

"One thousand eight hundred and seventy taels of silver."

Xie Chuantang read quietly for a moment and said softly: "It's not off by a single bit."

"Naturally."

"Three levels have passed, is there nothing the young hero wants to check?"

Seeing Pei Ye raised his hand and signaled downward again.

"What does the young hero mean?"

"Aren't you going to check the fourth level?"

"The young hero is joking. This type of single-masted sail has always only had three bottom holds; where would a fourth level come from?"

"This ship of yours, however, has a fourth level."

"The young hero is still joking." Chen Yingfeng lowered his head, "The 'Nan Jin Feng' has been running river transport for ten years and has always carried three levels of cargo. Even the children at Changan Wharf know this."

"Then you aren't going to let me see it."

"You can't just conjure up a level."

Footsteps came one after another from behind. Seeing Pei Ye turned his head; it was those boatmen from the upper two levels walking down silently. They rolled up their sleeves to reveal bronze-like arms, swords and blades held in their hands.

The Feng River Dock was not a gang gathered through apprenticeship. They were born in the Jianghu and carried the Jianghu spirit. The industry they held in their hands was where their sect was located.

The shadows slowly surrounded the youth. In such a confined space, he had only one arm and one sword. Deeply infiltrating the core hall of the Feng River Dock with an injury—it was truly a lone courage not seen in many years.

Seeing Pei Ye looked at Chen Yingfeng and smiled: "When I handle official business and meet people for the first time, I'm always called 'My Lord' or 'Envoy,' but you call me 'Young Hero.' Do you actually know who I am?"

The cabin was silent for a moment. Chen Yingfeng subconsciously pressed his hand onto the sword at his waist.

Seeing Pei Ye sighed softly and used his thumb to push the sword out of its scabbard slightly. The sword body reflected the candlelight like a mirror. This action suddenly provoked a large "clatter" in the cabin, but the next moment, everyone widened their eyes. The youth turned into pieces of pure white feathers before everyone's eyes and dissipated without a trace.