Chapter 272: Appeal for Aid

"Silk cocoons? But Ghost Wushan doesn't produce silk cocoons, nor does Little Yu Shan—so how could they be in the canal office's warehouse in Zhan City?"

Xu Yuan muttered to himself in confusion, his voice slowing as he gradually figured out the answer: "Smuggling?"

Zhang Laoya nodded: "If this batch of silk cocoons reaches the red-haired barbarians, the profit doubles! If such a massive sum of silver vanishes, do you think the people behind this will go mad?"

Those who could use the canal office's channels to smuggle their own goods must have immense power and unfathomable influence.

"They dare not make a sound—today is actually the second daytime since the goods went missing; they need to gather elite hands, ordinary eighth- and seventh-tier cultivators can't handle an incident like this."

That's why everything seems so calm.

Behind Miao Yu doesn't even know what was stolen, so he's taking his time investigating—and still has the leisure to try recruiting me."

Xu Yuan gritted his teeth: "Zhang Laoya, this deal might ruin me! You're cheating me—this is outrageously unfair!"

These past few days, Xu Yuan felt his cultivation in the Merchant Law steadily rising.

Clearly, Tian Jing and the Jiao had successfully opened their business on Guanghuo Street.

But if this deal with Zhang Laoya leaves me with massive losses, it might erase all my gains!

Getting dragged into something like this… it's nearly impossible to avoid losses.

The hidden "merchandise owner" stored one million two hundred thousand taels worth of silk cocoons in a single warehouse—his resources are even more extravagant than Chen Liangxuan and Su Bingyue's!"

And he must be even more insane than them.

Behind Miao Yu is the Chief of Discipline for Shanhe Office—he's useful to the merchandise owner and might even be pulled into the deal as a partner.

But Xu Yuan, a lowly patrol inspector of the Purification Office… I'm definitely on the hit list for elimination.

Zhang Laoya frowned, helplessly: "Cheating you brings me no benefit either!"

Because this deal is unfair, Zhang Laoya's own cultivation will plummet!

Zhang Laoya never imagined things would turn out like this.

He winced in pain, then gritted his teeth: "I'll give you all the fifth- and fourth-tier methods of the Merchant Law! Is that fair enough now?"

Xu Yuan didn't hold back: "Compared to the trouble this affair will bring me, that price isn't fair at all!"

Zhang Laoya was momentarily speechless—this kid is too greedy!

But after mentally calculating, he realized… it really wasn't fair enough…

Mainly because Xu Yuan's life is so damn valuable!

Zhang Laoya was filled with regret—he couldn't afford the loss of cultivation decline nearly as much as Xu Yuan could.

Xu Yuan is young and cultivates two other paths besides this one.

Even if his Merchant Law cultivation regresses and his level drops, Xu Yuan still has time.

He can slowly rebuild it later.

Even abandoning the Merchant Law wouldn't be a major loss for Xu Yuan.

But Zhang Laoya is old—he has no chance to start over.

If his level drops this time, he'll never again cross the threshold of fifth-tier.

Zhang Laoya didn't intentionally cheat Xu Yuan—he's being cheated even worse than Xu Yuan.

"Enough," Zhang Laoya sighed. "I'll compensate you with a sixth-tier artifact…"

"I don't want artifacts," Xu Yuan sneered—your artifacts can't compare to my stepmother's.

Zhang Laoya gritted his teeth: "A treasure—a treasure that can be refined into a magical artifact! Is that fair enough now?"

Xu Yuan thought for a moment, then reluctantly nodded: "Fine."

"After this matter is settled, I'll take you to retrieve it."

Finally, the haggling ended. Xu Yuan asked: "Alright, now tell me—why did your three mistresses steal these silk cocoons?"

Zhang Laoya scratched his head in agitation: "That's the most troublesome part—they were ordered by Master Wen Bin Bin…"

"Master Wen Bin Bin really ordered this? This is truly a mess!" Xu Yuan gasped.

Master Wen Bin Bin doing this means he knows someone in court is using the canal for smuggling!

Master Wen Bin Bin is ready to blow the lid off this whole thing!

The Pure Stream faction also has a habit of being recklessly bold.

They don't care about the aftermath—indeed, the bigger the fallout, the better, because their fame will explode.

It's the classic "kill and walk away" attitude.

Master Wen Bin Bin didn't come to Zhan City because of Xu Yuan's letter—he didn't come to "correct wrongful cases." He came specifically for what's stored in the canal office's warehouse.

Solving Xu Yuan's "small case" was just a side trip to earn minor prestige.

Now that Master Wen Bin Bin holds such critical evidence, he's determined to expose everything—no one can stop him.

Impossible to stop.

But after careful thought, Xu Yuan realized that at this point, letting Master Wen Bin Bin blow the lid off might actually be the best option.

The court will be thrown into chaos, dragging in countless people.

The "merchandise owner" side will be overwhelmed trying to respond.

The silk cocoons were stolen by three Dream Moths—the Dream Moths are connected to Zhang Laoya, and Zhang Laoya lives in my Nancheng patrol quarters.

With all these convoluted connections, I'm not really a "key figure"—the "merchandise owner" won't blame or retaliate against me until everything calms down.

I'll have a long buffer period.

Xu Yuan exhaled slightly, then heard Zhang Laoya say: "But those silk cocoons weren't stolen by the Dream Moths."

Xu Yuan's hair stood on end: "What did you say?!"

Zhang Laoya repeated: "The one million two hundred thousand taels worth of silk cocoons weren't stolen by the Dream Moths. When they struck, they found the warehouse already empty—the cocoons were already gone!"

"This…" Xu Yuan was speechless.

Without key evidence, Master Wen Bin Bin can't blow the lid off.

Once the cargo owner's forces arrive, Champa will become the center of a massive whirlpool, an exceptionally dangerous situation!

"Do Mengmo and the others not know who stole it?"

"They do not know."

"Then those wealthy merchants in the city..."

"Those were the work of the Mengmo. Originally, they intended to use the thefts from these wealthy merchants' homes as a cover for the Canal Office theft case, but unexpectedly, they ended up covering for someone else."

Xu Yuan's mind raced, and he quickly decided: "Go see those three again immediately, explain the stakes clearly to them, and have them secretly assist us in finding those cocoon-foods!"

At this moment, escaping is almost impossible.

As soon as the cargo owner's forces investigate and discover that the wealthy merchants' storehouses were targeted by the Mengmo,

and then check the Canal Office's warehouse, they will guess that the Mengmo's true objective was the cocoon-foods inside the warehouse.

They will surely kill them to silence them.

Then neither he nor Zhang Laoya could escape involvement.

Zhang Laoya gritted his teeth: "Good!"

At this point, he did not mention anything about not daring to see the three sisters again.

Xu Yuan wrote a letter, tucked it into his chest, left the room, and went directly to find Fu Jingyu.

Song Lu was indeed in Fu Jingyu's room again.

Xu Yuan handed the letter to Fu Jingyu: "You must go to Luo City personally and deliver this letter to my lord the Commander."

The matter was too big for Xu Yuan to handle alone, and he had no intention of bearing it himself.

With such small shoulders, how much weight could he possibly carry?

I too have a backer; naturally, I must seek help from my backer immediately.

(End of this chapter)