Chapter 413: Open the Door, Meet Joy (Combined Three Parts)

About silkworm cocoons.

The Gao family and other cargo owners... have a route through Siam; the risk is high, but the profit is enormous.

Then, over a million worth of goods vanished from a warehouse at the Cham Canal dock.

To this day, no one has figured out what happened.

Gao Wanli came to Cham not only to compete with Xu Yuan for the position of Zhanglu, but likely also to secretly investigate this matter.

But as soon as she arrived in Cham, she was subjected to all kinds of “bullying,” and it’s probable she never truly began investigating—right up until her death in Ghost Witch Mountain.

But this forced the behind-the-scenes cargo owners to temporarily abandon this route.

Xu Yuan had long secretly questioned the Hejian; the Hejian, controlled by Shengshi, truthfully reported from within: “For these past few months, no one has smuggled silkworm cocoons out from our side.”

Xu Yuan couldn’t help but feel a certain “nostalgia” for Gao Wanli.

If this woman were still alive, he could trace her trail backward and possibly uncover the source of the silkworm cocoons.

After seeing off Geng Jiu, Xu Yuan suddenly thought of another possibility: if no one has been smuggling cocoons these past months, has anyone been transporting them openly?

This item is not banned from trade in the Huangming, but the taxes on it are extremely high.

This time, Xu Yuan first took out the tortoise shell for divination.

After burning it with his abdominal fire, the tortoise shell cracked with a series of sharp pops.

Great fortune today! All wishes fulfilled!

This artifact isn’t only useful in combat.

But unless in combat, Xu Yuan rarely used it in daily life.

True, divining once daily seems to bring good luck every day.

But don’t forget—the artifact is part of the strange.

The more you use it, the higher the chance of corruption.

If you divined once daily... this tortoise shell would likely, within a year, grow greedy enough to absorb Xu my lord into itself, becoming part of its own being.

But today he used it because Xu my lord truly felt he needed some “good fortune.”

After putting away the tortoise shell, Xu Yuan quietly questioned the Hejian.

The Hejian replied: “I need to look into this.”

All cargo ships passing through the Cham dock must register with the yamen.

But the volume is enormous; the Hejian cannot possibly review every single one daily.

Xu Yuan then left the yamen and walked slowly toward the dock.

Half an hour later, he sat in the back chamber of the Yuan Sheng Hao.

Uncle Yang, seeing his employer arrive, immediately prepared the ledgers and presented them.

“I’m not here to audit the books,” Xu Yuan waved off.

Uncle Yang smiled: “You may choose not to audit, but we cannot fail to prepare.”

Xu Yuan smiled too and casually flipped through them.

The Yuan Sheng Hao’s business was doing well.

Not quite earning a thousand taels a day or a hundredfold profit, but the gross margin hovered around forty percent.

Xu Yuan’s Shangfa thus steadily improved.

The gains were modest, but consistent.

At this pace, even without the Guanghuo Street trade, in another half year, his Shangfa level could rise to the Fifth Tier.

Uncle Yang added: “We keep only fifteen hundred taels of silver on hand daily; the rest is deposited in the Dahe Bank.”

“Here are the receipts, please review them, Master.”

“Currently, we have seventy thousand taels of silver on record, mostly tied up in goods; the inventory’s total value is roughly two hundred thousand taels.”

The Dahe Bank thrives along the canal.

Wherever the Huangming’s canal extends, the Dahe Bank opens branches.

All Huangming merchants know the true owner behind the Dahe Bank is the Canal Dragon King, so they trust it completely with their money.

Other banks and draft houses fall far short in reputation and convenience.

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and closed the ledger: “Well done.”

Uncle Yang, observing his employer’s expression, noticed the smile and quietly exhaled in relief.

He assumed it was due to his own competent management, pleasing his employer.

But he didn’t know Xu Yuan had already received the Hejian’s report: “Indeed, there is a trading house dealing in silkworm cocoons.”

Today’s good fortune has come to pass!

With the Hejian’s help, the details of this trading house would soon be fully uncovered.

The shop was named Rong Shun Hou; its owner bore the surname Wang.

But its roots lay in the Southern Capital, a partnership among several old noble families of the Southern Capital.

Every half-month, a cargo ship passes through Cham, carrying various Huangming export goods—porcelain, tea, silk, and such.

Also included are several rare items, including silkworm cocoons.

But the quantity each time is small.

Between three taels and half a catty.

The Hejian secretly reported to Xu my lord: “They’ve likely falsified the declared figures.”

“Many well-connected trading houses in Zhengzhou do the same.”

“On paper, they obey the law; if imperial inspectors come, they can pass inspection.”

“But in reality, while they declare three taels of cocoons, the ship may be hiding twenty or even fifty catties.”

“These old nobles have only their ancestral titles left; they’ve learned to be cautious in their dealings.”

Xu Yuan understood.

The term “old nobles” referred to the founding nobles of the Huangming or those ennobled during the Jingnan Campaign.

Aside from a few families, most have declined, retaining only inherited titles without any key official posts.

Most can only hold nominal military ranks—General, Commander, and such.

Some fare worse: their titles are too low, and each generation inherits a reduced rank, until now they’re commoners.

With no official position, only a title, if they commit a crime, no one can intervene on their behalf—hence their discretion.

“Calculate the timing—they’ll have a cargo ship arriving tomorrow.”

“But I don’t know if it will carry silkworm cocoons.”

Having received this news, Xu Yuan instructed Uncle Yang: “I won’t return today. Arrange a room for me, and send someone to notify the yamen.”

“Yes.” Uncle Yang went to make arrangements.

That night, Xu Yuan quietly released Pi Long, hiding it beneath the canal’s depths.

The next morning, Xu Yuan used the divination tortoise shell again.

He sought good fortune for today:

Open the door, meet joy—today, something good will surely happen!

By midday, the Rong Shun Hou cargo ship arrived.

The Canal Yamen officials were surprised—the Hejian had suddenly become diligent.

He had come to the dock early, personally overseeing everything.

Xu Yuan received the report he’d hoped for from the Hejian: “The ship carries four taels of silkworm cocoons.”

Xu Yuan stepped out and told Uncle Yang: “Prepare a sum of silver.”

Acting on Xu Yuan’s instructions, the Hejian negotiated with Rong Shun Hou’s men to purchase this batch of cocoons.

Though reluctant, Rong Shun Hou had to agree—their ships regularly passed through the Cham dock.

But they demanded a high price.

Xu Yuan agreed and told Uncle Yang: “Take the silver to the dock. Someone will meet you there.”

Uncle Yang immediately set off, asking no questions he shouldn’t.

Had Rong Shun Hou refused to sell, Xu Yuan would have had to send Pi Long to release Shengshi and quietly retrieve some cocoons himself.

Uncle Yang was startled to see the man meeting him was none other than the Hejian’s personal attendant.

Then came quiet delight.

He realized his trading house would now enjoy untroubled passage at the dock.

Uncle Yang returned with a box: “Master.”

Xu Yuan took the box and rose: “That’s all. I’m returning.”

Back at the Cham Office, he opened the box—inside, a full box of silkworm cocoons.

Half a catty each, eight in total.

Xu Yuan picked one up and swallowed it, using his abdominal fire to refine and consume it.

Wang Shen once said silkworm cocoons form when peaches, apricots, pomegranates, chestnuts, and similar fruits ripen but remain hanging on branches, enduring a winter of wind, frost, snow, and rain; come spring, certain demonic insects burrow inside, spin silk, and fuse with the fruit.

Having passed through cycles of life and death, they carry a profound sense of “the boundary between life and death.”

Shen Xiu can use silkworm cocoons to directly elevate Yin Soldiers into Divine Generals.

Jiang Xiu’s Twelve Golden Men, Wooden Cows, and Flowing Horses require cocoons to be awakened, granting them true “life.”

Some Wu Xiu, upon reaching the Fifth Tier and facing the “Life-Death Threshold,” also consume large quantities of cocoons beforehand to increase their success rate.

In the Huangming, the use of silkworm cocoons is always tied to “life and death.”

After consuming this cocoon food, Xu Yuan gained some understanding of its nature.

“Could it be that Westerners who ingest secret potions and directly communicate with their so-called patron deities are merely hallucinating as they hover on the boundary between life and death?”

Xu Yuan muttered to himself.

He swallowed another one.

Half of the eight cocoon foods in the box were quickly gone.

The medicinal effect finally seemed sufficient—Xu Yuan suddenly felt he wasn’t holding the Yin-Yang Guillotine, yet he saw the world normally visible only through his “right eye.”

Even further—he saw the “Zhuo Jian” of Zhan City!

In the Zhuo Jian, the first to sense it was the Yin-Yang Python; its two heads turned together, their gazes landing on Xu Yuan across the void.

At first, it showed a flicker of confusion, then sudden realization.

After a moment’s thought…

The Yin-Yang Python retracted its massive body, sinking into a chaotic torrent of void waterfalls.

The Doumian Ghost floated above a murky blood pool, where countless strange, half-fish, half-insect evils bobbed and sank.

The Doumian Ghost opened its bloody maw, as if roaring something at the evils.

Suddenly, it sensed something and turned toward Xu Yuan’s direction.

But then it noticed the Yin-Yang Python’s odd behavior, and gave a knowing, sinister grin.

On a desolate desert plain, a cluster of black-oil evil rapidly coalesced from cracks in the sand and stone, then—puff—transformed into a blood cloud.

The blood cloud churned and shifted, forming the shape of a single eye in its center.

It stared at Xu Yuan for a long while, then—puff—dissolved into gray mist, swirling vaguely toward him.

Within the gray mist, all the evils Xu Yuan had ever seen instantly manifested!

Xu Yuan was instantly startled, his whole body jerking as fire surged violently in his dantian.

Before the gray mist could reach him, Xu Yuan finally broke free of that state.

“Huh—” Xu Yuan exhaled a breath of yin energy.

The gray-black yin energy churned and dispersed.

His body slowly warmed from cold; the sensation of his heartbeat returned.

Before his eyes now appeared the normal yang world.

Could the Westerners’ so-called god of communication actually be communicating with these great evils in the Zhuo Jian?

“But… does the West even have a Zhuo Jian?”

Xu Yuan shifted his eyes again: “What was that thing that just attacked me? I’ll ask the Yin-Yang Python about it later.”

…

In the Zhuo Jian at this moment, the menacing gray mist suddenly lost its target.

It exploded in place, reverting to a writhing mass of black oil.

The Doumian Ghost watched from afar.

The Yin-Yang Python reemerged from the void waterfall, both heads fixed on the black oil.

“He is the Zhanglu of Zhan City’s Quhui Si.”

“Neither you nor I are Ruan Tianye—we lack the power to make the Huangming Court fear us.”

“If you eat him, the Huangming Court will hunt us to death!”

The black oil formed a deep, cavernous mouth.

It roared:

“You two cowards!”

“This is our world!”

“Xiao Xi Miao has already been polluted by the living—must this place be invaded by him too?!”

The Yin-Yang Python’s two faces sank downward, its tail hooking into the void waterfall.

In the Zhuo Jian, as if a layer of void membrane had been lifted, it enveloped all three great evils.

“Tell the truth!”

Only the three of them remained here.

Both the Doumian Ghost and the Yin-Yang Python knew the black oil well, and stared at it.

The black oil’s terrifying cavernous mouth shrank to normal size.

Its voice became muffled, as if speaking through a mouth full of liquid: “I’m afraid too.”

“But after he appeared in the Zhuo Jian, I sensed he’s connected to ‘Shen Xu’!”

The Yin-Yang Python and the Doumian Ghost exclaimed together: “Shen Xu?!”

“He’s only fifth-stream—how could he possibly touch Shen Xu?!”

But the black oil suddenly sank downward, piercing through the void membrane the Yin-Yang Python had raised, and plunged back into the barren desert.

“Bad!” Both great evils cried out together.

The Yin-Yang Python swiftly retreated back into the void waterfall.

The Doumian Ghost shrank to the size of a copper coin in an instant, drifting beneath a pile of broken bricks and stones.

Above the Zhuo Jian, in the endless void, a wound slowly opened.

Through the wound, one could directly see the starry sky.

The stars shimmered with strange, unnatural hues—utterly different from the brilliant stars seen by the living in the yang world!

After a moment, something drifted past above the wound.

It circled several times, as if searching for something.

The Doumian Ghost deeply regretted not hiding deep enough!

But now, it dared not move even slightly.

Not just them—all other evils in the Zhuo Jian remained utterly still.

Time itself slowed in a literal sense.

The thing from Shen Xu finally departed, disappointed.

The “wound” began slowly healing.

Long after, the three great evils dared to surface again.

The Yin-Yang Python raised the void membrane once more, enclosing them all.

The black oil raged, roaring: “Now do you believe me? That… was here for him!”

We must do something—ban him from wandering freely in the Zhuo Jian!

He doesn’t know the horror of Shen Xu—but we do!”

The Doumian Ghost’s massive face was grim—he had truly been terrified.

The Yin-Yang Python was reluctant, but the Doumian Ghost and black oil pressed him: “You go warn him!”

Only the Yin-Yang Python had ever interacted with Xu Yuan.

The Yin-Yang Python snorted, flicked its tail, and turned away.

It didn’t agree on the spot—that was about pride. You two pressure me, so I must comply?

But not refusing meant tacit consent.

…

After consuming four cocoon foods, he had personally experienced the sensation of the boundary between life and death.

Xu Yuan examined his own changes.

For Westerners, it was taking a “secret potion”; for Xu Yuan, it was “feeding” on the cocoon food—absorbing certain properties into himself.

The first change: his cultivation speed increased slightly.

The change wasn’t obvious, but Xu Yuan was already fifth-stream—he could precisely sense any subtle shift in himself.

For example, practicing the “Five Cauldrons Cooking,” after consuming the cocoon food, his usual fifty-day task now took only about forty-eight and a half days.

As Xu Yuan further investigated why this change occurred, his expression hardened.

This acceleration came from his body becoming more “harmonious” with yin energy!

The origin of cultivators likely lies in the strange phenomena.

The power absorbed during cultivation is, in fact, yin energy.

Thus, rapid progress or continuous cultivation may trigger strange transformations.

Huangming cultivators all control their own contamination.

They strive to keep their bodies in a low-contamination state.

But perfect non-contamination is impossible.

Each time Xu Yuan shed his skin, for a very brief period, he was almost certainly in a “perfectly uncontaminated” state—unmatched by any other Huangming cultivator.

But it was only “almost certainly.”

The higher the contamination, the better one absorbs and assimilates yin energy—this is common knowledge among cultivators.

But no one dares…

The second change: Xu Yuan’s connection to his craft objects felt “intimate.”

This was the first time he’d felt such a sensation.

Some craft objects even gave him a nearly “pet-like” feeling!

Using them became smoother, as if extending his own limbs, their power sharply increasing.

This made Xu Yuan feel a false impression that the “weight of fate” required by these crafts had lessened!

“It’s not lessened at all,” Xu Yuan realized: “These crafts are stealing weight! If I fall for this trick, over time they’ll steal my life away!”

This change, at its root… was still due to increased contamination within himself.

Crafts originate from the strange.

After contamination increased, he naturally grew closer to the crafts.

At this moment, Xu Yuan dared not take out the Fourth-Rank “Bell Spikes.”

In his current state, he might even hear that thing whispering inside his ears!

Another change was that the Six-Eyed Ming Egg Spirit Core stirred restlessly within him.

It seemed to have designs on the Dragon Pearl Inner Core.

If one were to express this with a famous saying, it would be:

He can be replaced!

All these changes stemmed from intensified contamination of his body.

After consuming four Cocoon Feeds, he had briefly sunk into the Murky Realm.

It was as if he had achieved the effect Wang Shen had described before leaving: “Crossing Yin.”

“Cocoon Feeds originate from Huangming. Our ancestors long ago discovered this material, yet used it with extreme caution—likely because of this very reason!”

The medicinal effect is strong, but the side effects are too great.

“Western Barbarian practitioners each time they ascend must consume secret medicines containing Cocoon Feeds; clearly, their residual contamination must be very high.”

“If we can provoke contamination, we win without fighting.”

Then Xu Yuan suddenly thought of another question: “Cocoon Feeds are all sold from Huangming to the Western Barbarians.

Without Cocoon Feeds, there are no secret medicines; without secret medicines, there are no practitioners…

Does that mean Western Barbarian practitioners appeared far later than Huangming cultivators?

Or did the Western Barbarians previously have other substitutes?”

Xu Yuan did not know.

He sat cross-legged, used the fire in his dantian to steam himself, and cleared away his contamination.

After more than an hour, he returned to his original level.

But one benefit remained: his affinity with yin spirits had slightly increased.

In the future, when he summoned the yin soldiers from the Six-Eyed Ming Egg, they would no longer resist him so strongly.

Xu Yuan put away the remaining Cocoon Feeds.

Only four remained—he didn’t know how valuable they were among Western Barbarian practitioners, or whether they could buy a mole.

“Probably a bit too few…”

Xu Yuan speculated.

Lord Xu spent three thousand taels for this box of four liang of Cocoon Feeds.

According to “Rongshunhou,” they sold them to the Western Barbarians for at least forty thousand taels!

But Hejian had told Lord Xu that “Rongshunhou” exaggerated.

In the Zhengzhou region, four liang of Cocoon Feeds cost about two thousand taels.

Transported to the Western Barbarians, the price rose tenfold—to twenty thousand taels.

But Western Barbarian merchants then resold them to practitioners, adding several more times the price.

The two liang of Cocoon Feeds left in Lord Xu’s possession were worth roughly ten thousand taels of silver in the Western Barbarians’ lands.

That sum sounded substantial, but the envoy came to Huangming bearing a national mission; in Lord Xu’s view, ten thousand taels probably wouldn’t move them.

Lord Xu checked the time—it was nearly dinner hour—and rose to open the door and step out—

The moment he opened the door, Qin Ze burst into the courtyard, shouting loudly: “My lord, my lord, come quick—Red-Haired Barbarians! I’ve never seen Red-Haired Barbarians before—these devils are hideous!”

Xu Yuan froze: “Red-Haired Barbarians? Where?”

“At the main gate—they say they want to see you,” Old Qin grinned, grinning with his teeth showing; today happened to be his turn guarding the gate: “These barbarians don’t understand our Huangming ranks at all—they only said they want to meet the biggest official in town.”

Xu Yuan was puzzled—why would Red-Haired Barbarians come here?

They were common along the coast, but Zhancheng was hundreds of miles inland.

Besides, Huangming and the Red-Haired Barbarians had fought several battles in the Southern Seas—they were hardly friendly.

“Bring them in.”

“Yes!”

Qin Ze returned shortly, leading them in.

Along the way, Old Qin kept muttering: “You barbarians speak Han Chinese pretty well.”

“On Huangming soil, you follow Huangming customs—you must kneel and kowtow before my lord…”

Five Red-Haired Barbarians arrived, their skin rough and reddish, clearly from years of exposure to sea winds and harsh sun.

Their leader was short, nearly two heads shorter than Old Qin.

Granted, Old Qin was a Wu Xiu and naturally large, but even among ordinary Huangming folk, he was below average height.

He had thick, curly brown-red hair, and even his beard was curly.

Hooked nose, eyes sharp and defiant.

Before Lord Xu, he refused to kneel—only placed a hand over his chest and bowed slightly, speaking awkward Han: “I, Alejandro, Marquis of Castile, pay my respects to the Lord of this Eastern city…”

Qin Ze exploded: “Kneel!”

Seeing this Western Barbarian defied his warning and refused to kneel, he swung his massive palm down to pin the man’s shoulder and force him to the ground.

Huangming didn’t have a custom of kneeling—ordinary people didn’t kneel before Lord Xu either.

But Old Qin firmly believed barbarians must kneel!

Yet as his hand came down, Alejandro’s body suddenly dissolved into black mist, then reformed seven feet away.

Old Qin blinked: “Hmm… some trickery…”

Alejandro’s face darkened: “I, the Marquis, have come to aid you!”

(End of Chapter)