Chapter 1523
by“Shopkeeper, come here for a moment.” Yang Kai beckoned to him.
He had been watching coldly just now and didn’t know what had happened exactly, so he wanted to inquire. After all, no matter what, this place had a reluctant relationship with the Lingxiao Sect.
“What do you command, guest?” Do you still want some food and wine? The shopkeeper came to Yang Kai and asked with a forced smile.
“Food and wine are not urgent.” Yang Kai smiled slightly and looked suspiciously at the stairs: Who were those two people just now? Why did they come to this restaurant to eat and drink, not only without paying, but also asking you for Saint Crystals?
“This…” The shopkeeper looked is stunned, looked around, and found that those guests were all drinking and having fun and didn’t mean to pay attention here. Then he lowered his voice and said: “Guest, you are new to Bibo City, right?”
“That’s right.” Yang Kai nodded slightly.
“Then you’d better leave early. Bibo City is not a place to stay for a long time.” The shopkeeper had a mysterious expression on his face and kept waving his hand after speaking.
“Not a place to stay for a long time？” Yang Kai frowned. “Is something going to happen here？”
He saw that people were coming and going in this city, looking rather lively and prosperous, and the situation in the city was also calm, seemingly without any sign of a major event about to happen.
“Hehe…” The shopkeeper gave a bitter smile. “Guest, you just listen to this old man’s advice. If you want to leave, do it quickly. If you stay here for a long time, you won’t be able to leave even if you want to.”
“What do you mean? Please, shopkeeper, “make your words clear.” Yang Kai looked at him with burning eyes. “I heard that this place is affiliated with Zhantian City and it counts as the property of Lingxiao Sect. How could there still be someone who dares to do harm to this city?”
“Can’t say anymore, can’t say anymore. Although this old man doesn’t have many years left to live, I don’t want to die so early either. Guest, you do as you please.” The shopkeeper kept shaking his head, his face looking ugly, and as he said this, he was about to turn around and leave.
“I am a person of Lingxiao Sect！” Yang Kai said in a deep voice.
“What？” The shopkeeper’s face changed greatly, and he looked at Yang Kai in a daze.
“Don’t be so nervous.” Yang Kai smiled. “I am a disciple of Lingxiao Sect. I was ordered by the Sect Master to come here for secret investigations. Old man, if you have something to say, you might as well speak directly. I really want to know if there is anyone who is tired of living and dares not to put my Lingxiao Sect in their eyes.”
“You are from Lingxiao Sect？ Are you really from Lingxiao Sect？” The shopkeeper’s face was full of excitement and a bit of suspicion. He leaned closer and asked in a low voice.
“Yes！ Don’t worry, old man. What you say goes in my ears and won’t come out of my mouth. I won’t blab around.” Yang Kai comforted softly and coaxed earnestly.
The shopkeeper’s expression changed, as if he was hesitating about something. It was only after a long while that he gritted his teeth and sat down opposite Yang Kai.
Yang Kai reached out and poured him a cup of wine. The shopkeeper picked it up and drank it in one gulp. The strong wine emboldened him. After gathering his emotions, he said, “You don’t know, sir. The reason I asked you to leave quickly is not that someone wants to harm the Lingxiao Sect, nor that something is going to happen in Bibo City. It’s just that this is no place for people to stay.”
“Oh？ Then please tell me in detail what’s going on, and I’ll be very grateful.” Yang Kai smiled slightly.
“Alas, it’s a long story！” The shopkeeper sighed deeply. “You just saw the attitude of those two people.”
“That’s right. Who are they?”
“From the City Lord’s Mansion.”
“The City Lord’s Mansion?” Yang Kai was extremely astonished.
Hehe, you also find it strange, right? The City Lord’s Mansion should protect us, but why would they come to the small shop to extort and plunder Saint Crystals? The shopkeeper’s tone was low. “Because that’s the tax that the City Lord’s Mansion wants to collect!”
Yang Kai’s brows furrowed.
“Any shop operating within Bibo City has to hand over at least 70% of its earnings to the City Lord’s Mansion. The remaining 30% was barely enough for various expenses originally, but it can’t withstand those people coming to extort under various pretexts. Our small shop is weak and has no way to resist. A person even died in the shop a few days ago.” The shopkeeper complained. It seemed that because he had drunk some wine, his courage had increased a lot. As he spoke, his expression also became resentful.
“Is this the intention of the City Lord’s Mansion？” Yang Kai asked in a cold voice.
“That’s right！ Otherwise, how could those people have the guts to act like this？ The two people just now were here to collect taxes.”
“Since the taxes here are so high, why doesn’t the old gentleman leave Bibo City and seek another livelihood？”
The shopkeeper gave a bitter smile. “Who can leave? No one can leave! Once the people of the City Lord’s Mansion discover someone trying to escape, they will be killed without mercy. The human heads hanging on the city wall are all bloody lessons. Not only are we small businessmen with small profits tied here, but all the small families and martial artists living in the city are also like this. They also have to hand over a large part of the various gains they obtain from adventures outside as taxes. As long as there is any resistance, they will be targeted. Several small families have already been exterminated.”
As he spoke, the shopkeeper carefully looked at Yang Kai and asked in a low voice： “Little brother, may this old man venture to ask, this isn’t an order issued by Lingxiao Sect, is it？”
“How could Lingxiao Sect issue such an order？” Yang Kai’s face looked ugly as he coldly snorted and said, “My Lingxiao Sect would never do such a thing. Well, what about Zhantian City？ Doesn’t Zhantian City manage this？”
“The old man isn’t sure either. However, if Zhantian City were to manage it, these things shouldn’t have happened. I just don’t know if this is the intention of Zhantian City or the City Lord’s Mansion of Bibo City. But I did hear that ever since Zhantian City changed hands, the taxes there have been extremely low, attracting a lot of people to go there. However, now it’s overcrowded. Many people are attracted by the name of Lingxiao Sect and want to join it but don’t know how to get in. They can’t enter Zhantian City either, so they have to settle for the next best thing and go to places related to Lingxiao Sect. Bibo City is one of them. Outsiders can’t see the insidious darkness hidden beneath Bibo City, but the old man is all too clear about it. That’s why I told you to leave early. If you live here for a long time and you won’t be able to leave even if you want to.
“Interesting！” Yang Kai sneered.
“Little brother, since you came here on the order of the Sect Master of Lingxiao Sect to conduct a secret investigation, then quickly pass the news back. The old man is looking forward to your Lingxiao sending people here to remove as soon as possible the cancer of Bibo City and let the old man spend his remaining years in peace here! The shopkeeper looked at Yang Kai with anticipation on his face.
“Don’t worry, old sir. Our Lingxiao Sect will not stand by and do nothing about this.” Yang Kai grinned. “Anyway, many people came here because of the name of the Lingxiao Sect. We can’t let them be bullied, or else it will really damage the reputation of our Lingxiao Sect.”
“Little brother, don’t be impulsive.” The shopkeeper was startled when he saw the fierce light flashing in Yang Kai’s eyes.
“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.” Yang Kai’s gaze turned cold.
This time, if it weren’t for a coincidence, he wouldn’t have known that there were actually people doing these evil deeds under the name of the Lingxiao Sect.
Yang Kai suddenly remembered that on the way back from the Bibo Plain, when the girl named Fei’er talked about the situation in Bibo City, she seemed to have something to say but stopped. It turned out that there was this reason.
The Lingxiao Sect has risen too quickly, the number of disciples in the sect is small, and the foundation is unstable. Now is the time to win people’s hearts. However, the situation in Bibo City is smearing the Lingxiao Sect. Naturally, Yang Kai couldn’t just sit back and watch.
Just then, there was a sudden commotion and noise on the street below. Immediately, an energy fluctuation surged up, and then there were exclamations and screams.
Yang Kai looked down in the direction of the sound source, and a green-clothed girl immediately came into view. He couldn’t help but let out a soft eh.
“Old sir, here’s the payment for the wine.” Yang Kai casually dropped a few high-grade Saint Crystals, grabbed a wine jug, and leaped out of the window.
In the middle of the street, in front of a grocery store, three or four young men stood there with furious expressions, looking at the two people on the other side with red eyes. Their Saint Yuan circulated, secretly on guard, but they didn’t dare to make a move easily.
Behind these young men, a green-clothed girl was supporting an old man. The old man seemed to have suffered quite serious injuries with a pale face and blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.
Countless people were watching from the side.
“Second Uncle, are you okay?” The green-clothed girl asked nervously with a worried look on her pretty face.
“It’s okay.” The old man slowly shook his head and uttered two words with difficulty.
“How could you hit people?” The green-clothed teenage girls turned around and shouted at the two martial artists who had just made a move.
“Hit people?” Hearing this, one of the tall and sturdy men laughed coldly. “So what if we hit people? Who asked this old guy not to know what’s good for him? I didn’t kill him. I was already being lenient. You little girl, not only didn’t thank me but you actually dare to accuse me. Do you believe that I’ll kill him right now!
“You…” The green-clothed girls’ pretty face turned pale. After all her strength was not high and she was still young. Being intimidated by the other party like this, she immediately didn’t dare to say much, for fear that the other party would really become angry and kill the old man.
“Hmph, the city lord has an order that a part of all the holy crystals obtained from transactions must be paid to the City Lord’s Mansion. What, old man, are you deaf or blind? You actually dare to trade with others secretly. If I hadn’t caught you red-handed, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have known that you are so bold！”
“Daring to ignore the order of the City Lord’s Mansion, old man, you are tired of living.” Another person also sneered sinisterly.
The old man’s face was iron blue, but he didn’t dare to refute at all. Although there were many onlookers they don’t dare to make any move. It’s just that when looking at the old man, the girl and the others everyone showed a look of sympathy.
The taxes in Bibo City are so high and the exploitation is so heavy that almost everyone can only barely maintain food and clothing and still cannot escape from this place. So if everyone has any gains from going out for adventures, they will find familiar and reliable shops to trade secretly without being discovered, in order to avoid the harsh taxes.
This kind of phenomenon has become commonplace in Bibo City.
The old man and his party were unlucky this time and were accidentally run into by the people of the City Lord’s Mansion and as a result, they suffered a big loss.
Taking a deep breath, the old man clasped with a solemn expression and said, “Two, it’s not that we ignored the order of the City Lord’s Mansion. Originally, we were also going to pay the holy crystals after this transaction, but we just didn’t have time.”
“The old thing speaks nicely, hehe, but I don’t know what he thinks in his heart.” The big man obviously wouldn’t believe such words.
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