Chapter 451
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 451: The Great River Flowing Westward
The rivers and lakes of the Ming Country no longer have the same taste as before. With the development of the times and the arrival of the information age, the government’s control has reached every corner. The common people are now living prosperous lives. No one cares about the rivers and lakes anymore.
As for those skilled martial artists, they have their own ways to display their skills. Some become professional fighters at clubs, while others become teachers at national martial arts institutions in different places.
The title fight of the Ming Country has a high viewership all over the world. It showcases top-level masters competing with real actions. It looks much livelier than the martial arts tournament in Dragon Ball.
The era of knights breaking the law with martial arts has passed. Similar scenes have been seen on TV before. After a professional fighter finishes a match, they immediately go to the market and skillfully bargain with the boss. A journalist from a lifestyle interview program happens to encounter this scene and conducts an interview. The characters in the footage are not blurred, and a considerate introduction of "Citizen Liu, the Vegetable Shopper" is added, instantly revealing the chivalrous character in an ordinary setting.
With the gradual disintegration of sects and martial arts schools, except for a few family traditions, most martial arts genres have become part of the national martial arts heritage. The Ming government doesn’t have to do anything. After a few generations, the martial arts library will be filled with technique manuals from various lineages. It can be said that it effortlessly uncovers the secrets of the martial arts world.
In the past, life and death were determined in the rivers and lakes. Now it’s like, "If you want to fight, go to the arena. If you fight and cause serious injuries, remember to pay for medical expenses." So, the taste of the Ming Country’s rivers and lakes has changed. Some people who don’t want to be smoothed out find ways to relocate their sects, while some martial arts practitioners who adhere to the idea that "martial arts are techniques for killing people, no matter how beautifully worded, this is the truth" go to places that still have the flavor of the rivers and lakes.
The state of Liu is becoming more and more like a rivers and lakes.
Because it hasn’t been completely taken over, the most influential power here has become the local clans and aristocratic families. This has further evolved into private armed groups in the folk. In each city, everyone has their own roles and responsibilities, making it resemble a city of geese.
Does the goose listen to the mayor? It doesn’t listen.
Looking around, in the vast Liu State, every city has a Huang Silang.
Leaving Yanwei City, going straight to Longyao City from Yanzi Mountain, this river is called the Small Dragon River. It used to be a mighty river that flowed for thousands of years, irrigating numerous fields. But with the strange phenomena caused by the fall of Jiuyin and Bi Fang, the river changed its course twice and eventually dried up. The former tributaries became the main channel, thus becoming the Small Dragon River, flowing from east to west.
Longyao City is located at the waist of the Small Dragon River, so it is called Longyao. It was also a battleground in the past.
Depending on the mountains and rivers for sustenance, the flow of rivers represents the transportation of goods. The Small Dragon River is dangerous, with green mountains on both sides. The first half of the river is relatively calm, but after two-thirds of the journey, the water suddenly becomes turbulent. If you don’t have skilled boatmen familiar with the area, you must never navigate here. Nowadays, water transportation from Yanzi Mountain to Longyao City is a big business, and both cargo and passenger boats travel through here.
The boat ticket Bai Wei bought was sold by a gang called "Qingwu County." They mainly transport goods but also provide regular water transportation.
The people of Yanwei City don’t directly manage water transportation; instead, they take a cut of the profit from this water route. They have a monopoly and set high requirements to sell water transportation licenses quarterly. The Qingwu County Gang spent a lot of money to acquire the qualification. Now, they can only make money by constantly shuttling back and forth on their boats. The high profits are gone, and they can only rely on small profits from more trips.
The leader of the Qingwu County Gang is a Green Bear demon, not a human. Bai Wei looked at several boats and, using his special ability to see the status bar, could instantly tell which one was more reliable.
Among the nine gangs involved in boat transportation, three of them are from the Ming Country. However, two of the gangs are highlighted in explosive red, and one is highlighted in yellow warning. In this place, there’s nothing the Ming Country people won’t deceive their fellow Ming Country people; they deceive their own kind.
Qingwu County Gang was the only gang that didn’t have a warning exclamation mark. Bai Wei couldn’t say he felt completely at ease, but he was sure that these people were doing legitimate business and not thinking of doing any extra business to make more money.
Bai Wei remembered one of the blue-flagged fleets with a woman buying tickets, and it was obvious that there were some hidden implications. He didn’tice the symbol on top of their heads, which was not very serious. The exclamation mark was bent into a pink heart shape.
This was also extra business.
No wonder Qingwu County Gang seemed out of place and appeared very poor. They were simply a group of honest boat runners. How much income could they make compared to other fleets that played around? They earned hard-earned money.
Because of this, when Qingwu County Gang was running the boat, they would say that eating had a cost. Bai Wei didn’t have much objection either.
The food on the boat was just average, but at least it was fresh.
Bai Wei let the snake girl start eating first. She was indeed hungry because Bai Wei only allowed one meal a day. Being hungry kept her alert.
The snake girl enjoyed her meal for a while but noticed that the other two people didn’t eat much.
"Why aren’t you eating?" Yan Yubing asked apologetically.
"Are you okay?" Bai Wei asked.
Miss Yan replied without any tricks.
Bai Wei nodded, "Seems like it’s not poisonous, go ahead and eat."
The snake girl froze for a moment, then revealed a teary expression.
"It’s good enough that I brought you along. It was just a test for poison, which proved to be useless. Next time, it will only be useful for blocking bullets." Bai Wei spoke coldly, bluntly, and lacking some humanity, behaving like a dog.
Yan Yubing sniffed then continued to devour her food, for efficiency matters when it comes to eating. Whether it’s poisonous or not is not important, but the taste matters.
Chao Lu wasn’t hungry, she took a few bites and then put down her chopsticks, elegantly wiping the grease off her mouth.
"I was worried about potential problems before, but now it seems that the fleet you chose is quite good."
"Naturally, I considered it. It’s best if we can avoid trouble and have smooth sailing all the way."
Bai Wei took a glance at the Qingwu County Gang’s posture, "This Qingwu County Gang knows a lot about shipping, and they don’t seem like ordinary folks. I guess they might have been involved in escorting goods before. They must have good connections and are well-respected in various places. Although they may not be good at individual combat, their teamwork is comparable to soldiers."
"No wonder they are so cautious," Chao Lu said. "In Liu State, there are all sorts of people. It’s not easy for escorts to do business."
"Of course, if a escort agency encounters bandits seven or eight times on every journey, no one can do this job," Bai Wei thought about all the times they encountered road bandits on their journey. "It’s like facing enemies and Pokémon traps. There are hidden dangers everywhere, with bandits lurking every two steps. It’s unbearable. When you hear a noise, your heart and lungs stop."
On the water, there is no need to worry about encountering wild Pokémon, and rarely do criminals stop ships on the river.
On the waterway, everyone remained silent, their thoughts already focused on Longyao City.
Bai Wei walked to a spot on the deck, took out a compass from his hand, which had a Bi Fang feather in the center. It pointed in a certain direction.
As for why Bai Wei was so sure, it’s simple to explain using a method that even middle school students understand.
Two straight lines determine a point. Bai Wei determined the map’s location and the compass’s direction from two different places a hundred miles apart. Then, he drew two straight lines on the map. The intersecting point of these lines is Longyao City, and the farther the distance, the more accurate it is.
He packed away the compass.
Chao Lu and Yan Yubing were having a conversation, and only a few members of the Qingwu County Gang on the fleet of three ships noticed something strange.
Bai Wei was about to walk back to his original position when he suddenly stopped and looked back into the air, seeing a few figures swiftly pass by.
Only three people in the entire fleet noticed the sudden appearance of these figures – one was the leader of the Qingwu County Gang, and another was a senior member of the gang.
The green mountains on both sides connected together, with many cliffs along the shore. The water surface was dotted with visible reefs. Although the water was very wide, reaching several hundred meters, it was not impassable. By stepping on the reefs above or below the water, they could cross over when the fleet passed by, creating a temporary bridge.
The Qingwu County Gang members immediately became nervous, afraid that they were being attacked by pirates.
Even if it wasn’t an attack, this detour was still not a good thing. The Qingwu County Gang members couldn’t help but feel anxious because the cargo they were transporting this time was not ordinary goods. Even if they tightened their belts, it wouldn’t be enough to cover the cost. The value of this cargo was high enough that it couldn’t even compensate for the lives of the hundreds of people in the Qingwu County Gang. They had to safely deliver the goods to Longyao City without any mishaps!
The gang leader, Green Bear, had a tense expression on his face and his hair was bristling. He looked like a possessed Zhang Fei.
Bai Wei took a quick glance and realized he was overthinking it – the exclamation mark hadn’t even changed color…
Wait a minute?
Exclamation mark?
Bai Wei was surprised. He had checked several times before and there was definitely no exclamation mark. How did it suddenly appear?
Did the version update? Did it bring new world tasks?
Fortunately, the exclamation mark is currently only white, so it doesn’t have a big impact. It also has little to do with the person paddling across the river in front of him.
It seems that the Qingwu County Gang is not simple. Just by having a sudden bystander appear, they scared out an exclamation mark. Or maybe they hid it well before?
Bai Wei never minded being a task expert, but now it’s not the time to complicate things. Chao Lu’s safety comes first, her identity must not be exposed, and he shouldn’t be in the spotlight either.
The visitor crossing the river stepped on splashing water, leaped on a bright reef, and jumped over the fleet without stopping. So the assistants below, holding weapons and channeling their spiritual energy or true energy, didn’t take action.
Bai Wei thought everything would be peaceful, but he didn’t expect the visitor to suddenly burst into laughter and pull something out of his bulging pocket, throwing it towards the main boat.
"I don’t want this treasure anymore! Don’t chase after me! Whoever has the ability can take it!"
A bright green light dashed across the sky, shining brilliantly. It split into three parts and fell towards several people.
The snake girl, who was eating her meal, held a bowl of soup. Suddenly, something with a faint green glow fell into her bowl, splashing soup on her face.
With wide eyes and a puzzled expression, she bit into a piece of braised meat. Her beautiful face was dripping with soup, and she held the bowl of soup in her hands, looking like a person who loves to eat.
With a single line written on her little face: What happened?