Chapter 358

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Chapter 358: Wealth and Power
Unlike the noise from the Great God Temple in the distance, the path that Hachikuju led him on was obviously not well-known by many people. Zhang Mu only found out upon asking that basically only the leader of the Eight War Riders knew the location here.
The Eight War Riders reached an agreement with the Era Sub-merchants, with Era Sub-merchants responsible for guarding this place and strictly controlling access to the passage leading to the temple, which is the Era Store. The area near the temple is strictly off-limits to the Eight War Riders.
Essentially, they handed over a central position in the heart of Hohhot City, on the condition that the Eight War Riders regularly provide resources to the Era Sub-merchants. Of course, this suited their interests, so even though they relinquished control of this area, trading still needed to continue as usual.
The Great God Temple above is just for show. In the end, they will return to this place, in front of the people, to display food and weapons that magically appeared from the temple, showing miracles to win over the hearts of the people.
When Zhang Mu saw the four evolvers armed to the teeth emitting a second-rank aura guarding the entrance, he understood how serious the Era Sub-merchants were about the Era Store. Strong individuals who could dominate a region were willing to stand guard at the door for them. They had to pay a significant price to make these powerful individuals humble themselves.
Four second-rank guards, tsk tsk, truly wealthy and powerful.
These second-tier guards all wore black masks and carried different close-range weapons, giving off a deadly vibe. They had taken more than a hundred lives for sure.
“Halt, intruders!”
One of the guards raised his Mongolian short sword and warned Zhang Mu that if he took one step further, the blade would be drawn in an instant.
It was only because he saw Hachikuju that he hadn’t attacked yet. The area near the Era Store was off-limits, and to keep their secrets safe, they would eliminate anyone who got too close.
“What are you up to?”
Hachikuju got angry too and used her giant axe to push away the guard’s short sword from her shoulder. This was the second time Zhang Mu was stopped, and he felt embarrassed.
“City Lord Hachikuju, there’s an order from above. No one is allowed near the temple during its opening in the coming days, including you.”
Despite addressing her as City Lord Hachikuju, the guard’s words lacked any hint of respect.
These guards worked directly for the Era Sub-merchants. The City Master of the Eight War Riders couldn’t afford them. Even though individually they were not as strong as Hachikuju, they were confident that together they could defeat her here.
“Here, we are still in Hohhot City.”
The veins on Hachikuju’s arm were bulging, and Zhang Mu could feel the energy starting to surge through him, a sign that he was about to unleash his power. There had been too many people daring to challenge him these days.
Just then, Zhang Mu reached out and grabbed Hachikuju’s arm that was holding the axe, and calmly said, “There’s no need to get angry, bro. As you said yourself, this place has already been taken by those people from you.”
Hachikuju was puzzled, not understanding why Zhang Mu was stopping him from acting, even when these mercenaries were ignoring his words.
Zhang Mu gave him a reassuring look and then walked away with Yuan Rui.
As Zhang Mu approached, the dark-faced guard suddenly flicked his wrist, a cold light flashed and aimed straight for Zhang Mu’s face. Hachikuju hesitated, but the indifferent-looking young man in front of him could even take down the leader of the Eight War Riders on the spot without a problem.
The dark-faced guard who made a move seemed to have said too much already. The other three companions saw him make a move and immediately followed suit, attacking Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui’s vital points without hesitation.
However, Zhang Mu simply raised his right hand slightly, pointed his fingers toward the four men, and with a light wave of his palm, forcefully twisted their bodies in mid-air, stopping their attacks. They all stared in disbelief at the location of Zhang Mu’s right-hand ring finger.
Yuan Rui, seeing Zhang Mu’s actions, cheekily blinked and raised her right hand as well. Two black rings shimmered alternately, causing the four men to perceive them as the most terrifying things. They subconsciously put away their weapons.
The black ring on the ring finger was unmistaken, it was Era Sub-merchant, and there were two of them?
“Are you one of the adults?”
The dark-faced guard asked tentatively just now, Zhang Mu didn’t speak, he just kept walking with Yuan Rui.
The person behind him slowly spoke, “He is not one of the adults, he should be the same kind of people as them.”
“Without the permission of the adults, no one is allowed to enter.”
One of the three who had never spoken before stepped forward and spoke to Zhang Mu, but Zhang Mu seemed to ignore him and continued to walk on his own, getting closer to the entrance.
The man’s voice gradually turned cold, he lifted a sickle slowly, pointing it at Zhang Mu, and said, “Without the command of the adults, no one is allowed to approach the temple.”
At this moment, Zhang Mu seemed to finally listen to his words, turned his head to look at him and said, “I wonder if your adults have ever said whether people who are the same kind as them can enter or not?”
“Um…”
The guard with a black mask holding a sickle looked surprised for a moment, as if he had never spoken before.
Just as they hesitated, Zhang Mu and Yuan Rui’s figures were absorbed into a twisted overlapping space, instantly disappearing before everyone’s eyes. After the spatial shockwaves disappeared, there was no trace left behind.
They were Era Sub-merchants, so they didn’t need to be bound like regular people who even at the entrance of Era Store would not notice anything. As long as they were within the range covered by Era Store, they could enter directly.
“So they are really…”
The guard holding a Mongolian short knife tightly watched the back of Zhang Mu and the others disappear and muttered to himself.
The person behind him holding a sickle urged him, “Quickly, tell this news to the boss!”
Just as they said this, suddenly a strong wind blew in the sky. Amidst the howling wind, a dark figure quietly landed.
Wearing a black robe with a thick black veil covering their face, they lowered their head, revealing only a pair of eyes.
But those eyes conveyed indifference and coldness towards everything, as if not noticing Hachikuju’s presence, slowly approaching the four black-masked guards. Raising their head towards the direction of the underground temple, they spoke slowly, “I already know.”
…