Lord of the Desert

Chapter 500 Selling Blood
The fourth day of February.

In the northern city of Shenjing, turn west into Jingui Lane, and you will find a spacious mansion at the innermost part.

The two stone lions at the door have been moved away, leaving only two seat seals.

The door was open.

Stepping over the threshold and looking inside, the gaps between the stone bricks in the courtyard were filled with green grass, the tallest of which was nearly half a foot high. The entire courtyard was empty, obviously no one had taken care of it for a long time.

In the front hall, the floor tiles and white walls complemented each other. There was no furniture, screens, calligraphy or paintings, or vases. Seven idle men were half lying and half sitting here, and they even brought some dried fruits and ate a bunch of them.

As it grew darker, a slanting sun shone on the eaves of the corridor.

"Today is about to pass."

The idle man in the lead spat out the melon seed shells on his lips and asked.

"Qian Dalang, your ancestors are from the royal family anyway. We have been fighting each other for nearly twenty days. Can't we squeeze out a mere thousand taels of silver?"

By the back door, a middle-aged man sitting against the wall shook his head lifelessly.

His cheeks were sunken and he wore a brocade hat on his head, but the hair that was exposed looked greasy.

"What's the point of having a royal family? My grandmother's title of princess and my grandfather's second-rank imperial concubine's officer can't be inherited. Even my mother doesn't count as a royal family because she took a foreign surname, let alone me?"

Hearing Qian Dalang's complaints, the seven idle men also sighed.

They already knew the other party's background. Her grandmother was granted the title of Princess Xiuyi, but her daughter did not receive the title and ended up marrying a man from a middle-class family named Qian.

By the third generation, even the Qian family had fallen from grace and no longer had the slightest presence in the capital.

"My dear friends, I am not trying to make things difficult for you. This is the only empty house I have left. You can take it if you want."

Qian Da pretends to be generous.

"Would we not take it if we could?"

The idle man scoffed.

"This house was bought by Princess Xiuyi with her dowry. Even if our gambling house has the background of the Duke, it would be too conspicuous if we took it. Again, you can find another place to sell it, we want cash."

"That's interesting."

Qian Da also looks like a bachelor.

"Where would I go with such a big house? If you don't want it, who would dare to take it?"

He got up, took a few steps, and actually reached out and took half a handful of melon seeds from among a few hangers-on.

"It's none of our business who wants it."

The hangers-on were not annoyed when they saw this. They simply didn't pick up the remaining dried fruits and stood up and patted their butts.

"Whether you pay the money or not is still your business. It's not our responsibility to pay it back anyway. But if you don't pay it back, we will come every day, forcing your family to hide away, and you won't be able to live well."

They left without saying anything.

Qian Dalang faced the empty courtyard, silently ate melon seeds for a while, and then suddenly threw them to the ground.

Soon, footsteps were heard behind the house.

"Mr. Qian, how have you considered this?"

The person who spoke was a middle-aged woman who looked to be around forty years old; she had a face like a full moon, a tall and plump figure, and her hair was tied up with a lacquered wooden hairpin.

"If you are willing, we will pay you 5,000 taels of silver notes now; if you don't mind the trouble, you can also exchange it for gold of the same value."

"Please allow me to think about it."

When Qian Da saw this man hear these words, he showed an expression mixed with greed and fear.

"Is this really not going to kill me?"

He had asked this question many times before.

"Don't worry about that."

Beside the woman, a young man wearing a veiled hat replied patiently.

"Extracting dragon blood from your body will indeed shorten your lifespan by several years. In addition, the strength, recovery, and total amount of Qi you gained from the dragon blood will all be lost."

"There is nothing else to worry about."

Even though he was wearing a loose scholar's robe, he still looked strong and muscular.

Qian Dalang clasped his hands and paced back and forth in the hall.

With his cultivation level at the Guantong realm, he didn't know how many years it would take him to earn the huge sum of five thousand taels of silver, not to mention that he still owed foreign debts.

Money, or the proud bloodline of the dragon...

Just as Qian Dalang was hesitating, the young man took out a stack of official banknotes from his sleeve.

"We have prepared the money. In fact, we are distant relatives and will not harm you."

He smiled heartily.

"Five thousand taels?"

When Qian Dalang saw the white banknotes, his eyes seemed glued to them and he couldn't take them away.

In his mind, countless thoughts surged like waves - the pride of paying off the foreign debt, the close reunion of his family, and most importantly, the opportunity to make a comeback!

"Okay, I'll do as you say."

Qian Dalang's voice trembled, and he finally nodded. The setting sun flushed and squeezed Shenjing.

Hong Fan, dressed in casual clothes and riding a red flag, passed through the north city in the evening breeze to meet Ye Zhan for dinner.

While they were bored, the branches and leaves of the Dragon Soul Tree suddenly shook violently, and all pointed in one direction - that was a man and a woman striding out under the plaque of "Qian Mansion".

Their eyes met for an instant.

Through the gap in the gauze curtain, Hong Fan saw the man's right eye exposed, and the iris was actually a pure dark gold color.

The tiger-eating beast took a few steps forward.

Looking back again, the long alley was empty and the two people were no longer there.

······
The ninth day of February.

The weather in Shenjing is getting warmer, and wild flowers are dotted on the roadside.

In the early morning, Tiannanxing's newly purchased Fei Lian hovered in the south of the city for a long time. After several comparisons, it tentatively landed in the yard.

We fed them the prepared dried meat and introduced soft mats for resting.

Hong Fan unfolded the letter in his study, which described the latest business situation in Liangzhou.

Tiannanhang produces more than 3,000 tons of steel per month, which is 1.8 times the steel output of the whole state three years ago, and the annual output value has exceeded 1.2 million guan.

More and more people in Liangzhou were using affordable steel tools, and of course, a large number of local blacksmith shops were inevitably squeezed out of business.

As the price of steel in the state stabilized at 40 wen per pound, many merchants in Shengzhou, which borders the state to the south, and Hezhou, which borders the state to the east, began to smuggle steel across states, causing some complaints from Rongtie Palace.

Fortunately, the Hongyi Zhu family took on this part of the pressure.

Apart from the old business, Hong Fan is most concerned about the railway project.

In the past, due to the high price of steel, Dahua only had a small number of short-distance rails dedicated to the interior of the mine; but now this new line will connect Xijing and Canglangshan mining areas, with a total length of 40 kilometers, and is expected to consume 2,500 tons of steel, using steam locomotives with multi-tube boilers and exhaust pipes.

After reading the full text, Hong Fan was overwhelmed with emotion. He immediately wrote a reply to express his unconditional support for the railway construction.

In the afternoon of the same day, Fei Lian, fully refreshed and energetic, disappeared in the sky to the west of Shenjing.

Not long after, someone from the Martial Arts Academy came to summon him.

Jianwei Palace.

Guan Qimai was reviewing documents that were piled half a meter high on the wide table while talking to Hong Fan.

"You already know about the court meeting on the second day of the first lunar month. If I messed around with a charge as outrageous as treason, it would have been ruined. But Xiao Lao San has obtained actual evidence on the armor and weapons, and the court has no choice but to deal with it. Some things weigh less than four ounces if not weighed, but more than a thousand pounds if weighed."

Hong Fan nodded upon hearing this.

Since they are the foundation of local tyrants, they are bound to have the problems that tyrants have.

Not to mention the hidden farmland and tax evasion in the past, the Hong family is now a legitimate local emperor in Jinhai City. They do not restrain themselves from things like armor, firearms, and war horses. In particular, the clan members like to use words like "Prince Consort" and "King of the Northwest" to talk nonsense, so it is not impossible that some "rebellious" remarks will be recorded by someone with ulterior motives.

"Your Majesty discussed this matter with the ministers yesterday. Your family's title will be lost."

Guan Qimai said this, raising his eyelids.

Hong Fan remained calm as always.

"Don't you feel bad?"

Guan Qimai asked when he saw this.

“Everything has a price.”

Hong Fan replied calmly.

"That's right. But you did a good job in the matter of Guzhou. You shouldn't have to bear the consequences."

Guan Qimai nodded and retracted his gaze.

"No one except the royal family can give the title. My authority is limited to the Martial Arts Academy. So, how about the next Martial Arts Supervisor of Jinhai City being nominated by your Hong family?"

"I have no objection."

Hong Fan answered immediately.

The hereditary title of a national garrison commander is no more than an annual salary of 400 dan and a little fame, which is of little use in the border areas and cannot be compared with a position of real power like a city's military supervisor.

"Now that you have calmed down, let's forget about this matter."

Guan Qimai finished reviewing a document and put down his pen temporarily.

"There's one more thing I want to tell you, I might be able to use you."

"Around the Lantern Festival, a herb-picking kid in Jingze City on the border of Hanzhou found a thin black iron plate with the complete version of the "Divine Evil Code" that had been lost for 400 years engraved on it. This martial arts code can fight against the two realms of heaven and man. The core method is to 'condense the evil spirit into armor'. As long as the faith is as strong as iron and unwavering, the more lives you kill, the stronger the armor will be. The combat power of the same realm may even exceed that of the ten classics. It is of extraordinary value."

When Hong Fan heard this, he knew that this matter was dangerous.

According to Dahua Law, lost and restored martial arts naturally belong to the imperial court, but this clause is mostly just a claim - if the martial arts that come out are weak, the head of the martial arts academy may not be interested in collecting them; if the martial arts are powerful, it will inevitably lead to open and secret struggles among multiple parties, and the ownership depends on the means used.

The quality of this "Divine Demon Classic" sounds at least as good as the "Buzhi Vajra Classic", and it obviously belongs to the latter.

"After the local martial arts supervisor got the news, he protected the kid and the martial arts code. But the news had already leaked out, and on the 19th day of the first lunar month, a vicious guest came and killed a martial arts supervisor and two Guantong stewards in charge of the martial arts academy, and took away the "Divine Demon Code."

Guan Qimai sighed and his tone became increasingly stern.

"Currently, the Hanzhou Prefecture Department is fully responsible for handling this matter, but the development of the situation may not be optimistic. You should wait and do not leave Shenjing in the near future."

(End of this chapter)