Seeking good fortune and avoiding misfortune: Starting with death row inmates

Under the cover of darkness, the two quickly made their way to the entrance of the post station.

Two bandits, leaning against the wall and resting their swords on their hands, were chatting idly: "Speaking of which, our boss's business has been ridiculously booming lately..."

"With the rebellion in Jiangzhou, all waterways there have been shut down, so our business is naturally booming."

"Hmph, they've made so much money but haven't given us brothers a share. That skinflint..."

Shen Chen gave Wei Xiong a hand gesture, and Wei Xiong slowed his steps, stealthily approached the two henchmen, and pounced out of the darkness like a cheetah.

Before the two henchmen could even see who it was, they silently collapsed to the ground.

Wei Xiong is at the fifth level of the Refining Essence Realm, with his true energy flowing through his meridians. He can injure people with his true energy from a distance without any physical contact, demonstrating his immense power.

Shen Chen helped the two people up and placed them on a nearby support, making it appear as if everything was normal.

Then, Shen Chen said to Wei Xiong, "Our goods are in the second warehouse from the right inside."

"How did you know?" Wei Xiong was very surprised. Shen Chen had been lying in ambush with him outside the post station all afternoon, so it was impossible for him to observe the situation inside.

Have you developed a third eye?

Shen Chen didn't explain, but simply bent down and walked along the wall.

Wei Xiong followed closely behind, and after a while, he sensed that Shen Chen ahead had stopped.

"What's wrong?" Wei Xiong asked in a low voice.

"Two people are coming, one in front and one behind," Shen Chen gestured. "I'll handle the one in front, you take care of the one behind."

Wei Xiong sprang into action. He went to the corner of the wall and, sure enough, heard footsteps coming from not far away.

He was astonished; Shen Chen had sensed this person's presence before he had.

As the footsteps drew closer, Wei Xiong suddenly shot out, striking the newcomer in the face with a punch. The sound of a broken nose rang out, and the man fell backward to the ground, not even having time to utter a cry of pain.

"Thump." The sound of a heavy object falling to the ground suddenly rang out.

Wei Xiong looked back and saw that Shen Chen had also taken down a pirate. His movements were swift and clean, and his fists were sharp and wiry, like a meteor hammer supported by metal.

"Impressive." Wei Xiong gave Shen Chen a thumbs up. He could tell that Shen Chen had reached the peak of the Bone and Tendon Realm, and was completely different from the weak scholar he had been a few months ago.

After resolving the potential dangers, the two made their way to the warehouse.

The warehouse was built entirely of hemlock wood, a rather peculiar tree that grows only on mineral veins. Its branches and trunks are like metal and stone, making it difficult for even martial artists at the Meridian Opening Realm to damage it.

Shen Chen took out a bottle of oil from his pocket and carefully poured it around the warehouse.

Although hemlock wood is extremely sturdy, it is rich in resin and is very easy to spontaneously combust when exposed to fire!

Wei Xiong also took out a tinderbox from his pocket, lit it twice to avoid the wind, and a spark fell into the oil on the ground. Immediately, a fire dragon meandered and burned straight up the warehouse!

A blast of hot air hit me, and the smell of burning resin immediately filled my nostrils, giving me a headache.

"Go!" Shen Chen gave the order, and he and Wei Xiong immediately withdrew.

The fire was quickly discovered by people nearby, and a cacophony of voices rang out: "The warehouse is on fire! Help!"

"Bring me sand, don't splash water!"

"Go and inform Boss Ji immediately!"

As Ji Sansheng was sound asleep, embracing the maid he had bought, he was suddenly awakened by his subordinates. He immediately cursed, "A bunch of damned bastards, trying to start a fight?"

"Boss Ji, the warehouse is on fire!" his subordinate said hurriedly.

Upon hearing the news, Ji Sansheng ran out without even putting on his pants.

Seeing the fire in the warehouse, he quickly ordered his men to use fire-resistant materials to cordon off the burning warehouse: "Quick, quick, cordon off that warehouse..."

At this time, Shen Chen and Wei Xiong had not yet left. Taking advantage of the surrounding turmoil and the lax defenses, they sneaked into other places where supplies were stored in the three provinces of Ji.

Shen Chen opened a box, only to find it full of jewelry. He closed the box with a disheartened expression: "No, jewelry is too heavy to carry. Brother Wei, we need to find something light and valuable."

Wei Xiong pried open a box and saw that it was full of Great Yan banknotes. He curled his lip and said, "A stack of damn worthless paper."

Shen Chen's eyes lit up when he saw a uniquely shaped dagger inlaid with jewels on the table.

He took the dagger, drew it from its sheath, examined the inscription on it, and confidently tucked it into his pocket: "Made in Qin, it's definitely valuable."

Wei Xiong picked up a piece of clothing. The clothing seemed to be made of silk brocade, but it was incredibly tough. The key point was that there wasn't a single seam in the clothing. It was hard to imagine how this garment was sewn.

"Good clothes," Wei Xiong praised, then wrapped a large Qin sword in the clothes and put it in his pocket.

The two took some more valuables, and seeing that the fire was starting to die down, they quickly ran out of the post station.

A moment later, on the hillside.

Looking at the rising black smoke in the distance with an excited expression, Wei Xiong laughed loudly: "Go to hell, you old devil Ji! Want to take a kickback from me? Go eat shit!"

After venting his emotions, Wei Xiong then felt sorry for the repeating crossbows in his warehouse: "It's just a pity about that batch of goods, they were all rare items with a 99% success rate, and they were just burned like that..."

Shen Chen said, "It's alright, we'll ask Ji Sansheng for compensation later."

Wei Xiong thought about it and realized that it made perfect sense. He couldn't help but admire Shen Chen's skill even more.

"But what if he defaults on the debt?" Wei Xiong couldn't help but worry. Who in this line of work still cares about honesty and rules?

"He won't renege on his debt," Shen Chen said calmly. "Not only will he not renege, but he'll also be begging us for the money. Don't worry, Brother Wei."

He looked calm and collected, as if he were talking about something that was bound to happen.

The fire in the warehouse gradually subsided by dawn.

Ji Sansheng dragged his weary body back to the table and nodded to his underlings: "Tell me, how much did we lose this time?"

"Boss, most of what was burned was Wei Xiong's goods, that batch of repeating crossbows," the henchman reported. "Besides that, a lot of things were also stolen from the Qin warehouse; someone must have taken advantage of the chaos to steal them..."

"Damn it, someone's taking advantage of the chaos?" Ji Sansheng slammed his fist on the table, his face contorted with rage. "Search everyone's rooms this afternoon! Anyone with dirty hands, chop them off and throw them into the West River to feed the fish!"

After finishing his rant, Ji Sansheng turned his attention to Wei Xiong's burned crossbows: "Damn it, Wei Xiong is going to cause me trouble this time. Should I pay him back...?"

He calculated the price of the repeating crossbows, assessed his own capabilities, and after much deliberation, suddenly gritted his teeth, his face turning sinister: "Damn it, I'll just deny responsibility for this batch! That Wei guy has the guts to come and fight me, life or death is up to fate!"

Ji Sansheng cared more about money than his life, and it was precisely because of this that he was able to rise from an ordinary fisherman to a notorious river pirate.

Offending Wei Xiong was indeed very risky, but Ji Sansheng always believed that the bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish.