Dragon Gate Swordsman

Chongxiao suddenly remembered that he seemed to have a close relationship with a certain religion, but the specific details were still vague.

The only thing that is certain is that the supreme being believed in by this religion is called Kara...

"This should be the station of the Anasa caravan."

After walking for a few minutes, Ling stopped and pointed out a small market-like place to Chongxiao and Guo Shan.

Although Yan Country has always appeared to be relatively low-key and introverted on the Terra Continent, that is actually due to geographical issues… The Taihua Mountains are an insurmountable natural barrier, and before the development of modern science and technology, only a few brave and talented people could cross it.

In fact, the true dragon emperors of all generations have been extremely tolerant of foreign cultures and allowed them to gain a foothold in the capital, even the Anasa people who were not recognized openly.

Their caravans came to the capital via Yumen, Linhuang and other places, usually exchanging rare minerals and animal bone crafts in the desert for drought-resistant plant seeds. This went on for a long time, and a small market was established next to the Xiangji Temple, where about hundreds of Anasa people settled.

It would be idiotic to just walk in and ask if anyone of your tribe has a broken leg. And because there are so many people, Chongxiao can't use his ability to read minds.

"Brother Chongxiao, how do you plan to investigate? Try each store one by one?"

"Well……"

In fact, Chongxiao didn't have any good ideas in his mind. The only thing that could be confirmed now was the identity of the assassin with a broken leg, Anasa. He might be a recruited assassin and had nothing to do with this place.

But isn't case investigation just about unraveling the mystery step by step and eliminating the wrong options?

"Taoist Master."

After pondering for a while, Chongxiao suddenly bowed to Ling and asked, "How well do you know Gongzi Cheng's social circle?"

"All we know is that he is the half-brother of the True Dragon Emperor, but we don't know who he is familiar with."

"Boss Guo, what about you?"

"Me too."

"So... not many people know who interacts with him regularly, right?"

Chongxiao chuckled and an idea came to his mind.

……

Although the Anasa people were described by Song Zimu as brave and good at fighting, the civilians who settled near Xiangji Temple had basically no fighting ability.

This is of course true. For a race that Da Yan refuses to acknowledge openly, allowing them to live outside the Divine Capital is already a blessing. If any fighters dare to gather again, it will undoubtedly be a provocation to Da Yan.

However, if Anasa was traveling abroad to make a living as an individual, at most he would attract some curious eyes, but he would not be banned by the Dayan officials.

So, Chongxiao came up with the idea of ​​throwing a stone to test the water.

"Where are the people! Where are the people! Get out here!"

At the Sala Synagogue in the center of Anasa Market, Guo Shan knocked on the open door with a proud look on his face.

This was originally a Buddhist temple where the Anasa people held meditation ceremonies. Later, as the market developed, it became a place like an administration office for their small settlement, where internal issues within the tribe and collective external communications were handled.

Guo Shan was still wearing his casual clothes, but Chongxiao found a bamboo hat and a black robe from somewhere, covering himself completely. With the rebellious sword on his back, he looked like a peerless master. As for Ling... her image was not suitable to be included.

The rude and domineering behavior soon attracted attention, and after a struggle with the hall's caretaker, the owner of the place finally showed up.

"Gentlemen, who are you looking for?"

This Anasa elder looked to be at least a hundred years old. The horns on both sides of his forehead had decayed a bit, and the unique halo behind his head was almost invisible.

"You useless guys, you can't even do such a simple task as His Highness asked you to do. They should die as a token of their guilt!"

"This... I really don't understand what you two are talking about?"

"Pretend! Are you still pretending?!"

Speaking of the image of the fat businessman Guo Shan, he is really good at playing the role of an arrogant and domineering lackey, and his posture of asking for a fight at any time makes Chongxiao behind him give him a thumbs up.

Very good, this kind of aggressiveness is what we want!

"What do you think His Highness likes about you Anasa? Why don't you hand over those useless bastards!?"

"Hey! Watch your words!"

Just because Elder Anasa is shrewd doesn't mean the two young hall guards are also shrewd. When they heard that Guo Shan intended to insult the entire tribe, they immediately showed angry expressions.

And this is Chongxiao's chance to show off...

The rebellious sword behind him disappeared in an instant, and when it reappeared, it had already passed in front of the two guards.

They were not injured, but their shirts were neatly torn.

It is conceivable that if Chongxiao's two swords had extended forward a few centimeters, even if the two men did not die on the spot, their blood would have definitely splattered all over the hall.

This threatening warning immediately made Elder Anasa's face turn pale.

"Wait! Stop! You...you two, get back off now!"

Having experienced many storms and waves, he knew that he could not afford to offend the two people in front of him, and he should not offend them.

"You're smart! Well, you guys messed up His Highness's plan, and then you disappeared... What, do you think His Highness can't find you?"

"I really don't know..."

"Oh? So you want to fight to the end? Old man, you are really brave!"

In fact, if Elder Anasa calmed down and thought about it carefully, he would find that not a single word Guo Shan said hit the point. Who exactly was he looking for, what was he looking for, and what would happen otherwise? All of them were specious.

But with Chongxiao's demonstrative pressure and the title of "Your Highness", he could not help but be terrified.

Seeing that the situation was almost tense and many Anasa people had gathered outside the hall, Guo Shan quickly said something like "I'll settle the score with you some other day", and then he and Chongxiao ran away with their heads held high... leaving only the puzzled old man Anasa behind.

"Quick! Ask the heads of each family to come over here. I have something to ask them!"

There were only about a hundred Anasa families living near Xiangji Temple, and many of them were related and would only have one representative, so there were only about twenty people gathered in the meeting hall.

They can be considered members of the "village committee" to some extent. When major events occur in Anasa Market, they will gather to discuss how to respond.

However, these ordinary Anasa civilians would never have imagined that on the roof of the synagogue, a vague and ethereal figure was monitoring their every move.

Ling was not dissatisfied with being treated as an eavesdropping device by Chongxiao. His mentality had reached that level anyway. He had basically experienced everything in life except marriage, childbirth, old age, sickness and death. There was nothing wrong with cooperating in the investigation.

Elder Anasa in the synagogue was questioning everyone in a stern voice whether they had done anything to attract attention recently.

For a small tribe like theirs that is not officially recognized, it is no exaggeration to say that they are trying to survive in the cracks. It is already very difficult for them to have a fixed trade route, so they are naturally afraid of causing trouble and being targeted. Therefore, the play that Chongxiao and Guo Shan just performed was just a test stone.

As for the result of the test...

Ling, who was resting with his eyes closed, suddenly paused, then opened his eyes and turned to look to one side of the hall.

There, an Anasa man with a panicked look ran out, seemingly planning to do something.

Chongxiao's plan worked.

……

(Note: All interpretations of religion, politics and culture in this book are for the needs of the plot and do not represent any views of the writer. The belief settings are different from the real prototypes, so please do not delve into them.)

Chapter 44: Fantastic Ideas, Determination Turns into Madness

Longmen, Governor's Mansion.

Resigning from the post of the highest commander of the Imperial Guard did not leave Wei Yanwu idle.

The new true dragon emperor is about to ascend the throne, and the court is bound to usher in a wave of changes. The civil war in Kazdel is still in full swing, and no one knows which side will win in the end. The chaotic situation in Victoria since the Revolution has never improved.

And the most important thing is that the enemies lurking in Ursus are still eyeing Longmen...

As the governor, Wei Yanwu no longer has to walk on thin ice as he did in the past, but he cannot guarantee that Longmen has embarked on the road of peaceful development.

However, even so, he still took Chongxiao's somewhat meaningless request to heart.

Lady Polina Audrey, before escaping to Longmen, was the wife of a minor noble in Chernobyl. She had never been in the news and had no fame. Her appearance was only average.

Therefore, Chongxiao's care and assistance to her should be out of pure kindness towards the infected.

This surprised Wei Yanwu a little...

There is no shortage of people on the Terra continent who sympathize with the infected, but they are either infected themselves, or have worked in industries related to Originium, or have witnessed the miserable conditions of the infected with their own eyes... such as those who are like slaves in Ursus.

Chongxiao has nothing to do with these three things, so this is the only explanation.

Of course, the fact that Wei Yanwu values ​​him is one thing, but whether he will listen to his advice is another.

In other words, if it weren't for what Chongxiao said before he left, Wei Yanwu would not have bothered to contact the owner of the stone carving shop for the infected person.

But now, he was holding a manuscript, reading it from afternoon to evening, and began to seriously think about the significance of Chongxiao's test.

At this moment, the door suddenly opened...

"If I remember correctly, the last time you forgot to eat dinner was a year ago."

"Is it?"

Wei Yanwu, waking up from a dream, turned around and looked at the clock in the room.

It's already eight o'clock in the evening.

"What happened at Longmen that has given you such a headache until now?"

Wen Yue placed the dinner in her hands on the table and then walked behind her husband.

To be honest, the words on the manuscript are really hard to read, with a lot of things crossed out and rewritten, and the handwriting is not exactly the same. It is obvious that more than one person has written on it.

As for the content, it can be seen that it is related to different types of stones...

"It's not that serious. It's just... an idea of ​​that kid."

"Chongxiao?"

Wei Yanwu nodded.

Just two days ago, he couldn't help but call the owner of the stone carving shop, intending to ask what Chongxiao was tinkering with.

Without knowing that he was the Governor of Longmen, the other party was very straightforward and directly sent a manuscript, saying that after several days of comparison and collation, he had confirmed some of Chongxiao's ideas.

This is a rough test of the infected person's physical characteristics, but the so-called physical characteristics have nothing to do with the clinical test items for mineral disease...

To be precise, Chongxiao took more than a dozen different kinds of stones from the owner of the stone carving shop, and then took them to let Mrs. Audrey observe and touch them, and then tell her what she felt.

Wei Yanwu had heard of similar medical experiments: due to the presence of "symbiotic" Originium in the body, the infected were more sensitive to Originium dust, and the same was true for objects containing dust.

However, this feature does not have much application value. Ordinary infected people do not need this perception ability in their daily lives, and combat infected people are already at a higher level in this aspect...

Overall, the only situation where it can be used is to allow the infected to avoid environments with a large amount of Originium when they are not carrying any detection equipment.

Obviously, this situation is rare, and for those infected who encounter this situation, generally no one cares about their fate.

Therefore, Wei Yanwu still thought that Chongxiao was wasting his time at first.

Until he saw an idea proposed at the back of the manuscript.

"Let the infected... gamble on stones?"

"This kid is really whimsical."

Although Wei Yanwu said this, the thought of trying it kept coming to his mind.

The gambling stone culture in Dayan has a long history. Long before the birth of Longmen, many miners secretly took out the raw stones and sold them privately to those who were willing to pay a high price.

Since there are not many people who can identify the internal condition of the raw stone, even the Taoist priests who are good at this kind of source stone skills find it difficult to be accurate. Gambling on stones has become a business, and today it has become one of the main sources of raw materials for mid- and low-end jewelry luxury goods.

After all, transportation on the Terra continent is inconvenient, and it is extremely difficult to travel between cities. Instead of looking for jewelers like rare animals, it is better to pull all the raw stones that have potential over and then sell them in the form of gambling stones.

"No, if the infected could really do that, someone would have discovered it long ago."

"It's not that it can be done, it's that it's easier to do... and most of the people who gamble on stones are high-ranking officials and dignitaries, so how could they be willing to come into contact with an infected person?"

"Then what does Chongxiao want to do by studying this?"

Wei Yanwu smiled bitterly and shook his head, then handed the last few pages of the manuscript to Wen Yue.

The handwriting was crooked and very sloppy, but the meaning was still clear: Chongxiao wanted Wei Yanwu to take the lead and lay the foundation for the jewelry appraisal business, similar to a contractor or distributor.

Anyway, given the living conditions of the infected people, it is impossible for them to start a business on their own.

If everything goes well, it will depend on whether Wei Yanwu wants to be a black-hearted boss or a conscientious entrepreneur.

"...You're right, it's really... a fantasy."

"But it's not impossible. The owner of the stone carving shop compared the characteristics of more than a dozen types of stone, and some of the infected person's conclusions are indeed very accurate."

"Then do you want to give it a try?"