Tongbei Merchant Guild

At an old street corner behind the East Market of Dragon Abyss City, a scene of desolation unfolded. Beneath a stone plaque lay a pile of broken baskets and tattered cloth. Occasionally, the cry of a wild cat could be heard, but no people were in sight.

Even during the day, this place was sparsely populated, let alone in the evening.

It was said that too many people were killed here back then, and the smell of blood could still be detected. Ordinary people who walked through would feel uncomfortable and often have nightmares at night.

Thirty years ago, this was once the most prosperous street in the East Market because a merchant guild was located here.

"Tongbei Merchant Guild."

Liang Yue walked along the dilapidated long street to the middle section, kicking aside various debris. He finally managed to make out the words on the broken plaque on the ground.

"That's right, it's here," he muttered to himself again.

Earlier, after hearing Liang Peng mention a merchant guild that used the Three-Headed Moluo Flower as its symbol, he went back and searched extensively, finally finding this name.

After the recovery war over four hundred years ago, Nine Yang was beaten back to their lair by the Daxing Emperor and dared not look south for several hundred years.

Only the people on the border often exchanged goods privately. The people on the Yin Dynasty side used ceramics, silk, and daily necessities to exchange for spiritual plants, medicinal herbs, and animal limbs from the Nine Yang side, and the interactions gradually increased.

About fifty or sixty years ago, a once-flourishing merchant guild appeared, called the Tongbei Merchant Guild. They connected the upper echelons of the Yin Dynasty and Nine Yang, transporting goods directly between the various Nine Yang tribes and Dragon Abyss City.

The street where the Tongbei Merchant Guild was located immediately became the most popular street in the East Market. People rushing to buy and sell goods made this street prosperous day and night.

However, not every tribe on the Nine Yang side supported trade with the Yin Dynasty. In fact, the tribes willing to accept the culture of the Nine Provinces were a minority.

The Tongbei Merchant Guild basically only gained the support of the upper echelons of the three major tribes: the Azure Dragon Tribe, the Moon Deer Tribe, and the Heart Fox Tribe. The upper echelons of the other tribes still prohibited merchants from the Nine Provinces from entering. Even if the common people wanted goods, they could only secretly purchase them from the other three tribes.

Therefore, the symbol of the Tongbei Merchant Guild was only a part of the Nine-Headed Moluo Flower, with only three heads.

But the good times did not last long. Thirty years ago, the late emperor suddenly passed away from illness, and Nine Yang took the opportunity to launch a large-scale invasion of the Northwest.

The new emperor immediately established the reign title "Mubei" upon ascending the throne, to demonstrate his determination to resist.

The great war in the Northwest lasted for four years. Finally, the Mubei Emperor personally led the army and utterly defeated the enemy at Sky Gorge Pass. Not only did he recover lost territory, but he also occupied all the territory of the Nine Yang Wood Wolf Tribe, locking down Frost North City and making it difficult for the other eight tribes to emerge from the mountains again.

In the early stages of the war, the Yin Dynasty suffered defeats, and there was widespread indignation in the Divine Capital. The "Tongbei Merchant Guild" was reported to have smuggled military supplies to Nine Yang, and their very name was an admission of guilt. Ultimately, all their members were beheaded in the street.

This street was stained crimson with blood, which did not fade for a long time.

After that, no one dared to step foot here, fearing vengeful spirits. Even the main street of the East Market was moved a distance away.

Thirty years have passed since this period of history, and it has long been swept into the dust. Even those who experienced it firsthand might not remember the symbol of the Three-Headed Moluo Flower. It can only be seen in a few books that record the events of that time.

Among the younger generation, only a very small number of well-read scholars with extensive knowledge would have the opportunity to know about this matter, such as Liang Peng.

Yu Wenlong's residence was outside the East Market, only one block away from this place.

Liang Yue stepped over the threshold, pushed open the already dilapidated gate, and entered the messy courtyard within the merchant guild.

At that time, Phoenix Butterfly mentioned the item Yu Wenlong gave her and wanted to touch her shoulder. This small gesture was only noticed by Liang Yue.

Later, his attention was more focused on solving the case, and he didn't think much about this matter until he heard Liang Peng mention the Moluo Flower in the morning.

He had previously analyzed that Yu Wenlong had to return to the Divine Capital, most likely to retrieve something that only he knew about.

Even his Nine Yang accomplices didn't know.

That's why those Nine Yang spies killed Phoenix Butterfly so decisively.

Killing them to silence witnesses was out of caution, but it also revealed that they had no idea about Yu Wenlong's secret. Even if they had only known of the existence of such a thing, they shouldn't have acted so rashly.

After all, with Phoenix Butterfly dead, the clue was broken.

Perhaps the connection between Nine Yang spies wasn't close to begin with, otherwise, one capture would easily lead to a string of others, and the cleanup over the years wouldn't have been so difficult.

What exactly was the thing that Yu Wenlong hid from his Nine Yang accomplices and risked his life to come back for?

After Liang Yue entered the courtyard, he searched thoroughly inside and out. There didn't seem to be any place to hide things. When the merchant guild members were killed, there must have been searches and looting as well. Any chests or cabinets were smashed.

Could it be that Yu Wenlong didn't hide anything at all, or that the item wasn't here, or that there was another mechanism here?

How should he search then?

Liang Yue stood in the courtyard, slowly falling into contemplation.

If he were Yu Wenlong, what was the purpose of tattooing that mark on Phoenix Butterfly?

Perhaps...

It was to leave a chance.

In case he really died one day and didn't have time to retrieve the item here, Phoenix Butterfly might still have a glimmer of hope to find it.

After all, she was one of the few people in this world who could make him feel genuine affection.

As for whether it was from sincerity or pretense, what did it matter?

Then the item hidden here must be something Phoenix Butterfly could find.

This meant it wouldn't be too difficult.

Just like how Liang Yue rushed here after learning the origin of the Three-Headed Moluo Flower, if Phoenix Butterfly one day discovered the meaning of this tattoo, she would also easily make the connection.

But the item here couldn't be found by others.

Phoenix Butterfly was a good girl in the Mystic Sound Pavilion after all. The unique nature of her profession meant that this tattoo indeed had a chance of being seen by others... and the possibility wasn't low. If Yu Wenlong died and his hidden treasure was taken by another person in the same line of work.

Then he would probably bury his head in the oil pot in the underworld... it would be too embarrassing for a ghost.

So this item couldn't be hidden too simply either.

It had to satisfy both conditions: being findable by Phoenix Butterfly and not findable by others.

Yu Wenlong shouldn't have given Phoenix Butterfly any hints either. If he were still alive but the item was taken by Phoenix Butterfly, he definitely couldn't accept it.

So what should he do?

His gaze swept around the courtyard, imagining how Yu Wenlong might have arranged things from his perspective.

What was different about Phoenix Butterfly compared to others?

She loved money, she loved playing the flute...

Suddenly.

Liang Yue's gaze fell on the top of his shoe.

This entire street hasn't been maintained for many years and is extremely dirty. The courtyard is even covered in thick layers of mud and dust. He had only walked around here twice, and his shoes were already covered in dust.

He looked up again and finally focused on a damaged flag that had fallen onto a table against the wall in the side hall. It should have originally been a Tongbei Merchant Guild flag with the Three-Headed Moluo Flower, but half of it had been burned away by fire, and only one nail remained to hold it, so it lay half-covered on the table.

Liang Yue quickly walked over and picked up the damaged flag.

There was nothing on it, but Liang Yue felt slightly more certain that this was the place.

His contact with Phoenix Butterfly was extremely brief, and his understanding of her was very shallow, but he knew she had one characteristic.

She was very clean.

That day, his hand had merely touched the table cloth after holding a Charcoal Pencil, and she had scolded him, insisting he wipe his hands first.

Walking down such a long street to get here, and then stepping into this courtyard, his shoes and skirt hem would be covered in mud. If it were Phoenix Butterfly, her first reaction would likely be to wipe them.

But there were no towels here, and the only relatively clean cloth was this damaged flag, so her gaze would very likely be drawn to it.

And then?

Liang Yue's eyes carefully scanned up and down, and soon he noticed something else was off.

The ground inside the hall was covered in years of dust, but there were two straight marks in front of the table legs, where the dust was slightly thinner than the surrounding area.

It was as if...

Someone had dragged it.

And if someone were to bend down to wipe their shoes, this would be exactly where she would notice.

Liang Yue gripped the table leg and pulled it along the direction of the tracks.

Whoosh—

As the slightly heavy wooden table was slowly dragged, a section of the wall at the bottom, where the table was leaning against, actually slowly rose! When the table legs covered the tracks on the ground, it just revealed an opening large enough for one person to pass through.

There was a secret room!

As expected!

This discovery greatly excited Liang Yue, indicating that his reasoning process was completely correct.

He peered inside for a while from the outside and saw that it seemed to be an ordinary basement, small and dark, with nothing special.

Only then did he leap down.

Thud.

After landing, he could see all the furnishings inside.

It was like a small bedroom, with a table and chairs, and a small bed, but everything was old and dilapidated. He approached the old table, and there were a few sentences carved on it with a knife.

"That year, I was here, listening to my father and mother being killed above. This time I return here, vowing to make the southerners pay with blood!"

The handwriting was messy and wild. Although no name was written, Liang Yue immediately thought of Yu Wenlong's angry and ferocious face when he was captured.

No wonder he was ready to die at any time to take revenge on the Yin Dynasty, his will so firm.

It turned out he was a descendant of the Tongbei Merchant Guild from back then.

When the people of the Tongbei Merchant Guild were killed, the young Yu Wenlong might have hidden here and escaped death. After that, he went through who knows what before becoming one of Nine Yang's spies.

Liang Yue then pulled open the drawer under the table. Inside was a package wrapped in brocade cloth. He took it out and slowly opened it.

Four items were revealed in the package.

A silver note, a strange beast hide, a long saber with an ebony handle and sheath, and a letter.