Tongbei Merchant Guild

Behind East Market in Dragon Abyss City, an old street corner lay desolate. Beneath a stone plaque was a heap of broken baskets and tattered cloth. Wildcats occasionally cried out, but not a soul was in sight.

Even in daylight, few people came here, let alone at dusk.

They said too many people had been killed here back then, and the scent of blood could still be smelled to this day. Ordinary people would feel unwell after walking around inside, and often have nightmares at night.

Thirty years ago, this had been the most prosperous street in East Market, because a merchant guild had stood here.

"Tongbei Merchant Guild."

Liang Yue walked along the ruined long street to its middle, kicking aside all manner of debris. At last, he made out the words on the shattered plaque lying on the ground.

"That's right. This is the place," he muttered to himself again.

Earlier, Liang Peng had mentioned a merchant guild that used the Three-Headed Moluo Flower as its emblem. After returning, he had searched high and low before finally finding this name.

After the war of reconquest more than four hundred years ago, the Daxing Emperor had driven Jiuyang back into its old nest. For several centuries afterward, they had not dared cast so much as a glance southward.

Only the border folk often exchanged goods in private. The people of the Yin Dynasty traded porcelain, silk, household items, and the like for Jiuyang's spirit plants, medicinal herbs, beast parts, and so on. Their dealings gradually increased.

Some fifty or sixty years ago, a merchant guild that enjoyed a time in the limelight emerged, called the Tongbei Merchant Guild. They connected the upper echelons of the Yin Dynasty and Jiuyang, transporting goods directly between Jiuyang's various tribes and Dragon Abyss City.

The street where the Tongbei Merchant Guild stood immediately became East Market's hottest street. Those scrambling to buy goods and those scrambling to sell them kept it bustling day and night.

Yet not every tribe in Jiuyang supported trade with the Yin Dynasty. In truth, the tribes willing to embrace the culture of the Nine Provinces were only a small minority.

The Tongbei Merchant Guild had basically secured support only from the upper ranks of the three great tribes—the Azure Dragon Tribe, Moon Deer Tribe, and Heart Fox Tribe. The upper ranks of the other tribes still strictly forbade merchants and travelers from the Nine Provinces from entering. Even if their people wanted such goods, they could only secretly purchase them through the other three tribes.

That was why the Tongbei Merchant Guild's emblem was only one part of the Nine-Headed Mura Flower—just three blossoms.

But fair scenes did not last. Thirty years ago, the late emperor suddenly died of illness, and Jiuyang seized the opportunity to launch a massive advance into the northwest.

Upon ascending the throne, the New Emperor directly chose "Mubei" as his reign title, to demonstrate his resolve to resist them.

The great war in the northwest lasted four years. In the end, the Emperor Mubei personally led the expedition and crushed the enemy army at Sky Gorge Pass in one stroke. Not only did he recover the lost lands, he also occupied all territory belonging to Jiuyang's Wood Wolf Tribe, sealing off Frost North City and making it difficult for the remaining eight tribes to leave the mountains again.

During the early stages of the war, the Yin Dynasty suffered defeats, and public sentiment in the Divine Capital boiled with rage. The "Tongbei Merchant Guild" was reported for having smuggled military supplies to Jiuyang. Even its name seemed like a confession. In the end, every member was beheaded in the streets.

This street was dyed crimson with blood, and its color did not fade for a long, long time.

After that, no one dared set foot here, afraid that vengeful souls would cling to them. Even East Market's main street was moved some distance away.

Thirty years had passed since that history. It had long been swept into the dust heap. Even those who had personally lived through it might no longer remember the Three-Headed Moluo Flower emblem. It might only be found in the scant few books recording that event.

Among young people, only a tiny number of broadly read scholars had the chance to know of this, such as Liang Peng.

Yu Wenlong's residence lay outside East Market, only one ward away from here.

Liang Yue stepped over the threshold, pushed open the long-decaying front door, and entered the merchant guild's cluttered courtyard.

When Phoenix Butterfly had mentioned the item Yu Wenlong gave her and reached to touch her shoulder, only Liang Yue had noticed that tiny movement.

Later, his attention had focused more on solving the case, and he had not thought much of it until Liang Peng mentioned the Mo Luo Flower that morning.

They had analyzed it before: Yu Wenlong had insisted on returning to the Divine Capital because there was most likely something here that only he knew about and needed to retrieve.

Even his Jiuyang accomplices did not know.

That was why those Jiuyang spies had killed Phoenix Butterfly so cleanly and decisively.

Silencing her had been an act of caution, but it also exposed the fact that they simply did not know Yu Wenlong's secret. Even if they had only known that such an item existed, they should not have acted so rashly.

After all, once Phoenix Butterfly died, the lead would be cut off.

Perhaps the connections among Jiuyang's spies had never been close to begin with. Otherwise, once one was caught, it would be easy to pull up a whole string. Their removal over the years would not have been so difficult.

Then what exactly was the thing Yu Wenlong had concealed from his Jiuyang accomplices, the thing he was willing to risk his life to return for...?

After entering the courtyard, Liang Yue searched carefully inside and out. There did not seem to be anywhere to hide something. When the merchant guild members had been killed, there must have been searching and looting as well. Any boxes, cabinets, and the like had been smashed to pieces.

Could it be that Yu Wenlong had not hidden anything at all? Or that the item was not here? Or perhaps there was another mechanism here?

Then how was he supposed to find it?

Liang Yue stood in the courtyard and slowly sank into thought.

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

Perhaps...

It was to leave behind an opportunity.

If one day he truly died and did not have time to retrieve the item here, Phoenix Butterfly might still have a sliver of hope of finding it.

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

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

Then the thing hidden here had to be something Phoenix Butterfly could find.

That meant it could not be too difficult.

Just as Liang Yue had come straight here after learning the origin of the Three-Headed Moluo Flower, if Phoenix Butterfly one day discovered the meaning of that tattoo, she could easily make the connection as well.

But the thing here could not be found by anyone else.

Phoenix Butterfly was, after all, a good girl from the Mystic Sound Pavilion. The unique nature of her profession meant there was indeed a chance that someone else might see the tattoo... and not a small chance at that. If Yu Wenlong died and the treasure he had hidden was taken by another person of the same trade—

Then even in the cauldron of oil in the underworld, he would have to dunk his head in and soak it... It would be far too humiliating for a ghost.

So the item could not be hidden too simply either.

It had to satisfy two conditions: Phoenix Butterfly had to be able to find it, while no one else could.

Yu Wenlong probably had not given Phoenix Butterfly any hints, either. If he were still alive but Phoenix Butterfly took the item, he certainly would not be able to accept that.

So how could he do it?

His gaze swept across the courtyard as he imagined how Yu Wenlong might have arranged things.

What made Phoenix Butterfly different from others?

She loved money, loved playing the flute...

Suddenly.

Liang Yue's gaze fell upon his own shoes.

This entire street had gone untended for years and was filthy beyond measure. Thick mud and dust had accumulated in the courtyard as well. After walking around here twice, his shoes were covered in dirt.

He raised his eyes again and finally fixed on a tattered flag that had fallen onto a table against the wall in the side hall. It should once have been a Three-Headed Moluo Flower merchant guild banner. Now, half had been burned away, and with only one nail still securing it, it lay half-draped over the table.

Liang Yue strode over and picked up the tattered flag.

There was nothing on it, yet Liang Yue felt faintly certain inside. It was probably here.

He had interacted with Phoenix Butterfly only briefly and knew little about her, but he knew she had one trait.

She loved cleanliness.

That day, when his hand had merely held a Charcoal Pencil and then touched the tablecloth, she had scolded him and insisted that he wipe his hands first.

After walking such a long street to get here and stepping into this courtyard, her shoes and skirt hem would be covered in mud. If it were Phoenix Butterfly, her first reaction would very likely be to wipe herself clean.

But there were no towels here. The only cloth that could still be considered clean was this tattered flag, so her eyes would very likely be drawn to it.

And then?

Liang Yue carefully examined it from top to bottom, and quickly noticed something else was wrong.

The side hall's floor was covered in years of dust, yet directly before the table legs were two straight tracks where the dust was slightly thinner than in the surrounding area.

It was as though...

Someone had dragged it.

And if someone bent down to wipe their shoes, this was exactly the place she would notice.

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

Whoosh—

As the somewhat heavy wooden table was slowly dragged aside, the lower section of the wall it had stood against actually began to rise! Once the table legs covered the tracks on the floor, an entrance large enough for one person to pass through was revealed.

There was a hidden chamber!

Just as expected!

The discovery greatly invigorated Liang Yue. It showed that his chain of reasoning had been entirely correct.

He peered inside for a while. It seemed to be an ordinary basement, cramped and dark, with nothing particularly special about it.

Only then did he leap down.

Thud.

After landing, he saw all the furnishings inside.

This place resembled a small bedroom. There were tables and chairs, as well as a little bed, though everything was extremely old and worn. He approached the old table, where several lines had been carved with a knife.

"Back then, I hid here and listened as Father and Mother were killed above. This time, having returned here, I swear to make the southerners repay their blood debt in blood!"

The handwriting was messy and wild. Though no name had been written, Liang Yue immediately thought of Yu Wenlong's furious, twisted face when he had been captured.

No wonder he had been prepared to die at any time for the sake of taking revenge on the Yin Dynasty, his resolve so unshakable.

So he was a descendant of the Tongbei Merchant Guild.

When the Tongbei Merchant Guild's people had been killed, the young Yu Wenlong had likely hidden here and escaped disaster. Who knew what he experienced afterward before becoming one of Jiuyang's spies.

Liang Yue opened the drawer beneath the table. Inside was a bundle wrapped in brocade cloth. He took it out and slowly opened it.

Four items were revealed inside the bundle.

A banknote, a strange animal hide, a sheathed longsword with an ebony handle, and a letter.