"Brother, where'd you come from?"
Lin Mo tucked his hands into his sleeves and approached a laborer-looking man with a cheerful grin. The man froze for a moment, then smiled awkwardly. "Q... Qingshan County."
"What, life's not easy over there either?"
"Yeah, haha... Water ghosts have everyone on edge..."
Kudali gave a vague reply. Not wanting to speak further with Lin Mo, he went back to work on his own.
Lin Mo watched his gait. Though he carried a sack with steady steps, his ankles were pale—hardly the look of someone who did labor year-round.
He focused his gaze, and wisps of white mist spread out. Just as he expected, each of those white destinies possessed a trait related to vitality and blood.
Either [Surging Vitality] or [Robust Vitality]...
Fortunately, judging from experience, Lin Mo determined that these men disguised as laborers were merely martial artists at the First Stage Lesser Accomplishment, at most First Stage Great Accomplishment.
The merchant ship carried a great deal of cargo. Both inside and out, it reeked faintly of fish, mixed with the smell of blood.
A rotund, exceedingly wealthy-looking middle-aged man slowly descended. Lin Mo did not need to look closely to see that his mung-bean eyes were nearly squeezed into slits.
"Ah, are you the manager here?"
Seeing Lin Mo dressed in a fitted martial outfit, with a young man carrying an account book beside him, Hu Pangsan formed a rough guess and stepped forward to make friendly overtures.
"This humble one is Hu Pangsan, from Qingshan County. Having just arrived in your esteemed lands, I've come to pay my respects at the pier." Hu Pangsan's eyes rolled about, but despite his words, he made no actual move.
Lin Mo merely smiled and rubbed his fingers together, making his meaning unmistakably clear.
"Ah, sir, I understand, I understand..."
He carefully pulled out a money pouch from his clothes, gritted his teeth through the pain, and handed over several taels of silver. Lin Mo did not find it too little and tucked it away.
"You know whose pier you're paying respects to, and you know the rules, right?"
"Of course, of course. Isn't it the pier of the Four Great Families?" Hu Pangsan answered quickly, hoping to gloss over the details, only for Lin Mo to press on. "Which of the Four Great Families?"
The so-called Four Great Families were the four local tyrants with the greatest power in Changhe County.
First among them was the Guo Family. Their pharmacies spanned several counties, gathering all manner of precious herbs bestowed by heaven and earth.
Then came the Zhao Family Grain Store. The food of tens of thousands within and beyond the city largely depended on their carriages for overland transport.
As for the remaining two, one was the Qianjin Escort Agency under the Zhou Family, while the last was the Sun Family, which managed the county's real estate.
Seeing Lin Mo press him so hard, Hu Pangsan could only make up an answer. "The Zhao Family Grain Store. We're delivering meat, so we came here specifically."
"Taking the Li Family's waterways, yet paying respects to the Zhao Family's pier?"
Lin Mo draped himself in the Li Family's tiger skin and abruptly intimidated the man before him. Hu Pangsan's gaze grew somewhat cold. "What do you mean by that, brother?"
"Don't you know that our Li Family and the Zhao Family Grain Store are as close as brothers? You come to pay respects but don't even show the Li Family a little filial devotion?"
"But just now, wasn't that..."
"That was what you gave to me."
Hu Pangsan let out a long breath of foul air and did his utmost to steady himself.
Who in Qingshan County did not know that the Zhao Family Grain Store had long coveted the Li Family's waterway trade? What nonsense about being as close as brothers? Between the lines, he saw only one word!
'Money'!
Hu Pangsan had important business at the pier. Upholding the principle of paying more tribute and causing less trouble, he looked at the smiling young man before him and could only swallow his anger.
"Brother, do you think this amount will do?"
He tucked his hand into his sleeve, reaching beneath it so no one else could see, then slipped it directly into Lin Mo's sleeve.
The moment that heavy weight settled in place, the smile in Lin Mo's eyes deepened, and even his attitude improved by several degrees.
This fat man truly was afraid of trouble. What ordinary merchant ship's minor manager would have so much ready silver on hand?
It was one thing for a bunch of martial artists to disguise themselves as laborers to move cargo from his merchant ship, but they had even chosen such a poor excuse for paying respects at the pier.
"Well then, brother, you carry on with your work here. If anything comes up, just let these lads know." Lin Mo pointed at the Li Family servants who had taken over patrol duty nearby and exchanged a few polite words.
Fearing that others might grow suspicious, Hu Pangsan did not dare let anyone help move the cargo. He repeatedly waved his hands. "No trouble, no trouble. We'll leave once we finish unloading."
Lin Mo crossed the bluestone paving, humming a little tune as he headed away from the pier. Hu Pangsan finally let out a breath and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He muttered to himself, "Damn it, you think you're Li Family just because you are? When the Li Family goes under, just wait and see if I don't deal with you!"
Martial artists were playing laborers. Even that fat man with mung-bean eyes who looked like a manager had a vitality-related destiny above his head, though Lin Mo could not yet make out the details.
Since they were in disguise, they surely did not dare cause trouble. With such a fine opportunity before him, it would have been a waste not to squeeze some silver from them.
He walked onto the street, looked at the twelve taels of silver in his hand, and felt delighted.
"With the silver in hand, all I need to do now is report this matter. Dangerous work should be left for the Li Family to handle."
Crossing Zhongxing Street, he casually bought two meat buns from a breakfast stall and headed toward Li Zhiming's residence while eating.
Before long, Lin Mo finished the buns and wiped his hands. As soon as he entered the courtyard and reached the training ground, he saw Li Zhiming practicing martial arts there.
"Greetings, Head Patrolman Li. I have an urgent matter to report."
"Hm? Let's hear it."
Li Zhiming's movements did not stop. Even without circulating his vitality and blood, his set of punches still struck with the force of a tiger and a tiger's roar, incomparably fierce.
"A merchant ship has arrived at East Third Pier. There are seven or eight laborers and one manager. All bear signs of martial training, and their realms are not low. In my opinion, they are at least experts among First Stage martial artists..."
Lin Mo recounted the matter truthfully, while glossing over the silver he had taken and prettifying it as probing them for information.
Li Zhiming had initially paid it little mind, but the instant he heard the word "disguised," he became alert. He grabbed the robe hanging on a wooden post with one hand and strode from the training ground.
"Come. Bring several patrolmen and take a look. If there truly is something suspicious about this, Lin Mo, you'll be credited for a merit!"
With a Third Stage Perfected martial artist overseeing matters, Lin Mo naturally did not fear those few impostor martial artists at the pier, and followed along.
The moment they arrived at the pier, Li Zhiming took one fixed look and sneered twice before waving to the patrolmen.
"Under the rules of Li Family Wharf, for any impostors, those in disguise, or those with unclear intentions, our Li Family has the right to arrest them first and hand them over to the authorities afterward!"
"Stay sharp. Don't let a single one get away!"
The group gripped their blades and wore fitted martial outfits, surging toward the pier with murderous momentum.
Hu Pangsan initially tried to maintain a calm front. When his men were detained, he tried to argue, but Li Zhiming merely asked, "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"From Qingshan County. We're here to do business!"
"Doing business, yet you had martial artists pretend to be laborers?!"
As soon as the words fell, several of the laborers were about to make a move, but the patrolmen got there first, raising their waist sabers and smashing the hilts viciously down upon their necks.
Within only a few breaths, Hu Pangsan was the only one left, his face drained white.
"As for you, come to Li Family Manor with me and tell me everything in detail!"
Before you continue