High Mountain Slave

After coming down from the Burial Ridge Mountains, he galloped onward without stopping.

Xia Qi'an hurried back to Jinling without even pausing to rest.

The several-hundred-pound chunk of snake meat he had torn from the giant serpent was also tied to the horse's rear and brought back with him.

The outskirts of Jinling City.

When he was ten li from Jinling City, Xia Qi'an encountered a caravan of more than twenty people, also heading toward Jinling City.

At the center of the caravan, three horses traveled abreast, pulling a spacious carriage. A tall iron cage was also secured atop the carriage.

The iron cage was covered with black cloth, making it impossible to see what exactly was inside.

Acting out of Wei Dao Si duty, Xia Qi'an rode forward to question them.

After stopping the caravan, he asked the burly man leading it, "Which trading company are you from?"

The caravan leader was a burly man in his forties, wearing a bamboo hat.

After sizing Xia Qi'an up a few times and seeing that he was wearing a Wei Dao Si uniform, the man hurriedly replied, "Answering you, sir! We're a caravan under the Treasure Pavilion!"

"What's in the cage?"

Earlier, Xia Qi'an had seen a powerful surge of vital energy bursting from inside the cage from far away. Curious, he had come over to question them.

The man explained, "Sir! The cage contains goods requested by the Treasure Pavilion! They're to be auctioned at the Treasure Pavilion's auction tomorrow!"

"Goods? What kind of goods?" Xia Qi'an asked, puzzled.

"It's... a High Mountain Slave transported here from the Qiluo Kingdom!" the burly man said hesitantly.

Xia Qi'an had heard of High Mountain Slaves.

The High Mountain Tribe was a settlement in the mountains of the Qiluo Kingdom.

The people of this tribe were naturally tall and powerful, born martial arts prodigies.

The tribe was also extremely isolated, and its people were simple and unsophisticated, ignorant of worldly affairs.

Thus, the martial artists of the Qiluo Kingdom went to great lengths to trick them down from the mountains and sell them as slaves.

They specialized in selling them to powerful officials and wealthy nobles to guard their homes and compounds.

Hence the name High Mountain Slave.

Upon hearing this, Xia Qi'an immediately grew interested.

He had just acquired a new residence, and there were still no servants in the manor. Buying a High Mountain Slave to guard the place seemed like a pretty good idea!

"High Mountain Slaves... They really are rare! Lift the black cloth and let me have a look..." Xia Qi'an dismounted and said to the man in front of the iron cage.

"Sir... I'm afraid that wouldn't be proper..." the man said evasively.

"What rule...? Can't the Wei Dao Si inspect the Treasure Pavilion's goods?" Xia Qi'an demanded, his brows knitting sharply.

Seeing Xia Qi'an's hostile expression, the man had no wish to clash with the Wei Dao Si. Reluctantly, he ordered his men, "Take down the cloth and let the sir inspect it!"

"Yes!"

At his command, several caravan guards yanked the black cloth off the iron cage.

Inside was a gigantic man with an exceptionally hulking build and wounds covering his body. He was curled up in the corner of the cage, hugging his knees.

The giant man had a simple, honest expression. At a glance, he seemed none too bright.

He had a fat head and large ears, yet his eyes were only the size of mung beans, making him look especially comical.

The giant man blinked his mung-bean-sized eyes, meeting Xia Qi'an's gaze.

"Hungry..."

The giant man's instincts told him that Xia Qi'an was not a bad person. He squeezed a faint sound from his throat, begging him for food.

Xia Qi'an saw that the man's skin was split and torn, his body covered in bloodstains. Clearly, the caravan members had whipped him plenty along the way.

Yet he still looked at Xia Qi'an with a simple, honest expression, as if nothing had happened.

Clearly, he had no idea what his fate would be!

Xia Qi'an could not help feeling some sympathy for the big fellow. He turned to the man and asked, "How much are you asking the Treasure Pavilion for this High Mountain Slave? I'll buy him...!"

"Sir... I'm afraid that won't do... If you've taken a liking to this High Mountain Slave, you can bid for him at the Treasure Pavilion's auction tomorrow!" the man hurriedly stepped forward and politely refused.

Xia Qi'an knew that what he was trying to do really would violate the rules, so he did not press too hard. Changing tack, he said, "Since that's the case, I won't force the matter. However, I, Xia Qi'an, have taken a liking to this High Mountain Slave. You're not to beat him or torture him again... Understood? Also... get him some food!"

With that, Xia Qi'an tossed the man fifty taels of silver, mounted his horse, and rode off into the distance.

Not long after Xia Qi'an left.

"Who was that guy? He was acting so high and mighty..." one of the caravan guards muttered.

"Yeah!... I thought he was some big shot. Judging by his uniform, he's just an ordinary Hound Guard!"

"Shut up! What do you know..." the man shouted immediately upon hearing this.

The man put on a mysterious air and said, "That gentleman just now introduced himself by name. He's a major figure in Jinling City now!"

"You know about the Scented Soap sold by the Yang Clan trading company, and the refined salt that's been causing such a commotion lately, right?"

The guards nodded one after another.

Everyone in Jinling City already knew about the Scented Soap and refined salt businesses.

They made their living traveling as merchants, so naturally they had heard of those two enviable ventures.

The man revealed the truth with an envious look. "That gentleman just now was the one who came up with them! They're both businesses that rake in gold by the day. The silver they earn every day has even outstripped our Treasure Pavilion's! Tell me, why wouldn't he act high and mighty?"

As the two products, Scented Soap and refined salt, spread farther and farther, Xia Qi'an's name naturally became known throughout the Jinling region.

"No wonder!... I was wondering why that gentleman seemed so mighty!" the guard who had spoken disdainfully earlier suddenly changed his tune.

Hearing this, all the other guards burst into uproarious laughter.

Unbeknownst to them, people in the Jinling region had already begun privately addressing Xia Qi'an with the honorific "sir."

Si Nan Manor.

After Xia Qi'an reported the results of his investigation in Lishan County to Lord Sinan, Si Nanyue solemnly instructed him, "I'll have someone else investigate this matter. Don't ask about it again!"

Even though Si Nanyue had made her meaning clear, Xia Qi'an still felt that the matter was far from ordinary.

"Did the Snake Guards find any leads?" Unable to suppress his curiosity, Xia Qi'an shamelessly asked.

Seeing Xia Qi'an's determined look, as if he would keep digging until he got to the bottom of it, Si Nanyue said helplessly, "Since you want to know so badly, I'll tell you. A Corpse Demon may have appeared in the Burial Ridge Mountains!"

"A Corpse Demon? Isn't that a monster from storybooks? Do things like that really exist?" Xia Qi'an casually sat down and drank his tea, completely unconcerned.

Seeing Xia Qi'an grow more and more disrespectful, Si Nanyue looked him up and down with an unfriendly gaze.

But since Xia Qi'an was now the Wei Dao Si's God of Wealth, she could only swallow her anger.

Seeing Xia Qi'an lounging there and spinning the lid of his teacup, Si Nanyue drew a deep breath and said, "Storybooks are also based on reality! Corpse Demons truly exist!"

Upon hearing this, Xia Qi'an calmly said, "Oh... Then it must only be a minor monster. Once I break through to the Bone Forging Realm, I'll go and kill it!"

Si Nanyue laughed in exasperation. "Heh... A minor monster! Are you sure? A Corpse Demon's cultivation is equivalent to that of a Creation Realm martial artist."

"Pfft..."

Xia Qi'an sprayed out a mouthful of tea and hurriedly changed his tune. "Then let Lord Sinan's father handle the killing!"

"Get out!" Si Nanyue could not bear it any longer.

"This subordinate takes his leave!"