A pockmarked, greasy-haired man said with an ingratiating smile, "Master Lan, we've delivered quite a lot of 'materials' to you lately. There are far fewer undocumented residents left in the Old City."
"If there are any fewer, we'll probably attract the Security Department's attention. So we had no choice but to look outside the city."
"The 'materials' outside the city aren't so easy to obtain now. How about making do for the time being while we think of another way?"
The thin man standing before the pockmarked man was none other than Tāngòu Jilan.
He gave a soft snort. "Remember what you said. Otherwise, next time, you'll become the 'material.'"
The pockmarked man jumped in fright and hurriedly said, "You can't do that, you can't! If I became 'material,' who would run errands for you? Isn't that right?"
From beneath his hood, Jilan cast the pockmarked man a cool glance. "Forget about the materials for now. I told you to promote the 'Blissful Incense.' How is that going?"
The pockmarked man wore a bitter smile. "Master Lan, you know that our An Sheng Hall isn't in the tobacco business."
"We want to promote your 'Blissful Incense' too, but unfortunately, we have no connections."
"In the Old City, only Jade Stream Tower runs this kind of business. What's more, they have branches throughout Ziyang City."
"We originally wanted to cooperate with them, but their boss looked down on our 'Blissful Incense' and said it belonged to the Heretical Path."
Jilan sneered. "If you can't reach an agreement, use force. Do I still have to teach you?"
"Didn't I train ten Watchdogs for you? They weren't meant to sit around looking pretty."
The pockmarked man rubbed his hands. "If it were some other company, I'd have smashed them already. But Jade Stream