Cultivating Trusted Aides

The black market closed during the day.

The traveling vendors and peddlers had all left. However, the shops with permanent storefronts in the black market remained open as usual.

It was somewhat like the market fairs held in towns. On days ending in three, six, or nine, merchants from the surrounding villages and towns would carry their goods to town to sell, while the villagers nearby would also go there to buy things. For a time, the roads would be packed with a constant stream of people, and business would erupt in a concentrated rush. But once the fair was over, the traveling merchants would leave. The shops in town, however, would not close.

The same was true of Blood Ridge Black Market. During the day, the traveling merchants were gone, but the shops remained open as usual. Some regular customers would also come here to buy goods during the daytime.

The shopkeepers who had been rooted in the black market year-round were the core merchants of Blood Ridge Black Market.

A large part of Xie An's work was maintaining his relationship with these core merchants.

On Weapons Street, there were two well-established smithies that specialized in forging ironware, weapons, and the like. Both blacksmiths were highly skilled.

One of the blacksmiths was surnamed Liu. The other smithy belonged to a man surnamed Liang, whose given name was Xiang.

As expected, Xie An went to Liang Xiang's smithy.

There was no other reason than that Liang Xiang was Liang Zhi's cousin.

Since he had decided to cultivate Liang Zhi into his trusted aide, he would begin winning him over with favors from this moment onward.

"Manager, what brings you here? Come in and have some tea." Liang Xiang was a rough-looking man, but he understood etiquette. The moment he saw Xie An, he put on a broad smile.

Xie An did not immediately state his purpose. Instead, he asked with concern, "Master Liang, how has business been lately?"

As Liang Xiang poured tea for Xie An, whose face was covered, he said, "Much better than when Zhang Biao was in charge. It's all thanks to you, Manager, for purging the corruption and putting things in order. People like us who depend on this trade to make a living can finally earn some silver. It's just that now this Plum Blossom Monster has appeared. I'm afraid we won't have any peace again from here on out."

Xie An consoled him, "Master Liang, there's no need to worry. Blood Ridge Black Market is backed by Tiger Wolf Gate. A mere Plum Blossom Monster can't stir up any great waves."

Hearing this, Liang Xiang was indeed much more at ease.

Xie An took the opportunity to explain his purpose.

"Manager, you want to forge a heavy saber? I have several finished ones here. Why don't you try them?" Liang Xiang immediately brought out several broad sabers.

Xie An weighed them a few times, but quickly lost interest.

One weighed eight pounds, another a little over ten. Even the heaviest broad saber weighed only a dozen or so pounds. For ordinary saber wielders, that was considered rather heavy.

But to Xie An, who could lift eight hundred pounds with one arm, they were far too light.

Liang Xiang detected his meaning from his expression. "Manager, how heavy a saber do you want forged?"

Xie An began calculating in his heart.

A saber was not necessarily better simply because it was heavier. After all, fighting was a drawn-out affair. If the blade was too heavy, the first few strikes would naturally be mighty, but once the battle dragged on, its weight would become a burden.

In the end, Xie An named a relatively suitable figure. "Forty pounds."

"That would be an extremely heavy saber. Ordinarily, only saber wielders in the Muscle Realm would consider a saber of that weight. But since you need it, Manager, I'll naturally fulfill your request. Do you have any requirements for its shape?" Liang Xiang was surprised, but he was also delighted.

Forging a forty-pound heavy saber was a major job.

Xie An had Liang Xiang bring paper and a brush, then sketched the shape of a broad saber on the paper: the blade was two inches wide and four feet long, with a back roughly half an inch thick. The rear half of the blade was straight, while the front half curved slightly upward, ending in a sharp tip.

After roughly completing the drawing, Xie An handed the paper to Liang Xiang. "Master Liang, can you make it?"

Liang Xiang studied the blueprint carefully and frowned. "The edge is too sharp. If it's made with ordinary iron ore, it won't hold an edge. We'll need to use high-quality refined steel. But the price..."

According to the prices in the Great Qian Dynasty, ordinary wrought iron cost only a dozen or so copper coins per pound and was not expensive.

But refined steel was a material for high-end blades and swords, a type of steel. Only wealthy saber wielders, government constables, and military officers in the garrisons could afford blades forged from it.

Its price was more than a hundred times that of ordinary wrought iron.

One pound cost nearly one tael of silver.

Forty pounds of refined steel would cost forty taels of silver for the material alone. Adding the hilt, guard, and other materials, as well as the craftsmanship, Xie An estimated the cost would be forty-five taels.

It would be reasonable for Liang Xiang to charge around fifty taels.

Having made his estimate, Xie An said, "Money isn't a problem. Name your price."

Liang Xiang calculated for a moment before saying, "The Manager is looking after my business, so I won't make any profit off you. Forty-two taels. The bandits in Great Yin Mountain have been active lately, and the government is forging weapons on a large scale in preparation for suppressing them, so the price of refined steel is fluctuating. Even if I take a loss, I'll bear it myself. I'll deliver the heavy saber in three months."

Knowing that Liang Xiang truly was not making money, Xie An smiled and took out a large ingot worth fifty taels, setting it on the table. "How could I let Master Liang work for nothing? Fifty taels, final offer. I'll come collect the saber in three months."

Xie An did not give Liang Xiang a chance to refuse. He rose and left at once. Even after he had gone a long way, he could still see Liang Xiang chasing him out of the smithy with the silver ingot in hand.

Seeing Xie An disappear into the distance, Liang Xiang had no choice but to accept the money. He muttered to himself, "This new Manager is truly nothing like that petty Zhang Biao, who knew only how to squeeze us dry."

Not long afterward, Liang Zhi came over.

"Third Brother, what did the Manager want with you?"

Actually, Liang Zhi had seen Xie An from a distance earlier, but he had not come over to ask. He had assumed Xie An was looking for his cousin over some unpleasant matter.

Liang Xiang did not conceal anything and told him the whole story.

After hearing it, Liang Zhi glanced at Old Liu's smithy next door and sighed inwardly: Master Liu's smithing skills are clearly somewhat better than Liang Xiang's, yet the Manager deliberately came here. He's looking after me. This is a favor owed to me...

In truth, over the past few months, Liang Zhi had not had much contact with Xie An. Every time, he had merely reported on his work as usual, with no other interaction. Thus, Liang Zhi had always felt that this old man was stern and difficult to get along with.

Who would have thought that with just a few small actions, this old Manager would stir such deep emotion in his heart?

After leaving the smithy, Xie An did not return directly to the separate residence. Instead, he found Zhou Xing and went to examine the vendor who had been killed by the Plum Blossom Monster.

Since the Plum Blossom Monster had already reached its hands into Blood Ridge Black Market, Xie An, as the person in charge here, naturally had to investigate and understand the situation so that he could know what to expect.

In a crude room lay a corpse drenched in blood, covered with a white cloth.

Zhou Xing took the initiative to bend down and lift the cloth. "A physician from White Feather Hall came to examine the body just now. He said the victim's throat was severed by a sharp weapon... killed in a single strike."

Xie An crouched down and examined the body carefully.

There was a fine wound at the throat.

Judging from the marks, it had probably been caused by a thin, sharp weapon. The cut was extremely clean, with no trace of a struggle. Clearly, the vendor had died before he could even react.

A sword? Or some kind of fine thread?

Xie An drew a deep breath. "Where's Brother Zhang?"

Zhou Xing replied, "The boss has gone to sleep. Oh, right, the boss also asked me to find out whether the black market would remain open today."

After what had happened, everyone inside and outside the black market was in a state of panic, and rumors had even spread that it would close.

Xie An could understand their fear, but he still made his decision. "Open it. Keep operating. But strengthen security. Don't send guards out on solo patrols. Equip every guard with a signal arrow. At the first sign of anything unusual, fire it immediately. Tonight, I'll patrol personally."

If Blood Ridge Black Market closed just because a merchant had died, where would White Feather Hall's face be?

Moreover, the people above would reprimand him for handling matters incompetently.

Having only just arrived, Xie An had not expected to manage the black market particularly well. At the very least, he did not want anything to happen. He only wanted to quietly train and develop, and he could not afford any mishaps.

Hearing that the new Manager would patrol personally, Zhou Xing was greatly encouraged. "We'll follow your orders, Manager. We have plenty of men. As long as we patrol in groups, we may not necessarily have to fear this Plum Blossom Monster."