Mysterious Buyer

Squelch—

Kong Yongxin, who had still been barking orders and directing the Armored Soldiers under him, saw his pupils shrink to pinpoints.

He looked at Zhang Ming, who had been several meters away one blink ago and suddenly appeared before him the next, then lowered his head to look at the arm piercing through his chest. His eyes widened in disbelief.

"You... you... how dare you? How dare you?"

"You... you... how could you be this strong?"

Until his death, Kong Yongxin could not understand how Zhang Ming had dared to attack so suddenly.

And the moment he struck, it had been a killing blow?

No evidence needed? No fear of the consequences?

And besides...

Why had he failed to dodge? He was a Warrior who had comprehended Vital Energy too. His strength was not poor either.

Why could he not evade? Why was Zhang Ming so strong? Why was Zhang Ming so bold?

With all that resentment and confusion—

With a thud, Kong Yongxin's corpse went limp and collapsed to the ground. He died on the spot.

"Boss! Boss!"

"You've got some nerve! Brothers, kill this bandit and avenge the Boss! Avenge the Boss!"

The sudden accident threw the several dozen Armored Soldiers below into chaos.

Seeing their immediate superior die before their eyes left them terrified and at a loss.

A few Armored Soldiers who had once been Kong Yongxin's trusted men stepped forward at once, trying to command everyone to advance and kill Zhang Ming together.

"Hm?"

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort, Zhang Ming swept his gaze over the few men jumping about the most. He raised a hand and grabbed Kong Yongxin's corpse with his right hand.

With a bang, the corpse shot outward like a cannonball.

With several thousand jin of brute force behind that swing, how could a few ordinary men possibly withstand it?

In the blink of an eye, those few men who had been shouting the loudest were sent flying several meters by their own Boss's corpse. A few unlucky men behind them were knocked down as well.

The might of one strike was terrifying indeed.

With a casual blow, he had smashed several people flying. That terrifying combat power made the atmosphere at the scene tense once more.

But in the next moment—

"Greetings, Young Master."

"Greetings, Young Master."

"Greetings, Young Master."

Among the several dozen Armored Soldiers, there were naturally people planted by the Zhang Family.

Otherwise, news from the Mine would never have reached Zhang Ming's ears.

With someone taking the lead, everyone else realized that the man on the platform might truly be their Boss's Boss.

As for why their Boss's Boss had killed their Boss, some clever people had already made their guesses.

As for the fools, seeing everyone around them kneel, they chose to follow the crowd.

And so—

"Greetings, Young Master," everyone shouted in unison.

"Mhm."

Seeing that they knew what was good for them, Zhang Ming, who had thought he would need to display his strength once more, nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. You have all rendered merit in guarding the Mine. Once I have assessed your contributions, there will certainly be rewards."

"Now, imprison those few men and await punishment."

After speaking, Zhang Ming turned his back and looked at the two stewards behind him, who were now trembling like leaves.

"Both of you, come into the courtyard with me."

The two swallowed hard. They were terrified, but faced with Zhang Ming's smile that did not reach his eyes, they did not dare offer the slightest resistance.

"Yes, yes, yes. Young Master is right, absolutely right."

Inside the courtyard.

Zhang Ming looked around and chuckled softly.

"Who would have thought that there would be such a magnificent place hidden within the Qingmang Mountains?"

After casually looking around for a moment, Zhang Ming turned his gaze to the two stewards kneeling on the ground.

"There are four stewards at the Mine. I dealt with one. Where is the other, Steward Li? Why did he not come?"

"Li... Li... Old Li was killed by Steward Kong," one steward answered shakily.

"Killed?"

Zhang Ming raised a brow.

"Then he was killed."

The private expansion of the blast furnaces and water-powered stamping machines had already sentenced them all to death.

It did not matter if one of them had died early.

"Tell me. Who were the Armor and Weapons from the Mine sold to?"

"No, no, we didn't—"

"Hm?"

Zhang Ming raised a brow, killing intent surging in his eyes. At a time like this, did they still take him for a fool?

"Yes, yes, we did."

The stewards were not fools either. Stared at by those eyes brimming with killing intent, they immediately realized their stupidity.

"Who did you sell them to, and how much did you sell?"

"Young Master, Young Master, we truly don't know who they were sold to. Kong Yongxin was in charge of that matter; he handled everything himself."

"We only assisted him in managing and expanding the Mine, then handed the Armor and Weapons forged by the Mine over to him. He sold them, came back, and gave us a share of the money. We don't know, we really don't know."

"Who he sold them to, we truly don't know! We really don't know!"

The two stewards wailed, snot and tears streaming all over the ground.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Since you don't know who they were sold to, then you must at least know how many were sold, yes? When was the last transaction? How often were transactions made?"

"We know, we know. We know that."

"Every other month, we had to provide Kong Yongxin with one hundred complete sets of Armor and Weapons. There have been five transactions. The last one was a few days ago."

A cold gleam flashed through Zhang Ming's eyes, as though the temperature in the air had instantly dropped several degrees.

A bone-piercing chill assailed the two stewards, scaring them out of their wits.

At some point, drops of terrified urine began dripping from beneath their trouser legs.

"Five months. Five hundred sets of Armor and Weapons!"

Muttering those numbers, Zhang Ming felt his scalp go numb.

A full five hundred sets of Armor and Weapons. Five hundred sets—enough to fully equip five hundred Armored Soldiers!

Who would want five hundred sets? Who had the means to want five hundred sets?

In all of Xinhe Commandery, even including the surrounding commanderies, there was not a single family capable of making such an extravagant purchase.

And besides...

Why did he want so many Armor and Weapons? What did he intend to do? What was he planning?

For a moment, countless thoughts ran through Zhang Ming's mind.

There had not been enough time. For the moment, he could not uncover the purpose of this mysterious force.

But there was at least one thing Zhang Ming could be certain of.

The matter at the Mine most likely had nothing to do with any force in Yang City.

Because the powers in a small place like Yang City could not make such a grand purchase.

Even though water-powered forging had lowered costs somewhat compared to manual labor, one set of Armor and Weapons still sold for at least dozens, perhaps nearly a hundred taels of silver.

In all of Yang City, who could produce fifty thousand taels of silver?

No one. Other than the Zhang Family, not one!

Thus—

Zhang Ming had no choice but to treat this with utmost caution.

He did not even dare rashly cut off the transactions unilaterally, lest he invite unnecessary trouble.

Those thoughts passed through his mind in an instant.

Having confirmed that the mysterious buyer needed to be treated cautiously, and that the two men before him knew only a scant amount, Zhang Ming lost his patience with them.

He signaled Lin De with his eyes.

"Yes, Young Master."

Squelch, squelch.

Two slashes. The heads of the two stewards fell to the ground, blood splattering across the earth.

A few hours later.

Zhang Ming sat in the study of Kong Yongxin, the steward who had once ruled the Qingmang Mountain Mine with one hand, located in the center of the Mine village.

He patiently listened to his subordinate's report.

"Young Master, after taking inventory, there are two hundred and twenty-one sets of Armor and Weapons in the warehouses, twenty thousand jin of various ores, ten thousand shi of grain, more than thirty thousand taels of silver, as well as assorted jewelry and ornaments."

"Besides that, the Mine has more than eight hundred miners, sixty Armored Soldiers, over three hundred logistics workers and miners' family members, thirteen blast furnaces, fifteen water-powered stamping machines, and also..."

As he listened to Lin De's various reports, Zhang Ming remained expressionless, merely tapping unconsciously on the hard wooden desk.

A moment later.

After Lin De finished reporting, he asked tentatively, "Young Master, do you have any instructions?"

"Alas."

With a soft sigh, Zhang Ming said, "First, arrange the wages and benefits originally due to the Mine workers. Deal with some of those with bad reputations, then reward the Armored Soldiers guarding the Mine according to their merits. For everything else, leave things as they are for now."

"As for those blast furnaces, water-powered stamping machines, and the Armor and Weapons currently being manufactured..."

"Continue. Continue for now."

Before determining the identity of the mysterious buyer, Zhang Ming did not dare act rashly and cut off the transactions unilaterally.

"Yes, Young Master. This servant will take his leave."

A moment later, after Lin De left, Zhang Ming was the only one remaining in the room.

Looking at the empty room, Zhang Ming sighed softly. At this moment, he did not know what to do either.

The Mine's embezzlement issue had been dealt with, and nearly all the upper ranks were dead, yet the Mine's troubles had not been resolved in the slightest.

Just as Zhang Ming hesitated, not knowing what to do, a cool female voice suddenly rang out in the room.

"Not bad. Zhang Ming, you made a smart decision. We like doing business with smart people."