The Whole Damn Pig...!

The docks of Deyang were incredibly busy, with large and small wooden and bamboo rafts shuttling back and forth, the clamor of shouts and noise a chaotic mess that grated on the nerves.

Without familiarity with the situation, one had no right to speak. As for the upcoming trade or handing the bandits over to the so-called authorities, Bai Yang decided that no matter what happened, he would only watch and say nothing.

No matter the place, when a decision-maker speaks rashly without understanding the situation, it often backfires.

Bai Yang noticed that on the busy docks, there were no large boats to be seen at all—only wooden and bamboo rafts piled high with various mountain goods. The people on those rafts were dressed much like the villagers from before.

That raised a problem: their group, clad in silver-gray Titanium Alloy Armor, suddenly stood out starkly.

"Poor planning. The tall tree catches the wind. Now I can't avoid drawing attention, and who knows what'll happen next."

Thinking this, Bai Yang wasn't worried, though. Villagers wearing Titanium Alloy Armor could probably cut through a ten-thousand-man siege seven times over if the enemy had similar numbers but far inferior gear.

On the shore, someone had already noticed them. A dozen or so people in blue robes stood at the water's edge, waving for them to dock.

"Zhao Shi, you're in charge of everything from here on out."

Bai Yang gave Zhao Shi a heads-up to avoid causing trouble himself later.

"Understood, young master."

Zhao Shi nodded, then directed the villagers to steer the rafts over.

As the rafts docked, a dozen blue-robed men approached. A short, stout middle-aged man stepped forward, scrutinizing Bai Yang and the others as he asked, "You are...?"

Bai Yang noticed that at least a thousand people in blue robes were scattered along the shore, directing the rafts on the river. They shouted at everyone else, but treated their group with noticeably more courtesy.

"This gear probably plays a big part in that."

Bai Yang nodded to himself. The saying "clothes make the man" was playing out vividly here.

Zhao Shi stepped forward and said, "We're villagers from Geduo Village, here to trade mountain goods. Please have them inspected. Also, on the way here, we routed a band of outlaws and captured some prisoners. Please inform the authorities."

Geduo Village was the name of Little Cat's village. Bai Yang didn't know what it meant exactly, but based on pronunciation, it translated to "Geduo."

After hearing Zhao Shi's words, the short, stout man lifted his chin slightly, his eyes flickering, and nodded to show he understood.

What happened next struck Bai Yang as especially odd, but he still said nothing, silently playing the part of a bystander.

Under the direction of the dozen blue-robed men, the villagers moved all the goods to a designated spot on the shore. Someone there held something like a ledger, pointing and jotting things down.

"That ledger is made of some kind of thin leather, and the pen is a brush. Does that mean paper doesn't exist here?"

Bai Yang wondered inwardly.

At the same time, some blue-robed men left, hurrying toward Deyang Town.

Just as the blue-robed men finished tallying the villagers' goods, a group appeared from the direction of Deyang—thirty-four people, all wearing red-and-black robes with long knives at their waists.

Bai Yang suspected these were the so-called authorities. Their uniforms were pretty shabby...

The officials arrived, and one who seemed to be the leader exchanged a few words with Zhao Shi. With a wave of his hand, someone wheeled out a dozen or so carts from some corner, dumped the prisoners Bai Yang's group had captured onto them like trash, tossed a large bundle of something to Zhao Shi, and left.

To Bai Yang, the whole process seemed baffling and bizarre, but everyone around him acted like it was perfectly normal.

"What am I missing here?"

Unable to figure it out, Bai Yang kept observing.

The short, stout blue-robed man, seeing the goods were all tallied, asked Zhao Shi, "Everything's clear. 'Various' furs, three hundred and eighty-four pieces; smoked meat, thirteen thousand four hundred catties; fruit wine, three hundred and twenty-four jars; various herbs, four hundred and fifty catties. Is that right?"

Zhao Shi nodded, his expression a bit stiff.

The short, stout man continued, "Alright, everything's accounted for. What do you want in exchange?"

"Half for salt, half for hemostatic powder."

Zhao Shi answered almost without thinking.

The man, looking as if he'd expected that, nodded and said, "Alright. One fur for one catty of salt, ten catties of smoked meat for one catty—that adds up to five hundred catties of salt. Fruit wine for hemostatic powder, one jar for one bottle; herbs, one catty for one bottle—that's three hundred bottles. Check it yourself, right?"

Zhao Shi swallowed blankly but still nodded.

At that moment, Zhao Shi's mind was probably something like:

"#$%^&&(*^&$^%#%$#U&%^$^%$"

Then the short, stout man nodded and turned away. Some blue-robed men carried over forty large bags, like cement sacks, and handed them to Zhao Shi, along with three wooden crates containing fist-sized bamboo tubes stoppered with something.

The bags presumably held the so-called salt, and the bamboo tubes likely the hemostatic powder. Bai Yang kept observing, silently playing the bystander.

Even a blind man could tell those blue-robed men were up to no good...

"Goods are all given. Don't hog the space. Grab some wine jars and get going. Other villages are still waiting to come through."

The blue-robed man who handed over the goods said impatiently.

Bai Yang was especially amazed. He'd thought the mountain of empty jars on the side were meant for barter, but it turned out they were given for free...

The villagers loaded over a thousand empty wine jars onto the rafts, tied them down, and along with the other traded goods, the rafts left the shore.

Bai Yang felt like dying...

After they'd gotten some distance from the shore, he asked Zhao Shi, "Is this how you've always traded?"

"Yeah, it's always been like this."

Zhao Shi looked at Bai Yang with an expression that said, "What's wrong with that?"

Heaving a sigh, Bai Yang asked Zhao Shi again, "If we go ashore and chop those green-clad men to death, will there be trouble?"

"Young master, absolutely not. Don't even think about killing them—if we offend them, we'll never be able to trade for anything again. If we dare to kill them, the whole village will be slaughtered along with their people. Even wearing the armor you gave us, we wouldn't have a shred of a chance to survive!"

Zhao Shi looked at Bai Yang in terror.

Nodding, Bai Yang said, "Tell me, what do you know about those green-clad men?"

Zhao Shi thought for a moment and said, "They're all servants of the Che family in Deyang Town. They represent the Che family in trading with all the mountain folk in Mihe Forest."

After waiting a long time, Bai Yang stared at Zhao Shi in astonishment and asked, "That's it?"

"That's it!"

Damn it, that's all the information? What the hell use is that?

So Bai Yang pressed on:

"Is the Che (what kind of weird pronunciation is that?) family powerful in Deyang Town?"

"Very powerful. The Che family has real Martial Artists!"

When he said this, Zhao Shi was filled with dread.

Oh my god, finally something important, but still utterly useless...

"What kind of people are Martial Artists?"

"Very strong, very formidable people!"

After this exchange, Bai Yang looked at Zhao Shi with a dead expression, then turned to the villagers and said, "Do you know you're a bunch of idiots?"

"What...?"

"Nothing. Anyway, what's next? What do we do?"

"Young master, of course we go back. Otherwise, we won't make it before dark."

Little Cat reminded Bai Yang as if it were the most natural thing.

Bai Yang: "..."

So they'd traveled seven or eight hours to get here, been butchered like pigs, and now had to go back in less than half an hour?

"Wait, don't you want to go into town and look around?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Why would we go in? We've already finished trading. Besides, entering the town requires some kind of... thing. We mountain folk don't have it, so we're not allowed in."

Zhao Shi struggled to explain.

How the hell are they supposed to survive? A bunch of pigs, I swear...

After barely calming down, Bai Yang asked again, "So you always trade like this? No money or anything?"

"It's always been this way. Oh, young master, what is money?"

Damn it, Bai Yang wanted to jump into the river...

"Forget it. So, what was that lump those officials threw at you?" Bai Yang asked in despair.

"Oh, that's a bag of salt. A hundred catties."

Hu Zi answered offhandedly from the side.

You're telling me that lump is a hundred catties? If it's fifty, I'll eat it! And what kind of pig-brained idiots are you? How many years have you been getting ripped off? And you all act like that's just how it is...

"Damn rotten watermelon, no wonder I'm destined to get rich. A bunch of pigs—no, pigs are smarter than these mountain folk. Since you're getting screwed anyway, you'd better be grateful I'm the one doing the screwing!"

Bai Yang stood at the front of the raft, grinding his teeth audibly...

(Plea for recommendations and favorites)