Ye Wudao did not move. He simply stood quietly among the crowd, watching those people.
He wanted to see what exactly they intended to do.
The young man at the head of the group walked up to a medicinal herb shop and stopped.
The shopkeeper was an old man with a full head of white hair and beard. The moment he saw the young man, he forced out a smile uglier than a grimace and hurriedly came forward.
"Young... Young Master Ye, you've come." The old man's voice trembled slightly.
The young man called Young Master Ye glanced sideways at the old man and drawled lazily, "Old thing, it's time to pay this month's protection fee, isn't it?"
"Pay, pay, I'll pay it now." The old man hurriedly took out a bulging money pouch from his robes and offered it with both hands.
"Young Master Ye, this is for this month. Please count it." Young Master Ye took the pouch, casually weighed it in his hand, then frowned and tossed it to the ground.
"That's all?" His voice suddenly rose, carrying a trace of anger. "Old thing, are you trying to fob me off like a beggar? Last month, your shop received a batch of Million-Year Spirit Ginseng. Do you think I don't know how much you made?"
The old man's face turned pale, and he hurriedly explained, "Young Master Ye, that batch of spirit ginseng cost a great deal to acquire, and the profit was very thin. Besides... besides, this old man has already paid the commercial tax required by the Alliance. As for this protection fee..."
"Commercial tax is commercial tax, and protection fees are protection fees. How can they be the same?" Young Master Ye sneered. "If you want to do business on East Street in Heavenly