Big Sister Bell smiled as gorgeous as a dazzling red rose blossoming. She didn’t say a word, turned, and walked to the city west. Her steps were light like a fairy.
“Big Sister!”
At last, Jiang Yi shouted out and sent a voice transmission: “No matter how you’ll be doing outside. Please remember that there is always one person waiting for you in the Sky Thunder City. Moreover… if you run into any danger outside, please come to find me immediately. As long as the Nine Dragons’ God-Extinguishing Array is not on, I will take you to flee no matter who is pursuing you. Big Sister, I forgot to tell you that… my name is Jiang Yi.”
“Jiang Yi?”
Big Sister Bell’s petite body quivered slightly. Ordinary people might be unfamiliar with this name, but it resounded in her ears. As some time ago, the City Lord Lu Ping talked about this name almost every day. This name was also very famous in the Gods Bestow Tribe.
Gods Bestow Tribe was on the opposing side to Nine Thearchs of the East Imperial Continent. Therefore, the Gods Bestow Tribe was happy to see anything that caused the Nine Thearch Clans to suffer. Though the two parties were enemies, they were well-informed. Many businessmen that traveled around also spread the important news on the East Imperial Continent to the entire tribe.
Jiang Yi outwitted the young masters and young mistresses of the Nine Thearch Clans and got the treasures by himself in the Mystic Divine Palace. Then, he was chased after by the She Clan and the Jian Clan together. This was a rare happening in the East Imperial Continent. After that, the failure of She Fei and Jian Wuying’s chase caused an even greater stir. Such a big event was definitely spread over the entire Sin Island.
“The Fire Cloud Armor, Heaven Evasion. I should have thought about it a long time ago.”
Big Sister Bell sighed softly in her mind. She took a deep breath. Without looking back, she located Jiang Yi with her divine senses and sent a voice transmission: “Little Brother, I remember your words. I didn’t lie to you. My name is indeed Qiling. However, my surname is not Qi, but Nangong. Little Brother. Take care. If I live, I will surely come back to see you.”
After sending the voice transmission, Big Sister Bell continued to walk to the west city gate. This time, her footsteps were not so speedy. Instead, there was a slight tremor. The string of bells in front of her chest made crisp sound, too.
She never looked back throughout as she was afraid that she might not be willing to leave if she turned back.
Jiang Yi didn’t follow her out of the city; he just saw her off. He had an inexplicable friendly feeling towards his big sister. It was not about gratitude or love, but pure fondness and respect. He didn’t persuade her to stay; since he respected her, he must respect her decision, too.
“Nangong Qiling? Is there a special meaning to this surname?”
A flicker of doubt flashed through Jiang Yi’s mind, but soon, he was overwhelmed by the parting sorrow. He closed his eyes and stood still for a long time. Only when Big Sister Bell should already be out of the Sky Thunder Island did he open his eyes, waved his hands, and gestured for the crowd to rise.
“Wanguan, let’s go. Have a drink with me.”
Jiang Yi waved at Qian Wanguan who glanced at Yang Dong and Niu Deng to signal them to arrange matters in the city. He, Jiang Yi, Feng Luan, and the rest returned to their respective courtyards.
After going back to the courtyard, Feng Luan and Qing Yu saw Jiang Yi was in a bad mood and didn’t disturb him. They went to Zhan Wushuang’s courtyard. However, he was in his seclusion so they didn’t call him.
Jiang Yi and Qian Wanguan drank from the morning to the night. They were drunk as skunks and were taken to their rooms to rest by Feng Luan and Qing Yu at night.
In the morning the next day, Jiang Yi woke up and had breakfast with the group. Then, he was in the mood of asking. “Feng’er, Wanguan, how is the plan going on recently?”
Feng Luan looked at Qian Wanguan and said, “Wanguan, you tell him.”
Qian Wanguan nodded and said, “The business is going very well. We have traded twice. I’m going to ask the golden flood dragon to lead the team alone. We have a pleasant experience with the City Lord Mansion. The City Lord is very honest and gave us a fair share. Of course… I took a small portion and distributed it to the top ten commanders. So far, there is no problem.”
Jiang Yi nodded slightly. One could only make money only when willing to spend a small amount of energy. It was more troublesome to deal with the small ghosts than the big devil. What if the other commanders got envious and plotted against him despite Lu Ping’s deterrence, things would become complicated.
Qian Wanguan paused and kept on saying, “I have discussed with Big Sister Luan. We still don’t think that it is safe to distribute money to the top ten commanders. After all, the distributed celestial stones are still far fewer as compared to the big business. What if they have other plans, we will have endless trouble.”
“En.”
Jiang Yi nodded, glanced at them, and said, “I bet you’ve got some good plans.”
“Yes.”
Feng Luan continued and said, “Wanguan is very clever. He has an idea to implicate the rest of the commanders so that we are tied up in this business together. If anything happens to us, they can’t get away either. This new plan has been implemented twice. The results are positive so far.”
“Oh?”
Jiang Yi looked at Qian Wanguan in surprise. He smiled and said, “You really have many devious ideas. Quickly, tell me in detail.”
“Hey, hey. Without the boss backing me, I won’t implement any plans no matter how many ideas I come up with.”
Qian Wanguan grinned in a silly smile and began to explain in detail.
This plan was actually very simple. When Qian Wanguan let the city for the first trade, Feng Luan had spread the rumor that he, in fact, took 50 men to kill the bandit legions.
When Qian Wanguan got back, he decided to turn the rumor into truth.
In order to stay in the cities of the Gods Bestow Tribe, one must have a colossal amount of merits. How could the ordinary martial artist obtain so many merits? Therefore, most of these people wandered outside the city. They would either be killed or join the bandit legions.
The East Imperial Continent had a large population. Fights broke out in numerous places at any time. There were numerous clans being annihilated, and numerous people being hunted after. Many of these people chose to come to Sin Island. After all, the clans on the East Imperial Continent didn’t dare to continue to chase after them when they arrived here. This place also abounded in challenges and opportunities.
Therefore, it was almost impossible to kill all the bandits in the Gods Bestow Tribe. The bandits who were able to survive always had treasures and celestial stones with them so the reward of cleaning out a bandit legion was definitely considerable.
There were a lot of martial artists in the Sky Thunder City. As the city was unified, the Heaven Monarchs almost became useless. It was better to send them out to make money than having them idling in the city.
The commanders in the Sky Thunder City were not some big shots in the Lu Clan, but nonetheless, they were members of the Lu Clan and had inextricable connections with the high-ranking Lu Clansmen. It was clearly impossible to ask them to kill the bandits, but it was very easy to ask them to get some information on where the powerful bandit legions were and where the weaker ones were.
Therefore, a crazy plan began.
Many slaves in the city almost completed their service. A lot of Heaven Monarch Realm martial experts completed theirs a long time ago. They could enter and leave the Sky Thunder Island anytime. The Lu Clan’s commanders didn’t have to bear many responsibilities. They only needed to try to gather intelligence, and then they would get plenty of treasures and celestial stones. Why wouldn’t they be part of this excellent business?
The most important role of this plan was to cover the plan of selling the thunder stones. Everyone in the city thought that Jiang Yi only collaborated with the commanders to kill the bandits. Even those who were dubious stopped suspecting him. After all, they took part in the plan, too.
About 70 Heaven Monarch Realm martial experts and nearly 1,000 Vajra Realm martial experts were involved in each of the two operations. The bandit legions in two nearby islands were wiped out as fast as lightning.
Qian Wanguan divided the treasures obtained into ten portions. Half of them were given to the other commanders; four portions were distributed to the soldiers who joined the fight according to the number of bandits they killed. He only kept one portion.
The participants were excited about the handsome payoff. The commanders utilized their resources zealously to probe for intelligence and find their next target. The martial artists in the city were actively training and preparing themselves for the next journey.
They, with the meticulous plans, were against the unprepared bandits who were also outnumbered by the martial experts in the city.
Every time, one was able to get a myriad of treasures and celestial stones and take part in the thrilling battles. Only a fool wouldn’t join the cause.
“Very well. Wanguan’s plan is so brilliant. It not only pulled the commanders to our side but also hid the real business and make money. It’s killing three birds with one stone!”
Jiang Yi clapped and praised him. Qian Wanguan smiled and said, “Actually, it’s four birds. There are too many people in the city. Wars will consume some men, and we can get more thunder stones…”