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Due to the purpose of this trip, only Liu Guanfeng's two wives and mother knew about his departure.
After leaving Starfall City, Liu Guanfeng traveled day and night for ten days before arriving at Qianlong City. As a border city, Qianlong City was bustling with trade, and being a border city of a major nation made its commerce even more prosperous. The trade volume of Liu Guanfeng's Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Qianlong City accounted for 10% of the entire Merchant Guild. Although this was not a large percentage, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce had branches throughout the entire Knight Empire, known as the Four Great Empires, and this city was the closest to the headquarters of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, making trade exceptionally good.
Upon entering Qianlong City, Liu Guanfeng did not go to the branch of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce but instead walked into an inn called Hakka Old Inn. The shopkeeper was an elderly man around sixty years old. Although the shop was not very large, it was very clean.
Chonghong approached the old man and asked, "Shopkeeper, do you have any rooms available?"
"How many rooms do you gentlemen need?"
"We need three superior guest rooms."
"Please wait a moment, gentlemen. Third Son, take the guests upstairs to rest."
"Coming!" A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy dressed as a waiter rushed in from the back. He led Liu Guanfeng and the others upstairs and opened three doors at the end of the hall for them. Chonghong and the others stayed in the two side rooms, leaving the middle room for Liu Guanfeng.
Liu Guanfeng entered his room and found its layout very simple. There were two beds, a table with four chairs, and a simple storage cabinet. Liu Guanfeng was quite satisfied with this room.
When Liu Guanfeng turned around, he noticed that the young waiter was still standing at the door, so he instructed, "Young man, please prepare three tables of food and drink to be sent to our rooms. Charge everything to my account; I will settle it later." After saying this, he took out a silver coin from his pocket and tossed it to the waiter. The boy named Third Son happily accepted the silver coin.
"Rest assured, sir; I will bring the food and drink shortly."
Sure enough, not long after, Third Son brought four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, two cold dishes, a bowl of soup, and a jug of wine: "Please enjoy your meal."
"Young man, wait."
"Little Three, stop for a moment and ask, 'Is there anything else you need, sir?'"
"Young man, are you busy right now?"
"Not busy. Our shop doesn't have many customers to begin with, and since it's not the peak trade season, there are even fewer customers now. I wonder what you need, sir..."
Liu Guanfeng waved his hand at Little Three: "Since there's nothing else, just sit down and chat with me. This is my first time in Qianlong City, and I don't know much about it. You can help me with some answers."
Little Three, after hearing this, boldly sat down across from Liu Guanfeng: "To be honest, sir, although I'm not very old, my greatest skill is gathering information. I've grown up here, so I'm very familiar with Qianlong City."
Liu Guanfeng smiled slightly: "That's great. If your answers satisfy me, this money will be yours." Liu Guanfeng then took out five gold coins from his pocket and placed them on the table.
The five gold coins lay steadily on the table, and Little Three's eyes immediately became glued to them. He stared at the coins with wide eyes, swallowing hard. He could only earn two gold coins in a month working at this shop; this amount was equivalent to over two months' wages. Who wouldn't be envious? So he nodded eagerly: "I will definitely tell you everything I know without holding back."
"Young brother, as a businessman, what kind of business is good here?"
"You've come to the right person. The most popular business here is seafood because we are close to the center and there’s no ocean nearby. Therefore, the seafood here is a high-end product; not only is it expensive, but it also often runs out of stock. Whenever seafood arrives here, it gets bought up by several powerful families immediately."
Liu Guanfeng shook his head: "Buying seafood carries too much risk and is too troublesome to transport. I originally wanted to deal in weapons and ores; what’s the situation like here?"
Little Three showed a disdainful expression: "Weapons and ores? I advise you not to pursue that."
"Why is that?"
"In recent years, a Merchant Guild has emerged that focuses on the ore and weapon trade. If their weapons are out of stock, other shops can't sell even one weapon."
"Oh? Is that so? Do you know what this Merchant Guild is called?" With such a competitor, Liu Guanfeng certainly wanted to inquire further.
"You don't even know this? This Merchant Guild is called the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and I heard its headquarters is in a Small Nation. But for some reason, this Merchant Guild has established a relationship with the Blacksmith Guild Headquarters, and the products from the Blacksmith Guild will be prioritized for them. With the Blacksmith Guild backing them, how could they not thrive? Fortunately, their supply is always insufficient; otherwise, other Blacksmith Shops and weapon stores would have to close down. Almost all the ore suppliers want to collaborate with them. So I say if you're in the ore business, you should go directly to them; if you're in the weapon business, I advise against it."
Liu Guanfeng let out a sigh. It turned out he was talking about his own Merchant Guild. Thankfully, at the beginning, Platinum Wen supplied all the Branches in installments; otherwise, his Merchant Guild might have disrupted the entire weapon industry in the continent.
"Thank you for your advice; I'll give this to you." Liu Guanfeng tossed over a gold coin. The Third Son didn't expect making money to be so easy, so he smiled and accepted the coin while repeatedly nodding in thanks.
"Brother, are there any bandits around Qianlong City? Are there many of them? If I were to do business, which way would be safer?"
"To be honest, in recent years, there have been quite a few bandits around Qianlong City. Almost every year, the general has to lead people to collect taxes from them. Each time many people die, but after each collection, the bandits tend to restrain themselves for a while."
"Do many people die each time?"
"Yes, after each collection of bandits, the city has to recruit soldiers. Originally, our Shopkeeper had three sons serving as soldiers in the city, but none of them have returned in recent years due to the bandit collections. Each time it’s just soldiers bringing back their clothes or some belongings."
"Haven't you seen any bodies?"
"Never seen any."
"Then how do you know they are all dead?"
"It's what the soldiers who were with them said. Some even said they were captured by bandits and taken up into the mountains. A few months later, some soldiers' bodies were found on nearby mountains, but they had turned into skin and bones; their deaths were very horrific."
As Third Son spoke, Liu Guanfeng's heart stirred: "Could there be some issue here?"
"Brother, has anything fun or strange happened recently in Qianlong City?"
"There hasn't been anything fun, but there have been quite a few strange occurrences."
"Tell me more."
Third Son hesitated for a moment, but the temptation of the gold coins in front of him made him continue, "In the past year or so, many people have gone missing for unknown reasons. These missing individuals range in age from fifteen to forty, and among them are some skilled fighters at the level of Advanced Knight."
"How could this happen? Has no one investigated?"
"Of course they have, but those who went to investigate either died in the wilderness or mysteriously disappeared like those people. So now I don't even dare to leave the city and venture into the mountains."
"Has the city defense general not taken action?"
"He has, and he even dispatched a team of over a hundred soldiers. However, once those soldiers entered the mountains, they never came back. So now very few people go to the surrounding mountains. If you pass by, you should be careful."
Liu Guanfeng nodded, "I will. My greatest virtue is valuing my life."
"And please don't tell anyone that I shared this with you; otherwise, I could be executed."
"Why would they execute you?"
"Ever since those hundred soldiers mysteriously disappeared, the City Defense General immediately issued a notice prohibiting us from discussing the issue of missing persons. Anyone who does so will be punished as a traitor."
Liu Guanfeng smiled slightly, "I won't speak out of turn. Here, take this." He pushed Four Gold Coins towards Third Son, who happily accepted the money and tucked it away. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now. Just call if you need anything."
"Understood. I'll call for you if needed."
After Third Son left, Liu Guanfeng began to ponder what Third Son had just told him: mysterious disappearances of people—where had they all gone? It was said that during bandit suppression efforts, a large number of soldiers were lost each time, leading to an increase in troop numbers under legitimate pretexts. Yet after several years of these campaigns, the bandits had not been eradicated. Were there really that many bandits around Longqi City? Why couldn't they be eliminated no matter how many times they tried? Was there something fishy going on here?
As Liu Guanfeng drank and ate while contemplating these issues, he ultimately decided that he must get to the bottom of these matters.
That night, Liu Guanfeng called Chonghong and three others to his room. "Listen up, you four. I have learned some unusual things today, and I suspect there is a problem here. Tomorrow, I will set up a mission for the Mercenary group, and you will take the Thunder Eagle Squadron to track these Mercenaries. But remember to use your aerial Mounts for high-altitude tracking. If any issues arise, report to me immediately."
"Understood."
The next morning, Liu Guanfeng and the others left the small guesthouse but did not check out. Chonghong first visited the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Qianlong City, where soldiers from the Thunder Eagle Squadron left in batches before heading out of the city to find a concealed spot to take off on their Mounts.
Meanwhile, Liu Guanfeng swaggered into the Mercenary Guild in Qianlong City, looking like a wealthy young master. At the reception desk was a girl around seventeen or eighteen years old. With a professional smile, she greeted Liu Guanfeng, saying, "Welcome to the Mercenary Guild in Qianlong City. How can I assist you? Are you here to register as a Mercenary, upgrade your rank, or post a mission?"
"I am here to post a mission." Although Liu Guanfeng's voice was not loud, it silenced the Mercenary Guild. Due to a decrease in trade activity at that time, many Mercenaries had less work, and some small Mercenary groups were struggling to make ends meet. Liu Guanfeng's mission could help some of them through this temporary crisis, drawing their attention.
The girl smiled and asked, "May I ask what type of mission you would like to post?"
"Collection." As soon as he said this, many Mercenaries around sighed in interest. Collection missions are relatively easier and can often be completed by individuals, leading even more people to focus on this mission.
"What items are you looking to collect?" she inquired.
"Ice Fire Frogs." All eyes turned to Liu Guanfeng, but when he mentioned Ice Fire Frogs as the item for collection, many sighed in disappointment. Almost all the Mercenaries shook their heads in regret. Soon after, the sounds of Mercenaries drinking and chatting filled the Guild again.
Ice Fire Frogs are a specialty from Icefire Mountain near Qianlong City. These frogs can survive in snowy weather and swim in hot springs. It is said that they can endure temperatures of fifty or sixty degrees Celsius and still survive in climates below minus twenty degrees. Moreover, capturing these Ice Fire Frogs is not very difficult as they are considered low-level creatures. However, their meat is exceptionally delicious, making them a popular dish served by many noble families in Qianlong City to entertain Noble Guests.
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