“Perhaps we won't fail to find that kid.”
Looking at the gnashing Zhou Tong, Chun Niang suddenly thought of something and spoke.
“Oh, how so? Could it be that Chun Niang, you have a method??”
Hearing this, Zhou Tong immediately became spirited and quickly pressed for answers.
“Liu Ergou's body was smeared with fish fat grass juice by me, and anything on him must also have been contaminated. If the person who acted that night took anything from him, there should be some traces.”
“Chun Niang, you mean??”
Zhou Tong's eyes lit up, and he understood at this moment.
“That's right, although it's a bit troublesome, if we spend some time, as long as that person is in Lin'an County, we can definitely find them.”
Chun Niang said slowly.
“That's good then. As long as we can find that kid, we can vent this anger.”
Zhou Tong said fiercely.
Chun Niang didn't continue the conversation. Instead, she fumbled through the vegetable basket in her hand and found a few slightly yellow, unknown leaves.
“These are leaves from the Summer Cold Tree. Although they can't heal your shoulder injury, they have a certain pain-relieving effect and will help you somewhat.”
Saying this, she placed these leaves on the stone table beside her.
“Wuwu…”
At this moment, a sound came from a room on one side of the courtyard, attracting their attention.
“How should these people be dealt with?”
Chun Niang said lightly.
“How else can they be dealt with? Get rid of them as soon as possible. Keeping them is just trouble.”
Zhou Tong replied indifferently, picked up the leaves on the table, and walked into the room on the other side.
“Alright.”
Chun Niang murmured softly and stepped towards the room from which the sound came.
Inside, three people, two adults and one child, were tied up. Dressed in coarse cloth, they all looked at the approaching Chun Niang with fearful eyes.
Apparently, these three were the original owners of this residence.
“If you must blame something, blame your bad luck.”
Chun Niang ignored their terrified gazes. A cold light flashed in her hand, and a large amount of fresh blood immediately gushed from the necks of the three people.
After a while, there was complete silence.
“Squeak squeak…”
At this, a weasel's head poked out from Chun Niang's shoulder, sniffing with its nose. A hint of human-like greed appeared in its clever eyes. Then, it shot out from the woman's shoulder and landed on the corpses on the ground.
Before long, a sucking sound that sent inexplicable chills down one's spine echoed in the room.
……
At the Ya Gang's location on Waguan Street, Liu Yuanshan stood in the courtyard, his figure darting and weaving like a nimble monkey, displaying a flexibility that was quite inconsistent with his build.
From time to time, he threw punches and kicks, producing bursts of crisp sounds.
After a while, he finally stopped and sat back down at the stone table in the courtyard, picking up the teapot on it and taking a big gulp.
At this moment, footsteps were already heard outside the courtyard, and several Ya Gang members hurried in.
“How is it? Is there any news?”
Liu Yuanshan didn't even raise his eyelids and spoke coldly.
“Reporting, reporting Leader, not yet for now. However, we've already sent brothers to stake out all the pharmacies and city gates in the city as per your instructions. Once there's a suspicious person, we definitely won't let them go.”
Several trusted gang members trembled slightly and quickly said.
“What I want is results!”
Liu Yuanshan suddenly raised his head and stared coldly at the few people.
Only after seeing these people break out in cold sweat did the coldness in his eyes dissipate slightly.
He saw him take out a letter from his bosom and throw it to the few people.
“Take this letter to the East District and give it to the people from the Axe Gang.”
“Ah, the Axe Gang?”
The few people took the letter, were startled for a moment upon hearing their Second Master's words, but quickly reacted, nodding their heads like chickens pecking rice.
“Yes, Leader, we'll go now.”
“Scram.”
Liu Yuanshan impatiently waved his hand. The few people breathed a sigh of relief and quickly got up and left in a hurry.
……
The next day.
Early in the morning, Lin Sheng got up early. Since coming to this world, he had never slept in late. There was nothing he could do; the conditions didn't allow it.
After a simple wash-up, he went to the street to buy some breakfast. After eating, he came to the location of the team's station.
There weren't many people at the station. After waiting for a while longer, Zhang Ding walked in, a smile on his face, evidently in a very good mood.
Seeing Lin Sheng, he immediately walked over and said with a smile.
“Brother Lin, you've come quite early. I've already received news that because we exceeded the mission's target this time, we have an extra day of leave than usual, and also a reward of two taels of silver per person.”
“Oh!?”
Hearing this, Lin Sheng was startled.
Zhang Ding then slapped his head as if remembering something and said.
“Didn't I tell you, Brother Lin? Our Hunting Beast Hall gets one day of leave every time we complete a mission objective.”
Lin Sheng fell silent immediately. The other party had naturally never mentioned this to him.
“It's fine, it's not too late to say it now. Let's go, follow your brother to collect the reward money from the account.”
After saying this, Zhang Ding, without question, put his arm around Lin Sheng and walked towards the logistics and supply area of the Hunting Beast Hall.
By the time they returned, Lin Sheng already had an extra two taels of silver in his hand.
He really didn't expect to get reward money after completing missions in the Hunting Beast Hall.
Moreover, he got two taels of silver at once. One should know that his monthly salary and benefits in the Hunting Beast Hall only amounted to five or six taels. Such compensation was indeed quite generous.
Just now, Zhang Ding had also told him about this aspect. In the Hunting Beast Hall, the monthly contribution was just a small part; the real main income was the reward money in his hand.
According to Zhang Ding, he could earn over ten taels of silver in reward money alone each month, and sometimes, with good luck, even 20 taels was not out of the question.
20 taels of silver was definitely a huge sum for the poor people living in Waguan Street.
However, Lin Sheng also knew that such generous reward money came at the cost of one's life.
Although the reward money was generous, you had to survive to get it. In this Yangjiao Huan mission alone, four or five people died or were injured, which was almost one-fifth of their team.
Such a casualty rate was indeed too high.
And for some dangerous missions in Yangping Mountain, the casualty rate was much higher than this. From this, it could be seen that this money was not so easy to earn.
“Brother Lin, what do you plan to do these two days? Do you want to go do something interesting with your brother?”
The two walked side by side on the street. A smile that all men understood suddenly appeared on Zhang Ding's face.
“Other than that, your brother wouldn't dare say it, but near the foot of Yangping Mountain, your brother knows all the fun places like the back of his hand.”
As he spoke, Zhang Ding's gaze had already fallen on the alley on one side of the street. At the entrance of the alley stood several women, staring at the street with alluring smiles on their faces. Their clothing was quite revealing, and the exposed skin made many passersby take a second look.
Lin Sheng's gaze swept over those women and then he slightly shook his head.
“Let's skip that. These two days, I plan to focus on cultivating.”
“Cultivating, huh? That's right. When you're young, you should seize opportunities and cherish time. You can't waste your precious time like your brother here.”
Zhang Ding nodded in agreement, but quickly changed the subject.
“But just burying your head in hard training isn't the way either. When appropriate, you should combine work and rest. Maybe a happy mood will make your martial arts progress faster, hehehe…”
As he spoke, his eyes were constantly fixed on those women, and he muttered softly to himself.
“How come I've never seen these few before? Could they be new? Tsk tsk… so fair…”
Seeing that Zhang Ding's eyes were practically glued to the few women at the entrance of the alley, Lin Sheng quickly changed the subject.
“Zhang Ge, do you know where there are White Apes?”
“White Ape?”
Hearing Lin Sheng's words, Zhang Ding's attention finally shifted, and he looked at the other party with some surprise.
“Brother Lin, what are you looking for this thing for? Isn't a White Ape just a white-haired monkey? This kind of monkey is quite rare; I haven't seen it many times either.”
“But if you really want to find one, it's not impossible. You can go check out Small Collection Street in the west. There might be some there.”
“Small Collection Street?”
Lin Sheng noted down the name, and then casually found an excuse to brush it off.
“Speaking of which, I've heard of this kind of white-haired monkey, but I've never seen one, so I'm just a bit curious.”
“What's so good about that thing? How can it compare to women?”
Zhang Ding didn't pay much attention either, his gaze falling back onto those women.
And the few women at the entrance of the alley also noticed Zhang Ding and Lin Sheng at this time, constantly sending flirtatious glances their way.
Zhang Ding could no longer hold back. He weighed the silver in his hand and smiled at Lin Sheng.
“Brother Lin, since you're not in the mood for this, your brother will test the waters for you first. Just find your brother whenever you're interested.”
After saying that, without waiting for Lin Sheng's response, he strode over.
Watching Zhang Ding disappear into the alley with an arm around each of the two women, Lin Sheng withdrew his gaze and didn't pay it any mind.
He hadn't expected Zhang Ding to be someone who valued women's beauty as much as his life, but upon reflection, it was indeed reasonable. After all, in a high-pressure environment like the Hunting Beast Hall, one needed to release stress.
He didn't linger. After asking a few people on the street for the location of Small Collection Street, he strode away.
Small Collection Street wasn't far from where he was. In just about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he arrived at this rather lively street.
The street of Small Collection Street was extremely wide, more than twice as wide as other streets in Yangping Town. As soon as he entered the street, Lin Sheng smelled the stench of animal feces.
There were no shops on either side of the street; instead, there were various wild beasts that were restrained.
Various roars of beasts were incessant, mixed with the hawking sounds of some stall owners.
Seeing the appearance of Small Collection Street, Lin Sheng couldn't help but recall the dog market he saw in his childhood in his previous life.
It was just as dirty and messy, just as lively and noisy, yet full of life.
He avoided a pile of animal feces on the road ahead that looked like dog poop but was several times larger, and walked through the street.
“Rock Sheep, top-grade mutated Rock Sheep, plump and strong, with ancestral Bloodline, only ten taels of silver… Passersby, don't miss out…”
Lin Sheng's gaze fell on the stall owner beside him with the loudest hawking voice. Beside the short stall owner were several strong Rock Sheep, which indeed looked good.
However, he couldn't see any mystical aspects at all, let alone any so-called ancestral Bloodline.
He had slaughtered at least several hundred Rock Sheep, and personally handled thousands or more. He could say he was extremely familiar with the beast Rock Sheep. At this moment, he could tell at a glance that the few Rock Sheep of this short stall owner were just ordinary Rock Sheep with slightly larger bodies. As for the so-called ancestral Bloodline, it was clearly just a non-existent gimmick, likely waiting for some ignorant sucker.
He didn't stop and continued forward. There were many stalls on both sides of the street, and quite a few various wild beasts. However, most of them were ordinary beasts like Rock Sheep and yaks. There were also some Mid-Grade Mortal beasts like Yangjiao Huan, but when he asked the price, they were all ridiculously high.
He asked a stall owner selling Yangjiao Huan, and the price was a full thirty taels of silver per animal.
With his current wealth, he could barely afford even one.
After walking around for half an hour, Lin Sheng finally found his target near the end of Small Collection Street.
Squeak squeak… squeak squeak…
A monkey with entirely white fur, about 1.6 meters tall, was enclosed in an iron cage, constantly making squeaking sounds outwards, and even pounding the iron cage from time to time, emitting muffled thumping sounds.
Lin Sheng's eyes lit up. Wasn't this guy in front of him the White Ape he was looking for?
He immediately stepped forward. As long as he could integrate with this White Ape, his White Ape Leg Technique practice would undoubtedly improve rapidly.
“Boss, what's the price for this White Ape?”
The stall owner was a tall, thin old man with a round hat on his head and a shrewd look on his face. He was currently smoking a pipe. Seeing a customer arrive, he immediately put down his pipe and smiled.
“Young man, you truly have good taste. My White Ape is a genuine exotic beast, not comparable to the ordinary goods on the street. It's only one hundred taels of silver.”
“One hundred taels!?”
Lin Sheng raised an eyebrow and slightly inhaled.
Although he knew that White Apes were relatively rare in Yangping Mountain, he didn't expect the price to be as high as one hundred taels of silver.
One should know that even a complete third-rate Cultivation Technique was only a few hundred taels of silver. This one White Ape was actually so valuable.
Even though he knew there was definitely a significant markup in the price quoted by the stall owner, he probably couldn't afford this White Ape's price given his current situation.
“A price of 100 taels is not expensive at all. This White Ape is quite rare. You should know that ape brains are a very precious ingredient, and White Ape blood can also be used in medicine to refine pills and medicinal soups…”
The tall, thin stall owner seemed afraid that Lin Sheng didn't know its value and quickly spoke of the various wonderful uses of this White Ape.
“Will you sell it for 20 taels of silver?”
Without waiting for the stall owner to finish, Lin Sheng already threw out his price, causing the fluent stall owner's voice to come to an abrupt halt.
“Young brother, are you kidding me? The lowest price is 70 taels, no bargaining.”
The tall, thin stall owner's smile that was originally on his face instantly disappeared, and he looked at Lin Sheng with somewhat unfriendly eyes.
Originally, seeing Lin Sheng wearing the Hunting Beast Hall uniform, he thought he would be a big customer, but unexpectedly, he was a poor wretch.
Hearing this, Lin Sheng didn't speak again because 20 taels was all his current wealth, and 70 taels was probably impossible to gather in a short time.
However, he suddenly realized that what he needed for integration was White Ape blood, not necessarily a real White Ape. There was no need to spend a large sum of money to specifically buy a White Ape to take back.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on his face, and he looked at the tall, thin stall owner in front of him and spoke.
“Do you sell White Ape blood?”
“White Ape blood!?”
The stall owner was startled, but quickly reacted.
“Kid, what do you think this place is that sells White Ape blood? I think you are…”
He was about to open his mouth to scold him, but heard several loud clanging sounds.
He turned his head to look, and saw that for some unknown reason, the White Ape in the iron cage behind him seemed to become increasingly enraged and was madly smashing its head against the iron cage in front of it.
Soon, its head was broken open, and streams of blood flowed out. Seeing this scene, both Lin Sheng and the stall owner were startled.