Chapter 33: A Chance Encounter

Su Tang put down the files in his hand and slowly stood up. Perhaps because of some talent or something else, after reading for four whole days, he actually smelled something, just as Long Qi had said.

Alliance!

The connections between organizations like the Miaodao Pavilion in various places were gradually becoming more frequent, and their attitudes were becoming friendlier.

If someone wanted to transport goods secretly, they would give a heads-up in advance, and the other side would naturally send people to look after them. If someone wanted to hunt down a person or investigate someone, they could quickly obtain a large amount of intelligence. Just as Mo Xiaobai had sent people to Kaiyuan County to investigate Wu Dawei, everything became clear in an instant. If the Miaodao Pavilion had investigated it themselves, they might not have found such detailed information even after ten or fifteen days.

Su Tang clearly saw a trend: the connections between different regions would become tighter and tighter. Perhaps in a few years, a few decades, or a hundred years, a super-giant alliance would inevitably emerge.

Soon, Su Tang smiled again. For a small Pavilion Master in a tiny county town to think about such things was simply too ridiculous…

Pushing open the door, Su Tang walked out slowly. He would chat with Long Qi about it the next time he saw him; perhaps Long Qi had a similar judgment.

As he passed through the front hall, the Wandering Martial Artists inside saw Su Tang and stood up one after another, their attitudes becoming more respectful than the last. To them, they could afford to offend anyone except Su Tang. Not receiving a commission was a light punishment; if he found a dangerous commission, intentionally hid the intelligence, and then handed it to them, they wouldn’t even know how they died.

Su Tang was very easy-going and chatted and laughed for a few moments with several familiar martial artists before continuing to walk outside.

Su Tang originally wanted to wander around for a while to clear his mind, but before he had gone far, a voice full of surprise and joy suddenly came from the side: “Young Master??”

Su Tang looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes grinning foolishly at him. He froze for a moment: “Are you… Baoping?”

“Ha, Young Master, you still remember me!” The young man laughed loudly as he walked over and reached out to pat Su Tang’s shoulder, but then realized it was inappropriate and awkwardly lowered his hand.

“Why are you here?” Su Tang smiled. The young man before him was Zhao Baoping, the son of Blacksmith Zhao from the fort.

“Young Master, I wanted to ask you the same thing! Why have you come to Changshan County?” Zhao Baoping shouted.

“I… just came for a casual walk,” Su Tang said.

“Young Master, I’m not trying to criticize you, but you should have come out to see the world long ago! What prospects could you have if you stayed in that place for a lifetime?” Zhao Baoping said, then turned around to look back: “Young Master, come, let me introduce you to a few friends.” After speaking, he pulled Su Tang’s arm and led him toward the tavern.

Su Tang had nothing to do right now, and seeing Zhao Baoping, with whom he had hung out since childhood, he didn’t want to cause the other to lose face. Otherwise, it would be awkward with Blacksmith Zhao when he returned to the fort, so he followed Zhao Baoping into the tavern.

“Hua Nuo, Gu Xizheng, let me introduce you. This is my Young Master, Su Tang,” Zhao Baoping shouted while gesturing, appearing very happy.

Hua Nuo and Gu Xizheng were both around twenty years old with dark faces, seeming as though they had spent years traveling outdoors. Seeing Zhao Baoping bring a stranger and hearing that he was the young master of Zhao Baoping’s family, they were somewhat confused, seemingly not knowing how to address him.

“Just call me Su Tang,” Su Tang said.

“How could that be? Young Master!” Zhao Baoping widened his eyes. In his understanding, ranks and status had to be strictly distinguished. Moreover, it was Master Su who had accepted them father and son back then, making him the great benefactor of their family. No matter when, he would never forget this.

“We aren’t in the fort, so it’s better to be casual,” Su Tang smiled.

“Then we’ll call you Young Master Su,” the one called Hua Nuo was more quick-witted and thought of a middle ground.

Since it was still a respectful title, Zhao Baoping hesitated for a moment and reluctantly accepted it. He then eagerly poured a glass of wine for Su Tang, while Hua Nuo and Gu Xizheng chimed in from the side. It was clear that they had a very close relationship with Zhao Baoping.

For the past few days, Su Tang had stayed hidden in the Miaodao Pavilion, partly to avoid drinking. Setting others aside, Bai Zhenyu of the Bai Family had looked for him several times. According to Long Qi’s idea, he should go out more, but Su Tang felt that was a complete waste of time, so he simply stayed in the secret room of the Miaodao Pavilion flipping through records.

Su Tang curled his lips, but in the end, he picked up the glass and toasted with Zhao Baoping and the others.

Just then, a well-dressed middle-aged man entered the tavern. Zhao Baoping, Hua Nuo, and Gu Xizheng hurriedly greeted him, smiling while respectfully leading the middle-aged man to the table.

Su Tang looked up at the newcomer and said nothing. After becoming the Pavilion Master of the Miaodao Pavilion and knowing he had gained the recognition of several Enshrined Experts, Su Tang’s temperament had begun to change subtly.

There was something called confidence. When accompanying a girlfriend to a shopping mall, the gaze and demeanor of someone with one hundred coins in their pocket were naturally very different from someone with one million coins.

The middle-aged man observed Su Tang and then smiled: “Brother Zhao, won’t you introduce him?”

“Brother Guan, this is the Young Master of my family, Su Tang,” Zhao Baoping hurriedly said. “Young Master, Brother Guan is the manager of the Bai Family in Changshan County. Thanks to Brother Guan’s care over the past few years, otherwise, we would have been wandering the streets in misery.”

Su Tang smiled and nodded.

“Eh, why talk about useless things?” the middle-aged man smiled.

“Brother Guan, how did the matter go?” Hua Nuo asked nervously.

“It has been settled.” The middle-aged man’s expression became serious, and he spoke solemnly: “I’m telling you, do not neglect them. Originally, they didn’t care for your small amount of goods at all. I spent a long time persuading them, and only because of my small amount of influence did they barely agree.”

“Brother Guan, if it weren’t for you, we…” Zhao Baoping breathed a long sigh of relief, his eyes slightly red, clearly very moved.

“Haha… here is the plan. Once you go back, get ready and set out tomorrow morning,” the middle-aged man said.

“Tomorrow morning?” Hua Nuo was stunned. “Didn’t you say that posting and removing a notice at the Miaodao Pavilion takes at least three days? We haven’t gone to post the notice yet…”

The middle-aged man almost spat out the wine in his mouth and shouted, “You only have seven or eight carts of Azure Blue Fruit, and you want to post a commission at the Miaodao Pavilion? Have you gone mad?!”

“Brother Guan, didn’t you just say it was settled…” Hua Nuo said timidly.

“I… I meant I found people for you! They will protect you on your way to Kaiyuan County!”

“Smuggling goods?!” The faces of Zhao Baoping and the others changed drastically, turning somewhat pale.

“Bah!” The middle-aged man was both angry and anxious. “What kind of place do you think the Miaodao Pavilion is? Do a few carts of Azure Blue Fruit count as smuggled goods?” In fact, he was right. The Miaodao Pavilion only accepted commissions above a certain standard. If someone from the West family lost a chicken, or someone from the East family wanted to hire people to beat up a love rival, and all sorts of trivial matters came knocking, the Miaodao Pavilion would become a joke.