Protect Our Patriarch

Let's put aside the idle chatter for now.

In Changning Garrison City, the most bustling areas are the east and west markets. The east market mainly consists of various street vendors selling local specialties from the towns and villages under the city's jurisdiction, including fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, firewood, rice, oil, salt, and daily necessities. The Ping'an Wang Clan's fish stall is also located in the east market.

Wang Shoujie and his entourage, leading their horses, felt like they had entered a massive farmers' market, with all sorts of agricultural products and handicrafts on display. Apart from the large shops owned by wealthy merchants or aristocratic families, there were many scattered vendors occupying every corner of the market, selling all sorts of strange and exotic items. These vendors were specifically allocated stalls by the Changning government to prevent them from setting up shop randomly and causing management issues.

The scattered vendors didn't have many good items, but they usually wandered around, selling a wide variety of goods. Occasionally, they would offer some novel items.

"Second-grade top-tier fierce beast, black-backed violent bear's gallbladder, only one available, priced at 15 taels of gold, no haggling." A man with a scar on his face, wearing a beast skin armor, was selling at a stall. The stall was covered with a thick bear skin, with a dried bear gallbladder hanging from a tree branch, and a signboard standing upright, giving off an intimidating aura.

"This bear skin has a black back and white belly, and its quality is indeed thick and rough, just like the skin of a black-backed violent bear," Wang Zhong, the family's martial artist, whispered to Wang Shoujie, "The gallbladder's inner membrane has a golden color, and its quality is not bad. 15 taels of gold is not expensive, and we can sell it to a dan (alchemist's) workshop for at least 4-5 taels of profit."

Wang Shoujie had learned to identify fierce beasts and their materials from a young age, and he just smiled and said, "Let's not be too greedy." He then turned around and left without looking back.

"Does the master think he's a swindler? I think the gallbladder's quality is excellent, and it can't be fake," Wang Zhong said, looking a bit unwilling, but still following Wang Shoujie. His eyes, however, showed a hint of reluctance, "If the master doesn't want to make a small profit... then..."

"You fool, the master must have seen through something," Wang Yong glared at him fiercely.

"Hehe, the bear skin's edges are dry and black, indicating it's been around for some time. Although the gallbladder has been dried, its color still looks fresh, and it was probably removed no more than three months ago," Wang Shoujie said with a smile, "If you want to buy it, I can lend you the money, and you don't have to share the profit with me."

He couldn't help but feel amused in his heart, thinking that compared to Earth, the swindlers in the Mysterious Martial World were so crude, not even bothering to come up with an extraordinary story, and were very unprofessional.

"No, no, it's good that we're out with the master today," Wang Zhong said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, "Scattered vendors are indeed untrustworthy, and there are too many swindlers among them."

"Our Martial Clan has a family business, a foundation to rely on. As long as we protect this foundation, we'll have a constant stream of cultivation resources," Wang Shoujie said calmly, "Scattered vendors are rootless and without a foundation, drifting around everywhere. They have to rely on themselves for all resources, and their lives are naturally difficult. It's easy for them to take the path of swindling and theft. And if they commit a crime, they can just flee and change their identity. If scattered vendors could easily obtain resources, why would our ancestors work hard to establish our family business and sacrifice their lives to protect it?"

The master's words were very reasonable.

Wang Zhong and Wang Yong, the two family martial artists, increasingly admired Wang Shoujie, feeling that the new master was different from the previous one. With just a few words, he had clearly distinguished between scattered vendors and aristocratic families.

From then on, they became more vigilant when looking at the vendors on the side of the road, who were dressed in various attire and selling all sorts of strange items. They felt that all scattered vendors were swindlers.

"How much is this beehive?"

Just then, Wang Shoujie suddenly squatted down in front of a stall, where the vendor was a middle-aged man in his 40s or 50s, looking a bit disheveled, and seemed to be only at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm.

However, this was the normal state for most scattered vendors, who had inferior innate abilities, lacked systematic cultivation methods, had no guidance from seniors, and had unstable cultivation resources, making it difficult for them to stand out.

The vendor saw Wang Shoujie's luxurious attire and the two fully armed martial artists behind him, and knew he was not an ordinary person.

The vendor suddenly swallowed his pride and revealed a flattering smile: "This young master, this is a Tiger Head Spirit Bee Hive, which I risked my life to bring back from the mountains. As you can see, there's still a lot of spirit honey and bee larvae inside. I think it's worth exchanging for two Minor Nourishing Pills."

As soon as he mentioned Minor Nourishing Pills, his throat gulped.

"Are you trying to rob me?" Wang Yong's face changed, his hand pressing on the hilt of his sword, his aura fierce. "This beehive is only the size of a human head, and it can only produce about 4 ounces of spirit honey at most. The few bee larvae inside aren't even enough to stir-fry a dish, and it's only worth a few silver coins at most."

"Ah, sir, please don't get angry," the vendor said, his face slightly fearful. "This beehive is freshly harvested, and many of the bee larvae inside are still alive. If your esteemed family has a Spirit Insect Master, it's possible to cultivate a swarm of Tiger Head Spirit Bees."

Many wandering cultivators were roaming around, and although their abilities were mediocre, they still had some knowledge.

"You're thinking too much," Wang Shoujie said. "The entire Changning Guard region hasn't heard of any family with a Spirit Insect Master. It's just that this item is hard to come by, so let's take it and enjoy it as a rare treat." Wang Shoujie took out 10 silver coins. "It's enough to buy one Minor Nourishing Pill. Take it or leave it, and I'll add a little extra if you want."

The vendor hesitated for a while before reluctantly agreeing to the deal: "This young master, if I were to take this to the state capital, it would be worth 20 silver coins, but unfortunately, the bee larvae would all die on the way."

If the bee larvae could survive for a few days, the vendor would have been willing to travel to the state capital to sell it, after all, there was a difference of 10 silver coins. But once the bee larvae died, the value of the Tiger Head Spirit Bee Hive would plummet.

After the deal, Wang Shoujie let Wang Yong pack it up and carry it away, too lazy to chat with the vendor anymore.

This transaction wasn't a steal, but it wasn't a loss either. If he gave it to his fifth sister, Wang Luojing, to play with, who knows, maybe something miraculous would happen. If they could really cultivate a swarm of Tiger Head Spirit Bees, it would be a special industry for the family.

In the wild, Tiger Head Spirit Bees were almost impossible to find, and only appeared occasionally in remote areas. Even if you searched for half a year, you might not be able to find one.

After that, they strolled through the rest of the vendor stalls, but didn't find anything else of interest. As they walked, they unknowingly arrived at the eastern part of the market, where their family's business, the Changning East Market Fish Stall, was located.

Ping'an Wang Clan Fish Stall.

Six large characters spanned three shopfronts, and compared to the messy vendor stalls, the fish stall's cleanliness and high-end feel were much stronger.

Looking at the Wang Clan fish stall, Wang Shoujie's memories surged, and his heart was also turbulent.

These three shopfronts, including the separate courtyard behind, were the last remaining assets of the Wang Clan in Changning Garrison City.

Since the two great wars 50 years ago, the Ping'an Wang Clan's prestige had plummeted. To quickly support the emergence of new Spirit Realm strongmen and prop up the family, the Wang Clan had ruthlessly sold off many of their fixed assets in Changning Garrison City.

Unfortunately, the second uncle, Wang Dingtian, who had been entrusted with great hopes, had passed away at the young age of 20, without even leaving behind a bloodline.

Sixth Grandfather, Wang Xiaohan, had reached the 9th level of the Qi Refining Realm in his 40s and had attempted to break through to the Spirit Realm, but had failed after exhausting vast resources. Now, at the age of 65, Wang Xiaohan was still stuck at the 9th level of the Qi Refining Realm.

Wang Shoujie's father, Wang Dingyue, had been even more unfortunate. When he didn't have enough resources to support his breakthrough to the Spirit Realm, he had risked his life to venture into the outer domains in search of opportunities, but had ultimately lost his life.

In fact, if they continued to sell off family assets, such as the three large farms, they could definitely gather enough resources to support Wang Dingyue's breakthrough to the Spirit Realm. However, if they did that, it would be a gamble with no guarantee of success. If they failed, the Ping'an Wang Clan would be left with nothing overnight.

Wang Shoujie had a faint feeling that if he reached the peak of the 9th level of the Qi Refining Realm, the family might make a move to sell off all their assets to let him take a final gamble.

But if that really happened, it would only prove that Wang Shoujie, the transmigrator, had failed.

"Fourth Brother, what brings you here?"

Just as Wang Shoujie was feeling a bit sentimental, a surprised and delighted voice came from behind.

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