Chapter 6

On the main road by the dock, a large carriage made of sandalwood stood quietly. The carriage was pulled by four snow-white unicorn horses, their white fur as fluffy as clouds, their muscles strong, and their breaths like thunder. Each unicorn had a two-foot-long silver horn on its head, shining brightly and catching the eye.

These four unicorns were clearly divine steeds capable of traveling a thousand miles a day, each worth more than a thousand gold pieces. Ling Fu, merely the second steward of the Ling family, used such divine steeds to pull his carriage, which clearly demonstrated the Ling family's extravagance.

Five or six burly men, clad in soft armor and carrying swords at their waists, with hunting bows and quivers hanging from their saddles, rode horses. When they saw Ling Fu approaching, they all bowed respectfully from their mounts. Two servants in blue caps helped Ling Fu into the carriage, and with a light shout from the coachman, the four unicorns set off, accompanied by the burly men, heading for Shuzhou City in a flash.

"Such splendor, truly opulent!" Chu Tian watched the departing convoy, chuckled, and casually picked up ten gold bars.

"Scatter, scatter, go home to your wives and children." Chu Tian glared at the surrounding fishermen and shouted, "Have some ambition! Don't be like Ah Que, always climbing the walls of widows' homes, it's truly shameful."

The surrounding fishmongers and fishermen all laughed, their faces filled with various indescribable and peculiar expressions.

Chu Tian pulled out a staff from the ground, slung it over his shoulder, and let the red cloth strip at the end of the staff sway in the river breeze. He carried the staff and walked along the stone path, swaying as he headed towards his courtyard.

A dozen or so burly men gradually gathered, swinging their arms and carrying clubs, following Chu Tian like a group of crabs.

From time to time, fishermen from the boats along the way would jump up, carrying fish baskets of various sizes, and present them to Chu Tian. Chu Tian would casually glance at the fish baskets, sometimes nodding and sometimes shaking his head. By the time he left the fish market, the burly men behind him were carrying fresh river delicacies strung together with willow twigs.

A few mandarin fish were jumping vigorously, a dozen large crabs were blowing bubbles, and two old softshell turtles were stretching their necks as far as they could. When they turned a river bend, Chu Tian pointed to the river, and the man holding the turtles walked to the riverbank and released the two turtles into the water.

The two turtles, still in shock, floated on the surface, paddling the river water and staring blankly at Chu Tian with their necks stretched out.

Chu Tian squatted by the river, took out a palm-sized scale from his sleeve, and tapped it on the heads of the two turtles. "How old are you? At least three hundred years, and you're still stupid enough to be caught by fishermen?"

"Go, go far away, upstream three hundred miles, where it's good for nesting and living. Sigh, those young and ignorant ones get caught and sent to the soup pot, but you old ones, how could you fall for such a trick?"

The two turtles looked at the scale in Chu Tian's hand, their eyes suddenly showing a glint of intelligence.

"Go, go, remember, the Three Hundred Mile Serpent Shoal upstream is the most dangerous place. Fishermen don't dare go there, so it's best for you to nest there. But remember, come downstream every year to lay a few turtle eggs. Fishermen need to support their families, and I need to eat more turtle flaps to replenish my blood and qi."

Chu Tian tapped the heads of the two turtles with his fingers, stood up, and carried the staff, swaying as he walked along the road.

The two turtles looked at each other, rubbed their necks, and quickly dived underwater, swimming upstream in a flash.

With a 'thud,' Chu Tian threw the staff onto the weapon rack at the entrance of the main hall, pulled open his shirt to expose his chest, and grabbed the teapot on the central table, gulping down half a pot of cold tea.

A fair and delicate young man, slightly taller than Chu Tian but with a slender and weak build like a willow branch, squatted on a long bench in the main hall, holding a bag of pine nuts in his left hand and spitting out pine nut shells.

Seeing Chu Tian, the young man laughed, "Brother Tian, someone is causing trouble?"

'Clang,' Chu Tian threw the ten gold bars onto the table, walked to the dragon king's portrait hanging on the main wall, and took three incense sticks from the altar below. After lighting them, he bowed three times to the portrait and inserted the incense sticks into the incense burner. He then sat down in the armchair in front of the altar, in the center of the main hall.

Chin up, Chu Tian pointed to the table, placed his hands on the armrests, and lightly tapped his fingers.

"Here, they're using ten gold bars to cause trouble. The Ling family, so generous, truly extravagant!" Chu Tian squinted his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. "Ah Que, what do you think? Should we send these ten golden-scaled carp to them or not?"

Ah Que kept spitting out pine nut shells, covering the main hall floor.

Swaying slightly, Ah Que asked slowly, "What benefits do we get if we send them? What harm do we suffer if we don't?"

Chu Tian leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling.

"If we send them, it's just the Ling family's gold. If we don't, we might offend the Ling family." Chu Tian said slowly, "Sigh, why is it so hard to do business honestly and live as good citizens?"

"Scare! Good citizens! Scared to death!" Ah Que laughed, pointing at Chu Tian and then at himself. He dropped the pine nuts, holding his stomach and laughing loudly, but forgot he was squatting on the bench and fell headfirst.

Just as Ah Que's head was about to hit the ground, his body floated up like a willow leaf in the wind, spinning rapidly in the air without a sound, and landed steadily on his feet.

"Then, should we send them?" Ah Que blinked at Chu Tian. "But the White Python River doesn't allow catching carp, that's our rule. Everyone has followed our rule for the past three years. If we break the rule, it will be a slap in our face."

Chu Tian scratched a fine scar on his face, which was slightly red, giving his eyes a faint red hue.

"So, we need to be fully prepared. If they force us to break our own rules, we must get enough benefits to show everyone that the cost of making us break our rules is quite high."

Chu Tian sighed lightly and waved at Ah Que. "Find Ah Gou, and have the brothers prepare. Be careful these days, don't get ambushed and suffer needlessly."

Ah Que immediately became excited, lightly jumping to the largest beam on the roof, looking down at Chu Tian and asking, "Should we prepare weapons? Should we...?"

Ah Que's eyes sparkled with a mysterious light.

"Prepare everything. We've survived these years by being cautious and bold." Chu Tian stood up, smiling, and put the ten gold bars into his waist pouch.

"I'll go to the city, and you make sure everything is ready."

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