Chapter 873: Selling Stolen Goods Hideout

After reading the battle report, He Lingchuan stared blankly at the ivy on the wall.

The Takikawa bandit gang now numbered only twenty-one, all told. With the Xi Ji puppet army annexing them internally and the Yuheng City army cracking down externally, the river bandits had been having a very difficult time lately under this combined assault.

From over fifty bandits down to twenty-one—still too many, he thought. Perhaps he should give them another push?

"Boss," Hu Min said as he arrived.

He Lingchuan didn't react, so Hu Min repeated himself.

"The person's been found."

He Lingchuan collected himself, then understood what Hu Min was referring to. "In Bantou Town?" he asked.

"Right on Yuheng City's old street, Putiao Street."

He Lingchuan smiled. "Quite audacious, right under our noses. What's the point, for the thrill of it?"

"How long has it been open?"

"About seven or eight years."

"Let's go, let's pay him a visit."

He, Hu Min, and A Luo changed into their civilian clothes and headed to Putiao Street.

This street was about ten zhang behind the main thoroughfare. The new Yuheng City was built with straight, wide roads, making it easily accessible everywhere. Putiao Street was quite popular, with many adults and children coming and going. The shops here lacked the grand facades of the main street's establishments; there were no large restaurants or inns. They mainly sold pastries, preserved fruits, various goods from north and south, and some small hotels. If one knew how to browse, they could find many good items here.

Hu Min walked up to a shop and gestured to He Lingchuan, "We're here."

The shop was not large. A cloth banner hung at the entrance, swaying in the wind, and read "Nangang Goods."

In Yuheng City, "Good Goods" was a popular term for shop names, similar to the "xx General Store" He Lingchuan was familiar with.

It was evening, and some shops on the street were closing. "Nangang Goods" had also closed two of its door panels, leaving only one open for entry and exit, which customarily meant the shop would close within a quarter or half hour.

The three men strolled in, greeted by a dazzling array of goods. Most of them were indeed products from Baisha Port in the south. In the center of the shop were a group of palm-sized figurines. Their eyes and expressions were lifelike, and even their hair buns and clothing were meticulously crafted. What was most interesting was that the figurines weren't simply lined up, but were arranged within an entire landscape diorama, as if each tiny figure had a story.

A Luo, meanwhile, was drawn to several translucent resin jars on the shelves, which contained medicinal herbs.

Hu Min took a small turn around the shop and whispered to He Lingchuan, "There are no prohibited items on display. This shop is definitely suspicious."

Some items were explicitly banned for sale in Yuheng City. Aside from explosives, addictive drugs, and weapons, there was a fruit from Baisha Bay called "Sweet Vine," which was colorful but easily rotted teeth, yet children loved it. Most general stores would secretly sell a bit to increase profits, but this shop had none at all.

He Lingchuan nodded.

Not selling prohibited items indicated the shop was afraid of being investigated or attracting attention, and also that it had ample profits and didn't need that extra income.

A curtain in the back lifted, and the shop owner emerged, his voice reaching them as he appeared:

"What are you looking for, esteemed guests? We have a complete range of goods here."

He had just finished eating and hadn't wiped the oil from his mouth.

Hu Min pointed at He Lingchuan. "He wants to buy Dragon Scale Lycopod. Do you have any?"

The shop owner froze.

Dragon Scale Lycopod was a special herb from Beijia, which could be refined into "Lycopodium Pills" to greatly enhance male vitality. It was already expensive in Beijia and even more so here.

But anyone who bought this item would come alone and discreetly, wishing to enter and exit unseen by outsiders. Why would they come in a group like this?

He Lingchuan said impatiently, "Don't listen to his nonsense! I want to buy a doll for my little niece. How much are these ones?"

He pointed to the shop's signature products. The shop owner smiled and said, "Those are display items, not for sale. I have a few other dolls here, would you like to see?"

"Alright." He Lingchuan and A Luo followed him to the back. Hu Min continued to wander around the shop, secretly guarding the door.

After a few steps, A Luo asked, "Where's the latrine? I really need to go."

"Out the back door, then turn left."

A Luo hurried off.

The shop owner took out several dolls from the back counter; they were also exquisite. He Lingchuan handled them one by one, asked the price, and found them indeed expensive.

These items were much like the figurines from his own world. The shop owner also said that in Beijia and Mou, these dolls were by no means just children's toys; more adults collected them.

He was not wrong about that. He Lingchuan had indeed seen such dolls in Lingxu City in later generations, where one could sell for several taels, or even dozens of taels of silver. It seemed this business had been ongoing for one or two hundred years.

As they spoke, A Luo returned. He nodded at He Lingchuan and said, "Done."

No sooner had he spoken, He Lingchuan acted swiftly, like the wind, quickly poking the shop owner in the ribs.

This was the art of blocking blood and qi channels. Once pressed, it caused severe pain in the ribs, made it impossible to draw breath, and even made breathing painful—similar to a severe stitch, but in reality, it caused no physical harm.

To his surprise, the short, stout shop owner was agile. He twisted like a top and dodged, trying to slip through a gap and get back to the front hall, yelling "Help!"

But before he could even finish the word "Help," he wilted, as if all his strength had been drained.

He couldn't move his legs. With a soft thud, he precisely knelt before He Lingchuan.

"Oh, no need for that," He Lingchuan said with a smile, then grabbed him and tossed him onto a chest.

A Luo, however, frowned. "This medicine is too slow. It actually let him stumble a couple of steps. I'll have to adjust it."

The drug he released was colorless and odorless and had a muscle-relaxing effect.

He Lingchuan took out his spider silk rope and bound the shop owner tightly. "You gave him too much; he can't even speak."

A Luo took out a sniffing bottle and held it under the shop owner's nose. The latter sneezed and then was able to speak.

"Who are you?!" the shop owner exclaimed, alarmed. "Don't mess with me, I have people here!"

"Your people are all sound asleep in the storeroom," A Luo said, shaking the bottle in his hand. "They'll be asleep for at least half an hour, and when they wake up, they won't even know they were ambushed."

He had just used the excuse of going to the latrine but had actually secretly tossed some muscle-relaxing powder into the storeroom. "There were three people guarding the goods in there."

Hu Min had already closed the last door panel of the shop. Hearing this, he walked over to the storeroom and took a look. When he returned, holding a small wooden bottle, he said to A Luo, "He's been receiving a lot of stolen goods. Can you identify if this is White Dragon Pill?"

A Luo took it. He pulled out the stopper, sniffed once, and nodded. "Excellent White Dragon Pills," he confirmed.

The shop owner's face had long turned ashen.

He Lingchuan asked him, "Your name is Fu Lin'an, isn't it? Fencing stolen goods for the Takikawa river bandits—do you know how that's punished?"

Fu Lin'an still tried to argue defensively, "What's strange about me having a few bottles of White Dragon Pills in my shop? How can you slander them as stolen goods!"

A Luo poured out a pill and placed it in front of him. "See this green mark on the surface of the pill?"

The other three all saw it.

"This is a first-grade product from Nanlitang in Baisha Bay, called 'Green Vein White Dragon Pill,'" A Luo explained, pointing out the mark on the bottom of the pill to the three of them. "Its medicinal effect lasts for a very short time, only half a year. This was refined only half a month ago. During that period, Nanlitang entrusted the Hexin merchant caravan to transport White Dragon Pills north only once, and that shipment was robbed. What do you have to say now?"