Chapter 13  : Black Armored Guards

The bald man sneered when he heard the words. “You have everything figured out.”

“Of course.” The man with the broken arm had a tone filled with hatred. “Three months ago, he broke my arm. If I didn’t get on my horse and flee immediately, he would have taken my life.”

“My poor brothers, all of them were killed by Tao Yungang and his guards. This time, I will make them pay for their mistake!”

The bald man saw the man with the broken arm act emotionally. He patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, when they return from selling their goods, we will kill them all and avenge you and your former brothers.”

“Thank you, boss..”

The man with the broken arm lowered his head.

“No worries.” The bald man laughed. “If you join us, brother, our squadron will finally have a foundation to stand on. We might not be able to catch up with the Knife Horse Group or the Flower Butterfly Group, but we will leave our name in history.”

“If you act as our leader, that is inevitable.”

The broken arm man sucked up to the boss.

The bald-headed man smiled and spoke to a subordinate, “Stay here with two people and observe. If Tao Yungang and the others come back, remember to report immediately.”

“Yes.”

The horse bandit agreed.

“Also, if you run into people from other stockades, don’t get into trouble,” the bald man said again, “after all, we have only just established our stockade. There is still a difference in strength when compared to other stockades.”

“Okay.”

The horse bandit nodded.

The bald-headed man turned around and left.

The broken arm man glanced into the distance again, his eyes narrowed.

…

The sun was on the west side.

Tao Yungang’s carriage fleet arrived outside the gate of Kangyun County.

“We’re here!”

Guo Ye laughed out loud.

Xu Ning looked at the outline of the city gate. He was full of curiosity.

Ever since he arrived at the Tao Village, apart from Yunze Mountains, he hasn’t gone anywhere.

This was the first time he came to Kangyun County.

Although he had not yet entered the city, there were already many people coming in and out of the city gate.

This was the first time Xu Ning saw such a dense crowd outside of the Tao Village.

“You have to pay the fee before your goods can enter the city!”

A soldier wearing armor shouted.

Tao Yungang was experienced in this area, thus he obediently entered the queue for delivering goods into the city.

Tao Yungang paid the fee and his group finally entered the city.

“How magnificent.”

“This place is indeed much more prosperous than the Tao Village.”

“…”

Although everyone except Xu Ning had been in the city before, they still couldn’t help but praise the city every time they saw this lively scene.

Xu Ning was calm. Although it was more prosperous than the Tao Village, he still remembered the metropolis he lived in during his previous life, thus this city did not impress him as much.

“Everyone, thanks for the hard work.”

Tao Yungang said as he sat in the carriage up front. “Let’s find an inn to stay at and have a good meal. Tomorrow, we will contact the medicine store to unload our goods.”

“Okay!”

After hearing that they would rest and eat food, everyone agreed.

Tao Yungang had experienced this many times so he rushed towards the inn.

Ta ta ta.

Suddenly, there was the sound of galloping horses in the distance.

It was followed by someone shouting.

“Get out of the way, don’t block the path!”

When Tao Yungang saw this, his expression changed slightly. He moved the donkey carriage to the side and told the people behind him. “Move to the side and don’t block the road.”

Afterwards, a group of black armored cavalry galloped past them.

They wore all black armor and clothes, with short and long swords on their waists, and masks on their faces.

Their exposed eyes were full of coldness and disdain.

When the black armored cavalry passed by, the two sides of the street became silent instantly.

When they disappeared, the streets became lively again.

“Black Armored Guards…”

Tao Yungang watched the black armored cavalry ride away from him, his eyes full of jealousy.

If anyone offended them in Kangyun County, the outcome would be tragic.

“Black Armored Guards?”

When Xu Ning heard this, he retrieved a piece of relevant information from his memory.

The Black Armored Guards was a subordinate army of the Source Faction, the overlords of State Feiyun.

They were the powerhouse of the Source Faction, ruling over State Feiyun.

Three hundred years ago, the previous dynasty was destroyed. Afterwards, there were continuous battles and wars—the family sects all fought each other.

A new unified dynasty did not appear during this period, instead they evolved into various sects or families that controlled the state capitals, becoming overlords of the land.

And the helm of State Feiyun was the Source Faction.

“How majestic!”

Guo Ye looked envious. “If only I could join the Black Armored Guards…”

The scene of the guards rushing through the roads and everyone giving them the right of passage intrigued the young man.

After hearing Guo Ye’s words, Tao Yungang laughed. “Don’t even think about it kid, your martial arts talent is really quite hopeless.”

After being attacked by his uncle, Guo Ye shook his head lightly, but he didn’t care too much, he was used to it.

“Enough, continue ahead and find an inn to settle down in!”

Tao Yungang continued to ride the donkey carriage.

Within 15 minutes, Tao Yungang found an inn.

Obviously, this was not his first time here. The shopkeeper and assistant in the store were friends with Tao Yungang. Not only did they quickly arrange the guest rooms for him, but they also took care of the donkey carriages and goods.

Afterwards, everyone went inside a large private room and sat down, and soon, they were served food and alcohol.

Guo Ye sat next to Xu Ning and spoke.

“Xu Ning, relax and eat as much as you want.”

“Okay…”

Looking at the table full of delicacies, Xu Ning began to devour them.

There were not many opportunities to eat meat in this world.

‘Uncle Gang is quite generous…’

Xu Ning looked at the food and thought to himself.

The food and alcohol on the table were obviously not cheap. Moreover, everyone here was a martial artist with huge appetites. This meal would definitely cost a lot of money.

Sure enough, after eating, Xu Ning heard from the shop assistant that the meal cost 40 taels.

Although Xu Ning was mentally prepared, the price still made him speechless.

The cost of this meal was worth four months of his family’s income.

‘Sure enough, in this world, a person with power can control resources that ordinary people can’t even touch…’

Tao Yungang was intelligent and had connections, so he was in the medicinal material business.

In addition, he was strong in martial arts, was willing to spend money, and make friends with martial artists. He also had the capital to keep his business.

They finished drinking and eating.

“Xu Ning, you rarely come to the county city, right?” Tao Yungang’s face was red after drinking, but his consciousness was still clear. “Take advantage of this opportunity, let Guo Ye accompany you to see the nightlife of the county city.”

“Okay, you guys should go rest.”

Xu Ning and Guo Ye helped the drunk men get back to their rooms.

Only the two of them had not touched alcohol during dinner, while the rest drank heavily.

“It’s night out, but there are still so many people.”

After leaving the inn, moonlight began to shine on the streets. Guo Ye sighed as he looked at the pedestrians on the road.

Xu Ning also sighed.

At this hour in the Tao Village, everyone would have returned home—there was no nightlife in the village.

“I’ll go to the stalls and buy something for Tao Tao and my sister.”

Under the guidance of Guo Ye, they came to the night market.

Xu Ning looked at the vendors and the bright street lights; he felt as if he had returned to the modern ages.

“How much is this hairpin?”

Xu Ning saw wooden hairpins of various colors with simple patterns carved on them in front of a stall; they were quite beautiful.

“One tael of silver per pin.”

The hairpin seller was an old man, with a big smile on his face.

“One tael of silver?” Xu Ning said, “You can do better than that.”

“No can do, young man.”

The old man waved his hand with the same smile on his face.

“Okay…”

Xu Ning didn’t know how to bargain, so he was ready to pay.

He thought Xu Lian would like this wooden hairpin.

“Hey old man, how can you scam him like this?” Guo Ye pressed down Xu Ning’s hand that was about to take out his money. “One tael of silver for two hairpins. That’s our final offer. I don’t believe the other stalls are this expensive.”

Xu Ning glared at Guo Ye’s confident face.

“Okay.” The old man waved his hand. “Deal.”

Just like this, Guo Ye saved Xu Ning one tael of silver.

He picked two wooden hairpins, one for Xu Lian and one for Tao Tao.

As for his brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan, Xu Ning bought him two jars of liquor before leaving Kangyun County.

Xu Ning didn’t spend any more money. He was afraid that after going back, he would be nagged by Xu Lian again.

Guo Ye, on the other hand, bought a lot of food and some novelties that Tao Village didn’t have. He would share most of these things with the children of the village.

This was why Guo Ye was popular with the kids in the Tao Village.

After shopping for more than an hour, the two returned to the inn to rest.

They would be quite busy over the next few days.