Chapter 303: Who Dares to Investigate Me?

Zhou Zheng's eyes went wide, and he suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body.

The sun was blazing, the streets were packed with people, yet he still felt an bone-deep cold.

"Don't be afraid. I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

Yang Ling said, "I'll have Little White escort you back to the Blazing Gold Mine. I'll handle things here."

"Director Yang, so I should just go back now? Nothing bad will really happen, right?"

Having lived to such an old age, Zhou Zheng finally felt what it was like to be swept along by forces beyond his control.

Here he was, a titan of the blacksmithing industry.

A Seventh-Rank powerhouse, no less.

"Nothing's going to happen."

Yang Ling offered a word of reassurance.

This old blacksmith's skills were exceptional. Without his help forging pickaxes at the Blazing Gold Mine, even the players who showed up would find themselves without tools to dig with.

He could even forge the Fire Crocodile Set and the Fire Crocodile Saber.

Even Little White owed its evolution to him.

For both the players and Yang Ling, Zhou Zheng was an absolute treasure.

Zhou Zheng breathed a sigh of relief and immediately followed Yang Ling's instructions, leaving Suyang Prefectural Capital with Little White.

Yang Ling made his way back to the teahouse.

He had changed into his Seventh-Rank Ironclad uniform, making no attempt to conceal himself.

The muscles on his face were slowly compressed by the power of Micro-Management.

Though it seemed like only a few specific areas had been altered, his entire face had become drastically different.

Even his body had been forcibly shortened by a notch.

Now, he looked almost eighty or ninety percent like Zhao Qing.

His arrival plunged the teahouse into a dead silence.

Many customers waiting for their tea looked at him with surprise and uncertainty.

If they hadn't trusted in the formidable backing behind this teahouse, they would have gotten up and left long ago.

"Sir, what tea would you like?"

The shop assistant came up to Yang Ling, a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

This man in front of him wore a Seventh-Rank Ironclad uniform, but his features were unfamiliar.

Had he just been transferred in from somewhere else?

"A serving of the Gold Tip at one hundred taels."

Many of the customers, hearing this, let out a sigh of relief.

Curious, they could only steal glances at him from the corner of their eyes.

Before long, Yang Ling also appeared in that private room.

As soon as he entered, he opened the middle-aged man's Status Panel:

**Character:** Xu Zegang

**Class:** Martial Artist

**Strength:** 113

**Agility:** 126

**Spirit:** 45

**Martial Arts:** Great Yan Sword Sutra (Second-Rate, Skilled)

Tongming Heart Method (Second-Rate, Skilled)

Great Yan Thirteen Swords (Second-Rate, Skilled)

Spirit Monkey Ghost Steps (Second-Rate, Transcendent)

**Faction:** Great Yan Sword Sect

Xu Zegang was a little surprised. "Why did you come yourself? I was planning to write and ask you—what's going on with that Zhou Zheng guy?"

He furrowed his brow. "Didn't we agree that from now on, the Blazing Gold would be shipped directly here, sold to us at fifteen thousand taels a jin?"

"How are we supposed to ship it? Now that Xu Wuji, that eunuch, is keeping an eye on the Blazing Gold Mine."

"The twenty jin of Blazing Gold Zhou Zheng just delivered was scraped together with great difficulty right under their noses."

"Forget the fifteen thousand tael price for now. We'll have to wait until we successfully open the mine."

"Right now, I need silver to grease the palms of various parties."

Yang Ling squeezed his vocal cords, producing a voice almost identical to Zhao Qing's, about eighty or ninety percent accurate.

In this slightly dim environment, he felt that as long as Xu Zegang didn't have some kind of cheat ability, there was no way he could tell he wasn't Zhao Qing.

After all, who would ever suspect something like that?

Luckily, Zhao Qing had been quite talkative recently.

That gave Yang Ling enough material to imitate his arrogance perfectly.

Xu Zegang seemed to accept this explanation, lowering his voice and asking:

"I've heard… that Fourth Prince has also sent people to fight for control of this Blazing Gold Mine. How confident are you in securing it?"

"If the Fourth Prince's side manages to get it, our Great Yan Sword Sect will suffer a huge loss. We'd be better off keeping Zhou Zheng around and taking it slow."

"Don't worry. We're quite confident."

Yang Ling said, "Also, I've got a batch of Blazing Gold on hand. Can you take it?"

"There's more Blazing Gold? Then why did you just have Zhou Zheng… Oh, you're being cautious, testing us?"

Xu Zegang laughed. "No need for that. Our Great Yan Sword Sect has a massive demand for Blazing Gold."

"But the purchase of Blazing Gold has quotas, and the Mining Guild doesn't dare to sell it to us openly."

"So the cooperation between you and me is safe. We're not about to cut off our own lifeline."

"A hundred jin of Blazing Gold. Can you take it?"

Yang Ling said coolly, "If you can't handle it, say so now. I still need to get back to Xiangfeng Prefectural Capital."

He had already sold twenty jin of Blazing Gold.

There were still six hundred fifty-two jin and three taels left in the Green Dragon Ring.

He wanted to first see if the Great Yan Sword Sect could take a hundred jin off his hands.

Even if the Ironclad Department caught wind of it later.

That would be on Zhao Qing's head, not his, Yang Ling's.

"A hundred jin?!"

Xu Zegang instinctively stood up, looking at Yang Ling with some excitement.

Yang Ling frowned. "Sit down. It's only a hundred jin of Blazing Gold—why are you getting so worked up?

From now on, with our cooperation, there'll only be more and more Blazing Gold!"

"Brother Zhao, I can't help but be excited."

Xu Zegang sighed in admiration. "A hundred jin of Blazing Gold is enough to forge a hundred Purple Gold Swords.

That'll be enough for our Great Yan Sword Sect to use for several more years."

Purple Gold Sword? Yang Ling didn't pay it much mind.

That piece of equipment was probably on the same level as the Fire Crocodile Saber.

The Fire Crocodile Saber had also been forged with a fair amount of Blazing Gold, though not quite a full jin per blade.

Xu Zegang asked, "Brother Zhao, do you have the Blazing Gold on you?"

Yang Ling replied, "Do I look like I'm carrying it around? A hundred jin of Blazing Gold is no small item."

Xu Zegang gave an awkward laugh. "True, true. So how should we handle this transaction?"

"Give me the money, and I'll take you to get the Blazing Gold."

"Alright, let's agree on a meeting place first. A hundred jin of Blazing Gold will be two million taels in silver notes. I need to go back to the sect."

"And also…"

Xu Zegang said a little tactfully, "This is Suyang Prefectural Capital, after all. Don't you think you should… hide that Seventh-Rank Ironclad uniform of yours?"

"Who dares to investigate me?"

Yang Ling shot back.

Xu Zegang fell silent immediately. After agreeing on a meeting place with Yang Ling, the two left the private room.

As he left, he overheard Xu Zegang telling his subordinates not to bother sending that letter anymore.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Yang Ling went to the agreed-upon spot to wait for Xu Zegang.

"If I'd known earlier that Zhao Qing was connected to Xu Zegang, Zhou Zheng wouldn't have had to come in the first place. But if he hadn't come, I wouldn't have found out about the connection between Xu Zegang and Zhao Qing."

Yang Ling had already prepared the hundred jin of Blazing Gold.

In less than half an hour, Xu Zegang arrived with two million taels in silver notes, completing the transaction with Yang Ling.

There was no "dog-eat-dog" betrayal situation.

Yang Ling was quite certain of that, too.

A sect faction—unless it was a matter of life and death—would never dare to lay a hand on an official of the Ironclad Department.

Even the Rong Tribe spies would have to weigh the consequences of making a move.

"Brother Zhao, that's a lot of money you'll have to spread around to grease palms, isn't it?"

Xu Zegang put away the Blazing Gold and casually asked.

Yang Ling gave a slight nod. "Quite a bit, but I'm still making a nice profit for myself."

*This bastard must be keeping at least ten percent for himself. That's more than I make.*

Xu Zegang grumbled inwardly. If the guy in front of him weren't a royal member, there was no way he could rake in such a massive fortune so easily.

He wouldn't even be qualified to stand here and talk to him.

"Brother Zhao, our Great Yan Sword Sect has teamed up with the Divine Armaments Pavilion and the Valley of the Dead to host a weapon and pill exhibition sale recently."

"You've got a nice surplus of cash on hand. Want to come take a look?"

"Oh? A weapon and pill exhibition sale?"

"That's right. I hear there are some pretty good items."

"I probably won't have the time. I need to get back as soon as possible, so I'll have to pass."

With that, Yang Ling bid farewell and left.

Xu Zegang felt a pang of regret. If only the guy's silver could have stayed right here.