Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 282 Silver-like Pewter Spear Head

"What did you say? One hundred taels a horse. You southern merchants are so cunning. Why don't you just rob them?"

"It was clearly said that the price was ten taels per horse, but you son of a bitch went back on your word. This is Liaodong, not your Nan Province. How dare you try to slander me, Zhao Chongshan!"

The merchant surnamed Zhao was very arrogant. He stood up and grabbed Boss Chen's clothes.

The man with Zhao Chongshan was also a strong and muscular man from the north. He stood up suddenly, looking as if he was rubbing his fists.

Everyone else in the store could see that this southern merchant named Chen was in trouble. Zhao Chongshan was a well-known local tyrant in Yafu Pass. He was quite powerful locally, but he was not someone to be trifled with.

At this moment, a cold light suddenly appeared, and there was a crisp sound. Zhao Chongshan cried out in pain and let go of Boss Chen's hand.

Jia Cong on the side was slightly surprised. With his sharp eyes, he saw clearly that the woman with the eagle on her shoulder drew out the long knife from her waist at an extremely fast speed and hit Zhao Chongshan's hand with the back of the knife.

The movement was extremely precise and lightning fast, which required excellent knife control skills. Just now, if she wanted to, she could easily cut off Zhao Chongshan's palm.

Zhao Chongshan was furious: "How dare you, a ghost woman, use a knife on me!"

"Ghost woman" is a derogatory term used by people in Liaodong to refer to foreign women with strange appearances.

When the woman heard the word "ghost woman", her face burst into anger, her snow-white cheeks turned red, and she chopped at Zhao Chongshan with the long knife in her hand without hesitation!

Jia Cong was shocked when he saw this. Zhang Chongshan had only cursed at him, but this woman was actually going to kill someone with a knife.

……

There was only an eerie tearing sound, as if something was cut by a sharp blade, and everyone in the store was frightened.

However, there was no tragic scene of skin being torn apart and blood splattering.

Jia Cong saw that Zhao Chongshan's clothes, from the outer cotton coat to the inner underwear, were neatly cut open by the woman with a knife, but there was no trace of blood on the exposed skin.

The woman finally showed mercy, and her knife skills were very skillful, cutting through the clothes without hurting any skin.

At this time, Jia Cong also saw the strange long sword in her hand. The blade was as silver and shiny as water, exuding a chill, very much like the Chashika saber of later generations.

"If you keep swearing, my knife will do more than just cut your clothes. If you don't want to live, go ahead and try."

The woman's voice was crisp and pleasant, with a hint of arrogance.

Jia Cong felt a little strange when he saw that her skin color and appearance clearly showed that she was from the Central Plains, but she could speak fluent Chinese and even had a Jiangnan accent.

"Mr. Zhao, if you don't have the right tools, don't take on the job. I dare to do business in the border town, so I won't be afraid of people like you. Since you can't afford the goods, let's stop here."

Boss Chen said nothing more and walked out of the store with the servant and the woman.

Many people in the store witnessed this scene, but they did not find it too abrupt. Border towns are places where wars are frequent, the military is brutal, and the law is lax, making it a place where good and bad people mix together.

Gangsters and fugitives on death row would flee to such places to make a living, and local tyrants like Zhao Chongshan would do all kinds of evil behind the scenes.

If you want to survive in a place like this, you must have some skills, and that woman is such a person.

Judging from her appearance, she should be Boss Chen's bodyguard.

Although Boss Chen is just an ordinary businessman, as long as he has money, he can hire capable people like this woman to be his bodyguard and survive in this dangerous place.

……

Jia Cong, along with Guo Zhigui and Jiang Xiaosi, also left the Hongbei Restaurant and followed Boss Chen and the others from a distance.

He was now almost certain that Boss Chen was Zhou Suqing, and since he had met him he would not let him get away.

When they reached a quieter alley, Jia Cong suddenly called out, "Zhou Suqing!"

When Boss Chen, who was walking in front, heard the shout, his whole body trembled. He turned around involuntarily with an expression of disbelief on his face.

He saw an extremely handsome young man behind him, looking at him with a smile, and there were two sturdy men beside him.

He felt an ominous feeling in his heart and denied it flatly: "What are you yelling about, kid? You got the wrong person!"

Seeing the look on Boss Chen's face, Jia Cong became more and more certain that this person was the one he was looking for. Jia Cong said with a smile, "Boss Zhou, why did you come to this remote border town to make a living if you didn't make a fortune in Nanjing? Now that you've met him, don't leave!"

Boss Chen never dreamed that he would meet someone who knew his background in such a remote place.

After the incident in Jinling, the people behind him arranged for him to hide in a secret place.

But later he heard wind that Zou Huaiyi was arrested and committed suicide, the entire Water Supervision Bureau was uprooted, and the matter became increasingly serious.

He was worried that as the situation escalated, the person behind the scenes would kill him to silence him. Based on the contact they had had over the years, he knew that person was definitely capable of doing such a thing.

In order to save his own life, he quietly slipped away from his hiding place and took away a batch of foreign goods that he had secretly stored, including some rare Japanese satin.

Unexpectedly, he still couldn't escape in the end. The two men following the young man had a vague military aura.

This made him think of many things, and he became more and more certain that the person behind the scenes had found him.

He said to the woman who was following him, "I paid you one tael of gold a month to protect me and help me kill these people. I'll give you ten taels of gold, no, twenty taels of gold!"

The woman glanced at Jia Cong and the others, frowned and said, "I take your money just to be your bodyguard, but I won't kill anyone for you!"

Boss Chen gritted his teeth and said, "Well, if you help me drive them away, I will still pay you an extra twenty taels of gold."

He had already thought that as long as he drove those people away, he would immediately go back to pack his bags and escape.

The woman smiled and said, "That's about right."

As she spoke, she drew the long sword from her waist. Jia Cong watched as she drew the sword. At the same time, the Saker Falcon on her shoulder flew up very smartly and landed on a tree by the roadside.

Jia Cong glanced at the Saker Falcon on the tree, then returned his gaze to the woman.

……

Border towns have always been in chaos, and merchants were often killed and their goods robbed. This woman, relying on her family's sword skills, was often hired by southern merchants as a bodyguard.

She was used to these kinds of interceptions and fights, so she didn't take them seriously.

Although the two men on the other side were strong, their gestures showed that they were ordinary people, so she didn't take them seriously at all.

As for that boy, he is prettier than the girl and must be a real jerk. There is no need to worry. I didn't expect that the twenty taels of gold would be so easy to earn.

Jia Cong reminded her, "Miss, this Mr. Chen is a wanted criminal of the imperial court. The government is looking for him everywhere. If you protect the wanted criminal, you will be guilty of the same crime as him!"

The word "imperial criminal" seemed to make the woman a little worried, but she asked again: "You said he is an imperial criminal, do you have an official document from the government?"

Jia Cong was stunned when he heard this. He was just sure that Boss Chen was Zhou Suqing, and he didn't have any official documents on hand. He didn't expect that this woman had some brains.

Zhou Suqing, who was standing behind him, shouted, "He has no official documents at all. He is just trying to frame me. He is simply a robber who stole the goods!"

The woman glared at him and said, "How dare you fool me, you little brat!"

Jia Cong sighed slightly, drew the curved knife from his waist, and said to Guo Zhigui: "You and Xiao Si hold down the man surnamed Chen, and I will stop the woman."

Guo Zhigui said worriedly: "Third Master, this woman's knife is very powerful, why don't I do it..."

Jia Cong said, "Don't worry about me, just keep an eye on the guy named Chen."

Guo Zhigui was a little skeptical, but he knew that his Third Master was a capable man and would never do anything that he was not sure of.

When the woman saw Jia Cong draw out his scimitar, a sneer appeared on her face. There were very few people in this town who dared to fight her with a knife.

"Your knife is quite nice, but you are just exaggerating. You want to stop me? Can you do it?"

Jia Cong smiled and said, "You will know if I can do it if you give it a try."

The woman said in a coquettish voice: "Just give it a try!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the long sword in his hand slashed towards Jia Cong like lightning, with great ferocity.

(End of this chapter)