Chapter 415: [Thought]

Before leaving, Ning Ruyu had specifically mentioned that the "Golden Society," rumored by the outside world for years, already held significant influence in the main city. It seemed that was indeed the case.

Just an old man of the Third Order and a wealthy young lady he encountered by chance seemed to know the rumors about the "Golden Society," and judging by their reactions, they held it in great awe.

Chen Ling didn't answer directly because there were some things he still needed to confirm.

Seeing Chen Ling's attitude, the two didn't dare to ask more and followed obediently behind him, heading straight toward the main city of Red Dust.

After walking a few steps, the red-robed figure suddenly stopped.

"W-what's wrong?" the girl asked tentatively.

"You lead the way." Chen Ling paused. "I don't know which direction the main city of Red Dust is in."

The girl and the old man were both stunned on the spot.

"Ah?! Okay!!" The girl was the first to recover and immediately walked to the front to lead the way for Chen Ling.

Chen Ling was quite helpless at the moment. He wasn't familiar with the Red Dust Territory. If he hadn't happened to run into these two "locals," he probably would have had to ask his way all the way to the town... He couldn't help but think how convenient it would be to have the ability to just throw a branch and have it point the way.

Chen Ling pulled the small mountain beside him, the cart tracks leaving deep furrows in the dirt. Seeing this, the old man became even more convinced of his judgment.

How heavy must the cargo be to leave such deep tracks? And this man in red is pulling it by hand... He's simply a monster.

"Envoy, are you going to the auction house again this time?" Taking the opportunity to lead the way, the old man carefully tried to get closer. "It's like this, our young lady is from the Huang family. When your female envoy came three years ago, we bought a golden Buddha statue for over four million..."

Three years ago... was that the time with the Second Senior Sister?

Chen Ling didn't expect that the two people he had brought along by chance were regular customers of the Opera Dao Ancient Treasury. Thinking it would be better to be polite, he glanced at him and asked calmly:

"Buying more this time?"

"..." The old man's expression became a bit awkward. "It's like this, Envoy. In the last two years, our Huang family has had some trouble, and our financial situation isn't great... However, while we can't afford the big items, we can still buy some smaller ones."

Without a word, Chen Ling brushed his hand over the black cloth covering the small mountain. Piece after piece of smaller golden artifacts appeared as if by magic, from gold bracelets and necklaces to heavy gold bricks, all neatly displayed before them.

"Eighty for the big ones, forty for the small ones." Chen Ling thought for a moment and added, "Since you're regular customers, I'll give you a ten percent discount."

The old man: ...

The girl opened her mouth in surprise at Chen Ling's "magic trick." She reached into her pocket, but it was empty... Her face turned embarrassed.

"Envoy... we didn't bring much money this time. Could we trade with you after we enter the main city?" the girl asked cautiously.

"No problem."

Chen Ling waved his hand, and the gold vanished back as if it had never been there, leaving no trace behind.

Although there was an auction house in the Red Dust Territory where he could consign items, they mostly handled precious large items, like the four-million-gold Buddha statue the old man mentioned... The auction house likely wouldn't accept gold bricks or bracelets like these. Even if they did, they would at most be bundled as freebies with the larger items.

Chen Ling guessed this was why his seniors hadn't been able to sell them for high prices in the past... After all, they were usually obsessed with opera and stayed in the Opera Dao Ancient Treasury; they naturally wouldn't understand this kind of merchant's way.

As they walked along the main road, some merchants passed by. Seeing the small mountain Chen Ling was dragging by hand, shock appeared in their eyes!

"Brother, what kind of business are you in?"

"Yeah... so tall, so heavy... are you selling artificial rockeries?"

"What rockery? Didn't you hear something clattering inside? It must be scrap metal collection..."

"Brother, I'm in the steel business too. Why don't you uncover it and let us take a look?"

"If the goods are right, how about I buy the whole lot from you?"

“……”

Whether it was the clattering black mountain or Chen Ling pulling it by hand, it attracted the attention of most people. Some even reached out to secretly touch the black cloth...

"「GET LOST」!"

As Chen Ling spoke in a deep voice, the syllable exploded in everyone's ears like thunder!

For this simple word, Chen Ling used a vocalization method he had vaguely grasped while learning from his Third Senior Brother, Wen Renyou. It allowed him to concentrate power into his voice, releasing it with extreme explosive force, and could even affect people's minds.

Of course, Chen Ling was still exploring this method and hadn't told Wen Renyou about it... but he felt he was very close to the [Thought] secret technique.

The moment the word "Get lost" rang out, the crowd gathered around in amusement shuddered simultaneously. As if their souls had been scared out of them, they stood there blankly, their faces pale as paper.

"They..." Seeing these pale statues, the girl didn't understand what had happened.

"Let's go."

Chen Ling's emotionless voice sounded. He walked slowly past the statue-like crowd in his grand red opera robes, and no one blocked his path again.

The old man followed at the back, looking at the people around them with suspicion... He remembered clearly that when that female envoy came years ago, she had also used just one word to freeze hundreds of people in the auction house.

Sure enough... the Golden Society envoys are all equally strong!

The three of them walked for several hours until the girl's stomach began to growl, and the outline of a tall city wall appeared in the distance.

"We're here already?" Chen Ling was a bit puzzled.

Chen Ling had thought the main city of Red Dust would be quite far away. After all, when he went from District 3 to Aurora City, it took several hours by train... He had been prepared to walk for days.

"Yes." The girl replied as if it were obvious. "The place we came back from wasn't far to begin with... Besides, the main city covers a larger area than all the small towns combined. You have to take a train to get from the far east to the far west of the main city."

Hearing this, Chen Ling understood. It wasn't that they were too close to the main city, but that the main city was too big... By this calculation, the size of the Red Dust main city should be several times that of Aurora City.

The closer they got to the main city, the more merchant caravans there were. Chen Ling, dragging a small mountain by himself, passed through the crowd, immediately attracting a large number of strange looks.

Chen Ling's eyes narrowed slightly, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. He turned back and asked the old man:

"You said you participated in the previous auctions of the envoys?"

The old man was slightly stunned. "Yes."

"Tell me, what major events happened back then... or, inside the Red Dust main city, who are their enemies."