Why do I have so many masters?-Chapter 469 - 131 Convenience, Inconvenience (2/2)

The gates had closed, leaving only two teams of soldiers on guard, while the rest of the soldiers were permitted to withdraw and return to their camps for rest.

One of the soldiers, seeing that the young man in blue had not yet left, and knowing that the caravan had paid a good amount of silver coins today, which meant he would receive ten Datong Currency himself, felt quite pleased. He happily initiated a conversation, smiling:

"Young man, try not to come so late next time."

"If you see it getting dark, better to stay in a nearby village or town rather than risk not being able to enter the city."

"Even on the official roads, traveling at night can be terribly unsettling, not to mention the bandits, let alone hungry wolves that are hard to deal with."

The youth seemed to mutter something under his breath about it being quite the encounter.

His voice was low and stopped abruptly. The young man looked up at the soldier, gave a fist salute, and grinned:

"Thanks for the tip, brother soldier…"

The soldier waved it off nonchalantly, but at that moment, he inadvertently saw the young man's face. His expression turned pale in an instant, and he couldn't help but shout:

"Ah!"

The weapon in his hand slipped and fell to the ground with a clang.

.....................

"Please come in, honored guest…"

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

The merchant caravan stopped in front of a familiar inn, where the attendant, seemingly prepared, had been waiting outside. Once everyone from the caravan had gathered their belongings and disembarked, he ushered them inside.

After several days of travel fatigue, everyone was already exhausted. Now that they had beds to rest in and warm food to eat, the entire caravan's mood relaxed significantly.

A tall man already stood at the entrance.

The caravan's manager was still five or six steps away from the tall man when he spread his arms wide and laughed heartily as he moved forward, the man reciprocating with a smile and a hug, slapping him solidly on the back, producing a thud.

"Old Zhou, here to see you again, have you prepared the room? Hahaha…"

The caravan's manager laughed loudly.

The tall man chuckled and said:

"Of course."

The manager laughed again, and as they walked inside arm in arm, he suddenly remembered something. He paused slightly, then turned to the innkeeper and said with a smile:

"Almost forgot, this time it's different than usual."

"We have an extra traveler with us in the caravan, so we need another guest room."

While speaking, he turned his head to look at Wang Anfeng, who was walking at the back of the group, and asked amiably:

"Wang Shusheng, which room would you like? A separate guest room, or a nicer room?"

Wang Anfeng, who had been observing his surroundings, smiled and responded:

"A guest room will do."

The manager said with a smile:

"Then I'll advance the payment for the room on your behalf, and you can pay me back later. Old Zhou, let's settle the bill."

"Make sure to give me a discount…"

The Zhou surnamed man nodded and replied:

"Understood."

The innkeeper patted his shoulder heavily, laughing:

"You, why are you always so taciturn? Can't knock a sound out of you."

"Not to mention, with your stature being tall and burly, shouldn't your voice carry some authority?"

"I asked for a discount, shouldn't you counter with a price?"

Zhou chuckled, his smile unexpectedly simple and honest.

Simple and honest…

Wang Anfeng's gaze drifted from the broad muscles of the big man's back to a table where he casually sat down. The other members of the caravan formed their own groups, laughing and talking loudly, with no one sitting near him, which he found quietly pleasant.

The attendant took a white cloth and warm water to wipe the table, then scalded a cup before serving him tea, asked what he would like to eat, and then left. Wang Anfeng, fingering the teacup, thoughtfully surveyed what was a rather simple inn.

A towering figure blocked the candlelight.

At some point, the manager had approached and now stood beside Wang Anfeng. While the rest of the caravan members went to see to their affairs, he found a moment to slip away. He stared intently at Wang Anfeng for a while then discreetly shifted his gaze, only to burst into a guileless smile:

"Is this your first visit to our Ningzheng City?"

Wang Anfeng nodded. The big man smiled again, sat across the table, and said:

"Then you should really take some time tomorrow morning to explore around."

"The caravan will likely sell some items in the city market tomorrow morning as usual before leaving around noon. The journey then continues for more than a day until the next stop. If you don't take this opportunity to relax some, I'm afraid you won't withstand the hardship ahead."

Old Zhou's face was simple and honest, his demeanor particularly concerned.

Wang Anfeng felt increasingly strange in his heart. He lifted his hand to drink a sip of tea and when he set the cup down, a light sound rang out. The tea in the cup swayed, splashing a drop onto the table. Wang Anfeng touched the droplet with his fingertip drawing an unintentional pattern.

Old Zhou's expression changed abruptly.

He suddenly tried to stand up, but his right leg was already blocked by Wang Anfeng's lifted foot. The force stemmed from the ground, and with his legs restrained, he naturally couldn't move and was forced to sit back down. Such a large man struggled in an instant, yet didn't manage to make a single sound.

Whether it was the waiter or the merchant's clerks, everyone continued with their tasks, no one looked in this direction.

Old Zhou restrained the turmoil in his heart and looked at Wang Anfeng, struggling to calm down. He crossed his arms in front of him, slightly lowering his body.

Wang Anfeng pressed his fingers to his brow, unsure whether to feel sentimental, overjoyed, or helpless. He fell silent for a moment, then gently waved his hand just as the merchant's store manager, busy with his affairs and carrying a jug, started calling out to their side.

Old Zhou stood up, his face still wore a simple and honest smile. He said to Wang Anfeng,

"Sir, if you need anything, just call for the waiter."

"I will go over first," Old Zhou said.

Wang Anfeng nodded slightly.

Then the burly man, as if he had received a command, walked towards the merchant's store manager.

Wang Anfeng rubbed his chin, his gaze swept across Old Zhou's strong and broad back, finally landing on the inn's counter where some jugs, a ledger, and next to a wooden post, hung a bunch of bright red chili peppers; underneath the peppers was a pattern similar to graffiti.

Wang Anfeng found that pattern very familiar.

Of course, if Gongsun Jing or Li Lao San were here, they too would find it extremely familiar. Given a pen, they could draw an almost identical replica, as well as more than ten other similar yet distinctly different patterns.

This place was formerly under the Tan Residence, now under the jurisdiction of the Giant Whale Gang.

Belonging to the external affiliates, number sixty-three.

Wang Anfeng had meticulously reviewed those scrolls, which had portraits of spies from various places drawn by craftsmen. Therefore, when he entered, he recognized at a glance the seemingly naive man being warmly greeted by the merchant's store manager. It was indeed his subordinate.

These Giant Whale Gang spies also knew somewhat of his appearance and messages. Perhaps they didn't understand his true identity, but at least they wouldn't act offensively when encountering him.

According to the scrolls, this naive Old Zhou was a notorious martial artist from Jianghu in his younger years, wielding an axe that swung wide open, specialized in cleaving at people's necks with sheer brutality.

His Internal Strength Cultivation was at the peak of Ninth Grade. In this remote county town, he was a top-level master, and even Wang Xingqing, who admired and esteemed the local gang leader behind the gambling house's store manager, might not be a match for this inn's store manager.

If things went wrong, they might find themselves cleaved at the head by this naive man's axe, losing a fine head quickly.

Seeing Wang Xingqing, who seemed familiar with this Mr. Zhou, carelessly patting the man's shoulder while laughing and toasting, Wang Anfeng suddenly wanted to know what the expression would be like if Wang Xingqing knew the innkeeper he was familiar with could turn into a ferocious beast that killed without blinking.

Suppressing this highly tempting thought deep within him, Wang Anfeng remained as any common scholar passing through, dining alone, at the very least enjoying some hot and hearty food. After eating his fill, two waiters came to lead him to his room.

However, the direction they took seemed somewhat amiss; they didn't head up to the second floor but instead went directly towards the back yard.

"Sir, your room is here..."

"If you need anything, just call," the two waiters said with considerable respect, bowing before turning and leaving. Wang Anfeng looked around at the surroundings which were quite elegant, unlike the plain exterior, and finding the place equally tranquil, he soon diverted his attention, quite satisfied inside.

Very thoughtful indeed...

It seemed that the story from Li Bo was indeed correct: having power and subordinates meant mundane matters were taken care of by others, and indeed it was much more comfortable than walking alone in Jianghu.

After reflecting for a moment, he pushed the door open and entered.

The young man's body instantly stiffened.

The interior was simply elegant, yet two charming women dressed in silk satin gowns, hair pinned up with jade hairpins were waiting. As he entered, they both bowed simultaneously, their black hair cascading beautifully. Lifting their eyes to his were like pools of autumn water, their cherry lips slightly parted as they softly called,

"Young hero..."

Wang Anfeng's thoughts stiffened, confirming after seeing that the Giant Whale Gang's subordinates would not have led him to someone else's room, his expression darkened yet he still maintained the warmth that was expected of him. He stepped aside and gestured outside with his hand, grinding his teeth, and said,

"Ladies, I am going to rest now..."

The two women giggled, their smiles enchanting, one of them stepping forward to gently caress his shoulder,

"Young lady, we are indeed here to attend to you while you rest."

"......"

A moment later, two beautiful women from the town's pleasure boat stood dumbfounded in the biting cold of the courtyard, unable to believe they had been treated this way.

The wooden door suddenly opened again.

Wang Anfeng, with a stern face, threw out two blankets, using a skillful force to wrap the blankets around the two scantily clad women, then turned and walked into the room, slamming the door shut, this time locking the wooden door directly.

The two beautiful women were left wrapped in blankets, standing dumbfounded in the cold wind.

In the room, Wang Anfeng drank two cups of tea, still with a darkened face.

He wanted to take back his words.

Subordinates being overly zealous was really not a good thing...

PS: Here is the second update for today...