After many days, when I saw Flying Dragon again, I found this guy had gotten a whole circle fatter. His once imposing appearance now looked a bit greasy, especially those eyes that turned into slits when he smiled, always making people want to laugh. He no longer had that swagger that used to make pedestrians scurry away.

Now, Flying Dragon actually looked more like a plump landowning boss.

Back when there was an outbreak of plague in Pingshun City, Flying Dragon was quick to sense that things were unstable. He slipped away to Tu Kui City. Coincidentally, the new "Zhang Family Five Spirits" opened there and needed someone to run things, so he worked as the shopkeeper for a month. Now, only because Shen Hao called him back did he return to Fengri City.

Inside a small courtyard in an alleyway.

This courtyard was bought by Flying Dragon, but he hardly ever came here. It was basically set up as a hidden base.

"Boss, we’ve already got all of Pingshun City under our thumb; sixty percent of the black market trades go through us, and the other forty percent has something to do with us more or less. Every single deal, we can track it down.

Besides, we’ve started moving into Tu Kui City as well. Right now, we’re negotiating with several big local brokers. They’ve already heard the news and know that we’ve pretty much sealed off Li City and Pingshun City, which makes them very wary of us. They’ve banded together, so things are progressing slowly."

Shen Hao sat in regular clothes under an old tree in the courtyard, holding a teacup, listening to Flying Dragon’s report.

Li City had always been Shen Hao’s base, and Flying Dragon grew up in Li City’s underworld, so consolidating the black market there happened naturally, without anyone feeling threatened. As for Pingshun City, it was taken over by surprise, plus the chaos from the plague gave Flying Dragon an opening to take over before anyone could react.

Now that Flying Dragon had set his sights on Tu Kui City, it was only natural that the local black market folks would fiercely push back and gang up to keep Flying Dragon out.

"How you get in is up to you—no need to ask for my opinion. I have only one demand: make it quick. The sooner we control Fengri City’s underground trade, the sooner I can wrap this up. Whether you want to bow out or stay king of the underworld is all up to you." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Flying Dragon grinned and said, "But we’re still short on people, especially experts. It’s a hassle to keep borrowing from Li City Guard Station, and it risks blowing our cover. I’m thinking maybe we recruit some experts ourselves? Also, we might need a few fights in Tu Kui City—they’ll probably need some Thunder Charms and stuff. You see..."

"Handle the manpower yourself. But you’d better think it through—how strong of a Cultivator can you actually keep under control? Don’t get bitten back or it’ll be fun for everyone else. Worst case, use more Talismans. How many can really tank that?"

"Heh, Talismans are great and all, but they’re short in supply on the black market, hard to come by." After saying that, Flying Dragon looked at Shen Hao expectantly—his meaning was clear.

Shen Hao snorted, shook his head and said, "It’s not the time yet. You guys haven’t even clocked in any decent achievements and you want Talisman allocations? Maybe in the future, but not now." Talismans in Xuanqing Guard were strictly rationed—Flying Dragon was dreaming.

But then Shen Hao shifted gears, saying, "From now on, keep an eye out on all black market deals involving official backgrounds. Big batches of grain, iron, horses, or transactions involving General Spirit Stones, Spirit Stones, offensive or defensive Magical Artifacts—you need to get me the whole story on every one of them."

"Huh? But right now, we don’t have enough people..."

"If you’re short, recruit some. They don’t need to know everything—just do as you tell them. Split them up; each part handles their own piece, they don’t contact each other, and you keep the whole picture and summarize the intel.

You’d better set up a Records Room to store all this info too. That’ll be your main job from now on."

Flying Dragon was stunned for a second, then felt a chill run down his spine. This was completely different from what he’d always thought! Could it be that Shen’s goal in controlling the black market’s intel wasn’t to hit merchants, but to go after government people?! Because all the big black market trades are tied to officials in some way.

It felt like a shadow had fallen over his head; Flying Dragon suddenly didn’t know what to say.

"Don’t be scared. What’s done is done—no use being afraid now. Besides, if you look at it, you’re already an unofficial in Xuanqing Guard, working for the Dynasty."

Unofficial my ass! Flying Dragon really wanted to grab Shen Hao by the collar and curse at him—this was bullying! But he didn’t dare, not even to swear in his heart for fear it might be noticed.

In the end, Flying Dragon couldn’t get a single word out; all he could do was agree, his heart writhing with turmoil, unsure how to calm down.

...

Back at the Public Office, Shen Hao was writing furiously. The first step of his plan was already showing results: out of the four major cities under Fengri City’s jurisdiction, two were in the bag, and a third was being penetrated. The benefits were already starting to flow in.

The goal was never just to control the black market, nor to suppress the traders; the real aim was to keep tabs on officials making money from the black market. For each one, build a record; if the day comes, it’ll be easy to decide who to crush or who to recruit—simple as that.

The second step of the plan was also underway thanks to Zhu Shou, but whether it would go smoothly depended on what Zhu Shou came up with next.

All this needed to be written up and reported to Jiang Cheng. And as these two plans moved forward, Shen Hao could clearly feel Jiang Cheng’s growing reliance on him, and the scope of his own authority had started expanding without limits.

The corner of Shen Hao’s mouth curled up slightly—he liked this growing sense of control.

After finishing the paperwork, he checked it once more, then put it in his Storage Bag. After the Blue Moon Festival, he’d deliver it in person in the Imperial City and give Jiang Cheng a face-to-face report.

Also, Shen Hao had found new clues from the two pieces of Yin Jade Map in his Storage Bag.

The topographic map of the water regions he’d brought back from the Special Land gave Shen Hao another point of reference. He found a similar terrain near the confluence of Wen River and Weak Water.

Later, Shen Hao found a chance to visit the Library of the Thousand Households Station. With his current rank, he could check some relatively confidential materials, including high-precision Military Level maps of the border regions.

Near the junction of Wen River and Weak Water, there’s also a tributary called Gorge River. The three waterways formed a network. On the high-precision Military Level map, it was even clearer—and the water-region terrain matched almost perfectly with the one shown on the Yin Jade Map.

As for the prominent red dot on the Yin Jade Map, Shen Hao noticed something off about it.

First of all, on the Military Level map within Shen Hao’s access, there’s indeed a large town marked at the same spot as on the Yin Jade Map—it’s slightly south of the waterways and technically outside the Jingjiu Dynasty’s borders.

But strangely, this high-precision Military Level map just marks the red dot’s location without noting the name of the place.

A nameless town?