Chương 117: Trading Through the Huanglian Mountain Range

Qinghe County City, West Gate. Early morning. As soon as the city gates opened, a long convoy of horse-drawn carriages slowly rolled out of the city. Leading the group were Song Que, Guan Xing, and the others. The convoy was quite substantial, consisting of over a dozen cargo carriages lined up one after another. They were piled high with various supplies—if the merchants of Yellow Leaf Town saw this, they would be extremely interested. Atop each carriage fluttered a white flag.

Printed on it was a quirky logo of a blue whirlwind character, accompanied by the text:"Shunfeng Express: Fast as the Wind!" Naturally, the people of this era could wrack their brains and still not understand these bizarre additions; it was entirely the result of Grandee Song's twisted sense of humor! He wasn't just doing it because he had too much free time! Although his predecessor wasn't highly skilled in the ways of business, as a man of the world, he knew very well the importance of a brand logo to a company!

Therefore, Song Que unabashedly ordered Guan Xing and the others to find an artist to design the logo and slogan flags according to his vision. It looks bizarre, but it catches the eye, doesn't it? As long as it attracted attention and made people remember the name, it was a success! The 'Grandmaster of Marketing', Ancestor Song, looked proudly at everyone staring wide-eyed at their new flags....

Including Grandee Song, this escort mission involved 20 people: Song Que's group of four, Pockmark Luo and Shitou, and fourteen others who all belonged to the Shunfeng Escort Agency. This was also his first time meeting the agency's escorts. Guan Xing was currently introducing their new boss to them.

"Boss, this is Old Zhang, Zhang Lin. He is the most experienced escort in our agency. He has been with Shunfeng for over twenty years and has a wealth of experience."

"And this young man is Jiang Heng. Little Jiang is a close friend of Guan Ping. He is very loyal and righteous; I spent quite a bit of effort to recruit him previously. And these gentlemen are..." Song Que smiled warmly, greeting each person individually. Sometimes, he would caringly ask if a comrade was facing any difficulties, patting their shoulders and encouraging them to work hard. If a transmigrator were here to see this, they would find the scene incredibly familiar!

Doesn't this look exactly like a leader visiting the countryside to be close to the people?! Old Song was learning and applying it on the fly, putting on quite a convincing and impressive performance! Regardless of what those escorts were thinking internally, their outward display was absolutely perfect! All of them acted deeply moved and appreciative of their boss's concern. They respectfully called out "Grandee Song" and "Boss," their voices loud and their tongues smooth. Who would dare have an attitude?!

Not to mention this was their boss, so being polite was expected. Just look at the example of Dong Tai! Setting aside being forced to sell his house to pay the compensation, who knew where he was right now? Probably digging in some mine or working as a gigolo in a brothel! Thinking of the massive 10, 000-tael debt falling on his head, a chill ran down everyone's spine, and their backs involuntarily bent a little lower.

"Everyone, there's no need to be so formal. We are all brothers of the same house; relax a little! Now that the escort agency's business is stabilizing, we will have a steady stream of orders in the future! Work hard, everyone, and I will not be stingy in taking a percentage of the profits to share with you as bonuses!"

"Thank you, Boss!" the dozen or so men shouted in unison. It wasn't often he got to be the leader! Looking at a group of subordinates with imposing auras, obeying his commands like heavenly thunder, Grandee Song felt extremely refreshed! No wonder people constantly scrambled to form gangs and factions; the feeling of being a 'master of men' was truly different!

Maintaining a warm and smiling facade, Song Que patted the shoulder of the young man beside him, Jiang Heng, and encouraged him and the middle-aged Zhang Lin: If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Jiang Heng, Uncle Zhang. I will rarely have time to oversee things here in the future, so I will have to rely on you two for assistance."

"Rest assured, Boss! I've always considered Shunfeng my home," Jiang Heng agreed readily.

"Boss, just call me Old Zhang! I will do my utmost!" Hearing their guarantees, Grandee Song nodded in satisfaction:"You two will have to work hard alongside Uncle Guan for these next few days. Once we recruit more personnel later, things will be easier."

"It's no problem, Boss! We're used to hard work!"... After chatting with them for a while, Song Que spurred his horse forward a few paces to ride alongside Guan Xing and discuss a few matters. Pointing at Xiong Ba, who was riding a massive Black Dragon Horse and looked like an iron tower, Boss Song spoke:"Uncle Guan, this is Xiong Ba. His martial prowess is extraordinary. When I am not present in the future, if you encounter any difficulties, just hand them over to him."

"Young Master Xiong!"...

"Uncle Guan!" Looking at Xiong Ba's physique and terrifying appearance—even without him doing anything but carrying a pair of massive sledgehammers weighing hundreds of catties—everyone had long mentally slapped a "Do Not Provoke" label on him! With this kid coming along, Guan Xing felt much more at ease.

"Xiong Ba, follow Uncle Guan and learn the ropes for a while. Once we have enough manpower, I'll find someone to replace you."

"Understood, Young Master!" Xiong Ba answered in his booming voice, continuing to sit on his horse and swing his hammers, practicing his techniques. This guy might be slow at learning words, but when it came to practicing martial arts diligently, Grandee Song could confirm no one here could compare! He was truly obsessed to the point of forgetting to sleep! (But not forgetting to eat. Eating was always the foolish bear's number one priority!)... The convoy continued its slow advance.

Along the way, Guan Xing loudly explained his experiences and things to watch out for while escorting goods. Once they entered the Huanglian Mountain range, the atmosphere among the group gradually grew solemn.

'Lightning' was still flying overhead today, but without the Soul Fragment to act as a symbiote, it could only execute Grandee Song's simple commands. Keeping a lookout for bandits still required everyone to pay close attention. Suddenly, Song Que tilted his head and looked toward a spot not far ahead. Seeing his movement, everyone grew alert and focused their attention in that direction.

Before long, three disheveled men holding steel sabers jumped out from the bushes with a rustle and shouted:"Who are you people?!" A motley crew of vagabonds would have run away long ago upon seeing their formation. For them to dare jump out and block the road meant they must have some backing. The experienced Guan Xing spurred his horse forward and cupped his hands:"I am Guan Xing, Head Escort of the Shunfeng Escort Agency! This is our Boss. I wonder who you gentlemen are?" Shunfeng Escort Agency?!

Looking at the strange flags fluttering atop the carriages, the men were perplexed. Truthfully, Guan Xing hadn't escorted goods through here in a long time, so these men had long lost any impression of Shunfeng. Assuming they were just a bunch of newcomers, they shouted loudly:"We work for Boss Ke! Boss Ke controls this area. If you want to pass, you must pay the road toll!" Seeing Song Que not expressing any opinion, Old Guan stepped forward and asked:"I wonder how much the toll is?"

The bandits huddled together and whispered for a moment before one stepped forward:"Thirty taels per carriage! We can guarantee you safe passage through this section." Thirty taels?! There were several bandit dens along the route! If every place charged this much, they might as well stop doing business; they were destined to lose money! Thinking that these guys were trying to extort them because they thought they were newcomers, Old Guan scolded unhappily:"Don't go too far!

I've been escorting for years; where did such a fee ever exist?! At worst, we both walk away with nothing, and I'll just turn my carriages around and go back!"

"Hahaha...!" The bandits burst into arrogant laughter.

"If you don't pay, then all these things of yours must stay here today!" At this moment, archers lying in ambush above hurriedly popped their heads out from behind cover, nocked arrows to their bows, and aimed at the convoy. Raising a hand to stop Guan Xing from speaking further, Song Que coldly picked up the Dark Cloud Silver Wing Bow resting at his waist and shouted at Xiong Ba:"Xiong Ba! Go up there and capture those three for me!" His hands weren't idle either.

Aiming at the archers above, he rapidly fired several warning shots! Grandee Song didn't want to start a massacre today; his goal was merely to deter these bandits. Therefore, the arrows only skimmed past the scalps of the archers, embedding themselves into the boulders and trees behind them. Boom... Bam... Crash...! A series of explosions rang out! The cover behind the archers was deeply pierced by Song Que's arrows, gouging out massive, deep holes!

Shrapnel of stone and wood splattered everywhere, terrifying the bandits out of their wits! They all threw down their weapons and buried their heads tightly into the ground! After a long while, no one dared pop their heads up to observe. By this time, Xiong Ba had already returned, casually tossing the three loud-mouthed idiots onto the ground in front of Grandee Song like sacks of potatoes. Just a few vagrants! Dealing with them was a piece of cake! Xiong Ba hadn't even bothered using his new hammers yet!

"Master, this lowly one had eyes but failed to see Mt. Tai! Please spare me!"

"Grandfather, spare my life!"

"I still have a..." To survive, these thugs were willing to do anything. They beat their chests, slapped their own faces, and put on a pitiful act of sincere repentance. Not wanting to kill people in the first place, Grandee Song was too lazy to talk nonsense with them and shouted:"Shut up!"

"Those of you up there, come down! Don't make me come up looking for you! Rest assured, I won't kill you today!" Perhaps Song Que's arrows had truly shattered their courage. Knowing the opponent could have killed them and that they absolutely couldn't escape the recent volley, the archers looked at each other, their faces pale, and carefully crawled out from the ground, scrambling down the hill.