Chapter 2210 — Making Inquiries

"These past few days? The Tagan family has publicly been recruiting adventurer teams to enter the Wulonghaote Mountains and capture a fire lion cub as a contracted spirit beast for the Tagan family's heir, Young Master Tagan Long!" the local expert said. "I imagine the two of you are going there for that reason, aren't you? Really, there's no need to hide it. To tell you the truth, two cultivators also crossed the border successfully under my escort yesterday and went to Ruileida Town. They were after the Tagan family's reward as well."

"Is that so? It seems you really do deserve to be called a local expert," Wei Zhao said calmly. "You know all about these things."

"Of course!" the local expert replied. "May I ask what level the two of you have reached?"

"I'm at the mid Yellow Rank, while my wife hasn't yet reached the Yellow Rank." Wei Zhao did not reveal his true strength. After all, they were in unfamiliar territory, and one could never be too cautious around strangers.

"The mid Yellow Rank?" The local expert was immediately startled. "Good heavens, that's impressive! How old are you? You're actually at the same level as Young Master Tagan Long! The cultivator from before was already over forty, yet he was only at the early Yellow Rank!"

As for Sun Jingyan's strength, the local expert simply disregarded it. In his view, Wei Zhao alone was already strong enough to satisfy the Tagan family's requirements. The minimum requirement this time was an early Yellow Rank cultivator. After all, no matter how powerful a fire lion cub might be, it could never escape an assault by so many people. An early Yellow Rank cultivator would be enough.

"Is there a problem?" Wei Zhao asked.

"N-no... no problem..." After hearing Wei Zhao's level, the local expert naturally felt a measure of awe toward him, and even his gaze changed. "Big Brother, I know you're an extremely powerful cultivator, but hasn't your wife still failed to reach the Yellow Rank? If you want to cross the border, I'm afraid it really won't do without my arrangements. I wasn't given the name 'local expert' for nothing!"

"All right. You can help us cross the border," Wei Zhao said. "How much do you want?"

"N-not much. Ten thousand yuan per person will do. For two people... I can give you a discount..." The local expert did not dare ask for too much. He knew that cultivators were not people to be trifled with. They might have money, but trying to fleece them was absolutely out of the question.

"No need for a discount. Twenty thousand it is. With the extra money, give me an introduction to Ruileida Town and to the Wulonghaote Mountains, where the mission will take place." Wei Zhao waved a hand and asked in an unruffled tone.

"Of course, no problem!" The local expert nodded readily, without the slightest suspicion. Even if Wei Zhao had heard about the opportunity and come to help the Tagan family, he would certainly not be very familiar with Ruileida Town or the Wulonghaote Mountains. It was perfectly normal for him to ask for an introduction.

"We're going to the inn to get something to eat. You should come with us," Wei Zhao said.

"All right!" the local expert agreed at once.

Ordinarily, private rooms at Dragon Gate Inn were not opened readily. After all, there were only three of them; eating in the main hall would have been more than enough. But with the local expert present, the owner obligingly opened a private room for them. It seemed that the local expert truly was an expert in these parts, and had considerable pull here.

"It's more convenient to talk here." The local expert gave a chuckle. "I often bring people here to eat, so I'm well acquainted with the owner!"

"Mm. Tell us about the situation." Wei Zhao was not particularly interested in how much influence the local expert actually possessed. He was relying on him only to help them cross the border smoothly. As for anything else, Wei Zhao naturally had no interest in it.

"Ruileida Town has three great families and two major gangs. One of those families is the Tagan family. The other two are the Lu family and the Shangguan family. Each of the three great families has a different number of cultivators. They are families centered on cultivation," the local expert explained.

"Families of cultivators?" Wei Zhao was somewhat surprised. He had not expected there to be cultivator families outside the country. But when he thought about it, it did not seem impossible. Families like these generally kept a low profile and rarely appeared in public. For example, one might be hidden in a small place like Ruileida Town. Under ordinary circumstances, unless someone came here deliberately, it would truly be difficult to come into contact with them.

"There are cultivator families on our side too. You two aren't rogue cultivators, are you... Ah, yes, only rogue cultivators would take on the Tagan family's mission. Those sects and aristocratic families wouldn't have the leisure to come to a place like this." The local expert shook his head. "As for the two major gangs, one is the Fire Wolf Gang, and the other is Red Conch. One controls the prostitution and entertainment industries in Ruileida Town, while the other controls the drug trade..."

"The Fire Wolf Gang and Red Conch?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. He had not expected the Fire Wolf Gang to exist outside the country as well. What surprised him even more was that these two gangs should, in fact, have been one and the same. From the drug dealer's conversation during military training last time, Wei Zhao had been able to determine that the Fire Wolf Gang and Red Conch were connected by countless hidden ties.

"That's right. The Fire Wolf Gang exists on our side too; it developed from here. As for Red Conch, it's a drug-trafficking organization that originated overseas," the local expert said.

"The relationship between these two gangs is very good?" Wei Zhao asked.

"How could that be?" the local expert replied. "As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share one mountain. That's exactly the situation here. The two gangs don't have any major conflicts of interest, so there aren't any serious hostilities between them either, but minor clashes happen constantly. The Fire Wolf Gang has a fairly good relationship with the Lu family, while Red Conch is close to the Tagan family. Those two families don't get along very well either."

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was deeply surprised inside, but his expression remained unchanged. He had not expected the Fire Wolf Gang and Red Conch to present themselves as enemies before outsiders. Those two gangs were truly clever. If they openly supported each other, they might have found it difficult to establish a foothold in Ruileida Town. But now they maintained ties in private while, on the surface, each gang cultivated a relationship with one of the families. It was enough to keep anyone from noticing anything amiss.

"In any case, none of this has much to do with your mission. I imagine the two of you won't bother with such idle matters," the local expert said. In his view, all these cultivators had come with a purpose. As for meddling in unrelated affairs, they would never waste their time on that.

"By the way, we only heard from a friend that the Tagan family had a mission with generous rewards. I still don't know the details. Why don't you tell us about it?" Wei Zhao asked.

As the saying went, when one accepted another's money, one had to help him avert disaster. Having taken Wei Zhao's twenty thousand yuan, the local expert naturally had no intention of holding anything back. He had not the slightest suspicion that Wei Zhao might not have come for the Tagan family, so he immediately said, "The reward for the Tagan family's mission this time is a Spirit-Gathering Pill. You should know better than I do what a Spirit-Gathering Pill is used for, right?" (To be continued) RQ

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