Chapter 93 Unshakable and Dominating the Entire City

“Excellent! Shopkeeper, today we’ve finally vented our anger. This city of Qiongzhou is truly no place for decent men,” Mi Ling said cheerfully, brushing the dust from his robe.

“Heh, there will be more battles to come.”

At long last, business had begun. Han Chong dispatched three clerks to investigate grain, silk, and salt prices, and set purchase prices far above the guild’s, with selling prices so low they were nearly at cost—a gesture so charitable it was almost absurd. Instantly, the Devouring Pavilion was packed to bursting, thronged by eager buyers and sellers.

Meanwhile, officials, merchants, and criminal factions kept a close watch on every move the Devouring Pavilion made.

In the provincial office, Chief Secretary Cao received his subordinates’ reports but neither approved nor objected; so long as he collected ever more deposits and tax silver, he was content.

At the Qiongzhou Merchants’ Guild, leading magnates gathered for an urgent meeting.

“President Gu, this fellow Jin is clearly up to no good! I daresay he’s set on monopolizing the city’s trade—a most ambitious plot!”

“Indeed, President Gu, what should we do? We can’t let the Devouring Pavilion keep wreaking havoc.”

“Very well, since this Jin fellow insists on opposing our guild, let him learn what it means to pit an ant against a cart or a midge against a tree! From this day onward, the guild will act in unison: we’ll outbid his purchase price by a coin, and undercut his sale price by a coin. Let’s see how long the Devouring Pavilion can last!”

In the lair of the Ghost Demon Gang, within a shadowy hall, five innate-level experts dressed in black bowed low before their chief and slipped into the night.

They made straight for the rear quarters of the Devouring Pavilion, targeting Han Chong’s bedchamber. But the moment they pushed open the door, five sword auras flashed toward them, felling them instantly. Not one returned, and from that night, they vanished without a trace.

At dawn the next day, Mi Ling, carrying tens of thousands of taels of silver under Han Chong’s instructions, circled the city and brought the wagon back to the Pavilion.

Soon, news spread throughout Qiongzhou of the shopkeeper surnamed Jin, who wagered a fortune in open price wars against the merchants’ guild. Suppliers and townsfolk alike flocked to the heart of the city, eager to sell or buy.

Four lines of customers stretched before the Pavilion’s doors. With twenty staff overwhelmed, forty more boys were hired on the spot.

Meanwhile, in the Ghost Demon Gang’s underground hall, over a dozen transcendents stood in terrified silence, their eyes fixed upon a stunted specter on the dais—the very same Dwarf Ghost Commander once defeated by Han Chong.

“Useless fools! You can’t even handle a mere shop? What’s the point of keeping you?” The ghost commander’s voice was chilling. “Master Wang, tell me—what now? Must I take matters into my own hands?”

“My lord, please quell your anger. There seem to be more than two innate-level experts hidden within that Pavilion. Otherwise, there’s no reason all five of ours would vanish without a trace.”

“Bold of you to suggest. If ghost generals are needed, what use are you? Ma Hou, Luo Zhu, you two go and seize the shopkeeper Jin for me. Kill all the rest.”

“As you command!” From the darkness, two ghostly figures slipped away.

Han Chong was seated cross-legged on his bed when the two ghosts arrived. The moment they drew near, his spirit-seeing eyes glimmered.

“So, there really are ghosts!” Instantly, he vanished.

The ghosts slipped through the window but, search as they might, could not find the shopkeeper. Suddenly, a bright yellow peachwood sword pierced out, running Luo Zhu clean through the heart, black smoke hissing from the wound. With a twist, the sword shattered the ghost completely, sending his soul scattering, while Ma Hou, struck with terror, could only watch.

With Han Chong’s cultivation now heightened, the Ghostbane Peachwood Sword could slay even a ghost general in a single blow.

Ma Hou tried to flee, but two golden beams shot from Han Chong’s eyes, boring through the ghost’s chest. A wailing shriek echoed through the courtyard as Han Chong revealed himself.

He recognized these specters—they were the very two that had split from the Ghost Demon’s body. Now, with the name of the Ghost Demon Gang confirmed, Han Chong’s suspicions were validated: the Dwarf Ghost Commander was indeed orchestrating everything.

With a flick of the peachwood sword, he skewered their heads. Both ghost generals perished.

“Damn it!” In the ghostly hall, no sooner had Ma Hou and Luo Zhu left than the Dwarf Ghost Commander let out a guttural roar, clutching his chest in agony. He knew at once that both generals had fallen, and that he himself had suffered a grave injury.

The gang’s lieutenants exchanged fearful glances and dared not utter a word.

“We’ll abandon the assault on the Devouring Pavilion for now. There’s clearly a master lurking within, and I’m too newly wounded to act rashly. Continue your surveillance!”

With that, the Dwarf Ghost Commander vanished from his seat, his whereabouts unknown.

His remaining five ghost generals, meanwhile, were sent out to hunt for girls with yin essence, in hopes of using them to repair the Ghost Demon’s fractured spirit after losing three generals.

...

In the guild’s council chamber, over a hundred of Qiongzhou’s most prominent merchants bickered and cursed, the room in constant uproar.

For half a month, they had spent vast sums buying high and selling low, yet their tributes to the officials, the taxes to the province, and the Ghost Demon Gang’s “protection fees” could not be skimped by a single coin. Their losses were staggering.

And yet, the Devouring Pavilion’s appetite seemed bottomless, swallowing up the city’s goods with reckless abandon, even selling at a loss.

“President Gu, if this continues, we’ll all be bankrupt before the Devouring Pavilion ever falls!”

“Yes, and that Jin fellow—who knows how deep his pockets run? In the last half-month alone, he’s lost at least five thousand taels of gold, yet he remains utterly unperturbed. It’s uncanny!”

“Gentlemen, quiet, please—hear me out.”

Even the bearded president was at his wits’ end. All his own shops were running at a loss, and, pressed by the merchants’ demands, he rose to speak, hands raised for calm.

“Gentlemen, I suspect that Jin fellow is on the brink of collapse himself. If he wants to buy, let him buy his fill! Starting tomorrow, let’s sell him every last piece of our inventory and see just how much he can really take. At the same time, we’ll pool our funds and have new goods shipped in from every county, selling them all to him at high prices. This time, we’ll make sure he chokes on his greed!”

“Ha! Brilliant, President Gu. Not even the provincial treasury could stomach such a feast—let’s see if his Devouring Pavilion can!”

“Exactly. When he runs out of money, he’ll have to shut his doors and sell off his stock. Then we’ll buy him out at rock-bottom prices and make a killing!”

“That Jin fellow will lose the shirt off his back, down to his very last scrap of clothing!”

The merchants roared with laughter as they dispersed.

The next day, every merchant in the city crowded before the Devouring Pavilion, their servants hauling cartloads of goods—and Han Chong accepted it all, without exception.

Every floor of the seven-story Pavilion and the rear courtyard was packed to overflowing. Han Chong bought up ten nearby houses at high prices, broke down the walls, and turned them into storage.

Days later, caravans from other counties arrived and filled the Pavilion even more. Still, the buying continued unabated, until the city’s shops were entirely emptied. The merchants, now like ants on a sizzling pot, milled anxiously before the guild’s doors.

“President Gu, disaster! The Devouring Pavilion guards have just hauled in another ten wagonloads of silver from outside the city—over a hundred thousand taels in all!”

But the bearded president was numb to it; this was already the tenth such delivery in half a month. Did that Jin fellow discover a silver mine somewhere?