63 Golden Tiger

  Ye Qin was just an ordinary apprentice of the Medicine Collection Hall, and this identity did not qualify him to attend the Treasure Trading Conference on the third floor of Yongfu Building where the elders of various major sects gathered.

  He sighed helplessly and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something. He seemed to have a treasure token, which was given to him by Huang Changlao, the leader of the Treasure Gang, two months ago. It said that as long as he had this token, he could find him anytime and anywhere. With this token, he should be able to attend the auction.

  He had an idea and turned around to leave.

  A moment later, Ye Qin returned to Yongfu Building again.

  At this time, he changed into a black tight-fitting outfit, wearing a conical hat and carrying a three-foot long cold blade on his back. He had applied a light herbal medicine to conceal his scent. The mysterious man in black who sold the Clear Heart Pill to Elder Huang two months ago appeared once again.

  Ye Qin stepped into the bustling Yongfu Building, passing through the ordinary guest floor on the first floor and the upper guest floor on the second floor. He slowly walked up to the third floor. At the entrance of the stairs on the third floor, four robust men from the Zhenbao Gang were standing guard with their heads held high and their chests out.

  The robust Han men saw a man in black clothes wearing a bamboo hat coming up, but they couldn't tell what his background was and were secretly suspicious.

  A burly man stepped forward, blocking Ye Qin's path. He cupped his hands and said in a deep voice, "This brother, the third floor has been booked by my Treasure Gang for a trading conference, and it is forbidden for ordinary people to go upstairs. Only noble guests of my Treasure Gang can enter inside. Please show your invitation or explain your identity!"

  Ye Qin didn't say a word and directly took out a golden token the size of a finger from his bosom, shining brightly.

  The big Han in front of him suddenly lit up and let out a low cry of surprise:

  "Treasured token! So you are the honored guest I've been helping Elder Huang for. Forgive me, forgive me! Elder Huang specifically instructed that if anyone presents his treasured token, he should be notified immediately. Please wait, I'll go inform Elder Huang that a noble guest has arrived."

  The big man knew the importance of this small golden token, and led Ye Qin into the trading hall. Then he quickly left the hall, came to a private luxury compartment on the third floor, and went to find Old Man Huang.

  Inside the luxurious compartment.

  Old Huang was sitting on a sandalwood chair, carefully wiping the rare treasures on the table one by one, treasured knives, treasured swords, golden silk inner armor......, wiping them until they were spotless and shining.

  These dozens of treasures will be the highlight of tonight's auction.

  Before each transaction, Huang would habitually put them in their best condition, enhance their appearance, and increase the selling price. At this time, no one was allowed to disturb him.

  He heard a sudden footsteps at the door and furrowed his brow involuntarily.

  A sturdy man in a big coat stopped at the gate and hastily reported: "Old Master Huang, there is a black-clad person holding your Treasure Token, who has come to attend today's Treasure Trading Conference. According to your orders, as long as someone holds your token and comes, no matter what time, I immediately report to you."

  Old Huang was slightly stunned, then suddenly stood up from the sandalwood chair, with an unusual excitement appearing on his ruddy face.

  Has that man in black come?

  He didn't even bother with the precious object he was polishing in his hand, and strode out of the luxurious private room, heading towards the outer trading hall.

  That yellow-robed big man hastily followed, he was extremely surprised, Huang Chang's current excited expression, not at all like a steady elder of the Treasure Alliance, but instead seemed somewhat reckless. What kind of person was that black-robed man, to make Huang Chang so excited?

  Huang Zhang's excitement was evident on his face and in his words.

  Here came, nearly two months later, that mysterious man in black finally appeared again.

  Only he himself knew why he was so excited.

  The man in black claimed to be a member of a certain family and exchanged a Qingxin pill for a cyan jade pendant said to contain spiritual energy. All of this was so familiar that he couldn't help but recall a long-buried memory.

  It was twenty years ago.

  At that time, the rivers and lakes of Pingzhou were completely different from those of Pingzhou today.

  Twenty years ago, within the borders of Pingzhou, there was a mysterious and powerful family that controlled the ten major gangs of Pingzhou from behind the scenes. Only the leaders of the ten major gangs and their successors knew of its existence. Every command issued by this family had to be unconditionally executed by the leaders of the ten major gangs, who also had to offer tribute in the form of wealth and goods every year.

  At that time, the order of Pingzhou's Jianghu and the ranking of the factions' strength were completely in the hands of this mysterious family. Any faction that dared to resist, regardless of its size or the strength of its members' martial arts, or how strict their guards were, even if it was the largest faction in Pingzhou, would have its core leaders and top masters disappear overnight without a trace, leaving no bodies behind, and the faction's strength would plummet overnight.

  This family has existed in Pingzhou for over a hundred years. As time went on, among the top ten gangs in Pingzhou, there was no longer any gang that dared to resist the iron-fisted rule of this mysterious family.

  Twenty years ago, Huang Changlao was only in his early forties and was a middle-aged core disciple of the Zhenbao Gang. At the same time, he was also one of the most promising candidates to succeed as the next leader of the Zhenbao Gang.

  As one of the successors to the position of leader of the Treasure Gang, he had once followed the previous leader of the Treasure Gang and pulled a whole cart full of rare jade stones, precious herbs, precious woods, and all sorts of strange objects, with a total value of tens of thousands of gold leaves, to give to the head of that family as the Treasure Gang's tribute every three years.

  So he was fortunate enough to have a glimpse of the inside story of that family and met some members of that family. There were about six or seven people in the family, with old and young, male and female.

  It is said that everyone is above the level of a master.

  Of course, no one has seen them fight, and those who have seen it are probably already dead.

  The head of the family inspected all the goods in the horse cart and only picked out more than ten pieces of jade, two pieces of precious wood, and a few small things. The rest were evaluated by the head of the family as worthless waste with no spiritual energy, and he scolded the old boss for a while.

  The old boss didn't even dare to make a sound.

  The head of the family scolded the old boss of the Zhenbao gang after the incident, and afterwards rewarded him with a grain of "magic medicine" that was said to prolong life, eliminate all diseases, and encouraged the old boss of the Zhenbao gang to send more jade stones and herbs in three years, promising to exchange for more such magic medicine.

  The old master obtained the spiritual elixir and regarded it as a treasure beyond compare, keeping it close to his body and refusing to show it to others.

  However, he had only seen this triennial tribute once with his own eyes.

  Later, for some unknown reason, all members of that mysterious family disappeared overnight without a trace and never appeared again. Where they went, no one knew at all. The Ten Great Guilds naturally also stopped their triennial tribute.

  Huang Zhanglao never understood one thing, why the jade stones on that big cart didn't have any spiritual energy, but only those ten small pieces of jade and precious wood had spiritual energy. In his eyes, they were all just ordinary jade stones, fundamentally indistinguishable, so why could the people from that mysterious family see their differences?

  This is an unsolvable enigma.

  Twenty years have passed, and the previous leader of the Treasure Gang has retired. Huang Jintao unexpectedly lost to another rising candidate for the position of leader and did not become the leader of the Treasure Gang but instead became the first elder of the Treasure Gang.

  The ten major gangs of Pingzhou, which were once ruled with an iron fist by that family, also broke free from their constraints and were no longer bound by any rules. The competition for the position of overlord of Pingzhou's Jianghu was becoming increasingly fierce.