The power of the 103 tungsten gold dagger

  "This is what Salt Gang has been smelting alloy recently."

  The sound of two swords clashing echoed out.

  Separate.

  On Pei Qiantong's short knife, a small notch suddenly appeared, while Zhen Mingshu's dagger was completely unscathed.

  Pei Qiantong's face was shocked, staring at the dagger in Zhen Mingshu's hand, just such a collision could cause his bodyguard to suffer such damage, it can be seen that if Wei Rui Jingde, a powerful warrior, uses this alloy sword to slash, what kind of killing power will be caused to the enemy, and the result is predictable.

  He thoughtfully asked: "How much of this alloy has been smelted?"

  Zhen Ming smiled bitterly and said: "It's just this one, wanting mass production isn't easy, currently they still haven't obtained the refining secret formula."

  Pei Qiantong's eyes lit up instantly, and he re-examined Zhen Mingshu for a while before smiling and saying, "It seems I underestimated you."

  Zhen Ming bitterly said: "The secret formula for this hard alloy is known only by me."

  "Let's talk about the conditions," Pei Qiantong said, "I have five people in my hands, one of whom is a woman who has signed a contract to be my servant. I can give her to whoever I want, and I heard that you've been searching for her everywhere in Luoyang City, even going to all the casinos. She must be a woman you're willing to do anything to get."

  Zhenming was bitter and silent.

  "The more beautiful the woman, the greater the cost of getting her. This Tofu Xishi, even I couldn't help but feel some excitement when I saw her. What are you going to use to trade for her? A mere 30,000 taels of silver and the mining village's secret grain warehouse intel can't be exchanged for the lives of these five people."

  It was as if Zhen Ming had expected Pei Qiantong to be so difficult, and he didn't think much of it. He said, "I just want my friends not to get hurt, as for the secret formula, it doesn't matter who gets it."

  "As long as you tell me the secret recipe and the whereabouts of the official silver, I can let them go. You should know that Zhang's family was bought at a great price."

  Zhen Ming fell silent for a moment before saying, "I need to confirm whether they are still alive first."

  Pei Qiantong stood up: "Come with me."

  ……

  The Pei mansion's vast grounds were a testament to the wealth of the salt merchants. Zhen Ming followed Pei Qian out of the house, through a long corridor and several pavilions, walking for quite some distance before arriving at the edge of a lotus pond in the rear garden.

  Pei Qiantong walked up to a stone lantern by the pond and turned it left and right several times.

  On a patch of unremarkable grass beside the pond, the sound of machinery whirring filled the air. An entrance and staircase slowly rose from the ground, revealing that the dungeon was located directly beneath the pond.

  In the dungeon corridor, a bloody and moldy smell wafted through.

  At the end of the corridor was a large execution hall and several dark cells, inside which were various familiar torture instruments.

  Bloody iron hook, rusty iron chain, furnace and branding iron, tiger bench, wooden horse...

  When he first arrived in Luoyang, he had a taste of these instruments of torture in the great prison of Luoyang.

  In the cell were locked up more than a dozen prisoners with pale faces and fearful eyes, who upon seeing Pei Qian's arrival, all knelt down to beg for mercy.

  Zhen Ming Su suddenly asked as he quietly followed Pei Qian Tong: "Does privately setting up a prison cell not violate the law?"

  Pei Qiantong sneered with a smile: "Who scored that point? If ordinary people set up private prisons, they will naturally violate the law."

  In other words, even if Pei Qianzhi privately set up a prison, no one would dare to say anything against him.

  Zhen Ming stopped speaking, and the two of them walked to the last cell in the dungeon.

  In the cell, Fei Long lay on the ground, gasping for breath and coughing non-stop, with a pool of congealed blood beside him.

  Apart from several non-fatal knife wounds on his chest, both of his legs had been beaten and were swollen to twice their normal size.

  There were dozens of golden needles stuck in his body, Sun Langzhong sat beside him, still needling him. From the look on his face, Fei Long's injury didn't seem optimistic.

  "Sun's wife."

  Sun Langzhong heard the words and raised his head, seeing that it was Zhen Ming who was suffering, a joyful expression appeared on his face. He then discovered Pei Qiantong beside him and immediately became worried: "Ming, you...you were also caught by them?"

  "I'm fine, sorry for getting you all involved."

  Sun Langzhong realized that Zhen Ming's misfortune was not caused by Pei Qiantong, and hastily said: "What's the point of saying this? Feilong has been beaten into a serious injury by their people. If we don't handle it quickly, I'm afraid his life will be in danger."

  Zhen Ming bitterly turned his head to Pei Qian Tong and said, "Pei Bangzhu, let them go. According to our agreement, I will tell you the locations where those official silvers are hidden."

  ……

  Xing Er and Huan Er supported the frail Yue Er, following behind Sun Lang Zhong, under the leadership of Pei Qian Tong, walking out of the Pei Mansion's main gate.

  Apart from looking a bit pale due to fright and fear, he didn't suffer any physical harm.

  Watching Pei Qiantong's men lift the sedan chair, several people got on the sedan chair that Zhen Mingshu had hired with great difficulty, and quickly went far away. Only then did Zhen Mingshu slightly let out a breath of relief.

  Pei Qian said behind him: "Now we can talk about the whereabouts of 30,000 taels of official silver."

  ……

  Sun Lang and others sat in the carriage, watching as it sped rapidly towards the south of the city, their brows furrowed.

  The curtain of the carriage door suddenly lifted, revealing a smiling coachman.

  "Which one is Sun Langzhong?"

  "That's me."

  The coachman handed a letter into Sun Langzhong's face.

  "Master Zhen has entrusted me to hand over these two letters to you, and asked me to leave the Pei residence immediately. Here is one hundred taels of silver, which Master Zhen also entrusted me to give to you. He said that everything is written in the letters, and you will understand once you read them."

  Sun Lang hastily opened the letter with "Sun Old personally opened" and quickly browsed through it, his face becoming increasingly solemn.

  After finishing, he suddenly tore the contents of the envelope into pieces and scattered them outside the car. He turned his head to ask the driver who was driving in front: "Where is the nearest pharmacy?"

  ……

  It was late at night, and two black-clad scouts flashed out of the back door of the Pei Mansion, mounted the two black horses at the gate, and galloped northward.

  In the reception hall of Pei's mansion, a sumptuous feast was laid out on the dining table, with no less than twenty dishes, yet only two people sat at the table: Pei Qiantong and Zhen Mingsu.

  Pei Qiantong poured a cup of wine for Zhen Mingsu, who had already drunk three rounds and showed signs of intoxication on his face. He spoke more and more, saying that Liu Wuzhou wanted to monopolize the secret formula and kill him to silence him, which made him indignant.

  Pei Qiantong sighed repeatedly: "I didn't expect Brother Zhen to have such an experience. Liu Wuzhou treated you like this, no wonder Brother Zhen is heartbroken. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't let them off the hook easily. It's hard to quell this anger. Come on, Brother Zhen, drink this cup of wine. After tonight, we'll know whether we're friends or foes immediately. I've already sent someone to investigate the location you mentioned. I believe we'll have news soon. If Brother Zhen's information is accurate, when I recover the 30,000 taels of silver that were stolen from me, I will definitely not forget your kindness."

  "I dare not, I dare not. If it weren't for the fact that my younger brother happened to see the wanted poster put up by your honorable organization on the street that day, I really wouldn't have known about the robbery of your organization's official silver. And with those boxes having official seals on them, only then did I remember and thought to myself: 'Pai Zhengzhuang must be determined to get this batch of official silver at all costs.' Otherwise, even if I had ten lives, I wouldn't dare make any deals with Pai Zhengzhuang. Here's a toast to you, Pai Zhengzhuang, as an apology. I hope you can forgive me and let it go."

  Pei Qiantong laughed loudly and drank, putting down his wine cup and saying: "Zhen brothers are such talents, it's a pity to bury them. Our gang is in need of people now, Zhen brothers value loyalty and righteousness, do you have the intention to join my salt gang and work together with me to achieve great things?"

  "Thanks to your appreciation, I'm flattered and surprised. Let's talk about everything after tonight, who knows, maybe Master Pei will want to kill me tomorrow."

  "Hahaha..." Pei Qiantong burst out laughing, "I, Li Mou, won't misjudge people. I've had a question for you, Zhen brother, and I wonder if you can dispel the doubts in my mind?"

  "Ask whatever you want, Master Pei."

  "Where did Zhen brothers get this secret recipe for alloy refining?"

  Zhen Ming, with a bitter expression, belched and said in a drunken tone: "To be honest, this secret recipe has been passed down from my ancestors. If I weren't desperate and at the end of my rope, I wouldn't easily reveal it to others."

  Pei Qiantong nodded: "No wonder Brother Zhen's accent sounds a bit strange, I don't know where your hometown is?"

  "In the desolate land of Southern Yue, even if I were to mention it to Master Pei, he might not have heard of it. According to what my ancestors said, in the past, during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, people from the State of Yue fled there to escape the chaos. For generations, they made a living by smelting iron and casting metal. Due to their isolation from the world, by my generation, the population had become extremely sparse. In order to prevent our family's incense from being extinguished, the elders of the clan forced all the young and strong men out of the mountains, establishing rules that unless they brought back a wife and produced offspring, they would not be allowed to return to their hometown."