Chapter 78: Dealing With A Scamming Merchant

Lu Feng stepped out of the estate’s main entrance, adjusting the dark hood of his travelling cloak over his head. Instead of calling for a carriage—which would make his movements far too conspicuous and easily tracked by any watching scouts—he chose to travel on foot, blending into the morning crowd of cultivators, merchants, and commoners navigating the broad thoroughfares of the Upper Eastern District.

As he reached the boundary market square where the Upper District merged into the commercial avenues, a familiar figure caught his eye. Standing outside a bustling shopfront was the shady formation merchant who had sold him the defective defensive array the previous day. He was a slick, rat-faced fellow named Shopkeeper Wu..

Lu Feng’s mismatched eyes narrowed slightly. Slipping silently through the crowd, he stepped into the shadowed alley behind the shopkeeper’s stall just as the man turned to stack a crate of formation flags.

Before Shopkeeper Wu could react, a cold hand clamped tightly around his throat, slamming him back against the wooden wall of the alleyway. Lu Feng’s dark shadow towered over the trembling man, his voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper.

"Shopkeeper Wu," Lu Feng said calmly, his grip tightening just enough to cut off the man’s air. "Do you remember the defensive array flags you sold me yesterday? The ones you swore could withstand powerful assaults?"

Shopkeeper Wu’s eyes bulged with terror, his hands frantically clawing at Lu Feng’s wrist. "Y-Young Master! Please! What... what is wrong with the array?"

"It dissolved under a single stab of a cheap poison dagger," Lu Feng sneered cold-bloodedly. "Your overpriced garbage nearly got my household killed last night. I am currently deciding whether I should drag you directly to the City Enforcement Hall for high-level fraud, or simply mention your name to Master Lin Laifu so his guild blacklists your entire bloodline from trading in Crimson Vale City forever."

Hearing the names of the enforcement hall and Lin Laifu, the merchant’s face turned completely ghostly white. Tears of panic welled in his eyes, and he began sobbing through his constricted throat.

"Mercy, Young Master! Mercy! I was greedy! I mixed in low-grade counterfeit flags to make a bigger profit! I will refund you fully! I will pay all gold coins back! All of them! Double! Triple!"

Lu Feng stared down at the blubbering man for a moment before releasing his grip, letting the merchant slump against the cobblestones, gasping frantically for air.

"I don’t want my money back," Lu Feng stated coldly, wiping his fingers on his sleeve. "Instead, you will use every single gold I gave you yesterday to procure high-grade food supplies, premium grain, and luxury ingredients for my estate. You will pack them securely and have them ready for pickup by sunset."

"Yes! Yes! Immediately, Young Master! Whatever you want!" Shopkeeper Wu blurted out, bowing his head against the ground repeatedly.

"Good. Now tell me... what is the most direct route down to the Laughing Toad Tavern in the Lower District?"

The terrified merchant quickly stammered out precise directions, pointing out the specific back alleyways that avoided the main guard checkpoints. Nodding in satisfaction, Lu Feng left the trembling fraud on the ground and vanished back into the bustling crowd.

Navigating through the twisting, progressively shady streets of the city, the air grew thick as the smell of stale ale, cheap roast meat, and unwashed sweat replaced the flowery scent that had followed him from his estate.

After twenty minutes of walking, Lu Feng finally arrived in the heart of the Lower District’s lawless zone, stopping across the street from a dilapidated two-story wooden building bearing a faded wooden sign: The Laughing Toad Tavern.

Lu Feng pulled his hood lower, stepping past the creaky doors into the dim, noisy establishment. The tavern was packed with low-level mercenaries, rough-looking rogue cultivators, and drunken gamblers shouting over dice games.

Scanning the crowded hall under the cover of the shadows, Lu Feng’s sharp gaze instantly locked onto a specific figure sitting alone in a dim corner booth near the back exit.

The man matched the intruder’s description perfectly—a thin, gaunt fellow with a scarred neck, twitchy hands, and a greasy black leather vest. It was Black Rat. What truly gave him away, however, was his behavior; while everyone else in the tavern was drinking and shouting, Black Rat kept fidgeting with his ale mug, his sharp, rat-like eyes constantly darting toward the tavern’s front entrance as if desperately expecting someone who was long overdue.

Lu Feng casually walked over to the wooden counter, tossing a few copper coins to the bartender for a cup of cheap wine. Leaning against a support pillar in the shadows, he slowly sipped the bitter liquid, silently observing Black Rat’s every movement, every nervous twitch, and every anxious glance at the tavern clock.

After finishing his drink, Lu Feng noticed Black Rat starting to grow increasingly restless, his hand repeatedly reaching for a hidden blade beneath his vest.

Knowing that remaining in the tavern any longer might draw the sharp-eyed contact’s suspicion, Lu Feng quietly set his empty cup down on a wooden table. Turning smoothly on his heel, he slipped out the side door into the fresh air of the alleyway, leaving Black Rat behind to stew in his growing panic.

Standing in the alley, Lu Feng let out a quiet sigh, watching the tavern entrance from a distance as he pondered his next move.

He could easily conceal his breath, shadow Black Rat through the city streets, and discover the Iron Hook Gang’s secondary hideout right now. Or, he could simply let the man go for today. He had already memorized Black Rat’s face, posture, and Qi signature entirely.

More importantly, he still had the two crippled captives locked securely in his estate’s private training hall. If necessary, he could always release one of them as a baited hook later to lead Black Rat straight into a trap on his own terms.

A subtle, confident smile touched Lu Feng’s lips as he made up his mind, choosing the far more calculated latter option. Turning away from the Laughing Toad Tavern, he began his casual stride back toward the Upper Eastern District.