Where Immortals Once Walked

“By the way, with the trading run having been completed, the wages should usually be paid out this afternoon or by tomorrow at the latest. The shophands are all waiting for their money so they can go home. Would you sign the papers? And also, the delivery date for this batch of burrow-spider silk is tomorrow. The merchants from Baoshu are getting a bit impatient. Could you...”

In the past, Master Gan signed, and only then would wages be issued below. Now, Steward Zhao did not know who he was supposed to get to sign. By order of succession, it ought to be this Second Master Gan, but...

Second Master Gan flew into a rage. He slammed the table and sprang to his feet. “Money, money, money! My elder brother is dead, my mother is unconscious, and at a time like this, your mouth is full of copper stink? Do you even still have a heart?”

“Second Master, please calm down.” No matter what, work still had to get done. Given how large the Gan Family was, things had to keep running for them to maintain their lives.

“Get out. Don’t bother me with this worthless trash!”

Steward Zhao opened his mouth, then said nothing.

At that moment, the door creaked open. An old female servant came out and said, “The old madame is awake. She’s crying and calling for Second Master.”

Second Master Gan hurried inside, but halfway there, he still did not forget to turn back and warn Steward Zhao, “The old madame can’t take any shocks. Handle these trivial matters however you see fit. Don’t come add to the misery!”

He had not been inside long before Steward Zhao heard Old Madame Mao wailing again, her wails heart-rending and hoarse.

Second Master Gan cried along with her; the two voices rose and fell, answering each other, a whole mess of sobbing.

Steward Zhao let out a long sigh.

He walked out and nearly collided with someone charging in.

“Third Master?”

It was Third Master Gan, rushing back after getting the news.

His eyes were slightly red. Hearing the sobbing from the inner room, he tugged Steward Zhao off to the back hall to talk.

“Steward Zhao, what exactly happened?!”

Steward Zhao gave him the gist, of course, focusing on how Master Gan had been killed.

Third Master Gan listened with his eyes gone blank, then, with a plop, he collapsed into a chair. Only after a long while did he force out, painfully, “Has my eldest brother’s funeral all been arranged?”

“Ah, I just finished going over it with Second Master.” It had taken an enormous effort. Second Master could barely speak through sobs, and we had to stop several times.

Third Master Gan said “Oh” twice, and then he added, “Then we... we, going forward...”

Normally, his eldest brother had been holding up the sky over the Gan family. Now that the sky had fallen, what were they to do next?

Zhao Fu waited patiently for him to continue. Master Gan was dead; the residence and merchant guild’s control would shift into the hands of other Gan family members. If they did not take the lead, what could servants like him decide?

Third Master Gan, clinging to a sliver of hope, asked, “Then the merchant guild’s affairs, will Second Brother manage them for now?”

“About that... I don’t know.” Steward Zhao gave a bitter smile. “Second Master is grief-stricken and unwilling to deal with such petty matters.”

Third Master Gan coughed again. “Then if nobody runs the guild, won’t it all fall into chaos?”

“Is Third Master willing to take it over?” Steward Zhao could not hide his surprise.

Third Master Gan steeled himself. “Tell me first.”

“Good, good. Our Gan Family Merchant Guild has 112 people. We mainly do business related to the Demon Nest. Our main products are cloth, herbs, and ore, with seven smaller lines as well. The Gan Family has over twenty-six hectares of upper-grade paddies and seventy-three hectares of middle-grade fields. As for shops, we have eight in Wuze County, twelve in Bailong Township...”

Steward Zhao gave him a rough rundown. Written out, it would have been six or seven hundred characters. Then he added, “The rest you’d need to check in the accounting office, everything is clearly recorded... Third Master?”

Third Master Gan sat there with his mouth half-open, his brow knitting tighter and tighter.

It’s actually that much trouble?

He wavered. Forcing himself, he said, “Fine. I’ll go look another day. Do these all have dedicated people managing them in normal times?”

“Some do, some don’t. In the past, the master would assign someone temporarily; ordinarily, Chief Steward An oversaw it all.” Steward Zhao slipped in a bit of private intent. “Sometimes the master also let me handle matters.”

The hint was that obvious, yet Third Master Gan only went “Mm,” offering no stance at all.

Steward Zhao’s heart cooled by half in an instant.

As expected, even at a time like this, Third Master Gan still isn’t willing to entrust things to me. He’s probably set on letting Luo Xunyi take over. Steward Zhao snorted inwardly, then said, “Then right now there’s one most important matter.”

“Hm? There’s more?” The reluctance on Third Master Gan’s face was not even hidden anymore. “Say it.”

“That the Gan Family Merchant Guild can dominate Wuze County, besides Master Gan’s extraordinary methods, also relies on the exclusive connection we had with the Demon Nest.” Steward Zhao still worked for the guild, so what needed saying had to be said. “But this time our caravan was hijacked by bandits into the Spider Queen’s territory, to cover their theft of a treasure in the underground palace. Though the bandits ultimately failed, the Spider Queen no longer trusts us like before, so she handed the travel token for entering and leaving the swamp to another young man.”

“Oh...” Third Master Gan nodded. “And then?”

He had always known a bit about the family’s business.

Seeing his expression, Steward Zhao knew he had not grasped the danger. “The trouble is that without the travel token, we can never enter the Demon Nest Swamp again. The outer mirage fog will block us. In other words, the Gan Family Merchant Guild can no longer obtain the Spider Queen’s exclusive goods, and in the future, we likely won’t have any advantage in Wuze County.”

He gave a bitter smile. “Within two days, news of Master Gan’s death will spread through the whole county. When that happens, people’s hearts will start to shift.” Only then would the Gan Family’s truly precarious period arrive.

Third Master Gan finally understood how serious it was. “If the token is that important, why would the Spider Queen give it to someone else?”

“She trusts that young man more,” explained Steward Zhao. “The bandits’ failure was also because that young man stirred things up. He pleaded on our behalf with the Spider Queen on the condition that the Gan Caravan escort him to Beijia’s capital.”

Third Master Gan let out a breath. “That’s easy, then. I just say I agree, and he gives us the token, right?”

“It’s not that simple.” Steward Zhao shook his head. “The Spider Queen requires that we deliver him to Beijia’s capital, and only then can we get the travel token.”

“What?” Third Master Gan scowled. “We still have to send him all the way to Beijia’s capital? Then won’t we miss the autumn season’s shipment schedule?” Even if he did not care about business, he knew spring and autumn were when Master Gan was the busiest.

“That was the condition for the caravan to leave the Demon Nest. We had no choice but to agree.”

“After he reaches Beijia’s capital, he’ll still give us the token? Absurd! Only an idiot would believe that.” Third Master Gan sneered. “That’s taking advantage of disaster. The Gan Family can’t be so stupidly honest!”

Steward Zhao woke him up, “Third Master, this is the Spider Queen placing the power to choose the trading caravan into Young Master He’s hands. We must treat him with utmost care. Right now he’s at Yuanzhi Tavern, waiting to meet the Gan family.”

The moment he said that, he saw Third Master Gan’s face change sharply, turning awkward and disbelieving. “Did you just say Yuanzhi Tavern? Is he tall, about seventeen or eighteen, wearing coarse cloth, and sitting by the window?” Heavens, please don’t let it be him! “With that look of looking down on everyone?”

Does he really have a look of looking down on everyone? However, Steward Zhao still said, “Ah, yes, that should be him. Third Master, you were at Yuanzhi Tavern just now?”

“...” Third Master Gan cleared his throat. “I only passed by. Right, anyway, I have something to do. Have Second Brother handle the connection with him.”

“??”

Second Master? Second Master’s still comforting the old madame. He threw everything else aside long ago. Steward Zhao was speechless.

Third Master Gan greased his feet and slipped away, fleeing even faster than he had come.

* * *

He Lingchuan picked at his ear.

So that’s what’s going on.

A quarter of an hour later, someone came upstairs.

He Lingchuan had already seen them coming from up where he was on the second floor. It was Steward Zhao.

Steward Zhao’s face was full of smiles. “Young Master He, please come with me.”

“The Gan Family has time now?” He Lingchuan’s smile did not reach his eyes. “They’re willing to let me in?”

“Ah?” Steward Zhao gave an awkward laugh. “Why do you say that?”

“Just now, Third Master Gan let his pet hurt people, told me to wait here, and said he’d show me what’s what.” He Lingchuan spread his hands. “So I’m waiting here.”

Steward Zhao’s eyes went wide.

No wonder when Third Master Gan heard that Young Master He was at Yuanzhi Tavern, his expression was so spectacular.

So, before the important business was even discussed, he’d already offended Young Master He.

Steward Zhao cursed Third Master Gan bloody in his heart, but on the surface, he still had to smile until his skin wrinkled. “Could it be a misunderstanding? I—”

“I’ve heard Second Master Gan never handles matters,” He Lingchuan said flatly. “Have Third Master Gan come talk to me. I’ll be waiting right here. If he doesn’t come within a quarter-hour, I’m leaving. It isn’t only the Gan Family’s caravan that can reach the monster state’s capital.”

He’s actually taking such a hard stance? Steward Zhao heard that last line and immediately answered, “Ah, understood.” Then he turned and left.

Master Gan was dead, and the Gan Family looked like a great tree about to fall. He had the Stone Gate Merchant Guild as a next home, so what was there to fear?

Two waiters nearby recognized Steward Zhao. Seeing him so respectful to He Lingchuan, they could not help but exchange looks.

This is completely different from Third Master Gan’s attitude. What play is the Gan Family putting on?

They were at a complete loss as to what in the world was going on.

* * *

A quarter of an hour later, the tavern’s wooden stairs creaked again, but this time the sound was slow, and whoever was coming up was clearly unwilling to do so.

Third Master Gan arrived, and Steward Zhao was right behind him.

He came to the table and cupped his fist. “Many thanks to Young Master He for your chivalrous help in the swamp, rescuing our caravan.”

He bit down hard on the word “chivalrous”.

He Lingchuan did not even put down his wine cup. He rolled it in his hand twice and said, “I’ve been waiting for Third Master Gan, waiting to be shown what’s what.”

“I was discourteous earlier.” Third Master Gan’s teeth were about to crack, but he still had to keep acting out the script of arrogant before, humble after. “Right here and now, I offer you my apology.”

He Lingchuan went, “Oh.”

“As for the travel token...”

“Is that it?” Do you seriously think I’m going to let you off that easily? He Lingchuan had sat here dry and bored for over two hours. How much was that much of his time worth? “You killed someone in the market, smashed up my place here, and you think a light little apology is the end of it?”

“You—” Third Master Gan ran 360 rounds of foul language in his gut. “What do you want?”

He Lingchuan leaned lazily against the window. “First, this meal is on you. The losses from Yuanzhi Tavern being wrecked are also on you, and you’d better pay no less than two gold ingots.”

Paying money was humiliating, but it was easy enough. Third Master Gan nodded at Steward Zhao, who immediately called up the proprietor and handed over two gold ingots.

The proprietor cradled the heavy little gold ingots, as if he were dreaming.

So this guest really had called it. Third Master Gan, who acts as though he’s the very ruler of Wuze County, actually came to pay him an apology...

“Second, the hunter you injured is at Beisong Medicine Hall, which should be just two streets away. You’ll compensate his losses, and you’ll pay him until he’s satisfied.”