As Muyou and Yiqi were enjoying their lunch, a young lad approached them.
"Hi my two young friends, I am Lin Donghai, 16 years of age. I believe you two are not from Glory Marsh City, and have lots of burning questions. So how about purchasing some information regarding this city? This will be especially helpful. Moreover, you do not need to pay a single copper coin before hearing any of the information. After this session, you can decide how much were the information worth." As Donghai pitched his sales, he resembled a professional salesman. He was dressed in a green scholarly robe and was holding onto a wooden fan, if not because of his pitch, people would have thought of him as a scholar.
This indeed sounded like a fair deal, Muyou and Yiqi had no reasons to reject. Moreover, Donghai did not lace his pitch with bullshit flatteries and went straight to the point. This caused them to have a favourable first impression of Donghai.
"Sure, why not?" Muyou smiled as he gestured Donghai to take a seat. Donghai bowed and took his seat. "I am Muyou, thirteen years old and this is my younger brother, Yiqi, twelve years old."
"I am Muyou, thirteen years old and this is my younger brother, Yiqi, twelve years old." Muyou introduced themselves.
"It is nice to meet you two, let me give you guys an introduction to this City." Lin Donghai started his 'lecture' as he waved his fan.
"Glory Marsh City has been established ever since the beginning of Song Dynasty. Among the five provinces in Song Dynasty, it is located in the Southern Province. It is the second largest city in the Southern Province, only second to the Soaring Crane City. In the Southern Province, we are at the Dong Jing region which is deep in the South..."
Lin Donghai continued to drone on as Muyou and Yiqi listened attentively. This was indeed a very useful opportunity for them to learn more about the Jianghu.
After about 10 minutes, Lin Donghai finally paused. "So that sums up the introduction of Glory Marsh City. Any questions?" He queried as he drank a sip of tea.
Muyou and Yiqi's minds were still processing what Donghai said. They have learnt that in Glory Marsh City, there were dozens of clans. The clans were ranked as small, medium and great. There were 24 small clans, 10 medium clans and 5 great clans. The 5 great clans comprised of the Yang, Chen, Luo, Yun and Tai. Among the 5 great clans, the Tai family was indisputably the first in ranking, due to them being the City Governor.
However, the true power in the city was not the Tai family, but the Panther Guards. They were the auxiliary force in charge of the Southern Province, their power covered the whole Southern Province. In Song Dynasty, there were 5 divisions of guards. In the Northern Province there was the Swan Guards, Southern Province the Panther Guards, Eastern Province the Eagle Guards, Western Province the Wolf Guards and in the Central Province the Dragon Guards. The Dragon Guards was the most prestigious division, as they were also in charge of the Royal Capital.
The Panther Guards headquarters was in Soaring Crane City, but they had a branch in every Southern Province city.
Donghai had also explained more about the Dong Jing region. There were many sects, such as the Wind Sword Sect and Yellow Tiger Sect. When Muyou and Yiqi heard of the names of these sects, they blushed a little as they recalled the days when they were stealing tomes from them. Other than these local sects, there were the 5 Great Sects; Wudang, Misty Fog, Shiquan, Bloody Asura and Celestial Dream. These 5 Great Sects' main branches were actually located in the Central Province, the ones located in Dong Jing Region were merely one of the many outer branches. Despite being an outer branch, these 5 Great Sects still had tremendous influence over the region.
"So, where can we buy first-rate martial arts tomes? Specifically weapon martial arts manuals?" Muyou asked. Muyou and Yiqi's aim had always been to grow stronger, so naturally they should be seeking martial arts manuals. They had also not given up on training their weapon skills, metal chain and the heavy sword. Them being young boys, they still had the thinking that fighting with weapons would be much cooler than bare-handed.
"That will be a bit hard..." Donghai shook his head.
"Can this amount buy any?" Yiqi took out 3 silver ingots and placed them on the table. Each silver coin was worth 100 copper coins and each silver ingot was worthed silver coins. Thus, these 3 silver ingots were considered to be a very high buying price.
Donghai bit his lips and answered, "To be honest, it is not about the money... Even if you take out 3 gold ingots, it will still be impossible to get your hands on a first-rate martial arts tome. First-rate martial arts skills are usually kept really tight in clans and sects, which will only be passed down within their inner circle."
Muyou and Yiqi could not hide the disappointment on their face.
"By the way, are you two from any clan or sect?" Donghai could not help but ask. He was very curious about their identity, especially after Yiqi's display of strength and Yiqi casually taking out 3 silver ingots.
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"We do not belong to any clan nor any sect." Muyou replied nonchalantly.
"Why don't you two join a sect? You can try the Great Sects, I'm sure you two can enter with your current strength. If you are in a Great Sect, they may impart their martial arts skills to you." Donghai suggested.
Muyou waved his hand and shook his head. "Nah, not our style."
"Guess that concludes our business. Here is your payment" Yiqi said as he put a silver ingot on the table.
"That... That... I'm afraid that is too much." Donghai was shocked at how much they were going to pay him. "The information I gave you simply isn't worth 1 silver ingot. Just 50 copper coins would do." Although Donghai was a businessman, he would never commit daylight robbery.
"It's alright, just take it. Treat the change as a gift of friendship." Muyou pushed the silver ingot towards Donghai. After the conversation, he felt that Donghai was a man of integrity, more so after Donghai rejected their initial offer. He knew that to survive in the Jianghu, he would need reliable friends. In Muyou's judgement, Donghai would be an excellent friend.
Donghai had a very bitter expression on his face, he still felt it was unrighteous of him to simply take the silver ingot.
He suddenly took out a map and offered it to them. "This is a map of Glory Marsh City and its surrounding. I have made this personally through my observations and knowledge, there are several useful information inside which are not commonly known. Treat this as my gift of friendship."
"It is my honour to have made friends with you two today. If you two need any help, feel free to drop by the Lin Clan." Donghai cupped his hands and bowed. Just as how Muyou and Yiqi had a favourable impression of him, he too liked their characters and hoped to be friends.
"Don't stand on the ceremony! We are now friends!" Yiqi quickly lifted Donghai up and offered him a cup of tea.
Donghai spent the whole day giving a detailed tour of the City, he showed them where the various clans were and the attractions.
One month had passed.
Muyou and Yiqi were now residing inside Donghai's manor in the Lin Clan. Lin Clan was one of the 10 medium clans. Donghai was one of the many families of Lin Clan. In this one month, Muyou and Yiqi had frequently visited Donghai, so Donghai offered them residence at his manor.
They usually spent much of the day sparring and exchanging pointers. In one of their usual sparring session, a servant came rushing in.
"Not good Young Master! Not good! There is somebody making trouble in our Lin Inn!"
Donghai's face turned sour. "Brother Muyou and Brother Yiqi, I'm afraid our session has to stop here. I have to settle some matters." Donghai hurriedly tried to excuse himself.
"Why don't you let us accompany you? With more people on your side, you will have an easier time chasing those troublemakers off too." Muyou smiled. Such entertainment was hard to come by, how could he bear to miss this show.
"Hmmm... Sorry to bother you two again." Donghai hesitated before agreeing. There was no harm in letting Muyou and Yiqi tag along.
Though Lin Clan was a medium clan, they were the weakest among the medium clans. Ever since their patriarch was fatally injured five years, their standing in Glory Marsh City had plummetted. Moreover, the family heads were constantly plotting against each other and coveting for personal small gains. In the Lin Clan, the only few people who still cared wholeheartedly about the clan were the patriarch, Donghai's father and Donghai. Since 5 years ago, Donghai had been training hard and seizing every opportunity to earn a little extra cash for the Lin Clan. That was also how he met Muyou and Yiqi, by trying to earn some spare cash through selling information.
When they arrived at the Lin Inn, they saw the ground floor was already thrashed. It was as if a whirlwind had just swept past the inn. In the middle of the inn, were 6 teens still wrecking havoc to the inn.
"XIE TUBUO! WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING!' Donghai let out an angry roar as he stomped towards them. His face had turned red and veins were popping out of his head. His former scholarly appearance had totally disappeared, now he looked like somebody who was about to murder.