Chapter 25: Wealth Moves the Heart |
Term Change: Heavenly Treasure House > Heavenly Treasure Pavilion
*****
Dragging the fat man's corpse into the Tai Yan Boat and cleaning up the bloodstains on the ground, Li Fan then casually returned to his room, acting like nothing had happened.
"Truly ignorant," Li Fan commented.
The fat man clearly hadn't figured out the situation. Relying on a bit of cleverness, he thought he could threaten Li Fan, maybe trying to obtain some benefits from him.
But did he ever question whether Li Fan had actually infiltrated Liuli Island? This group of exiles, weren't they the same, obtaining their status by posing as disaster victims?
Once they acquired the household registration of Liuli Island, they truly considered themselves native inhabitants.
Li Fan saw this clearly. Previously, the immortal who concealed his face and came to pick them up, as well as the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion where Sun Zhang was, were very cautious in their actions, afraid of being discovered.
Obviously, their identities as mortals from the Land of Immortal Extinction were not something they wanted others to know about.
He didn't believe that the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and the group of exiles would make a big fuss about this.
Furthermore, even if they investigated that the fat man had visited Li Fan before disappearing, now that they couldn't find the body, as long as Li Fan insisted he hadn't seen him, they couldn't do anything to him.
After all, if the matter escalated, it would not benefit either party.
And if Li Fan hesitated and didn't take action, leaving the fat man alive, it might actually lead to various troubles.
So, Li Fan decisively chose to nip any potential threats in the bud.
...
As Li Fan predicted, a few days passed, and besides Su Changyu asking about it once, the mysterious disappearance of the fat man didn't attract any attention from anyone else.
This incident was just a small episode in Li Fan's island life, quickly pushed to the back of his mind.
During these days, Li Fan inquired about various affairs on the island while planning how to use the treasures in the Tai Yan Boat in a reasonable manner.
Gradually, Li Fan gained a general understanding of the Liuli Island he was currently on.
This sea area was called the Cong Yun Sea.
The Cong Yun Sea was vast and scattered with tens of thousands of islands of various sizes.
Liuli Island was located in the central-southern part of the Cong Yun Sea and was of medium size.
The island was named after the delicious and tender Liu Li Fish [1] abundant in the surrounding waters.
The Liu Li Fish was not only popular among the common folk of the surrounding islands but was also occasionally used by some immortals to refine elixirs due to the Liu Li Pearl that would occasionally form in the fish's body.
Hence, the island needed an immortal to oversee it, and a certain amount of Liu Li Pearls had to be collected annually.
Immortals generally did not intervene in worldly matters, making it difficult for ordinary people to see them. The day-to-day affairs of Liuli Island were usually managed by the Liuli Mansion established by the island master.
Island residents could obtain a job within the Liuli Mansion. The higher the risk of the job, the higher the reward.
Among these jobs, fishing for Liu Li Fish was the most popular.
Apart from being relatively safe, the rewards were considerable.
Moreover, when the harvested Liu Li Fish were handed over, only 70% of them needed to be turned in, while the remaining 30% could be sold privately.
So, this fishing job was quite appealing.
However, fishing required a large ship, and the schools of Liu Li Fish were elusive. Specific spirit guides from the island were needed to locate them.
These spirit guides were only issued by the Liuli Mansion during fishing expeditions and had to be returned after returning to the island.
Private fishing was impossible. If caught, the penalty was direct execution.
Therefore, this fishing for Liu Li Fish was only allowed under the permission of the Liuli Mansion.
Those who could go fishing were highly regarded by the island's residents.
A few days ago, a fleet that had gone fishing not only had a great catch of Liu Li Fish but also encountered a sunken ship.
This ship was said to have escaped with the family to avoid a disaster, so it carried more than a dozen boxes of gold, silver, and jewels!
At this moment, the fleet had made a fortune.
Regarding the salvaged items from the sunken ship, the island's rules were the same as for Liu Li Fish—they could keep 30% for themselves!
So, when the fleet returned to the port, half the island was buzzing with excitement.
Even the island's treasurer and money manager personally came to inspect.
Seeing the fleet members almost grinning from ear to ear, many people on the island were envious.
They began to privately seek connections, wanting to obtain the qualification for the next fishing trip.
...
In Li Fan's view, he could slowly launder the countless treasures on the Tai Yan Boat using a similar method, with relatively low risk.
The only difficulty lay in how to obtain the qualification for a solo fishing trip.
The existence of the Tai Yan Boat must never be exposed.
Too many people on the island wanted to join the fishing fleet. After inquiring casually, Li Fan learned the key information.
Among the three trusted subordinates of the island master, Zhao, in charge of personnel matters, Qian, in charge of financial matters, and Zhou, in charge of public security, most of the fishing fleet quotas were in Qian's hands.
Zhao and Zhou had always wanted to intervene, but the quotas were firmly controlled by Qian, and they only controlled one or two fishing fleets.
Where there were people, there was conflict.
Li Fan remembered Zhao's reaction when he saw him on the day of registration. He thought maybe he could meet this Zhao.
However, Zhao wasn't someone Li Fan could easily meet now.
Li Fan decided to follow Sun Zhang's approach with the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
After inquiring about the location, Li Fan arrived at the door of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, wanting to meet Sun Zhang.
However, he was turned away.
"Go away, our Senior Sun has a distinguished status. Do you think you can just see him whenever you want? Hurry off!" Several big, intimidating men at the door looked at Li Fan malevolently, as if they were ready to act.
Seeing this, Li Fan had no choice but to leave for now.
He found it somewhat strange. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was a place of business after all. How could they just turn people away without seeing them?
Moreover, these big men made decisions without seeking approval, as if they already knew who Li Fan was.
"It must be that they received orders and intentionally avoided me," Li Fan concluded. He guessed that something had happened on the exile's side that made Sun Zhang turn hostile and not recognize them.
After some inquiries, Li Fan finally learned what had transpired.
It turned out that Su Changyu, in order to quickly get rid of the miasma in his body, chose to become an experimental subject for the immortals.
Before leaving, Su Changyu signed his name on the final contract.
Now, the three contracts were completed, and the final contract had completely dissipated.
There was no longer any connection between the exile group and the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.
"No wonder they suddenly turned hostile and deliberately avoided us. I just didn't expect Su Changyu to be so determined," Li Fan sighed.
"Ah, we tried to advise him, telling him not to be in such a hurry. But he wouldn't listen!" the person who spoke was also familiar to Li Fan—it was Xiao Heng, who had claimed to be the son of the Southern King in the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion cave.
Xiao Heng seemed to have a very good relationship with Su Changyu and was extremely dejected at the moment. "If it weren't for his terminally ill sister, Brother Su wouldn't have fought so desperately."
Hearing this, Li Fan was lost in thought.
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