Sanniang must have her own purpose... or she may have leaked the information to the guests from the Central Plains intentionally or unintentionally.
Otherwise, why would she look at me differently when I asked for Jiangnan cuisine? When I said I didn't want Jiangnan cuisine, I wanted lamb legs, but she was still uninterested.
The so-called drunkard stayed here for a month. Zhao Changhe estimated that Situ Xiao must have dug up a lot of information he wanted before leaving.
Zhao Changhe glanced at Sanniang, who was still drinking with a smile on her face, and holding out one hand: "Anything else you want to ask? I'll add ten taels for each question you ask."
Zhao Changhe smiled and suddenly said, "Hey, I now suspect that you are using the organization's intelligence to make money for yourself."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Sanniang sat up straight and looked around: "What organization do I have? This is all the information I collected with great difficulty!"
She pretended to cry and said, "I am a weak woman, all alone in this barbarian land. Do you know how difficult life is..."
"Maybe there are people like Ubaru who bully others by taking advantage of their power. It's hard to deal with them, right?"
"Yeah yeah."
"I know, I know. It's because of the hospitality rules, so you pretend to be innocent, right?"
Sanniang's fake crying stopped immediately, and she said with a smile: "Life is not easy, life is not easy... Do you want to buy anything else?"
Zhao Changhe thought for a moment and asked, "Is there a distribution of strong men on the grassland?"
Sanniang's face fell: "No."
"Are there any strange secret places? For example, how was this lake in the desert formed? Was it natural or something else..."
Before she finished, Sanniang's expression changed: "No. Why do you always ask such weird questions? Are you looking for trouble? I won't sell it to you anymore."
Zhao Changhe tilted his head to look at her and sighed, "Alright, alright. I, Wang Daozhong, just don't know how to read people's faces. I get scolded wherever I go."
Sanniang: “…”
"One last question." Zhao Changhe handed over another ingot of silver.
Sanniang quickly hugged the money in her arms, smiling: "Speak."
"Didn't Yue Hongling kill the Black Wolf King on the grassland before? Is she still here now?"
Sanniang glanced at him sideways: "Why, do you want to capture her and ask the Khan for the reward, or do you want to pursue the heroine?"
"I'm just here to buy information. Why do you care what I'm going to use it for? When someone sells a butcher knife, they won't ask whether the knife is used to kill pigs or people."
"That makes sense." Sanniang thought for a moment, holding her chin in her hand. "But if we can find out her whereabouts here, it means she is very dangerous. If you are here to chase the heroine, you should pray that no one knows her whereabouts."
Zhao Changhe also nodded: "That makes sense. So no one knows her whereabouts yet?"
"No... You know, recently here, it doesn't matter if men go in and out, but if a woman goes in or out, she may be surrounded by a large group of people immediately."
"Is it because of Yue Hongling?"
"That's right." Sanniang smiled slightly, "So Yue Hongling is in trouble now. She may have nowhere to get supplies. Even if she becomes a horse bandit to rob people, she may not be able to use what she robs. Whether it's money or silk, she can't eat it. She needs food, water, and horse feed. If you continue, she may take the risk and come to Huangshaji again. You may really see her if you stay here. Whether you want to be a hero to save the beauty or want to take advantage of the chaos to get her, that's your business. I didn't say anything."
Zhao Changhe nodded: "I see. Sanniang is not only selling news, but also analysis. It's worth the money."
Sanniang smiled happily: "Of course, if you want to buy anything else, just come to me!"
Zhao Changhe always felt that she was waiting for you to answer "buy you" in her words, and then splash you with foot washing water. Unfortunately, he would not cooperate with this scene. He just said: "I want to go out and have some fun. Does Sanniang have any recommendations? For example, see some special things... I don't mean to buy Western jewelry or spices, but the characteristics of this place."
Sanniang stared at his hand but didn't take out any money.
She sniffed. "Well, it's embarrassing to charge you for directions. How about you go to the zoo in the middle of the market?"
"What is a zoo?"
"Think of it as a black boxing fight to the death. Some underworld forces in the Central Plains also have this kind of thing, but the fight here is between slaves."
"I understand. Why call it the Colosseum? Why call it the Beast Arena? Because the opponents are all ferocious beasts?"
"The opponents are basically humans. It's called a beast arena because, in addition to fighting, there's also selling... Isn't it true that humans are like beasts?" Sanniang smiled slightly: "Whether they are being sold or selling people."
Zhao Changhe sipped his wine and looked up at her.
Sanniang said calmly: "Among the slaves sold, there are strong men, and maybe even martial arts masters, who are specially used for fighting beasts..." Zhao Changhe nodded: "I see, I'll go and take a look."
The two of them talked as they drank. When the pot of wine was finished, Zhao Changhe did not refill it and staggered away from the counter: "Sanniang is so stingy. I bought you a drink, but you didn't even buy you a peanut."
Sanniang jumped up and down at his back and yelled, "I'm the seller! Why don't you say you're stingy? You didn't even buy a plate of peanuts when you invited people to drink!"
Before he finished speaking, Zhao Changhe had already walked out of the house and into the street.
Sanniang was packing up the empty wine jug angrily when a young man suddenly appeared beside her and said, "Sanniang, this guy..."
"It doesn't matter who he is, as long as he is from Xia." Sanniang gritted her teeth, "I don't believe it. They are all clever people who want to trick them into killing Wubalu. From Yue Hongling to Situ Xiao to Han Wubing, no one took the bait. This Wang guy is even more insidious. He says this and that. I still can't figure out what his real purpose is. I believe him even if he says he is coming for us."
"His last name may not be Wang."
"Isn't it okay to be a bastard?"
The waiter looked at her aggrievedly: "Sanniang... My last name is Wang too."
Sanniang: “…”
The waiter sighed and said, "Master Wu didn't say he wanted to kill Ubalu. It's fine if you want to kill him on your own initiative, but you're selling the information of the person you want to kill for money. It's simply not worth it..."
"Is this shameless? You pig-headed guy." Sanniang snorted, "They will question the information given for free, but they will not doubt the information bought with money because they think it is the information they have worked hard to get, so they don't doubt it is fake. What do you know?"
"I think you just want to make money. Be careful that Wu Balu will cause trouble for you first. The Fifth Master is too far away to do anything to you."
"When have I ever relied on Master Wu in my life here?"
"Yes Yes Yes… "
Sanniang was very proud: "Anyway, Wang went to the zoo, so there will always be something to watch..."
"Wait." Another waiter ran in: "Sanniang, that Wang didn't go to the zoo."
Sanniang's smile froze on her face: "Then where did he go?"
"He walked out, towards the market place..."
Sanniang was stunned.
Over there, Zhao Changhe left Sanniang and walked slowly along the dimly lit streets of a foreign land, heading outside the market.
The surrounding environment is actually very exotic. It would be very interesting if you were to travel here. Unfortunately, I don’t have the heart to see it at the moment because my mind is full of other things.
I didn't dare to communicate too deeply with Sanniang. I could only say a few words here and there so that she wouldn't understand my true meaning. It was safe, but there were so many complicated things to deal with and there was no direct entry point. I needed to slowly sort them out, which was very brain-consuming.
Sometimes Zhao Changhe was a little annoyed with this kind of behavior. It had been like this since he rejected Tang Wanzhuang's brand. He wanted to sing and drink wildly and ride horses in the rivers and lakes, but he ended up racking his brains everywhere. Wasn't it tiring? But now, he also realized that it was not about the Demon Suppression Division brand, but about his lack of strength.
With Xia Longyuan's strength, I can care about what you are doing. If you don't have that strength, you have to use your brain wherever you go, otherwise you will die without knowing how.
Regardless, the gains were huge.
At least Zhao Changhe was 80% sure this time about where the missing team would be if they were not dead.
If she was sold as a slave in the Colosseum, would she have to confront Ubalu? How would this operation be carried out... Considering Sanniang's attitude towards Ubalu, she might want to do something there.
But unfortunately, there is no need for me to go, it is meaningless, because there is no way to save the slaves in the entire menagerie... The mission goal is just to find that team.
The Qiao family's caravan came here to sell things - they passed by the tribe where the team had disappeared and headed north with empty vehicles.
There was a certain probability that their "empty cars" were carrying "slaves". This was the only way to enter the market, and in order to prevent the Qiao family from causing trouble, I had been watching from the window. No one from them entered, which showed that the "goods" were still outside and had not been unloaded.
Therefore, for the mission assigned by Cui Yuanyong, as long as the person is not dead, there is a high probability that he is in the caravan at this time; if the person is dead, he can still get information from the caravan. After many twists and turns, the starting point is the Qiao family caravan encountered on the road, and no matter what, he must go to explore it at night.
——
PS: Sorry, sorry, it’s late today. I’ve been a bit stuck recently and it’s difficult to write the beginning of the main plot.
(End of this chapter)