Free Web NovelChapter 155: Chapter 154: Demon Fiends Converge on Yingjing
"Why don’t you tell me, then? What is it I’m supposed to have recognized?"
Fu Juemin set down the snuff bottle, glanced at Shen Yijun, and spoke coolly.
Shen Yijun smiled faintly. "Young Master Fu, you have a rather close relationship with the Su Erjia Luo Clan of the former dynasty. I’m not wrong about that, am I?
Your family moved from Yangping to Shenghai, and it was your connection to the Su Erjia Luo Clan that made it possible... You’ve also recently gathered a group of people in private to hunt for demonic creatures. How could you possibly not recognize the origin of this little trinket?"
A flicker crossed Fu Juemin’s eyes, but his tone betrayed no emotion. "You seem to have done your homework on me."
’His family background wasn’t exactly a secret; anyone with the right connections could dig it up. Fu Juemin didn’t care about that. What he truly kept hidden from outsiders was his relationship with Aunt Ding.’
’But his relationship with Su Hui was another matter—that couldn’t be uncovered without some serious effort. As for gathering Gu Shouyu and the remnants of the Ghost Camp to hunt Demon Fiends, even if people found out, they wouldn’t understand his reasons.’
’Yet this Shen Yijun before him seemed to know something with complete certainty.’
’And this snuff bottle he’d produced... If I’m not mistaken, it’s carved from Demon Bone.’
’The bottle retains a very faint demonic aura, which I sensed the moment I touched it.’
"Young Master Fu, please don’t take offense. When we businessmen want to make a new friend, we first have to understand who we’re dealing with. It’s just a professional habit..."
Shen Yijun looked sincere, but it was hard to say how much genuine feeling lay behind that sincerity.
He paused, then abruptly changed the subject. "Young Master Fu, you rather look down on the social circles here in Shenghai, don’t you?"
Fu Juemin didn’t answer, merely watching him with a cool gaze.
Shen Yijun didn’t seem to mind. He gave a self-deprecating laugh and continued, "To be honest, I look down on them too."
He rose to his feet, wine glass in hand, and began to pace around the private room.
"Before the Xin Republic, Shenghai was known as the ’Metropolis of the Southeast,’ but let’s be frank, it was just a small coastal county."
"These so-called elites prancing around today? Eight out of ten are just country bumpkins. They put on a Western suit, drink some foreign liquor for a few days, and suddenly they think they’re better than everyone else?"
Shen Yijun swirled the wine in his glass, a self-mocking expression on his face. "They’re just deluding themselves in their own little bubble, pretending to be high and mighty."
He turned, walked back to the sofa, and sat down next to Fu Juemin. A hint of bitterness entered his voice. "Young Master Fu, you may not know this, but while the Jiangnan Shen Family has a grand reputation, in the eyes of some, we’re still just merchants."
"We can’t break into the true upper circles. Even when we approach them with Gold and Silver Mountains to do business, we still have to bow and scrape."
"These ’upper circles’ you speak of..."
Fu Juemin shot him a look. "Are you referring to the circles of the old dynasty’s loyalists?"
"Who else could it be?"
Shen Yijun shook his head, a wistful note in his voice. "After the old dynasty fell, those people scraped together eighty percent of the nation’s wealth. And now, they’ve all converged on Yingjing."
"Nowadays, everyone says it’s easy to make money off the Westerners. But what do they know? Opium, tea, silk, firearms... no matter how profitable those trades are, how could they possibly compare to this?"
Shen Yijun picked up the snuff bottle from the table, his fingertips caressing its smooth surface. "Don’t underestimate this little snuff bottle. If you take this to Yingjing..."
"...and find the right buyer, the profit from flipping it would be worth two of my shipments of tea..."
Hearing this, Fu Juemin’s eyes gleamed. He spoke slowly, "From the sound of it, this sort of thing is in vogue in Yingjing’s circles?"
"You didn’t know, Young Master Fu?"
Shen Yijun looked at him, surprised.
Fu Juemin answered coolly, "I’ve never been to Yingjing."
"Then why are you hunting Demon Fiends? Could the Su Family..."
A flicker of confusion crossed Shen Yijun’s face, but then he seemed to understand something. He gave a forced laugh and quickly changed the subject. "You might not be aware, Young Master Fu, but the young masters and ladies of our Shenghai circles love fashion, trends, and all the novelties imported from the Western World. But among the circles of those old dynasty aristocrats in Yingjing, the biggest trend is the ’demon craze’!"
Shen Yijun pointed at the snuff bottle and began to explain, "The lowest-ranking nobles and princelings are obsessed with collecting these kinds of demonic objects. The rarer and more bizarre the item, the more prestige it brings."
"The more powerful ones take it a step further and keep live Demons as pets."
"Here in Shenghai, everyone gambles on horse racing. In Yingjing, ’Demon fighting’ is all the rage."
"I’ve seen a few matches myself. TSK, TSK..."
Shen Yijun sighed, a reminiscent look on his face. "The spectacle is just as grand as anything you’d see at the racecourse."
"From the sound of it, there’s more to it than that?"
Fu Juemin’s interest was now piqued, and he couldn’t help but press for more.
’Yingjing is currently under the control of the Northern Army. All I know is that it’s a gathering place for loyalists of the old dynasty, and that both the Xin Republic’s Government and the major Warlords of the North treat the city with a delicate, hands-off approach.’
’But this is the first I’ve ever heard about its elite circles being obsessed with playing with Demons and pitting monsters against each other.’
’No wonder my second uncle, Fu Guoping, had mentioned that the corpses of slain Demon Fiends were shipped either to Shenghai or to Yingjing.’
’Here in Shenghai, the Westerners used the corpses for their bizarre experiments. In Yingjing, it seems, they’re being carved up to be made into trinkets and accessories.’
"Oh, it gets more extreme... You might not even believe me if I tell you, Young Master Fu."
"Of course, this is just hearsay. I don’t know if it’s true, so you can just take it as a bit of amusing gossip..."
Shen Yijun narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. "It’s said that many of the old imperial clan’s mansions keep Great Demons."
"A single ’blood meal’ for one of them requires dozens of living people!"
A sharp glint flashed in Fu Juemin’s eyes, but his expression remained impassive as he watched Shen Yijun, who continued speaking.
"...Yingjing was the capital of ten dynasties, a place where the Dragon meridians of the world once converged."
"But ever since the fall of the last dynasty, those meridians have been completely severed."
"Those old loyalists have never given up their dream of restoration. They believe that by revering Demon Fiends, they can preserve the last vestiges of the old dynasty’s National Fortune and one day restore the glorious era of the ’Great Qian’!"
"Have you ever heard the saying, Young Master Fu? ’All the Demon Fiends of the world gather in Yingjing’!"
"And that’s not just an empty saying."
"Yingjing’s draconic nexus has been defiled, but remnants of the National Fortune’s Dragon Qi still linger."
"Any demonic or malevolent creature in the world that wants to grow stronger is instinctively drawn to seize and devour this Dragon Qi. That’s why Yingjing City is teeming with all manner of ghosts, ghouls, and phantoms."
"People’s hearts have been corrupted into a ghostly mire, with everyone chasing after Demons and oddities. I’ve heard that ’Demon-Eating Cultivation’ is extremely popular in the Martial Dao circles there. Practitioners train until they’re neither human nor ghost—it’s a truly perverse and heretical path."
"I suspect the Westerners’ recent fascination with these subjects comes from what they’ve learned from that bunch..."
"You’re a practitioner of the Martial Dao, aren’t you, Young Master Fu?"
Shen Yijun looked at Fu Juemin, his voice laced with meaning. "If you ever cross paths with them, you must be extremely careful. They can’t be judged by ordinary standards."
After listening to Shen Yijun’s tale, Fu Juemin slowly uttered two words: "Demon Capital."
’Shanghai, and the Demon Capital.’
’One adores the West, trendy to an extreme; the other adores antiquity, conservative to the point of demonic obsession.’
’One worships Western science, puts its faith in guns and cannons, and scorns the traditional Martial Dao like a worn-out shoe. The other is lost in superstitions of National Fortune and dragon meridians, nurturing Demon Fiends in an attempt to cling to the phantoms of a bygone era...’
’Two extremes. No wonder they despise each other.’
"It seems, Young Master Shen, that you’re partial to the ways of the ’Beijing Circle’?" Fu Juemin asked.
Shen Yijun laughed. "A businessman only asks about profit, not preference."
"Right now, the Demon Fiend trade in Yingjing is incredibly profitable, so naturally, I want to squeeze in and get a piece of the pie."
"If a more profitable venture ever pops up in Shenghai, I, Shen Yijun, will be the first one back in line to shine the Westerners’ shoes..."
As Shen Yijun spoke, he leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Young Master Fu... No, Lingjun."
"I don’t know how deeply you’re entangled with the Su Erjia Luo Clan, but as the old saying goes, it’s always wise to have a backup plan."
"You’re working for the Su Family, but why not work with me as well?"
"From now on, you handle the Demon Hunting, and I’ll handle the sales channels. We split the profits fifty-fifty. Manpower, funds, firearms... whatever is within the Shen Family’s power to provide, I, Shen Yijun, give you my word, I will make it all available to you..."
Shen Yijun’s tone was warm, his expression one of complete sincerity, as if they were sworn brothers baring their souls to one another.
Fu Juemin listened quietly until he finished, then suddenly smiled and said in a slow, deliberate tone, "I’ve heard that in your early years, Young Master Shen, you fell on hard times. Your mother went to the Guanyin Temple and drew a Life Sign for your fortune, one for ’five hundred million’."
"And ever since she drew that ’Life Sign,’ your fortunes have been unstoppable. In just three short years, you’ve become the leading figure of the Jiangnan Shen Family’s younger generation."
"I wonder, Young Master Shen, just how many ’hundred millions’ have you earned so far?"
Shen Yijun had been listening to Fu Juemin with a broad smile, but as he spoke, the smile gradually vanished from his face.
"Young Master Fu... what are you trying to say?"
