Book 25 Chapter 6

Be an informed advocate

-Oceans of information

There are more rumors in the world than you can count. True stories, false stories, factual, true, false, and so on. Both real and fake, they all go around in the name of information. However, these are things that are not yet ready to be called information. They are like scraps of cloth before they are processed into clothes. Just as a clothing store owner cuts cloth and stitches it together to make clothes, an information merchant cuts and stitches stories together to make clothes called information. Just as clothes sell for more than cloth, stories processed into information sell for a much higher price.

Just as a clothing store owner anticipates the supply and demand for clothing, a true information merchant must be able to anticipate the supply and demand for information. A story that no one needs yet is information if someone needs it later. Therefore, a good information merchant will collect and process information in anticipation of demand and store it in his invisible pockets or secret drawers before the buyers show up. The more stories he accumulates, the more he will be able to respond at a moment's notice to the requests of any number of customers. It's called tailoring.

Stay ahead of the curve!

That's one of the secrets to success in any profession, gender, or era. If you keep up with everyone else, you'll get by, but if you can get ahead of everyone else? You'll be successful. It's a recipe for success that worked a thousand years ago and will still work a thousand years from now. To do so, you need to always have your ear to the ground and your eyes on the out-of-the-ordinary, the out-of-the-ordinary.

That's why there are so many stories from his eyes and ears spread all over the world, including in Rando. Such small stories can be bought cheaply at any time. That's what the Nine-Eyed, Nine-Eared Dunoyi does as an information merchant: he bundles and processes those trivial, seemingly unimportant stories into useful information and sells them at a high price.

And when he heard "the" story - sixteen coffins traveling simultaneously - he shuddered for the first time in a long time.

"I'm here! I'm here! I'm here!

This sensation, this tingle deep in my nostrils, was unmistakably 'money'.

"This information, it's going to make me money!

I had a hunch that a buyer was going to show up in the near future, and I needed to flesh out the story to make it more plausible and sell it for more money. To do that, I needed more information.

"This story is definitely going to pay off!"

It was a good bet.

"You finally got it."

His aide, Zhen Shang, rejoiced. When his superior felt that sense, he never failed.

"Kahahaha, yes, the information gods have descended, this very day, on this very spot!"

"Shall we spread the net?"

To be netted meant to have eyes and ears out.

"Yes, sir. He's a big fish, so he'll need a big net. Call for all hands. Eyes and ears on the harbor."

"Okay, we'll implement it immediately."

"I'm out, too."

"Huh, you mean yourself?"

It's not often that I get to do that myself.

"Yeah, didn't you hear about the whole mobilization thing, and that includes me, of course."

He could smell the money and couldn't stand still.

"Come on, let's reel in the big one! It's been a while since I've done that. Don't you think my skills are rusty?"

But that's all the more reason to get out in the field.

The perceiver is the most important factor in the act of perception, because the quality of your perception is directly proportional to the amount of knowledge you have and the quality of your wisdom. In other words, the more you know, the more you can get out of it. As the amount of information is different, there is a huge difference in the quality of information that can be gleaned from the same things we see and hear. Therefore, when it comes to important things, Dunoy is the one who makes the move.

But he was so focused on having the god of information descend upon his nose that he forgot that another god had descended upon his back.

* * *

Sixteen coffins were loaded into each of the four ships.

The first is a blackout.

The second is zen blindness.

The third is the practice of taijutsu.

And finally, the fourth and final one.

Four ships carried four coffins each. Each coffin was carried by two longships, but their faces were obscured by black hats. But Dunoy does not look for people by their faces. The man he was looking for didn't need to have his hair cut.

"There it is!

Dunoy hummed to himself. That stubby, fat body, the shuffling gait of a fat goose.

'There's no doubt about it, it's Don, the pig!

I figured it must have something to do with the fact that Kanghorando was making such a big deal about it.

'What the hell are they moving? Are they smuggling gold or something?

He began to think with the skillful thinking of a competent information trader. The important thing was to read their minds and understand the meaning of their behavior. Only then could he get closer to the truth. It was that "truth" that a true information merchant had to sell. The closer you get to the truth, the deeper and deeper the concentration of authenticity, the more valuable the information becomes. And when the truth is complete, it has the brilliance of a jewel. He began to roll his eyes, trying to see it once more.

"The question is, which one is real?

None of it could be real. Most of the coffins were just bait for the eye. At least a quarter of them were real, maybe only one in sixteen. Of course, it didn't matter whether there were a quarter or a single one. What mattered was what was in them, the real thing.

'What do you think, is it treasure? Or is that pig trying to move his earnings elsewhere? If so, that's a lot of money…….'

He couldn't help but wonder what the hell was in there. But he was an informant, not a robber, so he couldn't just barge in and demand that all the coffin lids be lifted right now. He didn't have the ability to do that. He had to use his head. He began to move closer to the one person who knew the truth. He was old, but his movements were still nimble. He approached the diminutive pig king cautiously.

"What ship is he going to climb on?

King Don had not yet boarded the ship. He was waiting for someone, and then a man in a red longcoat with a pressed red hat appeared. His appearance was so sudden that he seemed to have risen from the ground, for Dunoy could not see him coming at all. Dunoy squinted desperately to see him, but he couldn't see his face because of the large, reddish sackcloth.

'You're a loner.

The right arm of the man's red longbow was flapping loosely in the gale. When the king saw him coming, he bowed in greeting. It was an extremely polite gesture. Dunoy, who spied the scene, was stunned.

"Is that damn pig bowing down? Is that the one who's been stomping on the heads of people who bow down? What the hell is that one-armed man?

Another sense of his intelligence was warning him. Don't go any closer. He's dangerous. But if he stopped here, the truth would be farther away. From this angle, he couldn't make out a face. This was their chance, now that he was unmasked. As Dunoy wondered what to do, he finally made a decision. He couldn't resist his instincts as an intelligence trader.

"Come on up."

Finally, the man in red climbed aboard. He was followed politely by King Don. The ship's destination was…… and his face was…….

Just a little more. Just a little more.

Desperate to get closer, Dunoy's eyes finally looked beyond the four corners of the shade and saw the face. To his surprise, it was a face he had seen before.

"I… I… He's……!!

Why is he here?

Wide-eyed, Dunoy was so startled that he accidentally touched the pile of luggage he was hiding behind.

Ding!

"Ouch!

"Who are you?!"

The man in the red long gun cried out as he looked toward Dunoy. Those were the eyes of a fierce beast. No, they were the eyes of a demon.

"If we get caught, it's over, we won't have any bones left.

Boom!

Dunoy jumped into the water without looking back or forth. The wide waters of Dongzheng Lake were his most reliable ally.

"Exterminate!"

As soon as the words "chase and kill" left the Red Poet's mouth, the three black men simultaneously jumped into the water, but Dunoy had already disappeared without a trace.

Though not known for his stealthy nature, Dunoy's strongest ability was his handiwork, and it was this substance that allowed him to move in and out of his home like a pro.

"I must have missed it."

"I'm sorry."

King Don shook his head in disdain.

"I don't care, I can guess who it is."

King Don's head snapped up.

"Who the hell……."

Recalling his insolence, King Don bowed his head again in disbelief.

"You're fast, aren't you, already outrunning your men. Not many have that kind of skill. And there's only one of them who's curious enough to follow his orders."

I needed to clean up the mess beforehand.

"Gale!"

Then a black cloaked figure stepped out from behind the man in red.

"My lord, here is the colonel."

The man in red said a man's name and then gave a command.

"Go."

At that moment, his shadow disappeared on the deck.

"Are you all set?"

"Yes, my lord."

The red-armed woman nodded with a satisfied smile.

"I'm leaving."

Chirrrrrrrrrr!

The ropes connecting the docks to the ships were released in unison, and the ships began to move away from the island. At a certain distance, the sails were hoisted, and the four ships spread out in a fan-shaped pattern toward the wide sympathy lake.

* * *

"Are you okay, honey?"

Ye Qingyu asked, letting his twin swords hang down.

"You saved my life, you could have been roasted."

Bai Xiaochun brushed off the dust that had settled on his head. His once immaculate clothes were now tattered here and there.

"People laugh at you when you get roasted in a place like this."

After sheathing the twin swords, Ye Qingyu began to brush off the dust that was all over his clothes.

"Are you guys okay?"

He took a moment to compose himself, then turned to Hyo-Ryong, who was sprawled out on the floor.

"I've burned them all to a crisp, and what's left here is just plain ash."

Sprawled out on the floor, Hyo-Ryong was breathing heavily.

"You're a good talker for nothing but ashes. I didn't realize there were organs left to blow up……. It's my fault for not recognizing that. I could have sent you all to the netherworld."

'I'm sorry,' said Jang Hong, breathing heavily as he lay on the ground just like Hyorong. He felt incredibly sorry that he had made such a big mistake at the end after loudly proclaiming himself an expert.

"You'll pay this debt later."

Bi Ryuyeon, who was sitting on the floor, grunted as she ran her fingers through her hair, which had become tangled from the explosion.

They smelled the wick burning and ran, but they were too late. The flames of the heat wave that exploded with the secret chamber followed the four with the same momentum as the Nodo. They found themselves in a race against a storm of flames in a long passageway.

No matter how skilled I was, I couldn't fight off the flames. And with the scorching heat right on their heels, they had no other choice. The waves of crimson flame that erupted like lava through the narrow passage were terrifying in their momentum. I could see a light in the distance above me, but it would be consumed by the flames before I could reach it. The wave of flame had reached a distance of less than half a chapter.

"Everybody get down!"

It was then that Ye Qing's voice was heard. She stood in front of the entrance to the secret passageway to the residence that Nie Bai Tian had carved out, holding a pair of twin swords that were identical to the Unworldly Sword, and a white, frosty sword Qi emanated from her body.

Ice Moon Sword

O's

Glacial Nimbus

Crossed twin swords scattered a cold swordlight.

A sword qi, as cold as a snowstorm, flew past their half-crouched backs.

"Hic!"

The momentum made Hyo-Ryong spit out an involuntary flag.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The flame's momentum slowed and it was pushed back a bit as it took the cold storm of blackness head-on. Taking advantage of the gap, the four leapt with the last of their strength. In the blink of an eye, they left the secret passage and threw themselves onto the ground. Ye Qing also threw himself backwards. The next moment, flames erupted like lava from the entrance, cracking the ceiling and raining down a cloud of dust. The momentum was fleeting, however, and the flames soon dissipated in the open space. Despite being covered in dust, the four of them managed to escape with their lives. Without Ye Qing's help, they would have suffered a much worse fate.

"Now you're going to have to tell me why you were running races with fireworks."

Ye Qing asked, his eyes shining like cold stars.

"We'll talk about that later, but right now I have a priority."

"What is that?"

"We need to get to the harbor right now."