Chapter 33 Tongbei Chamber of Commerce
At an old street corner behind the East Market of Longyuan City, there was a desolate scene. Under the stone sign was a pile of broken baskets and rags. From time to time, there were the cries of wild cats, but no one was seen.

This place is sparsely populated even during the day, let alone in the evening.

It is said that because so many people were killed back then, the smell of blood can still be smelled today. Ordinary people will feel uncomfortable if they take a walk inside and often have nightmares at night.

Thirty years ago, this was the most prosperous street in the East Market because there was a chamber of commerce here.

"Tongbei Chamber of Commerce."

Liang Yue walked along the dilapidated long street to the middle, kicked away all the debris, and finally saw the words on the broken plaque on the ground clearly.

"Yes, that's it." He said to himself again.

Liang Peng had previously mentioned that there was a chamber of commerce that used three black silk flowers as its logo. After he went back, he searched for a long time and finally found the name.

After the recovery war more than 400 years ago, Jiuyang was driven back to his old nest by Emperor Daxing and did not dare to look south for hundreds of years.

Only the people on the border would exchange what they had with each other privately. The people on the Yin Dynasty would exchange ceramics, silk, daily utensils, etc. for spiritual plants, medicinal herbs, wild animal limbs, etc. on the Jiuyang side, and the exchanges would gradually increase.

About fifty or sixty years ago, a chamber of commerce that was once prosperous appeared, called Tongbei Chamber of Commerce. They connected the upper echelons of Yin Dynasty and Jiuyang, and transported goods directly between the Jiuyang tribes and Longyuan City.

The street where the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce is located suddenly became the most popular street in East City. People rushed to buy and sell goods, making the street prosperous day and night.

However, not every tribe on Jiuyang's side supported trade with Yin Dynasty. In fact, only a small number of tribes were willing to accept Jiuzhou culture.

The Tongbei Chamber of Commerce has basically only obtained the support of the upper echelons of the three major tribes: the Canglong Tribe, the Yuelu Tribe, and the Xinhu Tribe. The upper echelons of the other tribes still prohibit merchants from Jiuzhou from entering. Even if the people want, they can only buy it secretly from the other three tribes.

Therefore, the logo of Tongbei Chamber of Commerce is a part of the nine-headed Melao flower, with only three flowers.

But the good times did not last long. Thirty years ago, the previous emperor suddenly died of illness, and Jiuyang took the opportunity to march into the northwest.

As soon as the new emperor ascended the throne, he directly named the reign "Mubei" to prove his determination to fight.

The Northwest War lasted for four years, and in the end, Emperor Mubei led the army in person and defeated the enemy at Tianxia Pass. Not only did he recover the lost territory, but he also occupied all the territories of the Jiuyang Wood Wolf Tribe, locked up Shuangbei City, and made it difficult for the other eight tribes to leave.

In the early stage of the war, the Yin Dynasty suffered a defeat and people in the capital were outraged. The Tongbei Chamber of Commerce was reported to have smuggled military equipment and supplies to Jiuyang, and even their names were surrendered. In the end, all its members were beheaded in the street.

This street was dyed red with blood, and the color never faded for a long time.

After that, no one dared to set foot there for fear of being haunted by evil spirits. Even the main street of the East Market was moved some distance away.

Thirty years have passed since this period of history, and it has long been swept into the dust. Even those who witnessed it back then may not remember the mark of the three-headed Melao flower. It can only be seen in a few books that record the events of that year.

Only a very small number of well-read young people have the opportunity to know about this, such as Liang Peng.

Yu Wenlong's residence is just outside the East Market, only one block away from here.

Liang Yue stepped over the threshold, pushed open the door that had long been shaky, and entered the messy courtyard inside the Chamber of Commerce.

At that time, Fengdie mentioned the gift that Yu Wenlong gave her and wanted to touch his shoulder. Only Liang Yue noticed this little action.

Later, I focused more on solving the case and didn't think much about this matter until I heard Liang Peng mention the matter of Mo Luohua in the morning.

It has been analyzed before that Yu Wenlong had to return to the capital of gods, most likely to get something that only he knew about.

Even his fellow accomplices didn't know.

That's why those Nine-Yang spies killed the swallowtail butterfly so easily and efficiently.

Killing to silence the witness was out of caution, but it also exposed that they had no idea of ​​Yu Wenlong's secret. Even if they only knew the existence of such a thing, they should not have acted so rashly.

After all, once the swallowtail butterfly died, the clue was gone.

Perhaps the connections between the Nine Yang spies were not close, otherwise the capture of one would easily lead to the whole gang, and their elimination over the years would not have been so difficult.

What was the thing that Yu Wenlong came back to get without telling Jiuyang's accomplices and risked his life to get?
After Liang Yue entered the courtyard, he searched carefully inside and outside, but there seemed to be no place to hide anything. When the members of the Chamber of Commerce were killed, there must have been a search and looting, and all the boxes and cabinets were smashed.

Could it be that Yu Wenlong didn’t hide anything at all, or the thing was not here, or there was another mechanism here?
How to find it then?
Liang Yue stood in the courtyard, slowly falling into deep thought.

……

If I were Yu Wenlong, what would be the purpose of tattooing that mark on the swallowtail butterfly?
perhaps……

It is to leave an opportunity.

If I really die one day and don’t have time to take the things here, there may still be a glimmer of hope that the swallowtail butterfly will come to find me.

After all, she is one of the few people in this world who can make her feel true love.

What does it matter whether it is sincere or false?

The things hidden here must be found by the swallowtail butterfly.

This way it won't be too difficult.

It’s like Liang Yue rushed here directly after learning about the origin of the three-headed black flower. If Fengdie discovered the meaning of this tattoo one day, it would be easy for her to make the connection.

But the things here cannot be found by others. Fengdie is a good girl in Miaoyin Pavilion after all. The uniqueness of her job makes it possible for this tattoo to be seen by others... and the possibility is not low. If Yu Wenlong dies, the treasure she has hidden will be taken by another fellow practitioner.

Then he would probably have to bury his head in the frying pan in the underworld...that would be too embarrassing.

So this thing can't be hidden too easily.

It must meet two requirements: it must be found by the swallowtail butterfly but not be found by anyone else.

Yu Wenlong probably didn't give any hints to Fengdie. If he was still alive and the things were taken away by Fengdie, he would definitely not be able to accept it.

What should I do?

His eyes swept around the yard, imagining how things might be arranged from Yu Wenlong's perspective.

What is the difference between the swallowtail butterfly and others?
She loves money and loves to play the flute...

suddenly.

Liang Yue's eyes fell on the surface of his shoes.

This whole street had been unmaintained for many years and was extremely dirty, with thick dirt and dust accumulating in the courtyard. I walked around here twice and my shoes were covered in dust.

He looked up again and finally locked onto the side hall, where a broken flag fell on a table against the wall. It was supposed to be the Chamber of Commerce flag with three black flowers, but now half of it was burned by the fire, and only one nail was left to hold it in place, so it was half-hidden on the table.

Liang Yue walked over quickly and picked up the broken flag.

There was nothing on it, but Liang Yue was slightly certain in his heart that it was probably there.

His contact with Swallowtail Butterfly was extremely brief, and his understanding of her was very superficial, but he knew that Swallowtail Butterfly had one characteristic.

She is very clean.

That day, I just picked up the charcoal pencil and touched the tablecloth, but she scolded me and told me to wipe my hands.

After walking down such a long street and entering this courtyard, her shoes and skirt were covered with mud. If it was a swallowtail butterfly, her first reaction would probably be to wipe it off.

But there was no towel here, and the only relatively clean cloth was this broken flag, so her attention was most likely attracted by this flag.

and then?
Liang Yue looked up and down carefully and soon found something wrong.

The floor of the hall was covered with years of dust, but there were two straight marks in front of the table legs, and the dust was slightly thinner than the surrounding area.

just like……

It was like someone had dragged it.

And if someone bends over to wipe their shoes, this is exactly where she will notice them.

Liang Yue grabbed the table leg and pulled it in the direction of the trajectory.

call--

As the slightly heavy wooden table was slowly pulled, the lower part of the wall that the table was close to actually rose up a little! When the table legs covered the track on the ground, a hole just big enough for one person to pass through was exposed.

There is a secret room!
really!

This discovery made Liang Yue quite excited, as it proved that his reasoning process was completely correct.

He looked around outside for a while and saw that it seemed to be an ordinary basement, small and dark, nothing special.

Only then did he leap up and jump down.

pat.

After landing, I could see clearly all the furnishings in the house.

This is like a small bedroom, with a table, chairs, and a small bed, but they are all old and dilapidated. He approached the old table, on which there were a few words carved with a knife.

"I was here all those years ago, listening to my father and mother being killed up there. This time I came back here, swearing to make the southerners pay with blood!"

The handwriting was sloppy and wild. Although there was no name written, Liang Yue immediately thought of Yu Wenlong's angry and ferocious face when he was arrested.

No wonder he was so determined and ready to die at any time in order to take revenge on Yin Chao.

It turns out that he is the descendant of the Tongbei Chamber of Commerce.

When the people from Tongbei Chamber of Commerce were killed, the young Yu Wenlong might have escaped by hiding here. After that, it was unknown what he went through, but he became one of Jiuyang's spies.

Liang Yue opened the drawer under the table again, and inside was a package wrapped in brocade. He took it out and slowly opened it.

Four things emerged from the package.

A silver note, a strange animal skin, a long sheathed knife with an ebony handle and a letter.

(End of this chapter)