Dragon King with Seven Stars

Ch2-Ingot

Chapter 2 - Ingot

Part 1
April Sixteen. Clear Skies.

The day started like any other day, the air clear and dry. Travelers streamed to and fro along the main road leading out of Jinan City.

But for some people, although the day started like any other day, the end of the day would be completely different.

Another way to put it would be to say that some people might look ordinary on the outside, but are actually anything but.

Wu Tao was one such person.

***

Wu Tao, an ordinary person, a businessman, appeared to be quite honest, yet wasn't the slightest bit stupid.

Neither fat nor skinny, neither handsome nor ugly, he wore a set of clothing which, though not crafted from the finest material, appeared to be very durable. Covered with dust from time spent traveling, he rode a mule that seemed to be as hard working as himself. Not young, he looked like the kind of person who had some savings somewhere. He just wanted to provide for his wife and children, and maybe make his own life a bit more comfortable when he grew old.

Who knows how many people like this exist in the world. The only difference between him and them is that before sunset on April 15th, no one had ever seen him.

No one had ever seen him before, not even a single person.

***

You could even say-

This ordinary businessman Wu Tao didn't appear in the world until after the death of the multi-millionaire Sun Jicheng.

Hadn't appeared at all.

Part 2

Outside of big cities are small towns, and small towns always have inns.

Liu Village outside of Jinan City had inns, and that was where Wu Tao was staying. [1] He'd arrived late in the night on April 15th.

At that time, the moon had already began to set, and the inn's main gate had been closed. He'd called out for quite some time before they opened it.

He chose an inn in this village because at that hour, the city gates of Jinan Prefecture were all closed. As a traveler from another part of China, no matter how much you called out, they wouldn't be opened. So he had no choice but to stay at an inn.

-But was he really traveling from another part of China to Jinan Prefecture? Or was he actually leaving Jinan?

Thankfully, the innkeeper and staff had no interest in asking such questions, neither did they notice whether his appearance on the second day was the same as his appearance upon his arrival.

The clerk who had woken up in the middle of the night to receive him hadn't paid the slightest attention to what he looked like.

Similarly, no one paid any attention at all to what he did in his room that night.

***

The 16th was market day in Liu Village; early in the morning people flocked from everywhere to participate, bringing along their chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, fruit, vegetables, seafood, flowers, rice, flour, and grain to barter for makeup materials, silk cloth, embroidery or pieces of silver to take back to their happy families.

Of course, pickpockets and beggars wouldn't miss this chance to take advantage of all the commotion.

By the time the inn opened its main gate, the square and main street across from it was packed with people of all sorts. There were even two Jianghu theatrical troupes performing, so the village bustled even more than usual.