Chapter 5 (Part 2) of Volume 3: Who is more powerful than who?

  At dusk, there were more and more boats on the sea, looking dense, all going to Dashan City. Before long, we saw land.

  This is a very large dock, with tens of thousands of boats moored, and people and demons bustling about, coming and going without end. I couldn't help but click my tongue in amazement - even the Luoyang docks on the Luo River weren't this lively.

  As soon as the peanut boat docked, a tall man in yellow robes walked over and said politely: "Everyone is good, it takes ten taels of silver to stop the boat at the pier." He took out a waist card and tied it to the bow of the peanut boat. The copper-plated waist card was engraved with a majestic lion head.

  "With hands on hips, he said: 'Who the hell are you? What makes you think we should pay?' "

  The big Han in the yellow robe was very polite, smiling and saying: "Miss is coming to Dacheng City for the first time, right? The custom of docking ships and paying fees at the dock has been going on for many years. I am a disciple of the Shihou Secret Path Gate, and the dock business in Dacheng City has always been our responsibility."

  "Are you going to suffocate from not speaking?" Peanut skin scolded peanut shell, took out the silver and handed it to the big man. The latter took it, glanced at the Azure-eyed Water Cloud Beast on the side, and smiled: "What a fine Azure-eyed Water Cloud Beast! If you all want to sell it, please find our Lion's Roar Gate, we'll definitely give you a satisfactory price."

  After Da Han left, the peanut shell couldn't help but shout: "Grandpa, what kind of sect is the Lion's Roar Secret Door after all?"

  "Listen, kiddo," said Hua Shengpi, "the Lion's Roar Secret Path is one of the three major cultivation schools in Dacheng City. The other two are the Golden Secret Path and the Inverted Three and Four Armor Cultivation Schools. These three schools control most of the businesses in Dacheng City and also take on the heavy responsibility of maintaining order within the city. If you run into people from these three schools, you'd better keep your mouth shut, or even I won't be able to save you."

  We disembarked and walked straight ahead, with Da Hu carrying the luggage and Hua Sheng riding on the Bi Yan Water Cloud Beast, shouting excitedly. I took a closer look and saw that there were several hundred yellow-robed men patrolling the dock, many ships loaded with all kinds of goods, and the ship owners paying taxes to those men. I couldn't help but say: "With so many ships coming and going, the Shihou Secret Door must be rich beyond their wildest dreams! Damn it, don't other sects envy them?"

  "Little brother, don't you know? These three sects all have powerful backers. The Lion's Roar Secret Path has the support of Qingxu Tian's Yinsha Sect, the Golden Vajra Secret Path's leader is said to be the illegitimate child of a certain peerless expert from Jixiang Tian, and the most formidable one is the Inverted Three-Four Aoyu Sect, which is a branch of the Hunyuan Aoyu Sect. The latter has a mighty reputation, and together with the Maijing Sea Temple, it is considered one of the top ten famous sects in Luosheng Tian. Think about it, who would dare to provoke these three sects with such powerful backers?"

  "What's with the Xuanwu Sect? I couldn't help but smile wryly to myself, it seems that from now on I'll be running into these sects whose manuals have been stolen. Calming my mind, I said: 'I like roaming the wilderness, not asking about worldly affairs, and making Old Man Hua laugh.'"

  "Turns out it's just a country bumpkin who doesn't know anything."

  I nodded: "Just now there was a country bumpkin who actually asked if the Shengong Secret Gate is which green onion."

  The peanut shell was gnashing its teeth, while the peanut fruit clapped its hands and cheered: "Sister has always been sharp-tongued, but now she's met a formidable opponent! Lin Fei, little brother, well done! Big Brother is very proud!"

  As soon as you step out of the dock, you'll see a wide road with many strangely dressed people standing at the entrance, holding large wooden signs and enthusiastically greeting passersby: "Sir, do you want to stay in an inn? Ten taels of silver per day, including meals! And we'll throw in a hundred-year-old He Shou Wu plant." "Don't miss out on this amazing deal! Longsheng Inn is offering half-price rooms, limited time only! Hurry up and book now!" The most eye-catching one has to be a charming female demon. She's wearing a pink bellyband, green shorts, revealing her snow-white thighs, sitting in a long, large carriage. The carriage body is a huge clamshell, opening and closing slowly. On the shell, golden paint reads: "Tender Village". The female demon wags her purple tail, coquettishly saying: "If you're a man, you have to stay at Tender Village! Reasonable prices, top-notch service, guaranteed to let you show off your masculinity, every night is a spring night."

  I was dazzled, and Flower Born Fruit and Big Tiger stared at the female demon, both of them were stunned. Flower Born Shell angrily said: "The women here are too shameless! Flower Born Fruit, Big Tiger, quickly close your dog eyes!"

  A gust of wind blew in, and several giant, muscular monsters with bulging muscles suddenly rushed to our front, lined up in a row, their voices thundering: "Weifeng Inn, renowned for thousands of miles! Stay at Weifeng Inn for one day, and you'll be invincible for countless years!"

  A goblin with donkey ears snatched the luggage from the big tiger's hand and slung it over his shoulder. The peanut shell was startled: "Damn, robbery?" His arm stretched out, ready to take action.

  Peanut skin flashed out, pressed down the donkey ear monster's shoulder, and the latter hummed a sound, as if being crushed by Mount Tai, involuntarily squatting on the ground. Peanut skin took back his package and said, "Sorry, we'll choose our own inn, no need to trouble you."

  Several monsters came over with a fierce momentum, rolled up their sleeves, stared straight at us, and the peanut shell's left arm transformed into a steel knife, shouting: "Another fight is coming, great!"

  "Rustle, rustle", contrary to our expectations, the monsters suddenly all knelt down on the ground, crying and wailing: "Please, great master, please allow us to accommodate your esteemed guest. For just half a tael of silver per day, you won't find such a cheap inn in the entire city of Dacheng."

  We were all stunned, and there was actually such a way to pull customers! The monsters grabbed our trouser legs, with snot and tears, crying about the difficulties of doing business, and their families still relied on them for a living. Peanut skin smiled bitterly and waved his hand: "Get up quickly, we'll just stay here."

  "With a 'huh' sound, the monsters all stood up at once, with big smiles on their faces, and tears that stopped as soon as they said stop, it was astonishing. The donkey-eared monster grabbed the luggage again and politely said: "Gentlemen, please follow me."

  Along the main road to the east, a magnificent golden city appeared in front of us. In front of the city, eight marble bridges rose up, leading to eight vermilion gates. The city wall was high and thick, with intricate patterns carved on the bricks, and the top of the wall was triangular, covered with glittering glazed tiles. On both sides, the eaves were slanted and curved, like a pair of open wings, supporting the golden signboard "Dacheng City" at the top of the pointed tower.