Chapter Fifteen: The Layout of the Bandit's Lair

  Xiao Ziyang hesitated for a moment before turning around and following him.

  Xiao Ziyang's five senses were extremely sharp, especially his eyesight, which was at least twice as good as that of ordinary people. Even in the dimly lit alleys, he could see farther than ordinary people.

  He hung far away from the small head of the Iron Rider's Club, who was very vigilant but completely unaware of Xiao Ziyang outside his line of sight.

  Xiao Ziyang followed him through the streets and alleys for half a time, arriving at the gate of an inn in front of the East Gate.

  This inn is called Fuyue, and like Jiuru Inn, it does lower-class business. They have several common characteristics: large space, simple furnishings, and a mixed crowd.

  People came and went in the inn, Xiao Ziyang mixed in with the crowd and entered through the gate.

  He asked for a room upstairs and followed Xiao Er into the house, closing the door behind him. He then took out a silver ingot from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Er.

  Xiao Er didn't respond and stared at him with a terrified expression, as if he was about to scream, which left Xiao Ziyang very puzzled.

  The little brother said nervously: "This guest officer, if you like the rabbit grandfather, I can find it for you... but... I don't receive guests!"

  Xiao Ziyang was choked by this sentence for half a day and couldn't come back to his senses. However, looking at Xia'er's clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, it might not be the first time he encountered such a situation today.

  Afraid that he would really shout out and alert the Iron Rider's gang, Xiao Ziyang hastily explained: "Young master is not interested in rabbits, just wants to ask you for some information." After finishing speaking, he handed over the silver ingot again.

  Looking at the little servant who wanted to collect money but didn't dare to stretch out his hand, Xiao Ziyang suddenly felt a bit angry, but he didn't dare to scold him, fearing that it would startle him. He slowed down his voice and asked: "Has your inn recently accommodated a group of people from Jinzhou? Are there three people among them...?" He described the appearance of the three leaders of the Iron Rider Association.

  The shopkeeper thought for a moment and said, "Today our store did have quite a few guests from Jinzhou. The three people you mentioned arrived this afternoon, but they didn't seem to be together - they came in one after another."

  Xiao Ziyang thought to himself, "That's right, it's them!" He clenched the silver ingot in his hand and tossed it to the waiter, saying: "Don't go spreading around what I asked you, or I'll crush your skull like this silver ingot!" After finishing speaking, Xiao Ziyang turned and left the inn.

  Xiao Er stared at the deformed Silver Tongbao in his hand, frightened into a daze.

  Having determined where the Iron Cavalry would be stationed, Xiao Ziyang turned and headed towards the city center.

  His destination was the First Martial Hall of Shouan City, "Iron Dragon Martial Hall".

  Hanmaru is one of the top ten sects in Western Liang, with an extremely large force, and can be said to be powerful enough to shake the three states of Northwestern China. Countless small sects want to curry favor with it, but they are frustrated by their inability to enter. Now everyone has a good opportunity, that is, to present the heads of the three leaders of the Iron Rider Association!

  "Tielong Wuguan" is known as the number one martial arts school in Shuoan City, and its headmaster, Tielong Wang Zheng Xiaoyang, is known as the number one master of Shuoan City. However, for the vast and powerful Hanmo Fortress, he is just a small shrimp, and naturally, he is also one of the many people who want to curry favor with Hanmo Fortress but are unable to get in.

  Xiao Ziyang arrived at the front gate of Tielong Wuguan and said only twelve words to the doorman before turning around and leaving.

  That guy didn't even notice Xiao Ziyang's departure, he almost rolled and crawled into the martial arts hall, because he knew that the head teacher had sent out all his disciples in the past few days to search for the Iron Rider's trail!

  He repeated Xiao Ziyang's words verbatim to Zheng Xiaoyang, "The Iron Riders will be staying at the Fuyue Inn in the east of the city!"

  Iron-backed Dragon King would not mobilize his troops just because of a stranger's words, he immediately sent his disciples to investigate the news.

  Xiao Ziyang left Tielong Wuguan and headed towards Xi Feng Lou, the largest arms store in the city.

  The Western Xia state did not prohibit civilians from possessing weapons, but there were detailed regulations on the types of weapons, and the management of weapon shops was extremely strict.

  Therefore, all those who open a military equipment shop have an extremely deep background.

  The Xiao Feng Building is not only the largest arms store in Shuo An City, but also the largest arms store in the three northwestern states, with a very deep background.

  Xiao Ziyang didn't know what background the owner of Xiao Feng Lou had, but he knew that if he wanted to buy strong bows and hard crossbows in Shuo An City, he could only go to Xiao Feng Lou.

  The sky had already darkened, and there were few guests in the building. Xiao Ziyang walked into this luxurious store with familiarity.

  He didn't look at him much and walked over to a small attendant, whispering something in his ear.

  The young servant looked at him and led him upstairs.

  The strong bow and hard crossbow are forbidden items, privately storing them is a great crime. Although the Whistling Wind Pavilion has a deep background, it does not dare to display them in public.

  The young servant led Xiao Ziyang to a small living room on the second floor, asked him to take a seat, served tea and water, and inquired: "I wonder what kind of strong bow the noble guest wants?"

  Xiao Ziyang said: "Five stones, fold and unfold strong bows."

  One stone is one hundred catties, five stones would be a strong bow of five hundred catties that only an expert can use; the strongest bow stored in this Whistling Wind Tower is no more than seven stones.

  The young man didn't say much, just said wait a minute, and then turned around and walked out of the living room.

  Although possessing a crossbow is punishable by death, the escorts often travel south and north, frequently licking blood off their blades, so they usually prepare several strong bows and hard crossbows for emergencies.

  Xiao Ziyang had once bought a bow and crossbow with his adoptive father in Xiao Feng Lou, so he was very familiar with it.

  Not long after, Xiao Er walked in with a brocade box about two feet long and three inches wide. He opened the box, revealing a folding longbow divided into three sections.

  Xiao Er took out the bow and carefully introduced it to Xiao Ziyang: "The middle section of this folding longbow is made of tough ebony, while the two arms are made from the most solid part of the trunk of a 100-year-old purple scale tree, carefully carved along the grain."

  "This bow arm is also wrapped with fine cow tendon and horn pieces, which are made from a type of horn called steel horn, with excellent elasticity. At the joint of ebony and purple scale wood, it is connected by exquisite stainless steel live buckle."

  After finishing speaking, Xiao Er unfolded his bow and gently pushed the living button. A longbow over five feet in length appeared before Xiao Ziyang.

  He took the longbow and pulled out a bowstring as thick as a small thumb from a brocade box. The bowstring had a ring buckle at each end. He first put one of the buckles on the bow arm's mouth, held the other end of the bow arm with one hand, pressed the bow arm against the ground with force, and the bow arm bent down. He then easily put the other buckle of the bowstring into the bow arm's mouth.

  Xiao Ziyang drew his bow and pulled the string back, drawing the powerful five-stone bow to its full extent, like a full moon.