In the crowd.
Under the eaves.
On the roof.
There were shadows hiding people who couldn't be seen.
They were either watching the show, gathering information, or had other motives.
Hong Chen was also among them.
No one would have thought that he was the one who had painted the painting that was worth 50,000 taels of gold and was bestowed as the 'number one national treasure' by the Emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty.
"Once bitten, twice shy. Arranging so many archers is probably to guard against flying thieves like Sima Zhaixing.”
"No matter how good the Snitch's Light-body Technique is, he can't do anything against twenty crossbows, right?”
"Even a divine-tier martial artist who has cultivated the Iron Skin Technique might not be able to withstand such a powerful Divine Armament Meteor Crossbow.”
Hong Chen turned around and left.
In the eyes of such a 'layman', it was almost impossible to steal the Painting of a Five-clawed True Dragon from the guards who were on high alert in front of the Meridian Gate.
Of course, it was because Hong Chen was still a layman.
If Hong Chen had inherited the skills of the Bandit Commander Sima Zhaixing from his previous life, he might not have felt this way.
During the exhibition period of the [Five-clawed True Dragon Painting], the entire day was filled with crowds.
The commoners scrambled to take a look at what the number one national treasure of the Great Qian Empire looked like.
At the same time, the price of Scholar Red Dust's calligraphy and paintings in the market began to soar again.
The Emperor of Da Qian had conferred the title of Art Saint on Master Hong Chen, causing his paintings to be more valuable than words!
However, there was only one painting that had been circulated by Master Red Dust, the Five-clawed True Dragon Painting.
The rest were pirated versions!
Night fell.
Four braziers were set up in front of the Meridian Gate and were burning fiercely.
The braziers were placed in the east, south, west, and north corners of the Five-clawed True Dragon Painting. The charcoal inside was burning loudly, and the flames rose to disperse the darkness.
The captain of the guards in iron armor shouted,"It's night time, everyone, be on your guard. No one is allowed to approach the Five-clawed True Dragon Painting!”
"Yes!"
"Understood!"
The Imperial Guards all agreed.
The imperial guards captain nodded and sat down cross-legged.
The armor of the imperial guards was all black.
In this way, it appeared somber, solemn, and mighty.
The light from the brazier shone on the armor of the imperial guards, giving off a metallic luster.
At this time, Hong Chen disguised himself as a short old man and went to the ghost market.
Today's Ghost Market was obviously different. There was a feeling of undercurrents surging.
Hong Chen was still inquiring about Thief Commander, Thief Demon and the rest, spending very generously.
"Old man, do you want to know where Bandit Commander is?”
A muscular man with a black scorpion tattoo on his cheek and a scorpion tail circling around his eyes stepped forward and asked.
Hong Chen glanced at him.
The Scorpion Man looked like a bad person. He was clearly just short of writing the words "I'm a bad person" on his face.
Hong Chen coughed dryly and asked in a hoarse voice,""You know where Bandit Leader is?"
" Of course I know." Scorpion man patted his chest." Our intelligence is spread all over the ghost market in the capital!"”
"As long as the price is right, I can tell you what color the underwear the emperor of the Great Qian Dynasty is wearing!”
"Oh?"
"As long as you tell me where the Bandit Commander is, the reward will naturally not be small."”
"Come with me, I'll take you there now."”
"Tonight, Bandit Commander, Bandit King, Bandit Demon, and a few others will gather together!”
"You're lucky to have met me, because I happened to know where their secret meeting was!”
" Yes!" Hong Chen nodded and said," Let's go, bring me there!"”
The Scorpion Man chuckled, and a boat slowly sailed over from the waterway.
Two strong men supported the boat and let it dock.
The Scorpion Man jumped onto the boat and said to Hong Chen,""Little old man, hurry up and get on the boat.”
Hong Chen followed the Scorpion Man onto the boat.
The Scorpion Man gave his other two companions a look, telling them to start rowing.
The boat slowly left the shore and began to sail along the waterway.
At this moment, the Scorpion Man revealed a sinister smile. He clenched his fists and pressed them against each other, making cracking sounds.
"A pirate ship?" Hong Chen said without changing his expression.”
The Scorpion Man raised his head and laughed.”
"Aren't you afraid of capsizing?" asked Hong Chen.”
The Scorpion Man's eyes were filled with ferocity as he said in a cold voice,"My boat is very stable. It won't capsize!”
"Didn't you want to bring me to Bandit Commander?”
"Hehe, I don't know any Bandit Commander. I just want to rob you of your money!”
"I'm telling you now. Hand over the money obediently, and I'll spare your life!”
"Otherwise…hehehe, you can only be buried in the river!”
" I don't know." Hong Chen sighed and said," These two days, there were also people like you who didn't know their limits and lied to me. It's a pity that they're all dead."”
"You don't have any eyesight in the ghost market. You deserve to fail.”
As Hong Chen spoke, he gently raised his foot before heavily pausing.
Boom! A loud sound rang out.
The small boat suddenly sank into the waterway.
A huge wave rose in the surroundings.
In the next moment, the plank of the boat cracked open and broke into two.
Surging water quickly poured in from the broken bottom of the ship, filling the cabin and causing the ship to sink!
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]