Witch Wind

Chapter 28 Birth Certificate (Part )

The spirit of Xing Tianli enveloped the man.

The souls of the mortals in this world, such as ordinary people like Joms, are just small, dim, floating flames the size of soybeans in the "vision" of Xing Tianli's soul. They are like tiny candle flames. Just a slightly forceful blow can completely destroy their souls.

The handsome man in front of him, holding a camera and openly taking pictures of the Yingji military dock, has an extremely strong soul.

Compared to the souls of ordinary people, his soul was as big as a baby's fist, and it was radiant, solid and refined, like a solid crystal ball. Moreover, he clearly mastered some strange spiritual power secrets. At least Xing Tianli noticed that when he robbed the guy of his money, a very obscure spiritual power wave quickly swept towards him.

Across the six-lane riverside road is a seven-story Western-style building.

A square and heavy building with a gray-white granite facade, arched floor-to-ceiling windows, a towering spire, a revolving door made of large glass, and a black-and-gold sign hanging on the lintel - Inggi Naval Club!
On the first floor of the club, a rich aroma wafted through the clean and bright cafe. Bright sunlight shone in through the French windows, casting shadows of the huge Ingish royal emblems on the shiny tile floor.

Xing Tianli ordered a pot of black tea and a portion of dried fruit, sat on the soft sofa, sipped the tea with a faint fruity aroma, and curled his lips. These foreigners only know how to waste things. They had to stuff a few pieces of dried fruit into the good black tea, making it look weird.

Breaking off a piece of dried fruit and putting it in his mouth, Xing Tianli began to tell his personal experience to Oger, the man in front of him who claimed to be the chief reporter of the Emmy Daily Mail.

Xing Tianli, who never stops talking until his words are shocking, has demonstrated the self-cultivation of a storyteller to the fullest.

He mainly told Oger these few things.

One is that England spent real money to allocate huge amounts of food from various colonies, and trafficked people from several northwestern provinces of the Dayu Dynasty at the price of one thousand kilograms of food for a young woman and two thousand kilograms of food for a young man.

Secondly, the missionaries of the Holy Mother Church seem to have great malice towards the human trafficking of Yingjishi. The two sides have fought in a small town on the main road of Dayu Dynasty, and both sides have suffered heavy casualties. For example, the night before yesterday, hundreds of missionaries and a larger number of regular troops of the Kingdom of Saint Norman were ambushed and killed.

The third one is that there are monsters among the missionaries of the Virgin Mary Church!

Xing Tianli lowered his voice and told Oger the 'truth' of the matter in a rhythmic manner, with some parts omitted.

At the same time, he was observing the changes in Oger's expression.

As for the first and second things, it was obvious that although Oger was interested, he did not take them too seriously. It was as if those trafficked men and women, those killed missionaries and the regular army of the Kingdom of Saint Norman were just like cats and dogs, and were not worth his concern at all.

But for the third point!
A gleam of brilliance suddenly flashed from Oger's azure eyes. His soul, which was a hundred times more powerful than that of ordinary people, vibrated violently. His almost materialized soul emitted a dazzling light, and waves of mental fluctuations slowly floated around him uncontrollably.

Xing Tianli even saw that in the sunlight shining through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the originally lightly floating dust began to rapidly rotate around Oger as if it had encountered a tornado.

The vision only lasted for a short breath. With his face flushed, Oger gathered his mental strength. He leaned forward slightly and asked hurriedly, "Monster? What kind of monster?"

Xing Tianli smiled, tapped the table lightly with his fingers, and rubbed his right thumb, index finger and middle finger quickly.

"Of course!" Oger nodded in understanding. He quickly took out his wallet, pulled out a thick stack of banknotes without leaving a single one, and stuffed them all into Xing Tianli's hands.

Xing Tianli was shocked by Oger's generosity.

This guy!

This stack of banknotes were all gold certificates issued by the Royal Bank of England, with denominations ranging from one gold coin to one hundred gold coins. According to the currency value of the Far West Hundred Countries, one gold coin was worth seven cents, and could be exchanged for ten taels of Dayu Dynasty's pure official silver in a regular bank!

But in fact, because the 100 countries in the Far West are powerful, the gold coins are made of solid materials and the casting process is extremely exquisite, the currency value and credibility are extremely strong. Therefore, in the black market, one gold coin can be exchanged for twelve to thirteen taels of Dayu Dynasty official silver.

The total face value of the handful of banknotes in Xing Tianli's hand is more than four or five hundred gold coins, which means four or five thousand taels of official silver!
Poor Li Kuisheng, working as a ninth-rank inspector in Xiaolongqiu Town, received a salary of just over thirty-three taels a year, plus an additional thirty-three hu of grain as salary.

Xing Tianli stuffed the banknotes into his sleeves neatly and began to describe in detail the three kinds of "monsters" he had seen among those missionaries.

Oger's eyes were blazing as he grabbed a notebook and wrote quickly, recording Xing Tianli's story - missionaries whose skin could turn into whips and attack people from more than ten feet away; missionaries whose bones could turn into bone spurs and shoot out to kill people from a hundred feet away; and missionaries whose muscles had mutated and whose limbs could turn into battering rams, possessing incredible brute force!

Of course, there are also those little nuns whose skin can grow white shells and whose arms can transform into sharp long swords, possessing terrifying killing power. Xing Tianli has not forgotten them!
After talking for a while, Xing Tianli picked up the teacup and took a big sip of the sweet black tea. Smacking his lips, Xing Tianli thought that the taste of this tea was not bad. After all, it cost two taels of silver for a pot. What a price!
"Oh, I almost forgot! There's an even scarier old guy."

Xing Tianli stared at Oger: "His body is very fragile, but he seems to have mastered some evil power."

Oger widened his eyes and stared at Xing Tianli.

Xing Tianli coughed lightly and rubbed his fingers again: "This respected old priest looks very normal. He should not be considered a monster. So..."

Oger quickly pulled out a checkbook from his wallet, filled out the check quickly, tore it off with a click, and handed it to Xing Tianli: "Promissory note from the Federal Reserve Bank of Amy, cashable on sight. Five hundred gold coins. I think, no matter how respected the old priest is, this amount of money is enough to buy his information!"

Xing Tianli looked at Oger in horror.

This guy really doesn’t take money seriously... Or is it that Xing Tianli is, after all, a country bumpkin from a remote corner of the countryside, and he really underestimated the prices in Pinghai City?
The power of the soul quickly swept around Oger.

Well, very good. This guy's physical strength can only be regarded as that of a normal adult male who is exceptionally strong. He has traces of professional martial arts training. He can probably fight five or six strong men with his bare hands?

This amount of power is insignificant!
As for his soul power, although it is a hundred times stronger than that of an ordinary mortal, facing the spiritual power of Xing Tianli, it is nothing more than a candle in the wind, which can be extinguished in the blink of an eye!

This money is taken without any consequences!

Xing Tianli gently took the check and nodded with satisfaction: "That old priest, he only took half a day to turn more than 10,000 townspeople in a small town into devout believers."

"Oh, that's right!" Xing Tianli said softly, "I saw someone shooting at him with a gun, and in front of him, there seemed to be transparent water waves vibrating, and all the bullets were blocked!"

Oger's pen suddenly stopped writing rapidly. He raised his head and stared at Xing Tianli with a faint gaze: "Mr. Li, can you describe in detail what you saw at the scene?"

Xing Tianli started talking nonstop, describing in detail the scene he had witnessed, where the old priest used his mental force field to block the barrage of bullets - Xing Tianli even described in detail the trajectories of nearby sand and gravel, and even small particles of dust, in the mental force field when the old priest released his mental force field!
"The power of the Holy Mother Church?" Oger frowned thoughtfully.

"This, I don't understand." Xing Tianli looked a little shy and immature, perfectly displaying the expression of a young man who had just started out in this international metropolis to venture into the world.

Oger nodded slowly. He took out a beautifully printed business card and handed it to Xing Tianli. "Well, thank you very much for the news clue you provided. Um, did the Yingjisi army really ambush Saint Norman's troops?"

Xing Tianli took the business card and said calmly: "I don't know if it was an army. But the weapons they used were very powerful. Yes, there was indeed a gunboat flying the Iron Cross Sword and Shield flag, which was sunk. I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Thank you very much." Og packed up his notebook, put it in his coat pocket, and snapped his fingers in the direction of the counter. A waiter with neat clothes and elegant manners came up and handed over the account book. Og casually signed his name on the account book. Xing Tianli smiled.

It seems that Oger is a frequent visitor here.

"If you have any shocking news, please feel free to contact me." Oger smiled at Xing Tianli and said, "Well, I saw Mr. Joems, the first secretary of the British Consulate General, on the gunboat. Are you and him?"

Xing Tianli picked up the teacup and drank it all, then casually poured a plate of dried fruits into his sleeve. He also stood up and said with a smile, "Mr. Joems? Oh, yes, he was injured on the battlefield, and my elders saved him, so I was allowed to take their favorable wind boat to Pinghai City."

Oger nodded slightly and didn't ask any more questions. He and Xing Tianli said goodbye to each other and hurried out.

Xing Tianli looked at Oger's back, watched him run out of the Navy Club, run to the car parked across the street, and run away.

He picked up Oger's business card and swept it lightly with his soul. On this beautifully printed business card, there was an extremely subtle mark made by someone using his mental power.

After hesitating for a moment, Xing Tianli shook his hand and erased the mark on the business card.

Regardless of what the symbol was used for, he was not used to carrying things of unknown purpose. As the last immortal to ascend to heaven in the last days of the Dharma, Xing Tianli possessed both the talents of 'boldness' and 'caution'.

Half an hour later.

Xing Tianli walked slowly and squarely and came to Shan De Fang on Yingchuan Road.

This is an old-style neighborhood. Before the establishment of the International Concession in Pinghai City, when this large piece of land was still under the jurisdiction of the Dayu Dynasty government, it was already a prosperous market with a thriving population.

Shandefang is a large place covering an area of ​​more than one mile. In the middle part, there are hundreds of single-family buildings. Surrounding it are rows of six-story buildings, with a total number of households exceeding 3,000.

There are roads all around here, and crooked alleys crisscross like a spider web. To the north of the neighborhood, there is an inland river called Baiebang that runs through most of the concession and flows into the river. The river is only about 20 meters wide, with a deep and fast current. Ships pass through the river day and night.

In addition to a green park of 100 acres in size in the south, across the river and across an iron arch bridge in the north of Shan De Fang, there is a settlement of early British immigrants. In the west and east, there are many commercial streets and markets, and there are also a large number of British businesses, shops, and various companies established. The terrain is complex and the flow of people is also astonishingly large.

"Uncle has prepared a house here. Is he ready to run away at any time?" Xing Tianli stood outside Shandefang, looked around for a while, felt the bustling atmosphere around him, and nodded slightly.

After all, it is an old, old-fashioned neighborhood, and its grade and style are a bit backward. Although there are only more than 3,000 households in Shan De Fang, it is common for three to five families to rent a house in one building.

Xing Tianli walked into Shandefang. On the narrow road in the square, which was less than 15 feet wide at its widest, there were all kinds of pots and pans. Some people built stoves and flower stands on the side of the road, and some even built chicken coops and dog kennels.

In broad daylight, men and women come in and out, and children chase and play. On the roadside, you can often see shirtless old men lying on bamboo chairs with cloudy eyes wide open, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans from time to time.

In broad daylight, at some cross-strewn alleys, there were women dressed in slick Western-style long skirts, smelling of cheap perfume, constantly flirting at Xing Tianli. Among these women, Eastern women were almost invisible, and 99% of them were foreign women with messy hair and red, green, blue, and yellow eyes, like Persian cats.

When Xing Tianli walked in, it was almost noon. His five senses were extremely sensitive, and he actually heard moans of "ahhhh" coming from a small building on the side of the road.

Xing Tianli walked along this complicated neighborhood, and except for those foreign ladies who smelled sweet with body odor, no one even looked at him.

After passing through several rows of buildings, the area ahead became much more spacious.

Fences half a person's height enclosed small courtyards. Rose vines of various colors were entwined on the fences, and large roses were blooming brilliantly. In the middle of the courtyard, three-story buildings were dotted.

These stand-alone small buildings were obviously much better than the surrounding row buildings. Xing Tianli's spirit swept through these small buildings and found that very few of them were owned by the owners. They were basically rented out. However, the economic conditions of the tenants who rented the small buildings were obviously much better than those of the row buildings.

Xing Tianli walked along the way and found that each small building had at most five households renting it. Compared with the scene in those row buildings where one house was rented by three or five households, the living conditions of the tenants in these small buildings were much better.

At the northeastern corner of these single-family buildings, closest to the steel arch bridge on Baiebang, surrounded by several large pine trees, is a well-maintained small building. This is the "small house" that Li Kuisheng told Xing Tianli about in the Pinghai City Concession.

Like other small buildings, it has three floors and a basement.

Each floor of the small building is a little over 40 feet wide and a little over 30 feet deep (about 150 to 160 square meters). Xing Tianli followed the house number and came to the door of the small building. On the third floor of the small building, a melodious piano sound came.

A young man and woman, dressed in obviously imitation Western-style court aristocratic clothing, were standing in a corner of a small courtyard, under a bunch of roses, gazing at each other affectionately, singing in a chanting tone that gave people goosebumps, and saying "earthy love words" that serious people would never say!
"Oh, dear, how can I live without you?"

"Oh, dear, if you are going to die, take me with you!"

Xing Tianli was standing at the waist-high iron gate and happened to hear the conversation between the man and woman. He shuddered and felt uncomfortable from his scalp to his heels.

He quickly remembered what Li Kuisheng had told him about the three groups of tenants in this small building.

A group of tenants, a dozen college students who came to Pinghai City to study, had a limited budget, but they were young, simple, innocent, and did not cause trouble, so Li Kuisheng rented them the basement, which was a circle larger than the ground area.

The first floor of the small building is a public space, where the kitchen, dining room, reception room, small study and the like are all located.

The second floor of the small building is occupied by an old tenant, a family of five who have rented it for several years and are small businessmen who run a company.

The third floor of the small building was rented to a family of three two years ago. The man was a teacher at a university, and the woman was a teacher at a middle school.

It is worth mentioning that Li Kuisheng's house is much cheaper than other neighbors. The rent for the second and third floors is only 600 taels per year, and the total rent for the basement for a dozen college students is only 120 taels per year.

This rent is scary.

(According to online information, when Mr. Lu Shuren first arrived in Shanghai, the monthly rent for a small courtyard house was 160 yuan, which was 1,920 yuan a year. Here, Pinghai City is used as an analogy for Shanghai, and the rent that Li Kuisheng asked for was very cheap.)
As mentioned before, as a ninth-rank inspector, Li Kuisheng's annual salary was only thirty-three taels of silver.

Li Kuisheng bought a house early, and the price of this small building was not high. Now, not to mention the small building itself, the public price of the land that this small building occupies, which is nearly one mu, is more than 30,000 taels.

Xing Tianli pushed open the door, smiled and nodded to the two students who were rehearsing a play, showed Li Kuisheng's handwritten letter and keys and other items, then went into the room and went directly to the attic on the third floor of the small building.

This small building is on the third floor. Half of the roof is a public terrace that can be used to dry clothes. Now someone has planted dozens of pots of flowers and plants on it. The other half is a pointed attic that is always firmly locked with a hidden lock. Every two months, someone arranged by Li Kuisheng goes in to clean or repair it.

Xing Tianli first went up to the public terrace, walked around the roof, looked at the surrounding scenery, then opened a very heavy iron door and walked into the attic.

(End of this chapter)