I am dying of old age, and I have awakened to the character of longevity.

Xie An, as before, covered half of his face with a black cloth, but Zhang Lin still recognized him at a glance.

There was no way around it; his white hair was too eye-catching.

Seeing Zhang Lin again, Xie An was not as wary and guarded as before.

After inquiring for the past few days, Xie An learned that the Tiger Wolf Gate was not some gang disguised as a sect, but a legitimate sect that was determined to take root and develop in the Qingwu County area for a long time, so it paid great attention to reputation and inheritance.

Xie An felt that choosing the Tiger Wolf Gate as his target was not a big problem, and the next step was to add to it.

He was not young anymore, and if he joined it as a handyman, that would not work…

Xie An cupped his fist, "Steward Zhang."

Zhang Lin revealed a "I understand you" expression, "Bear heart is indeed very nourishing, its medicinal power is strong and overbearing, not to mention strengthening the body, it can also keep you up all night. Old brother is a man who knows how to live… Old Liu, this is my friend, give him a cheaper price."

The latter half of the sentence was addressed to the stall owner.

The stall owner, in his forties, was well-versed in social interactions. He glanced at Xie An in surprise, then revealed a smiling expression, "So, old brother is Steward Zhang's friend. I was blind before, please forgive me. Then I'll give it to you at cost price. Thirty taels."

A single word "friend" saved him a full thirty taels of silver.

The world of big shots is really not something ordinary people can understand.

Xie An happily agreed and bought the bear heart. The stall owner, called Old Liu, packed the bear heart and handed it to Xie An with both hands, "Old brother, whenever you come here in the future, it will be this price."

Old Liu had long wanted to curry favor with Zhang Lin, but he had never found a chance. Now that the opportunity had come, he naturally knew how to seize it.

Zhang Lin also accepted Old Liu's flattery, saying that he would reduce Old Liu's stall fee in the future, and that he could come to the black market first if he had any good goods. This made Old Liu very happy.

"Old brother, you left in a hurry last time. There's still time today, why don't I take you around the black market?"

Having received a favor from Zhang Lin, it was naturally not good to refuse him, so Xie An agreed, "Then I'll have to trouble Steward Zhang."

"Old brother, you don't have to be so polite, just call me Zhang Lin."

Xie An only smiled and naturally would not really call Zhang Lin by his name.

The scale of the Blood Ridge Black Market spanned five or six towns, covering more than 100,000 villagers. One could imagine that the status of the guards and stewards was very high.

He was just being polite, how could you take it seriously?

After a casual stroll, no matter where they went, everyone was respectful to Zhang Lin. This also added a bit of respect to Xie An. Zhang Lin, however, was accustomed to this and enthusiastically introduced the situation of the black market to him.

"The Blood Ridge Black Market is the largest black market in the six surrounding towns, and everything sold here is available. Weapons, medicinal herbs, secret manuals…"

"The stalls on this road all sell weapons, knives, swords, spears, crossbows…. Many of them are good things that the imperial court has banned from selling. There are also blacksmith shops on this street. The blacksmith is quite famous and can also customize weapons according to your needs."

"The stalls on this road mainly sell medicinal herbs, and there are also pharmacists who can prescribe medicine for you according to the prescription…"

"The stalls on this road mainly sell martial arts manuals…"

After listening to Zhang Lin's explanation, Xie An finally had a more comprehensive understanding of the Xue Ling Black Market.

Rather than calling this a black market, it was more like a very large village.

Looking at the endless stream of merchants, Xie An estimated that the annual transaction volume produced by this black market was probably much larger than the output value of the entire Wuqiao Town.

No wonder the Tiger Wolf Gate did not need to make money by robbing homes and looting, but could reap huge profits every year just by relying on this black market. What's more, for the Tiger Wolf Gate, this black market was just the tip of the iceberg of its industry.

The sect and the gang were different in essence.

If he could join the Tiger Wolf Gate and become the manager of this black market, wouldn't it be easy to obtain his own cultivation resources in the future?

The key is to be a manager… Being a lackey is not acceptable.

After the stroll, Zhang Lin invited Xie An to the courtyard for a chat.

Xie An thought that it was a good opportunity to learn about the Tiger Wolf Gate, so he agreed.

Zhang Lin was very happy to hear that Xie An had agreed. He took Xie An to a small courtyard near the black market and even took the initiative to make tea for Xie An, which was very polite.

After some pleasantries, Zhang Lin once again stated his intentions, "Old brother, you have also seen the grand occasion of this Blood Ridge Black Market. The cultivation resources you want are all available here, and you can also get discounts. It's better than you struggling alone."

Xie An held the teacup in both hands and did not speak, revealing a somewhat tempted expression.

Seeing that there was a chance, Zhang Lin became even more enthusiastic, "Let me tell old brother about the general situation of our Blood Ridge…"

After carefully listening to Zhang Lin's account, Xie An learned that:

The Blood Ridge Black Market belonged to the White Feather Hall.

And the White Feather Hall was one of the seven main halls under the Tiger Wolf Gate.

The White Feather Hall was naturally guarded by Hall Master Fang Baiyu, who was a second-level Refined Flesh Realm martial artist.

In addition to Fang Baiyu, there were also two deputy hall masters.

Under the deputy hall masters were the four great incense masters.

The Blood Ridge Black Market was under the jurisdiction of Incense Master Wei Dian, and Zhang Lin was one of the three stewards under Wei Dian. He was responsible for the order and security near the black market, bringing a total of a dozen guards with knives.

"I saw that old brother easily pulled open a one-stone bow with one finger and shot two arrows in a row. It can be seen that old brother is old and strong, and it is not a problem to lift four hundred catties with one arm. This is already the strength of a first-level Copper Skin Realm martial artist. If you are willing to join the White Feather Hall, you can first be my assistant, that is, the deputy steward. The monthly salary is eight taels of silver. In addition, you can get discounts on the purchase of various resources in the black market. When a steward position becomes vacant in the future, I will naturally find a way to let old brother take over."

After talking about the treatment, Zhang Lin looked at Xie An with a hopeful face.

Eight taels a month, one hundred taels a year.

This was really not a small amount.

It was five times more than Xie An's current income as a pawnshop appraiser. There were also various other benefits.

It would be unrealistic to say that Xie An was not tempted.

It's just… the position of deputy steward was too low, right?

Above him were the steward, the incense master, the deputy hall master, the hall master… The distance from the high-level of the Tiger Wolf Gate was unknown how many levels.

It was not that Xie An was too ambitious, but who would not want to get a better position and treatment when looking for a job?

If you can be a big brother, who would want to be a lackey?

Xie An showed a troubled expression.

Zhang Lin was sharp-eyed and immediately noticed that Xie An disliked the low position of the deputy steward, so he began to add more, "Actually, with old brother's strength, it is possible to directly become a steward, but the three steward positions under Incense Master Wei are currently vacant. But…"

When he came to the key point, Zhang Lin suddenly stopped, which showed that he knew how to whet his appetite. When Xie An looked at him, Zhang Lin continued to say: "Recently, a steward has aroused Incense Master Wei's dissatisfaction. I guess that Incense Master Wei intends to replace him, but he can't find a suitable candidate for a while."

Xie An finally became interested, "What do you mean by this?"

Zhang Lin lowered his voice and said: "Zhang Biao, who is also a steward like me, is addicted to gambling, not to mention neglecting his duties, but also his temper has changed drastically, and he has repeatedly contradicted the incense master. But he has someone behind him, and Incense Master Wei can't do anything about him for a while. If Zhang Biao has any misfortune, his steward position can be vacated. It just so happens that old brother can take over."

When Xie An heard this, he was startled and became alert.

As the saying goes, there is no free lunch. If someone is being unusually attentive, they are either a traitor or a thief.

Zhang Lin had enthusiastically extended an olive branch to him twice, and now he was subtly pointing out Zhang Biao…

Xie An felt that… it was probably not just Wei Dian who was dissatisfied with Zhang Biao, but that Zhang Lin and Zhang Biao had a conflict. He was hinting to himself that he wanted to use his hand to get rid of Zhang Biao.

This made a lot of sense.

Anyway, he was wearing a mask at the moment, and Zhang Lin did not know his identity, so he asked: "What is the treatment of a steward?"