# Chapter 241: Slave Girls
Upon investigation, Zhang Ruochen indeed detected dozens of human auras within the ship's hold.
Those human auras varied in strength. Some had powerful blood energy, like human-shaped barbarian beasts; others had weak blood energy, no different from ordinary people.
Only by completely clearing out those evil path martial artists could this Red Spider Giant Ship truly belong to him.
"The Red Spider Giant Ship is quite a fine treasure. If sold, it would probably fetch a huge fortune."
Zhang Ruochen was about to head toward the ship's hold when he passed by Mu Qing's skeleton. He noticed the golden-threaded long whip, picked it up, held it in his hand, pushed open the ship's hold door, and walked inside.
The golden-threaded long whip was a seventh-rank True Martial Treasure, also a priceless treasure.
The Red Spider Giant Ship's hold was extremely spacious, divided into upper, middle, and lower levels. Even accommodating a thousand people would not feel crowded.
Just as he entered the hold, an evil path martial artist covered entirely in black armor swung his sword and slashed at Zhang Ruochen. His martial arts cultivation had reached the Earth Extreme Realm Initial Stage, clearly a martial arts expert guarding the hold.
"Shua!"
With a flick of the golden-threaded long whip, a golden light flashed past the evil path martial artist's neck.
The black armor, as if made of paper, was easily cut open by the golden-threaded long whip.
That evil path martial artist, completely covered in black armor, instantly became motionless, still maintaining the posture of raising his sword to strike. Only after Zhang Ruochen walked far away did his head, along with the metal helmet, fall to the ground with a bang.
On the upper level of the Red Spider Giant Ship, Zhang Ruochen successively killed twelve evil path martial artists. The strongest among them had reached the Earth Extreme Realm Initial Stage, while the weakest was only at the Mysterious Extreme Realm Initial Stage.
They were all Mu Qing's servants, each with their own duties. There were artifact refiners responsible for repairing the inscriptions on the Red Spider Giant Ship, stewards in charge of keeping accounts, and martial artists specifically guarding the ship.
Zhang Ruochen entered the middle level of the Red Spider Giant Ship. The entire layout of the hold changed instantly, as if he had entered a royal palace courtyard—extremely ornate. Twenty-four beautiful slave girls gathered in the hold, staring in terror at the intruding Zhang Ruochen.
Feeling the powerful aura emanating from Zhang Ruochen, they all knelt on the ground, trembling in fear, not daring to raise their heads.
The twenty-four slave girls were all top-notch in appearance and figure. Almost all of them were ordinary people, with only a few having awakened their Divine Martial Marks, but their martial arts cultivation was very low.
"Mu Qing certainly knew how to enjoy life." Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head and asked, "Are you all from the Poison Spider Merchant Guild?"
The twenty-four slave girls knelt in a row, none daring to speak.
Zhang Ruochen said, "If you don't speak, then I'll have no choice but to consider you members of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild and execute you all."
One of the girls, whose martial arts cultivation had reached the Yellow Extreme Realm Late Stage, mustered her courage and raised her head. While crying, she said in a low voice, "R-replying to... to milord, we... we were once subjects of Yunwu Commandery. Because the commandery's army was defeated, we were captured by soldiers of the Four Directions Commandery and sold to the Poison Spider Merchant Guild."
"Among us, the most beautiful women were all selected and sent to the Red Spider Giant Ship to serve the big shots of the Poison Spider Merchant Guild."
"Initially, there were fifty-seven of us. Now only twenty-four remain. Milord, please, save us. We don't want to die here..."
The other slave girls also began crying and pleading, "Milord, save us! This place is a living hell. Please!"
Zhang Ruochen looked at the twenty-four girls in the prime of their youth, his heart sinking. They had once all been subjects of Yunwu Commandery. Some were probably even noble daughters. Yet because of defeat in war, they had become slaves of evil path martial artists.
Who could be blamed?
Only that Yunwu Commandery was not strong enough to protect them.
Of course, the Yunwu Commandery King could not be blamed either. Yunwu Commandery was only a lower-rank commandery, while the Four Directions Commandery was a middle-rank commandery. The difference in national strength between the two commanderies was more than tenfold. Once war broke out, there was almost no possibility of victory.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's eyes brightened. He said, "You mean to say, you were originally captured by the army of the Four Directions Commandery and then sent to the Poison Spider Merchant Guild?"
"That's right," said the somewhat bold slave girl.
"Could it be that the imperial court of the Four Directions Commandery is colluding with the Poison Spider Merchant Guild?" Zhang Ruochen said, almost as if talking to himself.
If what they said was true, then this was no longer a small matter.
One must know that whether it was Yunwu Commandery or the Four Directions Commandery, they were both just commanderies of the First Central Empire. Only because they were located in remote areas did the First Central Empire manage them very loosely, allowing each commandery to establish independent court institutions and enfeoff kings with territory.
However, no commandery could violate the fundamental national policies of the First Central Empire.
For example, the First Central Empire had a cooperative relationship with the Martial Market Bank. Empress Chi Yao fully supported the Martial Market Bank, and the official forces of each commandery had to stand on the same front as the Martial Market Bank, vigorously suppressing the Black Market and the Moon Worship Demon Sect.
If it were discovered that a commandery dared to collude with the Black Market, it would not only face punishment from the Martial Market Bank but would also be intolerable to the imperial center of the First Central Empire.
Simply put, if the imperial court of the Four Directions Commandery was truly colluding with the Black Market and secretly seeking profit, they were courting death. The surrounding commanderies could rise up together to attack them, carve up the territory of the Four Directions Commandery, and even the Martial Market Bank would give strong support.
One of the slave girls said cautiously, "Milord, I have important information to report."
Zhang Ruochen glanced at her and said, "Speak!"
That slave girl, tears in her eyes, said in a low voice, "I... I have a condition!"
"Making conditions with me?" Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly.
That slave girl was immediately frightened, thinking she had angered Zhang Ruochen. She immediately lowered her head and kept kowtowing.
Zhang Ruochen said, "You don't need to be so afraid of me. If you have a condition, just say it."
That slave girl said, "As long as milord agrees to let us go, I will tell milord that piece of information."
They did not know Zhang Ruochen's identity, but they were clear that he was definitely a top-tier expert. Otherwise, how could Mu Qing's golden-threaded long whip have fallen into his hands?
They did not want to continue being Zhang Ruochen's playthings, so they planned to strive for their freedom. Even though their strength was insignificant before Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen found a chair, sat down, and laughed. "You probably don't know my identity yet. I am the Ninth Prince of Yunwu Commandery and also an inner palace student of the Martial Market Academy. Even if you didn't beg me, I would still let you go."
Upon hearing him reveal his identity, their eyes all lit up. Their previous fear completely turned into admiration and adoration.
A prince of Yunwu Commandery—what a noble status!
Moreover, he could kill a legendary martial arts powerhouse like Mu Qing. He was truly a heroic figure, naturally making them revere him greatly.
Being imprisoned as slaves in the Red Spider Giant Ship, hadn't they also fantasized about a handsome and dashing prince leading a great army to rescue them from this hellish place?
Now their dream had come true!
Zhang Ruochen said, "After I let you go, where can you go? You are all very beautiful, and most of you have never practiced martial arts. You don't even have the power to protect yourselves. Under such circumstances, you will soon be captured again and become someone else's slaves."
Those slave girls' eyes dimmed, knowing that Zhang Ruochen was speaking the truth.
In this world where martial arts reigned supreme, those without strength could only become slaves, or even less than slaves.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Don't worry. Since I am here, I will naturally arrange everything properly for you. Now, can you tell me the information you have?"
Having obtained Zhang Ruochen's promise, they finally felt at ease. That girl who had practiced martial arts said, "Milord's guess was correct. The Poison Spider Merchant Guild is indeed colluding with the imperial court of the Four Directions Commandery, and the relationship is quite deep."
"In the year we were trapped here, at least ten high-ranking officials of the Four Directions Commandery came to visit Mu Qing. We all served those high-ranking officials. So we overheard some major secrets."
"It is said that a year ago, the attack launched by the Four Directions Commandery against Yunwu Commandery was actually planned behind the scenes by the Poison Spider Merchant Guild. They wanted to take advantage of the chaos of war to capture a large number of slave commodities."
Zhang Ruochen's gaze hardened, revealing a cold expression. "How detestable. Because of them, who knows how many soldiers of Yunwu Commandery died in battle, how many subjects were slaughtered, and how many families were broken up and separated."
Zhang Ruochen felt it necessary to clarify the relationship between the Poison Spider Merchant Guild and the imperial court of the Four Directions Commandery. It would be best to wipe them all out in one fell swoop, to prevent them from stirring up trouble again and causing more tragedies.
"Among those high-ranking officials of the Four Directions Commandery that you have seen, whose status was the most noble?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
One of the slave girls pondered for a moment and said, "I saw a big shot. He seemed to be a marquis of the Four Directions Commandery, with an extremely high status. He could sit on equal footing with Mu Qing and discussed many major business deals with him."
Zhang Ruochen's heart stirred. "What was that marquis called?"
That slave girl shook her head. "I don't know. I only heard Mu Qing call him 'Town Army Marquis'."
Zhang Ruochen nodded. With the title "Town Army Marquis," finding that person would be as easy as turning over his hand.
He had to go to the Four Directions Commandery. After verifying the information, he would immediately notify the Martial Market Bank and the Martial Market Academy. They must use thunderous means to eradicate the Poison Spider Merchant Guild and sanction the Four Directions Commandery.
"All of you, stand up. I will now take you to Lin'an County Town and instruct the soldiers in the town to escort you to the royal capital. I will write a personal letter and give it to you. Take my letter and find the Ninth Princess. She will naturally arrange everything properly for you," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Thank you, Ninth Prince, Your Highness."
Those slave girls cried tears of joy. They all stood up and respectfully bowed to Zhang Ruochen.
Standing in the corner, a girl of only fifteen years old timidly stared at Zhang Ruochen, as if she had something to say but dared not speak.
Her actions naturally did not escape Zhang Ruochen's eyes. He asked, "Is there something else?"
That slave girl said in a low voice, "I have one more thing to report to the Ninth Prince, Your Highness. Perhaps the Ninth Prince, Your Highness, will be very interested."
"What is it?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
That slave girl said, "I always served by Mu Qing's side. Once, he drank a lot of wine and revealed some secrets. He said... he had a Half-Saint Sacred Intent painting, and it was an authentic work. He found it in a Half-Saint ruin. It was his most precious treasure."
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