Da Xuan Martial Saint

Wu River is a river that runs along the eastern edge of Yu County, where the Yu State Government Office is located, and it also serves as the border between Yu County and Lin Prefecture, dividing them apart.

Heading north along this river will lead to Bi Prefecture and Lang Prefecture, while heading south will take you to the most remote Yu County.

"This is the Wu River, indeed true to its name."

After Chen Mu quietly departed from the State Government Office, he traveled eastward, and with his current speed, he hadn't reached the midpoint of the day before arriving at the edge of Yu County, coming to the banks of the Wu River.

At this time, he stood with his hands behind his back on the riverbank, watching the rolling waters come from the end of his line of sight. The waters appeared murky, with a deep brown, raven color, created from a type of black sand carried from underground – a spectacle different from any other river he had seen before.

Black Sand.

An exceptional type of sand material, construction using it yields walls as firm as iron, such as those of the State Government Office's city walls that employed a large amount of Black Sand, and many fortresses built by various Momentum used this material as well.

As Chen Mu was surveying the waters, he saw a boat crossing the cloudy river, with two figures aboard, an old man, about fifty or sixty years old, and a little girl, about eleven or twelve years old.

"Would you like to cross the river, sir?"

The old man, pushing the boat pole, saw Chen Mu from afar on the bank and actively approached, asking him.

"Alright."

Chen Mu glanced at the old man, stepped towards the riverbank with an indifferent expression, and then boarded the small boat with a single step.

Seeing Chen Mu step onto the boat and stand there without sitting down, the old man chuckled and reminded him, "You might want to sit down, sir. Although this is the calmest part of the river, the current is still rapacious, and if the Dragon King of water flips, it would be a serious matter."

"Sir, please sit here."

The little girl sitting in the boat said softly.
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After hearing the old man's advice, Chen Mu was about to decline, but upon seeing the little girl moving aside to make space, he shook his head lightly and took a seat beside her.

The old man, after watching Chen Mu sit down, pushed the boat pole and steered the small boat slowly into the river.

Chen Mu observed the girl in front of him, noticing her somewhat sallow and skinny appearance, which looked like she wasn't well-fed. He asked, "I heard that in this area around Wu River, people live off the river. Although there's hardly any fish in the waters, mining Black Sand can be exchanged for quite a sum of Silver Coins. This job of ferrying passengers across seems less lucrative than mining Black Sand?"

The old man, while propelling the boat, shook his head with a bitter smile after hearing Chen Mu's words, and said, "It seems, sir, that you are a foreigner. This Black Sand is indeed valuable, and in the early years, one could make enough for a family just by working. But starting eleven years ago, not only has the purchasing price for Black Sand been continuously lowered, but those who do this work also need to pay 'protection money' to boat gangs; after my child's parents died in a water accident years ago, as an old man working alone, I couldn't even afford to pay the 'protection money' anymore."

Eleven years ago.

That was precisely the time when the intelligence reported that the Iron Hand Gang began to gradually control the boat gangs along the Wu River.

A thought flashed across Chen Mu's mind, as he slightly shook his head. This situation was indeed no different from that of the State Government Office – the work people did was enough for clothing and feeding, but after suffering from multiple layers of exploitation, life became hard.

"What about selling Black Sand directly to outside regions?"

Chen Mu asked another question.

The old man shook his head repeatedly after hearing this, saying, "These ten miles and eight villages are all under the Zhang family's boat gang's territory. Where could we sell it? Besides, if one dares to bypass them and sell Black Sand outside, and gets caught, that would be... Sir, you're not here to buy Black Sand, are you? If you are thinking about doing this business, you really should drop the idea. Last month a group of outsiders came to buy Black Sand, directly mining from our village, and when the boat gang found out, a bunch of heads were hung at the ferry crossing the next day."

As he spoke, the old man involuntarily shivered, and a trace of fear appeared in his eyes.

Chen Mu, listening to this, directed his gaze towards the rolling, murky river waters, his eyes calm. Right beneath their feet lay valuable Black Sand, inexhaustible yet not able to be used to sustain a family. The collapsed state administration and collusion between officials and bandits couldn't be more evident.

This situation wouldn't be resolved simply by destroying the boat gangs and the Iron Hand Gang – the boat gangs were made up of local people, eradicate one group and another would emerge; the same was true for the Iron Hand Gang. But his visit wasn't about rescuing the troubled and needy, just about borrowing some resources from the Iron Hand Gang. If, incidentally, he could improve the lives of the people along the Wu River for a while, it would also align with his sense of integrity.