Lin Gui had no idea that his entrance into the guild had already drawn the attention of many people.
He walked straight toward the Transport Guild's map sales area.
His pace was neither fast nor slow; the soles of his boots tapped against the marble floor with a steady and rhythmic sound.
His gaze swept across the signs on both sides of the hall, and he quickly found his destination.
Behind the counter sat a scrawny old man.
He wore reading glasses with temples tied together with hemp twine—obviously an old item used for many years.
He was looking through a thick ledger with yellowed and curled pages that looked like they had been flipped through countless times.
His eyes narrowed into a slit behind his lenses, and his lips twitched slightly as if he were mentally calculating something.
His finger moved slowly across the paper, and dark ink stains were embedded in his fingernails.
Lin Gui pulled a folded piece of paper from his robes, unfolded it, and handed it over.
It was the second long-distance delivery route he had marked.
Departing from Dragonbone City, crossing the Southern Tundra, Whitecliff City, Wind-Whisper Canyon, Watchtower Keep...
Then plunging straight into the Withered Wood Wasteland.
Coming out of the Withered Wood Wasteland, then plunging back in again.
And then the Cursed Swamp, Bone Highlands, Ash Rift, and Red Clay Desert.
The old man took the paper and glanced at it.
His expression turned strange.
His brows furrowed slightly as if he weren't quite sure of what he was seeing.
He looked up and glanced at Lin Gui, his cloudy eyes carrying a hint of scrutiny.
Then he lowered his head again, his withered finger pointing at the route through the Withered Wood Wasteland.
“From Watchtower Keep, through the western Withered Wood Wasteland, to Withered Wood Town?”
He paused as if waiting for Lin Gui to confirm.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take a detour?”
“If you go through Wind Wolf Ridge to the north, it’s a bit further, but it’s much safer.”
Lin Gui said, “I’m sure.”
He paused for a moment.
“On this path, is there no Golden Route developed by a Gold Rank adventure group?”
The corner of the old man's mouth twitched, revealing an expression that was part bitter smile and part disdain.
“A Golden Route through a Forbidden Zone?”
“Is that something a Gold Rank adventure group can handle?”
His tone carried an indescribable quality, as if he thought Lin Gui was dreaming.
“Even if the Withered Wood Wasteland doesn't rank among the worst, it's still a Forbidden Zone with more than ten Epic demons.”
Lin Gui asked, “Is there none then?”
The old man remained silent for a while.
He took off his reading glasses, wiped the lenses with his sleeve, and put them back on.
Then he lowered his head and rummaged under the counter.
After a long time, he finally pulled one out from a pile of yellowed paper rolls.
The edges of the paper roll were frayed and worn, and a layer of light mold spots on the surface emitted the scent of old paper.
“There is one,” his voice said flatly.
“But it was developed four years ago.”
“As for the accuracy...”
He did not finish his sentence.
But the meaning was very clear.
A four-year-old map.
In the wilderness, four years was enough for a group of demons to move house several times.
Lin Gui looked at the rolled-up parchment and said plainly, “I’ll take it.”
“Are there Golden Routes for the other segments?”
“Give me one of each.”
The old man did not ask any more questions. He turned around and pulled several more rolled parchment scrolls from under the counter.
Each one was tied with thin hemp rope and had a yellowed label indicating the route's name and the year it was developed.
He spread them out one by one on the counter, his fingers pressing against the corners to prevent them from curling back up.
Afterward, Lin Gui bought some of the latest city-state maps and a map of the Akara Continent.
Even though he had already bought some in the Carter Royal Capital.
But in the Dark Age, geographical information and city-state demographics changed almost constantly.
Because of the demons, because of the Dark Tide, and because of those city-states that could disappear from the map at any time.
He bought about eight maps in total.
It cost him nearly six million gold coins.
Lin Gui's face looked as sour as a bitter melon.
His brows were knit together, his lips were pressed into a line, and he looked as if all the strength had been drained from his body.
He stared at the pile of maps on the counter and then at the storage space where his funds were kept.
The space that had been packed full of gold coins was now empty across a large area.
Ultimately, he still paid the money.
A pile of gold coins mixed with Stellar Coins was transferred from his storage space to his messenger bag, and then taken out of the bag and placed on the counter by Lin Gui.
The gold coins landed on the wooden counter with a dull clatter.
The old man wordlessly counted them one by one, his fingers flying in a motion as practiced as if he were counting beans.
In the end, he had traded all that for eight pieces of paper.
If he hadn't made a fortune from the abandoned belongings of those escaping high nobles, Lin Gui truly wouldn't have had the money to pay.
As for the assets of the Hyena's Fang, Lin Gui had tallied them afterward.
That arrogant local gang only had less than five hundred thousand gold coins in total.
It seemed most of their dirty money had been used to curry favor with the upper levels.
Lin Gui sighed.
It was a long sigh, as if he were trying to exhale all the gloom in his chest.
He had gone from being suddenly wealthy to impoverished once more.
Excluding the treasures that couldn't be liquidated in a short time, Lin Gui only had a few tens of thousands of gold coins left.
He could barely afford the upkeep for Elvia anymore.
He gathered the maps and turned to leave.
He needed to purchase other necessities.
Dry rations, potions, wilderness survival equipment, and some knight's armor for Elvia that could actually withstand damage.
The crude plate armor she had bought in Dragonbone City was rusting at the joints and had several cracks on the pauldrons; it was completely inadequate for the dangers of the wilderness.
Just as Lin Gui was about to leave, a voice called out to him.
“Excuse me, Mage Lord, please wait a moment.”
The voice was not loud, but it was clear, carrying a deliberately lowered tone of gentleness.
Lin Gui turned his head and found a middle-aged man standing behind him.
He wore refined deep blue robes, with a golden brooch pinned to his collar.
The gemstone set in the brooch refracted a gentle luster under the candlelight, marking it as something far from ordinary.
He wore two rings on his fingers—not large, but very delicate, with their faces polished to a smooth shine.
He was a merchant, and not a small peddler, but one with significant wealth.
He wore a kind smile, his eyes curving into two crescent moons that made him seem very approachable.
But within those eyes was hidden a shrewd light that was busy sizing up goods.
He bowed slightly, keeping his posture very low. “May we speak elsewhere?”
Lin Gui looked at him with a strange expression.
A merchant proactively seeking him out, a man who had offended the City Lord?
The reactions of the surrounding merchants were also strange.
They didn't seem surprised at all that this merchant had approached him.
Lin Gui withdrew his gaze and looked at the kindly smiling middle-aged man before him, saying bluntly, “The transport team I belong to has no intention of engaging in trade.”
With that, he turned to walk away.
“Mage Lord, please wait!”
The merchant quickly caught up and blocked his path.
The smile on his face remained unchanged, but his tone became more direct: “I have a recently developed Golden Route map from Watchtower Keep through the western Withered Wood Wasteland to Withered Wood Town.”
Lin Gui’s footsteps halted.
He turned his head to look at the merchant, his gaze full of scrutiny and doubt.
“You have a route that the Transport Guild doesn't even have?”
Whether it was a route developed by a Gold Rank adventure group or a route developed by a transport team itself, they would ultimately choose to sell the map through the Transport Guild as an agent because the rewards were extremely high.
No one would turn away money unless it was an exclusive route.
Like how the North Wind caravan crossed the Silent Sea—hiding it and not making it public.
The merchant smiled, a trace of bitterness in his expression.
“The caravan I belong to had a privately developed trade route; it was exclusive.”
Lin Gui’s brow furrowed.
“A caravan?”
He paused. “Since you have your own caravan, why seek me out instead of having your own caravan transport the goods?”
Transport teams were divided into many types.
Some were specifically for private commercial groups and were called caravans or chambers of commerce.
Freya's North Wind caravan was of this type.
There were also transport teams that carried any cargo; the merchants waiting in the Transport Guild were looking for them.
As for the rest, there were many, many others: those who ran short distances, those who ran long distances, those specializing in Forbidden Zones, those for transporting wealth, and those for escorting important figures.
The bitterness on the merchant's face deepened.
He lowered his head and said softly, “Our caravan... has already died on the road.”
He looked up at Lin Gui.
“The soul lamps have all been extinguished.”
Lin Gui did not speak.
The merchant continued, “Hardly any transport teams are running the route from Watchtower Keep through the western Withered Wood Wasteland to Withered Wood Town.”
“Except for the 7-Copper Post Office.”
“I have also seen the route map displayed outside the post office.”
His tone carried a hint of earnestness.
“I imagine letters shouldn't take up much space.”
“So, could you possibly take our goods along with you?”
He took a deep breath.
“I will pay with the Golden Route map our caravan used to traverse the Withered Wood Wasteland for generations.”
“Even though it’s been over a year, the landmarks, terrain, and common demon species marked along the way should still be helpful for your journey.”
“I will also pay you a reward.”
“What do you think?”
Lin Gui narrowed his eyes.
He did indeed need the Golden Route map for that Forbidden Zone.
Crossing the Withered Wood Wasteland wasn't particularly difficult for him, but having a route map could save a lot of time and avoid many unnecessary troubles.
He was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Our transport team already has its original transport commissions.”
“The Transport Guild there...”
He did not finish his sentence, but the merchant understood.
To prevent transport teams from making side profits or overloading cargo mid-journey, transport commissions had corresponding rules and constraints.
At the very least, they couldn't go through the Transport Guild's official procedures on the surface.
The merchant nodded and lowered his voice, “We can trade privately.”
Lin Gui looked at him.
This was exactly what he had hoped for.
His transport team was a fake; going through the Transport Guild would almost certainly lead to exposure.
“Take me to see the goods.”
The merchant smiled, a look of relief on his face.
“This way, please.”
The warehouse was in an alley at the end of the main street.
It wasn't large, but it was very clean.
Two guards stood at the entrance. Seeing the merchant, they nodded and stepped aside.
The merchant pushed open the door and stepped aside to let Lin Gui in first.
Inside the warehouse were several wooden boxes—four in total—each three meters long and one meter wide.
They were tightly sealed, with black sealant applied to the joints of the wooden boards.
Lin Gui noticed that a very faint magical fluctuation also seemed to envelop the boxes; it was a protection designed to prevent peering.
It seemed these goods... were not for public eyes.
Lin Gui turned to look at the merchant.
The merchant smiled naturally, “We will pay three times the standard reward.”
Lin Gui nodded, asking no further questions.
He walked up to a wooden box, reaching out to press his palm against its surface while glancing at the merchant watching from the side out of the corner of his eye.
Then he began to chant.
“Breath of lightness, ethereal feather.”
“Shed your burden, rise with the wind.”
“Ascend.”
His voice was not loud, but it was clear.
As the spell was cast, the wooden box moved.
It slowly rose from the ground and floated in mid-air, remaining motionless as if held up by an invisible hand.
The merchant's eyes widened.
He stared at the wooden box floating in the air, then at Lin Gui. His lips moved for a long while before he could manage to speak.
“I know why Miss Selena was so proactive in approaching you.”
His form of address changed from “you” to “Lord.”
As a merchant who dealt with the Transport Guild year-round, he understood all too well what Levitation meant for a transport team.
Regardless of strength, as long as one knew Levitation, they didn't need to take an assessment or undergo the incredibly difficult team interviews; they could join a team directly and enjoy a salary only veterans received.
Particularly, the other party's mastery of Levitation was astonishing. That chant just now had taken no more than ten seconds, the fastest the merchant had ever seen.
But what he didn't know was that this was a chant Lin Gui had deliberately faked to avoid drawing attention.
If he wanted to, he could make it fly with just a thought.
Lin Gui withdrew his hand, and the wooden box slowly settled back onto the ground.
He turned around to face the merchant.
“I can agree to this deal on behalf of my transport team.”
As a possessor of Levitation, Lin Gui truly had the authority to represent the team.
“Can you tell me where I need to deliver them?”
The merchant's smile became somewhat mysterious.
He shook his head: “Once you deliver the goods to Withered Wood Town, someone will go there to collect them.”
“At that time, you will also receive the other half of the reward.”
He pulled a folded piece of paper from his robes and handed it to Lin Gui.
“This is the advance payment.”
Lin Gui took it and unfolded it.
It was a bank voucher with a string of numbers written on it: three million gold coins.
Lin Gui’s eyebrows shot up.
Three million—even more than double what triple the market rate would have been.
What surprised him even more was the signature at the bottom of the voucher: Grant Dalton.
It was actually someone from the Dalton family, the greatest nobles of Whitecliff City.
Lin Gui looked up at the merchant.
The merchant met his gaze and bowed slightly.
“This is an apology for the rudeness of our family's knights a few days ago.”
“The extra double payment is a peace offering.”
Lin Gui stared at the voucher for a while before putting it away and nodding.
“Deal.”
At the moment he accepted the voucher, the long-absent voice rang out in his mind.
【Ding! Special Commission triggered!】
【Content: Complete the transport commission for the Dalton family.】
【Reward: A random max-mastery Transcendent magic with a selectable specialization.】
【Risk Warning: Withered Wood Wasteland is a Forbidden Zone inhabited by powerful Legendary and Epic demons; please ensure you avoid demon activity zones.】
The triggering of the system quest was unexpected.
While Lin Gui was dazed, the merchant smiled mysteriously and said one last thing.
“By the way, if someone comes to collect the goods midway, you don't need to reach Withered Wood Town; just give the goods to them directly.”
“Also, please inform the other members of your transport team not to attempt to break or inspect the goods inside.”
“That will cause the magic to fail, and the people coming to collect the goods in Withered Wood Town will be unable to find the location.”
Having said that, the merchant departed.
He left Lin Gui alone, looking at the supplies behind him with a trace of uncertainty.
Rate on N.U.
