Chapter 149: The Rats

Rift City is arguably one of the most wicked cities in the entire Skyrim Province, and perhaps the only thing that can compare to it is Marcus City, which is filled with silver and blood. In this cold and damp city, the only one who controls everything is the female lord Marwen, who controls everything with commerce. Black Thorns. The Black Thorns have a vast estate spread throughout Skyrim, and their best helpers are the thieves' guild that inhabit the underside of Rift City.

"Hey, the entrance fee! Outlanders! ”

Su Jing glanced at him lightly, and the guard guarding the city gate suddenly looked a little confused. He hesitated for a moment, then hesitated and said, "Uh...... Maybe you don't have to pay...... Please come in. ”

"Thank you for your reasonableness, sir."

Unlike the dry cold of Stormhelm City, the cold of Rift City is a kind of gloomy cold, damp cold. It was foggy, and the rotten wooden buildings were covered with black stains, as if they were crawling with some kind of moss. The people who live here have rather indifferent eyes, and everyone's movements are full of defense.

"This gentleman, do you need a guide?" A man with a mustache walked up and rubbed his hands together, "I've always known everyone in Rift City, so I can tell at a glance that you're not from ours. From High Rock? I guess. Because you resemble the people of Brighton...... Don't mind if I'm wrong. ”

Su Jing looked him up and down a few times and nodded slightly.

"Okay, so what did you come to Rift Valley for? I'm guessing you're here to do business, aren't you? ”

"Oh? Interesting. Doing business? Why do you think so? Su Jing asked with a little interest.

"Hey, what we're doing. Discerning other people's occupations is a basic skill. The mustachioed man explained, "I noticed that you don't have calluses on your hands. And the ...... is dressed Very rich. Not a farmer, not a warrior. Then either a merchant or a nobleman. But you're alone and unguarded, so ...... It's impossible to come here to see the sewers. The world is not peaceful now, like you...... It's like a small business, but judging by your bearing and the way you speak, I don't think you're such an inferior person. I think you may be a mage, and you may have come here to ...... Trading in magical materials? I happened to know that there is a good shop in Ludao that specializes in alchemy materials......"

The mustache was gushing, and as soon as Su Jing grabbed his shoulder, the other party subconsciously shook it, but he didn't shake it off.

"I want to know the location of the Thieves' Guild. Do you know who is here to endorse the Thieves' Guild? It is possible to inquire about some information through him. I'm here to buy some lost magic items......"

"Uh...... Sir, can you let me go first? The mustache delicately moved his shoulders out of Su Jing's hands, "The Thieves' Guild has always been a key publicity project for the city's tourism industry, mysterious, powerful, and walking in the shadows...... Sounds pretty good. But as you might have guessed, there's no such thing at all, it's all just a rumor......"

Su Jing took out a wallet from his waist, so that the mustache could hear the crisp sound of the gold coins colliding with each other.

“………… All right. The one who can speak directly to the thieves' guild here is ...... Blinkev too. It is said that he himself is a member of the thieves' guild, and his status is not low. The mustache changed his tone in an instant, and he twisted his fingers. "If you can give me a part of the payment," said greedily, "I can contact Mr. Blinkev for you, and then he can discuss the specifics of the intelligence deal with you." ”

Su Jing counted out ten gold coins from his wallet. Stuffed into the moustache hand.

Fifteen minutes later, Su Jing rented a room in Honey and Poet, a tavern (and inn) in Rift Valley. Then after waiting for a few minutes, there was a knock on the door.

A large man with a masked face walked in. Sitting on a small table in the guest room, he asked in a sullen voice, "What information do you want to buy?" ”

"Wintercastle Helmet. I wonder where it is. Or rather, in whose hands? ”

"Please wait a moment."

The big man walked out of the alley and then came back about five minutes later.

"This news is worth one hundred and fifty gold coins."

"Deal."

Su Jing put the heavy big money bag on the table, and the robber on the opposite side cautiously counted it, and the gold coins in it were roughly above three or four hundred. He carefully counted out one hundred and fifty of them, put them on the table, and then pushed the rest back to Su Jing.

"The Winterhold Helm is in Rift Valley right now. A gang of robbers dug it out of the grave, and one of the old fellows, Antu, recognized it as the Wintercastle helmet. They wanted to come to Rift Valley and sell the helmet to the Thieves' Guild. We naturally have the channels to find the right buyer for this thing after that. ”

The big man finished the news in one breath and looked at Su Jing, who raised his eyebrows and nodded, which was regarded as an endorsement of the news. The big man breathed a sigh of relief and swept the gold coins into his purse. Turn around and walk out the door. Su Jing stroked his chin slightly, and his spirit had already attached to the demon hunting insect, stalking the big man.

The big man walked out of the guest room and went down to the first floor, where the previous mustache was sitting in a corner of the tavern, and the big man nodded to him, signaling that the task was complete. The mustache stood up and walked out of "Honey and the Poet" with the big man.

Exiting the hotel, the two walked through the narrow alley and down the wooden staircase into the passage leading to the underground waterway. On the edge of Rift Valley is Lake Henrich, and the two of them are now located to the east of Lake Henrich. It's lower than the city's, filled with the smell of water and the faint smell of garbage. After passing through an entire stretch of slums, the two stood at a low, dilapidated iron doorway that looked like the lowest point of the city, like a drain in the Rift Valley.

The two of them entered the intestines of the city.

After entering this low and gloomy corridor, the expressions of the two relaxed a little. The big man opened his mouth and asked the mustache: "Mr. Brynchev, Antu's group is talking to us about business, why are we going to sell their information?" ”

The mustache, or rather Bryynchev of the Thieves' Guild, sneered and said softly:

"Those greedy guys are asking for too much, eight hundred gold coins - what do they think this is? A broken helmet, not a sacred relic of Talos, but just the wearing of an ancient lord of Winterhold, dare to shout such a high price? Old Delvin carefully identified it, and it was worth up to three hundred gold coins. They can't help it if they don't accept it, this new guy is a dangerous person, let's just watch them eat black. ”

"Dangerous people? This white and tender boy? The big man couldn't believe it, "I don't think so." I see that he still has a lot of money, and we might be able to make a deal for nothing......"

"How many times have you said that we'd better steal less in Rift City. We still have to live here, and if you kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, you won't be afraid that the Lord of Black Thorns will skin you? Blinkev rebuked impatiently, "And we are thieves, not robbers who kill people and oversell goods." If you like to kill people and steal money, you can try to join the Dark Brotherhood, why do you want to hang out in this shabby place? ”

"Uh...... I'm sorry, Mr. Blinkhov. ”

The figures of the two gradually disappeared into the corridor.

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Three hours later, the big man reappeared on the streets of Rift Valley. After turning around, he walked to the door of the warehouse of a winery and knocked on the door. A gloomy and hoarse voice came from inside:

"Who is it?"

"I'm here to bring you news."

The door to the warehouse opened, and inside, five or six Nord men and women in filthy leather jackets sat on the floor. The one who opened the door looked particularly old, with gray-white messy hair tied in a heap, and a murderous cold light flashing in his triangular eyes.

"What offer did you bring this time?" The old man said gloomily, "It is impossible to be less than five hundred, and five hundred gold coins is our bottom line." ”

"No, not that. This time I'm going to bring you a message, and you can figure out for yourself how much this news is worth. The big man said unhurriedly.

"Tell me about it."

"Someone has their eyes on your helmet and bought us your information."

"You betrayed us?!" The old man gripped the mace at his waist, and the rest of the Nord robbers stood up.

"No—we just told him that the helmet was in Rift Valley. He just knows that there is your existence, but he still doesn't know your position. Now, if you want to know the first-hand information about this man, including his appearance, his clothes, ......" the big man held out his hand, "weigh for yourselves how much this news is worth." ”

Three minutes later, the big man grabbed a few gold coins in his hand and walked out dissatisfied.

"A bunch of poor ghosts! That's all ......."

He looked up just in time to see a black Brighton man (or rather a Brighton-looking) in a silk robe approaching, the long-haired fellow greeted him kindly, and Shi Shiran walked past him towards the warehouse.

The big man froze in place, with only one question on his mind:

How did he follow me?!

Then, he heard the door to the warehouse behind him open, followed by several screams and shouts, followed by the sound of sharp objects slashing into the body and breaking bones.

The big man turned his head, and he saw that the door of the warehouse was tightly closed, and a large pool of blood was gradually spilling out of the ground. The battle inside seemed to be drawing to a close, and he heard the old robber's wails and begs for mercy, which ended with a crisp click.

He shuddered and decided to run away and never look at it again. (To be continued......)