"Anything brought down from the mountains is always covered with black cloth," Zuan Shanbao mused. "No one is allowed to see it before it's taken inside."

"Those who get something usually don't talk about it. They just tie half a hemp rope to their door to indicate whether the item is for sale."

"They always move the items into their houses first. If the rope is still hanging after seven days, it means the item is for sale. Anyone interested can go inside and negotiate a price. If the price is right, they'll bring it out."

"But if the rope is gone after seven days, someone has to go inside to carry out the body. The body can come out, but the item will be long gone. No one knows where it went."

Seeing my disbelief, Zuan Shanbao quickly added, "Li Tangzhu, I'm not making this up! When those people go in to carry out a body, they have to open every door and window they can. That's to show everyone they're being honest."

I nodded. "I heard this place has been around for a while. How did Yunyin Village come about?"

Zuan Shanbao said, "Well, I can't say for sure about the specifics."

"I just heard that someone who specialized in stealing from ghosts passed through here a long time ago and went into the mountains. He never came out."

"That person was carrying a supreme treasure of the Daoist School of Thieves. If that thing is lost, no one can be the top thief. So, the people from the Daoist School of Thieves came after him."

"At first, they just set up camp here. Later, I don't know how, they built a village, and more and more Daoist School of Thieves masters came here. Eventually, Yunyin Village was formed."

"Let's put it this way, calling this place Yunyin Village isn't really accurate. It should be called Yunyin Gathering instead. The Daoist School of Thieves masters who come here usually don't stay long, maybe half a year at most."

"And some people come more often, while others come less."

I asked, "Are there more people from the Daoist School of Thieves or more lone thieves in Yunyin Village?"

"About the same!" Zuan Shanbao said. "There are a lot of freelancers here. People from the Daoist School of Thieves and Kongmen are here."

What Zuan Shanbao said was similar to my own deductions.

The Daoist School of Thieves never acts without benefit. If there wasn't something attractive enough in Yunlin Mountain, these people wouldn't stay here permanently.

The truly powerful experts on the path of empty-handed thievery are often lone thieves. They don't stay in one place for too long; half a year is their limit. The fact that they frequently come to Yunyin Village suggests that it's not just for some Daoist School of Thieves token.

Even if a lone thief got the token, they couldn't unify the Daoist School of Thieves and become the leader of all thieves. What attracts them must be a secret burial.

I asked curiously, "Brother, according to you, this is Daoist School of Thieves territory. Aren't you afraid of their retaliation for trying to make a living here?"

"Heh..." Zuan Shanbao chuckled bitterly. "The reason I can live in Yunyin Village is thanks to the reputation of the Northeast Four Great Beams!"

"Think about it, the Daoist School of Thieves and Kongmen people all come from outside. Can the Northeast bandits' Four Great Beams, the local watchdogs, and the Mountain Wardens, tolerate them making a living under their noses?"

"Not long after they arrived, bandit gangs came knocking. But the gangs that came weren't top-tier, and after a few skirmishes, the bandits suffered heavy losses."

"The gangs at the time couldn't swallow this humiliation, so they found the Northeast Four Great Beams. The Four Great Beams went to Yunyin Village together and engaged in a fierce fight with the Daoist School of Thieves."

"Legend has it that the Four Great Beams almost destroyed Yunyin Village that time. The Daoist School of Thieves and Kongmen also began to recruit more experts, determined to compete with the Four Great Beams."

"As a result, the Four Great Beams also issued a Green Forest Arrow. You have to know, once the Green Forest Arrow is out, every gang in the Northeast with a reputation has to give them some face. Even some of the petty warlords at the time had to remember their old brotherhood when they were bandits and send reinforcements."

"If that battle really started, the Green Forest Path and the Kong Path would have become mortal enemies."

"At that time, my ancestors could speak to people on both sides, and after several rounds of mediation, both sides took a step back. The Kong Path people compensated several gangs with money and promised not to do business outside of Yunlin Mountain. Only then did both sides call it quits."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but ask, "According to you, the Four Great Beams should also know the Kong Path's purpose. Aren't they interested in the things in Yunlin Mountain?"

Zuan Shanbao said mysteriously, "You're right about that."

"Back then, Xiasanlang and Zuoshanhu really did have designs on Yunlin Mountain. However, Panshanying, the strategist, told them, 'Yunlin Mountain is a place of death. Unless someone opens the pass, no one can think about going up Yunlin Mountain.'"

"Panshanying ranks first among the Four Great Beams and is known as the 'Top Beam' because they can predict things accurately. What they say always comes true. Naturally, no one else dares to act."

Lin Zhao asked curiously, "What does 'open the pass' mean?"

Zuan Shanbao smiled. "That's Northeast slang."

"In the Northeast, there are some mountains that people don't dare to climb and ghosts don't dare to enter. Unless someone carves out a path and leaves a way out for those who enter the mountain, no one dares to search for food on the mountain."

"This person is called a 'pathfinder,' and the act is called 'opening the pass.'"

Zuan Shanbao paused here and said, "The reason people on the Kong Path are gathering here is because the one who 'opens the pass' is coming."