"Is there a small trading session you might be interested in?"
A broker who often lingered around the Gu Family's shop intentionally struck up a conversation with him; in reality, he was a lackey of the Gu Family's shop, specifically engaged in the dirty work of connecting deals and setting traps. Should he succeed, he'd earn a small fortune, and if he failed, he'd take the fall for his employers, assuming all the responsibility. Outsider cultivators who had been duped wouldn't always stay around to seek redress. Once the dust settled, with the Gu Family smoothing things over, he could continue his business.
In the Cultivation trading market, there were many such people, tangled in a web of interests, their affairs indecipherable to those outside their circle.