Chapter 150: Senior Brother, We Are the Righteous path
Dong—dong dong—
The morning bell rang, and the sun slowly peeked its head from behind the mountains.
After two days of recovery, Du Chun City had regained its vitality. Carriages and horses never stopped on the streets, and shops had removed their wooden planks and reopened. A long line of people still queued in front of the Jiang Mansion, pretending to be “Jiang Yu.”
The only difference was that temporary restrictions against demonic cultivators had been set up throughout Du Chun City, and the searches at the city gates were more rigorous than usual.
Ye Anping, dressed in a black brocade robe, sat with his junior sister on the second floor of a teahouse in the city, enjoying tea and stories.
Clack—
The sound of the wooden clapper hitting the stand startled everyone. The young scholar, dressed as a scholar, slightly adjusted his sleeves and flicked his fan:
“Today, I will tell you all about the inside story of the Chi Long Rebellion a few days ago. It is rumored that this rebellion was the work of the Tian Mo Sect. The Tian Mo Sect had one Nascent Soul cultivator and three Core Formation cultivators, who set up a Blood Spirit Formation, attempting to turn the thousand li surrounding Chi Long Mountain into a dead land.”
“Although Immortal Master Li possesses great powers, he is advanced in age. Fighting five opponents alone was strenuous. In the end, to protect Chi Long Mountain, he shattered his core to fight the enemy, and finally, he turned that group of Tian Mo Sect disciples to ashes.”
The scholar raised a cup of tea on the table and said, “This cup of tea is for Immortal Master Li. May he rest in peace!!”
The audience echoed, “For Immortal Master Li.”
Then, the storyteller closed his fan with a snap and said:
“However, today we are not talking about Immortal Master Li, but about four people.”
Someone asked confusedly, “Four people?”
“Yes, you may not know, but if it weren’t for the secret assistance of these four people during this demonic cultivator rebellion, I would not have the opportunity to tell stories and chat with you here today.”
The audience below became curious, and someone immediately asked:
“Then who are these four people?”
Clack—
“Well asked!!” The storyteller clapped the wooden clapper and took a deep breath. “Unfortunately, I don’t know either.”
The audience below let out a cheer:
“““Hoo—”””
The storyteller quickly waved his hands and continued:
“However, these four people are indeed extraordinary. It is rumored that the soaring Golden Dragon that appeared in Chi Long Mansion that day was summoned by these four people. That Golden Dragon was filled with immortal spiritual energy, strongly resembling the Golden Flood Dragon that accompanied the Saint Emperor back then. It might even be a descendant of the Saint Emperor. As for the other three, I have a guess, please listen carefully.”
The scholar swept his gaze across the audience, seeing their curiosity piqued, and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“I suspect that two of them are the Young Master and the Young Madam of our Du Chun City Dragon Slaying Society!!!”
?
Hearing this, Ye Anping, who had just picked up his tea to drink, stopped his hand, and his brows furrowed slightly.
At this moment, other listeners asked, “On what basis do you make this guess?”
“Please be patient, everyone, and listen as I slowly explain. First, when the demonic cultivator rebellion began that day, those in Du Chun City must have seen the members of the Dragon Slaying Society reminding everyone to stay indoors, so as to avoid that strange Scarlet Snow, right?”
“Secondly, I heard from the servants of the Jiang Mansion that Young Master Jiang has been in seclusion since then, seemingly suffering from a severe injury. Even after two days of rest, there has been no news…”
…
Ye Anping’s face was filled with gloom. He put down his teacup and looked at Pei Lianxue, who was dozing off beside him, and let out a faint sigh. He then took out a few spirit stones from his sleeve and placed them on the table, preparing to “withdraw after accomplishing the deed, leaving no trace of merit.”
However, as he stood up, he saw Liang Zhu coming up from the first floor of the teahouse.
Liang Zhu glanced at the teahouse patrons and walked up to him, his eyes twitching, complaining:
“Heh, Sixth Brother, you sure have a lot of leisure time, coming to listen to stories?”
Ye Anping gave a stiff smile. He knew where Liang Zhu’s current emotions were coming from.
The Dragon Slaying Society had been extremely busy for the past two days.
After the demonic cultivator invasion, nearly a hundred members of the Dragon Slaying Society in Chi Long Mansion had died, many shops in Du Chun City were damaged, and the original stable supply channels were also cut off… There were countless such trivial matters to handle.
And he and Pei Lianxue had been either sunbathing and eating watermelon in the courtyard or being intimate in the bedroom, cultivating and meditating. This forced Liang Zhu to work while injured, and he hadn’t had much rest for the past two days.
“Brother Liang, I’ll give you some bonus later.”
“Heh!”
Liang Zhu rolled his eyes and sat beside him.
“The situation of the chambers of commerce in Du Chun City is currently unstable. Earlier, during the meeting of the branch masters, they argued fiercely about this matter. I want to hear your opinion.”
“Argued?”
“The news of Li Feng’s death has spread. Various chambers of commerce in the city are preparing to move out of Du Chun City and find new patrons. Everyone has lost confidence in Miss Li, believing that Chi Long Mansion will disappear within a few months. The branch masters of the Dragon Slaying Society have also proposed to make preparations in advance and find new patrons.”
Ye Anping pouted as he listened. He had anticipated these events.
After all, businessmen, whether cultivators or mortals, prioritized profit. Moreover, their foresight was far beyond that of ordinary people. While ordinary people were still at ease because the dust had settled, they were already considering future matters.
To them, the current Chi Long Mansion was like a gamble.
—Should they bet their fortunes on Li Longling, believing she could uphold Chi Long Mansion?
—Or should they switch their allegiance to someone else and seek a new path?
Undoubtedly, no one would choose to bet their chips on Li Longling, a little girl who was blind and had only reached Qi Refining Completion.
Chi Long Mansion currently had Xuan Xing Sect Young Master Xiao Yunluo holding the fort, so they didn’t dare to make any drastic moves. But once Xiao Yunluo left, Li Longling alone would not be able to retain the chambers of commerce within Chi Long Mansion.
Without the chambers of commerce, there would be no circulation, and Chi Long Mansion would lose its financial resources. The chain reaction would eventually lead to internal strife.
The ordinary mansion guards who couldn’t receive their monthly wages would team up to force their way in and snatch things.
In the game, Li Longling did encounter such a situation.
Although she managed to get through it with the help of the personal guards left by her father, she paid a rather heavy price.
Chi Long Mansion suffered a severe setback, and it wasn’t until she reached Core Formation that the situation improved.
Ye Anping sighed and looked at Liang Zhu, asking:
“Brother Liang, would you bet on Miss Li?”
Liang Zhu was silent for a moment and shook his head slightly.
“Her actions and internal management are beyond doubt, but her cultivation is only Qi Refining Completion, so she cannot deter others, let alone being blind. In terms of a gamble, her odds are one hundred to one.”
“That’s true.” Ye Anping shrugged slightly and said, “Brother Liang, could you help me find a few cultivators who are blind?”
“Blind cultivators?” Liang Zhu frowned slightly and asked, “Do you have a way to cure her eyes?”
“As you said, Brother Liang, the odds are one hundred to one. If we win, we can multiply our gains a hundredfold.” Ye Anping smiled, rested his chin on his hand, and thought for a moment. “Also, help me spread the word.”
“En?”
“Spread the word that Chi Long Valley, outside Chi Long Mansion, houses a reclusive cultivator who can cure Miss Li’s eye condition.”
“… You want to use this news to stabilize the city’s chambers of commerce first?”
“En.”
Liang Zhu pondered for a moment, not questioning whether Ye Anping had a way to cure her eyes, and got up to prepare to carry out the task.
However, after he had taken a few steps, Ye Anping suddenly spoke again.
“Oh, there’s one more thing I need to trouble you with.”
Liang Zhu turned back and asked, “What is it?”
“I went to check yesterday, and besides the spirit stone notes and some miscellaneous items, the Jiang Mansion’s treasury has about three hundred thousand spirit stones. Do you understand?”
Liang Zhu’s eyebrows rose, five forehead wrinkles appearing. He nodded.
“Should we leave traces?”
“En, we should leave traces. I’m thinking of a group of bandits attacking the Jiang Mansion at night, using sleeping incense to knock out the entire household, and then setting fire to the Jiang Mansion’s bedrooms. Young Master and Young Madam Jiang would perish in their sleep. Brother Liang, you are skilled in such matters, what do you think?”
“Hmm…” Liang Zhu pondered for a moment, finding it feasible, and nodded. “The details need to be adjusted. Foundation Establishment cultivators are not easily burned to death, but it’s possible. I’ll find two Foundation Establishment cultivator corpses from the mass graves outside the city these two days.”
“Find one that’s handsome, and one that’s pretty.”
?
Liang Zhu’s brows furrowed, and he gave Ye Anping a glare.
“They’ll all be black after being burned.”
Ye Anping smiled slightly and added, “By the way, don’t harm the Jiang Mansion’s servants when you do it. And don’t empty everything out. Leave some for Young Master Jiang. We are the righteous path, so we should leave some room for maneuver, for future encounters.”
“The righteous path? Does the righteous path have triplets from different fathers and mothers?”
?
Ye Anping froze for a moment before realizing what he meant, and immediately shot Liang Zhu a big eye roll.
“We saved the lives of Young Master Jiang and the Dragon Slaying Society. Now we are just asking for the reward we deserve, nothing more.”
Liang Zhu was silent for a moment, said nothing, and turned to go downstairs to carry out the task.
…
