Shi Peijiu Borrows a Blade, Wei Zhengming Is Ruthless

After Lin Changqing drove the carriage out of Fengle County Town and saw that Wei Zhengming's men had not pursued him, he was actually somewhat disappointed.

He had originally wanted to test his own strength.

He had not expected Wei Zhengming to be such a coward.

Meanwhile!

At the Wei Family residence, not long after Wei Zhengming returned, Shi Peijiu came back to report. Looking nervous, he carefully said to Wei Zhengming, "Young Master, this subordinate was incompetent. I lost them."

"Trash!"

Wei Zhengming shot Shi Peijiu a vicious glare and smashed the teapot in his hand into Shi Peijiu's forehead.

Smash!

The teapot shattered on impact. Shi Peijiu's forehead was immediately split open and bleeding, while scalding tea poured over his head, adding pain upon pain and twisting his entire face.

His whole body trembled.

Yet Shi Peijiu gritted his teeth and made no sound. Instead, with a thud, he dropped to his knees and loudly begged, "Young Master, please forgive me!"

"Shi Peijiu, besides begging for mercy, what else can you do?"

Wei Zhengming's face was icy. He felt not the slightest guilt over injuring Shi Peijiu; instead, he gritted his teeth and growled, "You can't even handle such a trivial matter. What use are you to me?"

"Young Master, please forgive me. Give me one more chance."

Shi Peijiu's expression turned even uglier as he hastily said, "Young Master wants Lin Changqing's divine weapon resources, but that man refuses to appreciate your favor.

Since soft methods will not work, then we will use hard ones.

We only need to force him to cooperate with us."

"You make it sound easy. How are we supposed to cooperate—kill him? What I want is the goods in his hands, not his life."

Wei Zhengming said coldly.

"So we strike at the people around him."

Shi Peijiu hurriedly said, "He may not care about himself, but he has family, friends, and relatives.

What if we threaten him with his father, or even everyone in Green Mountain Village?

Do you think he will cooperate with us then?

When the time comes, it may even be possible to make him recommend the Divine Weapon Forgemaster behind him to us."

Light immediately flashed in Wei Zhengming's eyes, and his expression eased slightly. Looking at Shi Peijiu, he said, "What do you intend to do?

Do not think of using the Wei Family's strength. The Wei Family and the Chen Family are now like fire and water.

Any little stir will certainly be noticed by the Chen Family."

"There is no need for us to act personally. This subordinate has some connection with Clear Wind Mountain. Tonight, I will make a trip there."

Shi Peijiu quickly said, "If Clear Wind Mountain makes a move, then even if something truly happens, we can wash our hands clean of it. And it will not draw the Chen Family's attention."

"Clear Wind Mountain!"

Wei Zhengming's gaze tightened slightly. Only after a long while did he say in a deep voice, "Fine. I will give you one more chance.

I hope you will not disappoint me this time."

"Thank you, Young Master. Please rest assured, it will definitely succeed this time."

Shi Peijiu was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Young Master, I will go make preparations now, then leave the city later for Clear Wind Mountain."

"Mm!"

Wei Zhengming waved a hand, signaling that Shi Peijiu could leave.

Shi Peijiu did not dare utter another word. He hurriedly rose and withdrew, but at the moment he turned around, a glimmer of cruelty and resentment surfaced in the depths of his eyes.

What Shi Peijiu did not know was that after he left, Wei Zhengming's expression immediately darkened.

He beckoned toward the other end of the courtyard.

Before long, a plainly featured young man dressed in coarse clothes strode over.

He respectfully said to Wei Zhengming, "What are your orders, Young Master?"

"Shi Peijiu can no longer be trusted. Go investigate personally and find out exactly what his relationship with Clear Wind Mountain is."

Wei Zhengming said coldly, "Clear Wind Mountain is an especially complicated matter. I have no desire to set myself on fire."

"Since Young Master does not wish to provoke the trouble of Clear Wind Mountain, why did you let Shi Peijiu notify Clear Wind Mountain?"

The young man frowned and asked in confusion.

"No, you are mistaken. It is Shi Peijiu who is colluding with Clear Wind Mountain, not me. I know nothing whatsoever about this matter."

Wei Zhengming smiled and shook his head.

"Understood!"

The young man was first slightly stunned, then immediately caught on. He said to Wei Zhengming, "Rest assured, Young Master. I will uncover Shi Peijiu's relationship with Clear Wind Mountain.

But how should Shi Peijiu be dealt with?"

"No matter what, he has followed this Young Master for so many years. Even if he has no merit, he has endured hardship."

Wei Zhengming closed his eyes, his expression dim and tinged with sorrow. "At least leave him an intact corpse!

"By the way, send his family down to keep him company as well, so he will not be lonely on the Yellow Spring Road."

Night fell.

Lin Changqing drove the carriage and finally returned to Green Mountain Village.

Seeing Lin Changqing return safely, Lin Yongfan, Lin Hu, and the others all let out long breaths of Turbid Air.

The hearts they had been holding in their throats finally settled.

"Hu Zi, get a few people to carry the medicinal ingredients inside."

Lin Changqing smiled as he spoke to Lin Hu. Then, looking at the smiths and forging apprentices bustling about in the Forging Room, he frowned slightly. "How is the work going over at Father's Forging Workshop?"

The Forging Room at Lin Changqing's home was actually not small.

But!

No matter how large it was, cramming in ten or twenty people at once still made it terribly crowded.

Not only did that hinder production, but it was also noisy, affecting Lin Changqing's rest and cultivation. So he had discussed it with Lin Yongfan and Lin Yuntang early on, finding a plot of land in the village.

They would start anew and build a Forging Workshop.

One that could accommodate over a hundred people at the same time. Considering Green Mountain Village's future development, Lin Changqing had deliberately chosen an open area, leaving plenty of vacant land around it as well.

It was reserved for future expansion.

"The progress is fast. It will be finished in ten days at most, so don't worry! The Clan Chief is personally keeping an eye on it, so nothing will go wrong."

Lin Yongfan hurriedly said, "You'll just have to make do for the next few days!"

"That's good!"

Hearing that Lin Yuntang was personally supervising the work there, Lin Changqing felt much more at ease. Still, he decided to go over and take a look himself the next day.

It was not that he did not trust Lin Yuntang. Rather, the new Forging Workshop had been designed according to the assembly-line model of factories from his previous life, completely different from the Forging Rooms of this world.

Although he had drawn up blueprints, it would be better to inspect it himself, just in case.

As they spoke, Lin Hu had already called for people to unload all the medicinal ingredients from the carriage and carry them into the medicine room Lin Changqing had specifically cleared out for preparing medicinal cuisine and medicinal baths.

"Changqing, there are quite a lot of medicinal ingredients this time. They must have cost a fair bit, right?"

After leading everyone in moving the medicinal ingredients, Lin Hu casually asked.

"Not much. Just 320 gold."

Lin Changqing smiled faintly.

"What? How much? 320 gold? My heavens, isn't that thirty-two thousand taels of silver?" Lin Hu and the others froze, then were completely dumbfounded.

They cried out in disbelief, and even the way they looked toward the medicine room changed.

"My heavens, these medicinal ingredients are that expensive?"

"More than thirty thousand taels! That's far too expensive. Even if we sold all of Green Mountain Village, it probably would not fetch that much!"

"Stop talking. My legs are going weak."

The group that had come with Lin Hu all gulped repeatedly.

Even Lin Yongfan and Lin Hu felt their minds buzzing at that moment.

"Changqing, these medicinal ingredients are so precious. It might not be safe to leave them here. How about we take turns guarding them for the next few days?"

Someone suggested.

"Yes, yes, we need to guard them." Lin Hu nodded along.

"Guard my head."

Lin Changqing gave a bitter smile. "These medicinal ingredients are worth 320 gold, and only we people know that. If none of you say anything, who will know?

"If you come over in the middle of the night to guard the place, wouldn't that be the same as telling everyone there are valuables inside and inviting thieves to come?"

"That's true!"

Lin Hu nodded, then immediately turned and glared viciously at the others. "Did you all hear that? Changqing just said it too—only we know about this.

"No one is allowed to spread it around. You can't even tell your parents at home.

"If anyone dares let it slip, I, Lin Hu, will not let him off!"

"We won't say anything, absolutely not. Brother Hu, don't worry."

"That's right. We won't reveal a single word."

The others repeatedly shook their heads, thumping their chests as they promised.

Lin Changqing only laughed softly. In truth, he was not worried about that at all. The medicinal ingredients were stored at his home; if anyone truly had the ability to steal them away, he would be nothing but impressed.

Still, Lin Hu and the others' commotion brought him back to his senses.

Then he said gravely, "Hu Zi, have everyone in the village stay alert over the next few days, especially against outsiders."