That Much Money Is Hard for Me to Settle for You

Night fell.

Lu Bei had ordered a batch of furniture and decorations in Langyu County. He loaded some firewood, rice, oil, salt, pots, bowls, and pans into the Qiankun Bag, then bounded up the stone steps and returned to the Feather Transformation Sect before dark.

He took out the cooked food. After the four of them had eaten their fill, they each returned to their rooms.

Lu Bei went to the sect leader's room, rubbed his little hands together, spread out Senior Sister's cotton quilt, and crawled beneath it. He breathed in the fragrance and fell asleep, completely satisfied.

A moment later, he slapped his forehead and got up. After groping around for a while by the corner of the wall in the backyard, he found the spot from before and used the Black Gold Straight Saber to dig a fox den.

He put down a Qi Ling Pill, then turned and left, planning to catch the thief tomorrow.

To root out evil completely, he had to arrange the whole bandit family neatly.

Before he even reached his room, he heard a jumble of footsteps. A group of burly men from the Emei Sect glared coldly, some vaulting over the wall and others barging in through the main entrance. A dark mass of people surrounded him until not even a drop of water could pass.

Lu Bei was dumbfounded. He suspected his Senior Sister had failed to pay the final balance, and the Emei Sect had come to collect the debt.

Sure enough, the contractor, Sect Leader Ding, was there too.

"Sect Leader Ding, why aren't you sleeping at this hour? Did you come to Sanqing Peak to admire the moon?" Lu Bei was very courteous toward people coming to collect debts.

"Bah, stop trying to cozy up to me."

Ding Lei was indignant. He pointed at Lu Bei with two fingers pressed together like a sword. "You shameless little thief! This is Sanqing Peak of the Feather Transformation Sect. Sect Leader Lu has gone traveling and entrusted me, Ding Mouren, to look after the place. Who would have thought that, the moment I took my eyes off it, you would seize the nest and occupy it? You even dare impersonate Sect Leader Lu in front of me. I think you're asking for a beating!"

Lu Bei: "..."

He scratched his head and sorted through the matter, but still couldn't make sense of it.

"Hmph, cat got your tongue?"

Ding Lei snorted coldly and swept his large hand forward. "All disciples, heed my order! Drag this little thief out and send him to the authorities for punishment!"

"Wait!"

Lu Bei raised a hand to stop them, then pointed at himself. "Sect Leader Ding, take another look. I'm Lu Bei of the Feather Transformation Sect. Look carefully, or it's going to hurt."

"You still dare to be stubborn at a time like this? You all heard him threaten me."

"We all heard you, Sect Leader."

"We heard it loud and clear."

"..."

In the direction of the guest rooms, Zhu Bo and the other two pushed open a window and watched Lu Bei happily as he became trapped in the encirclement. They had no intention of going over to help.

There was no need. They were merely a bunch of miscellaneous fish. Even if their numbers doubled, they still wouldn't be enough for Lu Bei to beat alone.

That was indeed the case. Although Dongqi Commandery and Dongyang County bordered each other, Dasheng Pass and Langyu County were more than four hundred li apart, and the gap between their cultivators was considerable. Wei Mao had once described Langyu as a place for old age and retirement, saying he would rather stay in Dasheng Pass as one of several deputies than go to Langyu County to serve as the second-in-command.

The sects on Nine Bamboo Mountain were even less worth mentioning. Taken individually, none of them qualified as a third-rate sect. Huangji Sect found managing them troublesome, so it gathered all nine peaks under the name Nine Bamboo Mountain, and only then did they barely reach the threshold of a third-rate cultivation sect.

Even that was thanks to their numbers.

So although the Emei Sect was a cultivation sect, the disciples' standards were truly nothing to write home about. Counting Ding Lei, every one of its members, under equal numbers, wouldn't have been enough to withstand a single charge from the fierce soldiers under Wei Mao.

Two minutes later.

Wails rose from the backyard. The Emei Sect disciples groaned as they crawled around, unable to get up, every face bearing injuries. Their muffled cries were utterly tragic.

"Sect Leader Ding, why is this happening?"

Lu Bei straddled Ding Lei and slammed down a fist. Grabbing him by the collar, he demanded, "What did I do wrong? Why did you frame an innocent man? Why did you use superior numbers to bully the few?"

Why?

I want to know why too!

Why had the Pretty Boy become so powerful after only three months apart? Why had I lost my mind and refused to take a step back for wider horizons, even bringing so many people here?

Ding Lei took a punch to the face, leaving his left eye black and swollen. Seeing that Lu Bei was about to strike again, he hurriedly said, "It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! It really is Sect Leader Lu standing before me. It was just too dark. It's all a misunderstanding!"

"Nonsense! I, Lu Bei, am an upright, magnificent man. I might have let it go if you merely said 'misunderstanding,' but you actually insulted me with one hundred thousand silver taels."

Lu Bei's expression changed abruptly. He punched Ding Lei's right eye, creating perfect symmetry. "Speak! Where are the one hundred thousand taels?"

"There aren't any! I didn't say one hundred thousand taels! I really didn't..."

Bang!

Lu Bei punched Ding Lei until his eyes rolled back, then skillfully reached into his robes, pulled out the Qiankun Bag, and took out a stack of Silver Notes to count.

"Only thirty thousand? Are you trying to fob off a beggar?"

Lu Bei slammed down another punch, physically waking Ding Lei, and snorted. "Sect Leader Ding, I'm not trying to scare you. Of the three guests I invited today, one is an honored nobleman surnamed Zhu. Not only is he related to the imperial family, his uncle is even a prefect. You offended an honored nobleman. With this little money, it's very hard for me to settle this for you."

Zhu Bo: "..."

He had been laughing at the spectacle, but gradually found himself unable to laugh anymore. Cursing his luck inwardly, he slammed the window shut.

"Look, the honored nobleman is angry!"

Lu Bei delivered another punch, then whispered in Ding Lei's ear, "One hundred thousand taels, and I'll settle this matter for you. Otherwise... Oh, I forgot to tell you—the prefect and Steward Lin of Huangji Sect's Dasheng Pass have an extremely close relationship."

"I... I... I didn't know!"

Ding Lei was sweating profusely. Never mind whether what Lu Bei said was true; if even one sentence in ten was true, the prefect or the steward could crush him with a single finger.

"It's not too late to know now. As for the misunderstanding between us, I can let bygones be bygones and release you like a fart. But the honored nobleman staying inside won't let it go. If you don't handle the formalities properly, the Zhu family will lose face!"

Lu Bei sighed, took paper and brush from the Qiankun Bag, and placed them in Ding Lei's hands. "We're friends, after all. Don't say I won't help you. I'll front the one hundred thousand taels for now. Write me an IOU, secured with the deed to Four Scenery Peaks and the Spirit Bamboo business."

"Absolutely impossible! Even if Ding Mouren dies..."

Bang!

A businessman who had only ever wanted to cultivate and strengthen his body found it difficult to face death head-on. Ding Lei had overestimated himself. He didn't even have the courage to face Lu Bei's fists. After taking a thorough beating, he sobbed as he wrote the IOU.

After pressing down his fingerprint, Lu Bei put away the IOU and waved for Ding Lei to take his people and scram. He also declared that he would come collect the debt in a few days.

Two debts!

The first was the IOU. The second was that when Mo Buxiu had passed away, the Emei Sect, as part of the same Nine Bamboo Mountain lineage bound by shared fortunes, had not shown the slightest sign of acknowledgment. It was truly chilling.

When Ding Lei heard this, it felt as though a bolt of thunder had erupted from level ground and blasted straight into his crown. His understanding of Lu Bei was refreshed yet again, and he cried out in grief and indignation, "When the old sect leader passed away, Sect Leader Lu neither notified us nor arranged a funeral. I didn't even get a single bite to eat! How could I possibly know he had ascended to immortality?"

"Don't be unreasonable. Even now, you're still gilding your own face. Lu Bei saw through the coldness of human relationships. Knowing that you wouldn't come even if I arranged a funeral, I deliberately kept everything simple and avoided wasting food and wine."

Lu Bei snorted coldly and looked down on him. "How practical of you. To save a little gift money, you wouldn't even attend the funeral. Fortunately, Heaven has eyes. I endured hardship for three months, and today I finally got my revenge and washed away my humiliation."

"Pfft—"

That night, Sect Leader Ding was carried down the mountain by his disciples.

Early the next morning, Zhu Bo was stretching his arms and legs in the backyard when he saw Lu Bei sneaking toward the direction of the Back mountain. He grabbed him at once.

"Little brother, catching thieves this early in the morning?"

"Brother Bo has sharp eyes. I really am catching a thief."

Lu Bei replied with a broad grin. The Qi Ling Pill was gone, so it was time for him to dig out the fox den.

Zhu Bo had no idea what pleasant scheme Lu Bei had in mind. Thinking Lu Bei was going to bully the Emei Sect, he couldn't help saying, "Brother Lu, we cultivators pay attention to leaving three parts of face whenever we meet someone. The more friends you have, the easier the road becomes. Even if Sect Leader Ding was in the wrong first, with your cultivation, you could have bullied him a little and let five thousand taels serve as a token. Why drive him onto a dead end?"

If I don't drive him onto a dead end, he won't go looking for the other peaks. If they don't join forces, how am I supposed to unify Nine Bamboo Mountain? Without unifying Nine Bamboo Mountain, I'll have no territory, no people, and no money. What am I supposed to use to attract players to come work for me?

Lu Bei cleared his throat and said quietly, "Brother Bo, I'm doing all this for you and Brother Kui. Once I take Four Scenery Peaks, or even the entire Spirit Bamboo industry of Nine Bamboo Mountain, we brothers can join forces, monopolize the market, and grow the business bigger and stronger. I'll handle the shipments, and you'll fence the goods... Cough, I mean, set the prices locally. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Ah, this..."

Zhu Bo's heart stirred. All under Heaven bustled for profit, and all under Heaven hurried for gain. Lu Bei's words made sense, and he found it difficult to refuse.

"Don't worry, Brother Bo. I know my limits. I'm borrowing the prestige of your Zhu family, not tarnishing it." Lu Bei smiled as he promised this, then turned and headed toward the Back mountain.

"Wait, there's one more thing. Last night, I saw you..."

Zhu Bo stopped Lu Bei. The night before, he had watched Lu Bei skillfully rummage through Ding Lei's Qiankun Bag. Seeing someone even more unfortunate than himself had left him secretly delighted. Only after coming back to his senses did he realize how despicable that thought was. To prevent the tragedy from happening to him again, he felt it necessary to remind Lu Bei to break the bad habit as soon as possible.

Killing monsters and picking up gold coins—what was wrong with that?

Lu Bei didn't understand. He said matter-of-factly, "Brother Bo, Ding's an unpleasant guest who came knocking. As the victim and the victorious party, I checked his Qiankun Bag to make sure he hadn't stolen any important assets from the Feather Transformation Sect. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

"Nothing wrong with it, but doing it all the time isn't appropriate."

Zhu Bo earnestly tried to persuade him. "Rummaging through other people's Qiankun Bags is wrong. If it's a female cultivator, acting so recklessly will make everyone very awkward. If she pins the blame on you, won't you suffer a huge loss?"

"That's true."

Lu Bei nodded deeply, then said, "Thanks for the reminder, Brother Bo. From now on, I'll cover my face when I rummage through Qiankun Bags."

Zhu Bo: "..."

"Don't worry, I understand."

Lu Bei winked. "Cultivators have keen senses. They'll recognize me even if I cover my face. I'm not that stupid."

"Good."

"I'll cover the female cultivator's face. Then she won't be able to see anything, and she won't be able to pin it on me."