This Little Money Is Hard for Me to Help You Settle

Night.

Lu Bei ordered a batch of furniture and decorations in Langyu County. He packed some firewood, rice, oil, salt, pots, and pans into his Qiankun Bag and strode up the stone steps, returning to the Feather Transformation Sect before dark.

The cooked food was taken out, and after the four of them had eaten their fill, they each returned to their rooms.

Lu Bei went to the Sect Master's room, rubbed his little hands together, spread out his Senior Sister's quilt, and snuggled into the warm covers, falling asleep with a contented sigh.

A moment later, he slapped his head and sat up. He fumbled around in a corner of the backyard for a while, found the spot he was looking for, and dug a foxhole with his Black Gold Straight Saber.

He placed a Qi Ling Pill inside and turned to leave, waiting until tomorrow to catch the thief.

Evil must be eradicated completely; he would make sure the thief's entire family was brought to justice.

Before he could even get back to his room, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps. A group of burly men from the Emei Sect, with fierce and cold expressions, either climbed over the wall into the courtyard or barged through the main entrance. They formed a dense crowd, completely surrounding him.

Lu Bei was stunned, suspecting that his Senior Sister hadn't paid the final installment and the Emei Sect had come to collect their debt.

And look, there was even Sect Leader Ding, the foreman.

"Sect Leader Ding, not sleeping at night, are you here to admire the moon at my Sanqing Peak?" Lu Bei asked politely, facing the debt collectors.

"Pah! Stop trying to butter me up."

Ding Lei was indignant. He pointed his fingers at Lu Bei like a sword and said, "You scoundrel, you have no shame! This is Sanqing Peak of the Feather Transformation Sect. Sect Leader Lu is away on a long journey and entrusted me to look after things. I never expected that in a moment of carelessness, you, a mere scoundrel, would usurp his position and have the audacity to impersonate Sect Leader Lu in front of me. I think you're asking for a beating!"

Lu Bei: "..."

He scratched his head and tidied himself up, still not understanding.

"Hmph, speechless now, aren't you!"

Ding Lei snorted coldly and waved his hand forward. "Disciples, obey my command! Seize this scoundrel and hand him over to the authorities for punishment."

"Wait a moment!"

Lu Bei raised his hand to stop them and pointed at himself. "Sect Leader Ding, take another look. I am Lu Bei of the Feather Transformation Sect. Look clearly, or it will hurt."

"You still dare to be stubborn even now? You all heard him, he's threatening me."

"We all heard him, Sect Master."

"Heard him loud and clear."

"..."

From the direction of the guest rooms, Zhu Bo and the other two opened their windows and watched with amusement as Lu Bei was surrounded, showing no intention of helping.

There was no need. A bunch of weaklings, even twice their number, wouldn't be enough for Lu Bei to handle alone.

Indeed, this was the case. Although Dongqi Commandery and Dongyang County were adjacent, and Dasheng Pass was more than 400 li from Langyu County, the gap between cultivators was quite significant. Wei Mao had once described Langyu as a place for retirement, preferring to be a high-ranking official in Dasheng Pass rather than a second-in-command in Langyu County.

The strength of the sects on Nine Bamboo Mountain was even less to be mentioned. If you picked any one of them individually, none would be qualified to be listed as even third-rate. The Huangji Sect, finding management troublesome, grouped the nine peaks together and called them the Nine Bamboo Mountain lineage, barely managing to reach the threshold of a third-rate immortality cultivation sect.

Even then, it was thanks to their numbers.

Therefore, although the Emei Sect was an immortality cultivation sect, the level of its disciples was truly subpar. Including Ding Lei, every single member of the sect, even with equal numbers, would not be enough for Wei Mao's fierce soldiers to charge against once.

Two minutes later.

Wails erupted from the backyard. Emei Sect disciples were groaning and unable to get up, their faces bruised and battered, crying out in misery.

"Sect Leader Ding, what is the meaning of this?"

Lu Bei, straddling Ding Lei, punched him and grabbed his collar, demanding, "What did I do wrong? Why are you framing an innocent person? Why are you ganging up on me?"

Why?

Damn it, I want to know why too!

Why has this pretty boy become so powerful after only three months? Why did I make a foolish decision and refuse to take a step back, bringing so many people here?

Ding Lei took a punch, his left eye turning black and blue. Seeing that Lu Bei was about to strike again, he hurriedly said, "It's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding! It really is Sect Master Lu! It was too dark, it's all a misunderstanding!"

"Nonsense! I, Lu Bei, am a man of integrity! If you say it's a misunderstanding, fine, but you actually tried to insult me with a hundred thousand taels."

Lu Bei's expression changed drastically. He punched Ding Lei's right eye, making them symmetrical. "Speak! Where is the hundred thousand taels?"

"No, I didn't say a hundred thousand taels, I really didn't..."

Bang!

Lu Bei punched Ding Lei, causing him to roll his eyes. He skillfully reached into Ding Lei's robes, pulled out a Qiankun Bag, and counted a stack of silver notes.

"Only thirty thousand? Are you trying to fool a beggar!"

Lu Bei punched down again, physically waking Ding Lei, and snorted, "Sect Leader Ding, I'm not trying to scare you, but among the three guests I invited today, there's a distinguished guest named Zhu. Not only is he royalty, but his uncle also holds the position of Prefect. You've offended a distinguished guest, and it will be difficult for me to help you resolve this with this small amount of money."

Zhu Bo: "..."

He, who had been watching the show, stopped smiling. He cursed his bad luck and slammed the window shut with a bang.

"See? The distinguished guest is angry!"

Lu Bei punched again and whispered in Ding Lei's ear, "One hundred thousand taels, and I'll help you resolve this matter. Otherwise... Oh, I forgot to tell you, that Prefect has a very good relationship with Steward Lin of the Huangji Sect's Dasheng Pass."

"I... I... I don't know!"

Ding Lei was sweating profusely. Regardless of whether Lu Bei's words were true or false, if even one sentence out of ten was true, both the Prefect and the Steward could crush him with a single finger.

"It's not too late to know now. I can let go of the misunderstanding between us and treat you like a fart. But the distinguished guest staying in the house is different. If you don't handle the etiquette properly, the Zhu family will lose face!"

Lu Bei sighed, took out paper and pen from his Qiankun Bag, and handed them to Ding Lei. "We're all friends. Don't say I didn't help you. I'll cover the 100,000 taels first. You write an IOU, with the deed to Four Scenery Peaks and the Spirit Bamboo business as collateral."

"Absolutely impossible! I, Ding, would rather die than..."

Bang!

A businessman who only thought about cultivating immortality and strengthening his body found it difficult to face death directly. Ding Lei overestimated himself. He didn't even have the courage to face Lu Bei's fist. After taking a beating, he whimpered and wrote the IOU.

With his handprint pressed down, Lu Bei put away the IOU, waved his hand, and told Ding Lei to get lost with his men, stating that he would come to collect the debt soon.

Two debts!

One was the IOU. The second was that when Mo Buxiu left, the Emei Sect, as part of the united Nine Bamboo Mountain lineage, had shown no support, which was truly disheartening.

Hearing this, Ding Lei felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him from the clear sky, shattering his understanding of Lu Bei. He said with grief and indignation, "When the old Sect Master passed away, Sect Master Lu didn't notify anyone, nor did he arrange a funeral. I didn't even get a single meal. How could I have known he had ascended?"

"You're quibbling. Even now, you're still trying to save face. Lu Bei saw through the coldness of human relationships. Knowing that you wouldn't come even if a funeral was held, I deliberately kept everything simple to avoid wasting money on food and drink."

Lu Bei snorted disdainfully. "How realistic. To save a sum of money for a gift, you wouldn't even attend a funeral. Fortunately, heaven has eyes. I endured hardship for three months, and today I can finally get my revenge."

Pfft—

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

The next morning, Zhu Bo was stretching in the backyard. Seeing Lu Bei sneakily heading towards the back mountain, he grabbed him.

"Brother, what are you doing so early in the morning? Catching a thief?"

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

Lu Bei replied with a chuckle. The Qi Ling Pills were gone, so he had to go raid the fox's den.

Zhu Bo didn't know about the good things Lu Bei was planning. Thinking he was going to bully the Emei Sect, he couldn't help but say, "Brother Lu, we are cultivators. We should show some respect to others, and having more friends makes the road easier. Even though Sect Leader Ding was in the wrong first, with your cultivation, a little bullying, and 50,000 taels would suffice. Why push him to his death?"

If I don't push him to his death, he won't go to the other peaks. If they don't unite, how can I unify Nine Bamboo Mountain? If I can't unify Nine Bamboo Mountain, I'll have no territory, no people, and no money. How can I attract players to work for me?

Lu Bei cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "Brother Bo, my actions are all for you and Brother Kui. Once I take over the Spirit Bamboo industry of Four Scenery Peaks and even the entire Nine Bamboo Mountain, we brothers will join forces to monopolize and expand our business. Then I'll ship the goods, and you'll fence them... Bah, you'll set the price, won't that be wonderful?"

"Ah, this..."

Zhu Bo's heart stirred. Everyone rushes for profit, and everyone scatters for profit. Lu Bei made sense, and it was hard for him to refuse.

"Don't worry, Brother Bo. I know what I'm doing. I'll borrow your Zhu family's prestige, and it won't tarnish your name," Lu Bei promised with a smile and turned to walk towards the back mountain.

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

Zhu Bo stopped Lu Bei. Last night, Lu Bei had skillfully rummaged through Ding Lei's Qiankun Bag. Seeing someone even more unlucky than himself, he felt quite pleased. When he came to his senses, he realized how despicable his thoughts were. To prevent tragedy from happening to him again, he felt it necessary to remind Lu Bei to change his bad habits early.

What's wrong with fighting monsters and picking up gold coins?

Lu Bei didn't understand and said as a matter of course, "Brother Bo, the unwelcome guest named Ding came to my door. As the victim and the victor, I checked his Qiankun Bag to prevent him from stealing important assets of the Feather Transformation Sect. Is there anything wrong with that?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not appropriate to do it like this all the time."

Zhu Bo said earnestly, "It's wrong to randomly rummage through other people's Qiankun Bags. If it were a female cultivator, your recklessness would make everyone very awkward. If they were to cling to you, wouldn't you lose out big time?"

"That's true."

Lu Bei agreed wholeheartedly and then said, "Thank you for the reminder, Brother Bo. I'll wear a mask when I rummage through Qiankun Bags in the future."

Zhu Bo: "..."

"Don't worry, I understand."

Lu Bei winked. "Cultivators have keen senses. Even with a mask, they can still recognize me. I'm not that stupid."

"That's good then."

"I'll cover the female cultivator's face, so she won't be able to see anything, and she won't be able to cling to me."