Dao Sects

The Tang Blade trembled at Li Banfeng's waist. Li Banfeng went to a secluded spot and asked, "What happened?"

"My lord, I feel a chill."

Why do I feel chills? Have Green Flower arrived?

It couldn't be Green Flower. If he wanted to cause trouble, he could just spread a plague, and none of the workers could escape.

Moreover, given his status and strength, there's no need for him to target a mine, especially not in such a low-level way.

The opponent's approach was indeed very low-level, risking to go against the Local Earth God by resorting to these underhanded tricks.

Ma Wu asked, "Where did the cart puller go?"

Normally, Ma Wu is very respectful to the Local Earth God, but today he encountered a lot of trouble, and Ma Wu spoke somewhat impatiently.

When Ma Wu saw the Carriage Driver, his attitude wasn't very good either. "Brother, we're doing business here for the sake of your area's reputation. Can't you be a little more considerate?"

The Carriage Driver said, "I was really concerned, I really was. I pulled the cart around the mine several times, and as soon as I put it down, someone stole it."

I rushed to find a car, and after more than an hour, I finally found it. I never imagined that in such a short time, the mine accident would happen.

Ma Wu didn't say anything and went down the mountain alone.

He simply couldn't understand why a Local Earth God would need to pull a rickshaw, and why he had to keep that rickshaw by his side at all times.

Fortunately, Ma Wu restrained himself and didn't fall out with the Carriage Driver.

The next day, Ma Wu went to contact parts suppliers to repair the train and also had to contact the buyer to postpone the delivery time.

Upon arriving at the Vehicle Depot, Ma Wu showed the depot chief the parts list that Little Chuanzi had prepared. He didn't want to go to Black Stone Slope to purchase the parts, as that would take too much time. Instead, he would give the depot chief a small gift and buy some parts here to use in the meantime.

In Yellow Earth Bridge, it's not easy to earn extra money normally. Ma Wu took the initiative to give him a gift, and the section chief was overjoyed. He quickly called the technicians to prepare the gifts.

The technician searched the warehouse all morning, but couldn't find anything Ma Wu wanted.

Section Chief frowned and said, "That's impossible! We just dismantled an old connecting rod a couple of days ago; it should be compatible with the Small Train in town."

The technician nodded and said, "I'm also looking for that connecting rod. The warehouse manager said it's in the warehouse, but I can't find it no matter what I do."

Section Chief quickly apologized. "Fifth Master, my work is too sloppy. I'll go take another look. Please don't worry."

How could I not be anxious?

We wasted half a day here and did nothing. We should have gone to Black Stone Slope to buy things from the start.

Ma Wu tried his best to suppress his irritation, exchanged a few polite words with the section chief, and went to Renfu Hotel.

This is the only hotel in Yellow Earth Bridge. The buyer from Green Water City sent someone to stay at the hotel specifically to contact Ma Wu for business.

Ma Wu went to the inn to apologize. This person wasn't new to doing business, and even if he was unhappy, he shouldn't have ruined the harmony by meeting someone of Ma Wu's caliber.

But when he met Ma Wu today, he spoke without any tact, "Fifth Master, coal isn't hard to buy. There's plenty in Black Stone Slope, Green Smoke City, and Soda Kiln."

We came here to buy coal to give Fifth Master face, but you haven't been able to deliver the goods. What's the meaning of this?

If you don't want to do business anymore, just say so. We didn't beg you to come here. Stop making things difficult for us by going back and forth like this!

Ma Wu's cheeks twitched, and he looked up at the other person.

The other person's eye was split open and bleeding.

"What... what do you want to do?" The man covered his face, looking at Ma Wu in horror.

Ma Wu stood up, his eyes flashing with cold light.

On the mine, a group of workers are shouting:

"I produced six bushels of coal yesterday, and I'm not lying. If you charge me based on five bushels, we can't keep this job."

"You can't treat me like this! I didn't even have time to eat yesterday because I was trying to grab an extra bushel of coal, and now you're telling me you burned the account book? I think you're just trying to avoid paying me!"

"I'm not doing any work today! You have to give me an explanation!"

Li Banfeng quietly left the crowd, found a secluded place, hid the key, and returned to Portable Abode.

After sitting on the bed for a while, Li Banfeng sorted out his thoughts.

It's better not to tidy up; after tidying up, my thoughts seem to get out of control.

Banfeng Yi: "One person can only dig five bushels of coal at most, that's basically the limit. We'll pay them at least that much."

These people are pushing their luck; they must be severely punished.

Banfeng Bing: "That's not how it works. Some people only dug three dou (a unit of dry measure) but were charged for five dou, while others dug five dou but were charged for five dou. Of course, they wouldn't be happy about that!"

Banfeng Ding: "We can't let them cause trouble. The ledgers are lost, but the money has to be paid out this way, and things have to be done this way!"

Banfeng Wu: "What do you mean by 'this is the only way'? It's not about scarcity, it's about inequality! That's irresponsible of you!"

Banfeng Ji: "Then think of a responsible solution, don't just stand there talking without understanding the situation!"

Banfeng Geng: "Can't you speak properly? How about we try communicating in a different way?"

Ban Feng: "Maintain order and good manners! No hitting people in the venue!"

The record player comforted her, saying, "Maintain order, don't hit anyone, and listen to your husband."

Hong Ying laughed and said, "Aren't these all your husbands? But speaking of which, we usually only hear two or three of Seventh Son arguing, how come there are so many today?"

The record player also found it strange. "It's not only more than before, but also more chaotic than before. It's so chaotic that there's no order to it at all. It's like it's been hit by a technique, but I can't quite put my finger on what kind of method it is."

Li Banfeng asked his Wife, "Is there any haphazard repair work?"

The Wife was stunned for a moment. Li Banfeng seemed to have returned to normal, but he had recovered a little too quickly.

Da da da da!

"Random repairs? This Little Slave has never heard of such a gate."

"Perhaps it's not called haphazard cultivation, perhaps it's called some other kind of Daoist sect." As he spoke, Li Banfeng's face twisted in pain.

The record player seemed a little nervous. "My dear husband, don't rush, let's discuss this further."

"I'm not in a hurry," Li Banfeng rubbed his cheek, "It's just that the venue is a bit chaotic."

In the evening, Ma Wu had the cook prepare some elaborate dishes and had a few drinks with Li Qi.

"Seventh Brother, I feel terrible."

Li Qi asked, "Is it about the mine?"

Ma Wu shook his head. "Actually, nothing serious is happening at the mine. If the workers' sheds collapse, we'll build new ones. If the train breaks down, we have people who can fix it."

Business matters should be resolved through business; this is a rule I've followed for years without ever breaking it. But today, I ended up hitting my buyer.

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "I've heard about this. You went pretty hard."

Ma Wu rubbed his forehead and said, "I really don't know what's wrong with me!"

Just then, Chuanzi pushed the door open and came in. "The workers are making a fuss again."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "What's all the fuss about? Haven't all the wages been paid? We paid the maximum amount, what's there to complain about?"

"They said that a few people who didn't contribute anything benefited from the situation, and they insist on getting an explanation for this."

Ma Wu gave a wry smile, "They either complain that they're not getting enough, or that others are getting too much. There's never a moment of peace. I'll go take a look."

Li Banfeng waved his hand and said, "No need to go, let them make a scene."

Ma Wu was stunned. Li Banfeng said to Chuanzi, "I've had the cook prepare a lot of food and wine. We'll send it over to the workers in a bit. They can eat if they want, and if they don't, they can keep making a fuss."

Chuanzi, don't worry about this. I'll set up a table at your place later so the brothers can feast and drink. But Chuanzi couldn't rest easy; he went with the cooks to deliver the food and drinks.

Before long, Chuanzi ran back. "With food and drink, things are much better, but many workers don't want to sleep outdoors and want to leave."

Li Banfeng said, "Those who want to stay in a hotel down the mountain can pay for the room. Those who find walking back and forth troublesome can stay on the mountain. Those who don't want to work here anymore can leave."

"Chuanzi, listen to me, take the brothers out for a drink, and don't worry about anything else."

Ma Wu: "Seventh Brother, why are you so carefree this time?"

Li Banfeng drank a cup of hot wine, shook his head and said, "I haven't come to terms with it. I don't understand it at all."

"What don't you understand?" Ma Wu only felt that things weren't going smoothly, but he didn't feel that there was anything he didn't understand.

"It's a mess, so messy I don't even know where to begin!" Li Banfeng asked the cook to bring over a few more pairs of chopsticks, arranging them one after another in a line.

"We came to Yellow Earth Bridge to do business, and you initially wanted to get into the coal mining business, and then this huge mine is here waiting for us, right?"

Ma Wu nodded. "This is one of the few good things that have happened since we arrived at Yellow Earth Bridge."

Li Qi said, "But why isn't anyone else doing such a great thing? Why isn't the Lu Family doing it?"

He Family do it?

Ma Wu blinked and said, "Didn't you ask about this before? I thought they were worried about the high costs, which is why they didn't come to Yellow Earth Bridge to do business."

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "Yes, I asked back then. I wasn't so confused then, but after I took over the business, I started to get flustered."

Ma Wu still didn't understand. "What exactly is in chaos?"

"On the day we were shipping the goods, there was an accident on the tracks. The train derailed, and the coal was stolen. We suspected it was the owner of the coal mine in North Bridge, so I stepped up our vigilance."

Fifth brother, do you think it's like I'm the one who's stepping up security?

Ma Wu was stunned for a moment, but quickly came to his senses.

Li Qi is not one to suffer losses.

Now that he knew it was North Bridge who did it, he should have overturned North Bridge long ago; he wouldn't have bothered with such strict defenses.

Li Banfeng continued, "But because it happened so suddenly, I was really flustered at the time."

From then on, things were in complete chaos. If the workers' shed caught fire, we'd rush to put it out; if the train broke down, we'd rush to repair it.

The Local Earth God were in a frenzy. Their car was stolen, so they went looking for it. Once they found it, they didn't care who had stolen it.

Then he returned to oversee the mine.

If you're struggling to keep up with the business, and you can't handle it anymore, you might resort to violence, making things even more chaotic.

When business goes wrong, we talk business; when railways go wrong, we repair them. We try to defend ourselves the way others attack us, but the more we defend, the more chaotic things become.

3

"Yeah!" Ma Wu rubbed his forehead. "Why is it so messy?"

Li Banfeng put the chopsticks together and straightened the string again. "Brother, actually, things at the mine aren't that important, you know that too."

Even if the business in Green Water City fails, with our current strength, it shouldn't be difficult to find another buyer, right?

Shouldn't we deal with the troublemakers first, clean up the Yellow Earth Bridge area, and then think about doing business?

Yes!

Ma Wu suddenly woke up.

Why the rush to get involved in coal mines?

We should deal with those bastards at North Bridge first!

Ma Wu poured Li Banfeng a glass of wine. "Seventh Brother, my temperament is still not as good as yours. I'm in such a mess, but you're completely fine."

Li Banfeng was also in a mess, even more so than Ma Wu.

But after he's been in a mess, he can talk things out with himself, and once they've discussed it properly, they can basically reach an agreement.

Sometimes it is difficult to reach a consensus. For example, at this meeting, Banfeng Yi's words were somewhat harsh, and he even hit someone in the meeting room, expressing his dissatisfaction with Ban Feng Jia over the years.

Ban Feng Fengjia believes that it's good to express one's dissatisfaction, but hitting someone is wrong.

Then he gathered the other Ban Feng Banfeng Yi beat them into submission on the spot.

"Fifth brother, I suspect we've been tricked."

"Which Daoist school's technique is this?"

"Are there any haphazard repairs? Are there any Daoist sects that deliberately cause trouble?"

Ma Wu thought about it carefully, then shook his head and said, "I've never heard of such a Daoist sect."

Was there really no haphazard repair? Or is Ma Wu simply inexperienced?

Li Banfeng had asked his Wife before, and although Wife was knowledgeable and experienced, she had never heard of haphazard repairs.

Perhaps it's not called haphazard repair, but rather a high-level technique from some Daoist sect.

Since it can interfere with a person's thoughts, this technique must have originated from Daoist practices such as literary cultivation, moral cultivation, and mindfulness cultivation.

What level is this expert? Probably Ninth Layer, right?

Why would Ninth Layer master do such an absurd thing in this wretched place like Yellow Earth Bridge?

Tang Blade whispered in his ear, "Before Green Water Bow seized Beggar Bay, I had never heard of the Daoist sect called 'Disease Cultivator,' because such a sect did not exist in the world at that time."

"You mean, the New Daoist Sect?"

Li Banfeng stared blankly at the Tang Blade.

Tang Blade replied, "Only after Beggar Bay became Green Water Bay did Disease Cultivator come into being."

Li Banfeng gathered the chopsticks together and laid them out in a line: "This matter needs to be explained again."

Ma Wu said, "Where else can we teach? Haven't we already taught at the North Bridge?"

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "We must go to the Mourning Star."

PS: Is it really all the fault of the Mourning Star that Yellow Earth Bridge has become like this?

Dear readers, Salad 'd like to boost my average daily subscriptions and try to keep the denominator low. Tomorrow, I'll combine two chapters into one for release. The content, word count, and sincerity will not be reduced. Thank you for your understanding and support.