Get It! I Have to Get It!

As soon as he said that, Lin Song's expression stiffened, as if he had swallowed a fly.

The back courtyard again!

He still remembered how those buyers had entered the back courtyard, then left for no apparent reason, even forgetting that they had come to buy the escort agency.

Even more absurdly, none of them ever had the thought of buying it again afterward.

"It's already this cheap. You won't find a house this good for twenty taels anywhere. Even buying a plot of land would cost more than that. Brother Xu..." Lin Song wanted to persuade Xu Bai to abandon the idea.

But before he could finish, Xu Bai interrupted him.

"I need to understand the escort agency's back courtyard." Xu Bai kept it brief.

Hearing this, Lin Song became dejected. His arms hung at his sides, and his whole spirit seemed to wither.

"Fine. I'll take you there."

In his view, this deal was still doomed to fail.

"Brother Xu, I won't go." Liu Er was a little scared and did not dare follow.

Xu Bai waved a hand.

It did not matter whether the others went or not. He wanted to see what was going on in the back courtyard.

If it was too dangerous, he would slip away immediately.

Buying an escort agency for twenty taels was certainly a bargain, but not worth risking his life for.

Led by Lin Song, the two passed down a path and arrived at the back courtyard.

The back courtyard was extremely spacious, with only a few rooms standing there.

The escorts were all locals, so no one lived in those rooms.

Many escorts did not even come to the back courtyard. There was nothing to do here, after all. Xu Bai himself, when he had still been an escort at the agency, had never come here.

The rooms and courtyard were utterly unremarkable. Only the tree in the very center stood out.

The moment Xu Bai looked at it, his mind grew heavy and muddled.

Then the True Yuan Power within him began to circulate, and the muddled feeling vanished.

At that moment, Xu Bai knew that he had to buy this escort agency.

A golden progress bar hovered silently over the lone tree.

When a woman tied a knot in a rope with her tongue, a man knew he had to marry her.

And now Xu Bai knew that he had to buy this escort agency.

For no other reason than that golden progress bar.

This trip had been well worth it.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Bai walked closer.

Lin Song followed as well, his face full of excitement.

For the first time, for the very first time, nothing strange had happened.

This time, he could finally sell it! "Brother Xu, what are you doing?" Lin Song had been too excited to notice Xu Bai walking up to the tree.

"Just taking a look." Xu Bai stared directly at the trunk.

There were faint patterns on the trunk, but it looked no different from an ordinary tree.

Strange. Why did it trigger a progress bar? Xu Bai thought.

"Brother Xu! Let's hurry and sign the contract!" Lin Song rushed forward and said excitedly.

He had finally found someone willing to buy it. He absolutely could not let him get away.

Twenty taels it was. Once he left Sheng County, he could do some small business and still make a living.

After something this strange had happened, he did not want to remain here any longer.

"Has this tree always been here?" Xu Bai asked.

"It's been here ever since my father bought this land. I heard a woman planted it here back then. She was also the one who sold the place to my father." Lin Song thought for a moment, then explained what had happened.

A woman?

Planting a tree?

Xu Bai raised his head and looked at the luxuriant branches.

This was a Chinese scholar tree.

Planting a Chinese scholar tree at home—there was something to that.

Chinese scholar trees were yin in nature and could nourish souls.

Yin and yang were always balanced. When yin flourished, yang declined; when yang flourished, yin declined. If one planted a Chinese scholar tree, unless the yang energy of the home could overpower the tree's yin energy, it would produce bizarre effects.

"Oh, right, I remember now." Lin Song slapped his forehead. "That woman used to be a Courtesan in another county. For some reason, she later came to Sheng County. When she sold the house, my father paid the money and signed the contract. The woman told him to come back a month later. But when he came, she was gone."

"She had already been paid, yet she made him wait a month?" Xu Bai frowned. "What kind of custom is that?"

"She was cheap..." Lin Song scratched his head.

There were two things in this world that no one could refuse.

—Getting something for free and getting a discount.

Especially the kind of discount that broke your bones.

"Fine. Let's sign the contract," Xu Bai said.

He did not ask any more questions, because he would not get any answers anyway.

Lin Song finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hurriedly brought over the house deed and land deed. The two signed the contract and went through the proper procedures before everything was settled.

During this time, Xu Bai asked Lin Song where he planned to go afterward. Lin Song said that he would leave Sheng County immediately.

Once the contract was signed, Lin Song left.

Xu Bai returned home and moved the belongings from his old house over.

Naturally, he was not moving them alone. The escorts helped as well.

The escorts shared Liu Er's thinking. With Xu Bai here, they instead developed the instinct to follow the strong.

Xu Bai did not dismiss them.

He had originally taken over the escort agency only to exchange for Copper Coins.

But now he had another goal: the tree in the back courtyard.

As for everything else, he did not want to bother with it for the time being.

Running an escort agency?

He had no interest in it.

But he could not dismiss them, either.

Now that he had the escort agency as a cover, he could not be bothered to find another one.

As for paying wages, although he still had quite a bit of silver left, he could not squander it carelessly.

Besides, he needed to dispel any suspicions from people with ulterior motives. For instance, how could a former escort come up with enough money to buy an escort agency?

Those were all problems.

Next, it was time to solve them.

"Brother Xu, we've moved everything. Is there anything else you need us brothers to do?" Liu Er wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked.

Xu Bai smiled faintly. "Gather all the brothers. I have something to say."

"Got it." Liu Er did not suspect a thing and hurried off.

Before long, all the escorts had gathered together, looking eagerly at Xu Bai.

They did not dare speak. They simply watched him.

Xu Bai carried over the Small Stool he had bought from a stall and sat outside the largest room.

It had to be said, this handmade Small Stool was quite comfortable to sit on.

"Everyone, you haven't spent much of the money from Fierce Tiger Stronghold yet, have you?" Xu Bai sat on the Small Stool with both hands resting on his knees, looking utterly relaxed.

The escorts' expressions froze. They looked at one another, then all shook their heads.

Not only had they not spent it, they had hidden it away.

It was not that they did not want to spend it. They simply did not dare.

A sudden extra sum of money could arouse suspicion when spent.

It would not be much of an issue if one person spent it, but if a whole group did, that would be absurd.

After all, what they had done could not be allowed to spread.

They were escorts, yet they had divided up the cargo they were supposed to protect. If word got out, it would be disastrous.

Those who broke the rules of their trade were unwelcome anywhere.

That was why they had not dared touch that money.

"All of you brothers come from ordinary families. Money that cannot be spent is no good thing, so I specifically acquired this escort agency to give you a very good solution." Xu Bai smiled warmly.

All the escorts shuddered in unison.

That smile was exactly the same as it had been at Fierce Tiger Stronghold.

Before Fierce Tiger Stronghold, Xu Bai had smiled, and they had all boarded the ship—a ship with no way to turn back.

Now he was smiling again. Their hairs stood on end, and some of their faces had gone pale.

"I can see from your expressions that you're all very happy, so I'll get straight to the point." Xu Bai—redefining happiness—pointed at the house behind him and spoke slowly.

Guess what type of skill this tree is. (Getting ready to copy suggestions from the book reviews.)