News of the Thirteen Golden Spear Bandits wreaking havoc spread like wildfire, plunging the city into panic.
Many merchants didn't even dare to venture outside the city walls, causing the inns within to be packed to maximum capacity for several consecutive days.
Chu Ge had received a warning from Constable Xiao Qin just the day before.
The very next day, a junior martial brother from the Tiger Martial Arts School came calling once again, bringing a warning from Hu Xuezhi to advise him against leaving the city for the time being and to wait until things settled down outside.
Looking at what Master Hu means, waiting until things settle down outside probably implies clearing out the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult strongholds outside the city. Could Master Hu be planning to intervene as well?
Chu Ge harbored some speculations in his heart, yet could not be certain.
Hu Xuezhi was advanced in age after all, and his vital energy was in decline.
Although he possessed the strength of the fourth martial arts realm, the Blood Change Realm, his actual combat prowess might not be all that high.
Moreover, the longer one roamed the jianghu, the more timid one became. Hu Xuezhi's return to Linyuan City to open a martial arts school naturally stemmed from plans to settle down for his twilight years, and he might no longer wish to meddle in bloody slaughter.
"Young Master, these are the recent accounts for our Fulailai Inn. Business has indeed been exceptionally good these past few days! Every single room is fully occupied."
At that moment, Steward Fu stepped forward holding a ledger and an abacus, reporting with a smile.
"Mhm."
Chu Ge waved a hand. "You can just record these accounts yourself, Steward Fu. There's no need to show them to me.
Oh right, have you organized the detailed assets and land deed materials for our Chu family's properties within the city, Steward Fu?"
"Those are all organized, and I'll have them sent to your study shortly, Young Master."
Steward Fu felt somewhat helpless.
His young master was interested in everything and insisted on learning a bit of everything, yet seemed to have no interest whatsoever in doing business.
How could Chu Ge not know what Steward Fu was thinking?
It wasn't that he lacked interest in commerce; rather, he had poured his primary energy into martial arts and Left Path Skill.
To him, wealth was nothing more than a resource used to elevate his martial arts and Left Path Skill.
He felt entirely at ease leaving the accumulation of wealth to Steward Fu, considering that Steward Fu had watched his previous incarnation grow up from childhood.
"Young Master, this is an invitation sent by the Wang Family, requesting your presence at the Wang residence tomorrow evening! They say it's to discuss joining hands and banding together."
In the end, Steward Fu handed over an invitation.
"Oh? Joining hands and banding together?"
Chu Ge took the red, gold-embossed invitation and nodded slightly.
He knew that Constable Xiao Qin's warning had likely provoked the vigilance of Wang Youcai, the wealthiest man in town.
Come to think of it, he still had to address Wang Youcai as Uncle.
Years ago, when Chu Ge's parents were still alive and the Chu family business was flourishing, Wang Youcai had even harbored intentions of arranging a marriage between the two families to bring their descendants together.
Later on, when Chu Ge's parents fell, this matter naturally faded into nothingness.
Yet overall, the relations between the two households remained quite decent, and his previous incarnation had gotten along quite well with Wang Youcai's daughter, Wang Xiuyun, without any dramatic melodramatic plots occurring.
Ever since I transmigrated, aside from gathering items, I've rarely interacted with their family, focusing instead on martial arts. This gathering...
Pondering for a short while, Chu Ge still felt that he ought to make a trip tomorrow.
By having Steward Fu compile the various land deeds and other materials, he actually already harbored plans to liquidate some of the household's underperforming and loss-making assets into gold notes before leaving.
Yet wanting to liquidate assets inevitably required these wealthy merchants to provide funds and take over, which naturally meant he had to deal with them.
Linyuan City was simply too small.
Now that he had already stepped into the Blood Change Realm, his next step was the Force Condensation Realm.
If he wanted to acquire more cultivation resources and cultivation techniques, he had to step outside.
Soon, evening arrived the next day.
Outside the courtyard of the Wang family estate in Linyuan City, carriages formed a continuous stream and horses bustled about. The arriving guests were either wealthy or noble, every single one of them a prominent and influential gentry figure of Linyuan City, fully demonstrating the Wang Family's drawing power.
Chu Ge likewise arrived seated in a carriage, its two ends hung with exquisite Shadow Lanterns.
Though the Chu Family was somewhat fallen, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse, and its financial strength still surpassed many of the wealthy merchants within the city. He was immediately welcomed inside by a waiting attendant.
Entering the Wang residence, one could hear singing and music filling the surrounding courtyards, accompanied by loud, bustling laughter and crowds of people coming and going. It was indeed lively.
Chu Ge had only come to maintain relations so as to pave the way for liquidating his family property later on. Lacking any real fondness for joining the bustling crowds, he wandered about the garden alone.
Observing quietly, he noticed that there were a good dozen or so wealthy merchants attending the banquet, all accompanied by family members or retainers and guards.
On the surface, everyone seemed joyous and harmonious, yet in reality, most wore traces of worry in their eyes.
Clearly, the bandits looting merchants had impacted many people's businesses.
Even the previously convenient waterway had grown fraught with danger due to troublemakers, resulting at best in lost cargo and at worst in destroyed boats and lost lives.
Presently, many merchants had stockpiled their goods, lacking the courage to transport them outward, and had turned into frightened birds.
The surrounding business environment had begun to turn chaotic.
Before long, the banquet officially commenced, and Chu Ge was invited into the main reception hall.
A stout-figured middle-aged man with a smiling expression appeared, dressed in luxurious robes. His stride was steady and carried considerable imposing aura—he was none other than Wang Youcai.
Beside him stood two robust martial artists of the Bone Training Realm.
One of them, clasping a saber to his chest with a heavy and composed demeanor, was Ding Ying, master of the Snow Saber Martial Arts School in the city, who was occasionally hired by the Wang estate and counted as a half-attendant of the Wang family.
"Brother Wang, you're finally coming out to take charge of the overall situation."
"Haha, even Master Ding has come. It seems Brother Wang has a major move planned this time."
Seeing Wang Youcai, who possessed such powerful presence and composure, the anxieties of the numerous wealthy merchants diminished slightly as they rushed to offer flattery.
Wang Youcai laughed heartily, cupping his fists as he exchanged a few polite pleasantries before steering the conversation toward formal remarks.
Chu Ge listened for quite a while, having downed several cups of tea to hear nothing more than polite talk about joining hands and banding together. Just as he was beginning to grow impatient, Wang Youcai's tone abruptly shifted.
"Actually, in inviting everyone here today, aside from discussing joining hands and banding together to jointly resist external foes, there are two other matters to announce."
Pausing his speech, a woman in black walked in from outside the hall. Her figure was slender and graceful, her bearing charming, her steps light, and her delicate features quite pleasing to the eyes.
"This is my little daughter, Xiuyun, who only recently returned from the prefectural city."
Wang Youcai introduced her with a smile, clearly quite satisfied with this daughter, and said, "My little daughter now possesses the strength of the Third Realm Bone Refining. Moreover, Wang has already contacted an elder of the Yun Family, a martial arts aristocratic clan in the prefectural city, securing a slot for my little daughter to undergo spiritual aptitude testing by the Yun Family.
Once my little daughter's spiritual aptitude is verified, the Yun Family will take her in as an outer clan disciple."
As soon as these words were spoken, quite a few people present immediately gasped in astonishment.
"Aha, I've heard of this martial arts aristocratic clan, the Yun Family. That's a major martial arts clan boasting two high-level martial arts experts of the Force Condensation Realm."
"The Yun Family's influence is no less than that of some medium-sized martial arts sects. Even as an outer clan disciple, one can still acquire abundant resources, pathways, and divine techniques."
"The materials for testing spiritual aptitude are rumored to be exceptionally rare, and the Yun Family's slots are limited every year. Brother Wang, your connections run deep indeed."
Although the guests were all merchants, they were nonetheless well-informed and aware of the Yun Family's weight, and they rushed to offer congratulations.
No matter how wealthy merchants were, without strength they were nothing more than fat sheep.
Yet if a descendant were tested and found to have spiritual aptitude, it would be entirely different.
Listening to the crowd's adulation, the smile on Wang Youcai's face grew even wider.
The martial arts aristocratic clan, the Yun Family... A slot to test spiritual aptitude.
Chu Ge could not help but put down his tea cup and look toward Wang Youcai's daughter.
Indeed, it had been nearly three years since he last laid eyes on Wang Xiuyun.
After all, prior to his transmigration, it was merely his previous incarnation who shared a good relationship with her.
However, judging by her current appearance, she had already returned from the prefectural city after finishing her studies.
At that moment, taking advantage of the atmosphere, Wang Youcai began to speak of the second matter.
"This second matter is that my Wang Family wishes to summon and assemble an elite guard force headed by Master Ding.
When the time comes, with the addition of Attendant Yuan, the joint forces of two Bone Training Realm martial artists will escort merchant caravans in transit and transport supplies with absolute foolproof safety!"
At this declaration, many wealthy merchants immediately felt their hearts stirred, joy blooming across their faces.
Upon witnessing this, Chu Ge caught the underlying drift of the matter.
True to the saying that merchants lacked virtue, Wang Youcai truly lived up to his reputation as the richest man in Linyuan City. While others felt only trepidation and worry during such times, Wang Youcai was brilliant enough to immediately spot the opportunity amidst the crisis.
First, he demonstrated his own strength alongside his ties to the Yun Family, and then he raised the proposal to forge a powerful martial escort unit to safely transport these merchants' goods outward while taking a cut of the profits.
Should this endeavor succeed, it would even cause his fame to soar sky-high, and one feared that Ding Ying's martial arts school would practically need to rename itself a security agency.
Yet none of these matters held much interest for Chu Ge.
Two Bone Training Realm practitioners... might not even be enough for him to beat up!
Instead, it was the Yun Family's slot to test spiritual aptitude that genuinely piqued his interest.
Before long, the banquet neared its conclusion.
Just as Chu Ge prepared to discuss the liquidation of his family properties with a few familiar merchants, a graceful, slender figure in black approached him.
"Chu Ge, it must have been close to three years since we last met. Ever since you took up martial arts, you've seemed like a completely different person. I even wrote to you back when I was in the prefectural city, asking whether you'd come there, but you never replied."
I am indeed a different person now, though I can hardly tell you that.
Chu Ge paused his footsteps, murmuring inwardly as he turned to face the approaching woman.
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