Carefully observing the information status of Ding Ying and the other four men,
Chu Ge judged that the martial arts of these five held little attraction for him. If he chose to inherit and master them, it would simply be a waste of alien force; hence, they were all raw material meant solely for sacrifice.
"Almost all the old artifacts available for purchase in Linyuan City have already been bought up by me.
Once the business environment recovers and stabilizes in the future, it will be difficult for me to acquire more even if I want to. Resources in the vicinity are growing scarce."
Chu Ge calculated in his heart, Now my properties are almost all sold off. Once this month's quarterly accounts for the inn and restaurants are settled, I will sell the restaurants as well. With the silver in hand, I can then distribute some severance pay to the servants and leave Linyuan City.
Gradually, a new plan took shape in his mind.
Originally, he had intended to set out for the prefecture city to see things for himself only after reaching the Qi and blood peak of the Blood Change Realm, taking the opportunity along the way to visit his eldest sister, Chu Feixue.
Pity that he already felt the scarcity of resources in Linyuan City right now.
Fortunately, through the groundwork laid by years of correspondence, he could also logically and smoothly pay a visit to his predecessor's eldest sister.
Perhaps he could utilize Chu Feixue's channels to obtain more cultivation resources.
Chu Ge did not reject occasionally partaking of his own elder sister's charity.
Carrying some materials for making paper-cut hanging thousand charms and paper kites, he entered the secret chamber.
First he took out the stolen money he had plundered, then carefully tallied it up alongside the silver notes in the safe.
Ten thousand taels in silver notes, plus silver ingots, jewelry, and the like, totaled roughly fifty-five thousand taels in value.
This was already his entire savings at present.
Pity that Ding Ying and the others whom he had finished off only carried a little over three thousand taels in silver notes on them.
The rest of their plundered wealth seemed to have been entirely handed over to the stronghold of the Heaven and Earth Incense Cult, so no overwhelming windfall fell into his lap.
Aside from that, there were four Blood-Generating Pills left. He no longer intended to consume them, but instead planned to sacrifice them all to the Dragon Clock.
Perhaps because the refining effect of the Dragon Clock was superior to his own refining and absorption, four Blood-Generating Pills could be refined into three wisps of alien force.
When he consumed and refined the medicinal pills himself, a single Blood-Generating Pill only equated to half a wisp of alien force, and four only equated to two wisps, plus he had to worry about medicinal poisons accumulating in his body from taking too many.
After sacrificing them all, an extra wisp of alien force emerged instead, and there was no need to worry about medicinal poisons.
However, night had not yet fallen, and Chu Ge was in no rush to practice martial arts. Instead, he first studied left-path skills to craft new hanging thousand charms and paper-cut kites.
There were many types of paper-cut hanging thousand charms.
The four-character hanging thousand charm bearing "Welcome," which he had once used to hang inside his residence, was merely one kind, usable for early warning to prevent petty thieves from breaking into a private home.
There was also the "Auspicious Ruyi" hanging thousand charm crafted from gold paper.
If such a hanging thousand charm was suspended in a business establishment like a shop, it possessed a certain wealth-attracting property; yet the required gold paper was also quite substantial, not to mention expensive to manufacture, and it also consumed alien force.
This time, the hanging thousand charm Chu Ge wanted to make was the Auspicious Ruyi Charm capable of foreseeing disasters, issuing warnings, and warding off evil.
The materials for this charm were particular; it needed to be cut from bark papers such as paper mulberry and mulberry bark paper.
It also had to be traced with cold gold, soaked in black dog blood, and then dried over peach wood charcoal.
Chu Ge could not find expensive materials like purple gold, so he had no choice but to replace it with cold gold.
Aside from the Auspicious Ruyi Charm, he also intended to try developing the Thousand Mile Eye kite.
The paper-cut material required for the Thousand Mile Eye kite was kraft paper.
It needed to be supplemented with precious materials such as the eagle eye, carp intestine, and spider silk rope before a Thousand Mile Eye kite capable of observing distant places after bearing alien force could be crafted.
Chu Ge had not acquired an eagle eye, so he had no choice but to try replacing it with ordinary pigeon eyes.
Inside the secret chamber, the faint sound of paper being cut quickly rang out.
Time flew by, and by early evening, Chu Ge had finally trimmed out a satisfactory Auspicious Ruyi Charm and the prototype of a Thousand Mile Eye kite.
Before he could infuse alien force to test the results, the bell outside the secret chamber was rung.
"Young Master, the eldest miss of the Wang family and Steward Zhang have come to visit, and they've brought a return gift. Steward Fu is entertaining them in Yingbin Pavilion."
Stepping out of the secret chamber, Chu Ge heard a servant's report.
"Oh? Wang Xiuyun sent a return gift?"
Chu Ge felt somewhat surprised, subconsciously assuming his identity wearing the porter shadow puppet face pattern had been exposed.
Yet in an instant he dismissed this absurd thought.
Shadow puppet face patterns crafted using left-path skills combined with alien force were far more lifelike than human skin masks.
Barring height and body shape, it was virtually equivalent to changing into another person; under the circumstances at that time, Wang Xiuyun could not possibly have seen through it.
The span of a cup of tea later.
Inside Yingbin Pavilion, after pretty maids like Little Spring Flower served fragrant tea and melon fruits, Chu Ge dismissed the servants, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and smiled as he looked at Wang Xiuyun sitting opposite him.
"I wonder what brings the eldest miss of the Wang family here today?"
"You used to call me Xiuyun, but now you call me the eldest miss of the Wang family."
Wang Xiuyun sighed inwardly, but reflecting that Chu Ge had rushed to her household to warn and transmit the message, he clearly was not unmindful of past affection. A trace of a smile bloomed on her jade face, "Chu Ge, my coming this time is to thank you for making the special trip to my Wang family yesterday to warn us.
I heard you even repelled a very formidable bandit. Your master Hu Xuezhi said you are about to break through the Bone Training Realm. Aside from thanking you, my coming can also be considered bringing you a congratulatory gift in advance."
Hearing this, Chu Ge laughed freely and said modestly, "Under those circumstances, I think whoever it was would have gone to the Wang residence with a warning. Fortunately, you didn't meet with any danger."
A smile appeared on Wang Xiuyun's face, yet she heard Chu Ge say again, "As for a return gift or a congratulatory gift, there's no need to be so polite. After all, my aptitude is dull, and Master was merely tossing out a casual praise. I haven't broken through yet."
Wang Xiuyun's heart skipped a beat, thinking Chu Ge was subtly mocking her words of blunt advice from last time putting him in his place.
Just as she was about to explain, Chu Ge smiled again. "Speaking of which, I must also thank the eldest miss of the Wang family for putting in a good word for me last time, allowing those properties of mine to sell for five thousand taels more. Therefore, if thanks are in order, I should be the one thanking you."
Wang Xiuyun set her mind at ease, a smile escaping the corners of her lips as she said, "No, since I've come this time, naturally I cannot leave empty-handed. Chu Ge, you must accept this."
Steward Zhang at her side immediately placed the box in his hands upon the table, opening it to instantly reveal several old, weathered artifacts within.
"Hmm?" Chu Ge's eyes lit up.
Wang Xiuyun smiled gently. "I'd long heard you like collecting these old artifacts. I hope you like these few items as a return gift."
Chu Ge shook his head with a smile, saying helplessly, "Eldest Miss Wang, you really cater to my preferences. This gift... I cannot refuse."
"Still calling me the eldest miss of the Wang family?"
A trace of spoiled annoyance surfaced on Wang Xiuyun's pretty face. "In the past, you always called me younger sister Xiuyun."
"This..." Chu Ge froze in dumbfounded shock, left with no choice but to give a dry cough. "Alright, then from now on I'll call you Xiuyun."
"Mn." Wang Xiuyun nodded with slightly reddened cheeks, then sighed, "Aside from thanking you this time, I actually also wanted to thank that older gentleman who saved me.
It's just a pity his senior self is too mysterious; I can't even remember what he looked like..."
"Oh?" Chu Ge was amused inwardly, though his face assumed an expression of wishing to hear the details.
The two chatted idly for a few more moments. Wang Xiuyun steered the topic elsewhere, frequently bringing up the past during their conversation. With apricot eyes and peach-blossom cheeks, she alternated between shy smiles, sidelong glances, and stealthy frowns of her dark brows, appearing deeply nostalgic for bygone days.
This made Chu Ge quite suspicious as to whether his predecessor had once done something to this Xiuyun younger sister.
Judging by the look of it, this Xiuyun younger sister seemed to have once held a deep adoration for his predecessor.
However, he was not his predecessor and for the time being had martial arts sole in his heart. His words instead inquired frequently whether the Wang family had any more old artifacts they were willing to trade.
Seeing this situation, Wang Xiuyun felt helpless; she agreed to return home to sort things out and bring out more old artifacts to trade with Chu Ge, and then reminded him of a meaningful piece of news.
"That Lord Lin from the Demon Suppressing Division hasn't returned yet since chasing out of the city yesterday..."
At the gates of the Chu family estate.
Chu Ge watched as Wang Xiuyun's figure draped in a white cloak vanished inside the sedan chair, his expression profound and his thoughts deeply stirred.
Linyuan City, which had only just settled down, surely wouldn't suffer any more unexpected mishaps, would it?
A slight sense of irritability welled up in Chu Ge's heart. He only liked to practice in peace; yet alas, this era was truly unstable.
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