Many roads led to Green Mountain, but for the households and merchants who depended on it, refusing the Green Mountain Sect's demands left only a road to death.
Yet he could not possibly agree to the Green Mountain Sect's demands, either. If he did, the people in Jing Garden would grant him death as well-Gu Qing alone might have understood his difficulties, but he had once served Zhao Layue and knew what a terrifying figure that girlish Peak Master was.
Now everything depended on whether Divine End Peak could help him weather this crisis.
Gu Qing knew that the shares to be decided tomorrow were, in fact, the allocation of resources among the Green Mountain Sect's affiliated households.
He had to hold the line for the Precious Tree Residence, because one of those affiliated households bore the surname Gu.
Many households had earned unimaginable wealth by delivering all manner of resources to Green Mountain. Over the past several centuries, the Fang Household had enjoyed the highest standing and made the most money. The Yuan Household of Lelang Commandery handled marine treasures and had excellent relations with Penglai, but never ventured into business on the Southern Heaven mainland. As for the Liu Household, no one had even heard of it.
The household that had enjoyed the greatest prominence in recent years was the Gu Household, and naturally it now faced the greatest pressure.
Green Mountain's affiliated households were not outsiders, and those attending were no idle hangers-on. Every household's Clan Chief had arrived, and even the lowest-ranking attendee had to be an Attendant of three generations' standing, so they all knew one another. Yet the atmosphere was so tense that no greetings could be heard in the quiet hall, only an occasional, exceedingly faint murmur of discussion.
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