They Came in Droves

In Linbei County.

An Weiyan held the book and read for a while, finishing the entire poetry collection in his hands.

"This won't do. I'll have to bring over more books."

With just this one book, it felt as though reading it for too long had gradually made its effects less pronounced.

He would buy some more poetry collections to read later.

With that thought, An Weiyan put down the poetry collection.

By the time An Weiyan stepped outside, the sun was gradually setting.

An Weiyan took out some rice and put it on to cook for everyone, then returned to the Daoist temple.

When he entered the main hall, he saw some additional incense that had yet to burn out.

"Did more people come by afterward?"

The sight of the incense immediately filled An Weiyan with delight.

It seemed the advertising he had done earlier was quite effective. He had thought there would only be those people from the morning.

He looked at the incense burner before him.

After cleaning it a little, An Weiyan made himself something to eat.

The bulletproof steel plates and other things he had bought would arrive tomorrow. He would buy a few other things when he went down the mountain then.

After making himself something to eat, An Weiyan lay down in his room and went to sleep.

The next day.

The sun had only just risen when An Weiyan hurried out of bed. He first went to Linbei County and handed out several sacks of rice, only returning to the Daoist temple once he had finished.

From this angle, An Weiyan could clearly see the distant sun seeming to rise slowly out of the clouds and mist.

Looking out from here, the distant scenery was exceptionally beautiful.

An Weiyan watched for a while, then washed up and hurried down the mountain.

As he descended, An Weiyan checked his phone and discovered that Su Qingyun had sent him messages earlier.

Yet An Weiyan had actually forgotten about them.

The gist of her messages was to chide him for paying her back so quickly when she was in no hurry to use the money.

Reading this, An Weiyan thought of the golden-thread nanmu wood in Linbei County and asked Su Qingyun about it.

Su Qingyun replied, "Golden-thread nanmu? Don't do anything stupid. That's a nationally protected Class II tree species. It's not something you can touch."

Su Qingyun replied rather quickly, and with some urgency.

Although some people around her bought such things, An Weiyan was not someone at their level. It was too dangerous for him to get involved with it.

Reading those words, An Weiyan could not help raising his eyebrows. He had only heard of golden-thread nanmu before and had never actually looked into its protected status.

Now that Su Qingyun had said so, it seemed he could not bring it back after all.

After all, if he brought over golden-thread nanmu timber that thick and attracted someone's attention, the trouble would be far too great.

Forget it. There were other ways to make money. He would not take this risk.

With that thought, An Weiyan sent Su Qingyun a few replies. "No, I was just asking casually."

As he replied, An Weiyan reached the foot of the mountain. After successfully collecting his deliveries at the warehouse entrance, he moved everything inside.

Seeing that no one was paying attention, An Weiyan shut the door, unpacked everything in the warehouse, and then sent it over to Linbei County.

Once that was done, An Weiyan bought some quilts, some more books, and then some incense and candles.

After having everything delivered to the warehouse, An Weiyan sent these things over to Linbei County as well.

Having finished all this, An Weiyan wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Then he returned to the Daoist temple without a moment's pause.

What An Weiyan had not expected was to find incense burning in the temple when he returned.

Someone had come to offer incense again.

The frequency of these visits made An Weiyan rather delighted.

It seemed the incense must have been offered by those people who had just gone down the mountain.

An Weiyan had placed the temple's incense and candles somewhere conspicuous, so anyone who came could use them to make offerings.

Seeing this, An Weiyan felt quite heartened.

After hanging a sign at the entrance saying he was cultivating, An Weiyan returned to Linbei County.

"Lin Liyun, have all the bailiffs come over."

An Weiyan had just stepped out of the county office when he beckoned to Lin Liyun in the distance.

At present, Lin Liyun was leading the bailiffs in training, teaching them how to serve as bailiffs and what they ought to do.

"Yes, my lord!"

Hearing An Weiyan call, Lin Liyun immediately answered, then beckoned to the others beside him.

Soon, thirty-odd people stood before An Weiyan.

An Weiyan handed out the clothes and ceramic bulletproof steel plates he had just bought.

The plates were worn close to the body, with clothes over them, so nothing was visible.

As it was, Lin Liyun and the others all looked a little too thin. With the things underneath filling them out a little, they actually looked somewhat burly.

Clothes such as flying fish robes made the wearer look more imposing the taller and bigger he was.

After teaching them how to put the clothes on, he also handed out the long sabers he had bought.

A short while later, everyone in the group before him had finished dressing and equipping themselves, their hands gripping their saber hilts.

At a glance, every one of them looked exceptionally formidable.

At the sight, An Weiyan immediately broke into a smile.

Not bad. These would be his followers from now on. Once things developed further, he could expand their numbers some more.

"My lord."

Cheng Feng and the others looked at their brand-new clothes, then cupped their fists toward An Weiyan and called out.

At this moment, every one of them looked excited.

"Mm, all right. Carry on training."

An Weiyan waved them off to continue training, lest they prove to have little fighting ability when he needed them to act.

"Yes!"

Lin Liyun accepted the order, but rather than turning away immediately, he said, "My lord, more people from nearby villages have brought others here to Linbei County to seek refuge."

After the earlier villagers had fled here and discovered there was food and drink, and with the roads still fairly peaceful at present, they had spread the news.

As a result, when the people of nearby villages heard the news, they immediately came to Linbei County with their families in tow.

An Weiyan paused at this and looked in the direction Lin Liyun indicated.

Then he saw a crowd of refugees up ahead.

An Weiyan strode over. The villagers ahead saw his party, especially Lin Liyun and the others, each carrying a saber.

With them clustered around An Weiyan as he approached, how could the villagers not know that he was the newly appointed county magistrate?

As An Weiyan drew a little closer, they immediately began trembling with fear, watching him with eyes full of awe.

An Weiyan swept his gaze over the villagers before him without saying much. After looking them over a few times, he gave his instructions.

"Do the same as before. Cook them congee for a few meals first, then bring their meals back up to the same as yours."

"Yes, my lord!"

Lin Liyun accepted the order and went straight off.