24: Chapter 24: The Yin-Yang Divine Account Revitalizes the Overall Situation! Sending the Traitorous Childhood Friend to the Valley of Broken Souls!

You pick up the fake ledger and throw it into the brazier.

The flames flare up violently, licking at the paper pages.

Hu Wansan kneels on the ground, not daring to lift his head.

"Ma... Master? Boss, you aren't sending me to the magistrate?"

You don't reply, instead pulling ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones from your sleeve.

"Clap."

They form a row on the tabletop.

The spirit stones are lustrous; Hu Wansan's gaze is glued to them, unable to move away.

"Only a fool would slaughter a chicken that lays golden eggs just to eat its meat."

You tap your finger against the tabletop.

"These ten spirit stones are the capital for the new shop, and also your life-buying money."

"Your vision is too narrow; you only stare at that little bit of tax from the City Lord's Mansion."

You lean forward.

"I want you to expand the operation in Nan Town until the spiritual material business of the three surrounding towns all depends on our whim."

"Big enough that even if the City Lord's Mansion catches a whiff, they'll have to weigh whether their blade will shatter before they try to strike."

Hu Wansan's eyes are bloodshot as he stares at those ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

He suddenly bangs his head against the floor.

"Bang."

His forehead hits the blue brick with a dull thud.

"Boss! From now on, my life, Hu Wansan's, is yours!"

"Get up."

You pick up your teacup and blow away the foam.

"Kowtowing won't produce spirit stones. We will continue to avoid the City Lord's Mansion's taxes."

Hu Wansan is stunned.

"We'll change how we play."

"Take twenty percent of the saved tax money and use it to bribe the registrar, jailers, and guards."

"Keep the petty ghosts well-fed."

"If the King of Hell wants to audit our books, they will be our messenger birds."

Hu Wansan grips that secret ledger tightly.

"Three months."

You put down the teacup.

"If you can't become the leader of the three towns, I'll dismantle your bones and send them back to the mines to serve as stepping stones."

Hu Wansan nods repeatedly, then carries the spirit stones and ledger as he backs out of the room.

Age 32, the seventh day of the first lunar month.

Hu Wansan, this blade, is extremely sharp.

Within half a month, he used the price of scrap paper to revitalize abandoned warehouses in three towns.

The shops put up signs: Cash on delivery, no price gouging.

Rogue cultivators would rather travel an extra dozen miles to bring the materials from the demon beasts they just hunted.

The materials are roughly processed by the subordinates and then resold to the artifact refining workshops in the city.

The profit triples.

The Nan Town branch takes the opportunity to launch a bundled spiritual herb business.

In one fell swoop, it crashes the price floor of all surrounding retail spiritual material shops.

A visiting card printed with the gold-stamped family crest of Yunlai Inn is delivered to Nan Town.

You don't even break the wax seal; you throw it directly into the brazier.

With the capital revitalized, it is time to cut off the constraints Ji Mengxue has on the channels.

Large sums of spirit stones flow into your pocket through the Yin-Yang accounting.

You immediately dump it all into the black market, frantically sweeping up high-grade barrier-breaking pills.

Age 32, the first day of the second lunar month.

Birthday.

In the secret chamber, the system lottery wheel pops up.

"Click."

"Ding! Congratulations on drawing the white trait — 'Greased Soles'!"

Greased Soles (White): When fleeing, movement speed increases by 10%, and it is harder to be tripped by loose stones.

You straighten your teacup.

At least it's one more way to save your life.

You pour out three high-grade barrier-breaking pills and swallow them in one gulp.

The medicinal power washes through your meridians, hitting the bottleneck.

After the intense pain, the spiritual energy dissipates completely.

The barrier to the sixth level of Qi Refining remains unmoved.

You refuse to believe it, so you pour out three more.

Age 32, the thirteenth day of the fourth lunar month.

Heavy rain.

You sit in the hall, clicking your abacus.

A dull thud of something heavy falling comes from outside the door.

"Boss! Someone collapsed outside!"

Hu Wansan shouts while holding an umbrella.

You put down the abacus and step over the threshold.

On the cold steps, a man lies prone in the muddy water.

His tattered clothes are soaked through, revealing crisscrossing whip marks on his back.

The man pushes his body up, brushing away his soaked, messy hair.

It is Xiu Yun.

The childhood friend who stabbed you in the back for a few spirit stones in the first simulation.

The "Business Opportunity Sniffing" trait flashes red.

The light screen pops up with a notification: Warning! Traces of the tracking secret medicine "Lead-the-Way Incense" detected.

Only the Ling Family's specially bred spirit dogs can track it.

Xiu Yun crawls over and hugs your pant leg.

"Brother Shen! Save me!"

"That beast Ling Xiao! He treated me like a dog! Now that I'm useless, he wants to kill me to silence me!"

He spits out two mouthfuls of blood.

"He forced me to eat poison, and I only escaped after risking my life to kill the guard!"

"Brother Shen, for the sake of us mining together, please give me a bite to eat!"

You lower your eyes, looking at the bloodstains on your pant leg.

You flick your toe, kicking him over into the muddy water to create distance.

"You ran here to wail?"

Xiu Yun is kneeling and crawling.

"Brother Shen, just one meal, I'll leave immediately after I eat..."

You brush the mud spots off your pant leg.

"Wansan, drag him to the woodshed and feed him a bowl of hot soup."

You turn and walk inside.

"If his life is saved, he can sweep the floors and clean the outhouses in the backyard. I don't keep idlers here."

That night.

Secret chamber.

"Boss, this kid isn't clean."

Hu Wansan closes the door and lowers his voice.

"I checked his wounds. The whip marks look scary, but they didn't damage his muscles or bones; they are all superficial injuries. He's an old hand."

You pour a cup of tea.

"I know. A spy sent by Ling Xiao."

"Should I get someone to put a sack over his head and dump him in the river?"

Hu Wansan makes a throat-slitting gesture.

"If we dump one, there will be another. It's better to keep a spy right under our noses."

You turn the teacup.

"Let him do the chores."

"Let him see those ledgers that are half-true and half-false more often."

Hu Wansan understands immediately.

"By the way, let's send a big gift to Second Young Master Ling on our behalf."

Age 32, May.

Xiu Yun sweeps and does chores in the front yard, his eyes frequently drifting toward the ledgers.

The staff have already been well-fed; they act and set traps simultaneously.

A staff member accepts the broken spirit stones handed over by Xiu Yun and leans in.

"Brother Xiu, don't you ever spread this around."

"The boss is pulling a big job next month; a batch of top-grade spiritual herbs is being transported into the city. To avoid prying eyes, the boss gave a strict order to take the small path through Broken Soul Valley."

Xiu Yun nods in agreement, lowering his head.

The staff member turns and slips into the backyard, receiving a reward from Hu Wansan.

May 18th, late at night.

A faint glimmer of a sound transmission talisman flashes through the crack in the woodshed window.

Xiu Yun pushes open half the window, and the night wind disperses the remaining spiritual energy fluctuations.

May 20th, nightfall.

Hu Wansan reports in a low voice beside the rockery.

"Boss, the convoy for Broken Soul Valley has entered the valley. Eight broken carts, loaded with four hundred catties of Stinky Hemp Grass; the smell can travel three miles."

"Have the staff retreated?"

You look toward the woodshed in the backyard.

"Everyone has pulled out. Ling Xiao's people have already followed them in."

Stinky Hemp Grass is worthless.

Yet it is the thing that the second-rank demon beast, the Red Flame Golden Lion, hates the most.

The Red Flame Golden Lion, with its extremely strong territorial awareness, will definitely fly into a rage once it smells it.

Behind the rockery.

You listen intently.

From the direction of the suburban mountains, a tremor can be faintly felt under your feet.

Accompanied by a dull beast roar.

You pick up a black stone and place it on the chessboard.

"Click."

"The feast begins."