237: Chapter 237 Buying Land to Settle Down Refugees

Meanwhile, outside Linjiang Prefecture.

A gathering place for refugees.

Usually, it should be very quiet after midnight.

But at this moment, in the refugee area.

Someone had built a high platform here, upon which sat a statue with fangs and a ferocious expression.

Outside the platform, hundreds or thousands of refugees were lining up to worship this statue.

Because as long as they worshipped the statue, they could obtain 3 catties of millet.

But these refugees did not realize that after worshipping this evil statue, a wisp of their vital energy would be drained away.

Not far behind the platform, a tent had been set up.

Inside the tent was a simple wooden table, and two burly men were sitting there drinking and chatting.

"Brother Xu, why do you think Master Wu is pulling this stunt? Is he just bored with having too much grain?"

After downing half a bowl of wine, one of the burly men asked curiously, "And that statue, it doesn't look like a good deity at all. It looks too ugly!"

"Why do you care so much? As long as he gives us benefits, who cares what his motive is!" the burly man called Brother Xu said dismissively.

Both of them were Flesh Refining Realm Martial Artists.

They had committed a crime in their hometown's prefecture city and started wandering around.

Some time ago, the two brothers met a person who called himself Master Wu.

He said that as long as the brothers were willing to work for him, not only would they get silver, but he would also gift them a Cultivation Technique that could allow them to Cultivate to the Tendon Refining Realm.

Initially, they were still hesitant.

But the other party was very generous and gave them 200 taels of silver each.

The two of them agreed immediately.

Then, following Master Wu's orders, they temporarily recruited a group of underlings, bought a large quantity of millet with the silver Master Wu gave them, and brought the statue to the refugee area outside Linjiang Prefecture.

In the blink of an eye, more than half an hour passed.

Xu Ling shouted outside, "Old Seven Zhou, come over here!"

A man of about fifty years old immediately trotted over and said with a fawning smile, "What are your orders, sirs?"

"How many people have worshipped the statue now?" Xu Ling asked.

"Replying to Master Xu, over twelve hundred people have worshipped it!" Old Seven Zhou replied.

"Tell them to hurry up. Once they finish worshipping, we can pack up early!"

Xu Ling said impatiently.

"Understood, Master Xu. I'll go arrange it right away!"

Time passed, and soon it was almost dawn.

The millet brought last night had all been distributed, so Xu Ling and Zhang Qiang came out to disperse the refugees who were still waiting in line.

Then they packed the statue from the platform into a wooden box and left Old Seven Zhou and the others there.

The two of them left with the statue in the wooden box.

The two sped along with the wooden box.

They met Master Wu in a small town more than 40 li away from Linjiang Prefecture.

"Master Wu, here is the item for you!"

"You two have worked hard!"

Master Wu said indifferently, then took two ingots of silver, each weighing ten taels, and tossed them to the two men.

"Thank you, Master Wu!"

The two were overjoyed, not expecting Master Wu to be so generous.

He actually gave extra silver.

"Alright, come here tonight to pick up the statue. You two should hurry and get some rest!"

After Xu Ling and his companion left.

Master Wu grabbed the box and entered the house.

And entered a secret chamber through a secret passage in the house.

This secret chamber exuded a strong smell of blood.

The floor of the secret chamber was covered in many runes drawn with fresh blood.

Master Wu quickly opened the wooden box, took out the statue, and placed it in the center of the runes.

Then, he walked to the side of the statue and sat cross-legged.

Master Wu continuously chanted incantations, and then one could see the vital energy inside the statue flowing out and entering Master Wu's body.

On the other side.

After breakfast.

Chen Hu did not go to the Fierce Tiger Gang.

Instead, he went straight out of the city.

He intended to find a suitable place near the city to settle these refugees.

With the cheat that was Spiritual Sense.

He soon found a place.

It was a piece of wasteland with a significant area.

However, if this wasteland was ownerless, it belonged to the imperial court.

Therefore, he still had to find someone to confirm it.

So, he directly contacted Chief Constable Xu Shiyou using the sound transmission gu to ask about the situation in that area.

As Chief Constable, Xu Shiyou was the highest-ranking official in the Prefecture Yamen besides Prefect Yang Ze.

So, it was very easy for him to investigate.

Soon, there was a result.

That wasteland did not belong to any private individual; it belonged to the imperial court.

Chen Hu expressed that he wanted to buy it.

Xu Shiyou said he would immediately send people to measure it.

Not long after, Xu Shiyou arrived with the officials responsible for measuring the area.

"Greetings, Gang Leader Chen!"

Xu Shiyou said with a slightly respectful attitude; in front of outsiders, he still had to put on an act.

"Greetings, Chief Constable Xu!" Chen Hu replied with a smile.

"I, Liu Zhang, greet Gang Leader Chen!"

"I, He Biao, greet Gang Leader Chen!"

...

Although the six officials were all people from the Prefecture Yamen and could barely be considered officials.

But in front of Chen Hu, this Marrow Refining expert, they dared not put on any airs.

After all, it had spread throughout the Prefecture Yamen that this Gang Leader Chen had latched onto Princess Anping.

There were also rumors that Prefect Yang Ze had his legs broken because he schemed against Chen Hu and angered Princess Anping.

Even the Prefect had to have his legs broken for offending Chen Hu.

If they dared to offend Chen Hu, they would probably be finished directly.

Under Chen Hu's direction, the six officials measured the wasteland.

However, the area of the wasteland Chen Hu marked out was not small, and the six officials were busy sweating profusely, taking two hours to finish.

During this time, Chen Hu ordered people to bring tables and chairs.

Chen Hu brewed a pot of tea and invited Xu Shiyou to drink tea together.

He was brewing Spirit Tea.

It improved Xu Shiyou's strength.

He was very grateful to Chen Hu.

Then, Liu Zhang and He Biao came over to report: "Gang Leader Chen, Chief Constable Xu, the land has been measured. It totals fifty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-seven mu!"

"What is the price per mu?"

Chen Hu asked.

Liu Zhang replied: "This is wasteland and not suitable for farming. The general price is between seven mace of silver and one tael and two mace. However, the area of the wasteland is too large. The official in charge of the Household Department probably cannot make the decision directly; it must be approved by the Prefect before it can be sold!"

"Alright, we'll go back and find Prefect Yang!"

Chen Hu said calmly.

On the way back to the city, Xu Shiyou whispered: "Brother Hu, if you go directly to Prefect Yang, it might be difficult. I have a way to buy this wasteland without going through Prefect Yang."

"Oh?" Chen Hu became interested.

Xu Shiyou continued: "According to the rules of the Household Department, as long as it does not exceed five thousand mu of wasteland, one can make the decision directly without the Prefect's approval. Brother Hu, you can just find eleven people to buy it separately!"

"Your brain works quite fast!" Chen Hu praised.

Xu Shiyou smiled embarrassedly: "Actually, someone has operated this way before; I'm just borrowing the idea."

"It's fine. I'll go directly to Prefect Yang Ze; I can solve the problem all at once!"

Chen Hu said with a light laugh.

If Prefect Yang Ze was sensible, that would be fine; he could lift his nightmare.

Otherwise, he would let him have nightmares for the rest of his life.

Seeing that Chen Hu was unwilling to accept his plan, Xu Shiyou stopped trying to persuade him.

Inside the Prefecture Yamen.

Prefect Yang Ze's mental state was very poor, and his mind had become dazed.

Plagued by nightmares, he dared not fall asleep.

Once he fell asleep, those disgusting nightmares would strike.

At this moment, someone came to report: "Prefect, Chen Hu requests an audience."

"No, let him get lost!" Prefect Yang Ze roared in a bad temper.

"Prefect Yang, you have quite a temper!"

Just at this moment, a mocking voice rang out, and then they saw Chen Hu break in directly.