221: Chapter 221 The Old Fox

Looking at the three options provided by the system...

Lin Ye snorted disdainfully in his heart.

"Is there even a need to choose? I worked so hard to build up my persona as a peace-loving, money-making capitalist. How could I let it collapse so easily?"

Naturally, he selected Option B.

The moment his choice was confirmed...

Lin Ye loosened his grip on Young Master Zhuge Ming's neck slightly.

Thud!

Young Master Zhuge Ming collapsed onto the bluestone pavement like a lump of mud, clutching his throat and coughing violently.

He gasped greedily for fresh air, tears and snot streaming down his face, completely devoid of the composure expected of a young noble master.

"Great Elder, is it?"

Lin Ye paid no attention to Young Master Zhuge Ming on the ground.

He unhurriedly pulled a wet wipe out of his pocket and meticulously wiped his right hand—the one that had just choked Young Master Zhuge Ming—as if it had been contaminated by some virus.

As he wiped, he spoke in an easygoing tone:

"The quality of education in your Zhuge family is truly nothing to write home about. I suggest you replace your young master."

"First thing in the morning, bringing over twenty people to block the entrance of my Funeral Shop. Not only did it affect my business, but it also frightened the female employees in my shop."

Lin Ye pointed inside the doorway.

In the main hall, Leng Yue sat poised on a chair sipping tea, while Frost Star was using a deep blue bone blade to trim her nails.

Helena was playing with a tactical baton in her hands, and Ayugu held a rustling Gu pot in hers.

Although the four women were in different postures, the look in their eyes as they stared outside clearly communicated: "Just give the word, boss, and we'll come out to chop them down."

You call that being frightened?!

Great Elder Zhuge Changqing's mouth twitched violently a couple of times.

Although he couldn't gauge the true depth of Leng Yue and Frost Star's strength, just the faint leak of supreme-path aura was enough to make his old bones shiver with anxiety.

This Funeral Shop was simply a dangerous tiger's den harboring hidden dragons and crouching tigers!

"Shopkeeper Lin is entirely correct. This is completely and utterly our fault."

Great Elder Zhuge Changqing nodded repeatedly like an elementary school student who had done wrong, cold sweat running down the wrinkles on his forehead.

"Since you admit your fault, then let's handle this according to worldly rules."

Lin Ye threw the used wet wipe with pinpoint accuracy into a trash can ten meters away, then shoved his hands back into his hoodie pockets.

"Compensation for emotional distress, damage to reputation, loss of work time, plus the cultural relic restoration fee for those century-old bluestones outside my door that your people smashed... How about this? I'm not a greedy person."

Lin Ye held up five fingers and waved them in front of Great Elder Zhuge Changqing.

"I won't ask for cash. I know you hidden families have just re-entered the world and probably don't carry much Great Xia currency."

"I want five items."

"First, fifty pieces of top-grade Lightning-Struck Wood over five hundred years old."

"Second, a handwritten copy of your Zhuge family's inherited, sole-surviving manuscript of Qimen Dunjia."

"Third, one hundred catties of top-grade Purple-Gold Cinnabar produced from the Lingnan ley line."

Lin Ye paused here, looking with a half-smile at Great Elder Zhuge Changqing, whose face twitched with agonizing distress.

"As for the fourth... I see that your young master isn't very sharp. Leaving him outside makes it easy for him to bring trouble upon your family."

"How about this: leave him here on Taiping Old Street to sweep the streets for three months, as a way to experience the hardships of the working class at the bottom."

"Of course, meals and lodging won't be provided, and there's no need to pay him a wage."

As soon as these words were spoken...

Complete silence fell over the entire area.

Young Master Zhuge Ming raised his head from the ground and roared in utter humiliation, "In your dreams! I am the young master of the Zhuge family, how could I possibly—"

Slap!

Before he could finish, Great Elder Zhuge Changqing delivered a crisp, decisive slap directly across Young Master Zhuge Ming's face, forcing the rest of his words back down his throat.

"Shut up, you bastard! Have you not brought enough trouble to our family?!"

Great Elder Zhuge Changqing shouted furiously, then turned to Lin Ye, forcing a smile onto his heavily wrinkled face that looked worse than weeping.

"Shopkeeper Lin's conditions... this old man agrees to all of them!"

Great Elder Zhuge Changqing's heart was bleeding.

Five-hundred-year-old Lightning-Struck Wood and Purple-Gold Cinnabar were foundational assets gathered in the family vaults over decades!

Now he was handing them all over to line this kid's pockets!

But he didn't dare bargain at all.

Compared to their lives, what were these external possessions worth?

As for letting the young master sweep the streets, that was protection in disguise. At least while sweeping on Taiping Old Street, no one would dare assassinate him during these three months.

"The Great Elder is a straightforward man."

Lin Ye nodded in satisfaction.

Dealing with smart people saved so much trouble; he could maximize profits without having to swing a single blade or fire a gun.

"Deliver the goods to my shop before dark. As for the broom..."

Lin Ye turned and called out toward the interior:

"Helena, go to the backyard and fetch a broom, then register our newly appointed street cleaner."

"Yes, boss."

Helena cooperatively walked out carrying a bamboo broom and tossed it unceremoniously in front of Young Master Zhuge Ming.

Watching the young master pick up the broom, Great Elder Zhuge Changqing sighed helplessly, then cupped his hands to Lin Ye once more.

"Shopkeeper Lin, the Zhuge family will remember today's favor. However, this old man has one more word to say, though I do not know if I should speak it."

Great Elder Zhuge Changqing's expression grew solemn like never before. He lowered his voice and spoke via secret voice transmission that only the two of them could hear:

"Shopkeeper Lin, truth be told, our Zhuge family did not enter the worldly realm in such a rush entirely to fight for territory."

"The intensity of the spiritual energy recovery of heaven and earth is far beyond our imagination. The barrier of the [Yin-Pole Earth Eye], which my Lingnan Zhuge family has suppressed for generations, has irreversibly loosened."

"Not just us—the Changbai Mountain Demon Cave suppressed by the Northeast Shamanic Immortal Families, and the Weapon Demon Mound underneath the Chuanshu Tang Clan... all of them have shown abnormal activity."

"Underneath Great Xia lies too many messy legacies left by predecessors. The infiltration of Western forces is merely a surface phenomenon; the real internal troubles have already erupted everywhere."

"Jiangzhou is located at the land and water hub of Jiangnan, where fortunes converge. With Shopkeeper Lin residing here, I hope you... make preparations early."

Saying that, Great Elder Zhuge Changqing bowed deeply and hurriedly left Taiping Old Street with the group of crestfallen Zhuge family experts.

Watching their departing backs, the smile at the corner of Lin Ye's mouth gradually faded.

"Yin-Pole Earth Eye? Demon Caves? It seems these hidden families are burning from fires in their own backyards and can no longer sit tight, so they ran out to seek foreign aid."

Lin Ye stroked his chin.

He knew that the resurgence of spiritual energy was like melting spring snow; the centuries-old ailments, demons, and monsters buried underneath were all beginning to sprout now.

Ding!

[Quest completed. Rewards have been sent to the system space.]

The system prompt in his mind interrupted Lin Ye's thoughts.

He casually tossed the freshly obtained [Eight Gates Golden Lock Heaven-Sealing Formation] diagram into the control core of the nine nether purgatory tower.

With this formation diagram, the basement of the Funeral Shop had practically turned into an iron fortress where not even a fly could escape.

Lin Ye turned around, pushed open the glass door, and walked back into the hall.

The women in the hall had already dispersed.

Leng Yue had gone to the basement for secluded cultivation, Frost Star was tinkering with food in the kitchen, and Helena was dutifully supervising Young Master Zhuge Ming's sweeping at the doorway.

Only Ayugu sat dazed and alone on a chair by the window.

The Miao Territory Saintess held the black bamboo pot tightly in her hands.

Lin Ye walked over, pulled out a chair to sit opposite her, and poured two cups of warm water.

"What's wrong? You won money off the Zhuge family and you're still unhappy?"

Lin Ye pushed the water cup in front of Ayugu.

Ayugu didn't bicker with him as she usually did.

She raised her head, her large black eyes bloodshot.

"Boss..."

Ayugu's voice was very soft, carrying a desperately suppressed fear.

"The old man just now said that the seals everywhere are loosening."

She lowered her head, staring intently at the bamboo pot in her hands.

"I... the Mother Gu inside me has been frantically absorbing my essence blood uncontrollably since last night. It... it sensed a calling."

Ayugu raised her head, tears finally bursting from her eyes.

"Boss, my mother, the High Priestess, sent a message... the Miao Territory Gu insects are acting abnormally..."

"I... this time I might... really have to leave."

Looking at the girl before him, Lin Ye took a deep breath.

He didn't speak any sensational nonsense; he naturally reached out across the table and ruffled Ayugu's hair.

"Leave my ass. Since when can an employee of Lins Funeral Shop come and go as they please?"

Lin Ye stood up.

"Go pack your things. Bring out that same momentum you use when trash-talking in games."

Lin Ye picked up the black windbreaker draped over the back of the chair and put it on.

"Tomorrow, I, your boss, will personally take you home."