Taking Action

During the few days spent waiting for the Black Scale Army to assemble, Xu Yuan had not been idle. During the day, after leaving the big block of ice in her room to cultivate with Source Crystals, Xu Yuan would take Xu Xinyao wandering through the streets of Wanxiang City, teaching her the ropes. At night, he would sit alone in his room reviewing intelligence reports about the Wanxiang Sect sent over by Yuan Hao, regularly working until the hour of the ox before he could finally sleep. Busy days always passed quickly, and four days flew by in a flash. It was noon once more on the bustling streets of Wanxiang City. Xu Yuan and Xu Xinyao walked out together from an apothecary named Renhe Tang, accompanied by an effusively enthusiastic shopkeeper. "Watch your step, Young Master. I'll get in touch regarding the goods you requested. If the herb fields can pull everything together, come by tomorrow and we'll sign the commercial contract." Xu Yuan gave a slight nod, his expression calm. "Mhm, that works. No need to see us out, Shopkeeper Li. If they don't have that much stock, just prepare as much as possible. I'll go check out some other apothecaries." With that, the two departed, vanishing down the end of the street. After walking several blocks, the crowds around them remained dense and bustling. As Xu Yuan was surveying a few rather grand storefronts, Xu Xinyao suddenly sent him a voice transmission: "Third Brother, why have we been browsing around these places the past few days? Do you actually intend to buy all those goods?" "Of course not." Xu Yuan replied as if it were obvious, his eyes continuously sweeping across the signboards of the shops lining the street. Commoners were basically absent from this district; it was the luxury shopping quarter of this world—medicinal herbs, weapons, pleasure houses, fine restaurants, and large multifaceted merchant guilds. Xu Xinyao knit her slender brows and pressed further, "Then why are you visiting so many places?" "Field research, of course," Xu Yuan said with a smile. "When it comes time to negotiate and the Wanxiang Sect can't cough up the silver, we'll take these assets to settle the debt." Xu Xinyao fell silent for a moment before asking in a low voice, "Don't you have the intelligence reports? They contain detailed records on the Wanxiang Sect, and I remember there was a section on their businesses." "You peeked?" Xu Yuan glanced at the valiant, spirited Xu Xinyao beside him. "Ahem." Xu Xinyao gave a soft cough. "I had nothing to do, so..." "It's fine. Of course you can read them." Xu Yuan waved his hand, signaling that no explanation was needed. Right then, a low voice sounded in both their ears simultaneously: "So what the hell are you up to, brat? This old man has been watching for days." Hearing this voice, Xu Yuan paused for a split second, then chuckled quietly. "Old Man Luo, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion was so powerful ten thousand years ago, and you were a Holy Venerable back then—did you never manage any affairs?" The Saint's remnant soul reminisced briefly, chuckling candidly. "This old man had no interest in that sort of thing, nor did I care to squabble over power with those lunatics. As long as I stayed neutral, whenever I needed anything, the other dozen-plus old geezers would scramble to deliver it to me. Why bother dealing with such trivialities?" Xu Yuan sighed and explained in a low voice, "Intelligence only gives on-paper valuations, which aren't the same as actual worth. Prime assets and poor assets are completely different. Take the Fenghai Chamber of Commerce and that Guangchen Chamber of Commerce from earlier—they occupy roughly the same area, and their estimated values are nearly identical, yet one is bustling with customers while the other is practically deserted. Could they possibly make the same amount of money? "Besides, what I want is their entire supply chain. Take that apothecary just now: without anyone supplying medicinal herbs, what use is an empty storefront to me?" At this point, Xu Yuan smiled faintly. "Of course, property in a prime location like this is still worth a pretty penny." Listening to this, Xu Xinyao said with a slightly strange look, "You've thought this through remarkably thoroughly." "Time is tight; otherwise I could have been even more thorough." Xu Yuan shook his head, glancing up at the sun high in the sky. "Judging by the time, the investigations in the other commanderies and counties should be nearly finished. We ought to be able to compile a list tonight." "Tsk, tsk... how convoluted." The Saint's remnant soul clicked his tongue, remarking playfully, "Where did a brat like you learn all this?" "Old Man Luo, people grow brains so they can think." "..." The Saint's remnant soul fell silent. After Old Man Luo retreated into silence, Xu Yuan visited two high-end restaurants and a pleasure house. The two restaurants were quite good, but the pleasure house left much to be desired. Coming out of the pleasure house, Xu Xinyao looked on with disdain as Xu Yuan deftly cleared the scent of rouge from his clothes. "You're certainly practiced at that, Third Brother." Xu Yuan patted down his robe and shrugged. "Can't help it. Xu Changge has the nose of a hound. Whenever he smelled rouge on me, I took a beating. Do it often enough, and you get good at it. But this was official business." Xu Xinyao gave a soft snort of laughter. "I know, I know. I won't tell Sister Qingmo tonight." "It wouldn't matter if you did. She already knows all about my past nonsense." Xu Xinyao's eyes curved into two crescents as she leaned in close to him, beaming. "Oh? Does it really not matter...?" Xu Yuan retorted directly, "You didn't even blush walking into a pleasure house as an unmarried young lady, and you have the nerve to call me out?" Xu Xinyao blinked her beautiful eyes and said softly, "And whose fault is that if not yours, Third Brother?" "Mine?" Xu Yuan paused, baffled. Xu Xinyao counted on her fingers. "Every time dinner was almost ready and you weren't home—with Eldest Brother and Second Brother away—I was the one who had to go drag you out of the pleasure houses. And that's not to mention those women you brought back to the manor..." "That's enough out of you. You can't beat me in a fight anymore." Xu Yuan directly resorted to threats of violence. Xu Xinyao put on a pouting, aggrieved look without arguing back, though her eyes were filled with amusement. "..." Chatting along the way, the two walked toward the carriage thoroughfare, where the Demonic Beast Bureau had established a depot for demonic beast carriages. It was nominally public transit provided by the authorities for convenience. Of course, while billed as convenient for the public, ordinary commoners couldn't afford it at all—a single trip across the city by demonic beast carriage cost about as much as a commoner's monthly income. Ordinary horse-drawn carriages were far cheaper, yet even then, few commoners were willing to spend money on them. After walking for about ten minutes, before Xu Yuan and Xu Xinyao reached the depot, their path was suddenly blocked. Looking at the man in the conical bamboo hat who had appeared before them, Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked, "How did you find me?" It was Yuan Hao. Hearing this, Yuan Hao replied via voice transmission: "Young Master, there is a thing in this world called carrier pigeons. Also, there are Black Scale Guards stationed in this district." Xu Yuan understood immediately. Yuan Hao glanced in the direction Xu Yuan had been heading and asked, "You're heading toward the depot, Young Master. Where do you intend to take a carriage?" "The Liuchuan River over in the Upper City," Xu Yuan answered honestly. "..." Yuan Hao remained silent for two seconds before cupping his hands. "Visiting pleasure houses in broad daylight—you have refined tastes indeed, Young Master." The Liuchuan River was Wanxiang City's premier money pit; the city's Music Bureau and its most famous pleasure houses were all located there. Xu Yuan's expression turned stern, and he corrected him in a severe tone: "Yuan Hao, this is official business." "Pfft." Xu Xinyao burst out laughing. "..." Yuan Hao stood silent. Xu Yuan turned slowly to glare at his fourth sister, then got straight to the point: "What was so urgent that you came looking for me?" Seeing this, Yuan Hao also reined in his expression and said in a low voice, "Young Master, matters here are settled. I am about to leave the city, so I came ahead to let you know." Hearing this, Xu Yuan furrowed his brows. "You're ready already?" Yuan Hao nodded earnestly. "Yes. News came from outside the city an hour ago that the assembly is almost complete. Although arrangements were made in advance, it is best for me to head over early to prevent any unexpected incidents. Please send me word as soon as possible." Inhabited land accounted for only about thirty percent of the Great Yan Dynasty; aside from the crisscrossing official courier roads, the rest was uninhabited wilderness. However, being so close to Wanxiang City, many flying demonic beasts passed by every day. A force of forty thousand could easily be spotted from above. Even if they shot down every passing flying demonic beast, they couldn't keep it hidden for long. After a moment's thought, Xu Yuan nodded. "Go ahead. Remember to take Bai Zhao's whole family with you." "Rest assured, Young Master, this Yuan remembers." With that, Yuan Hao added with subtle implication, "Young Master, I shall await your word outside the city." Xu Yuan waved a hand, ignoring the lunatic. Yuan Hao grinned and turned to leave. Once Yuan Hao had walked far off, Xu Yuan sighed quietly and turned to Xu Xinyao. "Let's go to the message depot. I need to contact Father." "We're not going to the Liuchuan River anymore?" Xu Xinyao asked softly. "Yuan Hao will still need time to reach the army, and they'll surely need to make arrangements out there." Xu Yuan shook his head. "No need. I already made inquiries when we visited the other shops earlier. Those shopkeepers wouldn't lie to me about something like this. Let's contact Father first." Xu Xinyao gave a soft huff. "Third Brother, going to a pleasure quarter really wasn't official business after all. No wonder you didn't bring Sister Qingmo along. What's so great about places like that? Isn't Sister Qingmo far prettier than those women?" Pausing, she seemed to recall something and suddenly asked: "Right, Third Brother, I remember you had a woman named Su Jinxuan back in Jingjiang Prefecture? I heard from the stewards there that you and her..." "All right, that's enough," Xu Yuan interrupted, his expression completely unfazed. "Let's go. To the message depot."