Night had long since fallen. Standing on the shore, one could no longer see the vast expanse of azure waters, but the harbor was dotted with fishing boat lanterns, mirroring the Milky Way above.
Every light was the story of an ordinary household.
With his keen hearing, he could often catch the murmur of voices drifting from nearby boats—faint, fragmented whispers interspersed with laughter.
Simple lives, simple joys.
A gentle sea breeze carried the damp chill unique to the coast. He Lingchuan took a deep breath, feeling completely refreshed.
No cargo was being unloaded tonight, and the entirety of Blade Harbor was resting.
With no one else on the beach, he strolled along the sands. The soul-snatching mirror asked, "Are you really set on this place?"
"It's even better than I imagined. Fertile soil, crisscrossing waterways, and a harbor that can move goods in every direction and welcome travelers from all quarters." He Lingchuan cracked his knuckles. "It goes to show that Bailie's ancestors had great foresight to buy such prime land. Too bad their descendants have no idea how to manage it and threw away a winning hand."
"No flower blooms red for a hundred days." The mirror was a cultured mirror; reflecting the moonlight, it sighed, "It isn't easy for the Lu clan to have endured for so many years."
"The heavens follow regular courses; all things are born and pass away." Spending his days shuttling between history and reality gave He Lingchuan a broader perspective than most. "The Lu clan's decline is only natural."
This family had already outlived most nations. But viewed through the lens of time and history, it was the norm for mortal clans to decline from one generation to the next, withering away until nothing was left.
The Dao mirrors nature, and nature does only one thing:
Cull.
Even with the shelter left by their ancestors, the Lu clan would probably never escape that fate in the end.
From He Lingchuan's personal perspective, however, if the Lus were allowed to keep playing their games, Bailie would be gone entirely!
Avenging his original self's mother, Lu Xiaoyun, and claiming the ancestral heritage in return—was that not entirely reasonable?
Besides, with so many people following him across the ocean, they needed a place to plant their feet and make a fresh start.
Therefore, the territory of Bailie would be his!
The mirror asked, "Lu Zhensheng's family has controlled Bailie for a long time, holding the advantage of the terrain. What's your first move?"
"Establish a foothold first, then find the Lu clan's weak spots. Surviving for six hundred years means plenty of problems will crop up, whether for a clan or a nation. Even regular reforms are nothing more than patching worn cloth," He Lingchuan answered. "Only by offering what they need can I get close to Lu Zhensheng quickly!"
Neither he nor the mirror even considered charging straight in, killing the Lu father and sons, and seizing the ancestral foundation.
It was indefensible in principle; members of the Lu clan were still around, and they were relatives of his original self. Furthermore, with his own wings still unfeathered, how could he possibly hold such a large territory?
No, the time was not ripe. Not ripe at all.
The mirror asked, "Did you bring Ding Zuodong along to set up businesses here? I noticed you also wrote a letter to Li Qingge at Songyang Mansion."
"Of course." He had built up plenty of enterprises in Dunyu back in the Yuan Kingdom, but ever since he fell into the Han River, He Chunhua had taken them over as a matter of course.
Since he had parted ways with that cheap father of his, he had no intention of nitpicking such details.
Bailie, however, was where he planned to establish himself. Laying down assets and building a career were indispensable.
"But doing what I did in Dunyu—dealing only in storefronts, farmland, and taking over a few small businesses—would be far too slow to catch the Lu family's eye." He Lingchuan rubbed his chin. "If I do it, I need to pull off a few big ventures."
Back in Dunyu, he had been an investor at best, pouring in silver just to see it grow.
Here, he had to lay a solid foundation.
If he dabbled in petty ventures or started small, all it took was filing paperwork with the local officials. The only people knocking on his door afterward would be street thugs and gang members collecting protection fees.
Try to reach the Lu clan that way? Far too slow!
"I asked the Master of Songyang Mansion whether she wanted to open a branch here and gave her the address. If she's interested, whoever she sends should arrive in a few months." Bailie was far too distant from the Yuan Kingdom and the Beijia Kingdom; Songyang Mansion's reach had never extended this far before.
"Whether we want to make a living or carve out our own domain, we'll need Songyang Mansion's artifact-crafting capabilities," He Lingchuan said. "I looked into it—there are no well-known artifact sects nearby."
The mirror laughed. "That's right, you're an honorary elder of Songyang Mansion, after all."
He Lingchuan picked up a small, rounded stone and skipped it across the water.
*Zip, zip, zip.* Ten skips in a row.
"I need intelligence—the more the better, the more detailed the better, and the more varied the better!"
***
Three days later.
When Ding Zuodong found He Lingchuan, the latter was slurping down raw marinated blood clams.
If prepared well, the blood-red juices that slid into the mouth offered a rich, fresh savor that few live seafoods could match. Anyone with a sensitive stomach, however, was liable to end up sprinting for the latrines with explosive diarrhea.
Lingguang had tried one, shaken its head, and refused to touch them again. It couldn't stomach the taste; dates were far better.
"Boss, an interesting thing happened on the outskirts of Qucheng a few days ago." Qucheng was where the Lu clan resided and served as the administrative capital of Bailie.
"Oh? Tell me."
"A large manor was sealed by official strips over a month ago, supposedly slated for government auction. But five days ago, someone tore down the seals and got into a brawl with the bailiffs."
"What's so strange about that?" He Lingchuan pried open another blood clam. There was a specialized tool for opening the shells, making it quite convenient. "The property was seized by the authorities, and the original owner wasn't happy about it."
Ding Zuodong smiled. "Care to guess who the original owner is?"
He Lingchuan paused. How could he possibly guess? They had just crossed the ocean to reach Bailie—how many people did they know?
Then again, since Ding Zuodong put it that way, the owner's renown extended beyond Bailie.
"Could it be a high-ranking official from the Qing Kingdom or the Mou Kingdom?"
"From Beijia."
Only then did He Lingchuan look surprised. "Beijia? People from Beijia buy manors here?"
The massive Mou Kingdom lay between Beijia and Bailie; those Beijia folk certainly had long reaches.
Excluding certain maritime nations, the Mou Kingdom ranked third in landmass among known terrestrial states—it was vast indeed.
"More than just a few, in fact. Word is that several prime storefronts and manors in Qucheng belong to high officials from Beijia and Mou," Ding Zuodong said. "Half a year ago, Beijia raided and purged a huge batch of officials. Those people were either thrown into prison or banished. Utterly ruined, they were completely unable to attend to their foreign and overseas assets."
He Lingchuan let out a long "oh," understanding immediately.
Once certain officials were arrested, they could kiss their careers goodbye. Others fared even worse, likely never to see the light of day again, or vanished without a trace—like Nian Zanli.
Their domestic estates in Beijia might be seized or carved up, but their overseas assets remained untouched because the authorities couldn't reach them.
With the original owners unable to look after those fertile lands and fine residences, the properties effectively became ownerless.
"So Bailie set its sights on those disgraced officials to confiscate their assets?"
"Going by the rumors I heard, that's very likely the case."
Chapter 870