That place was plagued by yin fiend energy, infested with pirates, and crawling with yin hui. Even if immortals descended, they couldn't possibly conjure up any miracles.
"Over the past half-month or so, across seven or eight towns and counties in southern Bailie—such as Yu County and Pan Town—seven to eight hundred able-bodied young men have left home and headed south. Pan Town alone lost more than four hundred people, with some even migrating as entire households, looking as though they don't intend to return. When the authorities investigated, they discovered that people from Blade Harbor had come over to recruit massive amounts of labor for the Yangshan Archipelago, offering generous wages."
"The Yangshan Archipelago?" Lu Qing'an chuckled the moment he heard that. "That fellow surnamed He still hasn't given up? He still wants to make a grand splash?"
By now, Young Master He should have realized that the Yangshan Archipelago was uninhabitable, yet he still wanted to keep thrashing around and salvaging it?
According to the hard-earned lessons passed down by the ancestors of the Lu family, the harder one tossed and turned in that godforsaken place, the faster one went bankrupt.
"It's already late autumn. What could he possibly accomplish?"
"A few days ago, this official also heard rumors that the pirates of the Yangshan Archipelago have surrendered to the new Island Master He. The news has spread through Qucheng with every vivid detail. Some say it's just dog eat dog, but..."
Lu Qing'an raised a hand to cut him off. "Wait. The pirates surrendered? Which faction surrendered?"
He was somewhat surprised, but on second thought, the pirate menace in the Yangshan Archipelago had a long history. In the past, the Lu family had to purge them every few years.
Each cleanup brought peace for quite a few years, after which the scourge would inevitably sprout again.
"Word has it that both the First Channel and Second Channel surrendered, and quite decisively at that. As for Yue Pinghe's faction, Island Master He conquered it personally, leading the newly recruited factions of Min Tianxi and Huang Zhao to attack. They took it down in less than half a day."
No wonder the people of Bailie thought that fellow surnamed He was just a new pirate chief playing the game of dog eat dog. In any case, the Yangshan Archipelago had already been sold and temporarily had no connection to Bailie, and Blade Harbor across from it didn't belong to them either. After his initial surprise, Lu Qing'an merely found it amusing.
"Who would have thought? This Young Master He may be hopeless at business, but he's actually quite adept at waging war."
The County Magistrate of Qucheng hesitated, looking as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself.
Noticing this, Lu Qing'an waved his hand. "Speak. What else is unusual?"
The magistrate grew solemn. "The autumn harvest is upon us. If too many laborers head south, the grain harvest on government lands may be adversely affected."
Lu Qing'an's smile instantly faded by several degrees. "Issue an order: farm laborers are forbidden to leave their local jurisdictions without permission; violators will receive forty lashes of the staff. Southern post stations along the borders must strictly check travel permits."
The magistrate accepted the order, but knew in his heart it would be difficult to enforce. Bailie's southern border was merely forty li from Blade Harbor. Although Blade Harbor had been 'borrowed' by the Qing Kingdom, it was ultimately a free port. Residents of southern Bailie frequently visited relatives and friends there, and merchants constantly transported goods back and forth, keeping bilateral ties exceptionally close.
Once this prohibition was issued, it was hard to say how much practical effect it would truly have.
"The scouts this official dispatched to Blade Harbor to gather intelligence just returned, essentially confirming that Island Master He's subjugation of the pirates is true. A few reckless seafaring ruffians were drinking in the taverns of Blade Harbor, bragging about the battle for Centipede Island to the high heavens." The magistrate hesitated slightly, wondering how to phrase his next words. "In addition, there are one or two other matters that have stirred up a massive clamor in Blade Harbor. Even if this official doesn't mention them, they will reach your ears in a few days anyway."
Lu Qing'an frowned slightly, an uneasy premonition rising in his heart. "Does it concern us?"
"Y-yes," the magistrate said in a low voice. "Legend has it that Island Master He dispersed the fiend energy of the Yangshan Archipelago and defeated the yin hui of Longji Island."
"Impossible!" Lu Qing'an cut him off flatly. "Utterly impossible!"
"This was also disclosed by the pirates. Some among them accompanied Island Master He deep into the archipelago and slaughtered numerous giant hui. They claimed that the dead yin hui carcasses that kept washing ashore at Blade Harbor recently were all the result of Island Master He declaring war against the yin hui clan!"
"What result?" Lu Qing'an scoffed. "Just how many men does that fellow surnamed He have under his command? How dare he claim credit for heaven's doing? Utterly preposterous."
Were the pirates of this batch really this stupid, believing anything an outsider fed them? Lu Qing'an felt a pang of regret. Had he known it was this simple, wouldn't it have been enough for the Lu family to conquer them themselves?
The Yangshan Archipelago wasn't entirely worthless. The few islands untainted by yin fiend energy could still yield some output.
The Lu family hadn't bothered to manage the archipelago in the past for two main reasons. First, pirates sprouted like weeds; no sooner was one batch eradicated than another took root, making the cost of managing the islands far exceed the returns. Second, after Blade Harbor was leased by the Qing Kingdom, a barrier fell between Bailie and the Yangshan Archipelago. Taking a proper boat required passing through Blade Harbor first, or else taking a massive detour, making travel highly inconvenient.
The magistrate shook his head. "The pirates who took part in the battle on Centipede Island said that when Yue Pinghe fled by boat, Island Master He blew a flute to summon a yin hui, delivering him the fatal blow."
Lu Qing'an burst into hearty laughter. "You're telling me the yin hui can cooperate with that fellow surnamed He?" Those monsters could actually communicate with humans? What an absurd joke! They were only interested in human flesh.
"The pirates swore by it, insisting the yin hui obey Island Master He's commands." The magistrate smiled wryly. "This official also suspected it was merely a coincidence; after all, yin hui devour humans regardless of time or place. However, through several roundabout inquiries, this official questioned someone close to Min Tianxi and received an answer: Island Master He and a great demon set foot on Longji Island, visited the king of the yin hui, and subsequently struck an agreement with the yin hui clan.
"When he returned from the White Abyss, Min Tianxi, Huang Zhao, and the others saw the contents of the agreement with their own eyes."
"What contents?" Lu Qing'an no longer found the joke about the rich young master foolishly buying the islands amusing.
"A portion of Longji Island remains allocated to the yin hui as their habitat, while the yin hui are forbidden from disrupting He Lingchuan's normal industries."
"Couldn't it be a fake agreement?" Lu Qing'an found it utterly incredible. "Did the person you asked actually read the clauses with his own eyes?"
"Er, he looked at it, but couldn't understand it. It is said to have been written in the ancient immortal language."
Lu Qing'an clutched his belly in laughter. "Those pirates barely know a handful of words. How could they possibly recognize the ancient immortal language? Yet they dare speak with such certainty!"
To pirates, what was the difference between the ancient immortal language and ghostly scrawls? They couldn't read either anyway.
That fellow surnamed He had easily duped those uncultured brutes with a sheet of ghostly scrawls.
"Supposedly someone among the pirates did recognize it. Min Tianxi, chief of the Second Channel, knows the ancient immortal language," the magistrate said. "Since he declared it genuine, his subordinates naturally believed it."
"An utter farce!" Lu Qing'an concluded dismissively. "If what you said earlier is true and he slaughtered the yin hui clan en masse, how could the king of the yin hui possibly reach an agreement with him?"
He pointed out the contradiction. "Even if this agreement were real, it wouldn't contain a clause where the yin hui assist him in battle."
"Yet the pirates firmly believe it, and now revere Island Master He as a god among men," the magistrate continued. "The fishermen and boatmen of Blade Harbor also report that even when setting out to sea on overcast days, grey mist no longer floats in the depths of the archipelago, making maritime transit exceptionally safe."
Lu Qing'an muttered under his breath, "Yin fiend, pirates, yin hui... did he really settle all of them?"
Reason told him this was absolutely impossible.
Yet Lu Qing'an immediately recalled that right after He Lingchuan paid the final balance for the purchase, Registrar Yang had come to report that the young master had turned a deaf ear to Lei Ni's warnings about pirates and turned a blind eye to the yin hui carcasses floating on the sea, suggesting he had known all along.
Back then, he had felt Registrar Yang's deduction made sense, but since the islands were sold and the silver secured, he hadn't bothered to dwell on it.
Thinking carefully about it now, had that fellow surnamed He harbored premeditated plans from the start?
He had been confident in resolving the troubles of the Yangshan Archipelago all along, which was why he came to Bailie to drive down the price and purchase such a vast archipelago for an astonishingly low sum!
If the fiend energy of the Yangshan Archipelago was truly dispelled from now on, the fertile soil and rich resources of those forty-odd islands would tempt anyone's greed!
Lu Qing'an felt a heavy lump in his chest.
Although the Yangshan Archipelago had an earth fiend yin vein, it was different from other desolate yin fiend death traps. In those places, not a blade of grass could grow and birds and beasts shunned them entirely, rendering them devoid of any value. The Yangshan Archipelago, however, lay exposed beneath the sunlight. As long as crops growing on the islands could soak in the sun, they would remain uncontaminated by yin fiend energy, and neither humans nor livestock would fall ill from eating them.
Collecting himself, he said to the magistrate, "Do not mention this matter to my father."
The magistrate showed an awkward expression. "Ah, this..."
Lu Zhensheng was the patriarch of the Lu family, after all.
The moment the words left his mouth, Lu Qing'an realized his mistake and tapped his forehead. "Ah, I'm getting muddled. Report it to my father this afternoon instead."
Only then did the magistrate assent and take his leave.
...
Near noon, father and son dined together.
After chatting with his eldest son about the estate's administrative affairs for a while, Lu Zhensheng picked up a soft, thin flatbread, rolled up several slices of aromatic roasted meat, brushed it with a layer of pear paste, and took a bite, squinting in satisfaction.
"Qing'an, have you heard about what's been happening in the Yangshan Archipelago lately?"
Lu Qing'an cursed inwardly. The old man only ever used his sharp wits internally; if only he were this quick-witted when dealing with outsiders!
Yet on the surface, he put on a look of total bewilderment. "What happened?"
"That He Lingchuan who bought the archipelago seems to have worked out quite a few clever tricks," Lu Zhensheng continued to probe. "Didn't Magistrate Liu mention it to you?"
"I've heard some baseless rumors, but I didn't take them seriously." Lu Qing'an scoffed. "Dispelling fiend energy, wiping out yin hui... if a scion of a wealthy family truly possessed such prowess, where under the heavens couldn't he go? Why would he run off to develop the Yangshan Archipelago?"
"Didn't you send people to investigate his background?"
"I did, but how could they return so quickly?" Lu Qing'an picked up a golden-fried soft-shell crab with his chopsticks and bit into it with a loud crunch.
So crispy!
This molted crab was soft, requiring no peeling by hand, bursting with rich crab roe in a single bite. "The Fu Kingdom lies beside Beijia. Between traveling by boat and journeying overland, a round trip takes at least half a year, not to mention the time needed to dig for information there."
If they wanted to uncover He Lingchuan's true origin, merely sending avian demons back and forth wouldn't suffice; they needed people on the ground to investigate and assess the situation.
"Besides, if he truly had the ability to dispel the yin fiend, why did he only clear a dozen-odd islands for reclamation?" Lu Qing'an spoke with an air of nonchalance. "The way I see it, he's just manufacturing gimmicks to build up his reputation, so that it'll be easier to sell the crops produced on the islands later on."
"Gimmicks, you say?" Lu Zhensheng admitted that this speculation was quite reasonable. What wouldn't merchants do to drum up publicity for themselves? "Then how did he subjugate the pirates? Over the past month, those pirates haven't committed a single crime."
Chapter 935