Back in the room, the wound medicine Mu Aotie had just bought that day was immediately put to use.
The two martial brothers took their medicine, cleaned up, and treated their wounds.
“To think he still wanted to expel us from the sect. Shameless. He does not even see which side everyone else is on. Later, when we join forces, we should be the ones to expel him from the sect…”
Nan Zhu had stripped to the waist and lay on his side, cursing endlessly. Mu Aotie helped treat his wounds and apply medicine, occasionally responding with a word or two.
Suddenly hearing footsteps approaching, the two fell silent.
A knock came at the door, followed by Sun Ping voice. “Brother Nan, Brother Mu, the young miss and I would like to come see you. Is this convenient?”
Hearing that Tie Miaoqing was also here, Nan Zhu hurriedly got up, pulled on his outer robe, and fastened it. His movements were too large, and the pain from his broken ribs made him wince, yet he still replied, “Coming, coming.”
He then quickly went to open the door and welcomed the two women in.
As soon as the two women entered, they saw the basin of bloody water from the cleaning and wiping.
The two women exchanged a glance. They had only just managed to persuade Yu Qing on the other side before coming over.
Sun Ping sighed. “Everything was fine earlier. Was it not always fine? Why did you suddenly start fighting?”
Nan Zhu let out a long sigh. “Sigh, we ran into a backstabbing thief. You two judge for us. That pile of goods was obtained by the three of us together. We two only wanted one hundred million each, and everything else would be his. Is that greedy? Yet he immediately turned on us.
In the Yuan Mountain Ancient Tomb, we fought against evil cultivators. That was truly a life and death struggle. The heavens and earth collapsed, and we were nearly buried alive in a ten thousand zhang abyss.
In Xiao Yunjian, we were risking our lives even more. Terrifying waves and storms. The danger was beyond words. In short, ever since we left Youjiao Port last time, we have nearly died several times. We truly picked up our lives and came back. All the risks we had never taken in our entire lives were piled together. Now that he has earned so much money, he wants to dismiss us with a hundred thousand taels as wages. Are our lives worth only a hundred thousand taels? This little thief can share hardships but not prosperity. It hurts people, it hurts the heart.”
As he spoke to this point, he actually began to whimper softly, looking very heartbroken, gradually with tears filling his cheeks.
He suddenly truly felt that he was being wronged.
A grown man actually crying, and such a large fat man at that. The two women looked at each other in bewilderment, momentarily not knowing what to say.
Actually, from their perspective, that person was at least the number one talent renowned throughout the world. He probably would not be as terrible as this man described.
Anyway, when they were on the other side earlier, Yu Qing had also cursed these two men as a pile of stinking dog faeces. Both sides seemed to have their reasons, and both felt the other was wrong.
Sun Ping suddenly asked. “Earlier, the master shouted something about a sect and said he would expel you from the sect. What was that about?”
Hearing this, the two men became alert almost simultaneously.
Nan Zhu wiped away his tears and sighed. “He said he wanted to create a sect and wanted the two of us to join.”
Mu Aotie said, “Not interested.”
The next day, Nan and Mu decisively abandoned their work and refused to labour.
Coincidentally, the two one-eyed men Sun Ping had recruited proved useful, preventing the two martial brothers from witnessing the spectacle they had hoped to see.
However, the two martial brothers also noticed that without their help, business had clearly declined significantly.
It was unclear whether word had spread about the two one-eyed men providing poor service, but by the afternoon, there was hardly a single customer visiting.
After observing for a long time, Nan Zhu returned to his room and gloated. “No one is coming. Not a single customer. Oh my, let Old Fifteen open his dog eyes wide and see what happens when someone tries to keep all the profits to themselves. It is time for him to understand that even a good hero needs three helpers, and to realise who his lucky star really is. He turned on us? Just wait. I think his intestines will turn green with regret.”
Mu Aotie turned and went outside to continue watching and observing.
When it was time to settle accounts in the afternoon, the two martial brothers also “put aside past grievances” and, paying no attention to Yu Qing expression, gathered around to watch again.
The sales situation was dismal. Thirteen immortal peaches were sold in the morning, and only two in the afternoon. Total revenue was merely seven million five hundred thousand.
“Why has it dropped so much? Did we offend the customers by not serving them well?”
Yu Qing had to investigate the cause. He also suspected somewhat whether the problem lay with the two one-eyed men. Could the difference really be that great if those two fellows did not put in effort?
Sun Ping said, “It does not seem so. Today, there were basically no people outside the door. It was not like the past two days when the crowd almost blocked the road.”
Yu Qing immediately grew puzzled. “Could the popularity have faded after only two days? That should not be right. There should be quite a few people in the world who can afford five hundred thousand to buy entertainment and save face. Judging by the trend of the first two days, even if they were just buying for novelty, there should be more people than this. No, something must have gone wrong. Manager Sun, if you cannot figure it out inside, go outside and investigate. You are familiar with this place.”
“Very well. I will go now.” Sun Ping left those words and departed immediately.
Yu Qing frowned and silently put away the seven million five hundred thousand taels in banknotes.
For the vast majority of shops in Youjiao Port, a daily transaction volume of seven million five hundred thousand was already considered quite good. However, for this place, it was abnormally low.
Sun Ping did not stay out for long. The time was so short that she returned in merely the time it takes to burn one stick of incense. Those who had been pondering the problem had not even had time to disperse.
Sun Ping returned in a hurry and urgently reported. “Master, there is trouble. Someone is causing mischief.”
Several people hearts tightened. Tie Miaoqing hurriedly asked. “Sister Ping, what happened?”
Sun Ping said. “Someone has spread rumours that the immortal peaches and peach trees have been tainted by evil energy and are now completely useless. They also say these items are not scarce, and that Sinan Manor, Qianliu Mountain, and the Daye Bureau still have many in their possession. They also claim that Xiao Yunjian contains a large number of immortal peach trees, and that in a couple of years, a large quantity of immortal peaches will emerge, and they will be very cheap.
Additionally, there are rumours saying that the master has formed a great enmity with the Crimson Orchid Pavilion and Jilu Mountain. From now on, anyone who comes to buy our immortal peaches or peach trees is making an enemy of the Crimson Orchid Pavilion and Jilu Mountain. Ordinary people, or perhaps many people, may not know what the Crimson Orchid Pavilion and Jilu Mountain are, but those who can afford to buy things like immortal peaches mostly have broad experience and indeed do not wish to provoke those two places.”
Hearing this, Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie exchanged bewildered glances.
The Crimson Orchid Pavilion? Yu Qing frowned and said. “Could it be that fellow Long Xingyun causing trouble?”
Sun Ping gritted her teeth, her face showing difficulty. “With Jilu Mountain also mentioned, it is probably them.”
“Jilu Mountain?” Yu Qing asked doubtfully. “Is that the Jilu Mountain that was placed under house arrest?”
Earlier, he indeed did not know what the Crimson Orchid Pavilion was, but there was a place called Jilu Mountain whose name he had long heard of. It was the residence of a highly skilled medical expert.
Sun Ping said, “Yes.”
Tie Miaoqing lowered her head dejectedly.
Yu Qing immediately became confused. “I can understand if the Crimson Orchid Pavilion wants to make trouble for me, but was not Jilu Mountain placed under house arrest by that tribal chief from the Great Wilderness? He ordered that no one from the mountain could step out for ten years. How could they have formed a grudge against me?”
The Great Wilderness was another continent. As its name suggested, it still gave people a sense of the primordial era. Many of its people still lived in tribal formations, coexisting with various beasts. One tribal chief possessed extraordinary strength, which was why the Great Wilderness was considered equal to Youya, Qianliu Mountain, Sinan Manor, and the Daye Bureau.
Being able to be mentioned alongside the other four powers in the name of an entire continent meant that the other four recognised the Great Wilderness as that tribal chief territory.
That tribal chief, like the master of Youya, was not interested in what Sinan Manor and the others were competing for, and never participated. He had always remained neutral.
Jilu Mountain was located within the Great Wilderness. The master of Jilu Mountain was known as the “Medicine Butcher”. He was a figure capable of refining pills at the level of immortal elixirs. His own cultivation seemed to have also reached the High Profound realm. Several years ago, for reasons unknown, he had provoked that tribal chief and was placed under house arrest. All personnel of Jilu Mountain were confined for ten years.
That incident had been quite widely circulated at the time. He had also heard his master and others mention it at Linglong Temple. From what he understood of his master intention, he had wanted to invite the Medicine Butcher to treat A Jiezhang illness, but had been forced to abandon the idea due to certain reasons.
Logically, the people of Jilu Mountain would not dare to cross that boundary by even a step. How could they have a grudge against him?
Not to mention him, even Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie felt extremely puzzled.
At this point, Sun Ping had no choice but to explain. “Qin Jue once formed a sworn brotherhood with two others. Qin Jue was the eldest, Long Xingyun was the third, and the second was a disciple of the Medicine Butcher.”
“…” Yu Qing felt as if he had been stunned on the spot. After staring blankly for a while, he finally asked. “Why was this not mentioned earlier?”
At that time, he only knew that Qin Jue had sworn brothers. No one had told him what kind of figures those sworn brothers were. It was only when Qin Jue was forced to reveal that blood jade token at Yuan Mountain that he learned that fellow was connected to the Crimson Orchid Pavilion. It was only after entering Xiao Yunjian that he learned Long Xingyun was Qin Jue sworn brother.
Both Sun Ping and Tie Miaoqing lowered their heads slightly, clearly somewhat embarrassed, not knowing how to respond.
Yu Qing instantly understood and asked tentatively. “You were afraid we would not dare to provoke them, afraid we would not dare to help you, is that right?”
He had hit the mark. The two women lowered their heads, unable to respond.
Now, even Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie were speechless, feeling that they had been thoroughly tricked by these two women this time.
Yu Qing silently raised his head to look at the starry sky through the skylight. He had to admit that if he had known earlier about Qin Jue background, he might not have intervened in the Miaoqing Hall matter at that time.
Things had come to this. What else could he say? Thinking about how he had nearly lost control in Tie Miaoqing room, he finally sighed and said. “With a senior brother like yours, how did he form a sworn brotherhood with two people of such backgrounds? Mistress, you have truly tricked us badly.”
Tie Miaoqing raised her head, her face full of bitterness. “At that time, we indeed wanted your help, but we never intended to harm you. We truly did not expect you to make things so big, or for things to turn out like this. We had no other ill intentions at the time. I am sorry.”
Nan Zhu suddenly coughed lightly. “Old Fifteen, the matter is in the past. Dwelling on it serves no purpose. Let us think of a way to deal with the situation.”
Yu Qing gave him a cold glance. “I will not mention matters of life and death. If the goods cannot be sold, and that pile of peach trees just sits there, do you know what that means? Daily expenses of over two hundred thousand taels. Will you pay? When it comes to asking for money, you have a whole list of reasons. Now that it is time to pay, why are you silent? Has it become my problem alone again?”
Tie Miaoqing tried to say. “I will give you all the money we have.”
Yu Qing flicked his sleeve and left without responding to her. He stayed in his room for a while before coming out again, holding a letter in his hand. He handed it directly to Sun Ping. “Do not worry about saving money. Find Qianli Lang immediately. Send this letter to Xiyue Fang outside the capital of the Jin Kingdom. Deliver it to Mistress Ye Diandian of the Little Fresh Tower.”