Chapter 50

"Good, as expected of the young chief, you have the courage."

The man in the black robe clapped his hands and had his subordinates bring out a newly written contract.

"Since there are no issues, please, young chief, sign and press your fingerprint."

A yellow sheet of paper and a box of red seal paste were placed in front of Cheng Shaojiu.

Cheng Shaojiu looked at the items in front of him, silent, with a surge of blood coursing through his body.

After a long while, he slowly raised his trembling hand and dipped his finger in the red seal paste.

Holding up his red thumb, he paused in mid-air, facing the contract, but could not bring himself to press it down.

"Please, young chief," the man in the black robe urged again.

He had seen too many scenes like this at the Yongye Escort Agency. In this world, fortune and misfortune are unpredictable, and who could say for sure if they could remain stable forever.

Just today, he had to deal with three such cases of bankruptcy.

The Yonghe Escort Agency was just one of them.

Cheng Shaojiu sat in his seat, breathing heavily, his body icy cold.

He stared fixedly at the contract, knowing that once he pressed his fingerprint, there would be no turning back.

But he had no choice.

The other party was the Zhao family, the Zhao family of the Seven Family Alliance, the second-ranked Zhao family. In the entire Feiye City, apart from the Ou family, the Zhao family was the largest.

Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth and pressed down forcefully.

Creak.

Suddenly, the wooden door of the living room was pushed open.

Wei He, panting, stood at the door, staring fixedly at Cheng Shaojiu and the others.

Rustle.

He threw the items in his arms to the ground.

"Brother Cheng, is this enough?"

Rustle.

The items scattered on the ground, a yellow leather bag, from which gold notes and various gold ingots spilled out.

Cheng Shaojiu's hand hung in mid-air as he slowly stood up, looking at the scattered gold notes.

One stack of large-denomination gold notes was particularly eye-catching, clearly marked with the amount of one hundred.

At a glance, there was at least a thousand gold here...

"Is it enough?" Wei He asked in a deep voice, "If not, I'll go back and get more."

Not to mention, just the Five Ridge Palm technique alone was worth a lot of gold.

In this era, such martial arts techniques were rare and precious, and no one would easily part with them.

A single Five Ridge Palm technique could fetch at least five hundred taels, even without the fundamental diagrams and formulas.

Of course, if it still wasn't enough, he could go back to the mountains and try his luck. A few hundred taels of gold might be within reach with a bit of luck.

After becoming familiar with the mountains outside the city, Wei He now knew them as well as his own home.

"You..." Cheng Shaojiu felt that the best decision he had ever made was to be friends with Wei He!

He gritted his teeth, trying to hold back his tears.

But he didn't know what to say or how to react.

He knew that the only thing he should do now was...

Snap!

Cheng Shaojiu grabbed the contract and tore it in half.

"Brother! I owe you!" he said seriously to Wei He.

The man in the black robe was also stunned, looking at Wei He at the door.

So much money, so many gold notes, and there was even a bit of blood on them...

This guy...

He stared at Wei He, momentarily speechless.

Not just him, but everyone in the living room, both the Cheng family and the Zhao family, were stunned by this sudden turn of events.

Wei He's timing was impeccable.

"Friend, think carefully. Getting involved in this..." the man in the black robe warned Wei He with narrowed eyes.

"The money is here. I'll be going now." Wei He pointed to the ground, interrupting the other's words.

He waved to Cheng Shaojiu.

"Brother Cheng, remember to pay me back. I need to go back and practice. I'll be off."

He turned and walked away as if it were nothing, as if he had just left a meal's worth of money.

As if the thousand taels of gold were just a few loose coins.

The man in the black robe wanted to say something but was again stunned by Wei He's actions.

He wasn't unfamiliar with wealth; a thousand taels of gold was a fortune for ordinary people, but for the lords in the inner city, it was a mere trifle.

In an era of such vast wealth disparity, there were those who treated such sums as trivial.

But such people certainly wouldn't include a young man whose entire worth was less than ten taels of gold.

At this point, the money on the ground was more than enough to save the escort agency.

Cheng Shaojiu stood up and faced the scattered gold notes.

He stood there, motionless.

"Mr. Zhao, please leave."

He turned to the man in the black robe and smiled.

The man in the black robe opened his mouth to say something but ultimately said nothing, stood up, and bowed.

"Chief, I admire you!"

He had his subordinates pick up the remaining gold notes and left with them.

Cheng Shaojiu stood at the door, watching them leave the square, the gate, and disappear down the gray, white street.

The sound of the carriage and horses gradually faded away until it was no longer audible.

"Hubby..." Cheng Zhangshi walked behind Cheng Shaojiu, calling out softly with concern.

"I'm fine," Cheng Shaojiu raised his hand and said in a low voice.

"I'm fine."

He stood with his back to everyone, his face streaming with tears.

But he dared not cry out loud. He was the young chief, the pillar of the Cheng family.

He had to be steady, had to be steady, had to hold it together...

His wife, children, and the trusted escort masters were all behind him; he couldn't cry.

He was just a bit tired, a bit tired...

The others quietly cleaned up the mess and left, leaving Cheng Shaojiu standing alone at the door.

......

......

......

On Shaoyang Mountain.

Wei He sighed, looking at the dense withered trees in front of him.

After several months, he was finally back here to find money.

Not for any other reason, but because on other mountains, most bandits fled at the sight of his attire, never even showing their faces.

He didn't even have the chance to approach, let alone make money.

He could understand; after all, dozens of bandits had died at his hands.

All of them were elite.

Given his build, most bandits wouldn't dare to rob him without some confidence.

So he targeted those with confidence.

"Just lent money to Brother Cheng, and now I don't even have money for groceries. A moment of impulse, a moment of impulse."

Wei He regretted it a bit. If he had known, he would have kept a few taels of gold to get by.

Now he didn't even have money for the rest of the month's meals.

In a moment of impulse, he even threw away his gold beans.

He carefully made his way through the dense dry grass on the mountain, heading towards the cave that Ding Hai had left for him.

It wasn't a natural cave but a temporary shelter where Ding Hai used to rest while hunting.

Wei He planned to go there first to see if he could meet other hunters.

The cave wasn't just known to him; many hunters knew about it.

They would leave some common tools in the cave as a backup, for everyone's convenience.

Following the mountain path, Wei He listened carefully, moving quietly and nimbly.

He tried to keep his movements as quiet as possible.

He had also heard from the tavern that there were strange beasts on Shaoyang Mountain, and Shaoyang Sect members were often seen hunting them.

Strange beasts.

The name stuck in Wei He's mind.

He changed his attire, no longer wearing the full mask, and prepared all his equipment before heading up the mountain again.

Although he had killed a Shaoyang Sect member, who knew it was him after so many days?

Who?

No one saw him except for the grass and trees.

Even the only group of bandits he encountered were dead.

So theoretically, he was still just an ordinary hunter.

After quietly advancing for half an hour on the mountain,

Soon, a head appeared ahead.

A bandit with a gray headscarf was squatting next to a corpse, seemingly searching it.

Wei He paused, recognizing the white headscarf.

He had killed enough bandits recently to know their classifications.

All those with white headscarves were under the control of the Shaoyang Sect.

So this one should be the same.

He thought for a moment and decided not to act rashly, slowly retreating.

If there were others watching, it would be troublesome.

But after just two steps back, Wei He's eyes fell on the bulging money bag on the bandit's back.

The shape of the bag clearly suggested gold ingots...

"Take this!"

A stone flew and hit the bandit's head hard.

Wei He threw a handful of lime, using the dust to obscure the scene.

He rolled forward, quickly and skillfully taking the money bag and other items from the bandit.

While the lime was still in the air, he darted into the grass on the other side and disappeared.

The entire process took no more than two seconds.

When the lime settled,

A bandit watching from a distance jumped out, seeing his companion lying on the ground, bleeding from the head.

He raised his knife to shout.

Bang!

Another stone hit the bandit's head, knocking him out.

Another handful of lime was thrown, and two seconds later, the bandit was stripped of his money bag and knife.

Wei He decided to leave immediately.

On the way, he marveled at how wealthy the bandits on Shaoyang Mountain were and also picked up two bags of lime.

It seemed that bandits had started carrying lime bags recently.

He no longer needed to buy them, as he could take them from the bandits.

The consumption was sometimes less than the supply.

One money bag contained five taels of gold, while the other had only some gold leaves and gold beans. The latter was quite poor.

But another item surprised Wei He. It was a small, intricately woven copper bag.

Inside were some black, stone-like objects.

Wei He recognized them as one of the rarest dark weapons, called black caltrops.

Once thrown, they would explode, releasing a large amount of toxic smoke. Very powerful.

The smoke could blind and disorient, and also conceal one's movements.

If prepared properly, a bag of these could save one's life in a critical moment.

He carefully stored the items, knowing they were taken from a bandit under the Shaoyang Sect, and recalling the last encounter with a Shaoyang Sect member who used similar tactics.

This suggested that the Shaoyang Sect was not only ruthless but also wealthy.

Wei He immediately raised his alert level to the highest.

In this era, it wasn't just martial arts skills that mattered; one also needed cunning.