Chapter 53

The day after Yushinyun returned to the escort agency, a meeting was convened at the Qingyun Hall. In addition to Luo Jianhu, who had now officially become the head of the Heiyun Pavilion, Dao Jinwu, Luo Daixiong, and Quan Zhanfeng, the head of the Dazhanggui, all attended. This was a formal meeting, not an emergency meeting with only the minimum number of participants, but one where all the heads of the pavilions were present. It was also the first official meeting held after Yushinyun was elected as the new head of the agency.

Inside the room, everyone was waiting for their respective masters, and except for one person, all their faces were bright and cheerful. The one with a dark cloud hanging over his face was none other than Quan Zhanfeng. He glanced around the room and then let out a deep sigh. He thought to himself:

"...Sigh, I really can't understand what they're thinking. Are they not at all worried about the situation of the escort agency?"

He couldn't understand the carefree expressions of the three pavilion heads. After learning that Yushinyun had not only squandered the operating funds of the escort agency at a brothel but also bought infertile lands in Fuyang, he was still feeling as if the sky was yellow.

He couldn't understand what his master was thinking. It seemed like they were making one mistake after another, even as their worst enemy was constantly pressuring them. Could it be that, as the recent rumors suggested, they were reverting to their old ways?

All sorts of thoughts ran through his mind.

"Hmm, no. I can't blame others. It's all my fault."

He blamed himself for everything. But it was truly a strange situation. Hadn't he always been the one who, even when Liu Huoye was alive and wearing the Guomingzhen, insisted on principles and refused to give the agency's funds away easily?

- "Quan Zhanfeng, I need some funds. Please give them to me."

- "...What for?"

- "It's not the right time. You'll know in the future, so don't worry."

Yet, why did he hand over the silver as if possessed by a ghost when Yushinyun said those words?

As he swept away his frustration and scolded himself, a servant outside the room shouted:

"The head of the agency has arrived."

Thud! Thud!

In an instant, everyone in the room stood up in unison from their seats.

Yushinyun walked in confidently as the door opened wide.

Seeing this, Dao Jinwu, with a hint of inner strength, loudly announced:

"New Dao Jinwu! I greet the new master of the Baiyun Escort Agency!"

"Chung!"

"Chung!"

As Dao Jinwu finished speaking, everyone bowed deeply in unison, showing the utmost respect.

A solemn atmosphere quickly filled the Qingyun Hall.

Yushinyun usually disliked such formalities and tried to avoid them. Dao Jinwu knew this but still held the meeting to instill a sense of vigilance and tension among the newly appointed pavilion heads.

Yushinyun quickly understood Dao Jinwu's intentions and maintained a stern demeanor as he took his seat.

Only after Yushinyun sat down did the others relax and take their seats.

"Let's begin."

With Yushinyun's low voice, the meeting officially started. As expected, Dao Jinwu, the deputy head, took the lead.

"Yes, let's start with the current business situation of the other three pavilions, excluding the Zhengyun Pavilion."

Yushinyun nodded, and Dao Jinwu began to speak about the situation of each pavilion.

"Our Baiyun Pavilion is currently focusing all our efforts on the ongoing regular escort missions. Due to the large number of missions we have to handle, we are forming the smallest possible teams, but so far, everything is going smoothly."

The Baiyun Pavilion was responsible for all the regular escort missions that had not yet been taken over by the Huangluo Escort Agency. Because they had taken over all the missions previously handled by the Chiyun Pavilion, they had the heaviest workload among the three pavilions.

Yushinyun did not intend to let the Baiyun Pavilion's guards, who were already overworked, suffer further.

"The Baiyun Pavilion's guards are currently the most physically exhausted. They have worked hard, so Quan Zhanfeng, please give them an additional salary, and Dao Jinwu, please pay special attention to ensure that none of the guards are overworked and become ill."

"Yes, understood!"

"......Yes."

The thought of more money being spent darkened Quan Zhanfeng's face even more.

The Houyun Pavilion had all its personnel on guard duty around the escort agency, day and night, to prepare for any possible enemy attacks.

However, when it was Luo Jianhu's turn to speak, his expression suddenly darkened. Seeing him hesitate to speak, everyone in the Qingyun Hall tilted their heads in confusion.

Luo Jianhu, having made up his mind, began to speak about a difficult issue.

"...The Heiyun Pavilion is currently focusing on training and educating the 20 new guards we have recruited."

This referred to the training of the guards in their duties and martial arts.

Due to the constraints imposed by the Huangluo Escort Agency, the average quality of the guards who applied to the Heiyun Pavilion this year was significantly lower than before. There was still a long way to go before they could handle real escort missions.

After a long pause, Luo Jianhu continued:

"...However, there is a problem."

A problem with the Heiyun Pavilion?

Yushinyun looked at him with a puzzled expression, and Luo Jianhu continued:

"...The new guards are in such a poor state that we need to completely retrain them. For this, we need excellent basic martial arts skills. However, there are no suitable basic martial arts skills available within the agency, which is causing significant difficulties in training."

'No suitable basic martial arts skills?'

Yushinyun found it hard to understand the problem. He had personally reviewed all the martial arts skills in the Zongyun Library and found that, while there were no high-level skills, there were certainly many usable basic skills.

But the mystery was soon solved.

"Sigh, due to the fire at the Chiyun Pavilion, many of the basic martial arts manuals were lost..."

The Chiyun Pavilion had secretly taken and hidden many of the basic martial arts manuals from the Zongyun Library, and they were all destroyed in the explosion.

It seemed that after Yushinyun defeated the Jinbuhei of the Jinguangang, the Chiyun Pavilion had taken all the basic martial arts manuals from the Zongyun Library, thinking that he might expand his skills to include internal martial arts as well as external martial arts.

"Without basic martial arts skills, we are only conducting sparring sessions, but we are already reaching our limits. We need to acquire new basic martial arts manuals as soon as possible."

Luo Jianhu looked at Quan Zhanfeng with a face full of regret, as if begging for the purchase of basic martial arts manuals despite the lack of funds.

Quan Zhanfeng's face looked as if he was about to cry at the thought of more expenses.

Yushinyun, who had been deep in thought with his chin in his hand, spoke softly:

"Having excellent basic martial arts skills would solve the problem."

"...That's right."

While the words were easy to say, acquiring high-level basic martial arts manuals was not an easy task.

However, Yushinyun's response was unexpected.

"I understand. I will take care of this problem."

"Really?"

"It will take some time to complete, so please be patient."

"...?"

Neither Luo Jianhu nor Quan Zhanfeng could understand Yushinyun's intentions. They looked at him with puzzled expressions.

But then, a thought crossed their minds.

'Completion? Then...'

'Is he...'

'Going to create basic martial arts skills himself?'

They had the same thought simultaneously. But they quickly dismissed it as impossible, knowing that creating new martial arts skills was something only a genius could do.

But why?

A part of them couldn't help but think that their master might be capable of creating basic martial arts skills.

At that moment, Yushinyun spoke to Dao Jinwu:

"By the way, what is the current situation with the Huangluo Escort Agency?"

Everyone stopped their thoughts and listened intently to Dao Jinwu's response. Knowing the enemy's actions was the most important thing at the moment.

Dao Jinwu's words were enough to make the other pavilion heads' faces turn grim.

"The Huangluo Escort Agency has sent envoys to the Huangshan Sect."

The Huangshan Sect, located in Anhui, was one of the lesser sects of the Nine Schools and One Sect. Although it was not as prosperous as before, it was a sect with a long history and tradition. In terms of power, it was a major sect that the Huangluo Escort Agency and Baiyun Escort Agency could not match.

The reason the Huangluo Escort Agency sent envoys to the Huangshan Sect was clear. The Duyueqi, who had his arm cut off by Yushinyun, was a lay disciple of the Huangshan Sect.

While the others showed concern on their faces, Yushinyun remained unchanged.

Dao Jinwu, trying to lighten the mood, said:

"However, the Huangshan Sect is a righteous sect with ties to the Martial Arts Alliance. They won't act rashly without a clear reason."

The righteous sects do not act without a proper reason.

Everyone sighed in relief, but Yushinyun's reaction was the opposite. He was hoping the enemies would show their teeth first.

'...No, considering their impatience, they will definitely act first. Let's wait calmly for now.'

Having reached this conclusion, Yushinyun changed the topic with Dao Jinwu:

"Let's move on. Have you brought the items I asked for before?"

"Oh, yes, here they are."

At Yushinyun's urging, Dao Jinwu hurriedly took out a bundle of papers from his sleeve. The papers, yellowed with age, were carefully examined by Yushinyun.

Dao Jinwu's eyes sparkled as he watched.

- The Huangluo Escort Agency is now openly buying our customers with money. We need to take action.

- Merchants are the most sensitive to profit. We can't blame them for not keeping their word due to money.

- Still...

- Face the reality. We can't offer them more money than the Huangluo Escort Agency. Instead of worrying about those who have left, we need to find new and bigger markets.

Yushinyun had asked for these papers to be brought to him.

Dao Jinwu's eyes sparkled again.

'Is the head of the agency really planning to undertake the suspended missions?'

The papers he had handed over were the 'commission letters' written when clients entrusted their missions to the Baiyun Escort Agency. However, these were all old missions, at least 5 years and up to 10 years old.

Suspended missions referred to missions that were put on hold for various reasons after being commissioned.

In reality, they were missions that the agency had politely declined.

Some of these suspended missions had such high commission fees that their success would cover the agency's annual operating costs. However, they were extremely dangerous, and most were abandoned because they required the lives of many guards as collateral.

Yet, Yushinyun was calmly selecting these suspended missions, as if the dangers did not matter.

Finally, he said:

"Here it is."

After making his decision, Yushinyun handed a commission letter to his subordinates. The subordinates' faces showed shock as they read the contents.

At the top of the commission letter, three characters were written: 'Qianmu Mountain.'

"Is this really it?"

"No, are you really going to do this?"

"Please reconsider, Head of the Agency. This is a mission with impossible conditions."

"That's right, Head of the Agency. We don't have the ability to succeed in this mission."

Everyone tried to dissuade Yushinyun with urgent and panicked expressions.

However, Yushinyun responded calmly:

"No, we already have the guards who can be the key to success."

"...?"

Do we have someone capable of handling the Qianmu Mountain mission?

The pavilion heads were taken aback by Yushinyun's confident statement.

"Don't worry. I can assure you that this mission will save the Baiyun Escort Agency."

But Yushinyun spoke with a calm and confident expression.

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