The instant Yue Yang closed the room door, Zhang Qianren's Divine Sense spread through the entire room like a spider's web.
"If not for this Sick Ghost's endless chattering, this old man's Spiritual Root would have already increased a bit more!"
As he thought this darkly, his expression gloomy, he recalled what Yue Yang had said before leaving.
"The Immortal Path is right before me, how could this old man possibly enter the demonic path?"
Zhang Qianren let out a disdainful cold laugh, then his gloomy expression faded as he took the Jade Hairpin out from under his rear.
He then cupped it in both hands before his face, his expression full of apology, and said carefully in a gentle voice, "Good treasure, you've really been wronged."
His tone was like that of a kindly elder apologizing to his own grandchild.
With that said, he took the Geng Metal Ore out from his Storage Ring and placed it on his lap.
"Good treasure, keep devouring it!"
"Although only thirty-odd pieces of this Geng Metal Ore remain, this old man will surely think of a method!"
"Even if this old man has to starve himself, I will never let you suffer!"
As the Ruyi Jingu Bang slowly began devouring the Geng Metal Ore, Qin Mu, who had already washed up and was eating breakfast, once again heard the Prompt Sound announcing the Ruyi Jingu Bang's level increase.
"Your Ruyi Jingu Bang has increased to level 61. You will receive a feedback of Gold Element Spiritual Root +1. You may choose the feedback recipient."
Qin Mu casually added it to himself, then continued eating breakfast.
While eating, he didn't forget to think things over.
When the Ruyi Jingu Bang had reached level sixty, he had already "gifted" that particular feedback.
The next feedback that needed to be "gifted" would come at level seventy.
As the Ruyi Jingu Bang's level grew higher and higher, the Experience required afterward would also increase more and more.
This meant that going forward, the Ruyi Jingu Bang's leveling speed would no longer be as outrageous as it had been last night.
So after finishing breakfast, Qin Mu didn't immediately go to make his records. Instead, he first went back to his room to tuck into his robes the novel he'd spent the past two days writing, a full three thousand words' worth.
He planned to go to Zhuangyuan Bookstore and have Uncle Cang take a look at the novel he'd written, to see if it could rival that novel from Zhao Family Bookstore, the one said to have sold over three thousand taels of Silver — Hundred Ridges Monster and Ghost Records.
If it could, he would immediately print a few hundred copies for a trial sale.
If he kept dragging his feet, by the end of the month he'd have nothing but air to drink.
But before he could even step out the door, he saw the middle-aged Steward arrive right at his Room Door.
This Steward had originally overseen three subordinates of his own, but they had been hired away by Zhao Family Bookstore at a high price.
The Steward hadn't left because Father Qin had once saved his life.
As for the family's Cook, she was his wife.
In their early years, the couple's village had suffered a mountain flood, and they had fled as refugees to Baizhou City, where they happened to run into Father Qin, who had come to Baizhou City to restock goods.
Father Qin was a kind-hearted man, and upon learning of their situation, he hired the couple as Steward and Cook.
At that time, the Original body hadn't even been born yet.
So the couple could be considered people who had watched the Original body grow up.
When the Original body was gravely ill, the couple had bustled about constantly, even taking out the savings they'd accumulated over many years to buy medicine for him.
The night Qin Mu had crossed over, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw this couple keeping watch by the bedside, their faces full of worry.
If he hadn't happened to inherit the Original body's memory along with everything else, things might have turned into quite the farce.
As these events flashed through Qin Mu's mind, the Steward spoke up, his expression somewhat strange. "Young Master, an old fellow suddenly showed up wanting to buy our house."
Qin Mu was stunned upon hearing this and asked, "Didn't you tell him we're not the homeowners?"
The Steward said with a wry smile, "I told him, but that old fellow barged right in without listening to a word."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Qin Mu heard a booming, vigorous voice ring out from the courtyard.
"Where's the homeowner!"
"Come out here!"
"This old man wants to buy this house!"
Qin Mu glanced at the Steward, who was wearing a pained smile, but before he could say anything, the old fellow the Steward had mentioned came striding in, chest puffed out, walking with a wide, domineering gait as if he cared for no one, his belly jiggling with every step.
The man's brows and beard were entirely white, and as for his physique, it could be summed up in a single word.
Round.
He wore an oversized black robe that gleamed with a greasy sheen.
The moment Qin Mu laid eyes on him, his expression shifted slightly.
For some reason, he felt a startling, heart-trembling Aura emanating from this old man.
And yet the man clearly didn't look imposing in the slightest.
Still, his heart couldn't help but beat faster.
As for the old man, upon seeing Qin Mu, he raised an eyebrow as though he'd noticed something.
"You're the homeowner?!"
Qin Mu hurriedly cupped his fist and bowed. "Old sir, this residence was also rented by my family from the homeowner. If you wish to buy it, you'll have to wait until the homeowner returns from out of town."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the old man gave a great wave of his hand and bellowed vigorously, "Don't be verbose with this old man, this old man doesn't care about any of that. Just tell me, will ten thousand taels sell it or not!"
Qin Mu's eyes instantly went wide.
This run-down house, and someone was actually offering ten thousand taels for it?
After his surprise faded, he felt a genuine pang of regret in his heart.
It was such a pity this residence wasn't actually his — otherwise, he could have pocketed ten thousand taels right on the spot.
The Steward, however, upon hearing this, immediately had his eyes light up. He hurriedly gave the old man an apologetic laugh, pulled Qin Mu aside, and whispered, "Young Master, this house is worth four hundred taels at most. Now that someone's offering ten thousand taels for it, we might as well agree."
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
Seeing this, the Steward hurriedly continued, "After we sell the house, I'll go hire a few capable escorts to take me to Baizhou City, then spend four thousand taels to buy this house back. Wouldn't that solve everything?"
"This way, the homeowner earns a full ten times the money, we don't lose out either, and this old sir gets what he wants too. It's a win for everyone!"
Hearing him say this, Qin Mu felt somewhat tempted, but he still felt like there was something not quite right about it, morally speaking.
Seeing him still hesitating, the Steward said anxiously, "Young Master, a person shouldn't give up Silver for the sake of dignity and morals!"
"Besides, we'd be helping Old Qi sell his house for ten times its original value — Old Qi will only be happy about it."
"If we let this chance slip by, Old Qi might even blame us for it!"
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this.
Seeing that he wasn't responding, the Steward said urgently, "Forget it, I watched you grow up, so I might as well count as one of your elders. This matter's settled!"
With that, he turned to face the old man and said with an apologetic smile, "Old brother, ten thousand taels and we'll sell, but we can't hand over the property deed and land deed just yet — you'll need to wait a month."
The old man waved his hand. "Those are just minor trifling matters. Even without any pesky deeds, this old man, no one would dare come looking for trouble with me!"
As he said this, he glanced at Qin Mu again with a hint of curiosity.
Upon hearing this, the Steward's face immediately broke into a delighted grin.
"Old brother, as long as you hand over the money, we'll move out right away!"
Seeing the Steward's money-hungry expression, the old man couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, then reached a hand into his robes, into his robes, into his robes...
As it turned out, he was so fat that his hand couldn't reach into his robes no matter how long he tried.
The Steward blinked repeatedly, his face full of anticipation.
But after a dozen or so breaths, the old man's hand still hadn't managed to reach inside his robes.
The Steward subconsciously squinted, wondering if this old man was toying with them for fun.
Seeing the Steward's expression, the old man's face flushed a deep red, and he abruptly waved his sleeve.
Immediately, a jingling clatter rang out as a small pile of gleaming silver Silver Bricks dropped out of thin air onto the ground.
Upon seeing this, Qin Mu and the Steward's expressions instantly changed.
"A Storage Magic Treasure!"
Those four words instantly flashed through Qin Mu's mind.
As for the Steward, he swallowed hard, his lips trembling as he stammered, "An... an... an Immortal!"
His heart surged with excitement — he never imagined he'd live to see the day he'd make a transaction with an Immortal.
The old man let out a light snort and said, "Each Silver Brick is worth seventy-five taels. There are a hundred and fifty in total, so in total, in total, in total..."
He said "in total" several times in a row without managing to work out the sum, and finally just gave a cold snort and said irritably, "Consider the extra as this old man taking pity on you. I'll give you a quarter Shichen to move out!"
The Steward paid no mind to the old man's rude tone.
Just as he'd told Qin Mu, a person shouldn't give up Silver for the sake of dignity.
And indeed, without even meaning to, they'd made over a thousand extra taels!
Thinking of this, the Steward hurriedly called for his wife and happily began gathering their things.
The couple themselves had nothing much worth packing, and as for Qin Mu, aside from his records concerning the Ruyi Jingu Bang, there was naturally nothing he absolutely needed to pack either.
His room contained nothing but books.
So they went to the now-empty room that had belonged to Father and Mother Qin, carefully packed up the Spirit Tablet and the bills from Zhuangyuan Bookstore, and cleared out a wooden chest to hold the scattered Silver lying around the courtyard.
Finally, brimming with excitement, they left the residence they had lived in for over twenty years.
Once they reached the alley, Qin Mu let out a soft sigh.
"Uncle Liu, where will we live from now on?"
Steward Liu, his face glowing with excitement, said, "Young Master, with money in hand, are we really going to worry about finding a place to live?"
With that, he looked back at the residence he and his wife had lived in for over twenty years and said with feeling, "This must have been some Immortal out accumulating virtue and doing good deeds, to let us earn several thousand taels just like that!"
His wife was a sturdily built woman, and even now she was still in a daze, so she said nothing.
The Steward turned his head to look at Qin Mu and said excitedly, "Young Master, let's go buy a house right away. Once we've bought it, I'll go find a matchmaker to arrange a marriage for you!"
"Once you have an heir, you can devote yourself wholeheartedly to running the bookstore, while my wife and I take care of the little young master!"
"That way, even after I'm gone, I won't have to feel ashamed to face Master in the afterlife!"
As he said this, his eyes suddenly reddened.
"Heaven has no eyes, to let Master and madam meet with such a Catastrophe!"
"Back when we were handling your funeral arrangements, my wife and I swore before Master and madam's Spirit Tablets that we would never let anything happen to you, Young Master!"
"During the time you were gravely ill, I had already told my wife — if you were to follow Master and madam in death, the two of us wouldn't go on living either!"
"Back then, if not for Master, the two of us would have already starved to death on the street."
Hearing this, Qin Mu couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
He didn't know what to say in response, so he simply stayed silent.
Just then, a man's and a woman's voices suddenly rang out from behind them.
"Wife, how could there possibly be such a fool in this world — that run-down house, and someone was actually willing to pay fifteen thousand taels for it!"
"Shut your mouth, are you blind? Don't you see there are people standing right up ahead?"
The man immediately fell silent, then he and the woman, carrying bundles on their backs and two wooden chests on a shoulder pole, hurried past Qin Mu.
Watching the two of them walk away, the sorrow instantly vanished from the Steward's face, replaced by gritted teeth.
"Young Master, we sold at a loss!"
"That Zhang the Fourth's house was also a rental, and that run-down place of his wasn't even as big as ours!"
"And yet it sold for fifteen thousand taels!"
"That's several thousand taels more than what we sold for!"
As he spoke, he trembled all over with anger.
"No, I have to go reason with that old thing. So what if he's an Immortal, does that give him the right to take advantage of us common people!"
With that, he couldn't help but bury his face in his hands and wail miserably.
"Several thousand taels!"
Qin Mu hurriedly comforted him with a few words, then shot the Steward's wife a look, and the two of them, half pushing and half dragging, hauled the Steward out of the alley.
But the moment they stepped out of the alley, a chaotic clamor of noise instantly rang out around them.
The three of them exchanged glances, unsure of what was happening.
And when they reached the main street, they found that what was normally a street wide enough for four carriages to travel side by side had turned into a sea of people, as if it were some kind of temple fair, with even the nearby side paths completely blocked off.
Along with the crowded streets, Cultivators soaring high through the sky were everywhere to be seen.
Seeing this outrageous scene, Qin Mu couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Don't tell me all these people were drawn here because of the Ruyi Jingu Bang."
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Steward Liu beside him seemed to notice something, squinting as he surveyed their surroundings.
After a moment, he quietly gave Qin Mu a warning.
"Young Master, look."
Qin Mu followed the direction of his finger but couldn't spot anything unusual.
Steward Liu murmured, "Look, that's Zhao the Fourth and his wife from the street behind our house, and over there, that's Squire Wang from next door — they're all carrying bundles of luggage, looks like their houses got bought too."
Hearing this, Qin Mu realized that many faces in the crowd did indeed look familiar.
A chill of alarm shot through him, and an outrageous thought took shape in his mind.
Could it be that everyone who bought a house was actually a Cultivator here searching for treasure?
Just as this thought crossed his mind, a man's voice suddenly rang out from High Altitude.
"Everyone, this one is Huangfu Hongtao, City Lord of Guanhai City. Those of you pursuing the Immortal Path, please move away from the crowd at once. If you lack the power of Skyward Flight, please raise your right hand immediately, and this one will lend you a hand."
His voice wasn't loud, yet it instantly silenced the clamor rising from the crowd.
Qin Mu also looked up at Huangfu Hongtao at that moment.
Even the Original body had never once seen this City Lord's Facial Appearance.
He saw the man suspended in midair, dressed in a pale green robe embroidered with Cloud Patterns, with a white inner garment beneath it, dignified in bearing, his face as fine as polished jade.
Only, he looked rather young.
Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be only in his twenties.
Even though Qin Mu suspected the man's true age was likely quite high, he couldn't help but marvel inwardly at how youthful his face appeared.
At that moment, many people in the crowd raised their hands.
Seeing those raised hands, Huangfu Hongtao called out lightly, "Someone, escort them away from the crowd."
As soon as he spoke, figures riding swords came rushing in swiftly from the distance.
As these figures swept rapidly over the heads of the crowd, they reached out in passing and pulled the Cultivators who had raised their hands away from the masses.
Before long, the once-packed street had thinned out considerably.
Qin Mu, Steward Liu, and his wife seized the chance to hurry toward Zhuangyuan Bookstore.
Earlier, while waiting, they had already discussed things.
Given the situation, buying a house in Guanhai City was out of the question — they'd have to stay at the bookstore for a few days for now.
After roughly one Shichen, they finally arrived at Zhuangyuan Bookstore.
During that time, the Prompt Sound for the Ruyi Jingu Bang leveling up had gone off twice.
As for Uncle Cang, he was currently standing outside Zhuangyuan Bookstore, his face glowing with excitement, waiting for them.
The moment he saw Qin Mu, his very first sentence left him stunned.
"Owner, this old man sold Zhuangyuan Bookstore for fifty thousand taels of Silver!"
Two-in-one chapter, looking for recommendations, favorites, and investment.
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