Hao Yu closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the departure of his senior sister. He thought, 'Master has three disciples. The Elder Senior Brother, who is always going somewhere without telling us, the wealthy Second Senior Sister, and me. To think that my Senior Sister would be there.'
Hao Yu raised his hand. "Thank you, Old Si. I'm going to think about it for a bit."
"Understood." Old Si nodded. After confirming that Hao Yu was in the right mind, he decided to step away so as not to disturb him.
Hao Yu looked down, falling into deep thought.
'Does that mean I have to go to Donghai? But what kind of excuse can I give to Elder Han if I were to go there? Should I just wait here? I mean, they haven't been able to open it for years, right? So, waiting for a bit longer shouldn't be a problem. But there is also a risk of it opening all of a sudden.'
Hao Yu scratched the back of his head. He had two options. The first one would be going to Donghai City immediately so that he could finally find one of the persons who killed his father. Avenging his family was always one of his biggest wishes aside from exterminating all cultivators, so he faced a big dilemma.
Or he could wait a bit longer until he got a reason to go to Donghai City. After all, he had just gotten the opportunity to visit the Dragon City, so if he left again, it would trigger a lot of jealousy in his original post.
'This is not looking good.' Hao Yu bit his lips. Considering his target and Ren Yexiang's target were the same, killing that elder would definitely make Ren Yexiang completely loyal to him. She would wholeheartedly take care of the new organization.
After some consideration, Hao Yu had decided to make a trip to Donghai City. There was one way for that to happen.
'I'm going to send a message to Senior Sister to see if she can help me. And instead of going away again after returning to the Donghai City, I should finish the work here immediately and go there to help. And I think I know a perfect reason to do that.'
A smile couldn't help but appear on Hao Yu's face as if he had pictured an image of him accomplishing everything in his plan.
"Alright." Hao Yu took a deep breath to change his mood and returned to work.
…
While Hao Yu was taking care of the bigger problem, Ren Yexiang was still oblivious to what Hao Yu had just learned. She was in the slum, talking to a few beggars.
"Do we only need to beg like usual while watching the area?" One of the beggars asked.
"Yes. You only have to do that. If you notice something important, report it to me. If not, then wait until you usually return and report to me." Ren Yexiang confirmed it and continued with her explanation.
"Ah. What kind of thing will be considered important?" Another beggar asked. He thought for a moment and said, "I noticed that there was an argument between the Deer Dairy Shop with a customer, which led to the shop expelling the customer. The lady was in tears if I remember correctly."
"I see." Ren Yexiang took out a piece of bread and five copper coins from her bag before handing it to the beggar. "This is for the information. Thank you."
"O-oh?!" The beggars were astonished. They never thought that such information could give them bread as well as some money. This would be enough for one complete meal.
"Big Sister! How about this? I have noticed that a cultivator is going toward the brothel and seems to have an argument. I'm not sure about it, but looking at the terrified expressions from the people working at the brothel, I think that they have just lost one of their escorts."
Ren Yexiang took out two breads and a few fruits along with one silver coin. "Thank you for the information."
They were shocked that the reward increased. The beggars seemed to have understood what kind of information was important and which one wasn't. But if it wasn't that important, if they reported it, they would still receive some reward.
Ren Yexiang smiled and began her explanation. "As you can see earlier, I will pay you with food and some money if you give me information. Of course, whether you are begging in front of a brothel or the main city gate, there will always be important information where you least expect it. So, I only have three rules that I want you to follow."
The beggars gulped down, listening with anticipation.
"First, I want you to report to me if you think something major is going on. The level of importance will be measured by how big the impact of that information will have. Like earlier, the conflict between a person and a shop might have to be investigated, but it's not urgent. On the other hand, having a cultivator kill a person will definitely bring the government's attention."
They nodded, understanding the difference.
"The second rule is that you are not to disclose information about me and our operation unless your life is on the line. There is a reward and punishment, so if you share information with others without my consent, I will have to exclude you from the group."
It wasn't much of a problem. They were beggars, and no one really wanted to take care of them. So, having someone like her to help them meant everything to them.
In fact, before coming to this group, Ren Yexiang had covered her face with a veil according to Hao Yu's suggestion. With this, the beggars wouldn't know Ren Yexiang's face, so they wouldn't be able to point her out.
And all this reward? They could simply get back the money by selling that exact information to a bigger client.
Once the group became bigger and more famous, important people in the dynasty or even the sects would buy information from them. Once they were reliant on them, Hao Yu could finally move to his next plan by manipulating the information.
Ren Yexiang was completely impressed by Hao Yu, knowing that this man would make it big somewhere. And standing next to him from early on would be a good idea since she also wanted to see that scenery.
She continued, "The last rule is pretty simple but hard to follow. I want you to keep begging even if you have made it rich."
"Oh?!" The people were confused about the last rule. Their dream was obviously to make it big, but to think it was forbidden.
"Ah. I'm not forbidding you to do whatever you want with money. All I want is for you to continue begging. For example, you can buy a house and anything you want with money, but when you are working, you are going to change your attire to a beggar and just look around like usual.
"Have you forgotten how they treat you as a beggar? They treat you like you're nothing. But won't it be satisfactory if you, who are treated like nothing, actually inform me about their information that can hit them back without them knowing it? Just imagine their confused faces when they get into trouble, not knowing what had happened?"
The beggars couldn't help but imagine that scene. Each beggar had a certain person in their memory that had physically abused them when they were begging, so imagining that person being taken away by the authorities due to their information was certainly satisfying.
The beggars looked at each other before nodding their heads as though they had reached an agreement.
"We'll do it, Big Sister!"
"That's right. We'll make it big and show them that a beggar can have hope too."
Ren Yexiang could feel their enthusiasm. She raised a finger. "One more thing, you can also get a reward if you recruit another beggar to the group and teach them about our operation."
That suggestion actually made them a bit uncomfortable, thinking that they would be tossed away when that happened.
But Ren Yexiang assured them, "Don't worry. It's practically impossible to watch every corner of the city even with a hundred people. So, just coordinate with each other and pick your spot."