```
"It seems someone is forcing us to follow the rules,"
Stroking his chin, Zhou Li watched the villagers conversing on the street, a faint light gradually appearing in his eyes. Moments later, he stood up and spoke to the few people behind him, "Since we are visitors here, let's not go against the local customs."
By now, these four had formed a group with Zhou Li at its core. Tang Wan was the type to switch off her brain at the mere sight of Zhou Li, preferring to follow his command whenever possible. Qianhu's current task was to protect Zhou Li, so he let Zhou Li take charge of most things, and since Zhou Li's way of doing things was very mature, Qianhu didn't have to worry.
Guo Lingyun, on the other hand, was an exception. He wasn't naturally trusting of Zhou Li like Tang Wan, nor did he have reasons like Qianhu's to be obsequious toward Zhou Li. But since the other two were tacitly obedient to Zhou Li, and because Guo Lingyun knew he was more brawn than brains, he also followed Zhou Li's lead.
"You all wait here; I'll go and take on the three challenges,"
Qianhu and Guo Lingyun panicked as they watched Zhou Li stand up resolutely, ready to face the sweet allure of temptations. Guo Lingyun even stood up and repeatedly dissuaded him, "Brother Zhou, please don't do this, the Qiansan Pass is clearly a trap set by the Mountain God, do not fall for their scheme."
"Yeah, yeah."
Qianhu also became somewhat flustered, afraid that if Zhou Li really passed the three challenges and stayed, he would waste his life away in a dissipated lifestyle of a young master, neglecting the high hopes the Golden Snake Lady had placed in him, "Young Master Zhou, there is no need for haste, let's take our time and consider our options, consider our options, let's not throw meat buns to a dog."
"Hey, what's to fear?"
Zhou Li waved his hand and scoffed, "Do you really think I'm going to tackle the three challenges head-on?"
"Huh?"
Scratching his head, Guo Lingyun asked, "If not, then what?"
"Come, listen to my plan..."
As Zhou Li and the others huddled together, with Zhou Li's explanation, Qianhu and Guo Lingyun's faces gradually lit up with expressions of excitement. In the end, they looked at each other, each seeing the emotion in the other's eyes.
Admiration.
Qianhu turned to glance at Zhou Li, who had his arm around Tang Wan's neck and seemed to be saying something, occasionally revealing a sly smile, and a thought arose in his mind.
Could this young man truly be a genius?
About fifteen minutes later, Zhou Li, having made all the preparations, sneakily arrived at the village's main entrance. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he boldly walked to the center of the main road. Taking a deep breath and projecting a loud voice, he called out, echoing through the village,
"Chai Hao, I'm here, where are you?"
As Zhou Li's shout rang out, the entire street seemed to freeze: those carrying water, cooking, smashing window-support sticks on men's heads, children lying on the ground crying, and women pressing children to the ground and beating them, all turned their gaze towards Zhou Li at the village entrance.
Soon, their looks of "bewilderment, confusion, doubt" turned into the greed of spotting gold. In no time, Zhou Li found himself surrounded by various villagers.
Without exception, they were dressed in silk and satin, their gold and silver jewelry even more eye-catching. And the greed in their eyes was all too similar.
They circled around Zhou Li, sizing him up as if he were prime merchandise, ceaselessly inquiring about his origins and name. A beautiful woman edged closer to Zhou Li, her delicate, boneless hand lightly tracing over his finely dressed, well-proportioned abdomen, revealing a look of satisfaction on her alluring face.
"Stop!"
After a moment, Zhou Li, no longer able to tolerate the harassment, extended his arms forcefully to halt the people around him. Under the silent stares of the crowd, he turned to the startled woman who had retracted her hand from touching his chest and said sternly,
"I didn't tell you to stop."
It was visibly apparent that satisfaction appeared on these people's faces. Just then, an elder dressed in a large purple satin robe and leaning on a silver-gilt cane slowly walked towards Zhou Li, the crowd around him respectfully parting to make a path.
The old man, shaky and frail, raised his head to take a good look at Zhou Li and after a moment, he broke into a grin, revealing most of his golden teeth, and said,
"Young man, do you know the story of the Mountain God?"
```
"I don't know."
Zhou Li shook his head, saying earnestly, "I came here because someone who owes me money escaped to this place. If I have offended anyone, I ask for your understanding."
"Not at all, it's not offensive at all."
The old man's eyes gleamed, and he smiled at Zhou Li, asking, "You're saying someone owes you money?"
"Yes."
Zhou Li nodded, stating matter-of-factly:
"That guy got red in the eyes from gambling losses, mortgaged his entire house and wife, and then lost everything. In the end, he couldn't take it anymore, came to me, and borrowed two taels of gold. He ended up losing that too, which is why I'm chasing him to collect the debt."
"May I ask how much interest you charged this person when you lent him the money?"
Upon hearing this, the old man hissed softly, probing with a question.
"Ah, I'm not a usurer."
Zhou Li touched his head, saying grumpily, "I'm a law-abiding citizen."
"Ah."
Seeing this, a hint of disappointment flashed in the old man's eyes. He was about to speak, but then heard the naive-looking Zhou Li say:
"The interest on a loan from me isn't that high; it's just that you need to owe a year's interest on the principal upfront. To avoid risk, I can only lend you fifty percent of the loan. You have to pay off the principal interest on the remaining loan first. After half is paid back, I'll give you the rest of the loan. The time difference also needs to be included in the interest. It's not much, really not much."
The old man and other villagers were immediately dizzy with Zhou Li's explanation. After calculating for a moment, the old man asked Zhou Li tremulously, "May I ask how much does this Chai Hao have to pay back in the end after borrowing two taels of gold from Young Master?"
"Not much."
Zhou Li shook his head, smiling as he said, "Just sixteen taels of gold, really not much."
This is indeed not usury, it's outright robbery.
Even bandits would have to kneel on the ground and call you ancestor.
Immediately, aside from greed, a kind of invisible respect could be seen on these people's faces. The old man, as if he had seen a priceless treasure, grabbed Zhou Li's hand, pleading with tears in his voice:
"Young Master, you must join us. We really need talent like yours."
Hundred Households, who was observing this scene from a distance, was dumbfounded. He turned his head and looked at Tang Wan, who was chewing on a tree leaf, and asked in a low voice, "Why is he so skilled at this? Does he do this often?"
"Yes, he's done it before. He invented this 'beheading' loan,"
Tang Wan nodded, admitting to this fact generously under Hundred Households' incredulous gaze. Just as Hundred Households was considering whether he should report Zhou Li, Tang Wan, after swallowing the tree leaf, continued:
"Back when we were in school, we had a classmate whose family member fell ill and urgently needed money. This person was academically excellent, hardworking, kind, but too ashamed to borrow money from us, so he borrowed three taels of silver from a usurer. Later, unable to repay the high interest, he was forced by the usurer to jump off a building, and his sister was abducted and sent to a brothel. I went to the County Magistrate, but he didn't care. Zhou Li later told me that the County Magistrate earns thirty taels a year, enough to buy a thousand acres of good farmland—that was his answer."
After plucking a handful of tree leaves, Tang Wan sat on a tree branch, saying calmly:
"Later, Zhou Li dropped out of school, infiltrated the loan shark's ranks, and taught them this 'beheading' loan. Then I pretended to be a gambler and borrowed one of these loans. Eventually, we collaborated with a few classmates who worked at the Court of Judicial Review and got them thrown into prison."
"Originally, these people would have only faced a fine and a few days in jail. But because I was from the Tang Sect and the case was so reprehensible and brutal, it was transferred from the County Magistrate to the Court of Judicial Review. Later, they were directly sentenced to death by the Court."
"In total, thirty-six people. The six ringleaders were all executed by lingchi, and the remaining thirty were beheaded, without exception."