Nanling Mountain, outskirts of the Green Wolf Gang's iron mine
On an unremarkable, crooked tree, Hou Yucheng and Hou Fei, both dressed in black, were lurking in the shadows.
"The Family Head has been inside for so long and still hasn't come out. Could something have happened?"
"What could possibly happen? Even Ren Feng can't recognize Big Brother's Transformation Technique, just wait a bit longer; he should be coming out soon!"
As soon as Hou Yucheng finished speaking, a gust of chilly wind blew by, causing his brows to furrow sharply. He quickly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it.
Hou Fei at his side also made a move, a small dagger appearing in his hand, eyeing the source of the chilly wind with a vigilant expression.
"It's me!"
A person dressed in the Green Wolf Gang's wolf-patterned attire, with a look of surprise, emerged from the shadows and began to approach the two, all the while his appearance and physique gradually changing in a wondrous fashion.
In just a moment, the man had transformed into Hou Yuxiao.
Upon seeing Hou Yuxiao's true face, Hou Yucheng and Hou Fei both lowered their guard. Noting the look of excitement on his face, Hou Yucheng hurriedly asked, "Big Brother, what did you find?"
Lost in his thoughts, Hou Yuxiao's face was brimming with excitement. It took him more than a dozen breaths to realize Hou Yucheng was asking him a question. Turning to look at them, he said with an emotional tone, "It's a gold mine... there's a gold mine inside..."
Hou Yucheng and Hou Fei both looked stunned for a moment, and then a flush of deep red appeared on their faces as they struggled to contain the surge of excitement within them.
Now they understood why Hou Yuxiao was so excited!
A gold mine...
It was actually a gold mine...
Generally speaking, even the smallest gold mine contained at least a thousand jin of gold, with 1 jin equaling 16 taels. This meant that in front of their eyes, there was at least 16,000 taels of gold, equivalent to 1.6 million taels of silver!
1.6 million taels of silver.
Hou Yucheng's body trembled, and he couldn't help but take a step forward.
"Big Brother, let's do it together. There's only Ren Hu inside. If we kill him and then slaughter everyone here, the gold mine will be ours!"
Seeing that Hou Yucheng was about to draw his sword halfway, three black lines crossed Hou Yuxiao's forehead, and he revealed a helpless expression. Stepping forward, he gently pressed down on Hou Yucheng's hand to signal him to keep calm.
"Ren Hu is here, which means that Ren Feng knows about this gold mine of the Green Wolf Gang as well. With just the three of us acting rashly, if we don't do it cleanly, the mine's secret could be leaked, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
Let's go back first and plan for the long term!"
Although Hou Yuxiao was almost as eager as the other two, with visions of gold and silver filling his mind, he managed to suppress his greed and calm down, leading the two back to the county town under the cover of night.
On the way back, Hou Yuxiao had countless thoughts tumbling in his mind, and many of Ren Feng's strange behaviors in recent times suddenly began to make sense.
"No wonder... No wonder Ren Feng could endure my provocations and humiliations at Shengxin Residence; turns out he's been secretly digging up a huge gold mine, simply having no time to bother with me!"
This gold mine was within the Green Wolf Gang's mining area; as its Gang Leader, Tan Gang must surely know about it—it might have even been him who informed Ren Feng.
Ren Feng's tolerance towards him lately wasn't out of fear; he simply didn't have the time to bother with him, as he was busy mining the gold.
Last year, an auction in the prefectural city sold a Yuan Gang Precious Pill, and I remember the final price was 1.5 million taels. Old man Ren Feng really has good fortune; nearing his life's limit, the heavens actually sent him a gold mine!
The Gang Qi Realm has three minor realms: Coagulate Gang, Gathering Malevolence, and Embracing Elixir. Ren Feng only has the cultivation of the Coagulate Gang realm, hence his lifespan is at most 150 years. Martial artists at the Gathering Malevolence realm can live up to 200 years, and reaching Embracing Elixir realm increases one's lifespan by a hundred years, living to five cycles of sixty years each, a total of 300 years.
Ren Feng is already over 130 years old this year; by normal standards, he doesn't have many years left to live. If he actually gets this gold, he could buy a Yuan Gang Precious Pill and possibly break through to the Gathering Malevolence realm, potentially extending his life by another fifty years.
There are many miraculous medicines in this world, but only less than five can be called Precious Pills, each worth from one million to several million taels of silver, capable of helping one break through in the Gang Qi Realm. The Yuan Gang Precious Pill is one of them.
It is rumored that the ingredients for the Yuan Gang Precious Pill are all from the Yuan Gang Secret Realm, which can only be found in Earth Level great powers, and just the price of the ingredients is over seven hundred thousand taels. Assembling the ingredients is not enough; an Earth Level Pharmacist must personally handle and refine them.
The concept of an Earth Level Pharmacist may not be very clear, so to put it another way, Earth Level Pharmacists are generally only found in Heaven Level powers.
In the entire world with thirteen provinces, there are only about fifty to sixty Heaven Level powers, showing just how precious Earth Level Pharmacists are.
Therefore, the value of a Yuan Gang Precious Pill is at the very least above 1.5 million taels.
Tongling County sold one last year for 1.8 million taels. Although it sounds like a high price, in fact, it's far lower than the transaction prices in other places, due to Tongling County being impoverished.
With his mind filled with thoughts of the gold mine, Hou Yuxiao was unable to fully calm his excitement. Along with Hou Yucheng and Hou Fei, the three of them returned to Hou Mansion in the county town with unsettled emotions.
No sooner had the three of them entered the main hall of the Hou Mansion than they noticed four horse-drawn carriages lined up neatly on the training ground. Hou Yuxiao was momentarily taken aback.
He recognized the leading carriage; it was the 1500 iron ingots that Hou Yucheng and Hou Fei had extorted from the Green Wolf Gang's iron mine before. As for the three carriages behind it...
While he was still puzzled, suddenly three figures emerged from the main hall. Leading them were Hou Yujie and Hou Cun, who had been waiting for their return, followed by Wang Gong, the Chief Escort of the Flying Eagle Escort Agency.
At this sight, Hou Yuxiao immediately had a hunch about what was going on.
"Big brother, let me introduce someone to you first!"
"The famous Head Escort Wang Gong from Zhaoyang County, how could I not know him!"
Hou Yuxiao hurriedly moved forward two steps, his face showing a hint of joy as he stepped past the two men and gave a slight bow to Wang Gong behind them, saying, "I have invited Head Escort Wang to visit our Hou Clan multiple times and was declined each time; today, you have finally seen the light."
Seeing Hou Yuxiao's respectful treatment of Wang Gong, the onlookers were full of surprise.
Even Wang Gong himself had not expected that Hou Yuxiao, the number one villain of Zhaoyang County and head of the Hou family, would put on such a display.
But as someone who had travelled far and wide and seen much of the world, Wang Gong quickly understood Hou Yuxiao's previously subtle efforts to win him over and what his intentions were.
It was nothing more than the fact that the Hou Family was also eyeing the lucrative business of running an escort agency.
"Master Hou is too kind. Wang Gong is but a humble man, unworthy of such a reception. In the future, should Master Hou have any commands, I will go through fire and water, only hoping for a safe place to live!"
Hou Yuxiao feigned a hint of anger and looked at Hou Yujie beside him, "Fourth Elder, didn't I ask you to invite Head Escort Wang back? A distinguished guest has become a mere convict; did you speak rudely to Head Escort Wang?"
"With big brother's order, Yu Jie dares not. I ran into Head Escort Wang on the official road, and after an exchange of words, we talked happily.
Head Escort Wang immediately expressed his desire to leave the Flying Eagle Sect and join our Hou Family. Not only that, he also said that this escort trip carried goods extortionately taken from the people, and he wanted to offer it to our Hou Family as a certificate of pledge.
When I heard this, I was extremely moved, and I immediately brought Head Escort Wang back. You can ask him yourself if you don't believe me!"
Hou Yujie's blatant nonsense made Wang Gong's face twitch as he listened, especially when the latter claimed to have proactively offered the escort trip as a certificate of pledge. Wang Gong's expression stiffened momentarily as professional habit made him instinctively want to object.
"This..."
Before he could speak, he saw both Hou Yuxiao and Hou Yujie simultaneously turn their heads to look at him with eyes as tranquil as a still spring, causing his body to shiver, and he quickly changed his tune.
"Indeed, I offered this trip's escort to the Hou Family of my own volition. What Fourth Master said is right!"
Hearing Wang Gong's words, a smile spread across Hou Yuxiao's composed face as he courteously responded, "If that's the case, then I gladly accept. Hou Fei and Hou Cun, please take Head Escort Wang to the side rooms to rest!"
"Yes, Family Head."
Hou Fei and Hou Cun then led Wang Gong away from the main hall.
Watching the three men gradually leave, Hou Yuxiao softly said, "Wang Gong has travelled the south and north for so many years and has not done so in vain. He is a man who recognizes the situation!"
Hou Yujie, standing beside him, expressed his doubts, "Does big brother really want to get into the escort agency business? I've heard that after deducting all costs, the monthly profit of the Flying Eagle Escort Agency is merely over a thousand taels of silver. To split such a meager amount with the County Lord Ren Feng—it hardly seems worth doing."
"It depends on the situation. The reason the Flying Eagle Escort Agency's profits are so low is just because they're too weak. Firstly, they need to bribe the robbers and bandits in the surrounding areas, and secondly, any escort sent to other counties is extorted for a third of the profits by the local powerhouses.
Even so, the Flying Eagle Escort Agency has such terms only because they are under the name of the County Lord Ren Feng. If they didn't have his name to use, they probably couldn't operate at all.
Tongling County has Yulin, Baiye, and our own Zhaoyang County.
Apart from us, the other two counties each have one third-rate force in control. As for the prefectural city, there's no need to mention it. There is one second-rate force and several third-rate forces among which two are in the escort business. This shows that the escort trade is definitely profitable."
"But we have such a poor relationship with Ren Feng. If we really get into the escort business, he won't possibly hang his name with ours!" Hou Yucheng voiced his doubts at that moment.
Hou Yuxiao shook his head, "Who said I'm getting into the escort business right now? Even if Ren Feng agreed to lend his name, a monthly income of just over five hundred taels of silver isn't enough to support many people. Besides, I'm not interested in such a small sum.
I had the Fourth Elder bring Wang Gong back, merely as an early preparation!
When our Hou Family becomes a third-rate force, able to deter the robbers and bandits around us, and when martial artists from the surrounding two counties and even the prefectural city have to show us respect, then the profits will be sufficiently large, and that's when I'll get into the escort business."
Upon hearing Hou Yuxiao speak of the "Hou Family becoming a third-rate force," Hou Yujie and Hou Yucheng's breathing suddenly became heavier, their pupils filled with disbelief as they looked at him.
Zhaoyang County has nearly four hundred thousand people but not even a lowest-level force.
The neighboring counties of Yulin and Baiye, each with a population of over five hundred thousand, have only managed to produce one third-rate force each.
The Prefectural City, with a population of over two million, only has one second-rate force and five third-rate forces. These forces emerged only because the surrounding three counties, along with twenty-seven towns, continuously funneled population and various resources into the city.
A total population of nearly five million in the entire Tongling County, with at most twenty thousand martial artists, and only seven third-rate forces. From this proportion, one can understand the difficulty in establishing a third-rate force, let alone the numerous rules and conditions involved.
The minimum requirement for a third-rate force is to have at least one martial artist in the Gang Qi Realm.
Indeed, Hou Yuxiao was not far off, but even if he made the breakthrough, he would merely be a Coagulate Gang warrior, the lowest level in the Three Realms of Gang Qi.
Such strength is insufficient to preside over a third-rate force.
In their eyes, the current status of the Hou Family is far from that of a third-rate force.
Yet there was Hou Yuxiao, already making preparations for the family's business after the Hou Family's ascension to third-rate.
How could they not be shocked, how could their breathing not become heavy, and even feel as if Hou Yuxiao had gone mad, speaking such nonsense...
"No need to doubt, that day will not be far away... it's coming soon..."