Chapter 29#

The sound of the young man’s hurried footsteps leaving in a fit of pique came from behind, getting farther and farther, faster and faster… A few traces of faint weariness appeared between his brows. The man suddenly laughed low at the dancing tree shadows: “It seems that I am indeed too tired… right?” Not far away, a person dressed as a Taoist stood at some point, bowed respectfully and replied: “The Fortress Master is wise. The account books for these three days have all been counted.”

Hua Qianjue nodded slightly, rubbing his forehead with his hand while striding towards Wuhuan Pavilion. The place originally for indulging in pleasure with red and green was now brightly lit at some point. Facing the complicated piles of documents and scrolls, a huge sheepskin map hung behind the central rosewood chair, densely circled and annotated with a vermilion brush. “Wu Qiuping…” Hearing the man’s call, Wu Qiuping turned back to close the pavilion door and lowered his voice: “Subordinate is here.”

While responding, he looked up at Hua Qianjue and found that the person had already sat down on the chair, seemingly flipping through the documents piled like a mountain on the table casually, so he chose his words even more carefully: “Fortress Master, the provocations from major sects seem to be increasing unabated. Should we still deal them a head-on blow like last time?”

Hua Qianjue said faintly without raising his head: “Sell them all.” Wu Qiuping seemed not to have heard clearly and couldn’t help but let out an “Ah”. The man looked up at him with slight dissatisfaction and whispered: “The previous counterattack was to prevent them from pushing their luck. Business originally depends on favorable timing and location. Now they spare no expense to sneak attack and rob goods with us. If we persist in that bit of territory and business, there will only be no return. Give up what should be given up, sacrifice the pawns to save the chariots. Selling all that cannot be defended may not be without profit.”

Wu Qiuping held a small booklet and noted down a few words on it from time to time. After a long time, he replied in a low voice: “But this kind of money is not a long-term plan. The method of accumulating wealth that the Fortress Master came up with before is also like this…” Hua Qianjue rubbed his forehead hard before replying nonchalantly: “Which one are you talking about? The matter of pricing positions in the fortress? There is nothing bad about it. Anyway, there are plenty of fat-brained idiots in the fortress who are stingy with a few copper coins on weekdays. Using this method can make them obediently send money up. A thousand gold for a position of Libationer, ten thousand gold for a position of Hall Master. I am preparing to set another vacant seat for Deputy Fortress Master. In short, whoever can afford it will get it.”

Wu Qiuping’s face became slightly stern, and he couldn’t help saying seriously: “Fortress Master, think thrice. Any position in the fortress concerns survival and honor. Deciding so rashly, even if money can be accumulated today, in the long run, snakes and rats will be in power in the fortress, and abuses will arise. Ultimately, ultimately…”

Speaking of this, he hesitated, not knowing whether to continue. Unexpectedly, Hua Qianjue took over the conversation faintly: “I naturally know what you mean. The reason why those people are willing to spend money at this moment is nothing more than to invent names later and put the profits of the fortress into their own pockets with intensified efforts. Therefore, you should understand the painstaking effort of my second method.”

“The second one?” Wu Qiuping thought for a moment and asked in a low voice: “Do you mean setting up a killer organization secretly… But I originally thought that Futu Fortress would never be involved in the vortex of Jianghu vendettas like twenty years ago.”

Hua Qianjue sneered: “You and I know best what kind of people are in Futu Fortress. In the past, you killed people like flies, but no one paid you silver. Now if we follow this second method and take business seriously, you will be happy, and I will be happy collecting money. What’s wrong with that?”

Wu Qiuping was speechless for a moment, repeating: “This… being hired by others, where is the pleasure.” The man seemed not to hear what he was saying, just said coldly: “If this matter is done, there is no harm in marking the price clearly in the Jianghu. Just hide your identities well and don’t involve Futu Fortress. However, you should also be clear, when collecting silver, if gang members are hired, should it be more expensive than the killers outside? If Hall Masters are hired, should it be more expensive than gang members? If they want to hire the Fortress Master of Futu Fortress to take action personally, should the silver collected be even more expensive?”

Wu Qiuping was almost speechless, just watching Hua Qianjue’s face carefully. The man sneered as he spoke: “Those useless people who became Hall Masters with silver, when encountering opponents that are hard to solve, I’m afraid they will also think of spending some more silver to hire some killers to solve the problem. You might as well sow discord among them and make them turn against each other. In this way, not only can those useless people kill each other and purge the interior of Futu Fortress, but I can also receive two sums of money successively.”

Wu Qiuping whispered: “Putting it this way, I understand a bit. Anyway… if they give money, we promote them to Hall Masters. If they give money again, we kill people for them. Sometimes it’s killing the target, sometimes it happens to solve the employer together. No matter what, we act according to the agreement and do serious business… But after all, they are Hall Masters of Futu Fortress. The continuous deaths of Hall Masters will inevitably cause unrest in the fortress.”

Hua Qianjue supported his forehead with one hand and laughed low: “Are you blaming me for treating Futu Fortress as a child’s play? Do you know what a strong man breaking his wrist means? If other halls want to be chaotic, let them be chaotic. If other industries want to collapse, let them collapse… What I want is a Futu Fortress after thousands of tempering, not a Futu Fortress that is too big to fail. I want to take this opportunity to see who is loyal to me and who is not. I want to let the righteous sects be proud and let them enjoy the pleasure of victory to the fullest. As for Jinian, no matter how much silver is short, I will find ways to solve it. As long as you, Su Meiniang, and Geng Yong discipline your subordinates well for me, recruit talents, and hide your light under a bushel, until the arrival of the final duel.”

Speaking of this, Hua Qianjue suddenly stopped. After a long time, he spoke again: “Wait… I almost forgot. Jinian insists on going out, our plan probably needs to be changed again.” As the man spoke, he stood up frowning, picked up the vermilion brush and circled a few more strokes on the map behind him, saying: “If my estimation is correct, he will probably go south along this route. Don’t sell the industries to be sold along the way for the time being. Make the branches look lively and wait for him to investigate openly and secretly. Don’t let him worry… By the way, I want Meiniang to follow him secretly to take care of medicine delivery. At least there is a helping hand. What do you think?”

Wu Qiuping quickly added without thinking: “Let this poor Taoist go with Meiniang.”

Hua Qianjue frowned and refused faintly: “You can’t go. You concentrate on preparing medicine. My son’s life and death are all in your hands.”

Wu Qiuping’s face darkened instantly, and he raised his voice slightly: “Fortress Master, since we are short of money, why are the millions of taels of silver that Meiniang and I robbed last time sealed and unused?”

Hua Qianjue looked him up and down coldly for a while before speaking: “Can’t you figure it out? Shen Pinzhen is waiting for us to use this large batch of silver of unknown origin. But how would I let them have their wish.” As he spoke, he turned sideways and pointed forcefully on the map, seeing three words marked with a vermilion brush on a valley: Luoying Valley.

Wu Qiuping shivered, seeming to suddenly understand something, so he bowed his head and retreated in silence.

Outside the window, a red moon hung high.

Time flies like a shuttle. In the blink of an eye, another two years of youth slipped away in a hurry.

Two years later, Xiaojin Pavilion.

“Advise you to cherish the golden-threaded robe early, advise you to indulge in youthful passion early, gather the delicate flowers while you may…”

In Cuixiu Tower, a singing girl with half-exposed bosom sang slowly with her red lips lightly parted while holding a pipa, swaying her waist slowly beside the pleasure seeker. A young man in white sat upright on the guest seat, sipping clear tea without looking sideways. Opposite him, a young man in pale yellow brocade waved a jade-boned landscape fan in a leisurely manner. With a swish, the young man in yellow closed the folding fan gracefully and laughed low: “Brother Hua, don’t you think this ditty becomes charming to the bone and full of wit after a little modification? Wonderful, truly wonderful.”

These two were Shen Pinzhen and Hua Jinian. Two years of time had worn away the last trace of childishness on the young man’s handsome face back then. Hearing his words, Hua Jinian snorted coldly, obviously disdainful of answering. Shen Pinzhen didn’t mind either, stood up, and whispered with his back to the young man in white: “Starting tomorrow, we will go on an expedition to the Evil Cult in Miao Territory. There are insects and fog everywhere, I’m afraid it’s not as free and unfettered as the Central Plains. Brother Hua had better enjoy himself today.”

Hua Jinian sneered a few times: “You originally said that uniting with the righteous sects this time was to watch the tigers fight from the other side, so that you and I could see the strength of the masters of various sects, and then engage in a frontal confrontation to be invincible in a hundred battles. Why change your mind now and let our Futu Fortress deploy troops and generals ourselves? Do you want to gain insight into them, or into the details of Futu Fortress?”

Shen Pinzhen shook his head and smiled bitterly: “Brother Hua is too suspicious. Since you and I share a deep hatred, why suspect each other? My arrangement is actually hoping to deploy our people in this encirclement and suppression. When the two tigers hurt each other, we will coordinate from inside and outside to defeat them in one fell swoop.”

Hua Jinian looked at him and thought for a while, but couldn’t find any flaws for the moment, so he stood up with a cold face, ignored the room full of orioles and emeralds, pushed open the window and jumped out, disappearing into the night curtain before long. Shen Pinzhen listened for a while, then reached out to hold one of the dancing girls, took her into the inner room, closed the door tightly, tidied his appearance, and actually bowed to the dancing girl, saying respectfully: “Heroine Qin, I was rude just now. It’s really because I am inseparable from that person all day long and cannot face you alone, so I came up with such a clumsy method. Please forgive me, Heroine.”

Facing such a sincere apology from the young and handsome Villa Master of Huanzhen Villa, how could the woman have any anger left? Instead, her hibiscus face turned red, and she whispered: “Villa Master is too polite. Since we are conspiring for a great cause, naturally we should do our best. Time is tight. If the Villa Master has any plans to say this time, it’s better to hurry up.”

Shen Pinzhen’s face condensed, and he said solemnly: “Heroine, do you remember why the righteous sects besieged Futu Fortress twenty years ago?”

The woman wondered: “At that time, Futu Fortress did not interact with the Jianghu, but everyone wore brocade and embroidery, gold, jade and agate. Therefore, I don’t know who spread the rumor that a huge treasure was buried in Luoying Valley, the site of the old Futu Fortress. It seems that the captured people from Futu Fortress did reveal that the underground palace of Futu Fortress was paved with gold and jade, and there was also a ten-foot-high Heavenly Crystal Purple Jade Statue. But in fact, when the righteous sects suffered half casualties and attacked in, they didn’t even touch the shadow of the underground palace. It can be seen that someone was spreading rumors.”

Shen Pinzhen lowered his head and whispered: “But… I recently got news secretly that this treasure is indeed real.”

The woman was shocked: “Villa Master Shen, be careful with your words! Do you know how many people will kill with red eyes for these yellow and white things? Don’t let us suffer losses in vain like twenty years ago.”

Shen Pinzhen laughed low: “It is absolutely true. Several spies from Futu Fortress have mixed into the Vermilion Bird Camp at this moment. I will tell Heroine Qin the names now. Tomorrow, when I distract the Little Young Master of Futu Fortress, Heroine can capture these spies and interrogate them carefully. They will confess honestly. Futu Fortress has a secret room. Since the Fortress Master and the Little Young Master went to Luoying Valley not long ago, millions of taels of silver have been transported back successively. Heroine, please think, filling millions of taels of silver overnight, if there isn’t a real treasure, where does this money come from?”

After Shen Pinzhen finished speaking, he sneered slightly in the dark. Those millions of taels of silver were naturally real, but they were not some treasure, but precisely the escort silver robbed from Huanzhen Villa.

“Futu Fortress has a treasure… Futu Fortress really has a treasure…” The woman recited silently several times before stumbling back a step, a trace of desire-filled fire gradually igniting in her eyes. “This time, I’m afraid the scene of twenty years ago will reappear.”

“The twelve major sects besieging Futu Fortress will naturally be like splitting bamboo.” Shen Pinzhen continued with a smile: “Whether seeing the Evil Cult perish one by one, or seeing the wealth of the world return to the world, Pinzhen is equally gratified. Pinzhen himself has also avenged his great revenge.”