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“All bought up?”

Manager He personally rushed to the Nanming Prefecture branch of Rongsheng, and when he heard the reply from the person in charge of property transactions, Song San, his entire being froze.

“Who bought them?”

“Not sure…” Song San shook his head, “The other party acted very decisively, and it seemed they had plenty of cash.

It wasn’t just us; all the shops for sale on the market were swept up.

Although the prices of these shops plunged to rock bottom due to the ghost puppet incident, to buy so many at once must be the work of a major trading company.

But I’ve inquired several times and still can’t figure out which one made the move.”

“How could this happen?” Manager He immediately became anxious, “It shouldn’t be like this…”

Although Lyuzhou announced a tax reduction, all the major trading companies were still in a wait-and-see state; it was only Rongsheng that, with a try-and-see attitude, went to Lyuzhou to purchase goods.

In theory, Rongsheng’s people should have been the first to see the Gate Deity.

He had immediately sought out the manager after seeing the situation, and then sent an express message to Song San, yet someone else had gotten there first?

Where did the other trading companies get the news from?

“Go investigate again, we must find out who’s behind this!” said Manager He with a dark expression.

Lyuzhou, once the Gate Deity becomes widely known, it’s not just about attracting return business.

How big is the attraction of an environment that can guarantee safety for local wealthy households?

Just look at the house prices in Capital City and Tiandu to know.

At this moment, Lyuzhou is at a low ebb.

If someone bets on the right moment, wouldn’t the return be tremendous?

Who on earth could be so damn fast to be one step ahead of them?

“You go and contact the managers of Baiye, Nan Hua, Dongsheng, Zhongxiang, and Four Seasons right away; tell them I have an important matter to discuss!”

Song San first froze, then quickly understood what the manager intended to do and hastily responded, “Yes!”

Now that they had lost the initiative, the only way left was to apply pressure.

First, they had to find out who was behind the move, and then unite with their peers to pressure them, causing the other party to spit out something.

The business opportunities in Lyuzhou couldn’t be monopolized by one company!!

—————————————-

“Boss, aren’t we taking too big of a risk here?”

Inside the Lyuzhou Government Office, Zhou Haitao, who was in charge of the paperwork, held a stack of property deeds and came up with eager eyes, cautiously asking.

“What did you just call me?” Chen Qing rolled his eyes, “You make it sound like we’re gangsters.

We are officials within the system.

Use a more refined address, you should call me ‘Lord’!”

“Yes, yes, Lord Chen…” Zhou Haitao was speechless, but after a few days of working together, the familiarity with his former classmate returned.

Although there were some unfamiliar aspects to his classmate, his personality hadn’t changed much, which greatly eased Zhou Haitao’s mood.

He had become more intimate in his way of speaking on a daily basis.

“So now, our Prefectural Governor, all the funds you received from above have been spent on buying properties.

This…

that must be against regulations, right?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures!” Chen Qing leisurely sipped his tea and said, “What use is the small amount of money allocated by the Provincial Governor?

There will be plenty of expenses in the future, and we have temporarily waived commercial tax.

If we don’t take the opportunity to make some extra money now, are we supposed to always rely on handouts from above?”

“Can we really make a profit?” Zhou Haitao asked, somewhat uncertain.

“Of course, we can!” Chen Qing said with certainty, “Let me ask you, Fatty, what do rich people care about the most?”

Zhou Haitao’s face twitched—so a refined address means calling me fat, huh?

“Obviously money!”

“Talking about rich people here and it’s still about money?”

“Isn’t it?” Zhou Haitao carefully sorted through the property deeds and said, “My father said, the richer people get, the more they want to make money; the desire for money among the wealthy is endless!”

“Your father is quite perceptive…” Chen Qing said with amusement, “Besides money, what else?”

“Women?” Zhou Haitao asked tentatively.

“Pah!” Chen Qing spat disdainfully, “What’s in that head of yours, how did you pass the exams to become a Chosen Man?

It’s clearly about safety, safety!”

“You’ve got to be alive to spend money!” Chen Qing continued after a sip of tea, “The wealthier people are, the more high-ranking individuals they interact with, and of course, they also know about the existence of demons in this world.

What’s the point of earning millions of gold if your life is constantly on the line?”

“Why are the house prices in the Capital City so high?

For outsiders to settle down, it starts with at least several hundred thousand taels—it’s all about buying peace of mind, isn’t it?

At least in the Capital City, you don’t have to worry about some unknown demon nibbling on your head!”

“Our Lyuzhou has the potential to become the second Capital City; do you think the land prices will rise?”

“Is it…

that exaggerated?” Zhou Haitao was stunned.

He had seen the effects of the Gate Deity and found it quite intimidating, but…

the second Capital City seemed a bit of an overstatement, right?

“It’s a bit exaggerated for now, but the potential for rise is even greater!” Chen Qing said with a smile, “The Capital City is for the top elites, we can attract the middle and lower rungs.

Once the Gate Deity’s story spreads, it will have extraordinary pull for those who have a bit of capital but can’t settle in the Capital City, right?”

“For example, the managers of big trading companies, some who come from humble backgrounds but have made a fortune from sea trade a few times, and then there are those Great Confucians who are quite reputable but don’t have much family wealth—these are all high-quality individuals.

Wouldn’t these people want a safe environment?

Wouldn’t they want their wives and children free from the threat of demons?” Chen Qing said with a faint smile, “You should know that the Mister Hua Pi incident didn’t just affect Lyuzhou itself!”

“Not just Lyuzhou?

What do you mean?” Zhou Haitao, utterly confused, asked, “Are there such creatures in other places too?”

Chen Qing’s lip twitched—the last thing needed was more of these creatures; otherwise, humanity would have no way to survive.

The Mister Hua Pi incident might seem to purely impact Lyuzhou in the short term, but the actual influence was far greater because the incident involved a vast number of people, and the Imperial Court couldn’t cover it up.

This signified that soon the existence of demons wouldn’t be a secret known only to upper society.

Such panic would at least spread throughout Jiangnan, and while currently, Lyuzhou’s reaction was more intense, it would soon be evident that the fear of demons among the common folk was entering an irreversible trend, ever escalating!

And in an environment of panic, a safe city is undoubtedly what everyone desires, and what Chen Qing must do now is to establish the reputation of Lyuzhou as a safe city!

——————————————————

“How is it?

After three days of observation, have you figured anything out?”

At the city gate, Wei Gongcheng sat at the newly established teahouse by the entrance, looking at Chen Ying, who was still puzzled, and asked with amusement.

The teahouse was temporary and new.

It was said to be opened by a fellow villager of Ma Erniang.

Hearing that people were starting to return to Lyuzhou and that their family’s harvest was not good, they followed in Ma Erniang’s footsteps.

They took over an unused small shop space and set up a temporary teahouse.

The business has been quite good these past two days.

In just three days, the number of merchant caravans delivering goods to Lyuzhou has reached more than a dozen, with one even boasting a hundred people.

With the daily increase in the flow of people, Ma Erniang was so busy that she even called over her daughter-in-law from the countryside to help out with the cooking.

The business at the teahouse was booming too.

Although they only served coarse tea and snacks like peanuts and edamame, the traveling merchants who were used to running ships all year round weren’t picky.

Moreover, Lyuzhou didn’t offer them much choice currently.

If you wanted to drink warm tea, this was the only place.

If you didn’t come, there would be plenty of others who would.

Watching the slowly reviving Lyuzhou, Wei Gongcheng couldn’t help but admire the strategies of the scholars.

If it had been up to the military generals, they probably wouldn’t have come up with this idea.

“This Gate Deity is quite extraordinary…” Chen Ying sipped her coarse tea and shook her head, saying, “I really cannot see through it…”

She was a very studious Magician and was extremely interested in odd tales and records.

She had heard of many complex Artifact Demons but had never heard of something like the one before her eyes.

So far, this was the fourth caravan carrying Water Ghosts that had been identified.

Chen Ying also quietly investigated those few caravans and confirmed there was no play-acting involved, which deepened her confusion.

After ten years of studying magic techniques in the Capital City, she was well aware that the Imperial Court definitely didn’t have such a thing.

If it existed, it would have been used to hang at the four gates of the Capital City long ago.

After all, despite the countless defensive techniques in the Capital City, it still could not detect overly cautious hidden demons.

For instance, the Thousand-Faced Fox wasn’t it swaggering its way into the Capital City?

The more she thought about it, the more she believed that the creature on the gate must be a demon, but every time the Gate Deity manifested itself, she couldn’t find any trace of it, which was truly frustrating.

Was her practice too shallow?

And if it were a demon, why would it help Chen Qing?

“Excuse my intrusion, are you perhaps a professor from the Yin Yang Academy?”

An interrupted voice broke the conversation between Wei Gongcheng and Chen Ying.

Chen Ying frowned and turned to look, seeing a middle-aged man in his forties who she did not recall having seen before.

Thus, she asked, “You are?”

“I am Shen Yiyang, I’ve seen the professor!” The man was older, but very courteous, obviously very much aware of the status of a Magician.

“A Shen by surname?

From the Nanyang Shen Family?” Wei Gongcheng smiled as he asked.

“Exactly, may I know who this gentleman is?”

“I do not deserve the title of ‘gentleman,’ just a passerby,” Wei Gongcheng said humbly and said no more.

Seeing this, the other man did not inquire further and turned his gaze back to Chen Ying.

Realizing the truth, Chen Ying concluded that currently, RongSheng Trading Company was mainly receiving goods in Lyuzhou, and behind RongSheng was the great family from Jiangnan: the Nanyang Shen Family.

“So you are from Minister Shen’s clan.” Chen Ying stood up and returned the courtesy.

The Nanyang Shen Family was an ancient family of Sorcerers, and currently, many of them held government positions in the court or were enrolled in the Yin Yang Academy.

Among them, the prominent figure was the Minister of Works, Shen Yinian.

Minister Shen often lectured at the Yin Yang Academy, and Chen Ying considered him a half-mentor.

Although the man in front of her did not possess any fluctuation of Spiritual Power and was an ordinary person, given that he was a clansman of the same generation as Minister Shen, she still felt obliged to give face.

“You are too courteous, sir.

If you don’t mind, you can just call me Manager Shen, haha.”

Chen Ying immediately understood that the other was in charge of managing family affairs within the clan, someone not of high status.

She nodded slightly and responded, “Manager Shen, is there something you need?”

“It’s like this…” The man quickly said, “I’ve been observing here for a whole day, and I was truly shocked when I saw the Gate God reveal itself just now.

I intended to write a letter to have our family’s Great Sorcerers take a look, and coincidentally, I saw that you were wearing a Yin Yang Academy jade, so I boldly came over to ask.”

Chen Ying nodded, understanding it was quite normal for such a distinguished family to recognize the Yin Yang Academy jade.

“I’m afraid I have to disappoint Manager Shen…” After inviting him to sit down, Chen Ying sighed, “I have been watching here for three days and truly cannot discern the origin of that thing.”

“You can’t discern it either?” Shen Yiyang was slightly stunned.

Although it was his first encounter with her, he could guess her identity: the female student under the supervision of the Jiangnan Academic Governor Mu Hongqing, who was a particularly outstanding figure in the academy at the moment.

According to rumors, she was the most likely candidate to become the first female Academic Commissioner of Great Jin since its foundation.

“I lack sufficient practice, which brings laughter to Manager Shen.”

“Not at all, not at all!” Shen Yiyang hurriedly waved his hand and then said, “Even you cannot recognize it, I’m afraid Mu DaRen himself would have to take action.”

Chen Ying, who always held immense respect for her mentor, shook her head for the first time: “If the teacher came, I’m afraid he wouldn’t recognize it either.”

“Oh?” Shen Yiyang raised an eyebrow in question.

“Why is that?”

“Because its capabilities are too novel,” Chen Ying said gravely, looking at the city gate.

“Did Manager Shen notice that every time the Water Ghosts are subdued, it’s actually the guards of the city gate who do it?”

“Yes…” Shen Yiyang nodded.

“But they are just Water Ghosts, perhaps the Gate God does not need to act personally, right?”

“It’s not that…” Chen Ying shook her head.

“That Gate Deity…

can endow ordinary humans with Divine Skills!!”

Shen Yiyang: “!!!”