Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

The man was rather impolite, but Yang Guo didn't mind.

It's a good thing for business people to be suspicious. The more suspicious, the better. When they finally see it for themselves, the impulse kicks in, and they're more willing to spend money than anyone else.

Yang Guo turned around and glanced at Lu Wushuang behind him.

"thing."

Lu Wushuang took out a nanmu box from her cloth bag, held it flat with both hands, and handed it to Yang Guo.

Her movements were light, steady, and quiet; her eyelids remained lowered, and she didn't utter a single word.

Yang Guo taught her on the way here.

When handing something over, do not look at the guest's face, do not speak, keep your hand level, and lean slightly forward. The quieter the better.

Silence itself is a form of oppression.

Those nouveau riche thought, "If even a servant disciple is so well-behaved, how could the master be anyone important?"

Yang Guo opened the wooden box.

Three strings of cypress beads were neatly arranged on the brocade lining.

The wood grain is clear, the surface is extremely smooth, and each bead is the same size, strung together with red silk thread. This batch of material was cut from old cliff cypress trees on the back mountain by Wang Tieniu and his men, and its natural wood fragrance lingers for a long time.

Yang Guo picked up a string of pearls and placed it in the palm of his right hand.

"I think the three of you are a good match."

He closed his eyes.

The Qiankun Technique was activated within the body, and true energy gathered along the meridians to the Laogong acupoint. After compression and purification, a wisp of pure innate primordial energy seeped out from the palm and entered the wooden bead.

This process is very short, taking only three or four breaths.

But the effect is visible to the naked eye.

The surface of the wooden beads had a very faint sheen, which flickered in the afternoon sunlight streaming through the window.

Qian Dayou dropped his chopsticks.

"It's glowing! This bead is glowing!"

Sun Bo'an and Boss Ma stood up at the same time, craning their necks like geese.

Yang Guo opened his eyes and handed the bracelet to Qian Dayou.

"Try it on Qian Yuan's jacket."

Qian Dayou took it with both hands and carefully put it on his wrist.

The change came quickly. A warm sensation rose from my wrist, flowing up my arm and into my entire body.

My lumbar spine, which had been aching for most of the year, suddenly felt much better. My groggy head cleared up, and even the headache from drinking too much last night was mostly gone.

Qian Dayou's reaction was very genuine.

He suddenly jumped up from his chair, rubbing his wrists, his mouth agape.

"Great stuff! It's really great stuff!"

"Master Yang, I want to try too!" Sun Bo'an said anxiously.

Boss Ma didn't say anything, he just stretched out his hand.

Yang Guo calmly handed over the remaining two strings of food, each string infused with a trace of his inner energy.

The three landlords reacted in exactly the same way: first their eyes lit up, then they gripped their wrists tightly, as if they wanted to grow the beads into their flesh.

Yang Guo waited until their excitement subsided before slowly and deliberately speaking.

"This bracelet is made from a thousand-year-old cliff cypress tree on the back mountain of Zhongnan Mountain. There are only three trees left on the entire back mountain. They were planted by the patriarch Wang Chongyang himself and are not allowed to be cut down easily. The cliff cypress itself has the effect of calming the mind and warding off evil spirits. Furthermore, I have infused it with my innate primordial energy, so the quality of each bracelet is irreplaceable."

He paused, sighed, and his tone carried a hint of difficulty.

"It's just that my innate vital energy is limited. It takes three days of meditation to recover after infusing one string of prayer beads. In a year, I can only manage to make ten strings at most. The three strings I brought today were specially set aside out of respect for Magistrate Zhao."

Limited edition. Scarce. Prestige.

When the three keywords were thrown out, Qian Dayou slammed his fist on the table.

"Master Yang, name your price! I'll buy this string of beads!"

"One hundred taels." Yang Guo held up one index finger.

The private room was quiet for a couple of breaths.

One hundred taels. Enough to buy twenty mu of top-quality paddy fields in Guanzhong. And a string of wooden beads.

But the warm energy in my wrist is still there, making me feel comfortable wherever it goes.

Qian Da gritted his teeth.

"One hundred taels it is!"

Sun Bo'an hesitated for three breaths, touched the beads on his wrist, and nodded.

Boss Ma was the most shrewd, and he was the last to agree. But even as he agreed, his fingers never left the bracelet.

Three bracelets, three hundred taels.

Lu Wushuang's hands were trembling as she collected the banknotes behind Yang Guo.

Three hundred taels. Three strings of wooden beads and a few feet of silk thread cost less than fifty coins. This man's way of making money was darker than all the bandits and outlaws she had ever seen combined.

After several rounds of drinks...

The atmosphere in the private room became lively. Qian Dayou drank six bowls of sorghum wine, his face as red as Guan Yu's, and he grabbed Yang Guo's sleeve, calling him brother.

Sun Bo'an then started talking non-stop. He put down his wine bowl and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"Master Yang, to be honest, my tea business has been getting increasingly difficult lately. The Mongols set up a checkpoint in Nanyang last month, and the toll has increased by 30%. A truckload of tea transported to Xiangyang has all its profits skimmed off."

Yang Guo paused for a moment, his hand holding the wine bowl still.

"Nanyang? When did the Mongols station troops in Nanyang?"

Sun Bo'an sighed. "It happened just last month. I heard they transferred two thousand cavalry from Luoyang and set up checkpoints along several roads between Nanyang and Xiangyang. Merchant caravans that didn't pay were detained for their goods. You can't fight back; who dares to confront them?"

Qian Dayou chimed in from the side.

"It's not just Nanyang. A friend of mine came back from Hanzhong a few days ago and said that Sanguan has also been reinforced. Two thousand men, all cavalry, equipped with those short bows, they shoot fast and accurately. When the common people see the Mongol soldiers coming, they don't even dare to open their doors."

Yang Guo held his wine bowl without saying a word.

Reinforcements were sent to Nanyang and Sanguan.

One route from the east, one from the west, forming a two-pronged encirclement. The eastern route advances southward from Nanyang, while the western route cuts eastward from Sanguan. The point where the two routes meet is Xiangyang.

The Mongols weren't testing the waters; they were laying the groundwork. The pieces for their massive southern campaign were already on the chessboard.

He put down his wine bowl and clinked it against Qian Dayou's.

"Brother Qian, you are well-informed. If there is any disturbance in Guanzhong in the future, please pass on a message to Magistrate Liu and let me know. Although the Quanzhen Sect is a secluded sect, Zhongnan Mountain is in Guanzhong. If the Mongols want to come, no one can escape. The sooner we know, the sooner we can prepare."

Qian Dayou patted his chest confidently. "Master Yang, don't worry! I'll be the first to tell you if there's any news!"

The banquet has ended.

The three landlords, their faces flushed, went back home, clutching their prayer beads. Liu Cunhou paid the bill downstairs and respectfully handed three hundred taels of silver to Lu Wushuang.

Yang Guo and Lu Wushuang walked out of Zuixianju and stood on the main street of Chang Le Town. The afternoon sun was setting, and people were coming and going on the street.

Lu Wushuang counted the silver notes three times, stuffed them into her inner purse, and followed Yang Guo's steps. After walking about ten steps, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Master, how long can that true energy sustain you?"

Yang Guo yawned.

"Three days."

"Three days?!" Lu Wushuang's voice rose. "After three days, it's just a string of ordinary wooden beads? One hundred taels of silver for three days?"

"That's why I said I only make ten skewers a year, making them one of a kind."

Yang Guo didn't turn his head. "After three days, when the true energy dissipates, they'll only think it's because their hearts weren't sincere enough, they won't think about the beads. What if they want to experience that feeling again? They'll spend money to buy another string. Do you know what that's called?"

"What's your name?"

"It's called repurchase rate."

Lu Wushuang didn't understand these three words, but she instinctively felt that they were more immoral than any swear word.

The two reached the south end of the town. Yang Guo slowed his pace.

He looked at the official road to the south, his gaze passing over the rolling hills and landing on the blurry mountain shadows in the distance.

"Peerless".

"Um?"

"We're reinforcing Nanyang and Sanguan simultaneously; the Mongols are eyeing Xiangyang." Yang Guo's tone was completely calm. "We need to speed things up."

Lu Wushuang didn't ask any further questions.

She placed her hand on the willow-leaf dagger at her waist, then mounted her horse.

Two white horses rode side by side, galloping south along the official road.