Hermit in the Mountains

In front of the golden bamboo forest, Big Yellow sat like a guardian beast at the entrance to the wooden house, his fierce eyes fixed on the stranger behind Yang Dashan.

He yelled twice at Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu, then shook his head toward the wooden house.

"Woof, woof..." (You two can go in; no one else is allowed.)

Yang Dashan seemed to understand what Dahuang meant, and bowed to Dahuang with his fists clasped, "Dahuang, I'll make the arrangements and then go in to pay my respects to the peak master."

After saying that, he turned to face the five villagers behind him (the Wanshou Pavilion transport team), pointed to the flat ground next to him, and said, "Everyone can put their things here. You can continue to move all the things from the foot of the mountain up and put them together. You don't need to worry about the rest."

"Brother Dashan, we understand. We won't run around. We'll just carry things up the mountain." One of the villagers glanced at the big yellow dog staring fiercely at them and answered earnestly.

Yang Dashan nodded, turned around and walked into the bamboo forest path with Zhang Yuanfu.

Big Yellow stared at the five people, squatting motionless in place, ready to strike anyone who dared to run away.

At the entrance of the wooden house, Yang Dashan and Zhang Yuanfu clasped their hands in greeting and bowed deeply, saying, "Greetings, Peak Master."

Yang Dashan asked, "Peak Master, there are quite a lot of supplies this time. I'm worried that they'll have to take turns running up the mountain. Could you go and lead the villagers to carry all the supplies up the mountain first?"

Gu Changsheng waved his right hand outwards, "It's nothing, you can go ahead and do your work, just come back later."

"Thank you, Peak Master." Yang Dashan clasped his hands in a fist and bowed again, then took three steps back, turned around, and strode away.

Seeing the peak master inside give him a signal, Zhang Yuanfu squatted down, took off his shoes, and entered the living room. He skillfully sat on the cushion in his usual spot and casually placed the wooden box he was carrying on the table and opened it.

He took a sealed bag out of the wooden box and handed it out with both hands, "Peak Master, this is a detailed list of the supplies collected this time, as well as a detailed list of the supplies that have not been delivered. Please take a look."

Gu Changsheng opened the sealed bag, glanced through it quickly, and nodded in approval of Zhang Yuanfu's work.

There are advantages to having a worldly tool; he only needs to assign tasks and doesn't have to worry about trivial matters like collecting ordinary resources.

He noticed several unknown ores on the undelivered list, which he suspected were "stones containing spiritual energy" and "ores containing special energy."

Once these supplies are delivered, their true nature will be revealed. He didn't ask about the specifics, but instead assigned a new task: "Yuanfu, collect more supplies containing special energy; you might find something good inside."

"Especially some antiques that have been passed down through generations."

"Yes, Peak Master, I've noted it down. I'll arrange it when I get back." After what happened last time, Zhang Yuanfu brought a small notebook this time, nodding as he took notes.

As the saying goes, a bad pen is worse than a good memory.

Sending his requests via text message wouldn't work, mainly because of concerns about information leaks. He always went up the mountain to report important matters in person.

Gu Changsheng suddenly thought of the matter of spatial spiritual roots, and he added, "By the way, there is one more thing I need you to pay attention to: investigate whether there are any people who possess similar teleportation abilities, or any information about people who can teleport using treasures."

Zhang Yuanfu was no novice in cultivation, and he immediately understood that the peak master wanted to find a spatial spiritual root or a spatial treasure.

"It is the Peak Master."

He also knew that the owners of spatial spiritual roots or spatial treasures would not leak the information. This matter was difficult, but he would not refuse, nor could he refuse. He would do it first, and whether it succeeded or not would be up to fate.

Zhang Yuanfu took the documents and placed them on the table. He took out a new sealed bag from the wooden box and handed it out. "Peak Master, this is the list of members and backgrounds of the Longevity Pavilion, as well as the information on the members of the respective forces formed by the formal members."

Gu Changsheng opened the sealed bag and scanned the situation at Wanshou Pavilion.

Zhang Yuanfu, the head of Wanshou Pavilion, and Yang Dashan, the Supreme Elder;

Elders Shen Qingxu and Shi Yideng of Wanshou Pavilion;

Yang Mancang, Li Jianguo, and Fang Shouchang, stewards of Wanshou Pavilion;

Li Anlan, Yang Xiaoshan, Yang Xiaoyu, and Zhang Yufu are registered disciples of Wanshou Pavilion.

Shen Qingxu, the abbot of Qingxu Temple, has recently taken in two new Daoist disciples.

Shi Yideng is the abbot of Shouxin Temple and a young novice monk in the temple.

Yang Mancang, the village head of Xiahe Village and the patriarch of the Yang clan, is responsible for transporting goods up the mountain and maintaining village security. His team consists of Xiahe Village residents (five core members...).

Li Jianguo founded the Li clan, serving as its head and responsible for civilian trade channels and intelligence. Members included members of the Li family and...................

Fang Shouchang founded the Fang clan, serving as its patriarch and responsible for official trading channels and intelligence. Its members included members of the Fang family and.........................

Zhang Yuanfu quickly took the documents and placed them on the table. "Peak Master, Zhang Tianhu, the Director of the National Spirit Bureau, has handed over a cooperation project."

"They want to upgrade Xiahe Village into an ancient town where cultivators can trade resources."

"The entire original site of Xiahe Village has been transformed into a unified retro-style wooden courtyard, laid out in the shape of the Chinese character '寿' (longevity).

"Xiahe Village has been renamed Wanshou Village. The new village is one kilometer wide and two kilometers long."

The small river at the village entrance has been renamed Shou'an River.

"Wan'an Village, which is two kilometers long and two kilometers wide, will be built in the area outside Shou'an River, with houses laid out in the shape of the Chinese character '安' (An).

"Wanshou Village and Wan'an Village are collectively known as Shou'an Ancient Town."

"Wan'an Village is under the jurisdiction of the National Spirit Bureau, while Wanshou Village is managed by Wanshou Pavilion and supervised by the National Spirit Bureau."

After briefly introducing the details of the collaborative project, Zhang Yuanfu took out a tablet computer from the wooden box and opened a video interface.

"Master, this is the 3D model video of Shou'an Ancient Town that they produced."

Gu Changsheng glanced at the design plan. The houses were built using the strokes of the two characters "Shou'an" and the two villages were divided by a river. It looked pretty good.

He withdrew his gaze, smiled at Zhang Yuanfu, and casually asked, "Wanshou Pavilion was also involved in the design of the planning map, wasn't it?"

Zhang Yuanfu offered no explanation or excuse, and simply replied with a single word.

"yes!"

As he uttered the word "yes," he waited anxiously for the worst possible outcome, his hands trembling slightly as he held the tablet.

Seeing Zhang Yuanfu's uneasy expression, Gu Changsheng neither verbally agreed nor punished him for acting on his own initiative.

"You can decide for yourselves whether or not to cooperate with the National Spirit Bureau."

"Don't delay what I asked you to do."

"Yes, Peak Master." Zhang Yuanfu's heart finally settled down, his tone filled with excitement.

He took out the last sealed bag from the wooden box. "Peak Master, this is a document that Zhang Tianhu asked me to pass on to you."

Gu Changsheng glanced at the sealing strip on the sealed bag, which was marked "Top Secret," and there was also a special piece of beeswax with the stamp of the National Spirit Bureau on it.

He took the sealed bag with his left hand, tore open the seal, and took out the documents inside with his right hand. He quickly skimmed through the contents and muttered to himself, "Is this a fait accompli, a greeting gift, or a signal of goodwill?"

"They're really willing to invest heavily; the first private equity firm in China..." (That's all I can say. Those who know, know.)