Gou Zai Xianwu Wenjing Search for Opportunities

"The old way! Use the money to pay off the debts, rob Peter to pay Paul, and figure out a way to balance things out later." Master Xu smiled slightly.

"Alas, to be honest, sir, we've done so much tearing and patching over the years that the hole is getting bigger and bigger. This month, I have nothing left to tear down or patch up," Manager Zhang said, spreading his hands.

Master Xu sighed. He had expected this, which was why he intended to retire. He thought he could hold on for another three to five years, but he didn't expect this day to come so soon.

He pondered for a moment, dipped his index finger in tea, and wrote the word "fire" on the red lacquered table.

"A fire dragon burning down the warehouse?" Seeing Master Xu nod, Manager Zhang quickly shook his head and waved his hands. "No, absolutely not! Without the pharmacy, how can I survive?"

Master Xu then wrote "bandit" below the character for "fire".

"Mountain bandits? River bandits?"

Master Xu said calmly, "Last year, a group of mountain bandits robbed the county of the autumn tax collected from Jiuling Township, and in the end, nothing came of it."

"I know about this; it was Zhang Xiangzheng and his gang who did it. But I don't have that kind of ability; I couldn't have done it!"

Master Xu then wrote "thief" below the character "匪".

"Thieves?" Manager Zhang saw Master Xu nod. "But our pharmacy is guarded by martial arts masters sent by the Marquis's mansion. Small thieves can't get in, and big thieves are afraid of the Marquis's mansion. Unless it's a reckless bandit, no way! Those people are not easy to deal with. They have no connections and are not easy to control."

Master Xu wiped away all the water, then reminded them, "Martial arts masters can get drunk too. Try to get them to sleep for a while longer. Once we've got this done, we can use them as a scapegoat, and that will give the Second Young Mistress an explanation!"

Manager Zhang rose from his seat, propped himself up on the table, and after a moment's contemplation, exclaimed, "Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

The scene ends here, and then immediately switches to a new scene:

Late at night, the bedroom light flickered.

Manager Zhang was restless, sitting on the edge of the bed listening to the sounds outside.

Suddenly, a masked man burst in, pinned Manager Zhang to the bed, and tied him up.

Manager Zhang recognized the newcomer and lowered his voice angrily, "Zhao Jingang, what's wrong with you?"

"Manager Zhang, your guards injured my brother; fifty taels of silver probably won't be enough!"

"Zhao Jingang, are you deliberately trying to extort money from me?"

Zhao Jingang snorted coldly: "I might as well tell you, I killed that man. You'd better think it over yourself, don't push me!"

"What! Didn't I tell you to use sleeping potion? He's already drunk. You just need to drug him and let him sleep until tomorrow morning. Why did you provoke him? You took the money and left, why did you kill him? Killing a martial arts master from the Marquis's mansion, do you have a death wish?"

Manager Zhang immediately lost his composure. Stealing money and killing a martial arts master to rob money are two different things, and the Marquis's mansion would never let this matter go easily.

At that moment, someone outside the curtain cried out, "Erniu, hold on!"

Zhao Jingang lifted the curtain and warned, "Da Niu, what are you yelling about? Keep your voice down!"

"Brother, Erniu is dead!" Da Niu cried out.

"Damn it! I told you two not to touch that martial artist's pockets, but you wouldn't listen. Our sleeping potion is only good for ordinary merchants, and it can only put a martial artist into a light sleep. Since you two wanted to touch his pockets, why didn't you tie him up beforehand, wake him up, and let him stab you in the back?"

Da Niu slapped himself repeatedly: "Brother, this is my fault, I was careless. But my brother can't just die like this, I beg you, brother!"

Zhao Jingang cursed and turned to Manager Zhang, saying, "Manager, you saw it too, my brother is dead! You have to give me an explanation!"

"You've killed everyone and avenged yourselves! And now you're asking me for an explanation?" Manager Zhang was completely bewildered.

"Brother, let me handle this! I'll make him cough up the money!" Da Niu lifted the curtain and entered, holding a dagger in his hand.

Shopkeeper Zhang immediately begged for mercy: "Don't hit me! I'll pay! I'll pay! Master Zhao, please have mercy!"

"Da Niu, let him speak!" Zhao Jingang interrupted.

Manager Zhang immediately revealed the location of the pharmacy's vault and pointed out the key, hoping to escape danger: "There are several thousand taels of silver inside, enough to pay for your brother's life!"

Zhao Jingang took the keys and left, then turned back and said, "Keep an eye on him!"

"You..." Before Manager Zhang could finish speaking, Da Niu silenced him with a kiss.

After a while, Zhao Jingang returned but didn't come in. He said through the curtain, "Da Niu, we got it! This time we killed the Zhang family's martial arts master and took so much silver; we're probably doomed. Hurry up!"

"Alright, big brother!" Da Niu brandished his sharp blade and immediately began to dismember the living man.

Shopkeeper Zhang had thought he could buy his life with money, but this was the end result. He kept cursing, but his mouth was gagged, so he could only mumble incoherently. He died in agony, his eyes wide open in death.

The scene in the mirror ends here; the clouds on the mirror surface swirl and disperse, and Manager Zhang returns to the mirror once more.

After reading it, Lin Yuan was speechless for a moment.

Even though he had seen a lot of the world, this was the first time he had ever heard of such a bizarre thing. The patron had gotten his martial arts instructor drunk and set a trap to invite thieves to steal from him. However, the two thieves were so greedy for the martial arts instructor's money that the intoxicated instructor killed one of them. The thieves were filled with hatred and decided to go all out. They took even more money and killed the patron to silence him.

He was so clever and cunning, yet he ruined his own life!

Although Lin Yuan knows everything, how can he maximize his gains and minimize his losses to seize the opportunity?

How can a poor student from the countryside with no connections contend with these powerful figures?

Trying to blackmail Master Xu? That old monster who's cultivated for a thousand years in the government office will probably be killed instead.

Hunting down Zhao Jingang? Forget it, I shouldn't even have that thought.

After much deliberation, the only opportunity seemed to lie with Manager Zhang.

For a resentful spirit, money is just an external thing; the greatest wish should be revenge.

"Manager Zhang, you possessed my body, that's your first sin. You promised me an interest-free loan but failed to fulfill that promise, that's your second sin. But I've always been kind-hearted and won't hold it against you. If I help you take revenge, I wonder how you will repay me?"

As Lin Yuan's thoughts stirred, the clouds and mist in the mirror swirled and dispersed, changing once more.

Shopkeeper Zhang's first-person perspective:

He walked alone into a secluded courtyard, where the old woman opened the side gate.

"Where is Yingniang?"

"They're picking grapes from the grape trellis in the backyard."

Shopkeeper Zhang nodded, walked through the corridor to the backyard, but didn't see anyone, so he went inside to look for them.

At this moment, a bright and beautiful young woman came out carrying a basket of grapes, looking slightly flustered, and said, "Sir, what brings you here today?"

"Sigh! Just got back from the county..."

"Master, come here." Yingniang took a grape, peeled it, and fed it to him by hand.

As Zhang ate grapes and embraced the beautiful woman, his mood improved: "Ying'er, how many years have you been with me?"

"It's been five years."

Manager Zhang sighed, "If I ever fall on hard times, would you still be willing to stay with me?"

"My lord, Ying'er will follow you for all eternity."

"Alright." Manager Zhang took out a stack of fine papers from his pocket, unfolded them one by one, and found ten silver notes. "These are silver notes from the Lizhou Trading Company, fifty taels each, for a total of five hundred taels. Please keep them for me. If anything changes, I will take you to live somewhere else."

"Master, please don't say anything unlucky." Yingniang put away the silver note with a beaming smile.

"Ying'er is right."

The image in the mirror changed again:

Yingniang's house.

One day, Manager Zhang wanted to eat roast chicken, so he sent Yingniang and her old woman to town to buy some.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he took a jar of Daughter's Red wine from the carriage, went into the courtyard, found a hoe, walked around the courtyard a few times, and finally came to the latrine.

He found an open space behind the latrine, dug a small pit, buried the wine jar, and worked up a sweat, exhausted.

After stomping a few more times, he stood up, supporting his back, unbuckled his belt, urinated in the latrine, and grinned smugly: "Mr. Xu is right, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, just in case!"

The scene in the mirror ends here, and Manager Zhang returns to the mirror once more.

After watching the two clips, Lin Yuan was overjoyed. There was something really there!

I have no legitimate reason to give Yingniang the five hundred taels of silver, so I'm afraid it will be difficult to get it. But I can try my best and take whatever I can get.

He wasn't greedy; a hundred taels would be enough for him.

As for the wine jar next to the latrine, since it became Manager Zhang's secret stash, it must be a backup plan. It couldn't just be a bottle of Daughter's Red wine; it must be something useful. He wanted to open it and take a look.

Just as Lin Yuan was overjoyed, Manager Zhang was bowing and kowtowing in the mirror. His body gradually disintegrated, breaking into tiny pieces that were swallowed by the darkness behind the mirror. Then, starlight drifted out from the back of the mirror and disappeared into the world.

Before long, the mirror surface returned to its foggy state.

Lin Yuan continued to examine the mirror, but there was no reaction.