From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

"Furthermore, as I traveled with my brothers, I also heard tales of the three young heroes and one heroine who upheld justice and eliminated evil."

The new county magistrate looked the four people over and smiled, "It must be you, right? Ordinary independent cultivators generally believe in the principle of 'it's better to avoid trouble'."

"Let's put that aside for now. May I ask, County Magistrate, what is your purpose in coming to Goose City?" Jiang Liu asked for the third time.

"Of course I'm here to be the county magistrate."

The new county magistrate, seeing that the other party's representative kept repeating himself without answering the question, felt slightly helpless, but also developed a strong interest in the young and mature Jiang Liu, "And making money."

"You became county magistrate just to make money?" Upon hearing this, Li Muxuan scoffed, saying to Jiang Liu, "You've got it wrong. How could he be a hero?"

"Hey~"

Jiang Liu sighed and said to Li Muxuan, "I think you should practice silent meditation."

“What ‘silence’? I’m not a monk!” Li Muxuan retorted.

"Not a monk? Then he must be a Taoist priest."

The new county magistrate, quick-witted, chuckled and said, "Young heroes of the Xuanmen sect! Righteous and chivalrous! I admire you! But these days are chaotic, and only money is truly reliable. I imagine your sects haven't been doing so well in recent years, have they?"

Don't try to fool me. These days, even the businesses of the two great righteous sects, the Celestial Master's Mansion and Shaolin Temple, are not doing well. Meanwhile, many Taoist priests from Maoshan have gone out to run charitable institutions to make a living.

Why don't you stay and make money with us?

Lu Jin frowned, suspecting that the new county magistrate was in cahoots with Huang Silang, and said to Jiang Liu, "Brother Jiang, let's go."

However, Jiang Liu shook his head and said, "Okay, after all, we're almost out of money."

"readily!"

The new county magistrate didn't ask Jiang Liu and the others what their purpose was, but simply introduced himself: "I am Zhang Mazi."

"Zhang Mazi? Isn't that the Mazi who's causing panic in Goose City..."

Lu Jin stopped mid-sentence, realizing the problem.

Brother Jiang has already analyzed that the bandits outside the city are most likely kept by Huang Silang, but this "Zhang Mazi" is obviously going against Huang Silang, so he is definitely not one of them.

So, is this the new county head of Goose City actually concealing his true identity?

"I am a traveler."

Jiang Liu clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Six ears".

Ren Jiating followed suit.

"Bajie".

Lu Jin hurriedly followed.

"Bad boy".

Li Muxuan was somewhat reluctant, but he still gave out his code name.

Zhang Mazi: "..."

Do you think I've never read "Journey to the West"?

# Chapter 50 One side wants to be the fisherman, the other side wants to find a way out

So Jiang Liu, along with Lu Jin, Li Muxuan, and Ren Jiating, settled down at the county government office.

Why should we cooperate with Zhang Mazi?

inside the room.

Li Muxuan was the first to lose his temper, "That pockmarked man doesn't look like a good person at all."

"Really? I think he's quite good."

After Jiang Liu finished speaking, he asked Ren Jiating, "Miss Ren, who do you think Zhang Mazi and his gang are?"

"Not a bad person."

Ren Jiating often goes out to perform with her fellow members of the Jiyun Society. Having seen all sorts of people, she has developed a keen eye for people. While she may not be 100% accurate in judging people, after a few glances, she can distinguish between good and bad according to her own standards.

In short, it can be summarized in four words:

Highly experienced!

Lu Jin also shared her opinion: "That pockmarked man doesn't seem like a proper county magistrate."

"Serious my foot!"

Li Muxuan rolled his eyes. "My dad, who was out doing business, once told me that in the towns around here, the position of county magistrate is openly priced and can be bought with real money! There are no proper county magistrates these days!"

"That's true. Most of those who bought the county magistrate's position weren't doing it to indulge in the thrill of being an official, but rather to amass wealth."

Ren Jiating looked at Jiang Liu and said, "In these times, if you're an official, one wrong move and you could be caught in a warlord shootout and lose your life. But they still dare to do it because being an official allows them to amass wealth, especially in these chaotic times, it's much easier than in the past!"

This way—

To exploit the resources of a small pond!

But Jiang Liu knew that these people who only thought about making money through official positions didn't care about the long term at all; they just wanted to make a quick buck and leave.

"Without a doubt, the previous five county magistrates of Goose City must have thought the same thing, but they are all dead, and the money most likely ended up in Huang Silang's hands."

Jiang Liu said.

Ren Jiating continued talking about Zhang Mazi's situation: "They called each other brothers, but they were not a proper county magistrate and his confidants. Instead, they seemed like bandits who had become outlaws."

However, judging from their behavior—paying for things they buy in the city, not deliberately causing trouble, and showing some sense of morality—they seem to be similar to the 'heroes' of Liangshan Marsh.

Implication:

They engage in Robin Hood-like activities to help the poor, but there's a chance they won't rob impoverished civilians.

"We must fight Huang Silang, and we cannot get around his identity as an extraordinary person no matter what."

A meaningful smile suddenly appeared on Jiang Liu's face.

"Just then, a group of 'Liangshan heroes' who wanted to ride Huang Silang on their backs came by—"

"Isn't this a perfect pretext?"

Lu Jin had a sudden inspiration and asked, "Let them fight each other?"

"Yes."

Jiang Liu agreed, “Whether they are the heroes of Liangshan or the local tyrants, they are all the culprits who make the people of Goose City live in unrest, and they should be eliminated together.”

We chose to stay with Zhang Mazi's side simply to balance the military strength of both sides.

After all, Huang Silang was a local strongman with connections to nearby warlords. He had men and guns. To prevent Zhang Mazi from becoming cowardly and choosing to become his lackey or run away in disgrace after realizing Huang Silang's power, we need to provide him with the confidence to stand up and challenge Huang Silang.

During this process, we don't even need to intervene unless absolutely necessary!

Li Muxuan understood as well.

That means Zhang Mazi wanted to keep them because he valued their strength.

While Jiang Liu and the others were discussing Zhang Mazi and Huang Silang, Zhang Mazi and his six brothers also gathered together to discuss Jiang Liu and the others.

"Where did the advisor go?"

Zhang Mazi, unable to find the middle-aged man, casually asked.

"That guy surnamed Tang went to scout out information and hasn't come back yet. There might still be some money to be made in this city."

After the fourth brother finished speaking, he deliberately lowered his voice, "Big brother, are we really going to split the money with those four people?"

"Speak louder, what are you afraid of?"

Zhang Mazi, with a loud voice, reprimanded the fourth brother before saying, "We've traveled all over the country and witnessed the methods of truly extraordinary people."

Don't let their young age fool you; if a real fight breaks out, even if we have guns, we might not survive.

Along the way, they raided several bandit strongholds, and many of them had guns!

The sixth son asked, "Father, are there really people that powerful?"

Yes, there is.

Zhang Mazi said, "You've only heard of the Great Ying Immortal of the Sanyi Sect, Zuo Ruotong, right? I've seen him! I first saw him when I was ten years old, and he looked to be around twenty or thirty; I saw him a second time when I was thirty, and he still looked to be around twenty or thirty. Do you know how old he is?"

How old are you?

The six people were curious.

"The locals don't know his exact age either, since he's outlived most of the older generation. He must be at least ninety!"

When Zhang Mazi said this, a hint of awe appeared in his eyes.

"Isn't that an exaggeration?"

The fourth brother didn't believe it. "If Yiren is that powerful, how could the foreign devils' cannons have bombarded us?"

"It's certainly not comparable to cannons, but with just the seven of us, plus those two who aren't on our side, Master Tang and the county magistrate's wife, if we want to fight the supernatural beings, we can only try to dig a pit, fill it with water and laxatives, and launch a sneak attack when the supernatural beings are exhausted. Otherwise, we can't fight them head-on."

Zhang Mazi said earnestly, "Besides, we don't need to fight them. The richest man in Goose City is Huang Silang, he has at least ten million taels..."

Seeing his fellow disciples' envy, Zhang Mazi said, "But can we afford to spend ten million taels?"

These guys aren't stupid either.

If we have too much money, the news will get out and attract warlords, and we'll be finished!

and so--

"Brother, are you trying to curry favor with the powerful?"

The seventh brother asked.

"more or less."

Zhang Mazi spoke calmly, but a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes. "These days, the emperor is gone, but the world is even more chaotic. If we only wanted to live a peaceful life in the mountains, we wouldn't need to do this kind of thing. We can just come out when the world is at peace."

Now that you're out here to make money, and you want to spend it safely, there's no other way but to find a way.

Keep them around, it's a good thing, they might come in handy in the future.