Chapter 18: I've Grown Fond of the Dim-Witted Butler

  At the entrance of Wu's house stood two tall and robust men, who were so tall that they had to be looked up at, and seemed as immovable as two bronze tripods.

  Jiang Nian took a look at the situation and decisively gave up on the idea of forcing his way through. If he had tried to force his way earlier, he would have been sealed off by the wall just now, so how could there be so many twists and turns?

  She slowly and deliberately pulled out a delicate jade pendant from her sleeve. Yes, you didn't see it wrong, it was the exquisite and priceless treasure that Wu Seventeen had worn at his waist earlier. Jiang Nian had casually snatched it while Wu Seventeen was focused on taking his medicine. She thought to herself that since the Wu family's influence in the Ninth City was so great, and she didn't have DouDou by her side and didn't know the way back to the Tian Shen Temple, if she wanted to live a comfortable life in this unfamiliar place with her poor abilities as a Zixuan Master, she would have to rely on a wealthy patron. And without a doubt, Wu Seventeen was the best patron to rely on, not to mention that she was also his lifesaver. So she shamelessly stole the honest man's good jade pendant, thinking that she could trouble him again in the future, but didn't expect it to come in handy so soon.

  Then she ran to the door god with a shy face and said carefully: "Big brother, that is, today your young master dropped his jade pendant on the road, I picked it up, come back immediately and let him take a look if it's his?" After finishing speaking, she handed over the jade pendant.

  One of the gatekeepers furrowed his brow, then carefully took the jade pendant from Jiang Nian's hand. It was common for women to come up with various excuses to harass their young master in the city, and this reason for exchanging things was really too clumsy. However, they had seen countless people, and looking at this woman, she seemed to be from a wealthy family, with a beautiful and charming appearance, so she shouldn't be one of those silly women, and what she said shouldn't be nonsense either. So he paused for a moment, then said: "Alright, I'll let the steward take a look, if it's true, there will definitely be a heavy reward." After finishing speaking, he turned around and entered the gate.

  Jiang Nian's gaze followed the door god unobtrusively, waiting until he was out of sight before slowly withdrawing his gaze to study the defensive formation outside.

  Generally speaking, every large and prestigious family would set up their own array to protect the family's integrity, but this array is too advanced, it doesn't seem like something the Wu family can afford with their current level of spiritual power. Previously, DouDou had given her a book that introduced the layout of arrays, which was roughly divided into categories similar to the Rainbow levels. Because of the huge energy consumption, generally only families in the top ten cities would need to set up seals and arrays, while the later cities are more chaotic - who has nothing better to do than spend all day setting up an array that consumes their spiritual power? They might as well go out and fight a few battles to get some actual loot.

  Logically, the Wu and Lan families should be ranked ninth in terms of their formation's color, which should only be red or orange. However, the Wu family's formation is actually green, with a very strong glow. The position of the formation eye is also quite bold, located just inside the entrance, where Jiang Nian can see it at a glance. She tilted her head to one side, rolling her tongue around in her mouth, which was an unconscious habit she had when thinking about strange questions.

  She thought this array was really strange, usually arrays would be placed very discreetly to avoid being destroyed by the enemy, but this kind of open placement was truly a first. Those green lights were jumping around very quickly, indicating that the array's energy was very sufficient. Jiang Nian looked at it for a while, lowered his eyes, and hid the flowing dark light, motionless, waiting for the door god to come back earlier.

  Before long, the gatekeeper came out, accompanied by a white-haired old man who should be the steward of the Wu family. She smiled sincerely and warmly at the steward without saying a word, trying to convey a sense of closeness. These old men are the most troublesome, always picking bones from eggs, if you want to get in, you must pass his test.

  That housekeeper looked very old, but his eyes were bright and didn't show any signs of aging. He walked over spiritedly to Jiang Nianyou

  Some of them nodded slightly, which was a greeting, and even their eyes were looking up. Jiang Nian didn't find this expression very comfortable, and she slightly raised one of her eyebrows. She couldn't stand it when others looked down on her like that. But she didn't show it, and instead casually sprinkled some pollen from the cassia tree under the old man's feet.

  The Lianlian tree was a perfect thing for her, but not necessarily for others. Those who had never come into contact with the Lianlian tree couldn't withstand its powerful aura fluctuations, and 90% of them would be unable to sleep for several days and nights due to the massive amount of aura energy. However, looking at this old man, he seemed to have aged so much that he probably wasn't someone who was exhausted to death every day, so not sleeping wouldn't be a problem for him. Jiang Nian couldn't help but think of the old man's irritable expression when he couldn't sleep for several days, and she felt a little schadenfreude.

  I seem to have become a bit vengeful lately, but I don't feel guilty at all. After all, he was the one who didn't respect others first, serves him right.

  That old man still hadn't noticed the changes in his body and was still saying disdainfully: "This is indeed our young master's...

  "Ah, the jade pendant, thank you so much for picking it up for me. If there's anything you want, just say it, and we'll do our best to help as long as it's within our power." The tone at the end was tinged with a natural pride and a sense of reliance on his family.

  Jiang Nian bowed his head, a smile with unknown meaning at the corner of his mouth, then raised his head and smiled: "I've always heard that the layout of the Wu family's courtyard is exquisite. As a young woman from another city, I'm quite interested in the layout of the courtyard, so I thought I'd take a look."

  "Excuse me, sir. May I ask if you can take me inside to see the layout of your house?" Actually, Jiang Nian had already revealed a big flaw here. What outsider from another city would coincidentally meet the young master of the Wu family and recognize him, and just happen to pick up the jade pendant? Not only did he not chase after him at the time, but he even ran to the entrance of their house to return it. Even if it was a coincidence, they should have been more cautious. However, the old man thought for a moment before agreeing with a proud expression that couldn't be concealed.

  Jiang Nian heard his response, and suddenly slightly raised the corner of his lips, with a hint of mockery in his eyes. As expected, when an old man gets older, he's no longer useful, not even a bit guarded, I reckon in the Wu family, he can only rely on his age to establish prestige.

  However, she liked it. Jiang Nian thanked the butler with a smile in her eyes that was devoid of warmth.

  It's completely stress-free to make small moves at Wu's house.

  Digression

  How delightful to collect, dear! That's truly wonderful