Chapter 12: The Battlefield Between Dry Grandma and Dry Grandma II

  It didn't take much effort for Wang Lu to bring Heng Bo back home.

  After a near-death experience by the river, Wen Bao no longer had any faith in this path to ascension. Now, as long as he could make it to the end alive, that would be thanks to heaven and earth.

  So when Wang Lu smiled and asked him: "Are you interested in working with me to conquer Peach Village?" Wen Bao agreed without hesitation.

  Firstly, he really had no choice. The outcome of riding alone on the Immortal Path was evident from the wet pants on his body. Secondly... if there was even a slim chance to break through this barrier? Deep down, Wen Bao's yearning for the Immortal Way had not been extinguished.

  The only thing that's hard to understand is why someone like Wang Lu, a genius, would need to find a collaborator. Apart from his physical strength, what other advantages does he have?

  "Hehe, being thick-skinned is an advantage, after all, chubby people aren't easily messed with."

  "Huh!?" Wen Bao was inexplicably terrified.

  "Don't worry, at least in this level, the designer didn't intend to take anyone's life. The village design isn't meant for us to compete with brute force. The Ling Jian Sect is testing a more important quality."

  "What's even more important quality?"

  This question, Hai Yunfan had been thinking about it all along. Nowadays, when various sects recruit disciples, the factors to be considered are nothing more than talent, temperament, enlightenment, and opportunity... What else is needed besides these?

  At this time, Wang Lu had already started assigning tasks to Wen Bao: "Fatty, I have a task for you."

  "Ah?" Wen Bao exclaimed in surprise, "What do you want me to do?"

  "First, make friends with everyone in the village. Specifically, you can ask them if they need any help with anything. Remember to be friendly and sincere... Finally, report back to me about what you've gained. It's quite simple, right?"

  ——

  After sending Wen Bao away, Wang Lu invited Hai Yunfan to have lunch together. The two of them chatted casually while eating at the table, feeling calm and leisurely.

  The time it takes to eat a meal, Hai Yunfan suddenly had an epiphany: "The key is in the person, indeed, the Financial and Earthly Laws, interpersonal relationships are ranked second, only before there was no sect that set up such a test."

  Wang Lu was somewhat surprised: "Never before?"

  "As far as I know, no sect has ever really valued this point. The path of the immortal is ultimately a lonely road, and being too entangled in interpersonal relationships will hinder one's progress... It seems that most sects have this saying."

  Wang Lu sneered, "Isn't this nonsense? The immortal cultivation world isn't a place where anyone with a mental illness can thrive. Even if personal strength decides everything, before you cultivate to the point of deciding everything, it's impossible to leave out interpersonal relationships. Unless it's the legendary Tian Luo Upper Immortal descending into the mortal realm, there's no such thing as an invincible flow in this world. By the way, Little Hai, aren't you going to go out and try your luck with Wen Bao? Who knows, maybe you'll encounter a Class A task."

  "Haha, never mind, Brother Wang, you didn't even make a move... I suppose there's some reason for that?"

  Wang Lu said, "Of course not, without enough trial materials, I'm not confident in finding the perfect strategy, so I advise you to test it out for me and tread on the thunder? Once I get the perfect strategy, I'll remember to thank you."

  Hai Yun Fan was deeply moved by Wang Lu's sense of justice, but what caught his attention even more was Wang Lu's so-called "perfect strategy" - if there is perfection, then it implies that there is also imperfection.

  "In other words, in Taoyuan Village, every word and action must be cautious, otherwise it's very likely to make a mistake?"

  Wang Lu smiled and said: "Yes, this is also in line with the characteristics of the immortal path. On the road to cultivation, if you take a wrong step, you can't recover. It's designed very realistically!"

  Just as they were talking, Wen Bao returned.

  "Huh, so soon?" Hai Yunfan was stunned for a moment. From the time when Wen Bao was kicked out of the house by Wang Lu to now, it had only been half an hour or so. Had something unexpected happened?

  Unexpectedly big.

  "King! Brother Wang!"

  Wen Bao hesitated for a moment outside the door and called out to Wang Lu in a twisted tone.

  "What's going on? Have you encountered an especially exciting plot?"

  "I had just left the house for a short while when I was stopped by an auntie who said I looked very much like her deceased grandson. She went on and on, finally stuffed me with lots of pastries and even invited me to visit her home in the evening...I couldn't take too many, so I came back first."

  While speaking, Wen Bao lifted out a huge bundle.

  The package was opened, and a mountain of dim sum covered the table. A medley of delicate aromas wafted up to greet us.

  The little book boy who was clearing the table turned over the tray and looked familiar: "Ah, this is Liu Dama's exclusive dim sum from the Dim Sum Shop. Because it's a hassle to make, they don't usually sell it. Only people with very good relationships will be given one or two pieces...”

  Wang Lu sighed: "This is treating Wen Bao as a close grandson, this fat man really has good fortune, and triggered the high-level task at once. If I remember correctly, that Liu Dama was unclear with the village head when she was young."

  Xiao Shu Tong was startled: "Young master, don't talk nonsense! Liu Dama is a decent person."

  "Can't a decent person have an affair? Whose logic is this? This is such a violation of human rights!"

  "Huh?!"

  "Didn't you notice at the banquet last night? The village chief and Liu's wife were exchanging flirtatious glances, but in the end, they were caught by their spouses... This is a crucial detail."

  The young servant was tongue-tied, and at the banquet, he couldn't even keep up with pouring wine. The rural rice wine made his head spin and eyes blur, how could he have the energy to watch a few old men and women's romantic affairs?

  Wang Lu then smiled at Wen Bao and said, "Congratulations, this is probably an A-level task, enough to shake the entire Taoyuan Village's main storyline. If you can do it until the end..."

  Although I don't know what kind of top-level main storyline, but hearing Wang Lu say it so solemnly, Wen Bao's eyes still lit up: "If we can make it to the end......?"

  "You can be a skilled aunt who makes desserts."

  “……”

  "So then, I'm asking you to work hard and move forward for Grandma's sake!"

  After finishing speaking, Wang Lu kicked his foot and kicked it out.

  ——

  That night, more and more people walked out of Yunbotu. It was only natural that after a day or so of wandering, most people were exhausted. However, unlike the warm welcome given by the villagers when Wang Lu first arrived, the reaction of the Taoyuan people to these latecomers was much colder.

  Is there anything to eat? Yes, is there a place to stay? Also yes. But nothing is free and worse still, the outside world's monetary system doesn't work here at all?

  "What is this?"

  "This is Golden Treasure."

  "Golden ingot......? Can it be eaten?"

  "This is it... Swallowing gold is equivalent to suicide..."

  "You think you can buy our mantou with this poisonous stuff? Dream on!"

  "Hey, it seems like you've got a misunderstanding..."

  Such conversations are not uncommon, and the villagers are not impressed by real gold and silver. This has caused many arrogant young masters to be defeated. However, it didn't take long for someone to find a currency that could circulate here.

  That's labor.

  "Want to eat? Easy, help me clear the weeds in the backyard and fill up the water tank at the entrance."

  As long as you put in enough labor, you can get the villagers' return, whether it's a sweet farmhouse meal or a simple but warm bedroom, which can be exchanged through labor and can only be exchanged through labor.

  In fact, this rule not only applies to the young masters who participate in the trial, but also to the people of Taoyuan Village themselves. In addition to bartering, villagers exchange what they need through labor.

  For this village where even a monetary system has not been born, the young masters can only reluctantly accept reality. These princes and young aristocrats have taken up hoes and shoulder poles, enthusiastically throwing themselves into large-scale agricultural production. In Wang Lu's words, it is very necessary for these second-generation officials to receive re-education from poor and lower-middle-class peasants.

  In this situation, the treatment of Wang Lu and others is simply hammering nails into other people's eyes. Especially when most people are still struggling to survive, Wang Lu has already commanded Wen Bao to make a breakthrough in the main task.

  By the third day in the afternoon, Wen Bao had already kowtowed to his dry grandmother at Liu Dama's house. According to Wang Lu's words, this was like setting up a flag that had been knocked down.

  "Hey, fatty's going smoothly, but others have already noticed his moves, and the imitators will start acting soon."

  Wang Lu lay down on the long bench beside the dinner table, saying casually: "But I didn't plan to hide it anyway. The more people who participate in Peach Village's task, the better. It's best to activate every villager's task so that I can grasp the perfect strategy."

  Hai Yunfan said, "But doing so would be equivalent to handing over all the advantages to others. I don't have Wang brother's insight, but based on common sense, the task you mentioned should be unique, for example, Liu Danni can't receive a second adopted grandson, her resources are being monopolized by Wen Bao. If Wang brother's perfect strategy requires Liu Danni's help, how will you proceed?"

  "Hey, that's my problem too, or should I say, you also want to go through a perfect strategy?"

  Hai Yun Fan shook her head in denial: "I've never pursued perfection, as long as I find a position that suits me, I'll be invincible."

  "I like this sentence, in case someone bullies me one day, I'll take it out to calm the situation and not be so negative... As a return, I might as well tell you a bit more, there's still a twist coming up for Peach Village. Do you think Wen Bao is making smooth progress now? He must be crying his way back tonight."

  ——

  "Waaa! Lord Wang Lu, help me!"

  That night, Wen Bao's crying kept people awake.

  "Damn it, stop crying!"

  Although I had expected this would happen, being woken up in the middle of the night by someone calling out to me from bed is enough to make anyone angry.

  Wen Bao was suddenly unaware and cried with all her might.

  "Lord Wang Lu, I've run into trouble, Liu Dama she..."

  Wang Lu shouted loudly and interrupted him: "Shut up, don't talk first, I'll go find a stick to fix your face before talking!"

  "Ah?!" Wen Bao was shocked, and seeing Wang Lu really going to the back door to find a door bolt to prepare for swinging, he quickly wiped away his tears and snot and said in one breath: "Liu Dama and the village head's wife are fighting, the village head's wife can't beat Liu Dama, so she wants to take it out on me, saying that she'll let the village head drive me out of the village... Wang Lu, sir, save me!"

  "Save your sister, just get out! You can't even solve this kind of problem, what's the point of having you?"

  "But isn't that the village head's wife?!"

  Perhaps it was because of the severe scolding by the landlady at Rujia Inn, but Wen Bao had already planted a seed of fear in his heart. Although Taoyuan Village was just one of many small villages in Canglan Country that were not worth mentioning, Wen Bao's single eyebrow could bring destruction to the entire village. However, on this road to immortality, Wen Bao, who had experienced countless setbacks, had already regarded himself as a lowly insect.

  "You useless thing, what about the village head's wife? A wife who can't even control her own husband is no better than an inflatable doll. What are you afraid of an inflatable doll?"

  "It's not like that..."

  "That's what I'm saying! You think the task in Peach Village is that simple? Kowtowing to Dry Grandma and eating some pastries every day would get you through it? You're thinking too highly of the designer! Let me tell you, you were just lucky to have encountered this kind of antagonistic plot at a relatively late stage in the task. My useless disciple started dueling with the young rabbit kids in the village two days ago!"

  Wen Bao was stunned.

  "Huh?"

  "Oh my god! I've said it before, Taoyuan Village tests EQ, and the most effective way to measure EQ is not how many people you can please, but how you deal with those who dislike you. Speaking of which, I'd like to add that personally, I think the designer of Taoyuan Village was probably not very popular in the Lingjian Sect."

  Wang Lugang finished speaking and suddenly looked up at the sky in a daze.

  It seems like an illusion, but I always feel that above the clouds, there are many people cheering loudly for their own words.

  "Well said!"

  "We've been waiting for her downfall for a long time!"

  He shook his head, dispelling the illusion from his mind. Wang Lu said, "You're taking Liu Dama's route, and the biggest challenge is the village chief's wife. If you can solve this problem, the main quest will be basically completed, and you can proceed to the next step. So, wipe your nose clean and get out of here as soon as possible!"

  After finishing speaking, Wang Lu lifted his foot once again.

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