Chapter Thirty-Four: Mr. Dongli

  Xiao Yatou Qingmo used 24 taels of gold to rent a shop, and the location and storefront were not bad. He was originally very pleased with himself when he came back to ask for credit, but Liang Xin looked worried and ran to the inn's accounting room to ask the master what would happen if they backed out now.

  The master smiled and said: "Then pay according to the number agreed upon in the contract. If you can't afford it, you'll be sued."

  Back in the room, Qingmo hugged the monkey and sat aside with a sulk. Liang sighed with a bitter smile: "It's not that this shop is no good, nor can't we do it, but the capital invested is too big... If we lose, we'll have to go back to Kunlun Mountain. I originally wanted to find a small store to start with."

  Qingmo regained her composure, pouting and forming a dimple on her round face: "I'm not afraid of losing money, I'll go find brother to get it back. If you're afraid of losing face, I'll go ask for it."

  But unexpectedly, Liang Xin shook his head with a worried expression: "If we lose this time, Big Brother and Second Brother will definitely make us return to the Monkey Valley and will never give us money again."

  Qing Mo was amused by Liang Xin's unlucky appearance and lowered his voice, saying: "You're talking nonsense again. We are undercover agents, we need to keep an eye on the Tian Ce Gate. How can brother withdraw our undercover operation just because we've spent all the money?"

  Liáng Xīn took out the package of pine nut candies from his pocket and spread them on the table. Qū Qīng Mò immediately sat over, and the two boys huddled together eating the candies. Xiǎo Tiān Yuè tasted one and scrunched up her face in distaste.

  His mouth sweetened, and Liang Xin's mood seemed to have improved a bit. He picked the largest one and threw it into Qingmo's mouth, laughing and saying: "Actually, Big Brother and Second Brother had already given up on the Tian Ce Men lead a long time ago. The hidden stake... was just an excuse, or perhaps a test!"

  Qu Qingmo was stunned and stood still, looking up at Liang Xin, not understanding what he meant.

  Liáng Xīn suddenly changed the subject and asked Qīng Mò: "Your family is in the capital, generations of officials, don't you also have some loyal attendants? I'm talking about attendants, not government officials."

  Qu Qing Mo didn't understand, so he nodded and said, "Of course there is." Then, with a proud smile, he added, "In the official residences of Beijing, when it comes to fighting, our Qu family is number one!"

  Li Xing chuckled and said, "That's it. Think about it, Big Brother and Second Brother are so meticulous. If there was even a hint of suspicion at the Tian Ce Gate, they wouldn't have let it go. If they really wanted to set up an ambush, even if there wasn't anyone trustworthy around, they could've just brought someone from home. The fact that they didn't set up an ambush in Tongchuan for these five years can only mean one thing: they thought the Tian Ce Gate lead wasn't worth pursuing."

  Qingmo became even more confused and asked Liang Xin: "Then why did they let us come to Tongchuan?"

  Qu Qing Shi and Liu also attach great importance to Liang Xin. Apart from his sense of justice, there are some valuable points in his mind. This time, when he came to Tongchuan, Liang Xin initially felt a heavy burden on his shoulders, but he had already figured it out on the way.

  Since this secret meeting is meaningless, Qu and Liu's intentions must be elsewhere.

  Thirty taels of gold, copper coins and dark sticks, apart from conveying necessary messages, there is no other support. With the young lady's green ink... To put it bluntly, what's important isn't staking out the Tian Ce Gate, but rather Qu Qing Shi wants to see if Liang Xin can make a good life for himself with the thirty taels of gold as capital and the green ink.

  If things go well, perhaps after a while, Qu Qing Shi will send Ugly Girl Liang over as well. If such a large sum of money is all spent by the two little ones, Qu Qing Shi will definitely send them back to the mountain.

  All his efforts were guessed by Liang Xin, so he almost lost all his capital at once, and his heart ached to the point of cramping.

  Although Tian Ce's leader Zheng Xiaodao's skills were astonishing, and he was almost evenly matched with Liang Xin, his skills were still within the realm of ordinary people. It's not impossible for a martial artist to reach Zheng Xiaodao's level.

  It was also when Liang Xin figured out the true intention of Qu Qing Shi letting him come to Tongchuan that he dared to let go and had a messy fight with the Tian Ce Men disciples. Anyway, Tian Ce Men didn't have anything good to investigate, and fighting wasn't afraid of arousing suspicion either.

  After listening to the explanation, Qingmo also understood his brother's intentions and leaned in close to Liangxin, speaking in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "With our skills, it's not hard to make some money. In any case, I won't go back to Monkey Valley for the rest of my life!"

  Liáng Xīn glared, his expression serious: "We two can easily get money, but if we really become thieves, it's bound to infuriate Second Brother! He's most worried about this very thing - that stealing will attract the attention of the authorities, and once they start investigating, who knows but that our identities might be exposed? It'll be a disaster!"

  Qū Qīng's eyes narrowed slightly as he said in a low voice, "So, unless absolutely necessary, we don't resort to thievery."

  Liang Xin nodded and said: "That's exactly what I had in mind!"

  The two young men looked at each other seriously and nodded, then burst out laughing together. At this moment, there was a knock on the door, and when they opened it, they found that their roommate had brought them a flyer.

  Li Xing read the notice, which was written in simple and clear language. It said that a scholar named Xuan Paoxiao would be giving a public lecture on September 26th, forty days later, at Tie Xie Street, and invited everyone to attend.

  The grandeur of the Hongwu era, Wenchang has many schools of thought. Scholars often publicly lecture to express their views on getting along with the world and self-cultivation. However, such things are mostly in inland provinces with a strong cultural atmosphere, and no one has ever come to Tongchuan to lecture.

  The innkeeper was also a talkative fellow, and after warning him, he shook his head and said: "Xuan Paoxiao, styled Dongli, is a famous scholar of our great Hong dynasty. The leader of the group of scholars who stayed at the shop just now is none other than himself."

  Qingmo had already turned back into Fat Uncle and curiously asked his companions: "What is the topic of Dongfang Shuo's lecture?"

  Old chap, this topic wasn't written on the flyer. He spoke a lot of nonsense before asking the students accompanying Mr. Dongli in a low and mysterious tone: "Fresh goods!"

  Liáng Xīn let out a sound of surprise, saying: "Fresh goods?" The little heavenly ape without a tail raised its head, smacking its lips, and seemed to understand these two words.

  The fellow nodded: "Not bad, it's fresh goods! If you two have time, wait until September 26th to go and listen, anyway your shop is also on Iron Shoe Street, very convenient..."

  Before he could finish speaking, a huge palm suddenly appeared on his shoulder, as if picking up a small chicken, and moved him away from the door. The sturdy simpleton among the scholars stood like a mountain in front of the room's door, with the large trunk still on his shoulder.

  If you just look at his appearance, he has a majestic face with piercing eyes and a broad mouth, and his tall and powerful physique is quite intimidating. Unfortunately, no matter how strong and heroic his facial features are, they can't hide the foolishness on his face.

  Liang Xin was startled by him and hastily squeezed out a smile.

  The foolish child's gaze passed over Liang Xin's head and looked at the candies they had placed on the table, their faces full of craving.

  At this time, a clear voice suddenly came from the corridor: "Eleven, don't disturb the noble guest, hurry up and retreat!"

  The silly fellow named 'Eleven' was extremely obedient and hastily dodged to the side, but his eyes still lingered with some leftover light, gazing longingly at the table inside the house.

  Liáng Xīn quickly turned around and grabbed a handful of pine nut candies, stuffing them into the silly child's hand.

  At this time, the old man among the scholars walked slowly to the door and bowed his hands with a smile: "My follower's brain is not very good, but his nose is very spiritual. When he smells the fragrance of sweets, he can't walk on the road, disturbing you two."

  Liang Xinzai didn't take it seriously, smiled and shook his head, waving the flyer in his hand: "Mr. Dongzhai? Please come in and talk."

  Mr. Dongling didn't say anything else, but instead carefully looked at Liang Xin, after a while he inexplicably chuckled and bowed his head to Liang Xin: "The sky is already late, I don't dare disturb the two of you from resting, this old man will take his leave." After finishing speaking, he turned around and left, with the foolish Eleven hastily following behind him.

  Liang Xin and Qu Qingmo exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat perplexed. It was normal for scholars to travel far and wide in pursuit of knowledge, but it was rare to see someone bringing an idiot along with them.

  Qingmo leaned over, his eyes shining with excitement, and whispered to Liang Xin: "Let's go check it out when night falls."

  "Let's not stir up trouble, anyway we won't be staying here tomorrow."

  Qingmo was startled: "Not staying at the inn, where are we going to stay?" Then suddenly realized: "You plan to go live in the new house that just came down? But... it hasn't been cleaned up yet, it must be very dirty."

  "Fine! I'll just have to make do. It's still a place that can be lived in. Staying at an inn, I don't have the money!"

  That night, Liang Xin was sitting outside, urging the Heart Method to dissolve the True Origin. Suddenly, a loud shout came from afar, and immediately a sharp light cut through the night sky! Qing Mo quickly swept to his side and said in a low voice: "It's the light of the flying sword, there are cultivators fighting!"

  But after a long time, there was still no movement outside...

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  Finally, still asking for votes...