Of course, Ling Huan didn’t mean he would ignore the Black Wind Hall just because he lacked a system mission.
He definitely planned to find a way to take down a power that threatened Qingmu City, but he wouldn’t be reckless enough to rush in and pick a fight immediately.
But now that a system mission had been issued with a three-month time limit, Ling Huan had to hurry.
Besides, the ability to exchange cultivation obtained within the simulation space was far too important a feature to ignore.
“Let’s stop here for now. We’re packing it in!”
Ling Huan waved his small hand, immediately leading the team back home.
However, he looked at Brother Jiu with newfound respect.
“By the way, Brother Jiu, you’re quite well-informed. You have some broad connections!”
Ling Huan had only mentioned it to Brother Jiu in passing while heading out to gather the youngsters, yet the man had managed to bring back all this intelligence.
“When you’re out and about, more friends mean fewer worries,” Brother Jiu said with a chuckle.
“Qingmu City is only so big, and there are only so many taverns. You get to know everyone eventually.”
“In a bit, go to the treasury and take some silver. Tell them I sent you. Use it to dig more into this matter.”
Ling Huan glanced at him with clear intent.
“Ah…?” Brother Jiu’s body visibly trembled.
“That… that could easily lead to trouble! Qingmu City is small. If word reaches their ears, things could go wrong very quickly!”
Ling Huan grew thoughtful.
It wasn’t just about the danger; Brother Jiu was right.
Having a guard from the Ling family poking around everywhere was a liability.
It would be too easy for the enemy to trace the investigation back to his household.
Based on how ruthless those people were, Ling Huan knew things wouldn’t end well for him if they caught on.
“Let me take care of the dangerous stuff,” Ling Xue said, pointing at herself.
“Have Brother Jiu point out the people who know these things, and I’ll make contact myself.”
Ling Huan thought this was an excellent idea.
He nodded and said, “True, that is a good plan! After all, Brother Jiu has been with my family for too long. Having many friends also means many people recognize him. It’s indeed inconvenient when facing such brutal thugs…”
“Hey, hey, hey! Wait a second!” Brother Jiu interrupted, pointing at Ling Xue.
“Young Master, are you really letting such a beautiful, delicate young girl do something like this…?”
Ling Huan paused. Delicate?
Oh, he almost forgot.
Brother Jiu didn’t know Ling Xue’s true strength.
During their last encounter, she had been disguised as a man.
Furthermore, she had been beaten black and blue by Ling Huan at the time, and when he brought her back, Jiang Yue had sent the guards away so she could be treated in private.
“She isn’t delicate. She’s the one who knocked you out with a single move last time. She was disguised as a man then, but I later beat her until her face looked like a pig’s head,” Ling Huan explained briefly.
Brother Jiu hesitated, scanning Ling Xue back and forth with disbelief.
Her stunning face and seemingly frail body left him visibly shocked.
But he quickly looked at Ling Huan and gave a thumbs up.
“To be able to subdue such a talent, you’re even more impressive, Young Master…”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
Ling Xue nodded, cupping her cheeks with a bashful expression.
“Master was so brave and powerful back then. It’s just a pity that now… sigh… it’s a common ailment among men. Slowly but surely, they lose their touch.”
‘She’s telling a dirty joke, but I have no proof!’
“Tch, we’re talking business, don’t interrupt!” Ling Huan rolled his eyes.
He gathered his thoughts before continuing.
“But this isn’t the place to talk. Let’s head back first.”
Fortunately, the street was quite lively.
The ambient noise easily drowned out their discussion, but Ling Huan remained cautious.
He had Brother Jiu and Ling Xue scan the surroundings to see if anyone was following them.
Luckily, no one trailed them all the way back to the Ling Manor.
Once they returned, the three of them set a time for later that night and went their separate ways.
Ling Huan had to spend time with the children.
He also commissioned Ling Xue to prepare some materials they both needed.
Meanwhile, Brother Jiu went to scout for candidates for Ling Xue to approach.
Time passed quickly.
After escorting each child home, Ling Huan went to Jiang Yue’s place in the afternoon, where he received a lecture.
After the lesson, he had to plead for ages before Jiang Yue finally let him go late at night.
Originally, he was supposed to stay for a late-night supplementary session.
There were no dirty jokes involved; it was a genuine tutoring session.
Indeed, there were hugs, but they were accompanied by memorization, reading aloud, doing homework, and answering exams personally written by Jiang Yue.
Ling Huan never imagined that even after transmigrating to another world, he still wouldn’t escape the miserable life of doing homework.
He finally understood the saying: “Happy education is for the poor; the rich only get more competitive.”
He studied until his head throbbed.
By the time he was released, Ling Xue and Brother Jiu had been waiting at his door for a long while.
“I’m late, I’m late…” Ling Huan sighed, dragging his exhausted body inside.
He pushed open the door and saw the soft bed.
His instinct was to collapse onto it, but he resisted.
He sat at the table, motioned for the two to sit, and asked, “How did it go?”
Ling Xue answered first.
She placed two storage bags on the table and pushed one toward Ling Huan.
“It’s ready. I’ve prepared everything you asked for, Master. However, I didn’t realize you knew how to make talismans?”
“A little, just a little.”
Ling Huan turned to Brother Jiu and asked softly, “Brother Jiu, what about you?”
“Everything is more or less settled. Money makes the world go ’round, but what do you plan to do, Young Master?”
Ling Xue also tilted her head curiously, looking at Ling Huan.
“It’s simple. Since Brother Jiu went to investigate today and was chased away, they will definitely start looking into us. After all, I’m definitely going to open that charity school. I won’t back down on that. Since they’ll investigate us sooner or later, we might as well send the two of you to them first.”
“Huh? Wait… send us to them? As their lackeys?” Brother Jiu frowned, looking confused.
“As moles. Brother Jiu, find any gambling house in Qingmu City. You need to gamble, and you need to lose with a lot of resentment.”
“Why?”
“The Ling family is the biggest power in Qingmu City, so they’ll naturally want to investigate us. Even without the school incident, it’s only a matter of time before we’re targeted. Then there’s the massacre at Squire Zhang’s house — the entire family was wiped out in a single night, yet the news was suppressed perfectly. Whoever did that is no ordinary person.”
“They must be meticulous and ruthless. People like that won’t just barge through our door. They’ll definitely scout our background in secret and act only after making a plan. So I figure, rather than letting them find some random person I don’t know, we should strike first and send our own people out. You’re my guard. If you owe money and can’t pay it back, it’ll be very easy for them to approach you.”
“Young Master, you want me to… go… borrow money from a gambling house? No way! Their interest rates are absurd. 3 copper coins can snowball into 40 taels of silver in just a few days or weeks!”
“What are you afraid of? With these, you think you can’t pay it back?”
Ling Huan slammed his hand down, and 50 spirit stones appeared on the table.
The bright, dazzling light immediately illuminated the dim room!
Brother Jiu’s eyes went wide.
His eyeballs looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.
“Your hazard pay is included in this. This should be enough for you to gamble and borrow however you like, right?”
“It’s enough! More than enough! I could buy the whole gambling house!”
Brother Jiu said excitedly, his voice stuttering.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just have to mistreat you a little bit.”
“Eh?”
Brother Jiu looked up blankly.
Before he could process the meaning behind those words, a dark shadow flashed before his eyes — Ling Huan’s fist, carrying the whistling sound of wind, slammed into him!