Chương 95: The Gold Bar Trap

Fang Cheng got the location of Zhujia Village from Li Minghai, then left the Yamen and changed his appearance back to his disguised look. As he stepped out of the Yamen gate and was about to fly into the air, an old man dressed as a farmer suddenly approached him, blocked his path, and asked in a low voice:"Young man, you look unfamiliar. Are you a new Yamen runner?"

"No, I'm just passing through." Fang Cheng waved his hand. The old man chuckled.

"I thought so. With that outfit, you must be from out of town, looking for work in Jishui City?" Fang Cheng studied the old man with a hint of suspicion. Something about this guy didn't feel right.

"You're not going to offer me gold bars, are you?" The old man was taken aback.

"I haven't even said anything yet. How did you know? Did someone approach you already? Young man, don't go with them. Come with me, and I'll give you two extra gold bars. That's twelve bars total. Enough to keep you well-fed and clothed for the rest of your life. You could even get a wife and have a fat baby boy..." The old man started rambling, pulling a shiny gold bar from his robes and waving it in front of Fang Cheng. Fang Cheng nodded to himself. This old man was definitely sent from Zhujia Village. Perfect.

He could pretend to be a recruit this old man had brought in, infiltrate Zhujia Village, scope out the situation, and wait until all the evil cultivators had returned before sweeping them up in one go. So Fang Cheng nodded, took the gold bar from the old man, and said, "Take me there quickly. I love gold bars. They're delicious gold bars. Just thinking about them makes me drool. I get drunk on the smell. Haha, slurp." Seeing that Fang Cheng had agreed, the old man's face lit up with joy.

Then he took the gold bar back from Fang Cheng and said, "This gold bar is mine. Yours is still with the first-level agent. Come on, follow me to get it..."

"Wait, what's a first-level agent?" Fang Cheng scratched his head. The old man explained, "A first-level agent is my upline. The full name is First-level agent for talent recruitment and gold bar distribution. I'm a second-level agent. For every person I bring in, I get an extra four gold bars. Young man, I'm being completely honest with you. We'll split the extra gold bars equally. Do you have any relatives or friends you could bring in too?" Fang Cheng pretended to understand.

"Oh, so you want to make me a third-level agent. Sorry, but all my relatives are dead. I have a few friends, but they're not around." The old man looked disappointed. Seeing that it was getting late, he didn't bother looking for other recruits in the city. He just grabbed Fang Cheng and headed west. On the way, they introduced themselves. The old man's surname was Zhu, and he was the sixth child in his family, so people called him Zhu Old Six. By seniority, Fang Cheng could call him Sixth Brother.

Fang Cheng didn't give his real name, just said he was the second child in his family, so Sixth Brother could call him Second. An hour later, they arrived at the eastern outskirts of Jishui City. Three or four oxcarts and wagons were parked by the roadside. A dozen or so farmers sat on the carts, some lying down, some leaning back. A few were eating dried rations and chatting, some were smoking pipes, and a few were sitting in a circle playing cards.

A middle-aged man stood beside the lead cart, around forty years old with a full beard. Fang Cheng spotted him from a distance and saw that he was a low-level cultivator. He quickly suppressed his aura and pretended to be an ordinary person. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. The bearded man wasn't very skilled and didn't notice that Fang Cheng was a cultivator.

Seeing that Zhu Old Six had brought someone back, he immediately went over and said warmly, "Old Six, good work." Zhu Old Six pointed at Fang Cheng and said to the bearded man, "First-Level Agent, this is the recruit I brought. Make sure you mark it down." The bearded man laughed and patted Zhu Old Six's arm.

"Don't worry, it's all recorded. Not a single bar missing." Zhu Old Six smiled in satisfaction and pointed at Fang Cheng.

"This young man is from out of town, surname Fang, second in his family." The bearded man nodded, pulled a gold bar from his robes, and placed it in Fang Cheng's hand.

"Brother Fang, as long as you return to Zhujia Village with me, I guarantee you'll get the remaining nine bars, not a single one short." Fang Cheng held the gold bar in his hands, putting on a look of joy.

"Yes, yes. I'll definitely stick close to you, First-Level Agent. Haha, you smell even better than the gold bars. Delicious, truly delicious... Slurp... Hiss, hiss, hiss." The bearded man didn't notice anything strange about Fang Cheng. He patted Fang Cheng's shoulder with a smile and said, "Good. Brother Fang, you go with Old Six and get on the cart. We'll have a chance to chat later." Fang Cheng nodded and followed Zhu Old Six onto an oxcart. The cart was old but sturdy, with a straw mat spread over the boards.

Sitting on it was a little prickly at first, but after a while it became surprisingly comfortable. That was the wonder of the human body—it could turn discomfort into pleasure. An old man around fifty sat cross-legged on the cart, resting with his eyes closed. He was Zhao Old Eight, also from Zhujia Village like Zhu Old Six. Hearing the noise, Zhao Old Eight opened his eyes. Seeing that Zhu Old Six had brought back a stranger, he looked envious.

"Old Six, I can't believe you got lucky." Zhu Old Six laughed.

"What can I say? I got lucky. Everyone thought Jishui City, being the closest to Zhujia Village, would have been picked clean already. Haha, didn't expect there'd still be one left." Seeing Zhu Old Six showing off, Zhao Old Eight snorted.

"Lucky my ass. We're both unlucky. We're both from Zhujia Village, same clan brothers, but now we can't even get a first-level agent position, let alone a general agent."

"Can't help it. We left the village early to find work in the city." Zhu Old Six shrugged helplessly.

"Those who stayed in the village must be rolling in it by now. Probably got cellars full of gold bars."

"True." Zhao Old Eight nodded in agreement.

"Those village stayers are lying around eating and drinking, set for life. No need to be general agents either." Zhu Old Six suddenly had an idea.

"Hey, when we get back to the village, what if we ask those stayers to put in a good word with the Association Leader for us? Get us promoted to general agents. What do you think?" Zhao Old Eight's face lit up with excitement. He rubbed his hands together.

"That's not a bad idea! We spent decades in that village too. Even if we don't have great merits, we've got hard work. They should take care of us..." Fang Cheng listened to their conversation and couldn't help but laugh.

"Sounds like you two haven't been back to the village yet?" Zhao Old Eight snorted.

"If I'd gone back early, would I be sitting on the same cart as you?"

"Hey, Old Eight, watch your tone. Second, here is my recruit. He's going to be working with us from now on. Be polite." Zhu Old Six mediated with a laugh. Zhao Old Eight clicked his tongue but didn't say anything more. Zhu Old Six turned to Fang Cheng with a smile and explained, "Old Eight's a straightforward guy, but he means well. Don't take it to heart. You stick with us, and we'll get you a first-level agent position someday..." Fang Cheng shook his head without answering.

He thought to himself: those village stayers are probably long dead, eaten down to the last scrap by the Self-Help Association cultivators. Not a single one left alive. Seeing Fang Cheng shake his head, Zhu Old Six thought he didn't believe him. He continued, "Second, don't underestimate me. Old Eight and I are different. He moved out after he got married. But my family's been in Zhujia Village for three generations. And our ancestors moved here from the Great Zheng Dynasty.

They say we're descended from the Great Zheng royal family. That makes us royalty ourselves." Zhao Old Eight felt something was off. Zhu Old Six was trying to elevate himself above Old Eight in the village hierarchy. That wouldn't do. He needed his seniority to get that general agent position. He quickly shot back, "Old Six, you're talking nonsense. If you being a Zhu makes you Great Zheng royalty, then me being a Zhao makes me a Great Li royal relative." Zhu Old Six replied, "Who knows?

You might find that if you check your family tree eighteen generations back, you really are related to the Great Li royal family." Zhao Old Eight laughed mockingly.

"If we go back a thousand generations, our primitive ancestors were brothers too, living in the same tribe, sleeping with the same woman, raising their kids together."

"Old Eight, if you keep arguing like this, we've got nothing to talk about." Zhu Old Six was a bit speechless. He turned to Fang Cheng instead.

"Second, even if we don't talk about ancestry, Zhujia Village has produced some famous people in recent years. You know Zhu Youchang, right? The former City God of White Flower City. I'm a relative of his. When he was a little kid, I even helped him pee. Haha, I guess that means I've touched some celestial energy. Oh, our Lord Zhu was always so chubby and cute..."