Chapter 294: Fortune's Wheel Turns
Jiang Wang conserved his energy, entering the Grand Void Illusory Realm less frequently, and instead patrolled outside Green Mountain Town often, standing ready. But the first wave of uninvited guests was none of the parties he had expected.
When Steward Qian appeared outside Green Mountain Town, he still maintained a veneer of respectability.
At least his clothes were clean, his hair and beard neatly trimmed, and he brought along a dozen guards.
There were three carriages. Two were loaded with goods, and the third carried himself.
Spotting Jiang Wang blocking the entrance to the town from afar, he wasn't worried—he was delighted.
This showed that Green Mountain Town had predicted the situation in the State of Yang and had responded with caution. That undoubtedly increased his sense of security.
He jumped down from the carriage with great enthusiasm and shouted: "Young friend Jiang! On behalf of the Four Seas Trading Alliance, I have come specifically to aid Green Mountain Town!"
Jiang Wang... naturally, he did not believe a word of it.
Though they had little contact, the man surnamed Qian had already left a deep impression on him. The things he said were probably not even worth trusting the filler words in.
"Thank you for your kind offer!" Jiang Wang shouted. "However, while Green Mountain Town is in lockdown, no outsiders may enter or leave. Steward Qian, I hope you understand."
He turned around and yelled instructions: "Xiaoxiao, get a few people to bring over the Four Seas Trading Alliance's supplies!"
"Right away!" Xiaoxiao answered loudly. He immediately directed two martial artists to go take charge of the carriages.
Steward Qian's face turned green. Seeing the martial artists from Green Mountain Town approaching with practiced efficiency, he hurriedly said: "Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! We are here to offer manpower this time—manpower!"
"Manpower?" Jiang Wang feigned confusion.
"Indeed!" Steward Qian said shamelessly. "These are truly desperate times, and manpower is short everywhere. In view of our previous good cooperation, the Four Seas Trading Alliance is sending reinforcements to Green Mountain Town: including this steward himself, there are five Transcendent cultivators and ten ordinary martial artists!"
"If it's manpower, then I..." Jiang Wang said. "I humbly accept your offer!"
With that, he turned and walked back toward the town. All that was left to face the Four Seas Trading Alliance was a solitary row of barricades.
A cold wind blew bleakly.
"My lord, please wait!" Steward Qian called out urgently from behind. "Of course, we also brought supplies! A full carriage of goods, all donated freely!"
But he feared Jiang Wang would only take the goods and turn the people away, so he added: "The manpower and the supplies go together!"
Jiang Wang stopped and turned around, a half-smile on his lips: "Steward Qian may not know this, but Green Mountain Town is overflowing with people now. We really aren't short on manpower."
"Since we've come to this, I'll stop speaking in circles. Brother Jiang, you must understand the current situation in the State of Yang. We, as people from the State of Qi, should unite to protect ourselves!"
"I'm from the State of Zhuang."
"Alas! Being in the State of Yang, we are all foreigners! If we don't unite among ourselves, who among the locals will care about us?"
"The people of Green Mountain Town are united with me."
Steward Qian had a thick enough skin, of course, and wasn't so easily stumped. He immediately shifted his approach: "In chaotic times, what matters most? Transcendent martial strength! As far as I know, Green Mountain Town doesn't have many Transcendent cultivators besides you, Brother Jiang. If we combine our strength, we can make Green Mountain Town impregnable. We have five Transcendent cultivators!"
Jiang Wang cast a casual, deliberate glance at the Transcendent cultivators in Steward Qian's retinue: "Forgive my bluntness, but not a single one of them would make me draw my sword a second time."
This was wildly arrogant. Whether the guards were Celestial Being realm, Cycle realm, or Drifting Meridian realm, that was one thing—but Steward Qian himself was a Rising Dragon realm Transcendent cultivator.
Yet for Jiang Wang's words, he truly could not refute them.
However strong he was, could he surpass Xi Munan?
"Lord Jiang." Steward Qian's form of address had shifted several times, finally settling on "my lord." A businessman through and through, he understood at this point that there was little room for negotiation. He could only endure the pain and say: "Just tell me directly—what will it take for you to take us in? The Four Seas Trading Alliance will surely repay this favor!"
The border of the State of Yang was blockaded; he couldn't get out. He couldn't return to Jia City either. When he had learned of the plague's mutation, he had fled directly. Anticipating the chaos that would engulf the State of Yang afterward, he had conveniently taken all the advance payments the Jia City government had entrusted to him.
If he went back to Jia City now, he might "accidentally catch the plague" and die at any time.
He was even less familiar with other places. Roaming the countryside with valuable goods and resources during troubled times was a path to death.
The entire Jia City domain—only Green Mountain Town, bearing the banner of the Chongxuan family, could be called a peaceful refuge. And Jiang Wang's personal strength was extremely formidable, surpassing at least the average city lord in the State of Yang.
If he had a choice, he would naturally not want to beg Jiang Wang. He would especially not want to stretch out his neck and wait to be slaughtered.
But the situation was what it was—what could he do?
As the saying goes, fortune's wheel turns. Back then, when he had gone to Jiang Wang's door demanding compensation of four thousand gold for two eggs, only to leave with two hundred Dao Source Stones, thoroughly satisfied and laden with riches—he certainly could not have imagined this day.
"What repayment or not—it requires there to be a future for that to matter. Wouldn't you agree?" Jiang Wang asked.
This was the "price cutting."
Steward Qian smiled apologetically: "That is quite right."
"Ordinary goods aren't very useful at a time like this, since money can't buy anything right now. What Green Mountain Town needs is supplies—ordinary people need clothing, food, medicines, and so on. Transcendent cultivators need Dao Source Stones to replenish their reserves..." Jiang Wang paused. "Hmm, Dao Source Stones are very important."
Steward Qian understood instantly: "Come to think of it, Lord Jiang left a box of Dao Source Stones with me. I've always meant to return them, but trivial matters kept getting in the way, and it's been delayed far too long. It so happens I can return them to you today!"
"Is that so? I don't recall that." Jiang Wang was visibly surprised. "How many Dao Source Stones were in that box?"
"There should have been three hundred!" Steward Qian said through gritted teeth.
Jiang Wang looked disappointed: "Only three hundred?"
"Perhaps... it was five hundred!" Steward Qian's smile had already become quite painful to look at, but he declared emphatically: "I remember now—it was five hundred Dao Source Stones!"
Jiang Wang studied him for a moment, knowing that five hundred Dao Source Stones was probably enough to make his heart sting, though whether it was his true bottom line was hard to judge. After all, someone this cunning and seasoned wasn't easy to read.
Compared to the two hundred Dao Source Stones he'd been extorted for back then, this had more than doubled.
Jiang Wang let it go and changed the subject: "Regaining what was lost is certainly a pleasant surprise. However, what truly worries me is the issue of daily necessities for the town's people..."
Five hundred Dao Source Stones were equivalent to five Myriad Source Stones—certainly not a small sum. But compared to the wealth Steward Qian had plundered during this brief "disaster relief" venture, it was really nothing. The Dao Source Stones he'd left behind in Pingxi Commandery alone exceeded that amount.
Steward Qian exhaled in secret relief, and the smile on his face became genuine: "Daily necessities are no problem! The Four Seas Trading Alliance's operations in Jia City haven't fully dispersed yet. I can rush to bring out a great deal of supplies."
"Then I'll leave this matter to Steward Qian!"
Having settled the arrangement, Jiang Wang called out: "Xiaoxiao, find some lodging for these benevolent friends from the Four Seas Trading Alliance. Make the conditions as good as possible."
"Lord Jiang is too kind!" Steward Qian said with a smile, stepping forward to walk alongside Jiang Wang, but saw that he was already heading into the town ahead.
He felt no embarrassment, and instead enthusiastically called back to his people: "Everyone, follow me into the town! From now on, we're all one family!"
Jiang Wang's skin, after all, was still not thick enough. If it were Chongxuan Sheng, he would probably already have his arms around Steward Qian's shoulders, acting like family.
It was just that...
Steward Qian, who had walked willingly into the "trap," had brought him a considerable windfall. But at the same time, he had also cast a layer of shadow over Jiang Wang's eyes.
If even a steward of the Four Seas Trading Alliance was reduced to this, just how far had the situation in the entire State of Yang deteriorated?
Could he truly protect Green Mountain Town's peace in the midst of such chaos?