Chapter 955

That place had evil spirits, pirates, and Earthly Yin Qi; even if a god came, they couldn't stir up any trouble. "In the past half month, in our Bailie southern region's Yu County, Pan Town, and seven or eight other towns, seven or eight hundred young and strong people have left home and gone south, especially Pan Town, where more than four hundred people have gone; some are even moving their whole families, and it looks like they don't intend to come back. The government investigated and found that someone came from Blade Harbor and recruited a large number of laborers there to go to the Yangshan Archipelago, with excellent wages."

"Yangshan Archipelago?" Lu Lu Qingan laughed as soon as he heard it, "The one surnamed He still isn't giving up, still wanting to do something big?"

By now, Young Master He should have discovered that the Yangshan Archipelago is not livable, but he still wants to toss and turn, still wants to remedy it? The lessons passed down by the Lu family ancestors show that the harder you toss that haunted place, the faster you go bankrupt.

"It's already late autumn; what can he do?"

"I also heard rumors a few days ago that the pirates of the Yangshan Archipelago have already surrendered to the new Island Lord He. This news has already been spread with nose and eyes in Qucheng; some say this is black eating black, but..."

Lu Lu Qingan raised his hand to interrupt him: "Wait, the pirates surrendered? Which group of pirates surrendered?"

He was a little surprised, but thinking back, the pirate trouble in the Yangshan Archipelago had existed for a long time, and the Lu family had to clean it up every few years in the past.

Cleaning it up once could bring peace for several years, and then the pirate trouble would emerge again.

"I heard that both the first and second groups surrendered, and they surrendered very decisively; the group of Yue Pinghe was beaten down by Island Lord He, who then took the newly surrendered pirates Min Tianxi and Huang Zhao to attack, and it was taken down in less than half a day."

No wonder the Bailie people think the one surnamed He is the new pirate leader, playing black eating black. Anyway, the Yangshan Archipelago has already been sold, and for the time being, it has no connection with Bailie, and Blade Harbor, which is face-to-face with it, is not their own. Lu Lu Qingan felt it was interesting after being surprised: "Can't tell, this Young Master He is not good at business, but he is actually quite a good hand at fighting."

The County Magistrate of Qucheng wanted to speak but stopped.

Lu Lu Qingan saw it in his eyes and waved his hand: "Speak, what else is suspicious?"

The County Magistrate of Qucheng said solemnly: "Now it is the autumn harvest season; if too many laborers go south, the grain collection from the official fields might be affected."

Lu Lu Qingan's smile decreased by three points: "Issue an order: farmers and workers are not allowed to leave the local area without authorization; violators will be beaten forty times; the southern post stations leaving the border must strictly check the index."

The County Magistrate of Qucheng accepted it, but he knew in his heart that this order was not easy to execute. The southern border of Bailie is only forty miles away from Blade Harbor; although Blade Harbor has been "borrowed" by the Qing Nation, it is a free port after all, and the residents of the southern border of Bailie often go there to visit relatives and friends, and merchants transport goods back and forth, so the bilateral connection is very close.

How much actual effect this piece of prohibition order will have, it's really hard to say.

"The people I sent to Blade Harbor to inquire about the news have just returned, basically confirming that Island Lord He subdued the pirates. Several sea maniacs were drinking in a tavern in Blade Harbor, blowing the battle of Centipede Island out of proportion." The County Magistrate of Qucheng hesitated for a moment, thinking about how to phrase the following words, "In addition, in addition, there are one or two other things that are also being hyped up in Blade Harbor. Even if I don't mention them, they will reach your ears in a few days."

Lu Lu Qingan frowned slightly, and had a bad premonition in his heart: "Related to us?"

"Yes, yes." The County Magistrate of Qucheng said in a low voice, "It is rumored that Island Lord He dispersed the evil spirits of the Yangshan Archipelago and defeated the Earthly Yin Qi of Dragon Spine Island."

"Impossible!" Lu Lu Qingan interrupted and denied, "Absolutely impossible!"

"This is also revealed by the pirates; some of them followed Island Lord He deep into the archipelago, killed many giant Earthly Yin Qi, and claimed that the Earthly Yin Qi corpses that kept drifting to the coast of Blade Harbor recently were all the result of Island Lord He declaring war on the Earthly Yin Qi clan!"

"What result?" Lu Lu Qingan sneered, "How many people does the one surnamed He have under him? Daring to take the credit of the heavens as his own, absurd."

Are the pirates of this batch all so stupid, believing it just because an outsider casually bluffed them? Lu Lu Qingan regretted a little; if he had known it was so simple, why didn't the Lu family go and subdue it themselves?

The Yangshan Archipelago is not without value; the few islands not shrouded in evil spirits can still have some output.

In the past, the Lu family didn't manage the Yangshan Archipelago; first, because the pirates grew like weeds, and after cleaning up one batch, another would emerge; second, after Blade Harbor was borrowed by the Qing Nation, there was a barrier between Bailie and the Yangshan Archipelago, and if you wanted to take a proper boat, you had to pass through Blade Harbor first, otherwise you would have to take a big detour, which was not very convenient.

The County Magistrate of Qucheng shook his head: "The pirates who participated in the Great Battle of Centipede Island said that when Yue Pinghe took a boat to escape, it was Island Lord He who blew a flute to summon the Earthly Yin Qi, giving him the final blow."

Lu Lu Qingan laughed loudly: "You mean, Earthly Yin Qi can cooperate with the one surnamed He?" Those monsters can still communicate with people? It's the biggest joke in the world! They are only interested in human flesh.

"The pirates are absolutely certain that the Earthly Yin Qi are under the command of Island Lord He." The County Magistrate of Qucheng smiled bitterly, "I also think it was just a coincidence; Earthly Yin Qi eating people doesn't distinguish between locations or occasions. But I went around to ask the people around Min Tianxi, and the answer I got was that Island Lord He and a giant demon monster boarded Dragon Spine Island, visited the Lord of the Earthly Yin Qi, and then reached an agreement with the Earthly Yin Qi clan."

"When he returned from White Abyss, Min Tianxi, Huang Zhao, and others had all seen the content of the agreement with their own eyes."

"What content?" Regarding the joke of a wealthy young master buying an island randomly, Lu Lu Qingan already felt it wasn't funny.

"A part of Dragon Spine Island was also allocated for the Earthly Yin Qi to inhabit, and the Earthly Yin Qi cannot come to disturb He Lingchuan's normal industry."

"It wouldn't be a fake agreement, would it?" Lu Lu Qingan only felt it was unbelievable, "The person you asked, did he see the terms with his own eyes?"

"Uh, he saw it, but he couldn't understand it; it is said that it was written in ancient immortal language."

Lu Lu Qingan laughed his head off: "These pirates don't even recognize a few big characters; can they recognize ancient immortal language? And they still dare to speak with certainty!"

For pirates, what's the difference between ancient immortal language and ghost symbols? Anyway, they don't recognize either.

The one surnamed He held a piece of ghost symbols and easily bluffed these uncultured rough people.

"It is said that there are people among the pirates who recognize it; the second leader Min Tianxi recognizes ancient immortal language." The County Magistrate of Qucheng said, "He said it was correct, so his subordinates naturally believed it."

"Simply a farce!" Lu Lu Qingan opened his mouth to define it, "If your previous words are true, the Earthly Yin Qi clan was really slaughtered by him, can the King of Earthly Yin Qi still reach an agreement with him?"

He pointed out the suspicious point: "Even if this agreement is true, there is no clause for Earthly Yin Qi to help in the battle."

"But the pirates are deeply convinced, and now they have regarded Island Lord He as a god-man." The County Magistrate of Qucheng continued, "The boatmen of Blade Harbor also said that even if it is a cloudy day to go to sea, there is no longer gray fog floating in the depths of the archipelago, and the ships coming and going are very safe."

Lu Lu Qingan muttered to himself: "Evil spirits, pirates, Earthly Yin Qi—were they really all settled by him?"

Reason told him that this was absolutely impossible.

But Lu Lu Qingan remembered in a flash that after He Lingchuan paid the final payment for the island, Secretary Yang came to report that this Young Master He turned a deaf ear to the pirates mentioned by Lei Ni and turned a blind eye to the Earthly Yin Qi corpses drifting from the sea, probably knowing the situation early on.

At that time, he also felt that Secretary Yang's inference was reasonable, but the island had already been sold, and the money had been received, so he was too lazy to think more.

Thinking carefully now, was the one surnamed He premeditated early on?

He was confident in solving the trouble of the Yangshan Archipelago, so he came to Bailie to suppress the price and bought the vast archipelago at a surprisingly low price! If the Yangshan Archipelago is free from evil spirits from now on, how can the fertility of the land and the richness of the products of those forty-odd islands not make people covet!

Lu Lu Qingan felt a little blocked in his heart.

Although the Yangshan Archipelago has evil spirit veins, it is different from other evil spirit dead zones. Those places have no grass, no birds or beasts, and have no value at all; the Yangshan Archipelago is exposed to the sun, and the grain crops grown on the island as long as they can be exposed to the sun will not be contaminated with evil spirit energy, and people and livestock will not get sick after eating them.

He calmed down before saying to the County Magistrate of Qucheng: "Don't tell my father about this."

The County Magistrate of Qucheng looked embarrassed: "Ah, this..."

Lu Zhensheng is the head of the Lu family after all.

Lu Lu Qingan felt it was inappropriate as soon as he spoke, patted his head and said: "Ah, I'm muddled. You tell my father in the afternoon."

The County Magistrate of Qucheng then responded with a 'yes' and retreated.

Near noon, father and son had lunch together.

Lu Zhensheng chatted with his eldest son for a while about the political affairs in the territory, then grabbed a thin soft pancake, rolled up some fragrant roasted meat slices, brushed a layer of pear sauce, and ate until he narrowed his eyes:

"Lu Qingan, have you heard about the recent events in the Yangshan Archipelago?"

Lu Lu Qingan cursed inwardly, the old man's heart only works internally; if he could be so quick-witted externally, it would be great.

But he had to look blank: "What happened?"

"That He Lingchuan who bought the archipelago seems to have come up with quite a few ways." Lu Zhensheng continued to ask him, "Didn't County Magistrate Liu mention it to you?"

"I've heard some rumors of catching wind and shadows, but I didn't take them seriously." Lu Lu Qingan sneered, "Dispersing evil spirits, eliminating Earthly Yin Qi—if a wealthy young master had that kind of ability, where in the world couldn't he go? Why run to manage the Yangshan Archipelago?"

"Didn't you send someone to explore his background?"

"Sent, how could they come back so fast?" Lu Lu Qingan picked up a soft-shelled crab fried golden, and it crunched loudly.

So crispy!

This molting crab is soft, no need to peel by hand at all, just one bite and it explodes with yellow. "The Fu Nation is on the side of Beijia; even taking a boat and rushing on the road, a round trip takes at least half a year, not counting the time to inquire about news there."

If they want to find out He Lingchuan's background, just sending bird demons back and forth is not enough; they need people to go to the spot to inquire and investigate.

"Besides, if he really has the ability to disperse evil spirits, why only open up a dozen islands?" Lu Lu Qingan acted light and breezy, "I see, he is creating some gimmicks and making a name for himself, so that he can sell the crops produced on the island later."

"Gimmicks?" Lu Zhensheng admitted that this guess made sense. In order to create momentum for his own publicity, what wouldn't a businessman do? "Then how did he subdue the pirates? In the past month, those pirates haven't committed any crimes again."

(End of chapter)