Chapter 20: The Road-Blocking Tiger

It wasn't about becoming some overlord in the Great Ming — Cao Chuan alone had no such ambition. He simply felt that, with his footing still unsteady, the opening game called for cautious development: build a power base first. This was mainly for his own safety.

Besides, the only thing he could resell right now was jade. The several dozen pieces of jade material he'd shipped back this time — he still had no idea how long it would take Li Douzhan to sell them. His current business scope felt a bit narrow.

In Cao Chuan's plan, once he acquired guns, the logical next step was to head for Hangzhou City. It was the closest major Ming-dynasty city to Pingfeng Stronghold, and it was bound to have plenty of local products he could take back to the modern era and turn into currency.

He'd also need to lure some manpower away from the stronghold — he couldn't very well hit the road alone. The ring worked by point-to-point teleportation; if he wanted to teleport from the modern world to Hangzhou City, he'd have to go to Hangzhou himself first and unlock the map.

Today he'd originally just been watching the show — a local tyrant and bandits scheming to devour a local bully, entertaining to listen to. It wasn't until Chief Steward Hu blocked the road at the White Family's place that Cao Chuan realized this White Family bandit gang had apparently blocked his, Cao's, road too. He knew that getting to Hangzhou meant passing through Lin'an — he'd driven the G56 expressway plenty of times. Now that a road-blocking tiger had appeared, he naturally couldn't just keep watching the show.

Zhou Tong, caught off guard by Cao Chuan's abrupt question, didn't react for a moment. Only after a pause did he reply, "Yes. Ever since the stronghold and the White Family fell into mutual hostility, both sides have locked down the roads against each other. The brothers' route east has been cut off by Bai Shouhu. Passing messages and shipping out mountain goods all rely on merchant caravans and escort agencies."

Cao Chuan asked further, "Just now I saw the Great Lord was unwilling to send troops together with the Hu Family. What's the story there?"

Zhou Tong gave a bitter laugh. "That job can't be taken. The bunch of tenant farmers Hu San mentioned are just facade goods — you can't count on them for attacking a stronghold. White Manor has high walls and dangerous terrain. If the brothers fill in there, they just die for nothing. If too many men die, the Hu Family turning hostile is a real possibility. Everything they promised today — none of it would count."

Cao Chuan made an "oh" sound, then lifted his tea bowl. "If I'm not mistaken, the crux of the matter right now is that White Manor is hard to assault, and no one wants to make wedding dresses for others?"

Zhou Tong slapped his thigh. "Sir, you see things clearly! It's not that I'm boosting others' morale, but our own mountain gate here — no matter how many foes come, it's all the same to us. As long as we've got enough stones and ash bottles, just drop them down the Goat Gut Path, and no matter how many die, it won't be enough. White Manor is just as precipitous. The stronghold only has this many elite soldiers — we can't fill them in!"

At this point, Zhou Tong shut his mouth, because a certain someone had already sat back down, half-sprawled in the bamboo chair, a mysterious smile hanging at the corner of his mouth. If Li Douzhan were here, he'd know exactly what this bastard meant: "Beg me. Come on, beg me."

Fortunately, Zhou Tong and the others weren't stupid. After exchanging a few glances, Chu Jianli probed with a tentative question: "Sir, could it be you intend to unleash divine power and take White Village?"

Cao Chuan laughed heartily. "Good, good."

White steam filled the bathroom. The sound of rushing water, mixed with someone's satisfied sighs, echoed through the room. The first thing Cao Chuan did upon returning to the modern world was bathe — it had become his habit.

Only after a long while did he walk out, toweling his hair. He turned on the air conditioner, changed into clean underwear, sat down at the desk, picked up his charging phone, and started reading his text messages.

This time he'd only stayed at Pingfeng Stronghold for five days. After leaving the salt bags in the ring, he'd returned to the modern world.

Once he promised to step in and resolve the White Manor issue, Zhou Tong and the others instantly lost their composure. If it had been some monk or Daoist priest spouting this kind of nonsense, the Great Lords would have given the direct order to start slaughtering — it would have been an insult to their character and intelligence. But since Grand Master Cao was the one making the move, then this matter seemed to have real hope.

However, True Man Cao was currently empty-handed and couldn't accomplish it just yet. He could only instruct everyone to maintain the situation — his venerable self needed to go into cultivation, and everything would be handled once he'd requested a dharma artifact from the sect. As for Chief Steward Hu, Zhou Tong directly sent him away. With the True Man stepping in, what use were those hungry wolves?

After checking the text messages on his phone, Cao Chuan first called his mother. Once he learned the passport was ready, he called Li Douzhan. The moment the other end picked up, Li Douzhan told him to come look at a property on Minzheng Road. Cao Chuan packed up his dirty clothes and the like, changed into a western suit, then locked the door and went downstairs.

On the way, he found a dry cleaning shop and dropped off all the clothes. Then, in the car, he checked the map while searching for Minzheng Road. It took him half an hour to arrive. From a distance, he saw Li Douzhan planted at the street entrance waiting for him.

Minzheng Road was a quiet street. After driving a stretch, Li Douzhan pointed to a building by the roadside. "This is the one. Three stories, with a courtyard in the back. Take a look at the storefront — what do you think?"

Cao Chuan stopped the car and looked. The appearance was good — a square and upright three-story building. The first floor had a signboard bearing the three characters "Wenmo Pavilion." Antique-charm green brick veneer, windows all semi-circular, with the flavor of a Republic-era foreign building. Seeing the boss nod, Li Douzhan directed him to circle around to the back entrance and drive into the backyard.

The moment he entered the backyard, Cao Chuan spotted a brand-new Toyota Prado.

Beside him, Li Douzhan grinned slyly. "I picked it out special. A henchman's car can't be better than the boss's, right? Isn't that so, Cao Zong?"

Cao Chuan laughed and punched him in the shoulder before the two of them got out of the car.

The landlord was already waiting for them in the backyard. Li Douzhan made introductions — the old man's surname was Wu, a senior in the antiques trade, in his sixties, a very spirited old fellow. Wenmo Pavilion was a shop he'd opened himself.

After the introductions, Cao Chuan looked around. The backyard wasn't large — about a hundred square meters. The first floor of the three-story building was the shop, filled with the Four Treasures of the Study and calligraphy and painting. The second floor was a tea room. The third floor was a private room plus a storehouse. The decoration was well done, full of antique charm.

After a general look, Cao Chuan was reasonably satisfied. Seeing a potential deal, the old man invited the two upstairs to the second floor for tea, introducing the situation while brewing.

The building looked old, but it had actually been built only a dozen or so years ago. It had originally been an asset of the Arts and Crafts Factory, intended from the start as a storefront. For something they used themselves, the steel bars and cement were all high-grade. Later, when the Arts and Crafts Factory went bankrupt and the factory grounds were demolished by a real estate developer, Wu Laotou had taken a liking to this building, made a decisive move, and bought it, renovating it into an antique shop.

In the past couple of years, Wu Laotou had felt his energy declining. On top of that, his son in Australia kept urging him to come for retirement. Only recently had he made up his mind to leave. Once the news was released, Li Douzhan was the first to come looking.

When Cao Chuan asked the price, the old man opened his mouth with twelve million. Li Douzhan's hair instantly rushed to his crown in fury, and the two began tearing at each other — one insisting the place was desolate and value preservation hopeless, the other that housing prices had long since risen. They argued for over half an hour before the old man finally admitted defeat and retreated: final price, 9.2 million, with a pile of calligraphy, paintings, and stationery thrown in as a freebie. Take it or leave it.

Seeing that negotiations were about settled, the two took their leave. They found a tea house nearby, opened a private room, sat down, and began to discuss.