Chapter 29: Farewell

Hu San's meaning was crystal clear — he wanted heads. As for the estate, he didn't dare bring it up this time, mainly because his assessment of Pingfeng Stronghold's strength had fallen into chaos. Breaking White Village in half a day had instantly inflated the stronghold's martial prowess to 99 in his mind; before he figured out what was really going on, he wasn't willing to stir up extra trouble.

After some haggling, Pingfeng Stronghold's side sold the corpses from behind the mountain, along with all the prisoners in custody, to the Hu Family in one bundled deal, plus the porcelain and silks from the storehouse. The cotton cloth and grain they kept for their own use — with several hundred mouths to feed up and down the mountain, after a great victory it was necessary to let the old men and boys feel the superiority of the stronghold.

Once the negotiations were done, Hu San took his leave. The stronghold side immediately began herding the captives down the mountain and hauling the goods down as well — clearly they had no intention of letting outsiders enter the estate. That afternoon, over a hundred able-bodied laborers from the Hu Family came swarming over: loading cargo, escorting prisoners, chopping heads behind the mountain, all frantically busy. Pingfeng Stronghold smoothly received eighty taels of gold from the Hu Family, plus two chests of loose silver.

Cao Chuan didn't put on any more airs at this point. He took the gold, saw that everyone was bustling with energy, and announced that he was sealing the doors and entering closed-door cultivation — in the blink of an eye, he returned to the twenty-first century.

Seeing nothing had changed in the room, he first plugged in his phone to charge, then contacted Li Douzhan. As soon as the call connected, the man urgently told him to bring over those few large stone slabs in the room — the cutting machines and everything were already in place, just waiting for him to get back.

After hanging up, he showered and changed clothes. Once he was cleaned up, he dug out the landlord's old bed sheet, wrapped up the remaining stone material in the room, went downstairs, put the stones and the gold into the car, and drove straight to Minglai Pavilion.

When he arrived at the front entrance, he saw the rolling shutter door was pulled down. He drove around to the back of the building and made a call; Li Douzhan quickly opened the back door. After going inside, Cao Chuan parked the car and shooed Li Douzhan into it.

He took a look around the backyard — not bad. In just a few days, they'd even put up a prefab house, and beside it they'd built a color-steel shed housing two cutting machines, one large and one small.

Li Douzhan crawled out of the car at this point. He first moved the stone slabs and gold into the building, then led Cao Chuan into the prefab house: "This is where we'll make your silver ingots. I pulled some strings and got a batch of high-priced 95-purity silver — the filler, tools, and molds are all ready. We start casting tomorrow."

Cao Chuan nodded. Li Douzhan threw a punch at him backhanded: "Damn, you really are something, bringing in another case of old yellow croakers."

"Yeah, about six hundred-plus taels. Ancient taels, mind you, not modern ones."

Li Douzhan let out a snort of laughter: "You think I don't know ancient weights and measures? Alright, if you're not in a rush for cash, I'd actually suggest you stash these away. This stuff is good worldwide. If something ever goes wrong down the line, us brothers will have the capital to make a comeback."

Hearing this, Cao Chuan patted Li Douzhan on the shoulder: "Don't put so much pressure on yourself. The gold bars — we'll do it your way, store them. Besides, we don't need to prepare any escape routes; it's not that dramatic. Still, your thinking has merit. Tell you what: from now on, when you move goods, consider asking for some U. S. dollars or gold. Don't worry about the exchange rate — we won't keep it in a bank, just a safe deposit box, and that's fine."

Li Douzhan nodded. The two of them entered the first-floor hall, and Li Douzhan tossed him a string of keys: "First and second floors are untouched. I've already partitioned the third floor — these are all the keys. Oh, by the way, do you know how to use the safe? Knew you wouldn't. Come on, big bro will teach you."

That night, the two of them spent the night at the shop. Cao Chuan used the entire evening to think things through carefully.

In his plan, this time back he was going to lay his cards on the table with Zhou Tong and the others. His goal wasn't huge — just to take a few men to Hangzhou. From the look of things now, it wouldn't be hard to achieve.

If so, that meant he would next have to trek a stretch of ancient road, until he found a stable place to spend the night within Hangzhou City. He knew this road in the Ming Dynasty was probably impossible to finish in a single day — even though driving from Hangzhou to Lin'an himself took only a very short time.

As for what to do after that, he had no detailed plan right now. He had no idea what an ancient metropolis was actually like; the scattered bits of information online could only serve as a rough reference. For now, he'd just have to go and figure it out once he got there.

This was precisely why he absolutely had to bring a few people from Pingfeng Stronghold — men who understood the local ways and customs, who dared to fight and kill, and who held him in awe. He had to have such men.

At noon the next day, after Li Douzhan helped him melt and cast fifty silver ingots, Cao Chuan went through everything in all his rings: firearms and ammunition, clothing, shoes and hats, silver taels, plus some food and daily necessities. Once everything was sorted out and organized, he casually materialized in a side room of the inner courtyard at White Village.

Zhou Tong and a few others were in the middle of a meeting. Cao Chuan strode in through the door, and as soon as he sat down, he came straight to the point: "Word has come from my master's sect. All matters here are now settled. This poor Daoist is about to journey afar, and I have come today to bid you all farewell."

The men present looked at one another in bewilderment. After a moment, Zhou Tong finally said: "Sir, why be in such a hurry? Now that our enemies are gone and everyone has some leisure, this is precisely the time we should be devoting ourselves to serving you. Won't you stay a while longer?"

Cao Chuan smiled and shook his head: "I have already reported to the sect. This time I intend to go first to Hangzhou City to settle down. Though the scenery of Mu Mountain is fine, unfortunately I cannot linger here. I appreciate your kind intentions."

Zhou Tong recalled the words he and the gentleman had exchanged on the mountain path a few days ago, and his heart stirred. He let out a hearty laugh: "I wonder what plans the gentleman has from here on — could you reveal a little, so that we brothers might have some idea?"

Cao Chuan didn't have a damn plan. At this moment, he didn't even know how many gates Hangzhou City had. He could only honestly say he had no particular plans himself; for now, he'd just have to get to the place first and take it one step at a time. However, he would need the stronghold to send some manpower to serve as a guide.

Zhou Tong and the others weren't surprised to hear this. This man had an enormous background and possessed true arts. He had swaggered in across the void from the very start, completely unrestrained, and they hadn't seen him make any plans before arriving either.

At this point, Chu Jianli exchanged a glance with Zhou Tong, then volunteered: "Now that the official road is open, those old friends in Lin'an and Hangzhou City — we've had little contact these past two years. Hmm, why don't I make the trip?"

Zhou Tong nodded: "Good. Third Brother will accompany the gentleman on this journey — first, to help the gentleman get settled, and second, to pay respects to our old clients along the way."

Cao Chuan chuckled: "I'll be in your care."

And so the matter was settled.

Time: daybreak two days later. Place: the foot of White Village.

A party of twelve men were receiving a toast from Great Boss Zhou, every one of them dressed for a long journey. Short Tang blades hung at their waists; they wore short robes of hemp cloth and bamboo hats on their heads. Even Daoist Cao had a bamboo hat perched on his head — only he carried no bundle. His dried rations and water gourd were, of course, carried by Zhao Si.

After drinking the farewell wine and exchanging words of care, the company set out. After walking a stretch, Cao Chuan turned his head to look back and saw the two chiefs who had seen them off still standing in place, gazing after them. He had a very strong premonition that he would never return to this place again. At this thought, a myriad of emotions surged in his heart. He could only wave his hand once more, turn his head, and walk far away.

From White Village, they traveled east along the Huihang Ancient Trail. Lin'an Xiancheng was no longer far — at most forty or fifty li of mountain road.

That evening, the party rested in Lin'an Xiancheng. Chu Jianli, without much effort, arranged a passenger boat. Early the next morning, a fine rain began to fall from nowhere in the sky. The group raised the sail and cast off the mooring lines. Amid the light mist and fine rain, the wooden boat slowly drifted east along Tiao Creek.

Before long, the boat entered a great lake. Cao Chuan knew this was the Qingshan Reservoir of later ages; for now, it was still a natural lake brimming with pristine scenery.

Not far past Qingshan Lake was Yuhang Xiancheng — this was already the western gateway to Hangzhou. The passenger boat passed straight through the water gate at Yuhang Town, continuing eastward, winding and twisting without pause. By the time the setting sun hung in the sky, they could already gaze south from the bow and glimpse the shores of West Lake, and the riverbanks on both sides had grown much more bustling. Farmhouses and passersby, mulberry fields and vegetable gardens could be seen everywhere — yet not a trace of the later age could be found.

Standing at the bow, he let out a long breath. A certain someone felt an inexplicable excitement — probably the same nervous flutter an ancient scholar felt when arriving here. Except those men came to sit for the imperial exams and win official rank, while he, the Great Bluffer Cao, was at best a second-rate profiteer — a slightly lower grade of style.

Still, thinking of the future, there was potential. Sure, he had no status in this Great Ming Dynasty — just a commoner posing as an alchemist. But once he went back, he'd be a certified local tyrant; a luxury yacht and a private jet were only a matter of time. At this thought, Cao Chuan was suddenly filled with high spirits and surging fighting will.

As for the plan going forward, he wasn't too worried. It was nothing more than scattering silver to get settled first. In a commercial city like Hangzhou, what couldn't be accomplished by spending money? He believed that on this point, ancient and modern times were probably no different.

Stroking the precious ring on his finger, he still felt a bit unwilling in his heart: if only he had twenty pale, severely nearsighted shut-in nerds by his side right now, this old man wouldn't mind a bit of hardship, playing some farming-and-warfare game. But as things stood, forget it. Trying to stir things up alone in this Great Ming Dynasty — better to play it safe. Bullets were expensive, not to mention impossible to manufacture.

All in all, he was fundamentally different from those solo-transmigration predecessors: they crossed over with no way back, so they were forced to assimilate into this passionate land. But he was different — once a person has a choice, they instinctively steer clear of danger. So in this Great Ming Dynasty, he was merely a traveler, coming and going in haste, leaving no trace.