Chapter 265: Too Inauspicious

I'm not avoiding him; there's no need for that.

Gu Xixi said, turning her head to complain, "I told you not to follow; I can go and come back quickly myself, why do you insist on coming along?"

He Jinglan laughed, "I can't not come; if there's danger, I want to share life and death with you."

"Pah pah pah!" Gu Xixi spat, "Can't you say something auspicious?"

He Jinglan chuckled a few times, looking up at the sky, "I heard him tell Zhang Shen he's leaving this afternoon; I don't know if we'll make it in time to say goodbye."

Gu Xixi fell silent for a moment, "Do your best."

Outside Qing Tian Xiancheng, Shopkeeper Liao led the way, having first looked at those eight mu of fertile fields, and also a farmstead of fifteen mu.

The conditions were exactly as previously said: the land is contiguous, the soil fertile, the terrain flat, there is an irrigation water source, and the sunlight is suitable.

Gu Xixi looked at the two connected huts inside the farmstead and said, "They do look good, but my budget is limited; the previous quote is still too high."

Shopkeeper Liao, however, smiled confidently and pulled out a pocket abacus from his bosom.

"Boss Gu, please take a look."

He held the abacus in one hand, letting Gu Xixi look while quickly moving the beads, "This is the original price."

"This, however, is the current price."

Gu Xixi and He Jinglan saw the numbers on the abacus and couldn't help exchanging a surprised glance.

He Jinglan said, "I remember the price from last time; this number has actually dropped by a full thirty percent."

Shopkeeper Liao laughed and said, "Nowadays, not just in Qing Tian County, but throughout Xi Bei, real estate has price but no market; that's why I dared to guarantee it last time."

He felt somewhat moved and spoke frankly, "Actually, I didn't expect the bargaining to reach this point and yet the other party would still agree."

"I've already checked the deed; it has the intermediary's signature and the seal of the Qing Tian County Office, and it's completely valid."

Gu Xixi nodded and said, "Shopkeeper Liao is meticulous; thanks to your mediation."

The current price is even slightly lower than Gu Xixi's budget; why wouldn't we buy it?

Gu Xixi immediately had Shopkeeper Liao lead the way to find the seller.

The donkey cart entered Qing Tian Xiancheng, and the seller was indeed a wealthy family.

Inside the grand gate mansion, only the steward and a few servants remained on guard.

The steward was eager to close the deal quickly, to finish the task left by his master; upon meeting Gu Xixi, he hardly exchanged a word.

One hand exchanged money, the other exchanged the deed.

In the Great Undertaking Dynasty, a deed only needs the seller to draw up a document at the time of sale, an intermediary to sign, and finally the government office to stamp it, to form a complete deed.

The deed bears neither the buyer's name nor a government office registration.

After completing this process, the deed becomes tradable, similar to a banknote that requires no special exchange.

This leads to the situation where whoever holds the deed owns the land; even if an ordinary person's deed is stolen, it's hard for them to prove they are the land's owner.

Gu Xixi understood that this matter must be handled with extreme caution.

She herself didn't understand much, so she handed the deed to He Jinglan.

The farmstead is sold as a whole, with only one deed; the other eight mu of land are divided into three deeds.

He Jinglan carefully examined the deed's content and seal, then checked the government office's bottom seal against the daylight.

After a long while, he nodded to Gu Xixi and Shopkeeper Liao.

The transaction was completed smoothly.

Before leaving the estate, Gu Xixi placed the four deeds into the bottom layer of her satchel.

On top were piled various kinds of medicinal powders.

If anyone dared to steal or rob, she would poison them into a pig's head!

Time was already approaching noon; Gu Xixi, according to the commission ratio of the Qing Tian County land brokerage, duly paid Shopkeeper Liao his commission.

Shopkeeper Liao accepted it openly, clasped his hands and laughed, "Then I'll be looking forward to the autumn harvest of millet."

Gu Xixi said, "The newly bought land still needs adjustment; hiring workers won't happen that quickly either. So I plan to first plant some test crops, and talk about grain farming later at year's end."

"But rest assured, of the millet we're growing at home, I'll keep forty percent and give you sixty percent."

Shopkeeper Liao was very pleased, "That's wonderful."

"I also hope for a good harvest next year, so that Boss Gu and I can both reap profits overflowing."

After thinking, he added, "Besides grain, if Boss Gu plants something else and discovers other money‑making ways, don't forget me, Liao."

Gu Xixi smiled, "Definitely, definitely."

Returning the same way out of the county seat, the blazing sun hung high in the sky; even the cicadas in the trees fell silent.

Gu Xixi wore a bamboo hat; looking around, there was not a single person in sight, only feeling overly desolate, which made her uneasy.

In summer, to avoid the heat on the road, she always set out in the morning and only headed back in the late afternoon, when the sun was near setting; along the way she would occasionally encounter carts and people hauling goods.

But she hadn't expected that, traveling at noon today, there would truly be hardly anyone on the road.

Gu Xixi thought of the previous assassins; she wanted to hurry the cart along, but she also worried that Lucky might suffer heatstroke.

He Jinglan noticed that Gu Xixi seemed off, and from behind asked, "Xixi?"

"Xixi, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Gu Xixi replied weakly, "Hold on tight, I'll get Lucky to run faster."

We were still two li from Huachi Du Cun; as long as we made a little more effort, we'd be safe.

Just as Gu Xixi was pulling on the reins, suddenly there was a bang.

She hadn't yet identified the source of the sound, only feeling the cart body suddenly tilt.

Lucky was startled and brayed, lunging forward but unable to move.

He Jinglan glanced sideways at the underside of the cart bed, "Oh no, the wheel is jammed by a stone."

Gu Xixi couldn't even interject; she was straining to control the reins and calm the agitated Lucky.

When they inadvertently looked up, they saw an even worse scene.

A familiar sight: a knife-wielding madman in black clothing in broad daylight.

In an instant, Gu Xixi could think of nothing else, shouting "Jing Lan, run!" as she jumped down from the cart.

He Jinglan reacted quickly too; she jumped off the cart swiftly, and when Gu Xixi ran over, the two grabbed hands and sprinted madly toward the village entrance.

The cart and the purchased goods were nothing but external objects.

The black-clad assassins' aim was to kidnap two living people; they probably wouldn't lay a hand on Blessing.

Gu Xixi's ears were filled with the howling wind; she regretted deeply, thinking she should have insisted on not bringing He Jinglan this morning.

For the sake of buying land, even if caught, it would be self-inflicted.

But He Jinglan is innocent; if she were implicated...

A stretch of road that usually didn't feel far away now felt incredibly long.

Gu Xixi gripped He Jinglan's hand tightly, her clothes already soaked with sweat.

They had no time to look back, but they could already hear the assassins' footsteps drawing nearer.

What to do, what to do?

Why is the village entrance still not in sight?

Weren't Master Liu's people also supposed to be guarding near the official road? Where are they?!

Gu Xixi felt her lungs about to burst, and she felt her vision beginning to blur.

She reached into her bag with one hand and grabbed the medicine powder.

"Jing Lan, I'll count one-two-three, I'll scatter the medicine to hold them off, you run quickly."

"The village entrance has Master Liu's people."

"No!" He Jinglan objected, "If it were just three or five people, your method would work in one strike, but now this bunch is like a hornet's nest exploded."

She panted as she ran, saying, "In broad daylight, they're this arrogant—are they crazy?!"