Chapter 86: Longfeng Escort Agency's New Leader

At the Peerless Villa.

Yan Sanniang walked Gu Mo and Gu Chudong to the door.

As they chatted along the way, Yan Sanniang suddenly scrutinized Gu Mo from head to toe. "Gu Mo," she asked, "I feel like you've changed somehow."

"Changed?" Gu Mo asked.

"I can't quite put my finger on it."

Yan Sanniang suddenly took a step closer, leaning in very near to Gu Mo. A faint scent of perfume, like the gentlest spring breeze, wafted from her, subtly entering Gu Mo's nostrils.

She carefully examined him. "It's strange," she said. "You're still the same person, but there's a different feeling. How should I put it? It's like, even though you're standing right in front of me, I always feel as if you're very distant."

"Sister Yan, you feel it too?" Gu Chudong exclaimed. "I had the same feeling and thought it was just my imagination."

"Right? It's a really strange feeling," Yan Sanniang said, raising an eyebrow. "And your eyes! Yes, that's it, mainly your eyes. Before, they were hollow and lifeless, but now they look incredibly bright. You don't look blind at all."

Gu Mo smiled slightly. "Perhaps one day, my eyes will suddenly recover."

"That would be wonderful," Yan Sanniang said.

"Why wonderful?"

"Because you can't see, I always feel like the world is missing some of my charm."

Gu Mo chuckled. "How is it the world's loss if I can't see you?"

Yan Sanniang smiled. "It's because when we met, you were already blind, and when you could see, we didn't know each other. It's been so long, and you still don't know what I look like. When I think about it, I feel a sense of regret. I know what you look like, but you don't know what I look like. It feels a bit unfair."

"Well, there are many more unfair things in this world."

Yan Sanniang observed Gu Mo carefully for a moment longer. "Actually, you have another very noticeable change: your skin. You've been traveling the jianghu for so long, exposed to wind and sun, yet how is your skin better than mine, a woman's?"

"Talent, I suppose!"

"Really talent?"

"Really."

"I'm so envious! It's too much. I wish I had such great talent!"

Yan Sanniang continued to walk Gu Mo and Gu Chudong to the door.

However, just as they reached the courtyard gate, an attendant came to report that several well-known 'Blade-Catchers' had arrived to visit.

Ever since the incident involving the Wood King's descendant, Gu Mo had become famous overnight. With Yan Sanniang's deliberate guidance, the Peerless Villa's reputation soared, attracting many Blade-Catchers to affiliate with them and numerous clients seeking cooperation. The Villa's 'Wind Chasing' business had truly taken off.

Naturally, Yan Sanniang became very busy.

Gu Mo told Yan Sanniang to attend to her business, and he and Gu Chudong would leave on their own.

Yan Sanniang nodded and quickly departed.

Gu Chudong walked out, holding Gu Mo's arm. She suddenly reached out and tugged his hand. "Brother," she said, "you just lied to Sister Yan."

"Lied about what?"

Gu Chudong explained, "Sister Yan asked why your skin was so good, and you told her it was talent. You lied. When you used to travel the jianghu, your skin was very rough and dark.

But ever since the day you killed the 'Flower Thief' Zhou Tong in that dilapidated temple outside the city a few months ago, your skin has gradually gotten better and better. You clearly transformed from the inside out by achieving mastery in your internal cultivation, yet you insisted it was talent."

Gu Mo chuckled softly. "You're so clever!"

Gu Chudong giggled. "Brother, do people really change this much after their cultivation reaches a high level? Now your skin is like jade, and I just touched your palm – even the calluses from practicing your saber are gone! And especially that day on Mount Jiuhua, after your fight with Zuo Yue, the change was even more pronounced. How do I put it? It's a kind of... aura, very attractive. Brother, can advancing in internal cultivation really bring about such big changes?"

"Yes, it can," Gu Mo said, gently patting Gu Chudong's head. "Let's rest for a while longer this time. I'll teach you a peerless divine martial art. Once you master it, not only will your internal energy be limitless, but your skin will also become like jade, and you'll maintain eternal youth. Especially your realm – not just your martial arts realm, but your state of mind will also change, giving you that attractive aura you mentioned!"

Gu Chudong's eyes lit up. She quickly asked, "Brother, so I can become as beautiful as Sister Yan then?"

"Even more beautiful than her!"

"Good, good, good, hehe, that's great! No one will call me a 'dark-skinned girl' anymore!"

Gu Chudong grinned foolishly.

Gu Mo smiled faintly.

Actually, Gu Chudong's natural appearance wasn't bad, but no one had ever genuinely thought she was beautiful. This was because she had followed him traveling the jianghu since childhood, enduring wind and sun, which made her skin rough and dark. Coupled with her lack of grooming, despite her good features, she couldn't be described as beautiful.

"Brother, what's the name of that divine martial art?"

"Bright Jade Cultivation."

"Hehe, just by the name, I know it'll make my skin like jade!"

"Wipe up your drool, it's all over my hand!"

"Okay! Hehe, I'm going to be beautiful!"

After leaving the Peerless Villa,

Gu Mo headed directly to Qu Heng's home.

Just as they reached the alley outside the Qu family's residence, they saw Qu Xiao and Mrs. Qu Li returning with a large basket of vegetables, about to enter the house.

Gu Chudong immediately called out, "Auntie, Xiaoxiao!"

"Chudong, Brother A'Mo, you're back!"

Mrs. Qu Li and Qu Xiao turned around, pleasantly surprised. They hurried over, continuously thanking Gu Mo and Gu Chudong.

After a long moment, Gu Mo finally managed to interject, asking, "Where's Uncle Qu? How are his injuries?"

"Thanks to you, A'Mo," Mrs. Qu Li said. "You're good friends with Sir Chu, so your Uncle Qu was well looked after in the Six Gates prison. By the time he was released, his injuries had already improved significantly. Now that he's been back for a few days, he can get out of bed and move around. He's currently receiving guests at home, and Xiaoxiao and I came out to buy vegetables specifically to entertain them."

"Oh, buying so many vegetables, what kind of guests are they?" Gu Chudong asked.

Mrs. Qu Li replied, "The new owner of the Longwind Escort Agency."

"New owner?"

"Yes, that's right. During that escort mission involving the Bloodtear Stone Clams, the Yang father and son mortgaged 200,000 taels as a guarantee. Over eighty escort guards died, and a huge amount in compensation was due. They would surely have been ruined, so the two of them simply ran off with the escort agency's money."

"Ran off?"

"Indeed!" Mrs. Qu Li said. "They deserved it. If they hadn't run, they surely could have waited until the Cat Demon case was solved. Not only would they not have had to pay the 200,000 taels guarantee to Lingyun Villa, but they could have also claimed the compensation from the government after Lingyun Villa was confiscated. The escort agency would have been saved.

But those father and son lacked integrity. The moment things looked bad, they simply fled. Mo Buyao, the young master of Lingyun Villa, likely sold off everything the Yang father and son had mortgaged, including the Longwind Escort Agency, which he sold at a low price. Now, even if the Yang father and son returned, it would be useless; they wouldn't get the escort agency back. The most crucial point is that their reputation is now ruined, so they probably wouldn't dare to return."

Gu Mo had witnessed the heartlessness of the Yang father and son and offered no comment on it. He asked, "So, what's the new owner of the Longwind Escort Agency like?"

Mrs. Qu Li said, "He's a very good person. Even before the Cat Demon case was solved, he honored the compensation for the deceased escort guards. After your Uncle Qu and the others were cleared, he also gave them compensation and promised to cover their medical expenses for treating injuries."

Gu Chudong exclaimed in surprise, "He's practically a great philanthropist!"

Mrs. Qu Li said, "He's a young man, an old acquaintance of your Uncle Qu. His name is... what was his name..."

Qu Xiao chimed in, "His name is Tang Buyi. I heard his family is in the weapons business and is very rich!"

"Tang Buyi!" Gu Chudong exclaimed, surprised. "How could it be him? His family has nothing to do with escort agencies, does it?"

Qu Xiao asked, "Chudong, you know him too?"

"Yes, we're friends, I suppose," Gu Chudong said. "His family is from Zhushan County. My brother and I visited there once and met him."

"That's perfect then," Mrs. Qu Li said. "Quick, come inside! You haven't eaten yet, have you? Xiaoxiao and I will go cook now. I'll make your favorite braised pork ribs for you two siblings!"

Gu Mo and Gu Chudong didn't stand on ceremony. After tying up their horse, they followed them into the courtyard.

"Dad, Brother A'Mo and Chudong are here!"

As soon as Qu Xiao entered, she shouted towards the inner room. A moment later, two figures appeared at the door: Qu Heng and Tang Buyi.

Compared to his last appearance in prison, Qu Heng's mental state had improved significantly. However, his complexion was still somewhat pale, and his movements remained a little unnatural, clearly indicating his injuries hadn't fully healed.

"Brother Gu, Sister Chudong, long time no see!"

Tang Buyi quickly rushed out, cupping his hands in a respectful salute.

"Brother Tang, long time no see," Gu Mo said with a smile.

Gu Chudong, meanwhile, sized up Tang Buyi. "Tang Buyi," she remarked, "you've changed quite a bit. You seem much more composed now."

Tang Buyi grinned. "Ah, it's a long story. As you know, last time my family had that incident, my father was severely injured and still hasn't fully recovered. Someone had to take charge of the family affairs. I was thrown into the deep end, and lately, I've been sleeping later than dogs and waking up earlier than chickens. Every day I open my eyes, a mountain of things awaits me: socializing, managing accounts, inspections, and so on. I haven't had a single good night's sleep."

Gu Mo chuckled. "You're the young master of the Tang family, the future head. These responsibilities will fall to you sooner or later, so it's good to adapt early."

Gu Chudong asked doubtfully, "Then why aren't you staying in Zhushan County? Why did you come to Linjiang City? And even took over the Longwind Escort Agency? Aren't you managing the Tang family's business? Are you planning to establish your own venture and make a name for yourself?"

"No," Tang Buyi said. "How could I have that ability? It's just that my father's injuries have mostly healed now, so the family doesn't need me as much. He sent me to Linjiang City to find you, Brother Gu."

"Find me for what?" Gu Mo asked, puzzled.

"My father said you'll definitely become a major figure in the jianghu in the future and told me to be good friends with you," Tang Buyi explained. "He said I'm neither accomplished in literature nor martial arts, and although I'll take over as family head eventually, I have no talent for business and my martial arts aptitude isn't great. I have no redeeming qualities. However, if I can make many friends, that's also a skill. Brother Gu, you're the first friend my father insisted I make."

Gu Mo and Gu Chudong were at a loss for words for a moment.

It wasn't a question of being pragmatic or not; after all, ninety-nine percent of human interactions in this world have some underlying purpose.

However, Gu Mo and Gu Chudong had truly never encountered someone like Tang Buyi, who would directly lay bare his intentions for forming a connection.

"Tang Buyi, are you really this honest? Does your father know?" Gu Chudong asked, utterly speechless.

"He knows."

Tang Buyi said earnestly, "My father has planned out my future. He'll select a few people within the Tang family with business talent to assist me later on. Additionally, he's already been training young martial arts talents within the family. So, when I become the head, I'll only need to steadily oversee things. Expanding business routes and maintaining the family's reputation and safety won't be my responsibility.

Therefore, the path my father set for me as family head is to make many friends. My father's path was high martial arts skill and high smelting technology, neither of which I excel at. So, I have to take a different direction. If I can earn a reputation in the jianghu for having many friends in the future, that would be excellent.

So, I came to Linjiang City to find you, Brother Gu, hoping to first become good friends with you. Unfortunately, after I arrived in Linjiang City, I found out you had gone to Qingyang Commandery, so I could only wait. It just so happened I heard the Longwind Escort Agency was for sale. I thought about it carefully, and realized running an escort agency is great. People come and go from north to south, allowing me to meet many people, which is perfect for making friends. That's why I bought the Longwind Escort Agency."

After listening to Tang Buyi,

Gu Mo felt there were many absurdities, but upon closer thought, it was indeed a very good direction for Tang Buyi.

The Tang family had developed to its current level; as long as the family head didn't act recklessly, the Tang family wouldn't lack money and could continue to prosper systematically. Tang Buyi indeed had mediocre talents in both scholarship and martial arts. Forcing him to practice martial arts wouldn't lead to fame, and forcing him into business might even ruin the family fortune.

Therefore, pursuing the path of making many friends was indeed feasible. It wasn't that having many friends was always useful, but at least it was an unconventional way to make a name for oneself in the jianghu.

"But Brother Tang, how do you plan to make so many friends?" Gu Mo asked curiously.

"My father gave me a lot of money," Tang Buyi replied. "Those traveling through the jianghu, whether from north or south, will inevitably encounter inconveniences. As long as they find me, Tang Buyi, I can't promise much, but covering some travel expenses won't be an issue."

Gu Mo was speechless.

This method of making friends would certainly net many acquaintances, whether genuine or not, but definitely many.

However, only someone like Tang Buyi, who had no shortage of money, could employ such a method. If an ordinary person tried this, it would simply be foolish.

"Brother Gu, what do you think of my method?" Tang Buyi asked.

Gu Mo thought for a moment. "I don't know about the effectiveness," he said, "but I imagine people would indeed be quite willing to befriend you."

"That's good enough then!" Tang Buyi was delighted.

Gu Chudong said, "Aren't you afraid people will deceive you?"

"Hehe," Tang Buyi grinned. "Don't worry, Sister Chudong. Although I'm not brilliant, I'm not stupid either. I keep track of things. I'll use my judgment to offer different levels of help to different people. Even if someone tries to cheat me, most people would only trick me out of ten or twenty taels. How big of a deal could that be?"

Gu Chudong was speechless.

She used to work as an escort guard and might not even earn ten or twenty taels after working hard for one or two months.

Tang Buyi asked, chuckling, "So, how about it? Is my method good or not?"

Gu Chudong gave him a thumbs up. "Truly generous!"

"Oh, by the way, Brother Gu," Tang Buyi suddenly said, "It's perfect that you're back today. I wanted to discuss something with you. Would you be interested in having your name listed with my escort agency? With your reputation as Grandmaster Gu, I'd certainly gain a huge advantage. How about I give you fifty percent of the escort agency directly? Don't worry, the money I spend on making friends will come from a separate fund, not a single penny from the escort agency."

Gu Mo chuckled. "Brother Tang, how much did you pay for the escort agency?"

"Sixty thousand taels!"

"So you're essentially giving me thirty thousand taels for free?"

"Isn't Brother Gu's name worth thirty thousand taels?"

"Certainly not."

"But in the future, it'll be worth much more!"

Naturally, Gu Mo would not accept half of the escort agency that Tang Buyi was offering as a gift.

However, he did begin to understand why Tang Tianhao had set such a path for Tang Buyi.

For the Tang family now, earning money was no longer the primary goal. It was time to pursue a reputation in the jianghu. Being able to buy jianghu renown with money would bring immense intangible benefits to the Tang family. And with Tang Buyi's style of conduct, backed by the Tang family, it was indeed possible for him to make a name for himself on this path.

Afterward,

The group entered the house. Gu Mo examined Qu Heng's injuries, estimating he would recover in two to three months. There was nothing major, but he wouldn't be able to engage in martial arts for a short period.

After having a meal at the Qu family's home and briefly discussing their experiences in Qingyang Commandery, Gu Mo and Gu Chudong departed.

Linjiang City became lively.

The Longwind Escort Agency, as the oldest escort agency in Linjiang City, had been through turbulent times recently: an escort robbery, the Yang father and son absconding with funds, and now a change of ownership—all of which caused quite a stir in Linjiang City.

At the same time, Lingyun Villa was confiscated by the authorities.

However, they came up empty-handed. The core members of the Mo family, including young master Mo Buyao, had fled, absconding with funds just like the Yang father and son. However, the Mo family was more troublesome than the Yang father and son because the Bloodtear Pill lie had collapsed, leaving many people financially ruined and now hunting Mo Buyao everywhere.

However, these matters were not considered major.

Currently, the most sensational event in the jianghu was naturally the Cat Demon case.

The Cat Demon case alone wouldn't have had such a big impact, but the Four Sect Leaders and Four Directions Sword Sect involved behind it had a massive influence. Especially when the dark, bloody incidents of the Divine Cat Temple were exposed, it instantly caused the Four Directions Sword Sect to be branded as an evil faction, reviled by all.

In an instant, the Four Directions Sword Sect, which had been at its peak, collapsed.

Disciples from all four sects announced their withdrawal from the Four Directions Sword Sect, while many high-ranking members were hunted down by the righteous jianghu and the authorities.

With the fall of the Four Directions Sword Sect, the entire jianghu of Qingyang Commandery was on the verge of chaos, with various sects and factions scrambling to seize territory, reputation, and jianghu businesses that the Four Directions Sword Sect had been involved in.

And Gu Mo's name, through this incident, spread across Yunzhou once more, with an even greater impact than the previous Silver Fox case. In the Silver Fox case, most of the jianghu's attention was on Zhuo Qingfeng. This time, while it was still about the widely acclaimed 'life-and-death companions,' the jianghu's focus had shifted to Gu Mo.

The Peerless Villa became bustling.

Many people came, drawn by his reputation, wishing to visit Gu Mo, but they could only find him through the Peerless Villa. There were also numerous jianghu factions seeking cooperation. For a time, the Peerless Villa gained immense prominence, subtly showing signs of surpassing several established 'Wind Chasing Towers.'

However,

Gu Mo didn't pay much attention to these matters.

He had been busy all this time helping Gu Chudong cultivate the Bright Jade Cultivation.

The Bright Jade Cultivation was a peerless divine martial art, exceptionally difficult to begin practicing, as it required the practitioner to fully open all their meridians.

Fortunately, Gu Mo had achieved the Grand Completion stage of Bright Jade Cultivation, allowing him to 'open a backdoor' for Gu Chudong by using his Bright Jade internal energy to help her open her meridians and quickly get started.

But even with this shortcut, Gu Chudong still needed a significant amount of time to convert her original Profound Void internal energy into Bright Jade internal energy.

Thus,

Gu Mo was very busy during this period, and Gu Chudong was even busier.

Therefore, most of the news they received about the outside world came from Tang Buyi and Yan Sanniang.

Yan Sanniang was too busy and could only spare time to visit occasionally.

Tang Buyi, however, came to the Gu family's small courtyard almost every day, sharing all sorts of rumors he had heard, and also acting as free labor, helping Gu Chudong collect the medicinal herbs needed for her cultivation.

This continued until mid-October.

On that day, Gu Chudong finally completed the first layer of the Bright Jade Cultivation, 'White Jade Frost Sky,' and broke through to the second layer, 'Red Jade Sunset.'