Wearing a sun hat and sunglasses, Zhang Guodong strolled along the path. His eyes were fixed on a small villa a few meters ahead, its white architecture standing out even more against the backdrop of greenery.
This area has no factories, but plenty of vegetation and wetlands, making it two to three times more vibrant than the city center. It's said that Kunming City plans to develop this southern district into a livable and scenic tourist destination. Therefore, the area is quite large.
The Rong River, a medium-sized river, flows through this area, irrigating and nourishing the southwest region. Medicinal herb cultivation and tourism have always been major features of Kunming, a city renowned throughout China. On Zhang Guodong's journey, numerous tour buses passed by. Those getting off took out their cameras, flashing them incessantly.
However, this area is now private property. It's not open to tourists, so it's become quiet for a while.
Zhang Guodong walked slowly, his expression one of appreciation. He strolled towards the small villa at a leisurely pace.
"This place is quiet enough, but the price of Yunbu Villa is not cheap. You can't get it for less than 30 or 40 million!" Zhang Guodong thought to himself as he looked around.
These days, he has no concept of money. He has 20 million in the bank, and a couple of boxes in Peach Blossom Spring. There are also some jewelry pieces.
Gold and jade ore were piled up like mountains. Of course, this refers only to worldly money, not the gemstones themselves. If it were gemstones, well, they would naturally be Zhang Guodong's favorite.
He liked to see the crystals piled up like a mountain in Peach Blossom Spring, looking every bit the nouveau riche.
To be honest, Zhang Guodong isn't the richest. The person with the most worldly wealth right now is Ye Yun. The Jiahao Hotel has opened its second branch, and this time Wang Lin and Ye Yun each invested half the capital, splitting the shares equally.
However, Zhang Guodong has restricted the supply of vegetables and seafood to the hotels, so the signature dishes in these two hotels are no longer available to the average person, and the daily quota is often sold out.
This means that the vice president and department managers often have to apologize to guests and say comforting words, which is not easy.
Wang Lin brought up the matter with Zhang Guodong several times, but Zhang Guodong consistently refused to supply more for the hotel. The woman then turned to Ye Yun, who had tried to persuade him through pillow talk, but Zhang Guodong still didn't agree, only agreeing after some explanation. The matter was then dropped.
Don't forget Zhang Guodong's previous advice to avoid suspicion: "Don't give out too many good things, otherwise it will easily attract unnecessary trouble and disaster." Yes, that's the word "disaster" to describe it. If it were just an ordinary person, they wouldn't need to worry too much, but cultivators don't have that kind of logic. If you don't bring out these good things, you'll die.
Now, Zhang Guodong is even more convinced of this approach. The opening of Wanxian Restaurant maximizes the profits from vegetables and seafood, and the revenue comes in crystals! Not paper money!
However, ordinary chefs cannot make good food. The food made from vegetables and seafood looked and tasted good, but most of the spiritual energy was dissipated, so it did not cause much trouble.
At least, several top disciples and disciples from several prominent families, while aware of the existence of the Jiahao Hotel, also knew who was backing it. For various reasons, they decided not to expose the matter.
Those cultivators who venture into the outside world generally disdain spending their time in such places. They'd rather go out and try their luck—perhaps encountering ancient treasures, medicinal herbs, or minerals, etc.—than eating mortal food. Mortal necessities are not only useless for cultivation, but also harmful.
So, the Jiahao Hotel is safe for now. However, how long can this safety last? Zhang Guodong is somewhat worried.
"When I get back in a few days, I need to discuss with Ye Yun about stopping the supply of vegetables and aquatic products from Taoyuan. Our previous decision was really ill-considered."
In just a short while, Zhang Guodong had walked a hundred meters.
He suddenly stopped walking.
"These surveillance agents, five or six groups, more than a dozen people in total. They're actually keeping an eye on Liu Zhengyuan and his senior brother Liao Tian. But they're not making a move! Hmph, although I have the idea of causing trouble for Liu Zhengyuan this time, how can I do that with someone watching me from behind?" Zhang Guodong glanced around. Among the lush greenery, more than a dozen people were lurking, some meditating and breathing exercises, others keeping watch on the small villa. These people had practically surrounded the villa. For anyone inside to escape would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
"No! We have to drag these people into this game and settle things once and for all! Liao Tian and Liu Zhengyuan must know they're being followed. They just can't shake off these people. So, I'll give you a chance to escape!" Zhang Guodong made his decision after a few moments of thought.
He turned and walked back the way he came, much to the astonishment of the watchers in the woods.
"Why did this junior cultivator suddenly turn around? Did he discover something? Impossible! Who here isn't at least level 35? How could a level 19 junior cultivator notice him?"
Zhang Guodong's identity wasn't immediately recognized. His sun hat, sunglasses, and modern clothing played a significant role. Furthermore, the Wanxian Restaurant in the Southwest City was incredibly popular. Who would have thought that the restaurant owner would be willing to leave and follow the Liao brothers here?
These people were unaware of, and disdained to be, the major events in Kunming. They paid no attention to Zhang Guodong's true nature; their focus was entirely on Liu Zhengyuan and Liao Tian. Even during that rescue, Zhang Guodong had concealed his true identity. No one considered the possibility that he was the owner of the Wanxian Restaurant.
This narrow path leads to a main road. A three-way intersection.
Many buses stopped here, and the noisy crowd of tourists excitedly took pictures of the surrounding scenery: orchards, blue sky, the calm Rong River, and speedboats and wooden boats on the river. Many passengers on board wore life jackets, and every now and then a cry of surprise could be heard.
This place attracts many tourists from other places. It also attracts some locals to do business here, selling hard-boiled eggs, drinks, fruits, local trinkets, and so on.
Don't underestimate these small businesses; sometimes they can sell quite a lot in a day, and the prices are pretty good too.
There are also some designated stalls selling snacks.
Zhang Guodong walked over and immediately spotted the snacks.
Speaking of which, one of Zhang Guodong's biggest hobbies is eating. However, he's become quite picky these days, and ordinary snacks no longer appeal to him. It's probably only when the snacks combine with the cultural background of their place of origin that they can pique his interest.
Take Shaanxi Province as an example. Its three local delicacies—liangpi (cold skin noodles), roujiamo (meat sandwich), and yangrou paomo (lamb stew with bread)—are famous throughout the north and south. But in reality, they all have their place of origin, that is, the hometown of these foods.
Many places now offer "Mo Liangpi" (a type of cold noodle dish) and "Chuan Liangpi" (another type of cold noodle dish), but these are not authentic, and many are quite unpalatable. It would be a big mistake to judge the taste of a dish based on just one taste. In fact, truly authentic versions are quite rare. (Capital letters represent place names.)
Young man, what would you like to eat? Come and sit down.
Seeing this, Zhang Guodong sat down as well. He ended up sitting right in front of the stall owner. After finishing his food, Zhang Guodong didn't move aside. Instead, he took out some wine and started drinking, which made the stall owner look at him strangely. However, in the end, Zhang Guodong gave the owner an extra ten yuan, and the owner's expression softened.
"This young man doesn't seem like someone who's deliberately causing trouble."
The evening glow painted the sky a fiery red, exceptionally beautiful. Tourists here typically seize the last moments to admire the scenery before reluctantly boarding the bus and slowly departing.
As fewer and fewer people remained, Zhang Guodong put away the wine jug. No one noticed that the small wine jug had vanished into thin air.
"These people have quite the patience, managing to lie in wait from day to night! But now that night has come, I'm looking for something to do, everyone come and join in!"
With a sweep of his spiritual power, he could clearly see any movement within a ten-mile radius. However, none of the plant cultivators who were tracking and monitoring Liao Tian and Liu Zhengyuan had left. Apart from one person from each group monitoring them, the rest were meditating, absorbing and refining the possible spiritual energy to pass the time.
“Black Dragon, this surveillance isn’t working. There are quite a few people following us around, clearly wanting a piece of the pie. These two have been staying in here, have they already discovered our presence?” A middle-aged man with white hair said with some worry in the forest.
The black dragon was entirely black, utterly aloof. Its aura was ferocious, as if it truly resembled a black dragon transformed from another. At this moment, it sat cross-legged, but it wasn't fully engaged in the activity.
Sitting with him was a thin young man. He had shifty eyes and was so thin that he looked like a monkey.
Black Dragon raised an eyebrow, then frowned slightly before saying, "That's possible. Although their cultivation is slightly lower than ours, both of them made big moves in the market. It wouldn't be surprising if they had some special magical artifact that could detect our presence."
This statement seems to be from the Spear Bureau.
Now that the other side has discovered they are being followed, wouldn't they be wasting their time if they continued like this? They can't just stay here for half a year or ten months, letting the others suffer in the forest.
"Then what should we do? Let's just..." The middle-aged man suddenly turned ruthless, making a slashing motion with his hand, the target of which was the people lurking around them.
It was getting dark. There weren't many mortals living around. Most of them had left. Even if a battle broke out in the darkness, it wouldn't have much of an impact.
"No!" the black dragon refused decisively.
"laugh.
Just then, a tearing sound suddenly came from the forest not far away, followed by a low explosion that spread through the forest.
"Pfft pfft"
"Not good, someone's attacking!" The middle-aged man on the opposite side of the Black Dragon shouted as he saw a white object flying towards them. The white object crashed into a tree, sending countless icicles flying.
"Who is it? Show yourself!"
The basic ice shards have limited effect on these people. As they raise their defenses, the ice shards can only cause a sudden drop in the temperature of the forest, but they collapse like fireworks under the defense.
But it was everyone around who was attacked. A series of low growls echoed through the woods, alerted by the commotion. Now, no one could remain hidden any longer.
"No, maybe those two are trying to escape!" Someone realized that the sudden appearance of the rudimentary ice talisman might be a trick by Liao Tian and Liu Zhengyuan. Seeing that it was getting dark, they actually started to make their move, their purpose being to create chaos among the crowd and then take the opportunity to escape.
Bi: I'll be writing the second update soon, probably past midnight. But the second update is unrelated to tomorrow's update.
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