After dealing with the large, fat men, Chen Zhou spoke briefly with one of the advanced alliance members beside him, instructing them to guard the courtyard entrance. Then, he turned and walked towards the house. Chen Zhou secretly clenched the gold nugget in his hand.
Then Chen Zhou went into the room.
Upon entering, Chen Zhou saw Yuan Ziyi and Ning Qing'er beside the old man. The old man had recovered his senses and stared at Chen Zhou with wide eyes as soon as the door opened, becoming somewhat agitated.
"Don't worry, don't worry! I'm not with them," Chen Zhou said in shock. He hadn't expected the old man to be so hostile towards him. Judging from his behavior just now, it was obvious that he wasn't on their side.
"Don't talk, he can't hear you anyway. The old man has been deaf for a long time," Yuan Ziyi said to Chen Zhou as he entered.
Hearing this, Chen Zhou suddenly remembered what had happened before. When Chen Zhou and the middle-aged vendor first met the old man, they had been trying to explain, but the old man only grew more and more annoyed by their explanations. It seemed that the old man couldn't hear what they were saying; he probably thought that these two people were trying to blackmail him.
Chen Zhou immediately bowed slightly, then walked to the side and said to the two women, "Could we go outside for a moment? I have a question."
Chen Zhou spoke very softly, even though he knew the old man was deaf, he still pretended to speak very softly.
"What is it?" Yuan Ziyi asked.
"It's something important," Chen Zhou replied.
"Go ahead," Ning Qing'er said to Yuan Ziyi, clearly indicating that she was going to stay here with her grandfather.
Yuan Ziyi nodded at Ning Qing'er, and then followed Chen Zhou out.
As soon as the two came out, Chen Zhou closed the door behind him. After closing it, Chen Zhou opened his palm and looked at Yuan Ziyi, saying, "Look, this is it. I just wanted to ask you, what is this?"
Yuan Ziyi had entered the eighth level much earlier than Chen Zhou, so she naturally knew more than Chen Zhou.
Upon seeing the gold nugget, Yuan Ziyi was shocked! Pointing at the gold nugget in Chen Zhou's hand, she exclaimed in astonishment, "This... is... the gold nugget representing the power of Ningwu Manor!"
A gold nugget for controlling power?
Chen Zhou had clearly never heard of such a thing before, and immediately asked, "What is this?"
"This is the symbol of power in Ningwuzhuang. In the eighth level, whoever has this means that you are the boss of this village, and your words can control the village," Yuan Ziyi said honestly.
"So, I'm now the person in charge of this village?" Chen Zhou asked rhetorically.
“That’s right. The power distribution in the capital on the eighth level is done using this gold ingot. With this gold ingot, you have the final say in everything in the village. You only need to deliver the grain to the capital on time. Everything else is your responsibility. For example, the local bullies are actually all cultivated by the village chief. You can also form your own organization. The village chief forming such an organization will not be considered a violation of the rules of the eighth level,” Yuan Ziyi explained.
Chen Zhou nodded slightly. This was exactly the effect he wanted. This way, the people in his alliance wouldn't be separated!
Having understood this, Chen Zhou immediately said, "The safety of the two of them is in your hands. There might be some disputes here later."
Chen Zhou didn't know how many people the messenger would bring, but he figured it would be a very troublesome affair; this local gang's organization was probably not easy to deal with. Chen Zhou had already prepared for the possibility that he might not be able to spare the time to protect the old man and Ning Qing'er, which was why he spoke to Yuan Ziyi at this moment.
Yuan Ziyi replied, "Okay, I'll take care of them. I'll protect them."
After speaking, Yuan Ziyi turned and entered the room. Chen Zhou did not linger at the door and walked directly to the middle-aged merchant's side. Not long after Chen Zhou left, the middle-aged merchant had already distributed all the tokens in his hand.
The middle-aged vendor didn't seem to have left anything for himself.
However, Chen Zhou didn't ask any further questions, knowing that the middle-aged vendor must have his own plans.
“I don’t know when they’ll be here. Let’s go out of this courtyard and close the gate,” Chen Zhou said, then looked outside.
Outside were still acres of farmland, and there didn't seem to be any suitable place to fight.
The middle-aged vendors and members of the advanced alliance had no objections, and then everyone followed Chen Zhou out of the courtyard. Chen Zhou then closed the gate. After coming out, Chen Zhou looked at the narrow path and secretly plotted something.
Since we've chosen to fight this local tyrant, we need to show some strength. Otherwise, the people present probably won't be convinced.
"Let's walk forward a bit," Chen Zhou said after thinking for a moment. Fighting in front of someone else's house is never a good idea. There was only one long path leading to this house. One side of the path led back to the mountain range that Chen Zhou and his group had come down from, while the other side continued forward.
Chen Zhou secretly pondered that the fat man and his men must have come from this road as well. So Chen Zhou left two members of the Advanced Alliance to guard the door of the house, and then led the rest of his men forward.
The country roads were indeed difficult to travel. The sky was already beginning to lighten, and only then did Chen Zhou notice the sky above.
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