Chapter 177: Go Big and Go Strong!

"Advisor, drink!"

Wei Nantian picked up his wine cup and set it on the table.

"I appreciate Commander Wei's high regard, but unfortunately, I never drink."

Yan Jing declined with a smile.

"Bang—"

A broad, heavy palm slammed onto the table, rattling every dish.

Wei Nantian's face darkened. He turned his head, abruptly drew his blade, and chopped off the hand of the man standing beside him.

Amid the spraying blood, he swept a gloomy gaze around the room.

"Didn't you hear the advisor? This wine is garbage! Bring out the good wine!!!"

As he spoke, he completely unleashed his murderous aura. Once the new wine arrived, he turned back to Yan Jing and roared with laughter.

"Advisor, drink!"

This was undoubtedly a show of strength, but it was also a test on Yan Jing's part.

Since this was their first real meeting, he wanted to see if the leader of the Wei Faction was truly as violent as the rumors claimed.

Now, it seemed he more than lived up to them.

"Alright! I'll drink with Commander Wei!"

Yan Jing picked up his cup and drained it in one gulp.

The murderous aura filling the room vanished as the wine went down his throat.

Everything remained peaceful until they were halfway through their drinks, when Wei Nantian suddenly slammed his chopsticks onto the table.

"I'm full!"

"Advisor, let's talk business!"

This was another show of strength. Yan Jing immediately slammed his own chopsticks down and smiled.

"Perfect, Commander Wei. I'm full too!"

"That shows we hit it off!" Wei Nantian let out three loud barks of laughter before abruptly stopping.

"Advisor, let me ask you: do you know how many people are competing for the county head position?"

"Go ahead, Commander Wei."

Wei Nantian clapped his hands lightly. Beside them, two men immediately brought over a map of Bianliu County.

Six small streams rushed in from the edges of the map, flowing through six differently shaped Domains before converging in a square city.

Wei Nantian reached out. Blood-colored weird energy extended from his fingertips, tracing across the map as he spoke rapidly.

"First is North Street: Big Landlord Lin."

"Landlord Lin is the king of manpower in Bianliu County. He has at least tens of thousands of subordinates under him, if not a full hundred thousand, and the vast majority of them only do one thing: farm!"

"He holds one ballot himself, and a small faction in North Street composed mainly of grain cultivators holds another. That effectively puts two ballots in his hands."

"Then there's Boss Bai in East Street."

"He controls most of the businesses in East Street; you could even say he holds the financial lifeline of all Bianliu County. He has one ballot himself, and there's a strange man in East Street named Sugar Figurine Wu—his ballot probably belongs to Boss Bai as well."

"Next are the Two Great Artisans of West Street, and Feinan Temple in the central zone. Both factions hold two ballots each."

"Out of twenty-four total ballots, that accounts for ten."

"Besides these five factions, as far as I know, the other two factions of our Zhennan Army have each backed a puppet to run, holding one ballot each. Mechanism Alley Entrance also found a candidate to run, taking up another two ballots."

"In other words, there are only ten ballots left in play."

"And that's only because we haven't heard of any moves from Baile Manor or Crop Plains yet."

"Under these circumstances, Advisor, what's your plan?"

Wei Nantian looked at Yan Jing.

He had just spoken extremely fast, dumping a ton of information to dizzy this human who had just arrived in this Domain, ensuring he knew the situation was anything but simple.

Ideally, Yan Jing would hand over the two ballots in his possession and let him take full charge.

Unexpectedly, Yan Jing laughed.

"So, based on what you're saying, excluding us, the known competitors are the five factions inside the city plus the three puppets from outside the city. Commander Wei, am I right?"

Wei Nantian paused, completely caught off guard that Yan Jing had sorted out the details so quickly.

Yan Jing smiled again and said, "I wonder how many ballots Commander Wei holds right now?"

"Not a single one."

Wei Nantian began to reevaluate Yan Jing.

"Before this, I only wanted to avenge my son, so I didn't bother collecting any. Before my son died, I had considered the county head position, but after he died, I never thought about it again."

"It's a good thing you stopped thinking about it!!!"

"Smack—"

Yan Jing suddenly slapped the table, startling Wei Nantian so much that he froze.

"In other words, nobody knows we've changed our minds."

"That seems to be the case..."

Wei Nantian muttered.

Was that actually a good thing?

"How much territory do we currently occupy?"

Yan Jing asked.

"Half of South Main Street."

Wei Nantian replied.

His tone carried a distinct sense of pride.

He had brutally carved out this half of South Main Street through sheer slaughter.

Ever since he slaughtered everyone from Crop Plains and escaped the joint attack from the Two Great Artisans of West Street, no one from any other faction dared to set foot in this half of South Main Street—let alone covet it—save for ordinary passersby.

Unexpectedly, Yan Jing shook his head.

"Not enough."

"Not enough?"

Wei Nantian asked in confusion.

"Not enough! We need the entirety of South Main Street, at the very least."

Yan Jing smiled.

Wei Nantian laughed.

"Advisor, we don't have the manpower to watch over that much territory!"

His tone carried a hint of mockery. The human in front of him was too green after all, having no idea how many people were needed to hold that kind of ground.

"Wrong, Commander Wei!"

Yan Jing's sudden retort left Wei Nantian stunned once more.

"Managing people does indeed require manpower."

"But... managing their hearts does not."

Yan Jing said.

Wei Nantian looked at Yan Jing and licked his dry, cracked lips.

"Please explain, Advisor!"

"One word: Kill!!!"

"Kill the chicken to scare the monkey!"

"There are at least a few factions left on South Main Street. The fact that they still need managing means you haven't killed ruthlessly enough, Commander Wei. You haven't been absolute enough!"

"How many have you killed, Commander Wei?"

"If you ask me, we should just wipe out an entire faction!!!"

Yan Jing stood up, boiling with murderous intent. Wei Nantian's gaze drifted up with him, staring at Yan Jing's face, momentarily at a loss for words.

He was a killing cultivator, so he felt incredibly gratified by Yan Jing's approach, but...

Only a few seconds later did Wei Nantian stand up to reply.

"We can't do that. We really can't."

"Please, sit down, Advisor."

"Advisor, there's something you don't know. Here in Minhu, everything requires a justified cause and a valid reason. Even if we really want to wipe out a faction, we have to leave them a seed to continue their lineage. Otherwise, not only will it invite gossip, but it might also trigger public outrage."

As he spoke, Wei Nantian personally poured a cup of wine for Yan Jing.

"But I understand what you're saying, Advisor. Kill the chicken to scare the monkey—we definitely need to kill the chicken to scare the monkey!"

"But... like I said... we need to find an excuse..."

"An excuse is easy to find." Yan Jing pressed down on Wei Nantian's hand, stood up, and poured him a drink in return.

"Who's to say those remnants of the Mei Family aren't harboring the villain who murdered Young Master Wei? Wouldn't you agree, Commander Wei..."

"That makes sense. The advisor makes perfect sense!"

Wei Nantian laughed loudly, a violent glint flashing in his eyes. "To be honest, I really do suspect they're hiding Mei Changfeng. Otherwise... how could he still be missing?"

"There's no rush, Commander Wei. Once you become the county head, where could Mei Changfeng possibly run to?"

Yan Jing laughed. "Even if he's hiding in Landlord Lin's house, he'll be dragged out."

Wei Nantian greatly enjoyed those words. He smiled and said, "Then... here's to us going big and going strong!"

He raised his wine cup.

"Go big and go strong!"

Yan Jing also smiled faintly and raised his cup.

The cups clinked together softly.

...

...

"Go big and go strong?"

Old Master Liu widened his eyes.

He had rushed over at noon to tell his young master about the arrival of the people from Across the Lake. He had intended to deliver the good news and flatter his young master's brilliant foresight.

He never expected that after isolating himself to ponder for an entire afternoon, his young master would emerge with the bright idea to 'go big and go strong.'

Wasn't this just asking for trouble...

"Young Master, tell this old man, what exactly are you thinking?"

Old Master Liu looked at Luo Sheng, who was resting on a lounge chair.

"Heh, what else could he be thinking? He just ran out of girls to look at in Tranquil Valley."

The one speaking was Fei Yu, standing nearby. Over the past few days, whenever she was free, she had followed Luo Sheng around Tranquil Valley. She had been quite happy at first, but upon hearing Luo Sheng declare he wanted to go big and go strong, her face finally reverted to its usual coldness and she resumed her familiar sarcastic remarks.

She looked at Yan Jing on the lounge chair. Expressionless, she spoke softly, "You should have said earlier that you wanted girls. Didn't we find a village of silent cultivators last time? With your looks, are you worried you couldn't hook a few girls if you went in?"

Yan Jing sat up and held up a finger.

"We have to go big and go strong, but not right now."

"Then when?"

Old Master Liu blinked.

"When the county head takes office."

Yan Jing said.

"When the county head takes office?"

Old Master Liu and Fei Yu exchanged a glance.

"Then what about now?"

"Right now... we have to wait a bit. Just wait a little longer."

As he spoke, silk threads materialized in Yan Jing's hand.

...

...

Late at night.

Two figures appeared on South Main Street. Like the shady cultivators of South Main Street who couldn't bear the light of day, they advanced through the shadows.

The two split up at the entrance to Wanhua Alley. Tiger walked straight down the alley, arrived at a door to Wanhua Fang, placed the item in his hands on the ground, and knocked.

Then, he turned and left.

The door was quickly pushed open.

A graceful woman walked out.

She stared warily at the unknown object wrapped in black cloth on the ground. She glanced left and right, trying to spot whoever had come knocking in the middle of the night.

She then carefully lifted the black cloth.

Inside lay a piece of Embroidery.

The stitching was incredibly lifelike and exquisitely beautiful. Whether it was the entry points of the needle or the finishing knots, one couldn't pick out a single flaw.

But as she read the contents of the Embroidery, the graceful woman's expression instantly changed.

For it read:

Your time of death has come.

Henceforth, Wanhua Fang shall be no more.

Looking at the embroidered words, fury blazed in the woman's eyes.

She had long since secured connections at Mechanism Alley Entrance. Just who was spouting such arrogant nonsense now?

However... the thread used in this Embroidery looked somewhat familiar...

Meanwhile, the remaining factions—such as Blessing Road, the Heaven Stealing Sect, and the Opera House—also received pieces of Embroidery one after another.

Except...

The contents were slightly different.

The very first line oozed with gloom and eeriness:

I am Mei Changfeng.

Wishing you happiness every day.