The Name’s Whatever Magic Guild’s carriage stopped at the entrance to the market street, and the somewhat odd totem on the carriage immediately drew quite a bit of attention. Totems were symbols of families, guilds, and royalty; people’s perceptions of totems depended on the power of the group they represented. And now, the servants responsible for procurement could clearly feel the respect from the crowd towards them.
“Hurry up and get off the carriage, prepare to procure the goods, and do not delay the time.” Among the servants, a middle-aged man called out to the others, pulling a procurement scroll from his bosom. Ye Chui had made him the head servant to manage the others. “Prime beef, fifty pounds; if there is any good game, buy that too. Also procure dozens of chickens, ducks, geese, and the like; these are Miss Guni’s rations, so do not skimp. Honey, cane sugar, honey pomelo, Miss Debbie specially instructed to procure these sweets. Carrots, wheat flour, and the like cannot be lacking either…”
The head servant quickly assigned everyone’s duties, so everyone busied themselves at once.
A passer-by nearby said curiously to his companion: “Is it not said that the Name’s Whatever Magic Guild only has six or seven people? How are they buying so much at once? That is food for how many days?”
“How many days?” The head servant heard this and could not help but say proudly, “This is just the food our main household uses for one day!”
To be precise, most of these things were Miss Guni’s rations.
The head servant had been a servant attendant for over twenty years, and this was the first time he had encountered someone who could eat like Guni. No wonder the Name’s Whatever Magic Guild had such great prestige; being able to eat was also a manifestation of strength.
Seeing the surprised looks from the others, the head servant felt especially satisfied, urging the others to hurry and get to work, while he himself carried a basket towards the stall selling spices and seasonings. This was something Green had personally requested of him: to select some “pervertedly spicy” level seasonings to take back. Though he did not know what Green wanted them for, the head servant was very clear about his duties; he would do his utmost to satisfy Green’s request.
The servants quickly dispersed. The Rat was assigned to buy vegetables; he tucked a beast-hide bag for holding vegetables under his arm and slunk somewhat furtively towards the area where vegetable vendors gathered.
But he clearly had no interest in those fresh vegetables just brought in from the suburban farmers that morning. He wandered about, confirming no one was paying attention, then quietly turned into a side alley off the street. Inside, he twisted and turned seven or eight times more. Familiar with every terrain of the imperial capital as he was, he soon arrived via a path rarely trodden by people at a dilapidated hut.
He was very confident that even if someone noticed his suspicious movements, they absolutely would not track him all the way here.
He discarded the beast-hide bag under his arm, as he had no intention of returning to the castle. The work at the castle was not heavy, and the pay was quite good, but he was still reluctant to abandon the Rat organisation he had painstakingly built. He planned to exchange the intelligence he had gathered for gold coins one by one, then vanish completely without a trace.
There were already two people waiting for him in that dilapidated hut.
One was a man at least two metres tall, wrapped in a black robe, his features impossible to make out. The other was a dry, skinny little old man with a cunning face.
“My lords, sorry to keep you waiting.” Seeing these two, the Rat hurriedly smiled and sidled up.
“You finally came; we thought Ye Chui had discovered you and executed you.” The skinny old man said with a smile, extending his hand to the Rat. “So, from your appearance, you must have completed the task we assigned, yes?”
“Fortunately, I did not let you down. The secret of why that Lord Ye Chui is so powerful, I really did manage to uncover it for you.” The Rat said with a smug smile, rubbing his hands together. “It truly took the greatest effort from me, ah. Several times I nearly got discovered by the main household; that was truly dangerous…”
“Enough with the nonsense; quickly hand over the secret you uncovered. I will not short you on the reward.” The skinny old man knew the Rat was saying this just to inflate the price of his work. Somewhat impatiently, he pulled a money pouch from his bosom and tossed it to the Rat, continuing to extend his hand, waiting for the Rat to hand over the goods.
The secret of why Ye Chui was so powerful was something almost everyone in the imperial capital wanted to know, and the faction the skinny old man represented was naturally no exception. However, he had not expected the Rat to actually be able to uncover anything.
“Hehe, my lord, do not be hasty. Here, the secret you want is right here.” The Rat hurriedly caught the gold coins, then pulled a folded piece of paper from his bosom and handed it to the skinny old man. During this process, he felt a bit uneasy in his heart. That secret… although he was certain he had indeed probed some hidden matters, he truly was unsure what reaction the two clients before him would have upon seeing it.
The skinny old man impatiently took the paper and looked at its contents, while the Rat counted the gold coins in the pouch on one side and turned to prepare to leave.
“100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, run ten laps around the castle…”
The skinny old man’s voice trembled slightly. He called out to the Rat: “This is the secret you uncovered?”
“That is right; Lord Ye Chui does this training every day. I even heard him tell his subordinates that practising like this will turn one into the strongest person…” The Rat saw the skinny old man seemed displeased and hurriedly added, “Right… Lord Ye Chui also said that with this cultivation, the hair will fall out… When all the hair falls out, one will become the strongest person…”
“Are you toying with us!?” The skinny old man roared in anger, and with a whoosh, he tore the paper into shreds. His eyes stared coldly at the Rat.
The Rat instantly felt a powerful threat to his life and glanced towards the terrifying tall man. Subconsciously, he turned to flee, but suddenly his feet left the ground. After kicking a few times, he realised what had happened: that tall man had extended a huge palm like a plantain leaf and grabbed his head, lifting his body right up into the air!
A terrifying squeezing sensation surged into his head, and he let out intermittent sounds: “Spare me… my lord…”
Bang, his head was then crushed like a watermelon.
“For someone like Ye Chui, how could his secret be so easily known by others?” The skinny old man shook his head and sighed, bending down to retrieve the money pouch he had given earlier from the Rat’s body.
The tall man, wiping the blood from his hands on his black robe, seemed to disdain this behaviour of his and let out a cold snort.
“My lord, you are served by the church, of course you do not care about these gold coins, but I specialise in doing business for the church; I cannot be anything but thrifty, you know.” The skinny old man said with a smile while wiping the bloodstains from the money pouch.
The tall man was about to retort when his body suddenly shuddered, and he looked towards the doorway of the dilapidated hut.
Ye Chui was walking in from there with a smile.
“So you are people from the church after all.” Ye Chui said smilingly. The Rat’s movements had been suspicious, but with the help of his spellbook map, tracking and chasing after him had not been difficult.
“That rat was exposed long ago!” The tall man let out a hoarse voice like rumbling thunder, and at the same time, he yanked off his black robe, revealing his appearance.
This was a man with coiled muscles and a burly build, his exposed skin engraved with one bizarre rune after another, making his image even more terrifying and ferocious. Ye Chui was not unfamiliar with such people; back in Greenleaf Village, several like this had participated in the siege against him. Ye Chui knew what they were: the church’s divine punishment corps!
This divine punishment corps member, upon ripping off his black robe, immediately swung his fists and charged at Ye Chui.
He knew he was no match for Ye Chui, but the church’s twisted faith made him fearless and dauntless. However, before his fist could land on Ye Chui, with a boom, a layer of cannon phantom appeared on Ye Chui’s body, and the cannon shell’s power exploded in front of him.
He hurriedly crossed his fists over his chest to block this terrifying strike, but his body was still sent stumbling backwards by the impact.
When he wanted to charge at Ye Chui again, Ye Chui’s figure vanished from the spot in an instant. The next moment, Ye Chui appeared beside the skinny old man, his finger aimed at the skinny old man’s head, with the phantom of a shotgun barrel condensing on his finger.
“Wait a moment, I am from the church…” The skinny old man shouted instinctively. In the past, he had scared off quite a few people with this identity, and he was indeed considered part of the church: someone who did business for the church and amassed wealth.
But Ye Chui was different from those people.
“Who cares?” Ye Chui said indifferently.
Bang, one shot to the head.
The divine punishment corps member let out a great roar from his mouth. By now, he had calmed from the anger of first seeing Ye Chui. His body leaped up, preparing to escape from the rooftop of the dilapidated hut.
But just as he reached the rooftop, a patch of red shadow came crashing down on his head. With a clang, it smashed onto his body, causing him to fall back uncontrollably. Looking up, a little girl was shouldering a red greatsword even larger than her body, squatting by the hole in the rooftop and looking at him expressionlessly. That was Guni.
One wall of this dilapidated hut had already collapsed, piled there with stones, broken wood, and the like. Ye Chui blocked the doorway, and when the divine punishment corps member looked towards the left wall, golden light flashed as Jillgar appeared there. Looking towards the other side, black flames suddenly burned on the wall, melting the mud-brick wall, and Xilaisi’s figure walked in from the other side.
Ye Chui had long had his companions surround the house on all four sides and the top, preventing the divine punishment corps member from escaping.
“It seems I will receive the call of the divine spirit and return to the paradise today.” The divine punishment corps member was quite candid and immediately assumed a posture ready to fight Ye Chui to the death.
However, Ye Chui just smiled mockingly. “What are you thinking?” He waved towards behind him, and Green, Jacob, and Denny walked out from there. He continued to the divine punishment corps member: “You are just here for my companions to level up on.”
