Chapter 320: Change of Profession
Xu Ren and Xia Qingqing’s plane slowly descended to the mountainside of Yunding Mountain. Now, Yunding Mountain was only swept by mountain winds. A small thatched cottage in the valley seemed to shiver under the howling gusts.
In front of the thatched cottage, there was a small plot of farmland where vegetables and other crops were growing. A woman dressed in coarse cloth was working diligently.
“Mother,” Xia Qingqing stepped forward and helped the woman up from her labor.
Who would have thought that the once lofty Empress of the Great Xia Kingdom would now be living by self-reliance?
Mother and daughter reunited. The former empress looked at the current Princess of Anyang, and for a moment, they were at a loss for words.
Xia Qingqing held her mother’s rough hands, her voice filled with both bitterness and hope. “Mother, let’s go to Anyang. After the Great Xia Kingdom is stabilized again, we can return here.”
The former empress, Xiao Yu, looked at Xia Qingqing, whose face radiated happiness, and gently smiled. “I’m afraid I’ll bring you trouble.”
Indeed, Xiao Yu had once been the empress of Great Xia. If she were to go to Anyang, it would certainly not be a simple matter. If this matter wasn’t handled carefully, it could bring great trouble to Anyang.
Xia Qingqing found it hard to make a decision, so she looked to Xu Ren for help.
Xu Ren, however, smiled and said, “Anyang upholds filial piety. The princess bringing back her mother—who dares speak a word against it?”
Yes, it was simply bringing back “a mother,” not an “empress.” Xu Ren had made that very clear, and Xiao Yu and Xia Qingqing both understood his meaning.
“Mother, come with your daughter,” Xia Qingqing said as she held her mother’s hand, her eyes full of longing and plea.
Xiao Yu looked at Xia Qingqing and finally nodded slowly, without putting on any airs of refusal. In this fractured and war-torn land, living alone here was not safe. Even though Xiao Yu was a Golden Core-stage cultivator, in this chaotic era, such strength offered little protection—especially considering her identity.
Now, Xiao Yu had two best options: one was to go to Anyang, and the other was to go home, back to her father Xiao Liming. But from the standpoint of a mother, going to Anyang was the better choice. At least Xia Qingqing was not involved in the power struggles and schemes, and could stay by Xiao Yu’s side. Moreover, Anyang also offered the best environment now.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Xu Ren took his leave and went down the mountain to look for Fu Minghui. After all, it was thanks to Fu Minghui’s protection that Empress Xiao Yu could live here peacefully. Fu Minghui had led over ten thousand Imperial Guards and stationed them here under the pretext of guarding the imperial tomb, while refusing to join any faction.
The First Prince, Second Prince, and Third Prince had all tried to recruit Fu Minghui, but he had always resolutely guarded the imperial tomb. Now, Xu Ren had come as a representative of Anyang to recruit him. However, Xu Ren had several plans prepared.
At this moment, Fu Minghui was sighing. Life was tough for the ten thousand soldiers stationed at the tomb. The area surrounding Yunding Mountain was now under the First Prince’s control. In an effort to pressure Fu Minghui into submission, the First Prince had ordered a blockade, forcing the soldiers to forage for food in the rugged mountains.
Now, after dozens of days, life for the soldiers had become increasingly difficult. Although they were cultivators, no one enjoyed suffering. Prolonged shortages of food and clothing were not sustainable, and morale was beginning to waver.
Fu Minghui gently closed the roster in his hand. Just yesterday, more than two hundred soldiers had disappeared. Needless to say, they had deserted. Fu Minghui had no real solution to this.
But as for the First Prince’s recruitment efforts, Fu Minghui didn’t even glance at them. “Even if I die, I will never join the First Prince!”
Fu Minghui had his own principles. The First Prince had once betrayed the Imperial Guards, nearly wiping them out. Fu Minghui himself had almost been captured or killed. He would never forgive such a thing.
Fu Minghui could hold on, and the elite 3,000+ soldiers who had survived that betrayal could hold on, too. But the 7,000 new recruits taken in later could not. Especially many whose families were still in Wuyang City and nearby areas—they couldn’t endure any longer.
Now, of the 10,000+ Imperial Guards that Fu Minghui had brought from Wuyang City, fewer than 6,000 remained. The rest had deserted. But maybe it was for the best—they’d save on rations. Fu Minghui forced himself to find humor in the situation.
Just as he was thinking this, the quartermaster came in, cautiously reporting: “General, we’re out of salt. At most, we can last until tomorrow morning.”
Fu Minghui’s face darkened instantly. A lack of food could be managed—there was plenty in the mountains—but no salt was a serious problem. Cultivators were still human. They could survive three to five days without food or drink, but over ten days? Even if their bodies could endure it, morale would completely collapse.
“Should I just disband all the troops and give them a way out?” Fu Minghui felt a wave of desolation. As a former general of the Imperial Guards, Fu Minghui was deeply loyal to the Great Xia Kingdom. For him to surrender was nearly unthinkable. But now it seemed like there was no other way.
Just as he was steeped in worry, a personal guard entered: “General, Xu Ren requests an audience.”
Xu Ren? Fu Minghui’s eyes narrowed as he began to think and calculate. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Fu Minghui finally instructed the guard to bring Xu Ren in.
On his way in, Xu Ren heard the soldiers complaining and a hint of delight flashed in his eyes. Upon seeing Fu Minghui, he skipped the formalities and got straight to the point: “General Fu, how about coming to develop in Anyang?”
Fu Minghui chuckled. “Mr. Xu, I’m a general of the Great Xia’s Imperial Guards. Your Anyang has rebelled—Li Yulong was the first to raise the banner of revolt. And now you want to recruit me? Do you think I’ll agree? Besides, even if I did agree, many of my soldiers have relatives in Wuyang Prefecture—that’s a huge problem.”
Xu Ren shook the feather fan in his hand with a flamboyant flair. “General Fu, you didn’t hear me clearly. I’m inviting you to develop in Anyang, not surrender to Anyang. Have you heard of the ‘Adventurers and Mercenaries Association’ or ‘mercenary groups’?”
“No,” Fu Minghui replied bluntly. The First Prince had completely blockaded the area. Not only was there no way for supplies to get in, even information couldn’t make it through. Only planes flying high and protected by Nascent Soul cultivators, like Xu Ren, could reach this place.
Xu Ren had come prepared and immediately pulled out a jade slip. “Once you read this, General, you’ll understand.”
The jade slip contained a large amount of information, but Fu Minghui, being a Jindan-stage cultivator, finished reading it quickly. After a brief moment of contemplation, he asked, “Mr. Xu, what do you suggest?”
“It’s very simple,” Xu Ren began with a bold statement and then explained his plan. “As long as you reorganize your troops into a mercenary group, you can move freely. If anyone dares trouble you, you can seek help from any armed group or adventurer. Right now, the First Prince has you trapped in the mountains, but with just one Nascent Soul adventurer to escort you, you could break out safely.”
“But we’re not mercenaries right now.” Fu Minghui was already tempted.
Becoming mercenaries was indeed a good path, especially for Fu Minghui at the moment. His past identity and status had burdened him heavily; forming a mercenary group, however, was the best way out for the Imperial Guards.
“Things have to be taken step by step. Right now, you need to post a mission and let other adventurers or mercenary groups come to rescue you. Once you enter the Anyang territory, you’ll be able to register as adventurers and form a mercenary group. After that, you can roam freely.
Anyone can post a mission at the Adventurer and Mercenary Association, but they must pay the full reward amount up front. If the mission is ultimately not completed, the association will refund the entire reward.
However, note this: if someone maliciously posts an impossible mission, or an evil one, once discovered, they’ll be hunted down by all mercenaries and adventurers together.”
“But I can’t get to Anyang right now!” Fu Minghui’s expression darkened — was this guy playing with him?
Xu Ren laughed heartily. “Relax, of course the association would consider unexpected situations. You can entrust someone else to post the mission for you — for example, you can entrust me.”
Fu Minghui looked at Xu Ren with wariness. “I heard Anyang only cares about money, not people. So, how much does it cost to post a mission? And you, Lord Xu, as the agent posting the mission — how much do you want?”
Instead of being embarrassed or annoyed, Xu Ren burst out laughing. “Even the upright General Fu believes this — that Anyang only recognizes money and not people — looks like Anyang’s image-building has been a success. But since General Fu says so, I can’t be too generous either.”
“Don’t — you’d better be generous.” Fu Minghui felt uneasy. Despite being a Golden Core stage expert and a general, he actually didn’t have much wealth left. He had left Wuyang City in a hurry, and the little wealth he brought had already been handed out as military pay.
“Hmm…” Xu Ren stroked his chin. “General Fu, actually, if you just mortgage yourself, you can get a bank loan of at least 200,000 taels of gold. Your Golden Core status is worth 100,000 taels, and your rank and title as a general are worth another 100,000. How about it?”
“Mortgage myself?” Fu Minghui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You people from Anyang really stop at nothing to recruit talent, huh?”
“No, no, no — you’re mistaken. After mortgaging yourself, you’ll have three years to repay the loan. If you fail to repay within those three years, you’ll have to work for Anyang. But once the debt is paid, you’re free again. Anyang’s core principle is ‘win-win,’ not making everyone hate us.”
“Oh… and those who mortgage themselves — if they can’t repay, are they forced into dangerous jobs?”
“Of course not!” Xu Ren’s tone sounded a bit angry. “Those unable to repay are assigned jobs according to their abilities. Naturally, the more dangerous the job, the higher the pay — and it’s up to them to choose.”
“Alright, alright, I wronged you guys, okay? Now tell me, how much gold would I need to post a mission?”
“No, no — you’ve got the order wrong.” Xu Ren shook his feather fan. “You first post the mission, provide the task information, difficulty, danger level, and then set the reward yourself. But there’s one thing to be careful about — if your provided information and the actual danger level differ too much, or if you give false information, you might be hunted down by adventurers and mercenaries.”
Fu Minghui asked immediately: “There are problems with this.
First, if I set the reward myself, what happens if the price is too low or too high?
Second, what if even the mission poster doesn’t know the details, or the available info is inaccurate?”
Xu Ren shook his feather fan, still with flair: “You’re overthinking it. Since we’re building an ‘Adventurer and Mercenary Association,’ we’ve long considered such minor issues.
First, about the reward — that’s simple. If the reward is too low, no one will take the mission. If no one accepts the mission within a certain time, you either cancel it or raise the reward.
If the reward is too high, the mission will be accepted immediately. Once a mission’s reward is confirmed and accepted, it cannot be changed.
Next, about the information. If the mission poster also has uncertain info, it needs to be clearly marked. If you know nothing at all about the situation, you can choose to hide the details. But a mission with no hints or intel may not attract anyone.
Moreover, if the mission causes excessive casualties or turns out to be too difficult, the association will investigate and pursue accountability — and might even issue a bounty for a manhunt.”
“Impressive methods.” Fu Minghui praised, with a hint of sarcasm. “Then please, Mr. Xu, give me an estimate — if I post a mission requesting the help of a Nascent Soul stage expert, how much gold would that require?”
“200,000 taels of gold. Because to get you out of here, we’d need to face the power of the First Prince.”
“Heh, 200,000 taels of gold — just enough to cover my mortgage, huh? Alright then, I’ll trouble Mr. Xu to post the mission on my behalf.”
“Delighted to!”