Chapter 67: Vengeance

"Steal him from you?" Chen Yin repeated with a contemplative look in his eyes. "So it really was your band of lackeys that recruited him in the Parasite Ascension Domain."

"Did you just bait information out of me?" Yan Beihan asked in a furious voice as she grabbed onto the hilt of her sword.

Chen Yin swooped back over a hundred feet as he smiled and said, "Let's talk about the future when the time comes. Even if Night Demon is going to be useful to us, it'll have to be at least several decades from now, so let's just wait and see."

"You were always like this growing up, and you've only become even more annoying! Don't you find it exhausting to have to plan out every step and plot against everyone?"

"That's better than falling prey to other people's plots against me, is it not? We're demonic church members, we have to think a bit more than others. I'm not just thinking for myself, I'm thinking for your sake as well."

"There's no need for that!" Yan Beihan scoffed in a cold voice. "I'll be thankful as long as you don't plot against me!"

"The three worlds will open up again in half a year, and it should be our turn this time. Are you going to lead everyone again?"

"Why're you asking me that? The leader is decided by the higher-ups!"

Yan Beihan had been assigned the leader of all of the main church's Generals during the Parasite Ascension Project, only for such a large number of them to end up dead, and Chen Yin was clearly indirectly bringing that up to provoke her.

"Alright, I'm leaving now," Chen Yin chuckled. "Make sure to work hard in your cultivation!"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" Yan Beihan snapped.

Chen Yin casually drifted away, leaving a long trail of laughter in his wake, while Yan Beihan stomped her foot in frustration.

She immediately pulled out her communication jade before sending a message to Night Demon.

"What are you doing right now?"

"Digesting my Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit."

"......"

Yan Beihan was completely flabbergasted.

Does this guy have to try and piss me off with everything he says?!

"I'm being serious right now! What are you doing?"

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I'm marveling at my newfound beauty."

Yan Beihan's communication jade was hurled against the wall again.

You can fuck right off, Night Demon! Go with Chen Yin if you want, I don't even want you anymore!

However, after her anger died down, her rationality took over, and she retrieved her communication jade again before asking: "I heard Chen Yin is sending you some stuff, is that right?"

Fang Che was rather perplexed by this message, but it then immediately occurred to him that Chen Yin had to be Obsidian's real name.

Could he be an ancestor of Deputy Pope Chen of the main church? Thank heavens I didn't possess the power to kill him back in the Parasite Ascension Domain!

"He says he'll be sending me some stuff, but it's still not here yet."

"Once it arrives, tell me what he sent you."

"But I still haven't decided whether I'm going to accept it, and even if I am, I have to think about how. There are many people after my head right now, and if my identity is exposed over just a few gifts, then I'll have to take those gifts to the grave!"

"That shouldn't be a concern. Chen Yin has some future plans for you in mind, so I don't think he's going to betray you now."

"I'm afraid I don't trust anyone right now, and that includes you."

"......"

Yan Beihan couldn't help but grit her teeth in fury at Night Demon's message.

It was always such a pain in the backside talking to him!

"Fine! You can go die then!"

For the umpteenth time in the past few days, her communication jade was thrown into the wall.

***

Fang Che was rather befuddled by Yan Beihan's furious message.

He wasn't even trying to provoke her that time! Instead, he was simply telling the truth!

Given his current circumstances, he didn't dare to trust anyone.

Not long after Fang Che set down his communication jade, Ye Meng carried in a bucket of hot water for him to wash his feet.

Fang Che placed his feet in the bucket of hot water, then remarked, "You seem to have gained a bit of weight recently, Ye Meng. Your waist is thicker than before."

Ye Meng: "???"

She laid a hand over her own abdomen in a self-conscious manner, then gritted her teeth as she replied with barely suppressed fury, "Maybe a little."

Fang Che thought of his conversation with Yan Beihan just now, and he couldn't help but complain, "Communicating with others is truly a complex art. Even for someone as intelligent and considerate as myself, I can still inadvertently say things that make other people angry."

Ye Meng: "......"

"I'm normally very pleasant to speak to, am I not?"

"Pleasant? Is that meant to be a joke?"

Fang Che: "???"

After some hesitation, he asked, "Are you angry because I asked if you gained weight?"

"I'm not angry."

"But I was telling the truth!"

Ye Meng stormed out of the room, unable to suppress her temper any longer.

Fang Che could only heave a forlorn sigh.

Since when did I become unlikeable? It's like I'm becoming a second Dong Yunyu!

In the neighboring room, Ye Meng lifted up her clothes slightly to examine her own waist, and there was barely any excess flesh at all.

I didn't gain weight! He's just blind!

***

The grand opening of the Unmatched Escort Agency finally arrived.

There were fireworks and firecrackers being set off left, right, and center, and eight dragon dancing troupes, eight lion dancing troupes, and four operate troupes had been hired to further liven up the atmosphere.

Everyone who came to offer their congratulations received a small gift, and even the children in attendance each received a bag of lollies.

Many of the nearby hotels had been completely booked out to house guests, and the occasion was like some auspicious festival.

Due to the existence of the Church of the Self-Righteous, armed escort services were highly sought after everywhere.

Merchants still had to transport their goods from place to place, but they didn't dare to venture out into the dangerous world on their own, so they could only turn to armed escort agencies.

Hence, armed escort agencies had very lackluster compensation policies in cases of goods being damaged or lost on their watch. Generally speaking, the client would only be compensated 70% of the cost of the lost or damaged goods.

Even so, their services remained highly popular.

However, the Unmatched Escort Agency's compensation policy covered 100% of the costs of all lost or damaged goods, and merchants all over the White Cloud Prefecture could hardly believe their own eyes!

Many of them had taken this opportunity to visit the Unmatched Escort Agency, and it quickly became clear to them that this was a very wealthy business that possessed the wherewithal to back up its incredible compensation policy.

They were even more excited when they discovered that the agency had over forty Lord tier armed escorts!

Aside from in some of the most renowned escort agencies in the world, a General was usually more than qualified to serve as the head escort of the average escort agency.

In fact, there were even some escort agencies led by Great Grandmasters, yet these Lords weren't even the head escort of this agency!

It was no wonder that they dared to promise such an ambitious compensation policy! Who would dare to rob goods under the protection of a bunch of Lords?

After conversing with some of the armed escorts, it was discovered that they had all come from a a sect, and that was even greater news. This essentially meant that the escort agency also had the backing of a powerful sect, thereby making it even more reliable.

In light of all of this, even some of the merchants that already had ongoing partnerships with other escort agencies were beginning to strongly consider jumping ship.

"We offer our escort services to goods worth a minimum of ten thousand taels of silver with no upper limit! We can deliver anything to anywhere, and nowhere is too far for us to go! If your goods are damaged or lost on our watch, we offer full compensation!"

Even Administrator Fang Che of the Hall of Protectionists had come to attend the grand opening, offering up a "Law-Abding Business" plaque to the escort agency as a congratulatory present, and that immediately sent the atmosphere into complete overdrive!

Of course, Fang Che didn't stay for long, but his stunning looks were talked about for far longer than the duration of his brief visit.

It was only long after Fang Che's departure that Head Escort Yin Xiu finally arrived, having just run some errands elsewhere, and he was sorely disappointed to hear that he had once again missed out on an opportunity to meet Fang Che.

The head escort wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, more like a sight that made eyes sore, but he was clearly very respected by his armed escorts, so he had to have been a very formidable warrior.

"Welcome, everyone! I am Head Escort Yin Xiu of the Unmatched Escort Agency! We guarantee safe delivery of all goods entrusted to us and offer full compensation in the event that we are unable to fulfill that guarantee. However, and pardon me for being frank, but we're not just going to deliver any cheap crap.

“For goods worth a minimum of ten thousand taels of silver, we'll only deliver within a radius of 250 kilometers, and only for goods worth a minimum of a hundred thousand taels of silver will we offer long-distance escort services. Furthermore, our escort fees are calculated based on the value of the goods delivered, capped at one hundred thousand taels of silver.

“In other words, even if you ask us to escort a batch of goods worth a hundred million taels of silver, we'll only charge one hundred thousand in escort fees. It may seem a little steep, but we aim to offer a premium service with industry-leading cultivation base standards and compensation policy. Now that we're open, you're free to come and visit at any time.

“Even if you don't bring any business, we're happy to make friends. A banquet has already been prepared for you all, so eat and drink to your hearts' content!"

The festivities continued throughout the day, and the opera troupes were still performing even late into the night, only stopping at midnight.

The banquet was still ongoing, but the agency had already taken on six jobs.

The next morning.

Zheng Yunqi had already sent out six teams of armed escorts for delivery.

Even accompanying doctors, escort flags, and escort wagons had all been arranged thanks to the thirty-six shops under the One Heart Church branch helm.

Each team consisted of two Lords and two Grandmasters, and with that, twelve Lords had been sent out at once.

Before long, eight more jobs had been accepted, with sixteen more Lords sent out, that equated to a total of twenty-eight.

Zheng Yunqi didn't dare to send out any additional Lords, leaving fourteen behind to discuss the matter of how they were going to retaliate against the people who had reported them.

"Honestly, I feel like this should take precedence over running the escort agency!"

"I agree! This should be a top priority for us."