Chapter 146: Intolerable Bullying

To the north of Wu'an County lies a range of mountains traversing the boundless void, known as the Beiling Mountains.

The section of the Beiling Mountains within the borders of Wu'an County was merely a tiny tail end of this vast range.

Deep within the Beiling Mountains sat a medium-sized, rare spiritual mine, which had long made a practice of purchasing cultivators from the black market to labor as miners.

Early on this morning, a multi-storied flying boat descended from the clouds amidst the morning glow, and a group of brightly dressed cultivators stepped out from the vessel.

It was just the hour when the day's toil at the mine was about to begin. Yuan Ming, the Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge of the Wu'an County mine, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, conducting his daily "lecture."

He was the first to sense the arrival of the flying boat, especially when he felt the formidable aura emanating from Gu Qingzhou, who led the group.

His originally straight shoulders and back instantly curved into an arc, and he trotted eagerly toward the flying boat.

Manager Wu took over his position to oversee the miners, and out of the corners of their eyes, everyone watched as Yuan Ming welcomed Gu Qingzhou and his party inside.

"Look quickly, why has a flying boat come here?"

Some sharp-eyed miner spotted it and couldn't help muttering in curiosity.

"Who on earth has arrived? Why is that stingy tyrant being so deferential?" another asked in astonishment immediately afterward.

"The stingy tyrant" was the nickname the miners privately gave to Yuan Ming, the Foundation Establishment cultivator who managed the mine shafts.

Usually putting on airs and acting all-important in front of ordinary folks, this man would instantly transform into a fawning lapdog the moment he faced cultivators of higher status and cultivation. Many people despised him.

"Never mind them!" someone muttered, heading blindly toward the mine shaft. Even if the Jade Emperor himself descended, it would have nothing to do with him.

The Gu brothers, mixed in the crowd of miners, all lit up at the sight of the flying boat. "Look, the First Elder is here!"

"And the family head, Fourth Sister, Eleventh Sister, and Sixteenth Uncle are too!" Gu Qinghu said, his voice hard to suppress with excitement.

"The letter we received a few days ago was real!" Gu Qingyun's eyes shone brightly.

When they first saw the letter, they had been half-doubting its contents, terrified that someone was playing a malicious trick on them, and thus none of them had dared to speak of it.

Little did they expect...

"What are you muttering about over there? Get a move on and go mine!"

A stern and tyrannical voice belonging to Manager Wu rang out from behind them. Simultaneously, a whip materialized out of thin air and lashed toward the direction of Gu Qingyun and his companions.

Gu Qingyun and the others made no move to dodge the whip; their experience told them that dodging was utterly futile.

The moment the mine managers discovered anyone trying to evade the lash, they would only double down on their punishments. As time went on, the miners had grown numb and long since lost any thought of dodging.

Gu Qingyun and the others instinctively closed their eyes, awaiting the descent of the whip.

"Stop right there!"

A sharp, youthful shout rang out beside his ear. Though the voice had changed slightly from the one in his memory, Gu Qingyun recognized it instantly.

"It's Eleventh Sister!"

Overjoyed and stunned, he opened his eyes to see a young maiden in green robes standing with her back to them, shielding them as she glared furiously at Manager Wu.

"You impudent little brat, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong—"

Accustomed to lording over the mine and running amok, Manager Wu would never tolerate anyone challenging his authority. Without a second thought, he swung his whip straight toward Gu Weiyu.

"Eleventh Sister, watch out!"

"Little Eleventh—"

Gu Qingyun and Gu Qinghu wore expressions of deep anxiety, completely unaware that Gu Weiyu had already successfully broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, whereas Manager Wu was merely at the late stage of Qi Condensation.

Their impression of Gu Weiyu was still frozen in time, picturing her as the petite, adorable little girl from three years ago.

"Taste my sword!"

Gu Weiyu grasped the Leiyin Sword, casually flicking her wrist to spin a dazzling sword flower. The whip split instantly down the middle, severing into two halves that fell uselessly to the ground.

Manager Wu's gaze narrowed. That whip of his was a spiritual weapon, capable of inflicting doubled pain upon a cultivator's body. This young girl was no ordinary opponent!

"You old codger, going way too far! How dare you bully my brothers?"

Amidst the standoff, Chu Liuxing strolled over, swaying his folding fan back and forth with the utmost air of a prodigal son.

Simultaneously, Gu Qingzhou's calm voice drifted over: "Fellow Daoist Yuan, my younger juniors are ignorant of the ways..."

"Realizer Gu flatters me. It's merely a low-grade spiritual weapon, hardly worth mentioning."

Flattery dripped from Yuan Ming's voice as he cast a subtle, glaring look at Manager Wu.

Manager Wu was also someone who knew how to bend with the wind. Seeing Yuan Ming's attitude, how could he still fail to understand? The girl standing before him was someone he could not afford to provoke!

"This young lady, this humble one was blind just now..." Manager Wu bowed deeply with cupped hands toward Gu Weiyu, apologizing profusely.

He had heard it loud and clear just now: the elders of this little girl were Core Formation Realizers!

"Hmph, you must also apologize to my Eighth Brother and Twelfth Younger Brother!"

Gu Weiyu thought to herself that her great-grandfather had indeed successfully broken through to the Core Formation stage. With her confidence bolstered, she lifted her chin, looking just as haughty as Chu Liuxing, a genuine prodigal.

"That's right, hurry up and apologize to my buddies!"

Chu Liuxing parroted her words, pointing a finger at Manager Wu. The gesture, clearly meant to demand accountability, inexplicably carried a comedic flair.

Gu Weiyu's lips twitched as she suppressed a laugh. Mentally rolling her eyes at Chu Liuxing, she forcefully re-adopted the aura of a queen.

Only belatedly did Manager Wu's gaze fall upon Gu Qingyun and the others. They all shared the surname Gu; could it be...

A memory flashed abruptly through his mind of someone mentioning that Gu Qingyun and these people were originally scions of an immortal cultivation family, reduced to their current plight only because their clan had suffered a catastrophe.

Previously, he hadn't taken it to heart. For thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west.

Once you arrived at this mine, who cared what your former background was?

Thinking of how he had frequently harassed Gu Qingyun and the others on ordinary days, Manager Wu's complexion turned from green to pale, and from pale to green.

After a long while, he stammered out awkwardly, "Gu Seven, Gu Eighth... If there were any offenses on ordinary days, please forgive and forget..."

Gu Qinghu and the others held no regard for Manager Wu's fawning expression, merely letting out a cold huff before ignoring him entirely.

"Little Seven, come over here." Gu Qun's voice sounded gently, clearly indicating that he and Yuan Ming had nearly finished their negotiations.

To the mine, Gu Qingyun and the others were merely a dozen or so ordinary laborers. As long as the Gu family was willing to fork over spiritual stones to redeem them, he naturally wouldn't object to Gu Qingzhou and his group taking people away.

If it were just a single miner, Yuan Ming might have given them away bundled up for free out of respect for Gu Qingzhou. But the Gu family had a full seventeen or eighteen people in the mine!

Hearing that Gu Qingzhou was willing to pay spiritual stones to redeem them, Yuan Ming actually breathed a massive sigh of relief, thinking to himself that this Realizer Gu was at least a reasonable person!

If Gu Qingzhou had known what was running through his mind, he undoubtedly would have given a dry laugh. He certainly was a reasonable person—reasoning through absolute *might*!

Gu Weiyu followed Gu Qingyun and the others toward Gu Qun.

Gu Qingzhou was of an indolent nature, simply leaning lazily to the side as an observer while Gu Qun and Gu Hui handled the negotiations entirely.

Aside from speaking a single sentence when Gu Weiyu made her move, he had kept his lips firmly sealed, fully performing his role as a "human prop."

Yuan Ming bit the bullet as he negotiated the ransom with Gu Qun. Seeing Gu Qingzhou's expressionless face throughout the process, he quoted merely the bare cost price, not even daring to haggle.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, this is the ransom. Please check if the amount is correct."