Chapter 1 The Tiger Head City

Tiger Head City wasn't large; among the border towns, it was considered prosperous, but compared to the cities of later generations with their three, four, or five ring roads, it seemed rather diminutive.

The four of them led their horses, and soon arrived at the inn.

Normally, at this hour, the inn's business should have slowed down, with at most two or three tables of guests stubbornly enduring, seeing who would give in first and pay the bill, testing their endurance.

But tonight, the inn was clearly unusual, too deserted, so deserted that except for a small lantern at the entrance, the rest was shrouded in darkness.

"My lord, something's wrong." Xue San immediately darted in front of Zheng Fan, assuming a protective stance.

There definitely was a problem, just like a nightclub in later generations closing at ten o'clock; either something had happened or there was a crackdown.

Zheng Fan narrowed his eyes, truly worried that something might have happened to the inn; after all, this was his home in this world, and there were people at home.

"Has Alang returned?"

At this moment, an old man with white hair at the entrance was holding a lantern and peering in their direction.

Zheng Fan recognized this old man; he was the gatekeeper of the inn. Usually, after the inn closed at night, he would come out and set up his bed behind the door panels to keep watch.

He had no relatives in Tiger Head City and was on the verge of starvation, but Si Niang had given him a bite to eat. There was no salary, but meals were provided, and he would receive a red envelope during festivals.

"What happened at home?" Xue San asked the old man.

"Oh, you've really returned, and all of you have returned." The old man held up the lantern and looked at all four of them before saying, "Alangs, the inn is closed."

"Closed? What happened?" Zheng Fan asked.

"No, no, Si Niang and Mister Bei recently bought a new residence, and everyone has moved there. I'm just here to watch over the place.

Oh right, Si Niang also instructed me that if the Alangs return, they should go to the courtyard at the innermost corner of the old well at the street entrance."

"Moved?" Zheng Fan was puzzled.

Why move for no reason?

Even if you wanted to speculate on real estate… there's no future in doing that in Tiger Head City, is there?

However, Xue San and Liang Cheng didn't seem too surprised after hearing this explanation; it seemed they were already mentally prepared.

They followed their lord out to kill enemies with enthusiasm, how could those left at home remain calm?

If they didn't stir up some trouble, wouldn't they be outdone?

…………

"The monthly stipends for all the officials in Tiger Head City, according to the account books, should be doubled."

Blind Bei sat in a chair, holding an orange, peeling it while making a decision.

Because of the ample sunshine, the oranges here were very sweet and delicious.

"Doubled?" A'ming, holding the account book, didn't quite understand, and said, "Isn't that too much?"

The Three Gods Society, under Blind Bei's "a song that breaks the heart,"

All the leaders went to embrace their respective gods of faith in one night;

The remaining believers scattered the next day. This kind of gang that didn't have any real business profits and relied entirely on coaxing believers for incense money was really too easy to dismantle.

The Hyena Gang was almost completely slaughtered by A'ming himself. There might have been a few stray cats surviving, but it wouldn't affect the overall situation.

However, Blind Bei stopped the Hyena Gang's business directly because he was concerned about Zheng Fan's attitude. The barbarian slaves were kept as servants, and the dozen or so young women were all kept by Blind Bei and specially arranged for.

The Righteous Gathering Gang and the Cart Gang were taken over relatively smoothly, but it should be known that after the inn's forces unified the four forces in Tiger Head City, it also inherited the monthly payments that these four forces needed to pay to the officialdom of Tiger Head City, both high and low.

The high and mighty adults didn't care how the gangs below killed each other, as long as the monthly stipends were delivered, they wouldn't bother.

This was the way of the underworld, and the way of the officials. They seemed to be separate, but they were inextricably linked, like the Taiji yin-yang symbol, which could never be completely separated from ancient times to the present.

And now, the inn was, after cutting off two sources of income, going to bear twice as much monthly stipend under Blind Bei's decision.

Faced with A'ming's incomprehension, Blind Bei simply gestured towards Si Niang's direction, saying:

"A'ming, ask Si Niang, she's opened a lot of brothels in various eras and cities, she understands a lot."

Si Niang nodded upon hearing this, and said:

"This expense cannot be saved, and because we are newcomers, just starting out, we need to show our attitude more sincerely."

A'ming shook his head; he actually didn't like these calculating things, but he still didn't understand one thing, and asked:

"Why was the Three Gods Society just dismantled so directly?"

The incense money offered by the believers every month wasn't little either.

"My lord is a cultural creator, um, I mean he was before."

"What does this have to do with my lord?"

"Just like being very disgusted with human trafficking, my lord is also unwilling to touch the issues of churches and cults, so let's not count on this money, let's not touch this kind of business."

Si Niang then picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, and added:

"Blind Bei's manga was banned because it involved plots in that area."

"…………" Blind Bei.

A'ming didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"It's okay, the savings of the gangs are really not small, enough for our recent expenses. Let's feed those two-faced people above first.

As long as they don't get in the way, we'll have plenty of opportunities to make money next.

The seven of us, gathered together, and still in this ancient time, if we can't even scrape together some silver, then we might as well just slit our own throats."

"Yes, making money is not difficult. After we have managed and smoothed out the relationships above and below, we will prepare to start." Si Niang echoed.

As long as the subsequent business can keep up, the money on hand now is enough for everyone to spend these few months, and it is very extravagant spending.

"What business?" A'ming asked.

Blind Bei's empty eye sockets faced A'ming.

He didn't speak.

"What do you mean by this?" A'ming asked.

"Look at my eyes."

"…………" A'ming.

Feng Si Niang then smoothed things over, and also gave A'ming a stab, saying:

"We're all time-travelers, isn't it easy to make some money by making perfume or soap?"

At this time, the door was pushed open from the outside, and the girl Yun poked her head out, shouting to the three people inside:

"Mama, master is back, they are all back."

…………

Zheng Fan felt like he was dreaming,

He had read many other time-travel works before, where the protagonists mostly had a hard life after time-traveling, and then it was popular to have a younger sister as a burden.

On his side, he had a maid at the start, and after wandering around for a while, he had a big yard when he came back.

Especially when Zheng Fan was led past the artificial mountain in the courtyard, seeing two rows of young women standing on both sides wearing ancient costumes, greeting him in unison.

For a moment, Zheng Fan had a sense of trance.

At this moment, Zheng Fan suddenly had a thought in his mind, that it would be pretty good to live like this.

Although there was no electricity, no internet, and no air conditioning, the life of an ancient master, with three wives and four concubines, bossing people around, also had extremely strong appeal.

The fragrance of powder permeated the air, and hot water had been prepared in the pool, covered with petals.

The sound of silk and bamboo music rang out, appropriately stirring the heartstrings.

He didn't know when, but the clothes on his body had already been taken off, and Zheng Fan walked into the pool somewhat dazedly, blending into this fragrant atmosphere.

Hu,

It's so unreal.

……………

"I think this is a bit too much, aren't you afraid that master will just sink into it?"

A'ming was a little worried.

Now, everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, the underground forces of Tiger Head City had also been unified, and master and the others had returned safely.

But Blind Bei directly arranged this gentle embrace, was he planning to just get master drunk in it?

Blind Bei shook his head, saying, "It still depends on master's own choice."

"Choice?"

"Actually, a person's desires can never be satisfied. When you get something temporarily, you will naturally want to get two and three;

Many literary works like to portray the simple old peasants who face the loess and turn their backs to the sky, thinking they are simple, kind, and down-to-earth;

But if there really isn't an opportunity to move up, and you can't see any hope of leaving, who would be willing to be so down-to-earth for a lifetime?"

"I just think it's a bit low to use this method to seduce master."

"It's okay, master has gone out and come back, he always has to enjoy the fruits of our team's development. Master is different from us, each of us is actually a pervert.

Our interests and hobbies are mostly not in the enjoyment that normal people understand. Our needs are more extreme, our desires are more twisted.

As for master, his normal side is more, you can't expect master to squat with you one day and taste whose blood from which age group and region is sweeter, right?"

"Don't overdo it, what if master just stays in the back house and doesn't come out, forgets about home, you'll have something to cry about."

"That's master's own choice. We promised him before, the right to choose is on him. Being a wealthy man, living a stable life, having children, he can also do it."

"I only remember that master didn't make this choice before."

"But people will change. When we first came, we only had an inn, barely able to make ends meet. At that time, we were barefoot and not afraid of those wearing shoes. Now, the conditions are better, so we naturally have to give master a chance to choose again.

You've heard the story of the two cows, haven't you?"

"Liang Cheng and the others are already eating in the side hall, aren't you going?"

"Yes, should we go together later?"

"Okay."

The two of them stood here for about a quarter of an hour, seeing that Zheng Fan hadn't come out of the backyard yet.

Blind Bei sighed,

And said:

"Let's go to the side hall and listen to what they encountered along the way."

…………

In the side hall,

Xue San, Liang Cheng, and Fan Li had already finished eating, especially beside Fan Li, two large rice buckets were already empty.

This child finally had the opportunity to eat rice after going to the desert, and he couldn't stop eating it.

After Blind Bei and A'ming came in, except for Mo Wan, everyone was here.

Feng Si Niang asked with some doubt:

"Where's master?"

"Probably resting." Blind Bei replied.

For a time,

Everyone present was silent.

Xue San smacked his lips, looked at Blind Bei, wanted to say something, but didn't know how to open his mouth, but it was conceivable that he was very unwilling.

Liang Cheng was more straightforward, looked up, faced Blind Bei and A'ming, and said directly:

"Nonsense."

Obviously, they also knew about Blind Bei's arrangements for master.

Blind Bei remained silent, even wanting to laugh a little.

Si Niang was focused on her needlework.

"Yo, everyone has eaten and drank well?"

At this time,

Zheng Fan's voice came from outside the door,

Everyone got up together and looked outside.

They saw Zheng Fan, wearing a leopard skin, walking in barefoot from the door, and went straight to the head seat and sat down.

This feeling,

Was like taking a shower in the bathroom and walking from the shower area to the lounge wearing the bathroom's casual clothes.

There were two differences,

One was that this leopard print was simply unbearably flirtatious;

The second was that this was really leopard skin…

It should have been the collection left by the leader of the Hyena Gang, which Si Niang had altered and directly used for master.

"Si Niang." Zheng Fan reached out and pointed at Si Niang.

"Master."

"Next time, prepare a set of clothes for me by the hot spring pool. I looked for a long time, but I only found this set. I'm really embarrassed to come out to see you naked."

"This humble servant understands, this is this humble servant's oversight."

"No need, no need." Zheng Fan waved his hand, and then looked at the people at the dining table, with a smile on his face, and said: "So, everyone has eaten and drank well?"

"We've eaten well, master."

"We've eaten well."

"We've been waiting for you, master."

Zheng Fan smiled, leaned slightly to the left side of the chair, put his hands together and patted them gently,

And said:

"Okay, then let's talk about business."

The five demon kings present only felt that their master's temperament had undergone tremendous changes since he came in, this confidence, this maturity, and this… ease, as if he had become a different person.

Only Blind Bei smiled silently,

He had just used his mental power to detect that,

Master had actually been standing in the corridor outside the hall for a while,

Shivering a little from the cold outside, while muttering to himself as if he was hypnotizing himself:

"I am Chen Daoming, I am Chen Daoming, I am Chen Daoming!"