"In that case, do as you please." Qiao Mu stopped persuading them and opened his wallet to let Luo Cheng and others put money in it.
When he walked out of the ancestral hall, he had an extra three thousand taels of silver in his arms.
"The days of making money are boring." Qiao Mu walked out of the ancestral hall and, as expected, saw the figure of a woman wearing a conical hat at the entrance of the alley again.
This time, Qing Li was no longer holding a bamboo stick in his hand, but a metal spear.
"Master Qiao, are you still doing your Taotie gold lending business? I want to lend you another hundred taels." Qing Li's voice came from under the bamboo hat.
Her voice was cold, and she had no intention of getting close to Qiao Mu. She was exactly the same as when they first met. She just raised the gun in her hand.
"I changed my iron spear today, and came to test your strength."
... .
This went on for several days.
The appearance of Demon Spear Qing Li is also very regular, but she is obviously short of money.
The first time he gave one thousand taels, the second time he gave one hundred taels, and later he gave ten taels at a time.
Sometimes it happens once a day, sometimes three or four times a day, making Qiao Mu almost think he is doing some special job... .
Day 3.
Qiao Mu sat quietly in the inn, recalling his several experiences of fighting with Qing Li.
During the fifty years in the dream, Qiao Mu also carefully studied the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix" and the book of martial arts experience left by the Spear Saint.
"According to the Spear Saint's understanding of the art of martial arts, the art of martial arts can actually be divided into two types of skills."
"One is the technique of exerting force with the physical body, and the other is the technique of using internal energy."
“The former is to exert force, and the latter is to exert strength.”
Before the publication of The Humane Book, although ancient martial arts were divided into internal and external schools, the top martial artists basically focused on strength.
After all, the physical body is old and the qi and blood are easily weakened. No matter how high the external martial arts skills are, they can never be as good as those of half-demon or pure-blooded demons who are born with powerful bloodlines.
The same goes for trees.
The main move he relied on until now was the ripple wave force and the disintegration of the demon.
The Ripple Wave Force is an extremely difficult technique for exerting force, and the Demon Disintegration comes at the cost of damaging one's own Qi and blood in exchange for a several-fold increase in internal strength.
At the same time, Qiao Mu had practiced the Layered Wave Power to the fifth layer of wave level, and the Heavenly Demon Disintegration had already been completed.
When it comes to the technique of using internal energy, he is one of the best in the whole of Kyushu.
However, Qing Li, who is a half-demon, took a different route and focused on training his physical body.
If we regard the four paths of a warrior's strength, power, skills and divinity as the four boards of a wooden barrel.
Most of the top warriors on the list have their own strengths and weaknesses.
Qing Li is special in that she simply doesn't have any internal strength.
But perhaps because of this, she has carefully studied the techniques of using physical strength over the years, and has achieved great success in this area.
At the top of the west mountain, a Qingli soul that was obviously weaker than Wu Qiankun was able to fight with the opponent for a long time. This was obviously a reflection of her superb spear skills and superb force-generating techniques.
"If I can learn Qing Li's physical strength skills, it will be like filling another gap in my shortcoming."
Qiao Mu opened his eyes and looked out the window.
The fat cat Wuchang jumped in from the window at this moment. In the past few days, the fat cat went out early and came back late, searching for other people who had come into contact with the monsters in the Golden City according to Qiao Mu's instructions, and he also gained something.
It was still daybreak at this time, and the sky in the east was just beginning to turn pale. The entire Taotie City was still shrouded in morning mist, and there were not many pedestrians.
"It's almost time to run away."
Qiao Mu counted the money. During these days, he earned more than ten thousand taels of silver from the Luo family and the Demon Spear Qing Li.
For a clan in a small mountain town, this is a very large number... It also shows how rich the Luo family is.
Taking advantage of the dawn, Qiao Mu leaped up, and his figure turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared into the alley.
When he walked out of the alley again, his face had become a strange one.
..
On the first day after Qiao Mu left, the villagers of Taotie City didn't take it too seriously. They just couldn't get used to Taotie City without Master Qiao.
Only someone as smart as Luo Cheng sent someone to the inn where Qiao Mu rented to inquire about Master Qiao's whereabouts, only to find that he had disappeared quietly.
On the second day, Lao Yang and others were still hoping for a lucky break. They comforted themselves by saying that Master Qiao must have left for something urgent and was arguing with others on the way.
Day 3 Day 4... .
The news that Master Qiao absconded with the money has completely exploded, sweeping the entire city and becoming the most talked-about news in the entire Taotie City.
"Qiao Xi, I curse you to die a miserable death! You will die suddenly within three days, and your body will not be intact!"
"I curse you to be left dead in the wilderness, and to be eaten by monsters after death! How dare you take my money? Do you think you are worthy of us?"
The gambler Lao Yang smashed the pots and pans in his own home, and was fuming and glaring, very angry.
On the other hand, the son of the old Yang family, who worked as a helper in Shanzhenlou, was much calmer than his gambling father:
"Dad, calm down. I've calculated for you. During the few days that Qiao Xi came to Taotie City, didn't you earn twenty taels of silver by picking up stones, and a few taels of Taotie gold?"
"I work as a helper in the largest restaurant in the city. I would have to work for half my life to earn this much money. You are not losing out, are you?"
"How come it's not a loss?" Old Yang was still beating his chest and stamping his feet:
"I lent three taels of Taotie gold to that guy named Qiao. This is gold! It's Taotie gold!"
"I should have made a lot of money, but he ran away halfway through, leaving me with only this little money. Shouldn't I curse him to death?"
Old Yang's son was a little speechless. It turned out that his own father felt that he did not earn enough and was cursing at others... .
..
The news of Qiao Mu's escape naturally reached the ears of the head of the Luo family, who had always been concerned about this matter.
Patriarch Luo is in a good mood today.
"The troublesome Qiao family finally ran away, and his reputation has been completely ruined in this city."
The head of the Luo family did not have a good way to deal with Qiao Mu. After all, even the city lord advised them not to provoke him. What else could he do
"The Qiao family has already run away, and the entire Taotie City has been ruined by them. I guess it will be difficult for us to do the gold business in the future." Thinking of this, the head of the Luo family wanted to curse again.
Qiao Mu's deception is simply like crossing a river and destroying the bridge. After he runs away, he also blocks the way for those who come later.
For at least the next few years, the mountain folks in the entire Taotie City would probably be terrified at the mention of "gold", let alone the Luo family getting involved in the gold business.
"Forget it, it's useless to stop here anyway." The head of the Luo family thought:
"It is indeed worth thinking carefully about how our Luo family's business should be run and where it should go in the future."
"Hold a meeting in the ancestral hall and let the tribesmen brainstorm and discuss together."
Half a day later.
A large number of Luo family members gathered in the ancestral hall.
However, many members of the Luo family, including the traveling merchant Luo Cheng, looked as if their father had just died, and their faces turned green.
"Don't just stand there." The patriarch tapped the ground with his cane, making a crisp sound:
"The Touchstone and gold were taken away by Qiao. We won't be able to do gold business in the next few years... What kind of business will our Luo family start next? This is a big problem."
"Luo Cheng, you are a traveling businessman and have a lot of experience. You speak first." The patriarch said.
But at this time Luo Cheng's face turned greener. He hesitated for a long time and finally shook his head and said:
"Patriarch, don't worry about the family business... We don't have any spare money now."
"Yes." Luo Cheng started the conversation, and the rest of the Luo family members also spoke up:
"It's all the fault of that demon spear Qing Li, who was actually in cahoots with that damn Qiao Xi and is a traitor to his country!"
"I regret trusting Qing Li. Who knew the two of them were in collusion?"
"Who would have thought that Qiao Xi would run away so early? I haven't had the chance to develop subordinates and advance to the Yin-Yang level yet."
The head of the Luo family was confused:
"What is Liang Yi level? What is Qing Li?"
Just as he listened, he gradually guessed something and suddenly had a bad premonition.
"You all hid it from me, and were cheated of money by that Qiao?"
"How can you say it's a scam..." Merchant Luo Cheng looked a little embarrassed:
"That's business, it's just a loss. How can you run a business without losses?"
"According to common sense, Qiao Xi's business has just started and is obviously very profitable. I don't know why he ran away just after it started?"
"What business? What did you discuss with that guy named Qiao?" The patriarch frowned.
After listening to Luo Cheng's detailed account of Qiao Mu's business, the clan leader's eyes widened slightly, and he covered his heart with one hand, a little breathless:
"You guys have been hunting geese all day, and today you got pecked in the eye by a goose."
"I was greedy for a moment, and thought I was a smart person who could get out of it in time, but I fell into such an obvious scam..."
"Chief, calm down. We know this is a scam." Luo Cheng said with a wry smile, "We just didn't expect Qiao Xi to run so fast."
"You know nothing!" The patriarch's chest kept rising and falling, his eyes widened, and he said sternly:
"This scam is not meant to reap the fools. It is meant to target our Luo family. This is thieves robbing thieves! They are using a more sophisticated scam to specifically target our Luo family."
"During these days, the villagers in the city have more or less received some silver and gold from Qiao Xi, but in fact they were just deceived into picking up stones and wasted a few days. Only those insiders like us in the Luo family were specially invited by Qiao Xi to discuss cooperation..."
"Why do you think he came to you? With your big faces?"
Those involved are often confused, while bystanders can see things clearly. The clan leader stayed out of the matter, but he revealed the mystery of the Luo family with just one sentence.
"Forget it, forget it. Now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying these things." The clan leader sighed:
"How much did you lose? How much do you have left? Did you lose 10,000 taels?"
The clan leader was speechless for a moment. Ten thousand taels of silver almost wiped out all the money the clan had earned from the gold business over the years...
He suddenly felt a little breathless and couldn't help but recall the day when Qiao Mu first came to the mountain city and met him in the ancestral hall.
The head of the Luo family at that time was firm in his belief and believed in the legend of the Golden Country.
The Patriarch said at the time that belief is a powerful force... .He really believed it.
But now it seems that in the entire Luo family, he is the only one who truly has such strong trust in the gold of Golden Country. The others are just speculators, so they were cheated of everything by Qiao Mu.
As a result, Qiao Mu forged the so-called Taotie Gold under his nose, and used this fake product to sweep the whole city, creating a huge storm in a few days... .
This is a deliberate fake trick to deceive him...
“A bunch of idiots… their greed is insatiable!” The head of the Luo family threw away his walking stick and stumbled two steps. He felt a sweet taste in his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. Suddenly, he felt dizzy.
...
When the head of the Luo family woke up again, he was already in his own home.
What made his heart pound was that there were no other relatives in his home. There was only a familiar figure who had returned and was standing in front of his bed, looking at him expressionlessly.
Chapter 303 The Origin of the Golden Country (9k)
"Qiao...Qiao Xi?"
The head of the Luo family's heart was pounding, and he almost suffocated. Cold sweat broke out on his back.
These days, Qiao Xi has almost become his nightmare. He worked hard to build the Luo family into the local giant it is today, but because of Qiao Xi, they have returned to their former poverty-stricken situation.
"Don't get excited. It's not good for your heart." Qiao Mu considerately put his hand on the back of the Luo family leader and passed a warm energy into him, making the old leader feel warm all over.
Patriarch:
Was Qiao Wei afraid that he would be angry to death on the spot, so he kindly gave him a breath of internal energy? He really, I cried to death...
“You cheated my people out of ten thousand taels, and you dare to come back?” After the initial shock, the clan leader’s face turned completely black.
The tribe’s money is definitely not his money.
But the Luo clan was a family that did business in partnership. The other clan members were penniless and even in debt. He alone could not support the family and there was no possibility for him to regain his previous glory.