NOVPUBThe silver-ringed snake hissed and raised its upper body, its cold gaze fixed on Old Gu Six as if ready to lunge and bite him at any moment.
And indeed, it did. At the same time, Old Gu Six flung a dagger, striking the snake right at its vital spot.
Instant kill!!!
The silver-ringed snake struggled twice before succumbing to death. It might have wanted to fight for survival, but unfortunately, it failed.
Old Gu Six wiped the dagger disdainfully on some dry leaves before stowing it away in his spatial storage.
The mountains were deep—after three days, they still hadn’t found their way out. Chang'an had been staying inside the spatial storage all this time.
Bored out of her mind, she wandered around, exploring here and there.
The bare lotus plants had grown leaves and bloomed.
The crooked little wooden hut from before had been torn down and rebuilt into a pavilion.
A wide river flowed past the pavilion’s entrance, dividing the space in two. In the distance, penned cows and sheep grazed by the riverbank, making it convenient for them to drink.
To the left of the pavilion were two large pools shrouded in mist, one of which had a large artificial rock standing in the middle.
Chang'an thought it might be a hot spring, but when she dipped her hand in, the water was icy cold.
Then why was it steaming? Did Old Gu Six add dry ice?
Probably not—he didn’t have such a thing.
Chang'an walked to the other side of the pool, curious about where the water came from, but before she could take more than two steps, her father yanked her out of the space.
Had they finally left the deep mountains? Well, they were still in the middle reaches.
"Dad, how did you make those two pools in your space emit smoke?"
"Naturally," he replied without lying. It was a spiritual spring that came with the innate spatial storage. His daughter had one too, though probably not as large.
Chang'an wanted to say she didn’t have one.
A naturally steaming pool—wasn’t that something only hot springs could do? What kind of cold pool emitted smoke?
Her curiosity lasted only a moment before she let it go.
"Are we going to settle somewhere in these deep mountains?" She looked around—trees above, trees below, nothing but trees.
The small valley by the sea seemed much more open, but its peace had gradually been disrupted.
"We’ll find a flat valley," Old Gu Six said, ruffling her hair. The seaside was indeed better than the mountains, but he didn’t want outsiders disturbing them. First, there was Second Jiang, and who knew if others like Second Li or Second Zhang would follow.
Better not.
They could sell the seaside house to Second Jiang for a good sum of silver. No need to cling to it.
If Chang'an ever wanted to visit the sea again, they could just extort some teleportation talismans from the old man—it would make travel easy, no matter where they lived.
Father and daughter, along with the silver wolf, searched through the mountains.
Some places had water sources but poor terrain; others had good terrain but no water.
Though they had water in their spatial storage, a proper settlement needed a natural water source to feel like home.
They didn’t find a suitable spot deep in the mountains, but near the outer ranges, they discovered a valley.
On foot, it would take three or four days to reach the outskirts.
The slopes on either side of the valley were sparsely wooded, and a small stream, fed by mountain springs, ran through the middle.
The surrounding hills weren’t too high, so the view wasn’t completely blocked.
"Kid, how about here?"
"Sure. Let’s go back and prepare the valley. We can transplant the fruit trees too. I have bricks and tiles stored in my space—enough to build a house."
"Should we leave the puppets here to work?"
"Good idea. By the time we return, the house should be ready, so we won’t need to set up tents."
Chang'an took out the bricks and tiles from her space, and Old Gu Six released four puppets.
To speed things up, Chang'an added two more puppets from her own storage.
The lead puppet, Dayi, listened as Chang'an instructed, "Build the house like the one we lived in before, with heated brick beds in the rooms."
"Extend the eaves to make a covered walkway. It probably rains a lot here, so that’ll help."
"And remember to build a courtyard wall. If we’re not back by the time you finish, start clearing land—just enough for vegetables and fruits, nothing else."
With piles of grain already stored in their spatial storage, she didn’t have to worry about starving her father.
They left tools behind and even the old ox for the puppets.
Worried about intruders, Old Gu Six left three of the wolves (except the silver one) to guard the valley.
Once everything was arranged, father and daughter used another teleportation talisman to return to the seaside valley.
Back home, they first moved all the fruit trees into the spatial storage, then double-checked to make sure nothing was left behind.
Remembering the boat they’d bought with silver, they hurried to the shore—only to find it returned, but in tatters.
Their first thought was to demand compensation, but they had no idea who had wrecked it.
They set the boat issue aside for now and went to find Second Jiang to sell him the valley house.
Then they realized—they didn’t have a land deed, so the sale wouldn’t work.
"Let Second Jiang figure out the deed. The house is ours, and we cleared the land. Selling those shouldn’t be a problem, right?"
Old Gu Six knew Second Jiang had been eyeing the valley from the start—he was sure they could squeeze some silver out of him.
They planned to head to town the next day to find him, but to their surprise, Second Jiang came to them first.
Five figures emerged from the woods along the coast. The moment Second Jiang spotted them, his eyes lit up, and he rushed over.
"Sir, Miss Chang'an, where have you been? I’ve come looking for you several times, but you were never home."
They’d been away for half a month, and Second Jiang had already visited three times.
"We had some business in the mountains," Old Gu Six replied, his tone sharp and his gaze piercing, a far cry from his usual mildness.
Second Jiang was taken aback. He approached cautiously, confused. "Sir, have I done something wrong?"
"Did you wreck the boat?"
The cold, detached question left Second Jiang flustered. Used to Old Gu Six’s easygoing demeanor, he didn’t know how to react to this sudden distance.
The young masters accompanying him hung back, watching the situation unfold.
Second Jiang waved his hands frantically. "No, no! We didn’t damage the boat! We haven’t even sailed out. I only brought my friends here today for fun."
These were his closest friends, including a cousin from his maternal family.
Old Gu Six gave a cold nod and cut straight to the point. "Do you want this valley? I’ll sell it to you."
"Huh?" Second Jiang was stunned for a moment before realizing he was serious.
Hesitantly, he nodded. "Are you… moving away?"
"Yes. We don’t have the land deed for this valley, so name your price."
Second Jiang glanced around the enclosed valley. He’d once imagined building a seaside inn here—the location was perfect.
"How about twenty thousand taels of silver?"
The onlookers in the distance were utterly baffled—who was this person? How could they make the notoriously unruly and defiant Second Young Master Jiang (the second cousin) act so submissive?
Old Gu Six’s inner mischief-maker was practically jumping for joy. This was beyond his expectations—he had originally planned to swindle just five thousand taels of silver. Now, he’d made an extra fifteen thousand in one go.
"Same rules as before—no banknotes. You can pay in fabrics and jewelry instead."
Second Jiang obediently nodded and complied, instructing his guards to fetch goods of equivalent value to complete the transaction.
