Chapter 141: Fatty Ding Lao’s Estate Secret

“Err… sir…” Ah Hu stuttered. Right now, he was both afraid and nervous.

From Ah Hu’s perspective, he had never thought that a simple job of collecting debt as usual would nearly cost him his life.

This job should have proceeded as usual. After shaking down several clients along the way while walking toward Fatty Ding Lao’s estate, this place should have been the last stop for the day. Even if he could not get the money, intimidating Fatty Ding Lao and adding more interest to his account would have sufficed.

He never thought his luck would turn this bad.

The moment he met Fatty Ding Lao, he noticed this man and a large red fur dog that seemed to be the man’s pet. He ignored it, thinking it was just a pet. Even if this man were Fatty Ding Lao’s friend, what could this guy possibly do?

When speaking of a friend, one could only befriend those who were at the same strength and hierarchy.

And who was Fatty Ding Lao? Just a former disciple of the Golden Cauldron Sect who got kicked out because he was too incompetent.

There was no way someone like that would have a friend in a high place. He had nothing to support such a connection.

Fame? No. Wealth? This fatty even resorted to selling his pills at the marketplace. How much could pills sold there possibly fetch?

Without fame or wealth, even the closest childhood friends would drift apart due to differences in status. It was the cold, hard truth of society.

That was the reason he did not think Wei Chen, who was staying at Fatty Ding Lao’s place and seemed friendly, amounted to much. Even though he felt that Wei Chen’s face looked familiar.

But it could not be blamed on him. For the past two months, Wei Chen had not done a single public broadcast. And Ah Hu was not someone who could afford a U-Phone.

That was why he missed such an obvious red flag. The moment Wei Chen gave him a one million spirit stone exchange note, greed filled his brain and blew away all the caution he had.

Somehow, this had dragged him into a mess far beyond his control. Wei Chen, a man who seemed to be a Void Refining Realm expert. The Mo family, the family that ruled Thousand Treasure City and the Sky-Severing Demon Sect. All of this was far beyond his pay grade.

Now he was paying for it.

He had worked with his boss long enough to know what his boss was thinking.

This assassination incident? He was certain that his boss had already prepared to cut his losses and pin all the bad deeds on him, cleaning up every trace and severing any connection between those deeds, himself, and the Money Gang.

His boss would do everything he could to distance himself from him.

Now he needed to find a way to survive. Alone, he did not think he could survive this. After all, he had become the assassination target of the Life Devouring Hall.

“Sir… please listen to me first. This is a misunderstanding. I’m not the one who wanted to offend your friend!” Ah Hu tried his best to placate the powerful man in front of him, while Mo Jue wore an expression like someone watching a drama unfold.

“No offense taken. You were just doing your job. I understand. That’s why I gave you the money to buy Fatty Lao’s debt,” Wei Chen shrugged.

“Sir… no… my lord… it’s… it’s not about money.” Ah Hu gritted his teeth and decided to go all in.

“Then what is it about?” This time it was not Wei Chen, but Fatty Ding Lao, who had just finished refining a new batch of mozzarella cheese pills.

Yes, Wei Chen had already decided to name it “Cheese Pill” instead of “Savory and Yummy Slime,” and Fatty Ding Lao had no choice but to agree.

“It’s about this estate, sir,” Ah Hu replied.

“What?” Fatty Ding Lao was stunned.

Without holding anything back, Ah Hu continued.

“Sir… I don’t know why, but the higher-up, I mean the one above the leader of the Money Gang, wants your estate. The reason we contacted you in the first place was because of that higher-up.”

“You mean… the reason you came to scam me was because of that higher-up?” Fatty Ding Lao asked. His face darkened as he walked toward Ah Hu.

Before anyone realized it, the moment Fatty Ding Lao stood in front of Ah Hu, he slapped him.

“Ahh…!” But instead of Ah Hu, it was Fatty Ding who cried out in pain.

He held his hand. It was red and swollen, as if he had just slapped a steel plate. This was normal, since Ah Hu’s cultivation was an entire major realm higher than Fatty Ding Lao’s.

Mo Jue, as the patriarch of a sect himself, found this information intriguing.

“Do you know who wants this estate? And why does that higher-up of yours want it?” he asked.

Ah Hu turned toward Mo Jue. “No, my lord. I’m just a debt collector. I think there are only two people who would know about this. The first is Fei Wuyan, the leader of the Money Gang, and Leng Suan, his right-hand man.”

Mo Jue nodded, then turned to ask Fatty Ding Lao. “Hey, Fatty. Did your ancestors hide something in this estate? Is there any secret they told you about? Or was there any secret code or hidden room here?”

Fatty Ding Lao thought for a brief moment before shaking his head.

“No, my lord. I don’t think there is such a thing. My grandfather just instructed me not to sell the estate to anyone under any circumstance.”

This time, Wei Chen asked, “Are you sure? You didn’t forget something, right?”

Fatty Ding Lao fell silent. He sat down on a nearby chair and thought hard, as if trying to dig deep into his memory.

“Mmm… No, I don’t think there’s anything like that.” He shook his head.

“Hmm? Are you really, really sure? There’s nothing at all?” Wei Chen pressed.

Fatty Ding Lao began to sweat. He tried as hard as he could, but nothing came to mind. A secret room? No. Secret instructions? No. There was nothing at all. The closest thing to any special instruction was…

As he thought further, something came to mind, so Fatty Ding Lao decided to tell Wei Chen.

“Umm… The closest thing to a secret or special instruction that my grandfather gave me was this. He told me that if I ever got stuck in pill refining or lacked inspiration, I should meditate or try refining pills here.”

“Huh?” Mo Jue frowned, his ears practically perking up as something struck his mind.

“Also…” Fatty Ding Lao continued, “I think when I refine pills here, my success rate increases dramatically. And I tend to have more breakthroughs in pill ideas here than anywhere else.”

“Are you sure?” This time, it was Mo Jue who asked.

“Yes, Lord Mo. I’m sure.” Fatty Ding nodded firmly.

With that confirmation, Mo Jue took out his U-Phone and made a call.

“I’m at the noble district. Send some alchemists here.”

Seeing Mo Jue act this way, Wei Chen thought of something. “Is this place perhaps somewhere that good fortune gathers?” he asked.

Mo Jue nodded. “Maybe. Or perhaps this place is even more valuable than that. It might have natural feng shui that gathers the fortune of heaven and earth and channels all of it into pill refining and alchemy cultivation. That’s why I called people from the Thousand Treasure Pavilion to test it.”

After fifteen minutes, a group of alchemists arrived along with Mo Xingyao who, the moment she saw Wei Chen, immediately started pouting at him.

“What?” Wei Chen asked.

“Hmph!” Mo Xingyao ignored him and led the alchemists to begin concocting some pills.

After some time, the pills were successfully concocted, and the results were beyond their expectations. Many pills that were difficult to refine, or slightly beyond the alchemists’ usual capabilities, were successfully refined without major flaws.

“This…” Both Mo Jue and Mo Xingyao were stunned by the results, while Wei Chen made a face like a monkey watching humans debate, completely unable to understand what was going on.

“No wonder your higher-ups wanted this estate,” Mo Jue concluded as he spoke to Ah Hu.

This discovery was not something to scoff at. The ability to refine pills beyond one’s own capabilities was something that could greatly increase the Thousand Treasure Pavilion’s profit margin. The pills they produced could also be used within the sect.

The Sky-Severing Demon Sect would save a large amount of pill refining resources, and the overall strength of the sect could easily be elevated.

In conclusion, this place was like a treasure land that could elevate a sect or clan’s pill refining ability. If it were turned into a dedicated pill refining abode, it would greatly benefit whoever controlled it.

Wei Chen looked at Fatty Ding Lao, who seemed completely downcast.

“So… all of my achievements were because of this place? And here I thought… I thought that even if I’m not a genius, at least I would have some talent in pill refining.” Fatty Ding muttered. He looked as if he had lost his soul.

Wei Chen patted Fatty Ding’s shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, man. Maybe pill refining is not your calling. Think about it, you were the first one who came up with those cool ideas like cheese pills. Even if they are not some glorious breakthrough in pill refining, at least they are delicious and can give cultivators some spiritual qi,” Wei Chen said.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep