146.

"What is it!?"

"Yeah. Tell us."

Some of the men asked Yang Ze, though compared to the tone they used before, it was definitely much better.

"Well... At this moment, there are more than five thousand spirit stones inside this chest."

"Gulp." Looking at the chest, many swallowed hard. To them, this was unimaginable wealth. One they didn't even dare to think about. But at this moment, it was just lying there in front of them, just a few meters away. Yet, no matter how courageous they were, they didn't dare to have any ideas about it.

"Half of them are the shares of the Xia Family, while the remaining half is yours." Speaking till here, Yang Ze took a short pause.

The crowd that was listening, nodded their head in understanding. Although they didn't know what kind of deal was made between the Xia family and the Vault of Heaven, they knew that these two forces were working together. And now with the boy in front of them explaining to them, the situation was getting clear.

"I will be handing this chest over to the Xia family, along with the account book that contains all of your data."

With a shrug, Yang Ze pointed behind him with a smile. "I would love to do it myself, but all of you can see I don't have anyone here to help me out. By the time, I distribute them, perhaps all of us would be old."

"Hahahaha..."

"Hahahaa..."

This snarky remark of his brought a burst of laughter from the crowd which was slowly beginning to ease.

"The uncle here..." Pointing to the man beside him, Yang Ze continued "many of you might know him. He works for the Xia Family. So, I am handing the spirit stones and the account book to him. You guys can follow him to the Xia Family and collect your shares from there."

Speaking till here, Yang Ze turned around to face the man as he handed out a thick book to him. "Uncle please."

"Err..." The servant of the Xia family didn't know how to react. Though in the eyes of others it was perfectly normal for him to escort the spirit stones, for some reason he felt his heart palpitating.

"This... Young master..." The man wanted to refuse. After all, this wasn't just a matter of delivering spirit stones to the Xia Family, but shifting the entire responsibility to them. If something went wrong, then he would be the first to bear the brunt.

Even though the spirit stones were placed in front of him, he was hesitant to pick them up. After thinking for a long time, he finally made up his mind not to accept this task. Yes, the Xia family has some shares, but this was not their responsibility.

"I don't think..." However, before he could complete his sentence, he saw the boy in front of him reaching inside his robe and pulling out a bag.

"This is for your trouble, uncle."

Swallowing back the words that he was about to speak, the man picked up the bag and took a glance inside.

"Hisss..." Looking at the dense number of white spirit stones lying there, he breathed out a mouthful of cold air. Never in his life had he seen so many spirit stones. And now, someone was willing to give all of them just for this small task.

"Leave it to me, young master." Putting the bag inside his robe, the man patted his chest as he assured Yang Ze.

At this moment, greed has truly blinded him. The thought of receiving so many spirit stones for such a trivial task didn't cross his mind. If before he was somewhat hesitant, then at this moment, he was willing.

"Thank you."

Yang Ze didn't speak further, but took a step back and let the men pick up the box as the crowd began to follow them towards the Xia family. Some of them even gave him a respectful bow for his actions. In their mind, he could have just refused them and there was nothing they could have done. But... He kept his words.

Instead of backing away, he paid them back. And for this selfless act of his, the crowd was grateful to him.

Looking at the departing figures, a smile formed on Yang Ze's lips as he burst out in short laughter.

"Hahahaha...."

After calming down, he didn't immediately go back inside, but took a step forward and disappeared... Leaving behind an empty garden filled with lazy silence.

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Wu Bo, a man in his thirties has been working in the Xia family for the past twenty years. Before him, his father used to work for the Xia family, and before him his grandfather. It wouldn't be exaggerated to say that his family has been working in the Xia family for generations.

Yet, even though they have been working for generations, there weren't many things that they could show off. Their status in the Xia family was always of servant. And even after working for generations, the only thing they had to call theirs was a small field outside the city that was rewarded to his grandfather and now was his own.

His father always used to say, 'There's only so much fortune a man really needs, and the rest is just for showin' off.' Yet, he couldn't disagree more.

In his eyes, this type of thinking was exactly why they were in this situation. If only his father was bolder and opportunistic, he would perhaps be living an entirely different life rather than working as a servant.

Throughout all these years, he had always thought of this being the case. Always looking for opportunities, chances to change his life, his destiny. And today...

Today, lady luck has finally smiled upon him.

The patriarch of the Xia family tasked him with spreading the rumors about the Vault of Heaven going bankrupt and then keeping an eye on the situation.

At first, everything was going as planned. However, the situation changed when the boy identified him as a servant of the Xia family. From there on, the situation kept on getting more and more unpredictable.

From taking out a chest full of spirit stones to handing them out, everything was out of his expectations.

And when the boy finally gifted him a bag of spirit stones, Wu Bo knew his chance has come. This was going to be the turning point of his life. Even though there was some initial hesitation on his part, he kept it aside for his bright future. He just needed to complete this task and he could live as a free man. This amount of money was enough for him to open a small business and buy some land.

He then can marry a beautiful woman and have some kids. Unlike his father and grandfather, his life wasn't going to be miserable, constantly working as a servant. Yes... right now, he was paid to live a decent life, but he wanted more.

Lost deep in his thoughts, Wu Bo didn't even notice they were already standing in front of the Xia family's manor.

"HALT! STATE YOUR PURPOSE."

It was the shout of the guard who woke him from his stupor. Coming back to his senses, Wu Bo looked around only to find himself standing at the entrance in front of the Xia family's guards who were looking at him with unfriendly eyes.

In their mind, such a big crowd was here to cause a ruckus. While they were still coming up with a way to deal with them, Wu Bo took a step forward and gave them a bow. After it, he reached inside his robe and pulled out a green token, and presented it in front of the guards.

"Head Servant of the 7th division, Wu Bo, has something to report."

It was only now that the frown on their faces eased a bit as they lowered their guards. After carefully inspecting the token they nodded to him.

"Why are you bringing such a crowd here!?" From the tone of one of the guards, it was obvious they were a bit displeased with this sudden situation.

"Oh this..." Wu Bo didn't reply but signaled the three men behind him to place down the wooden chest before slowly lifting its lid.

"Sssss...." Looking at the chest filled with spirit stones, even the guards were stunned. However, this daze lasted momentarily before more than ten guards surrounded Wu Bo with their back facing him and their weapons pointing at the crowd. As if they were afraid that someone might act.

Even though they didn't know what the situation was, at this moment, their first priority was to keep these spirit stones safe. They could care less about where these spirit stones came from, but as long as they were accompanied by a servant of the Xia family, they were the property of the Xia clan. And it was their job to protect the interest of the family.

"I have to report back to the Patriarch. Also... these people are here to get their shares, so don't chase them away."

The guards exchanged glances before giving him a nod.

"Take this too." Two guards moved forward as they picked up the box from the ground and followed Wu Bo inside the manor, leaving behind an impatient crowd, waiting to get their money back.

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Xia Wen, the patriarch of the Xia family was busy checking the letters when a loud shout interrupted him.

"Report, patriarch."

"Tch..." Looking at the newly entered servant with annoyance, Xia Wen put down the letters before asking in an impatient tone. "What is it!?"

"Master..." With a slight pause, the servant slowly started to speak. "It is one of the head servants, asking for permission to meet you."

"Do I have to teach you morons everything!?" With a snort, Xia Wen stood up and slowly spoke in a gritted tone. "If I have to entertain every single person, how am I going to focus on other important things!?"

"Tell him to come back later when I am free." Waving his hand, he signaled the servant to take his leave.

"But master...." Even after being told off, the servant kept on kneeling on the ground. "This is something related to the spirit stones he brought in a wooden chest."

"Huh!?" With a frown, Xia Wen turned back to look at him. "What do you mean by that!? What kind of spirit stones."

The servant was waiting for him to ask this question and as soon as he did, he stood up with great excitement and began to describe it in detail.

"Wait..... You mean, the head servant brought a chest full of spirit stones along with a crowd!?" After listening to him, Xia Wen felt like something was extremely wrong.

"WHERE IS HE!?" One could feel a sense of urgency in his tone.

"Outside..." The servant didn't know why this sudden shift in the mood. His master should be ecstatic upon hearing the news of getting so many spirit stones, but instead of happiness, he looks more worried.

Before the servant could react, the figure of Xia Wen was gone, leaving behind a gust of wind.

"Gulp." Awed at the display of strength, the servant made his way back to his job. There were still matters for him to attend to.

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Inside the main hall of the Xia family, Wu Bo was still immersed in his sweet imagination. With these many spirit stones, he was already a rich man. Now all he needed was to find a suitable time to leave this job and start a new life.

And just when he was in his deep thoughts, a man in his late fifties made his way towards him.

"MASTER." Startled by this sudden appearance of the Xia Wei, Wu Bo gave him a deep bow.

"What's the situation!?" Without beating around the bush, Xia Wei directly asked.

"Oh!" After a short pause, a smile formed on Wu Bo's face as he slowly began to explain things.

"It all happened after the crowd gathered around his house....."

Slowly, Wu Bo started to recount everything that occurred in the past few hours, from the arrival of the crowd in front of the boy's house to him accepting to pay them back and finally, handing over a chest full of spirit stones.

"WAIT..." As soon as Xia Wei heard the boy handing over a chestful of spirit stones to them, his scalp began to tingle. With his understanding of that brat, there was no way he would be willing to fork out so many spirit stones.

"Gulp." With an ominous feeling, he walked in front of the chest. "Open the lid."

Listening to the patriarch, Wu Bo too felt some tension. After receiving so many spirit stones, the patriarch should have been happy. However, looking at his face which was darkening with every passing second, he could see, that he was anything but happy.

With a nod, Wu Bo walked in front of the chest as he slowly opened the lid.

However, as soon as he did that...

"WHAT!?"

"HEAVENS... I... IT WAS HERE JUST A MOMENT AGO."