111 Raising Pigs on a Large Scale and Becoming Wealthy (Part 1)

County government, study room.

"The people were all killed?" The county magistrate listened to the steward's report. The bandits who followed Qi Shan were all killed by him. Although he was somewhat surprised, he waved his hand dismissively and said, "This matter has already been known to this prefecture. You may go about your business."

This news further confirmed that this Qi Shan was not the same as the one he knew.

The Qi Shan he knew truly lived up to his name.

With a heart that sought to help the world, he had the ambition to assist the weak. Gentle and frugal, those who had met him all said that his demeanor was imbued with kindness.

Even though the county magistrate despised and feared him greatly, and had often mocked him for being foolish and afflicted with the "illness of kindness," he had to admit that few people could uphold their principles as consistently as him.

All he ever sought in his life was "to see no famine where his eyes reach, and to hear no wailing where his ears reach." Unless absolutely necessary, he did not wish to harm even an ant. If not for the state of the world, he wouldn't even practice those linguistic arts widely used on the battlefield, which were considered weapons of war.

Qi Shan once said that when he saw those linguistic arts, he saw mountains of corpses and seas of blood. How many wars and tears were caused by the desires of monarchs?

The county magistrate couldn't stand his affected demeanor: [In this world, it's either you die or I live. Without determining victory or defeat, as long as there are people, as long as people are not dead, the chaos of war will never end. What about the words of Yuan Liang? What would the soldiers who died on the battlefield feel?]

[What about the innocent civilians? How would they feel?]

The county magistrate sneered: [The soldiers die for the civilians. If it weren't for the soldiers, they would have been trampled into a pulp by the enemy's iron hooves.]

Qi Shan said: [What you see and hear, is not so.]

The county magistrate: [Not so?]

Qi Shan: [Soldiers die for their king, and civilians are the same.]

At that time, the county magistrate was still a young and vigorous youth. He was much older than Qi Shan and had seen and experienced much more. He was also well-versed in worldly matters. He did not comment much on Qi Shan's words. In his heart, he thought that if Qi Shan entered officialdom, he would eventually be taught how to behave.

Would a monarch need the advice of a small literatus? Hmph—oh, he's also a self-proclaimed mediocre sixth-rank literatus. The county magistrate smiled politely at Qi Shan's words, but what he thought in his heart was known only to himself. In a sense, Qi Shan was quite understandable.

Those villains just wanted money, not lives. If it were the Qi Shan he knew, at most he would give them a beating, and for serious cases, he would publicly display them to deter others, but he wouldn't take their lives, let alone wipe them out completely, leaving no one alive.

And—

Swordsmanship was considered Qi Shan's weakness.

When they first met, he always played a supportive role.

Although those villains were ordinary people, they had the advantage in numbers. With Qi Shan's martial skills, escaping would be more than enough; killing would be unnecessary.

With all this in mind, the county magistrate lost interest in this false Qi Shan. The steward was an old servant who had served for many years. He immediately understood the county magistrate's intentions and respectfully took his leave. Soon after, a familiar face appeared from behind the screen—Wu Yuan.

He was the shopkeeper at Moonlight Pavilion and the former Northern Wasteland quality inspector.

He walked out from behind the screen, and the county magistrate stood up to greet him.

Wu Yuan said, "Why not try to recruit this Qi Shan?"

The county magistrate shook his head. "We are not of the same ilk."

Different paths, no alliance.

Of course, this was just his excuse.

The real reason was that he was certain this impostor Qi Shan already had a master. Recklessly recruiting him would alert his "political enemies" behind the scenes.

Wu Yuan said, "This person is quite famous in other countries."

After all, he was a literatus with a reputation as notorious as Gu Chi's. Besides the Northern Wasteland, who else would accept them without reservation? The Northern Wasteland now needed such talents who were familiar with the various states in the northwest and the Central Plains.

If he could truly subdue him, there would be many benefits.

The county magistrate smiled politely, but inwardly rolled his eyes—only the barbarians of the Northern Wasteland would be so inexperienced as to rush to embrace a celebrity like this. They thought they were so extraordinary. Oh, what kind of celebrity was this fake Qi Shan anyway?

Just some goods who couldn't make it in other small countries and got sent back. It was just giving himself a pat on the back, saying he had countless enemies, had feuds with many powers, and wasn't welcome anywhere he went.

Moreover, now that he was gone, why bother howling here?

If not for the Ten Wus still having some cooperation with the Northern Wasteland, and needing this person to act as a bridge between them, he wouldn't be willing to see this Northern Wasteland dropout.

Their conversation seemed lively on the surface, but in reality, there was little substance. The county magistrate had eaten a few more years of rice than Wu Yuan and had more insight. When they talked about a certain arms deal, they ended the conversation without reaching an agreement.

Wu Yuan returned to the lurking Moonlight Pavilion with a gloomy face.

When he came back, Gu Chi was playing chess with the injured Gong Cheng, and the game was heating up unexpectedly. Surprisingly, Gong Cheng seemed to have the upper hand. Gu Chi seemed as if he had lost his backbone, leaning to the side, supporting his chin with his hand, staring blankly at the chessboard.

If one looked closely, they could tell that his mind was elsewhere.

Gong Cheng joked, "Sir, aren't you going to make a move?"

Gu Chi replied, "What's the rush?"

As he spoke, he made a move, but it was a futile one.

The situation, already leaning in favor of Gong Cheng, became even clearer.

Gong Cheng, who had gone through the upheaval of the Gong clan, had long lost his previous competitive spirit. He also knew that it wasn't that Gu Chi wasn't focused; he was going to lose miserably. But winning once in a while was also cause for celebration. Teasing Gu Chi, he said, "Sir, are you planning to use telepathy to turn the game around?"

Gu Chi's expression froze for a moment, embarrassed. "That's not it."

Glancing at the messy chessboard, he resigned by discarding a piece. He had just been distracted, listening to Wu Yuan's inner thoughts— not that he cared much, but Wu Yuan was close by, and his restless mind was bombarding the Four Treasures County Magistrate with various Northern Wasteland languages, which distracted him.

Some of it was related to Qi Shan.

Gu Chi indirectly knew about what had happened to Qi Shan at the county government. In addition to feeling dumbfounded, he couldn't help but laugh—if this Qi Shan were so simple, why would he have so many enemies, activate his "regicide" talent repeatedly, and still come back alive?

As for Wu Yuan's idea of recruiting Qi Shan...

Gu Chi wasn't against it.

But, Qi Shan was a decent person overall, just a bit too neglectful of his "lord." A slight misstep and he'd be dead, so it wasn't advisable for those with fragile lives to try such things. Isn't it better to live?

Heh heh, Qi Shan also wanted to ask himself a question.

Isn't it better to live??? Isn't it more peaceful to live in seclusion??? Why did he have a brain fart and try one last time???

That was one thing, but why find a piggybacker???

Yes, a piggybacker.

After shaking off the trackers, killing the bandits who wanted to rob, and leaving a message to arrange things with the elderly couple in the residence, he cheerfully went towards the "new residence" with his family. Just as he arrived halfway up the mountain, he heard familiar shouts from afar.

Qi Shan: "???"

Before he could wonder, he saw his acquaintance, Shen Xiaolang, riding on a fierce-looking black-faced man with legs spread apart, galloping on the mountain road, followed by more than twenty pigs of various sizes...

"Whoa!"

Behind the piglets, in plain clothes with a flushed face, Lin Feng trotted along, holding a cowhide whip.

"Master, wait for me!"

Qi Shan: "..."

|ω｀)

Tang Mei's style of drawing was always different from others.