"What kind of skills are you cultivating?" Fox Fairy Nannan asked, looking at Zhang Chen’s methods with a hint of curiosity in her eyes.
Zhang Chen ignored Fox Fairy Nannan and continued to observe the changes in the Golden Finger. As the golden mist was absorbed by Zhang Chen, the Golden Finger suddenly flickered and refreshed with a new page:
[Collected 30 grams of pure gold, insufficient quantity, insufficient to meet the conditions for making talismans.]
"What on earth is this?" Zhang Chen was stunned, looking at the gold on the table that seemed to have shrunk slightly. At this moment, there was no longer any golden mist flowing from it, and he was filled with confusion. Wasn’t there still several pounds of gold? How could it be insufficient?
[That is just gold, not pure gold.]
The Golden Finger provided an explanation.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen’s face darkened. According to this, he would need at least a hundred pounds of gold to obtain enough pure gold.
A hundred pounds of gold? That’s no small amount. If it gets lost, it will surely cause a huge uproar, and even the Inspection and Supervision Department might take notice.
But to create talismans, no matter how much gold was needed, he had to do it, right?
"These noble families! These filthy rich dogs! Each one more heartless than the next. I have to get my revenge. Why not start with Zhang Xiaolan’s family? That local tycoon tried to raise rent a while ago." Zhang Chen turned to Fox Spirit, "I have something for you to do. If you succeed, you’ll surely be rewarded. I’ll let you spend an hour in the Spiritual World."
"What is it? Just tell me," Fox Spirit’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Zhang Chen whispered into Fox Spirit’s ear. Upon hearing it, Fox Spirit’s expression changed, and she looked at Zhang Chen with apprehensive eyes, "Your trick is shameless and insidious, isn’t it?"
Fox Fairy Nannan thought she was already quite cunning, but after meeting Zhang Chen, she understood the meaning of ’truly devious’.
However, a person as deceitful as Zhang Chen suited Fox Fairy Nannan’s intentions perfectly. It’s better for someone on your side to be so cunning and treacherous than for others to plot against you.
Fox Fairy Nannan swiftly rolled up the gold in front of Zhang Chen’s desk and vanished into the night, heading directly to the local tycoon Zhang Family. Over the years, the Zhang Family had thrived under the great tree of Prince Pingbian’s Mansion.
Fox Fairy Nannan directly entered the Zhang Family’s compound, arrived outside Master Zhang’s room, and tossed three gold bars to the ground before pounding on the door.
"Who’s there?" Inside, Master Zhang was sipping tea. Hearing a knock, he called out, but upon receiving no response, stood up to open the door. The next moment, he was stunned by the sight of the gold scattered on the ground.
"Where did this gold come from?" Master Zhang stared blankly at the gold on the ground. After contemplating for a few breaths, he quickly picked up the gold and closed the door. Looking at it greedily, he thought, "With my current relationship with Prince Pingbian’s Mansion, even if there’s trouble with this gold, I’m not afraid."
Moreover, three gold bars were not much, even if something happened, he could handle it.
Thinking this, Master Zhang went to his hiding place for gold storage and carefully stashed the recovered gold, then walked out of the room shouting, "Go tell my Third Concubine that I’ll be visiting her tonight."
Master Zhang wore a look of smug satisfaction, having suddenly come into this windfall, he was overjoyed.
While Master Zhang went off to celebrate with his Third Concubine, Fox Fairy Nannan appeared in Master Zhang’s study. Looking at the hidden mechanism, she murmured to herself, "Zhang Chen is so insidious and ruthless, this method is inescapable. As long as the other party picks up the gold, they’ll inevitably be suspicious, and they’ll surely hide it, only for me to discover its hiding place later and take it all in one go. No wonder I stumbled because of him!"
Fox Fairy Nannan suddenly felt her stumble was not unjustified. Then she opened Master Zhang’s mechanical storage, not only did she sweep away the gold, but she didn’t leave behind any silver either.
Every valuable and portable item, including jewelry and silver, was completely looted by Fox Spirit.
That night, numerous wealthy families in the Northern Land inexplicably found gold, and at the same time, all their valuable gold and silver were thoroughly cleaned out—as if even a rat would have to leave two grains of rice before leaving.
At the inn
By this time, it was already late at night. Zhang Chen secretly calculated the time, estimating two hours before morning lessons. In front of him was a neat stack of gold, weighing about a hundred pounds.
Beside the gold, there was an abundance of silver and jewels, piled into a small mountain about two meters high.
Fox Fairy Nannan stood triumphantly next to the small mountain, her voice full of praise, "Two-legged Beast, your strategy is simply brilliant! No noble family in the Northern Land could escape this trick."
"It’s a pity this method can only be used once. Once the grass is startled, trying to use it again won’t be as effective," Zhang Chen muttered.
"And with dozens of noble families in the Northern Land being robbed, it will surely alarm the Inspection Guard. We’ll have to proceed cautiously from now on and not let the Inspection and Supervision Department catch onto us," Zhang Chen noted.
"With all this gold and silver, it’s enough for us to eat, drink, and be merry for a lifetime," Fox Fairy Nannan said gleefully.
"Take this silver and jewelry to the cave and bury them beneath the beehive," Zhang Chen instructed.