CHAPTER 280: CHAPTER 132: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE DUKE MANSION

After leaving Shang Kingdom, where to go next?

This is the big issue now laid before Yue Jinghua.

Logically speaking, Yue Jinghua’s home is in Dragon War Empire and she bears the blood of Dragon Battle, so returning there would be the natural choice.

However, considering that she and her mother came to Shang Kingdom years ago to avoid debtors, going back is not so simple.

Lie Rou originally brought Yue Jinghua to Shang Kingdom both to seek refuge at Lie Family Mansion, and because Yue Jinghua was engaged to Fa Xiaoyi, with the thought that after their marriage, having her husband’s support, Lie Rou could rest easy.

But who knew that Fa Xiaoyi would turn out to be a disaster with the ambition of a wild wolf, causing Lie Family Mansion to fall apart, and Lie Rou, being a woman with no firm resolution, was left unsure of where to go for a while.

The Duke Mansion in Dragon War Empire is steeped in debt, and among those creditors, many are extremely ruthless. Recklessly returning could lead to entanglement by the creditors. Yue Minzhi is currently still training at Dragon Rider Camp in the Imperial City, with no one to care for him; it’s not the best time to return to Wohua Imperial City.

The feeling of not being able to return home is tough to endure, Lie Rou thought of Yue Minzhi, who had been alone defending the Duke Mansion in the Imperial City for three years, her eyes dimming.

Seeing this, Yue Jinghua asked Hongling to first send her and Yue Chen back. Although the little boy was visibly reluctant, a glare from Yue Jinghua made him obediently leave with Lie Rou.

After sending Lie Rou away, Yue Jinghua then turned to Hongling and asked, "Exactly how much external debt does the Duke Mansion have?"

Though Yue Jinghua isn’t considered extremely rich, she managed to extract a sum of money from Fa Xiaoyi and swindled another sum from Zhan BeiAo, totaling up to an impressive one million fourth-level Dark Pills from these two sums alone. After operating a small pharmacy for a while, the accumulated wealth reached an astonishing five hundred thousand fourth-level Dark Pills.

Speaking of Dark Pills, Yue Jinghua remembered something, "Wait a second, I almost forgot about something."

Before the others could react, a corpse appeared on the ground.

After removing the mask from the corpse, the remaining three people were all stunned.

"Young Master Xiyu, you killed him?" Shalman exclaimed in shock.

"What are you looking at, he is not Xie Yu, this person is called Xie San, he just resembles Xie Yu a bit," Yue Jinghua had killed Xie San earlier and before she could deal with his body, she placed him in the Sui Xin Gourd.

Xie San was a high-level assassin of the Assassin Alliance and the leader of the Remnants, assassins killing for tens of thousands of Dark Pills each time, his wealth must be substantial.

The four women swarmed over and without any politeness, rummaged through everything on Xie San.

Qing Pu watched, dumbstruck, these women were too audacious.

A few people conducted a thorough search like squeezing juice and happily found a three-star Dark Pill Card from the nightclub in Wohua, as well as several fine Spiritual Artifacts and a few bottles of Elixir Pills for healing.

"Boss, his clothes are Stealth Clothes, made from the skin of Night Bats, which can conceal one’s shape at night, and wearing it can at least double your movement speed," Hong Yao said, prompting Yue Jinghua to unhesitatingly strip off Xie San’s clothes.

"The boots are also good, made from the skin of Wind-controlling Wolves, allowing one to travel hundreds of miles without getting tired. They are for men, strip those too, give them to Feng Chuo, that little guy, so he doesn’t always fall behind everyone," Before long, Xie San was stripped to his undergarments, looking like a bare mahjong tile.

Poor Xie San, if he knew that he would suffer such humiliation after becoming a corpse, he would never dare to provoke Yue Jinghua, this calamitous disaster.

"Boss, this mask is very special, it’s a mask exclusively used by the Assassin Alliance, and it even has Xie San’s serial number in the Assassin Alliance engraved on it," Hong Yao remarked with amazement after examining Xie San’s mask.

Xie San was particularly fond of this mask, always wearing it as a badge of honor by his side, and never parting with it when out on missions.

Yue Jinghua took the mask and noticed a gilt-branded number on it, reading forty-three, "This must be Xie San’s ranking in the Assassin Alliance."

She had accidentally killed Xie San, who was ranked forty-three in the Assassin Alliance.

"We’ll keep the mask for now, it might come in handy later. With these, we also have a few million Xuan pills in hand. Hongling, tell me, how much external debt does the Duke Mansion owe exactly? If we can pay off the debts, we’ll go to Wohua Imperial City. Mother always gets teary-eyed whenever she recalls my elder brother. It would be best if we could reunite with him," Yue Jinghua, after thoroughly plundering Xie San’s corpse, rewarded the body to the Cannibal Small Qingpu.

Yue Jinghua thought that this money should at least be enough to pay off part of the debts.

Who would have known, upon hearing Yue Jinghua’s thoughts, Hongling bitterly smiled and sighed, "Miss, that amount of money is just a drop in the bucket. Remember, only the rich or noble can live in Wohua Imperial City, where the cost of living is four to five times higher than in Shang Kingdom. As far as I know, just buying a small shop in Wohua Imperial City with a size of ten seat rulers costs three million Fourth-level Dark Pills. I’m not sure how much the Duke Mansion owes, but it’s roughly equivalent to ten years of national treasury revenue of Shang Kingdom."

A seat ruler is a unit of measurement on Canglong Continent, about the size of a small table used by two people dining in a restaurant. A ten seat ruler, merely ten square feet, is so cramped that even moving around is uncomfortable. Such a small shop in Shang Kingdom would only cost over ten thousand Xuan pills, and this price difference of several hundred times left Yue Jinghua and Hongling, who had never been to Wohua Imperial City, tongue-tied.

Although Shang Kingdom is small, it is very wealthy, with a constantly replete national treasury, earning two million Seventh-level Dark Pills annually.

With a conversion system where one hundred Fourth-level Dark Pills convert to one Fifth-level Dark Pill, Yue Jinghua would need to earn at least several quadrillion Fourth-level Dark Pills to pay off all the debts.

One hundred and fifty million Fourth-level Dark Pills, compared to several quadrillion Dark Pills, indeed aren’t even enough to fill the gaps between the teeth.

For common people, such a staggering debt would probably never be cleared in a lifetime. Considering the countless Dark Pills needed, countless people within Wohua Imperial City would be eyeing the Duke Mansion, and it’s clear that the eldest young master’s days in Wohua Imperial City would be very difficult.

"We can’t return to Wohua Imperial City," Yue Jinghua weighed her options and decisively dismissed the possibility of returning to the Imperial City.

"Not returning to the Imperial City, just temporarily. On our trip to Xuan Beast Ridge, if we happen to encounter high-level Dark Beasts, and if lucky enough meet Ninth Rank or even Holy-grade Dark Beasts, just a few hundred would suffice," Yue Jinghua had her own plans. Even if she didn’t encounter high-level Dark Beasts, as long as she could successfully upgrade the Insect Special Attack Team to the Poison Insect Special Attack Team, acquiring Xuan pills would be much more convenient.

"Miss, I’ve thought of something, maybe we can switch to going to Fengdan County," Hongling’s mind lit up with inspiration, recalling that last time the Lady wanted her to take the young miss and young master there.