It wasn’t yet dawn when Wu Yongchao heard a knock at the door. He went out to see and found a beautiful young lady standing at the entrance. It was deep into the night, and suddenly a young lady came knocking. She was so pretty, and her smile so sweet. This is clearly... clearly a painting. This was a painting meticulously crafted by Li Banfeng. It could easily deceive ordinary people, but Wu Yongchao was a Fourth Layer Home Cultivation and notably skilled in painting himself. Attempting to fool him with this method fell rather short. The lady handed Wu Yongchao two hemp sacks and a letter. After reading the letter, Wu Yongchao asked the lady, "Where has the Fortress Lord gone? This matter is so important, why send you to deliver the message?" The lady covered her mouth and giggled, but said nothing. This was because Li Banfeng hadn’t painted her a mouth. The next day, Wu Yongchao, carrying the two hemp sacks, quietly left Iron Gate Fort and went to a nearby village. Li Banfeng had been very clear in the letter. There were people watching nearby. The entire path, from the front of Iron Gate Fort all the way to the village, was under surveillance. This was a tactic commonly employed by the Jiang Xiang Gang. Despite Iron Gate Fort appearing peaceful, it was actually under close watch by many people nearby. It was just like the former Yu Family Cloth Store; it looked unremarkable from the outside but actually concealed a branch stronghold nearby. Arriving in the village, Wu Yongchao changed into a set of rough cloth clothes and put on a worn felt hat. He purchased a wheelbarrow from a carpenter’s home and then went to a farmhouse to buy two hemp sacks of rice. He pushed the wheelbarrow, now full of rice, back toward the Fort. When he was still over five miles away, a man wearing a cloth shirt and a straw hat came over with a cheerful laugh. "Brother, where are you hurrying off to?" Wu Yongchao lowered his head and said, "I sell rice." "How much per pound?" "Three yuan," Wu Yongchao intentionally quoted a very high price. "May I have a look at the goods?" The Straw Hat Man didn’t wait for Wu Yongchao to respond. He directly pulled out a dagger and tore open one of the hemp sacks. He grabbed a handful of the white rice, rubbed it in his hand, and it turned into powder. "The quality of this rice isn’t bad, and three yuan isn’t expensive. I’ll buy it." The Straw Hat Man then took out two Ocean Dollars and placed them on the wheelbarrow. "I’m not selling." Wu Yongchao shook his head, took the money, and intended to give it back to the Straw Hat Man. The Straw Hat Man laughed. "If you take the money, it means you’ve accepted it. Once the money is accepted, the deal is made. It’s too late now to say you’re not selling." "I just won’t sell to you!" As a Home Cultivator, Wu Yongchao wasn’t eloquent, nor did he enjoy arguing. He threw the Ocean Dollars aside and continued to push his cart forward. The Straw Hat Man suddenly extended his leg and kicked the wheel of the wheelbarrow to pieces. Updates are released by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⁂𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⁂𝓷𝓮𝓽 The cart flipped over, and the hemp sacks fell onto the ground. Wu Yongchao’s face turned red with anger as he shouted, "You’re bullying people!" "Young man, you can’t talk like that. You’re selling rice, I gave you money to buy your rice, and you threw my money on the ground. Who exactly is bullying whom here?" Wu Yongchao took a stance, ready to fight the Straw Hat Man. The Straw Hat Man whistled loudly, and more than a dozen people emerged from both sides of the road. "Little brother, are you sure you want to fight? It’s just a business transaction; why take it so seriously?" "I’ll fight you all!" Wu Yongchao started brawling with the group of people. His cultivation level was higher than the other men’s but not as high as the Straw Hat Man’s. Under the group’s attack, Wu Yongchao sustained minor injuries, then used the Arrow Homing Skill to flee back to Iron Gate Fort. This was Li Banfeng’s command: he had to fight them, but he absolutely had to preserve his own life. The Straw Hat Man took off his hat, picked up the Ocean Dollars, and said with a laugh, "He didn’t even want the money I gave him. Now look, he has neither the rice nor the money. He’s suffered a big loss." Someone nearby asked, "Hall Master, what shall we do with this rice?" "Keep it. Don’t you need to eat?" The Straw Hat Man was none other than Han Jinwei, the Hall Master of Loess Bridge. Han Jinwei looked towards Iron Gate Fort and said to his Servants, "See that? That kid’s cultivation level isn’t low. He risked his life for two bags of rice. Life in Iron Gate Fort must be tough; otherwise, they wouldn’t have bothered fighting bandits over this. They’re almost out of food in there. If we besiege them for another two days, they’ll definitely become compliant." Han Jinwei instructed his men to secure the grain. They then moved to a nearby farmhouse they had rented to continue their watch. This farmhouse, which they had rented, offered a clear view from the inside but looked very inconspicuous from the outside. It was an excellent place for surveillance and ambushes. Wherever they went, the disciples of the Jiang Xiang Gang always managed to find a suitable foothold. This truly was one of their particular skills. Han Jinwei told his people, "Remember, we only want their goods, not to harm lives. I’ve come this time to speak with Iron Gate Fort, and I’ll try to avoid a major conflict with them." An itinerant fortune-teller wearing sunglasses and holding a blind man’s cane walked along the path towards Iron Gate Fort. A man stepped forward to stop the fortune-teller and asked, "What do you do?" The fortune-teller replied with a humble smile, "I tell fortunes and interpret characters." "Really?" Many in the Jiang Xiang Gang came from a background of fortune-telling and face-reading in the Jianghu. This Jiang Xiang Gang disciple, named Zhu Youduan, scrutinized the fortune-teller; his various tools seemed quite professional. "Where are you going to tell fortunes?" "I heard that Iron Gate Fort is up ahead. It’s a good place for business." "It’s not good for business now; they can barely feed themselves there. You best not head in that direction." The fortune-teller chuckled. "Thank you for the heads-up." That was just a perfunctory reply. He had come all this way to do business; why would he turn back just because of one person’s remark? The fortune-teller continued towards Iron Gate Fort, but Zhu Youduan grabbed him. "I told you not to go! Why won’t you listen?" The fortune-teller said in a panic, "I’m just going my way. What business is it of yours? You’re being..."