Scripture of Days Past

Chen Gang was thrilled to hear that he and Wang Cailiang would soon have access to large quantities of Hundred Refinement Ointment.

Finally, it’s my time to shine! Once I reach the third state, perhaps I can ask Brother Chu to recommend me for the martial examination, or should I join the Demon Vanquishing Department instead?

While Chen Gang was getting carried away, envisioning his future through rose-tinted glasses, Chu Qiguang continued giving instructions to Wang Cailiang.

By selling all their shares, they should be able to obtain over a hundred thousand taels of silver. Even if only half of that amount were used to purchase pills, it will still be enough to buy hundreds of batches of Hundred Refinement Ointment and dozens of Seven Treasure Pills.

Wang Cailiang couldn’t help but feel stunned after making the calculations.

The average fifth-state martial artist probably can’t even earn this much in an entire lifetime, yet this is only half a year’s worth of income for Chu Qiguang. I’ve never seen anyone make money this quickly! It’s almost as if money grows on trees for him!

Meanwhile, Qiao Zhi was also listening with keen interest. He was overjoyed to hear that fifty thousand taels of silver would soon be injected into Hidden Fiend Village.

After parting ways with Wang Cailiang, Chu Qiguang lamented inwardly, I still don’t have enough people at my disposal. Right now, Wang Cailiang is the only person I can trust to handle matters outside the village.

Following Wang Cailiang’s departure, Chu Qiguang began drawing a spinning mule he had seen in school back on Earth.

He had learned about the British Industrial Revolution in history class during the first semester of his third year of middle school. The class had been shown a picture of the spinning mule invented by Samuel Crompton.

The spinning mule was a machine that combined the advantages of water-powered spinning machines and the Spinning Jenny. Thanks to Chu Qiguang’s impeccable memory, he was able to draw a perfect replica of the picture he had seen in history class.

Of course, while the drawing itself was extremely accurate, he had no idea how the machine actually worked. That would be something for the workers in the textile manufactory to figure out.

If he could develop the spinning mule, it would become much easier to reform the Azure Sun Trade Association and deal with Wu Wei and Chen Zhu. In addition, the spinning mule would also play a pivotal role in the future expansion of the textile manufactory.

The blood pool’s ability to produce tools may help workers develop the spinning mule faster. I’ll have to ask Wang Cailiang to keep an eye on that.

After completing his drawing of the spinning mule, Chu Qiguang began making a list of the departments that needed to be established, such as the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Administration, the Department of Technology, the Department of Safety, the Department of Justice, the Department of Business...

At the moment, Hidden Fiend Village was jointly managed by Qiao Zhi, Jin Ji, and Wang Cailiang. Whenever a decision had to be made, the three of them simply discussed the matter among themselves.

However, as the population of the village continued to grow, it would inevitably become more difficult to manage. In Chu Qiguang’s view, the recent coup staged by the outsider fiends could partly be attributed to the lack of a clear management structure within the village.

To resolve this problem, a proper system had to be put into place, one in which everyone’s duties were clearly defined and easy to manage.

He had implemented many similar systems in his previous life, some of which had expanded to include tens of thousands of people in only a few years.

However, this would be a different challenge from anything he had faced before. He approached it with great caution, planning to adapt to the situation as it developed and gradually improve the system over time.

”How long are you planning to stay, Chu Qiguang?” Qiao Zhi asked.

Chu Qiguang continued writing as he replied, ”I sent White Rice to invite the people from the wolf race to come and see me. Didn’t you say they’ve been trying to undermine my authority recently? I’ll leave after I’ve put them in their place.”

Qiao Zhi jumped onto the desk, and a single glance at everything Chu Qiguang had written down was enough to give him a headache.

”Don’t you feel tired doing so much at once?”

”Not really,” Chu Qiguang replied. ”Ever since I reached the fifth state in Dao arts, I hardly get tired anymore. Besides, I find all of this very interesting. Don’t you enjoy the process of gradually gaining more power and wealth?”

”I would certainly enjoy accumulating more wealth,” Qiao Zhi replied. ”I wouldn’t feel tired either if I had to count money all day, but recently, I’ve been busy keeping an eye on all the fiends, while Wang Cailiang has been the one managing all the money.”

”Once those fifty thousand taels of silver arrive in the village, you’ll have plenty of money to count and manage,” Chu Qiguang said with a smile.

Qiao Zhi immediately began wagging his tail in excitement. ”I’ll make sure to keep a perfect account of everything, down to the last copper coin!”

Just then, a chorus of meows suddenly rang out.

”Here she comes again,” Qiao Zhi wailed in despair. ”Your sister’s been driving everyone crazy! You have to do something about her before you leave! ”

An orange blur raced onto the scene. It was a little girl with cat ears and a cat tail, bounding along on all fours while meowing like a cat.

Zhou Yujiao tried to rub herself against Chu Qiguang’s leg, but he moved it out of the way and asked with an annoyed expression, ”What are you doing?”

”Meow! I’m a cat! Meow, meow, meow!”

”Speak properly or you won’t get any dinner tonight!” Chu Qiguang threatened.

Zhou Yujiao immediately sprang to her feet, wrapped her arms around Chu Qiguang’s leg, and complained, ”I really missed you! Why didn’t you come to see me now that you’re back?”

Chu Qiguang tried to push her away, but in her humanoid cat fiend form, Zhou Yujiao was quite strong. She clung tightly to his leg like a stubborn piece of gum.

Chu Qiguang noticed that she had grown considerably rounder over the past month, and it was obvious that she had been indulging herself.

Your sister is constantly causing trouble in the village! Qiao Zhi complained telepathically. She keeps grabbing the tails of dog fiends, cutting the whiskers of cat fiends. Just a few days ago, she threw feces at the fox fiends! Yesterday, she dug holes all over the roads in the village, saying that she could dig up silver...

Chu Qiguang looked down at Zhou Yujiao with an exasperated expression as the latter continued clinging to his leg while picking her nose.

I suppose it’s about time I made her useful. I’ve even turned Chen Gang into a productive member of society, so I really shouldn’t be letting my own sister off the hook.

With that in mind, he said, ”Yujiao, come here. I have something cool to show you.”