<h4>Chapter 205: Reimed Land</h4>


    Qi Xuansu entered The Inn, strolled over to the counter, and rested his elbows on the countertop.


    The Innkeeper behind the counter raised his eyes and looked at Qi Xuansu. “Sir, what kind of services would you like? Everything is negotiable as long as the price is right.”


    Qi Xuansu asked, “I heard that you actually offer high-end amodation here.”


    The Innkeeper chuckled awkwardly. After a long time, the Innkeeper finally said, “Well, there are empty kilns up top. Might as well put them to good use.”


    “Kiln” referred to the guest room, and “up top” was the second floor in ng.


    Qi Xuansu smirked. “I see.”


    “Sir, judging from your tone, you sound like a regr here.” The Innkeeper looked Qi Xuansu up and down.


    Qi Xuansu did not hide it. “Yes, I’m a regr, but in the south, not here.”


    “Our friend from the south, I see.”


    Qi Xuansu nodded. “Certainly.”


    Since Qi Xuansu was a regr at The Inn, the Innkeeper saved a lot of time having to probe him or beat around the bush. “What would you like, then?”


    Qi Xuansu also got straight to the point. “I’d like to ask about a ce called the White Jade Hall. Have you heard of it before?”


    The Innkeeper’s eyes flickered. “May I ask why you are looking for the White Jade Hall?”


    Qi Xuansu answered, “I’m running an errand.”


    The Innkeeper pressed on. “May I ask for your name, sir?”


    “Wei Wugui,” Qi Xuansu replied.


    “Brother Wei, you should know our rules.” The Innkeeper added, “Everything is negotiable with the right note.”


    “Note” was short for cash note.


    “Sure thing.” Qi Xuansu tapped his finger on the counter. “But don’t you shake me down.”


    Qi Xuansu did not want the Innkeeper to extort him.


    “Of course.” The Innkeeper smiled. “But we don’t encourage chaffering.”


    The Innkeeper also warned Qi Xuansu not to bargain.


    The Innkeeper nodded slightly and stopped talking in ng. “Shall we talk inside?”


    Qi Xuansu said, “Wait a minute. I have one more thing to ask.”


    “What is it?” The Innkeeper asked.


    Qi Xuansu pointed to Qin Xiang beside him. “Do you still have a room avable? She’ll need one.”


    All this time, Qin Xiang was standing next to Qi Xuansu, puzzled. She heard the conversation between Qi Xuansu and the Innkeeper. However, she could not understand what they were saying. She only understood thest part when Qi Xuansu asked for a room for her.


    The Innkeeper turned his attention to Qin Xiang. Although Qin Xiang covered most of her face with a hood, the Innkeeper still recognized her. He smiled and remarked, “Thisdy was here a few days ago.”


    “Yes.” Qi Xuansu said, “Let her stay for a few more days until Ie back.”


    “Forgive me, sir, but what if you can’te back?” The Innkeeper was cautious.


    Qi Xuansu thought about it for a while before saying, “The Inn has good rtions with the Green Phoenix Guard, right? Inform the Green Phoenix Guard if that happens.”


    The Innkeeper’s expression changed. “Sir, what do you mean by this?”


    “The literal meaning of it.” Qi Xuansu did not want to get into Qin Xiang’s identity just yet, so he changed the topic. “Let’s talk business then.”


    The Innkeeper hesitated for a moment before he summoned a waiter and instructed, “Take thisdy to the guest room where she stayed in before.”


    Qin Xiang looked at Qi Xuansu for assurance, so Qi Xuansu smiled and said, “Go ahead, it’s very safe here. No one will dare to cause trouble here.”


    “Naturally.” The Innkeeper agreed, but as he said this, he suddenly thought of the massacre at the Luzhou branch not long ago.


    Qin Xiang followed the waiter to the guest room where she had stayed previously.


    The Innkeeper stretched out his hand. “Sir, pleasee this way.”


    The two men came to a separate room, which seemed to be the Innkeeper’s office. In addition to a huge desk with various files piled on top, there were two rows of chairs against the wall. It seemed that this ce also served as a meeting room that could be used for discussions with multiple people.


    The Innkeeper sat behind the desk, while Qi Xuansu sat on a random chair.


    Qi Xuansu cut to the chase. “Name your price.”


    The Innkeeper did not rush to give him a quote. Instead, he said, “Since you know of the existence of White Jade Hall, I assume you also understand how special it is.”


    Qi Xuansu was in fact clueless about White Jade Hall, but he did not want to seem stupid at this time, so he merely nodded with a stern expression.


    The Innkeeper continued, “That’s why the price for this transaction won’t be low. I hope you’ll be mentally prepared for it, sir.”


    “How much exactly?” Qi Xuansu had a bad premonition in his heart.


    The Innkeeper held out two fingers.


    Of course, Qi Xuansu did not think it was merely 200 Taiping coins because of the Innkeeper’s warning. So he frowned and asked, “2000 Taiping coins?”


    “Yes, 2000 Taiping coins.” The smile on the Innkeeper’s face remained unchanged.


    Qi Xuansu was a little helpless. He failed to return to Jade Capital, but “disembarked” the flying ship halfway. So he missed out on Tiangang Hall''s relocation expenses and sry. Madam Qi withheld his Wuyou coins, so he only had 300 Taiping coins on him, as well as the 500 Taiping coins cash note from Zhao Fu’an, totaling 800 Taiping coins. It was still a long way from 2000 Taiping coins.


    Even if he had the money, he doubted that he could recover this capital with the reward Madam Qi promised him. He did not mind running errands for Madam Qi as a favor, but there was no way he would fork out more money. Having spent so many years with Madam Qi, he had also acquired some of her stingy habits.


    The Innkeeper was not surprised when he saw Qi Xuansu’s expression. After all, 2000 Taiping coins was certainly not a small sum. He continued, “Sir, if you can’t afford that much, you can pay using other methods, such as work.”


    Qi Xuansu understood that the Innkeeper purposely set a high price to bring up this offer. This was just so Qi Xuansu would work for The Inn.


    Hearing this, Qi Xuansu did not object immediately. He inquired, “I wonder what kind of job will be worth 2000 Taiping coins.”


    The Innkeeper replied, “It’s a big job. Brother Wei, you hang around in the densely popted south. Jobs there are mainly about fighting with people. But it’s different out here in the northwest. Thend is vast and sparsely popted. Hence it’s not so much fighting against people, but fighting against nature.”


    “Fighting against nature?” Qi Xuansu found this statement rather amusing.


    The Innkeeper continued, “There are many unexplored ces in Yongzhou, Xizhou, and other ces, like ancient relics, man-made wonders, or even copsed paradises.”


    Qi Xuansu said, “I know, but that was 200 years ago. Since the Daoist Order established itself in Kunlun, the Quanzhen Sect has taken the lead innd remation.”


    “You’re an expert, I see.” The Innkeeper extended his thumb to show he was impressed by Qi Xuansu’s knowledge. “Since you are aware of this, it’ll be easier for me to exin. The Daoist Order’s exploration andnd remationsted for nearly a hundred years. The so-called nd remation” is to cultivate wastnd. These grounds are categorized ording to the identity of the people who reimed them. They are divided into militarynd, civiliannd, and merchantnd.


    “In Yongzhou, the Daoist Order’s and the Imperial Court’s reimed grounds are considered militarynd. The Daoist Order upies half of all reimednds here, followed by the Imperial Court with 30% of the share. The remaining 20% ??are considered merchantnd and civiliannd.


    “Although these civiliannds belong to the local wealthy families, they are still categorized as civilian. They upy 10% of the share. It doesn’t seem like much, but in fact, it makes enough to feed their families. Our Inn is categorized under merchantnd. We also have 10% of the share, but we only manage to get that much through our solid long-time connections.”


    “I see.” This was the first time Qi Xuansu heard this, but he could probably understand what The Inn’s business was.


    The Innkeeper continued, “These shares mainly refer to the grounds that have been cultivated. There are still many wastnds that are in the hands of others, but we won’t go into that for the time being. What I’m saying is that since these grounds have been cultivated, they will need regr maintenance, like intensive plowing, fertilizing, pest control, weeding, and so on.”


    If a third party overheard their conversation, they would assume the Innkeeper was exining to Qi Xuansu about regr farming.


    Qi Xuansu was doubtful. “This sounds like an errand for Heavenly Beings.”


    “Not necessarily. Heavenly Beings are responsible for reiming the wastnd. Others are responsible for the subsequent cultivation and maintenance,” the Innkeeper exined.


    Qi Xuansu thought about it for a while and asked, “So what is themission for this?”


    The Innkeeper replied, “Although The Inn isbeled as a ‘secret society’ by the Daoist Order, we are still closely rted to the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court. We’repletely different from the Ziguang Society, the Cult of Fates, and the Lingshan Witch Cult. The piece ofnd that I’m referring to is rted to the Cult of Fates.”


    Qi Xuansu waited patiently for further exnation.


    The Innkeeper continued, “This piece ofnd used to be an important ce for the Daoist Order. The Cult of Fates has eyed this piece ofnd and secretly spread curses, which eventually turned the residents there into zombies, and the zombies continued to infect others. Eventually, everyone living there turned into zombies. This infestation spread in all directions, attacking cities and plundering thend.


    “In order to prevent the zombie infestation from expanding further, the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court chose to annihte the zombies in that area byunching a Phoenix Eye Bomb. After many years, thatnd is ruined, but there are still some stray zombies wandering around.


    “Strangely enough, these zombies were like weeds in a field, popping up sporadically as soon as it’s spring, so The Inn has to weed thisnd every year. This year, our branch has a shortage of manpower, so we need to recruit outsiders to help with this task.”


    Qi Xuansu understood and inquired, “What’s the specific situation?”


    The Innkeeper replied, “The headquarters will send nine Guizhen-stage masters for this weeding exercise. They will be the main leaders. Our branch is in charge of recruiting helpers. After the event ispleted, everyone will receive 2000 Taiping coins each.


    “Sir, if you agree to join this weeding exercise and decide not to inquire about White Jade Hall anymore, our branch will offer you a reward of 2000 Taiping coins.”