I use my future dreams to prove immortality.

Chapter 40 The Horse's Leaks

"I feel like I underestimated this Junior Brother Zhou!"

After seeing off Wei Xiao, who had played the bad cop for him, Lu Chengping instructed Yun Nu, "Yun Nu, tomorrow you need to investigate Zhou Qiuyuan's background and find out where his money comes from!"

Money doesn't just appear out of thin air; it always has a source.

Although it's unclear how Zhou Qiuyuan made his money, destroying his source of wealth is much easier.

Only after Zhou Qiuyuan's source of income is cut off will things develop in the direction expected.

Lu Chengping put the matter out of his mind. He had the Thunder-Nourishing Pill completely under his control and it would never escape his grasp.

With the mortals of Tianqiao City migrating to Black Swamp City, the Thunder Spirit Tool he had been longing for would finally be secured. He needed to make preparations during this time to prevent that beast Wang Sichen from ruining his plans.

Lu Chengping hadn't walked far along the main street when Yun Nu turned around and looked behind her, coldly snorting, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

Yunnu activated the Buddhist prayer beads on her wrist, and a layer of yellow light emerged from her body as she shielded Lu Chengping behind her.

Lu Chengping quietly took out a Spirit Explosion Pill, ready to swallow it at any time. He was on good terms with the young master of the Fang family, so he naturally had Spirit Explosion Pills for emergencies.

"Senior Brother Lu." Zhou Qiuyuan slowly emerged from the darkness, looking at Lu Chengping and Yun Nu, who seemed to be facing a formidable enemy.

The two were still quite far apart, and Zhou Qiuyuan deliberately slowed his footsteps, but Yun Nu still noticed him keenly. If Yun Nu had no redeeming qualities, she wouldn't have become Lu Chengping's bodyguard, serving him closely.

"Junior Brother Zhou, what brings you here?"

Lu Chengping put away the Spirit-Exploding Pill, sighed, and said, "It's all my fault that my junior brother had to pay this time..."

"My last possessions were stolen by thieves. When the clan distributes monthly allowances, I will definitely treat everyone to a few more meals to make up for Junior Brother Zhou's loss."

Lu Chengping had kept his true nature well hidden, and Zhou Qiuyuan had not discovered his true identity.

Now, recalling the details of my conversation with Lu Chengping, everything becomes intriguing.

In the dream sequence, when Lu Chengping wanted to acquire the Fire Feather Chicken, he was only willing to offer three years' worth of Body Tempering Realm pills instead of giving money directly, which seemed more like keeping Zhou Qiuyuan in poverty.

It's fine for the two families to take turns paying for the banquet, but their financial situations are vastly different.

Twenty taels of gold was the price Lu Chengping paid for a meal with a friend, but for Zhou Qiuyuan it was a huge sum that emptied his family's savings.

Lu Chengping invited him to dinner under the pretext of treating him to a meal. The price of the meal was higher than usual, and coincidentally, someone stole his money that day.

There are no such coincidences in the world.

Moreover, how could a thief possibly fool the ever-present and highly perceptive bodyguards and successfully steal money from Lu Chengping?

The truth has already come to light.

Zhou Qiuyuan sighed and said, "Junior Brother spent all his remaining savings at the banquet. He suddenly remembered that he had other uses for the money. He came here intending to sell the Thunder-Nourishing Pill to Senior Brother Lu..."

"Since Senior Brother Lu is short of money, I'll go find Senior Brother Luo instead."

After saying that, he made a move to leave.

Lu Chengping was stunned; he hadn't expected happiness to come so quickly.

Poor people are inherently poor, and Zhou Qiuyuan spent a lot of money on cultivation. It's not surprising that a meal costing twenty-three taels of gold emptied his family's savings.

"Junior Brother Zhou, wait!"

"Although Senior Brother Luo is still Master's adopted son, he doesn't actually have much money. Although Master hasn't mistreated him, he hasn't given him many cultivation resources."

"Senior Brother Luo is affiliated with a wealthy family. He can use Master's reputation to deter villains and earns eight thousand coins a month. He also needs elixirs for cultivation, so he doesn't have much spare money."

"As long as you trust me, I will find someone to raise the money tomorrow. It's not just the agreed-upon one hundred taels of gold, but I will also cover the expenses of this banquet."

Lu Chengping had money in his pocket, but taking it out now would be an admission of guilt.

He can only stall for time and pay tomorrow to save face.

Zhou Qiuyuan gave a wry smile and shook his head, saying, "It's not that I don't trust Senior Brother Lu, but I urgently need this money tonight."

"Sigh, we can only pawn the Thunder Nourishing Pill to Huixianzhai and wait for Senior Brother Lu to get the money before redeeming it."

Lu Chengping immediately became anxious.

Huixianzhai and the Wang family are in cahoots. If Yang Leidan is sent to Huixianzhai, Wang Sichen will definitely try every means to disgust him when he receives the news.

Raising Lei Dan is like throwing meat buns to a dog—it's a one-way street.

Lu Chengping gave Yunnu a wink, and Yunnu, understanding the signal, stepped forward and said, "Young master, Madam has been keeping a sum of money for me to protect against unforeseen circumstances."

Lu Chengping stood behind her and quietly slipped a gold note into Yun Nu's hand.

Yunnu took out a hundred-tael gold note, turned around and handed it to Lu Chengping, "I didn't expect it to come in handy so soon."

Now that things have come to this, Lu Chengping doesn't care if Zhou Qiuyuan sees through his scheme; he just wants to get his hands on the Nourishing Thunder Pill as soon as possible.

Zhou Qiuyuan looked at the gold notes handed to him and said, "What about the cost of the banquet..."

Lu Chengping glanced at the spiritual artifact in Yun Nu's hand, snorted coldly, and said, "This low-grade spiritual artifact, the Earth Buddha Beads, is priced at eighty-five taels of gold. How about we use this as collateral and exchange it with you tomorrow?"

Zhou Qiuyuan took out the porcelain bottle containing the Thunder Nourishing Pill and exchanged it with Lu Chengping for a hundred taels of gold notes and a low-grade earth spirit tool.

After exchanging a few insincere pleasantries, the two took their leave.

Zhou Qiuyuan had only harbored suspicions about Lu Chengping's scheme, but he had already witnessed Lu Chengping secretly slipping gold notes to Yunnu.

The incident happened suddenly, and Lu Chengping was unprepared, which is why he slipped up.

Zhou Qiuyuan knew through his future dream that the banquet was a trap, and he would not knowingly walk into danger.

……

Zhou Qiuyuan continued to refine his skin as usual, declined Lu Chengping's banquet invitation, and devoted himself to intensive training.

In the evening, they went to Tianxiang Tower to obtain intelligence and met with Gong Lei.

"Dark Night has received intelligence that is far more comprehensive than the information you relayed."

"The Blackwater Sect attacked the Heavenly Craft Academy, annihilating its headquarters and market in one fell swoop. The mortals of Heavenly Craft City will be relocated to Black Swamp City..."

Zhou Qiuyuan immediately put what he had learned into practice and told Gong Lei all the information he had obtained from Qi Mingyu, the young master of the Qi family, explaining in detail the reasons for the rise in grain prices.

"You have done a good job reporting this matter, and this tael of gold is Dark Night's reward for you."

The information provided by Gong Lei saved Zhou Qiuyuan a sum of money in stockpiling grain. Since Gong Lei had performed well in the future dream, Zhou Qiuyuan gave him one tael of gold as a reward.

"I am ashamed to accept this money!"

Gong Lei hadn't expected this matter to involve the Immortal Sect War. The intelligence Dark Night had obtained was so detailed; it was indeed unfathomable.

"Take it! You can't do without money on the path of cultivation." Zhou Qiuyuan smiled nonchalantly. "As long as you do your best for Dark Night, Dark Night will never treat its own people unfairly."

Gong Lei, overwhelmed with gratitude, held the gold coins he had just received and resolved to work even harder to gather intelligence for Dark Night.