Chapter Thirty-One: Master: The Water Division Is Perilous, You Must Strive Forward

“So it was all for the Mountain and Sea Society’s system of ‘selling offices and titles.’ No wonder someone like Lord Xue, a fishery overlord, could restrain his desires and painstakingly save up several thousand taels of silver.”

At this moment, Wang Cheng suddenly understood, realizing at once what Lord Xue intended with that jar containing 3,800 taels’ worth of gold and silver.

“Lord Xue was born to the lowest class of boat-dwelling folk, lacking the means for education from a young age, and too afraid of death to fish at sea. Aside from becoming a fishery tyrant and seizing by cunning, he had no other skills.

So he toiled for years, preparing to take the shortcut up Zhongnan Mountain.

What he likely did not foresee was that, as overseas trade brought more and more silver from the West, silver had continuously depreciated in value over these years, with the exchange rate with gold steadily falling.

He gritted his teeth and saved repeatedly, spending nearly twenty years just to scrape together enough gold for a full weight—enough to let him leap past arduous cultivation, ignore seasonal omens, and directly buy himself an official post and status.

If not for his ‘greedy and ruinous fate’ that led me to don his wedding robes, the one standing here today would surely have been him.”

However, Wang Cheng still had his doubts:

“Elder Shen, I have a question I’d like to ask.

If the entrance fee is less than eight taels of gold, it’s all right—the relationship between apprentice and the Mountain and Sea Society is merely transactional. But those who pay eight or sixteen taels are true disciples. Does our Mountain and Sea Society really only care about money when accepting true disciples, regardless of their character?

What if someone comes to apprentice who’s like those traitorous boat-folk who aid and abet evil in the Waterworks Division? Isn’t there a risk our Society will become just another predatory fishing gang?”

His concern was not unfounded.

The best soldiers in the army come from honest families, not hardened murderers already accustomed to bloodshed; even in the criminal underworld, righteousness is paramount—those who harm their brothers must pay in blood. If apprentices betray their masters, masters exploit their disciples, and brothers turn on each other with constant intrigue and killing, abandoning any basic moral restraint...

Such chaos would endlessly increase the cost of management, and organizational destruction would be only a matter of time—let alone any hope of growth.

“Traitors? Character? Heh...”

Hearing Wang Cheng mention those traitorous boat-folk who vanished the same night as the ‘Waterworks Men,’ Elder Shen gave him a meaningful look, a ring of golden light shining in his eyes:

“My eyes are not yet blind, nor are my ears deaf. I can tell who is useful and who is a scourge.

To this day, I haven’t misjudged anyone yet.

Wealthy boy, I see your character is quite good, very good indeed. Cough, cough...”

Wang Cheng suddenly felt as though he’d been seen through; his back chilled, and he couldn’t help but wonder if those eyes hid a ‘Universal Coin’ as well.

But he quickly realized—after all, this sort of “profiting from rare goods” had always been the forte of merchant-officials and traders.

He might own a Universal Coin, but he wasn’t yet an official; in terms of reading people, he might not be a match for this old procurer before him.

Perhaps the reason the Mountain and Sea Society had opened its gates so wide was because the head ‘Procurer’ had absolute confidence in his own expertise.

They might even have a plan—let these people hand over their money first, then assign these “disciples” a death mission: killing several birds with one stone, a perfect arrangement.

They’d get the money, purge the parasites, and the survival of orthodox disciples would create a misleading impression—outsiders would never notice the hidden danger, and newcomers would keep coming.

Hearing Elder Shen’s words laced with hidden meaning, Wang Cheng couldn’t help but suspect the old man had already seen through something about him.

But he trusted his own ‘Universal Coin,’ so he wasn’t especially nervous. Instead, he shamelessly tried to curry favor:

“If someone has good character, can they get in for free? I’d like to choose the full weight of gold.”

Page 1 of 3

Elder Shen Yuting stroked his beard and smiled kindly at Wang Cheng. Just as Wang Cheng thought he had a chance, the old man coldly spat out two words:

“No way!”

Ignoring Wang Cheng’s crestfallen expression, Shen Yuting looked him up and down before continuing:

“A full weight of gold is thirty pounds, or it can be exchanged at today’s rate of one to eight for 3,840 taels of silver. The main sum can’t be waived, but I can knock off a little for you. Just hand over 3,817 taels, three qian, and thirty-five copper coins.”

When Wang Cheng heard this number, he froze, and croaked,

“Under... Understood.”

With a bitter face, he took out several promissory notes from major banks: one Yutongshun, two Weitaihou, four Tianchengheng—all from the trustworthy “Yuan” grade of the four major banks.

He also produced some odd silver and copper coins, laying them all on the table.

It was clear he’d emptied his pockets, and in the end, the sum matched Elder Shen’s figure exactly!

Seeing the payment, Shen Yuting’s lips curled in a smile, and the golden light in his eyes grew even brighter.

‘Good lad, so you’re the one who took care of those traitorous boat-folk!

A conflict by day, and by night you wiped them all out—destroyed the bodies and left not a trace, even I couldn’t find a single flaw.

Your methods are fierce, but your cleanup wasn’t quite thorough enough.

You laundered the stolen funds through the banks, even split the deposits among several, but only did it once. Good enough to fool the dumb officials, but not enough to escape my magic eyes.

Compared to how cautious I was in my days of... ahem, business, you still have some ways to go.’

By retracing the chain of cause and effect, Shen Yuting also realized why the ‘official aura’ of the Waterworks Division hadn’t backfired on him.

This boy didn’t just repay every slight; he planned meticulously, paid no heed to trifles, used the Cockcrow and Night Drum Soul-Returning Incense to achieve a single decisive blow, and was adept at leveraging public sentiment to break official power. He was absolutely top-tier talent for the Waterworks branch!

If not for the happenstance of catching him at the scene that night, no one would ever have discovered what he’d done.

The more Shen Yuting thought about it, the more this young man suited his tastes.

With a wave of his sleeve, all the money on the table vanished without a trace, save for the gold ingot that Huang Yuanzhou had given, which he returned, shaking his head in mock regret:

“Wealthy boy, I didn’t expect you could actually come up with a full weight of gold. I was only planning to take your entire fortune, make a show of it, and accept you as a direct disciple. What a pity, what a pity—your luck’s not great, you... are just too wealthy.”

Ignoring Wang Cheng’s stunned face, he continued with leisure:

“To formally enter my lineage, you’ll need to be inscribed at the ordination ceremony. For now, serve me tea.”

Having chosen the highest level entrance fee, there was no reason not to choose Elder Shen Yuting, the Hall Officer himself, as a master. Wang Cheng didn’t dare protest, and knelt cleanly to honor him as teacher.

A good mule or horse is valuable; a big ego isn’t. Honoring one’s master was as it should be, with no psychological burden.

He then rose to pay respects to Senior Brother Zheng Qian.

“Senior Brother Zheng.”

Zheng Qian returned the courtesy:

Page 2 of 3

“Haha, Brother Wang! At last I’m no longer the youngest in the sect.”

Shen Yuting sipped the tea Wang Cheng presented, then spoke with meaningful gravity:

“Wealthy boy, before you, I had only three true direct disciples—the rest were just fat sheep.

You have your eldest senior brother Zhang Quan, and your second senior sister, my only daughter Shen Yueye. They’re both out on official business now, I’ll introduce you when they return.

Zheng Qian is the third, who stays by my side to assist. You are the fourth of my lineage.

But coming in late is no great matter. Our Waterworks branch is the most perilous of all, so you must strive diligently!”

The Waterworks offices already ranked lowest among the three official branches, and over the years infighting had been constant—a state of both internal strife and external threat was no exaggeration.

As the Hall Officer, Shen Yuting was always worried and, unconsciously, placed even greater hopes on his own disciples.

“Fourth, am I?”

Wang Cheng mulled over this seemingly simple but actually significant ranking, and was quite satisfied.

After all, only one successor could ultimately inherit the position of Hall Officer; he indeed needed to strive hard.

Judging by the look of Senior Brother Zheng Qian, the sect’s atmosphere was decent, so he bowed deeply:

“Yes, Master. I will not let you down!”

Yet as he straightened, he felt a heaviness and faint ache in his shoulders.

If he guessed right, it was because he had just set down the burden of the Five Peaks Banner and the East Sea Kingdom, only to now shoulder the responsibility of the thirty-six Waterworks Halls.

This soreness could only be called the “occupational disease” of a royal scion.

The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

Shen Yuting rose, instructed the servants to resume their work, and led his two disciples into the back courtyard of Fenglin Studio. Crossing winding paths, rockeries, and stone bridges, amid lush greenery stood a three-story pavilion.

“Fourth, you’ve already kindled your heart-lamp. Before the ordination, it’s all about slow, steady work—gradually strengthening your heart’s light until your life-fire burns pure and bright.

Besides internal training, external practice, and dietary nourishment, you mustn’t waste the remaining time.

You should, like Dou Yan, get familiar with the trade in advance and build up experience, so you won’t be caught unprepared when the time comes for ordination.

I hold the inheritance for all thirty-six halls.

I happen to have some time today, so I’ll help you test which hall in our Waterworks branch your fate and talents best align with.”

Shen Yuting had clearly slipped into his role as master, conscientiously beginning his teaching.

He asked Wang Cheng his first question directly:

“Fourth, in the Great Zhao dynasty, everyone hopes for ordination. If they can’t pass the civil exams or become an imperial official, they still want a place as one of the three classes of official.

In the study of destiny, if nothing else, people will use any crooked means to arrange for their children to have an ‘Eight Characters with a Seal.’

Do you know where our divine official system truly originated?”

Page 3 of 3