Unsheathed

Evening arrived, and Dong Shuijing hung up a sign to signal that his wonton shop was closed for the day. Even so, he wasn't in a hurry to pack up and close the door. After doing business here for a while, he knew that there were always worshippers who would visit the shop when climbing up the mountain and promise to buy a bowl of wonton when they climbed down the mountain afterward. These worshippers might be slightly delayed, so Dong Shuijing would still wait for an hour or so even after he put up the "closed" sign.

However, Dong Shuijing didn't ask the two helpers whom he had hired to wait with him. When the guests eventually arrived, Dong Shuijing would personally enter the kitchen to cook for them. Even if the helpers who had come from impoverished backgrounds wanted to stay behind and help their boss, Dong Shuijing would still earnestly refuse their assistance.

Dong Shuijing's wonton shop became more and more famous, and this caused many wealthy individuals in the newly built Dragon Spring Prefecture to invite him to open a few extra branches in the prefectural city. However, Dong Shuijing politely turned down all of their requests.

Apart from the wonton shop located on the waist of the mountain with a mountain god temple, Dong Shuijing had also bought half a street of residences using the huge sum of money he had earned from selling one of his ancestral residences in the small town. Apart from a single residence to stay in, he rented all of the remaining residences to other people.

Dong Shuijing was also one of the first local residents to pick up treasures for a cheap price. There were many lone elders among his neighbors where his two ancestral residences were located, and these elders who had grown up in the small town were extremely stubborn in nature. They refused to sell their ancestral heirlooms no matter how much money the outsiders offered, saying that they could live in a pile of gold and silver at night. After they died, perhaps these treasures could fill their coffins and accompany them to the next life?

The immortal disciples from the mountains had remained patient and continued to negotiate with the elders who might become a rack of bones in a few years' time. They felt like these elders were impervious to reason, yet they hadn't dared to forcefully snatch the treasures either. Thus, it was inevitable that they left in great disappointment, with their huge sums of immortal currency unable to buy any valuable treasures.

After Dong Shuijing visited these elders, however, they were always willing to sell their treasures for much cheaper than the prices offered by the outsiders. It was unknown whether the elders were doing this out of nostalgia for the young man whom they had watched growing up, or whether Dong Shuijing's silver tongue was truly so persuasive. In the end, the elders were half-selling and half-giving their treasures to Dong Shuijing.

After a few trips to Ox Horn Mountain's Cloth Wrapper Shop, it was another astronomical sum of money into Dong Shuijing's pockets. In combination with some unexpected windfalls he had obtained from diligently exploring the mountains and rivers, Dong Shuijing was able to look for Prefectural Overseer Wu, County Magistrate Yuan, and Kiln Supervision Official Cao — officials who had visited his wonton shop before — and silently buy many more pieces of land. Before one knew it, Dong Shuijing had already become one of the wealthiest individuals in the newly constructed Dragon Spring Prefecture.

In the mountains located in Dragon Spring Prefecture, there were terrifying whispers about this young man being the owner of half of the prefectural city.

Dong Shuijing and his two helpers chatted for a while after closing up shop for the day, and after the helpers left, the shopkeeper who was already a tall young man stood inside the shop by himself and cooked a steaming bowl of wontons. This could be viewed as a reward for himself.

Night arrived, and they were venturing deeper and deeper into autumn. After eating a bowl of wontons and washing up after himself, Dong Shuijing walked outside his shop and looked at the path that worshippers took to climb up the mountain and offer incense. He didn't see any worshippers, so he was just about to close his shop for good.