Chapter 48: Welcome
I started heading towards Luoyang with Mang-ryang. If I were alone, I could have easily traversed mountains and rivers with my light body technique, but since I had to accommodate Mang-ryang, we decided to travel on horseback. We also planned to stop by Mang-ryang’s house on our way to Luoyang.
After arriving at his hut, Mang-ryang seemed to be organizing something. It wasn’t just his books or personal affairs; he was also rearranging the network of informants he had hidden around Jinrang Valley. Mang-ryang had cunningly built this network, hiring subordinates and informants with the money he earned from fortune-telling and consultations. Even the map of the village nearby, stolen from the government office, was the work of Mang-ryang’s subordinates.
I asked Mang-ryang:
“With such a network, you could have easily started your own faction. Why then did you choose to live a humble life as a fortune teller in Jinrang Valley?”
Mang-ryang waved his hand dismissively.
“Of course, if I had formed an information organization, I would have been ten times richer than I am now. However, information only has value when there is sufficient martial power to protect it. If even a mid-sized faction’s martial strength is enough to put my life in danger, there’s no point in being an information broker.”
“Hmm…”
“Besides, I quite liked my life in Jinrang Valley. I made decent money, read books whenever I wanted, and played when I felt like it.”