They've all become top scholars in the imperial examinations, and you're telling me this i

Chapter 98 Old Cat
Nestled in a mountain valley, Gao Laozhuang boasts houses with blue tiles and white walls scattered in a pleasing arrangement. The fields are lush and green, and the pond reflects the sunlight, creating a peaceful and prosperous rural atmosphere. However, upon closer inspection, a subtle sense of desolation seems to linger in the cracks of the walls and the eaves.

On a hillside a little distance from the village, the Golden Furnace Boy and the Silver Furnace Boy were squatting, looking worried.

"Why isn't the one who tends the fire here yet?"

The boy with the silver furnace, holding the jade bottle, pouted and kicked at the clods of earth on the ground. "How long have we been waiting? The daylilies are getting cold. Are we still not going to build our manor?"

"Shut up!" The Golden Furnace Boy said sternly, trying his best to maintain a serious expression. "You should call him 'Mr. Chen,' don't be so disrespectful!"

He's noticeably calmer these past few days and knows how to prioritize.

The Silver Furnace Boy's eyes widened. "Mr. Chen? Isn't he just a Taoist priest who tends the fire? Calling him a fire-tender is an honor..."

Before he finished speaking,
"If you're so good, then you do it!" the Golden Furnace Boy interrupted him angrily.

"Do you have a way to bring Zhu Ganglie back? Can you persuade the people of Gao Laozhuang? If you have that ability, I'll wait here and you can do it! If you don't, then just wait patiently for Mr. Chen. He can foresee what will happen, so he'll definitely have a way to solve it."

Yinlu choked for a moment, his neck stiff, "If he comes, will it work? I doubt it. Old Gao is treating that pig's head like a treasure right now."

"Whether it's uncertain or not, we'll have to wait until Mr. Chen arrives to say."

The Golden Furnace Boy's face darkened completely, his little brows furrowing. "If you keep arguing, I'll tear your mouth apart! We're here to do business, not to quarrel." He made a move to pull the Silver Furnace's ear.

"You dare, I'll tell... mmm."

Just as Silver Furnace was about to shout, Gold Furnace covered his mouth, for his eyes lit up as he saw a figure approaching from afar.

"Hey, they're here. It's quite lively. Did they bring an old Taoist priest?" Yinlu immediately forgot his argument and pointed curiously down the slope.

Chen Guangrui and Yuan Shoucheng finally arrived.

Chen Guangrui looked slightly tired, and the hem of his clothes was stained with mud and water. Yuan Shoucheng, on the other hand, was in a sorry state, his Taoist robe was wrinkled and wet, making him look like a mudfish just pulled out of a mud pit, completely lacking the air of a sage.

"Mr. Chen!" The Golden Furnace Boy immediately stood up, forcing a smile as he went to greet him, even giving a slight nod. "You've finally arrived!"

Silver Furnace Boy pursed his lips, slowly stood up while holding the bottle, and simply nodded in the direction of Chen Guangrui as a greeting.

His gaze fell on Yuan Shoucheng, his round little eyes filled with undisguised disdain.
"Huh? Where did this disheveled old Taoist come from? Mr. Shao Chen, why did you bring such a person with you?"

Despite being openly disliked by the boy, Yuan Shoucheng showed no anger. Instead, he put on a fawning smile, rubbed his muddy hands, and nodded towards the gold and silver incense burners.

"You two young immortals, this is the old Taoist Yuan Shoucheng, a man from beyond the mundane world, traveling with Scholar Chen. It's a pleasure to meet you. You young immortals are truly extraordinary, clearly virtuous and promising!"

This old fellow, with his wrinkled face when he smiled, was so good at flattering, as if the one who had just looked down on him wasn't the Silver Furnace Boy.

Chen Guangrui looked at Yuan Shoucheng's unexpectedly fawning manner and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. However, he knew that the old Taoist was cunning and must have a reason. He didn't ask anything and pretended not to notice anything.

The Golden Furnace Boy, disregarding Yuan Shoucheng's attitude, went straight to the point, his little face full of eagerness.

“Mr. Chen, you were absolutely right. We did as you said, we let that cat demon… uh, I mean the old cat out. Let it cause trouble, but gently, and make sure it doesn’t hurt anyone…”

The Silver Incense Burner Boy interrupted, rolling his eyes and complaining.
"Yes! It's quite obedient; it doesn't attack people, but it wreaks havoc on the crops in the fields. It nibbles on the newly sprouted seedlings and breaks off sections of the vines that have borne small fruits. That Pigsy gets furious as soon as he sees this. He considers this village his own, so how could he tolerate it? Humph!"

He imitated Zhu Bajie's angry expression.

"Hey! That pig-headed guy roared, grabbed his rake, and shouted, 'Hey! Where did this beast come from, daring to ruin my Gao Village's crops? Take this!' Then he charged forward and used his divine power in a few moves, beating the old cat until it howled and turned into a black gust of wind to escape!"

The Silver Furnace Boy imitated Zhu Bajie's appearance quite well.

"And the result?" Chen Guangrui asked.

"The result?" The Golden Furnace Boy stamped his foot in frustration.

"As a result, when the people of Gao Village saw that Zhu Ganglie had displayed great power and driven away the monster, they were not afraid at all. Instead, they were all overjoyed. Old Man Gao even led his men out and patted Zhu Ganglie's belly to praise him."

At this point, Yinlu Tongzi became a little indignant. "That old man really knows how to talk. He said, 'Ganglie, what great skills you have! With you here, our Gao Village is at peace! Cuilan is so lucky to be with you!' Now look what's happened, Zhu Ganglie is even more smug, and we... we can't bring him back at all! We don't even dare to mention bringing him back to Heaven, he gets anxious as soon as we open our mouths." His little face was as distressed as an old man's.

After listening, Chen Guangrui understood.

"Sure enough, there's a big problem with Gao Village. Not only did they know all along that Zhu Ganglie was no ordinary man, they were even happy to see him display his abilities. This attitude... is too deliberate."

He turned his gaze to Yuan Shoucheng, "Master Yuan, you are an expert in this field, what do you think?"

Yuan Shoucheng, who had been smiling obsequiously, puffed out his chest and pinched his fingers as he pondered, “To be honest, Scholar Chen, my two celestial children, I had a sudden feeling and, combined with the current situation, I did some deduction... This Gao Village is truly strange. As for the root cause... I'm afraid it lies with one person.”

"Who?" the Golden Furnace Boy immediately asked.

“Hmm… let the old Taoist priest ponder this divination…” Yuan Shoucheng squinted, rubbing his fingers back and forth, “After calculating, it points to the manor… that accounting office.”

"The accountant?" Chen Guangrui pressed. "What's the problem?"

Yuan Shoucheng showed a hint of embarrassment.

"This... the specific problem is a bit too far off. Just trying to figure it out out of thin air is like scratching an itch through a boot. If we could have an object closely related to that accountant, something that carries his scent, like the abacus, ledgers, or seals he used... tsk, then the old Taoist might be able to glean more insights."

Upon hearing this, the Silver Furnace Boy exclaimed in surprise, "Eh!" and blurted out, "He figured it out so quickly? That's amazing! Only our ancestor in our family can deduce the heavens..."

Before she could finish speaking, the little hand of the Golden Furnace Boy suddenly pinched her soft side hard.

"Ugh!" Silver Furnace cried out in pain, swallowing back all the rest of his words.

"Silver Furnace, watch your words. How dare you presume to comment on the Ancestor's abilities?"

The Golden Furnace Boy spoke sternly in a low voice, his little face extremely serious. He glared at the Silver Furnace Boy warningly.

Yuan Shoucheng chuckled twice, pretending not to hear Yinlu's words, and stroked his beard without responding.

Chen Guangrui's gaze swept over Jin Lu and Yuan Shoucheng, his expression calm and unwavering, seemingly unconcerned about Yin Lu's slip of the tongue, and he simply said, "I understand."

Yinlu Tongzi rubbed his aching back, his eyes darting around. Hearing that there was a problem with the accountant, his impatience flared up again. "The accountant of Gao Village? That old man with the goatee who's always fiddling with an abacus? Does he dare to play tricks? I'm going into the village right now to find him, slap the account book in his face and get to the bottom of this!" With that, he was about to rush into the village.

"Stop!" The Golden Furnace Boy reacted swiftly, grabbing him by the back of his collar and pulling him back.
"Can you please stop making things worse? Let's hear what Mr. Chen has to say!"

Yinlu twisted his body and said, "Then what do you suggest we do? We've already built half of the estate; we can't just let all this work go to waste!"

Jin Lu ignored him and looked at Chen Guangrui.

Chen Guangrui glanced at the village not far away, then at the two boys, and after a moment of contemplation, said...
“We can’t take a hard line now. Now that we know the accountant has problems, he’s one of the key figures in the village. If we go directly to confront and pressure them, they’ll only stick together more tightly to protect themselves and appear more ‘united.’ It’s like giving them a reason to act.”

"What should we do then? Are we just going to abandon the project?" Yinlu asked anxiously.

“Yes, put it down first.” Chen Guangrui said firmly.

“Let’s leave for now. Once we’re gone and there’s no external pressure, the pie in the sky that Old Man Gao painted will have to go back to square one. When that happens, their promises to Zhu Bajie won’t be fulfilled… These internal divisions will naturally surface, and might even widen due to disappointment. Then, it might be easier to find another opportunity.”

Jinlu Tongzi carefully pondered Chen Guangrui's words. Although he still didn't quite understand them, he felt they made a lot of sense and were clearly the safest and least damaging solution.

“Okay! We’ll do as Mr. Chen says!” He nodded.

Although Yinlu was unwilling and muttered, "It's almost finished," and "What a wonderful estate," seeing Jinlu's serious expression, he didn't dare to disagree anymore and just sulked while holding the bottle.

Seeing that the two boys, Jin and Yin, had agreed to withdraw from Gao Village, Chen Guangrui guessed that a conflict between Zhu Ganglie and Master Gao would soon erupt. At this moment, he inquired about another matter.

"By the way, that little demon from Black Wind Mountain you sent out to cause trouble, the old cat who got chased away, is he still alive? Where is he now?"

(End of this chapter)