The Long Journey to Immortality

The words of the bigwig in front of him were like a bucket of cold salt water poured over his already battered heart, which was already bruised and battered by the bad news.

He could tell, of course, that he was going to be pushed out and made to take the blame.

However, he could neither refute nor refuse.

After all, it was indeed his vigorous efforts that led to this series of events.

Even if there was an oversight by others, his status in the Chamber of Commerce was far lower than that of the person in front of him, so how could he possibly shirk responsibility?

The best course of action right now is to take the blame upon ourselves, express our stance, and at the same time, utilize the resources provided by the other party to quickly investigate the matter, resolve it satisfactorily, and minimize the damage.

If he performs well, the other party might be willing to say a few good words during the investigation, and Young Master Lanya judged that he might be able to turn this trouble into a minor matter.

Having figured out how to break the deadlock, Young Master Lanya nodded obsequiously, not daring to show the slightest thought of disobeying the other party.

Not only did he reiterate his commitment to taking full responsibility for the matter, but he also defended the other party from their perspective.

This move to put the vehicle on the road pleased the senior executive.

When he left, not only did Young Master Lanya carry a burden he could not possibly bear, but he also received substantial support in terms of resources.

After all, this district manager, who held a significant position, also wanted to resolve the matter quickly to avoid any further complications.

The situation is urgent; even a second's delay could lead to more unforeseen complications.

Without wasting any time, Young Master Lanya used his power to convene a meeting with several chamber of commerce officials who knew many details of the matter, so that he, the still somewhat confused commander, could quickly understand the specifics of the situation.

It must be said that being selected as one of the candidates for the future president, Young Master Lanya is not as bad as Lü Zhi said.

Aside from being somewhat effeminate, Young Master Lanya's personal management abilities truly qualify him for this position.

In just a quarter of an hour, he understood the current crisis.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and after a brief exchange of ideas, he devised a plan to "recover the materials" based on his experience from over three hundred years ago and the actual situation.

Before long, Young Master Lanya had organized a group of people, each with their own duties.

Some people followed him to the possible location of the incident.

Another group relied on existing information to conduct a comprehensive analysis, attempting to pave the way for this operation.

Another small group of people were tasked with covering things up, trying their best to keep the matter from outsiders, so as not to cause Dongweng's shop to lose both its resources and its reputation.

After all, many of the resources in the shops are resources that cultivators have consigned for sale in the shops.

A decline in reputation and inadequate security are significant blows to a chamber of commerce based in the East China Sea with ambitious goals.

Everything was proceeding rapidly and in full swing, but it was difficult to conceal the tense atmosphere brought about by the sudden occurrence of this unexpected event.

Young Master Lan Ya and the five cultivators traveled at full speed in the ark to the third "check-in location," but it only took them eight and a half hours.

One person used a specially made magical artifact to search for the whereabouts of storage bags that had mostly been discarded in the vicinity.

For the other three days, he and Young Master Lanya searched the area together, trying to find any clues.

The East China Sea has been calm these past few days, so the storage bag that Han Lu had carelessly discarded was quickly retrieved from the seawater.

The storage bag was handed to Young Master Lanya, and based on the current situation, he immediately drew a series of quite useful conclusions.

"There are no signs of brute force cracking; it's most likely an inside job."

"Perhaps those three escorts who were assigned the task at the last minute had malicious intentions."

With the performance convincing, Lan Ya Gongzi, who was investigating the matter, naturally fell into the trap set by Han Lu, Lü Zhi, and others.

As a letter was discovered next to the magic circle at the "check-in point," the truth gradually came to light.

Chapter 847 Aftermath

The appearance of letters in this deserted area is enough to tell that it must be related to the robbery that just happened.

Naturally, after a simple examination confirming that the letter was not subject to any evil spells or restrictions, it was immediately delivered to Young Master Lanya for him to open.

The letter was left by two Golden Core cultivators who were traveling with Lin Jinhuan.

In the letter, they first recounted the events they had encountered along the way, then reflected on their mistake of losing supplies and goods, and finally pleaded with the investigators who might open the letter and announced their decision to go into hiding and never return to the trading company.

After all, if they were to return to the business, they would certainly face investigations of all sizes and punishments they could not bear.

Rather than being fish on a chopping board, I'd rather wander the world and become a true wandering cultivator of the East Sea.

After reading the letter, Young Master Lanya gritted his teeth, wishing he could tear this important piece of evidence to shreds on the spot.

While inwardly cursing the three cultivators chosen to escort the Dharma protectors, Young Master Lanya handed the letter to his companions who were traveling through time, hoping that the strategists in these merchant guilds could offer some insightful advice based on it.

In less than a hundred breaths, the letter had been passed around among the group.

After some thought and discussion, the group arrived at a definite conclusion and two conjectures.

One fact is that this robbery was indeed caused by an insider, and it is highly likely that there was collusion between insiders and outsiders, with acquaintances of the insider also involved.

The two conjectures are completely opposite.

First, what those two "mediocre" men who lost their supplies said in their letters was true. The mole was Lin Jinhuan, who colluded with outsiders to plunder the supplies worth nearly 90,000 spirit stones.

Secondly, the two "mediocre" officials who lost their supplies were lying in their letters; mentioning Lin Jinhuan was merely a diversionary tactic. In reality, they had conspired to steal from each other, and Lin Jinhuan was most likely already dead at their hands.

Young Master Lanya had naturally considered these things as well. He took a deep breath, trying his best to suppress the anger in his heart, and cursed, "These traitors."

"You think you can just leave a letter and walk away? Dream on."

At this moment, his anger made him less effeminate.

"Make the arrangements to issue arrest warrants and search for the whereabouts of these two escorting guardians on the surrounding islands."

"If it really was their own doing, then finding them will solve everything."

"If that's not the case, then at least we can have some explanation and lessen our guilt."

Young Master Lanya has realized that this matter is unlikely to be properly concealed, and has begun to plan how to shift the blame further so that he won't fall from grace and into the abyss because of it.

"What about Lin Jinhuan?" someone asked. "He might also be the mole who stole the resources. Should we also look for his whereabouts?"

“I think so too, but we probably won’t be able to find him within half a month,” Young Master Lanya analyzed. “If Lin Jinhuan is the traitor who stole the magic treasures and materials, then the description in the letter is true and reliable.”

"In that case, Lin Jinhuan still has at least two accomplices by his side."

"If the three of them were together, only a cultivator at the late Golden Core stage could reliably capture or kill them."

"If we seek help from headquarters and arrange for a Chamber of Commerce protector of this level of cultivation to intervene, then this matter will really escalate."

"After all..." Young Master Lanya stopped mid-sentence, only wishing, "Hopefully, it's still those two good-for-nothings, Qingtian and Huolong, who stole the Chamber of Commerce's resources. If that happens, the matter will be much easier to resolve."

But just hearing this, others could roughly understand why Young Master Lanya would make such an arrangement.

After all, for Young Master Lanya, discovering the real culprit and recovering the materials were merely ways to mitigate his guilt.

He wouldn't escalate things if there were better options available.

If the losses outweigh the gains, he would rather lose his resources than bear a greater fault.

After completing these arrangements and clearly explaining the tasks, Young Master Lanya voluntarily left the group to continue his journey to the Star Islands to handle the aftermath.

After all, in order to minimize the impact of this matter, it is also important to appease the "Fairy of the Qin" from the Western Regions.

If we cannot satisfy this major client, then this matter will likely spread throughout the East China Sea in no time.

At that time, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Even if those resources and magical treasures were recovered, he would still be punished for this matter.

Climbing any higher, becoming the head of Dongweng Shop is out of the question.

Four more hours passed before Young Master Lanya arrived at the Dongweng Shop on the Star Islands and immediately sought out Manager Chen, who was handling the matter there.

“Young Master,” although Lan Ya was only one of the candidates, Manager Chen still addressed him as “Young Master” in a sweet tone, “Why have you come?”

Upon seeing his superior arrive, Manager Chen, who was unaware of the specifics of the matter, had a bad feeling.

Young Master Lanya briefly explained the situation to Shop Manager Chen, and then said, "Quickly find some materials and ornaments that the Western Region female cultivator might like in the warehouse, and I will go to her place to apologize."

"See if we can give her hush money so she'll regret the deal and forget about it."

Then, as if talking to himself, Young Master Lanya analyzed, "The other party is from the Western Regions and should not know the business rules of the East Sea."

"There's no need to explain the facts to her; just use incentives to settle this matter."

Finally, he muttered a prayer, "I hope so."

Fifteen minutes later, Young Master Lan Ya and Shopkeeper Chen arrived at the shop with gifts, two magical artifacts they intended to use to "bribe" Fairy Qin, and five thousand spirit stones.

Han Lu, who was meditating inside the house, was the one who started this whole thing, so she could naturally guess the other party's intentions.

They spent time thinking about countermeasures and analyzing how they would react if there really was such a fairy playing the zither here.

After letting the other person vent their anger for a while, Han Lu invited them into her house a quarter of an hour later.

"I apologize to both of you. I was in deep meditation just now and was unavailable, which is why I kept you waiting," Han Lu, with her tanned skin, said with a smile. "There is still a full day and a half until the agreed date. May I ask what brings you here at this hour, Manager Chen? Could it be that the items I requested have been delivered ahead of schedule and the transaction can proceed?"

Pretending to be delighted, Han Lu watched the two men's awkward expressions, but inside she was actually laughing nonstop.

With a forced smile, Manager Chen turned to the side and introduced the "Fairy Qin" to her, saying, "The reason why the young master and I came here is indeed for the Fairy Qin's big business deal."

"Let me first introduce you to Fairy Qin. This is..." Shop Manager Chen hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Young Master Lan Ya is the actual shop manager and person in charge of this shop, and a candidate for the future president of Dongweng Shop."

Young Master Lanya cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Greetings, Fairy."

Han Lu suppressed her slight aversion and maintained a smile, "Greetings, Young Master Lan Ya."

[Author's Note] It's so hot. The sun is so strong, and I've gotten so tanned.

Chapter 848 The customer is a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator

Based on Han Lu's understanding of the Fairy Qin's identity, she was naturally unaware of Young Master Lan Ya's intentions at this time.

They might even misjudge the nature of the transaction because of the arrival of such an important figure in the Dongweng Shop, thinking that the materials and magical treasures on their list are too precious and require such a prominent figure to personally oversee the transaction in order to complete it.

With this in mind, Han Lu naturally continued to pretend that she knew nothing about the secret stories that had happened in the past few days, and continued to say things that made Young Master Lan Ya and Manager Chen, who already knew that the transaction was doomed to fail, feel embarrassed.

"Young Master Lanya has come today, presumably to bring all the materials I wish to purchase with me?" Han Lu smiled broadly. "It has been some time since I left the Western Regions, so please take out the items quickly and complete the transaction with me, so as not to delay my return to the Western Regions."

As she spoke, Han Lu pretended to be unhappy and complained a couple of times, "The High Priest only granted me a month and a half of leave. I can't stay away from the Holy Land for too long and linger in the East Sea."

Then, she indulged in a few more beautiful daydreams and promised again, "If I can bring all the resources back to the Western Regions at a reasonable price, my sisters will be overjoyed."

"Don't worry, both of you. I will definitely put in a good word for Dongweng's shop on the Star Islands in the East China Sea with my sisters and fellow travelers, so that they will patronize your business when they come to the East China Sea to make purchases."