I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 29: Changing the Guard, Seizing the Initiative

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Changing the Guard, Seizing the Initiative

Heavenly Immortal’s face was somewhat pale from drunken madness; the transformation Gu Shanhai did on Qian Tiezhu last night still made him nauseous, leaving him with a considerable psychological shadow over rats for at least the near future.

"Didn’t you feel disgusted when you were using the skill?" Heavenly Immortal drunkenly asked.

"It was my first time using it too; I got it from a primordial biotic entity in the previous instance." Gu Shanhai actually felt nothing. Although he didn’t have the memory of experiments from his past life, he adapted quite well. He had already dissected by hand before, and didn’t feel much about transforming the plague Rat-man.

It was only Heavenly Immortal Drunken Madness and the magnanimous Huang En who felt uncomfortable with the transformation up close. Heavenly Immortal was a bit better, but Huang En looked at him a bit strangely, seeming to feel that Gu might be someone who had escaped from a madhouse or prison.

"Besides, I wasn’t the one who did it this time; it was controlled by the system, so I felt totally out of sorts too." Seeing this, Gu Shanhai could only pretend it was for "The First Eon."

"Let’s not talk about this; just mentioning it makes my stomach churn. But are you sure it’s okay to leave that rat at home?" Heavenly Immortal drunkenly expressed concern. He went with Gu Shanhai to the ancestral hall, and they had found out the location from Qian Tiezhu, while Huang En had gone out as planned to gather information and didn’t follow them.

Places that place great importance on clans like this made it difficult for outsiders to enter the ancestral hall; they needed Heavenly Immortal’s identity to help.

Although Gu Shanhai could sneak in, now just wasn’t the time.

"No problem, it hasn’t fully developed yet. It will take at least twelve hours, so don’t worry it will run off." Gu Shanhai estimated the time; it wouldn’t be immediate success following the transformation, it needed time to integrate anyway.

"No, I meant what if Qian Lao comes looking for us? Qian Tiezhu can’t go back." Heavenly Immortal was worried about being exposed, not about the plague Rat-man escaping.

"Don’t worry, it’s not a big issue. We hid it so well that if it does get discovered, then when that time comes, we’ll just make another Rat-man." Gu Shanhai didn’t take it to heart.

They had placed the Rat-man on the beam. If someone did find and touch it, it would activate the Rat-man right away, which would likely gnaw on them immediately.

"..." Heavenly Immortal thought that this guy was absolutely an outlaw beyond the law’s reach. He was lucky this was just a game; otherwise, he would report him to the authorities immediately.

Staying around Gu Shanhai for long, Heavenly Immortal felt exhausted. Having a teammate who feared neither heaven nor earth and possessed an extraordinary skill with a wired way of thinking was like being next to a ticking time bomb.

They soon arrived at the ancestral hall, where the main door was locked with heavy iron chains, and two young men were sitting idly by the entrance.

Seeing Heavenly Immortal and Gu Shanhai come over, they just gave a glance.

Because the village was small, they had already heard about the rich-returnee from the city, with the Zhou Family’s kid bringing back two friends. He was spending money liberally. Qian Lao had made three hundred just by letting them stay temporarily in a dilapidated manor. Therefore, the two young men were also a bit itchy.

They didn’t think about the money; they just wondered if they could broaden their horizons.

"Yo, black kid, up so early? I heard city people usually sleep till noon, don’t they?" one of the young men teased.

"Not at all, same as you guys. By the way, can we take a look inside the ancestral hall? My colleague here specializes in folk customs. He’s thinking of doing some research to see if he can develop something unique for our village to attract tourists, so the villagers can earn a bit more." Heavenly Immortal followed the pre-arranged script.

"This will make money?" the other young man wondered.

"Of course, no problem. We’ll first monetize through online traffic. With our village’s conditions, just a few tweaks and it directly becomes an internet-famous destination. Forget about everything else, we could literally make money while lying down. Otherwise, what do you think I came back for? You don’t really think I care about giving offerings to the Mountain God, do you?" Heavenly Immortal scoffed.

The two were tempted. They didn’t quite understand what Heavenly Immortal was talking about—they hadn’t set foot outside their whole lives—but they knew the world was changing rapidly. The other party must have come back with ambitions.

On a normal day, letting Heavenly Immortal and Gu Shanhai into the ancestral hall wouldn’t have been a big deal, but tomorrow would be the Mountain God’s ceremony. The Mountain God’s bride was now locked in the basement of the ancestral hall. If they made any noise and it was detected, that would be trouble.

Being outsiders, after all.

Seeing the two hesitate, Gu Shanhai frowned: "Can’t we go in? Is it because of the local clan rules?"

"Yes, yes, yes, there’s this rule." The young man was quick to slide down the slope.

"I say, Old Zhou, you’re being unscrupulous here. To tell you the truth, the surrounding environment is indeed very good. According to the company’s plan, we’re ready to invest ten billion to create a natural ecological park. You were the one who convinced the leaders, but now you’re still stuck with this feudal clan dross. What if it hurts tourists?"

"I think we’ll have to wait and have another meeting back at the company. You know what the situation is like outside."

"The company values your ability, but it doesn’t mean they are willing to accommodate you. Once Old Huang’s geological and customs surveys are done, we should leave."

Gu Shanhai put on airs, showing great dissatisfaction.

The two young gatekeepers were stunned. Ten billion! If that investment came through, they really wouldn’t need to work anymore—the whole village would prosper for generations.

After saying this, Gu Shanhai turned and left. Heavenly Immortal hadn’t expected this turn but knew Gu Shanhai was ad-libbing and followed up with great cooperation: "Leader, we can talk about this. We can talk."

"You guys, hurry up and find the village chief," Heavenly Immortal said, as if he were cross at their inability to get things done.

The two realized they had screwed up, not expecting the boss from outside to have such a big attitude.

But they also knew this was no small matter—one of them quickly ran toward the village chief’s house.

"Why did you suddenly change the plan?" After catching up with Gu Shanhai, Heavenly Immortal muttered quietly.

"We need to take the initiative. Otherwise, sneaking in according to the original plan would be fine, but it would make us passive afterward."

"Invent a major company to make them hesitant to act rashly. Then you can let slip that I’m the great-nephew of the director of a big company, with a hard relationship that could decide on the ten billion in funding. Huang En is the capable old man in the company, and you are the newcomer being groomed by the company."

"Make sure you get the story straight to avoid giving us away."