The extreme gap between expectation and reality plunged the Jia Clan advance team — who had come fully prepared to roll up their sleeves and pound the table at Black Blood Stockade's upper echelon — into a state of deep shock and bewilderment.
The lead Rank 2 manager, Jia Ping, gripped his reins and stared blankly at the large, meticulously planned campsite before him, unable to collect himself for a long moment.
"This... this is Black Blood Stockade's doing? When did the Southern Border produce a faction that actually knows what they're doing?"
While Jia Ping and his party stood there slack-jawed —
Lin Mu, robes neat and clean, wearing a warm professional smile, led Lin Ping and several managers forward at an unhurried pace.
"You must be Manager Jia Ping. I am Lin Mu, Deacon of Black Blood Stockade's External Affairs Hall. By order of the Patriarch and the Hall Master, I have been awaiting your arrival."
Lin Mu clasped his hands in greeting. Not a trace of pride or self-satisfaction showed on his face despite the extraordinary achievement behind him.
His manner was perfectly measured — neither servile nor arrogant — the picture of a conscientious host fulfilling his duties.
Jia Ping snapped out of his daze and hurriedly dismounted.
Every line of complaint and pressure he had rehearsed on the road died in his throat without a sound. You could not raise your hand against a smiling face — and the work here had been done beautifully.
"Brother Lin is too modest! I truly never imagined your stockade could raise a campsite of this scale in such a short time!" Jia Ping clasped his hands repeatedly, his tone carrying undisguised admiration.
"Manager Jia flatters us. You have had a long journey — why not come inside and take a look? If there are any shortcomings, we still have time to address them before the main force arrives."
Lin Mu stepped to the side and made a natural, easy gesture of invitation, guiding Jia Ping and his party through the campsite gates.
The moment they stepped inside, the visual impact grew even stronger.
Lin Mu walked Jia Ping through each zone with the ease of someone recounting familiar ground.
"This is the common laborers' living quarters — positioned on the downwind side to ensure odor separation. This is the bulk goods storage area — the ground has been laid with moisture-resistant crushed stone..."
But what truly made Jia Ping's scalp prickle — what left this seasoned veteran of the trade roads genuinely stunned — was the traffic system Lin Mu introduced next.
"Manager Jia, if you would look here."
Lin Mu gestured toward the wide, hardened main thoroughfares.
"A caravan of this scale fears nothing more than congestion during entry and unloading. To address that, I designed a system of separated human and animal traffic, combined with a one-way logistics loop."
"Pack animals carrying cargo enter through the east gate, follow the one-way road into the loading and unloading zone, and after unloading, proceed directly through the dedicated runoff channels to the rear rest area for water and feed."
"The caravan's personnel and guards travel along the pedestrian paths. The two flows never intersect."
"With this arrangement, even if several thousand people pour in simultaneously, there will not be a single moment of congestion or trampling anywhere in this campsite."
Silence.
Dead silence.
Jia Ping and the other managers of the advance team stared at Lin Mu as though they had seen a ghost.
The concepts of a "one-way loop" and "separated human and animal traffic" were things every schoolchild understood in Lin Mu's previous life.
But in this Gu cultivation world of the Southern Border — where commerce still operated on crude, unstructured instinct, where every caravan encampment inevitably descended into chaos, where spooked livestock trampling people to death was a regular occurrence — this was a commercial infrastructure concept that struck like a weapon from a higher plane of existence.
"Remarkable... truly remarkable."
Jia Ping drew a sharp breath. The faint arrogance of a great merchant house looking down on a remote mountain stockade had vanished entirely from his eyes.
Watching Lin Mu's clear-headed, unhurried manner, he felt something he could only describe as profound sincerity — the kind that came from genuine competence.
The anxiety and tension that had gripped him the entire journey, born of performance pressure, was completely smoothed away in this moment. What replaced it was deep, unfeigned admiration.
Walking along the wide, level main road, Jia Ping stopped in his tracks.
He looked at Lin Mu with burning eyes and, without any preamble, extended an olive branch.
"Brother Lin, what a talent you are. A mind like yours — wasted in a small External Affairs Hall in Black Blood Stockade. It's a genuine shame."
Jia Ping clapped Lin Mu on the shoulder, his tone sincere.
"I wonder — once this grand market is over, would you have any interest in following our Jia Clan Caravan out to see the wider world? With a head like yours, I guarantee that once you join our Jia Clan, you would make Grand Steward within three years."
The words drew sideways glances from the surrounding caravan managers, but no one contradicted him. The value Lin Mu had demonstrated was worth the offer.
And Lin Mu, hearing this, felt a genuine stir deep within him.
As someone who had crossed over from another world, he knew exactly how vast the Southern Border was — how much more the world beyond had to offer.
The splendor of Shang Clan City, the sweeping drama of the Three Kings' inheritances, even the boundless landscapes of the Central Continent and the Northern Plains that existed only in legend — all of it was a thousand times better than this dark, suffocating Black Blood Stockade.
If he could truly board the Jia Clan's great ship and pull himself free of this muddy pit, it would undeniably be an excellent path forward.
But his absolutely rational mind weighed the scales in an instant and doused that tempting thought cold.
"No. Now is absolutely not the time to leave."
Lin Mu warned himself inwardly.
"The Jia Clan Caravan was a fine vessel, but living under another's roof meant being an employee — one who could become cannon fodder in the succession struggle between Jia Fu and Jia Gui at any moment."
"Beyond that, Fang Yuan of Qing Mao Mountain had already begun to beat his butterfly wings, and the Southern Border was on the verge of great upheaval."
"Most critically of all — inside his Aperture, the Pitch-Black Bone Plate still lay waiting. The inheritance of the peak Rank 5 strongman, the Black Bone King."
"That was the only supreme opportunity within his reach right now — one capable of reversing his fate entirely. Before he had fully excavated and claimed every last treasure buried beneath Black Blood Stockade's earth, he would not leave this land by a single step."
"Brother Jia's kindness — I am truly grateful."
Lin Mu let a look of genuine moved reluctance cross his face — the expression of a man who wanted nothing more than to accept, but could not bring himself to do so.
"It is only that I was raised by this clan from a young age. The Patriarch and the Hall Master have shown me great favor and entrusted me with real responsibility."
"The clan needs its people right now. If I were to simply pack up and walk away at a time like this, would I not be an ungrateful wretch who bites the hand that fed him?"
"I am afraid I truly cannot get away — not yet."
The refusal was executed with perfect smoothness.
It preserved Jia Ping's face entirely, while establishing Lin Mu's own image as a man of loyalty.
But deep within, the seed of a future path had already been quietly planted. When the day came that the inheritance was in hand — the sky would be wide open.
Just as the two men were exchanging pleasantries —
Several caravan members who had been sent to survey the campsite came running back, faces bright with excitement.
"Manager! This campsite is absolutely incredible!"
One of them reported breathlessly, "Especially that central position — not only is it the highest ground with the best sightlines, but the surface has been compacted over and over until it's as hard as iron. And there's an enormous open buffer zone left around it on all sides!"
Hearing this report, Jia Ping — who had still been mildly puzzled about what that vast empty space was for — felt a flash of sudden clarity strike his mind.
"That is... a custom-fitted landing point for the Three Star Cave."
Jia Ping sucked in a sharp breath and snapped his head toward Lin Mu.
This time, the shock in his eyes carried a thread of genuine suspicion.
The Three Star Cave was the Jia Clan Caravan's most prized asset — its decision to bring it along had been made by Lord Jia Fu on a whim, at the last moment.
Intelligence of that caliber was absolutely classified.
How had a Deacon from this remote mountain stockade known about it in advance — and precisely reserved a landing point for it?
Was there a mole in the caravan's upper echelon?
Lin Mu read the shifting expressions on Jia Ping's face perfectly, but his own smile remained completely untroubled.
He made no move to explain the source of his intelligence. In the face of absolute benefit, a minor intelligence leak was entirely beside the point.
Sure enough.
The flicker of suspicion in Jia Ping's eyes lasted only an instant before it was swept away by overwhelming elation.
"Who cared how he knew? The fact that the Three Star Cave's placement had been resolved so perfectly before the main force arrived — that was a concrete, undeniable achievement."
"With a landing point this perfect, Lord Jia Fu would be in high spirits, and the reward coming his way would be substantial."
"Brother Lin's foresight and capability — today, I am completely and utterly convinced."
Jia Ping let out a long breath and gave Lin Mu a deep bow.
Since the other party had given him both face and substance — had practically spoon-fed him a meal — Jia Ping, as a seasoned man of commerce, naturally had to reciprocate. That was the code of the trade.
He stepped forward and summoned a fine storage Gu from his Aperture, tipping its contents out entirely.
Clatter.
Eight hundred Primeval Stones — crystalline and gleaming — caught the sunlight and were stacked in neat rows on the stone table beside them.
Jia Ping lowered his voice and leaned toward Lin Mu's ear.
"Brother Lin — two hundred of these are a 'hardship fee' for you and the laborers who worked day and night. Consider it tea money."
That was the official framing. In practice, it was a bribe — the customary payment to smooth the road ahead.
"As for the remaining six hundred..."
Jia Ping grinned and rubbed his hands together, the sharp instincts of a merchant surfacing plainly.
"That is a little personal spending money from your elder brother here. I want to use those six hundred stones to buy the best-positioned stall in the Inner Ring you've laid out. I hope Brother Lin can do me this favor."
Faced with this sudden windfall, Lin Mu's smile was entirely natural — not a trace of false modesty or hesitation.
He understood perfectly the iron rule between merchants: goods exchanged for coin, no ceremony.
Any show of coyness or feigned virtue over money would only make a seasoned trader like Jia Ping look down on him as a hypocrite not worth dealing with.
"Brother Jia is straightforward — then I will accept without standing on ceremony."
Lin Mu laughed and swept his palm lightly across the tabletop.
From his sleeve flew a small Gu — jade-green all over, shaped like a miniature gourd. A Rank 2 Gourd Gu.
This storage Gu was something Lin Mu had spent heavily to acquire at the black market a few days prior — a full five hundred Primeval Stones.
Its interior formed a self-contained space capable of holding roughly five thousand Primeval Stones' worth of volume, sparing him the considerable inconvenience of carrying large sums in bulk.
For a Rank 2 Gu Master building a fortune, it was an indispensable tool.
Whoosh.
A faint gleam flashed at the gourd's mouth. The eight hundred Primeval Stones on the table vanished without a trace.
Having pocketed the money, Lin Mu did not take it for nothing.
He reached into his sleeve and produced two exquisite wooden plaques — rosewood, inlaid with gold thread — and placed them in Jia Ping's hands.
"Brother Lin, this..." Jia Ping looked at the extra plaque in his hands, momentarily puzzled.
"Brother Jia has been so generous — naturally I must return the favor."
Lin Mu leaned in slightly and gave him a knowing look, his words carrying deliberate weight.
"This extra plaque is a small personal gesture from me. Brother Jia knows that I have long yearned to see the wider world beyond these mountains. I have also long heard of the great renown of your caravan's leader, Lord Jia Fu..."
"At this grand gathering — I wonder if there might be an opportunity, sometime down the road, for Brother Jia to make an introduction, so that I might pay my respects to the man himself?"
Cast a long line. Catch a big fish.
Jia Ping was a sharp man. The moment he heard this, he understood immediately — Lin Mu was paving a road with resources.
He glanced at the two priceless Inner Ring plaques in his hands and slipped them into his robe without a word. He gave no absolute promise, but left the door wide open with a smile.
"Of course, of course. Brother Lin's talent and goodwill — I will report them faithfully to Lord Jia Fu. If the opportunity arises, I will absolutely make that introduction for you."
The exchange between the two parties could not have gone more smoothly.
A textbook exercise in mutual flattery and the trading of wealth for influence concluded perfectly, amid laughter and good cheer.
Afterward, Jia Ping left a portion of his men to begin taking over the campsite's outer perimeter defense, and agreed with Lin Mu that in five days' time, the Jia Clan Caravan's main force would make its formal entrance.
Lin Mu stood on the rise.
Watching the retreating figures of Jia Ping and his party as they busied themselves and departed, he sensed the Gourd Gu inside his Aperture — already carrying a respectable store of wealth — and a sharp gleam flickered in his deep eyes.
With Jia Ping's endorsement now working as advertisement —
The final five days before the caravan's arrival were the moment for Lin Mu to truly show what he was made of.