Muchen adjusted the collar on his robe. Objectively, it fit fine, but for some reason every time he tried to dress formally he ended up with an unbearable itch on the back of his neck. Maybe it was a problem that would go away if he improved his cultivation base. Or maybe if he earned enough money he'd someday be able to buy clothes that were both impressive and comfortable.

"You like this place that much?" Xinyi asked.

The two of them were in their room in the back of the small house. Muchen was dressing properly for the first time in a while since he was soon setting out to meet with the Li family patriarch. Three days after his hike around the mountain, he was satisfied with the property and ready to sign on the dotted line.

"I need to put down roots somewhere," Muchen replied.

He understood Xinyi's reticence. Li Village had little to offer from her perspective. She obviously didn't put much weight in convenient access to nearby markets or a ready supply of merely mortal production inputs.

"We have a list to work through," Xinyi said.

He had put a lot of effort into building a list of spiritual tools that he thought could be related to Xinyi. The issue was what he was going to do with it.

Most of the entries on that list had only vague notations as to where the tool might be, but spiritual tools naturally tended to be owned by cultivators. The few tools that had their location pinned down were located in the treasure vaults of a few different mid-ranked sects.

Muchen was grateful for Xinyi's help and wanted to help her out. That didn't mean that he was ready to wash his neck and put it on the chopping block just to save her a few years of meditation.

"We could hear from Heisan any day," Muchen said.

Xinyi snorted. "I'd rather solve my problems myself."

He didn't blame her for being skeptical. Muchen wasn't too hopeful about receiving Heisan's help himself. If she wanted to leave, he wouldn't try to stop her. Well, whether he tried to stop her or not wouldn't make much difference.

"Once the business is going strong, we can send out people we trust to dig up more information," Muchen said. "It would be more efficient than trying to travel across the whole continent by ourselves."

Xinyi clicked her tongue. "I guess it's worth a shot."

"At least you can cultivate in peace here."

Xinyi shook her head, but didn't respond.

Muchen took that for as close to an agreement as he was going to get. He fiddled with his collar one last time before deciding it was as good as it was going to get. He stepped out into the main room, where Chuhua and Yize were waiting for him.

"Do you want another bowl of porridge before you go?" Chuhua asked. She looked ready to scoop him up another serving on the spot.

Muchen smiled and shook his head. "I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

"Well..." Chuhua said, trailing off for a moment before gathering herself and thrusting a fist in the air. "Don't let that old meanie push you around!"

Muchen smiled. It was good to see Chuhua starting to come out of her shell. She'd been subdued since he and Xinyi had returned. From her perspective, they must have seemed like capricious old cultivation experts, doling out favors on a whim. Fortunately, the more time they spent living together the more she realized that they were just ordinary people.

"I'll do my best," Muchen promised.

He checked his pack. One jug of high quality wine. One jug of distilled spirits. A small knife, just in case the patriarch lost his mind and tried to start a fight.

He had a handful of loose silver in his money pouch. All in all, Muchen was as prepared as he was going to get. He nodded to Yize and slung his pack over his shoulder before walking out the door.

The two of them walked down the mountain together.

Technically speaking it was way past time for him to make a visit and pay respects to the patriarch, but he didn't expect the old man to make too much of an issue of it. First of all, Muchen had been staying on a distant mountain, not in the village proper. And secondly, he didn't think the patriarch would pass up the opportunity to get hold of his silver.

Li Village was much as he remembered it. A small place, with homes largely built out of rammed earth lining dirt streets. The only difference from his last visit was that the locals were largely staying inside to keep warm, instead of hanging about outside to gossip.

Muchen wandered the streets for a bit before arriving outside a familiar compound. Today, instead of a group of young drunks lazing about in the courtyard, there was only a single servant keeping watch in the gatehouse.

Even that much was a surprise to Muchen. It made sense that as the village leader one needed to keep up appearances, though. And on second look the watchman looked more like a member of the younger generation that had been given a chore rather than a true servant.

Muchen approached the gate. It took a little longer than he'd expected before he was greeted.

"What business do you have here?"

"I'm interested in buying land," Muchen said. Seeing the slightly skeptical look on the young boy's face, Muchen smiled and handed over a bit of broken silver. "I'm not here to waste anybody's time."

Buying land on the Qianzhan Continent was a little more complicated than it was back on Earth. Well, that might not be true—Muchen had never actually bought real estate in his previous life. It was different, at least.

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In a place like Li Village, purchasing the right to unclaimed land wasn't a simple one on one transaction. The land was coming out of the village's allotment, which meant that the money paid would be distributed among the villagers. Muchen would also be linking his fortunes to Li Village, and to some extent the opposite was also true. Therefore, it was customary for such transactions to be negotiated by the local boss, subject to approval by the people of the village.

How would the silver paid be allocated? How would the actual quantity of silver that changed hands compare to the number submitted on the government form? Muchen had long since learned not to ask questions when he didn't want to know the answers.

A moment later the gatekeeper returned and escorted the tw of them inside. Muchen stepped through the door to find a dignified old man seated at the head of the table that dominated the common room. A few other family elders sat at the table, but it was obvious who was in charge. The Li patriarch's hair might have turned white, but his gaze was sharp as he gave Muchen an evaluating look before turning to Yize.

"Little Yize," he said, his voice courteous but commanding, "who is your friend?"

"Muchen is the merchant who was attacked by wolves," Yize said, "a little more than a month ago."

"He's too modest," Muchen said. "Yize saved my life. It was fate that brought me to Li Village."

"Perhaps," the patriarch said. "You want to buy land?"

Muchen nodded. "The mountain that Yize and Chuhua currently live on."

The patriarch lit his pipe and took a pull, then let out a slow, smoky breath. "That is a great deal of land."

"Wild wasteland, mostly," Muchen. "But reasonably well-suited to my purposes."

From one perspective, the location was ideal. Remote enough to be free from the gaze of any meddling sect forces while close enough to both Jiliu City and the capital to get his product to larger markets, the mountain offered plenty of room to build his factory. In the summer, it would provide half the raw material needed to make all sorts of toiletries, and even the river passing by the back of the mountain could be a great help.

On the other hand, it was ultimately just a mountain. The Qianzhan Continent didn't lack for wild, undeveloped mountains. Even if he restricted his search to those within a week's travel of a trading hub, Muchen would have plenty of locations to choose from. His current target was a matter of convenience, in the end.

"What are your purposes, exactly?" the patriarch asked.

"Making money, of course," Muchen said.

He didn't intend to divulge the details of his plans. Not that he was worried that the patriarch was able to copy his ideas. It was the principle of the thing. Muchen was here to do business, not to seek the patriarch's approval. Even if his business failed, he'd still be paying for the land up front. It wasn't like that silver would vanish.

"That much land," the patriarch said, "in the village, it would cost at least six hundred taels."

"The mountain is not in the village," Muchen said.

"Even so, we have to start somewhere," the patriarch said. "Perhaps you'd prefer to pay four hundred?"

Muchen smiled. The old man could have been a used car salesman if he'd been born in the right place and time. Throwing out a ludicrously high price in order to make it look like you were offering a bargain when you asked for a merely exorbitant fee was a timeless classic.

"Is there anybody else who will pay even fifty taels for it?" Muchen asked.

When buying an undeveloped piece of land, the cost of the purchase was just the beginning. Clearing the forest of dangerous beasts would cost silver, not to mention the effort of cutting down the trees in order to do something productive with the land. And of course the cost of building a whole new set of facilities. If Muchen hadn't come along, the mountain would have remained unsold for generations. There was a reason that Yize and Chuhua had been able to squat on the land their whole lives.

"I have to justify the sale to the rest of the village," the patriarch said. "It would be too embarrassing for this old man to tell them the mountain had been sold for less than three hundred taels."

Now they were getting closer to what Muchen considered an acceptable price for the mountain. If the patriarch was still bargaining in increments of hundreds of taels, though, there was still plenty of negotiating to be done.

"The villagers believe what you tell them to believe, do they not?" Muchen asked. "Do any of them really have an opinion about the value of the mountain?"

The patriarch smiled. "You give this old man too much credit. They may not know what the mountain is worth, but they all want more silver rather than less."

Muchen studied the patriarch for a moment. He had the sense that the price could be moved down, but the old man wasn't volunteering to lower it this time. Perhaps it was time for a conciliatory nudge.

"It was rude of me," Muchen said, before digging into his pack and pulling out the jug of expensive wine. He smiled at the patriarch and set the jug on the table. "I forgot that I had brought a greeting gift with me."

The patriarch reached out and pulled the wine closer to himself. He gave it a casual glance, then a closer look after he saw the maker's mark written on the outside of the jug.

"I can see you're a promising young man," the patriarch said. "I suppose coming down to two hundred and fifty taels would be reasonable, to add such a talent to Li Village."

"You're flattering me," Muchen said, spreading his arms wide. "After buying the land, I still need to spend silver to hire people to prepare my business. Perhaps you can help me find good help? Even so, I'd rather not spend more than a hundred and fifty taels."

Muchen didn't mind promising some future favors if it would let him save money now. Besides, an old fox like the patriarch would make sure that their future cooperation was mutually profitable. That was the only way he'd be able to continue to dig benefits out of Muchen, after all.

"I can think of a few hard workers that could use some silver," the patriarch replied. "But I can't go lower than two hundred taels. Otherwise the villagers really will riot."

Muchen considered the offer. He'd been hoping to pay a bit less, but two hundred taels was within his acceptable range. He'd be left with more than enough silver to get his business up and running. He might be able to squeeze a few more taels out of the price, but if all went well he would be sharing this village with the patriarch for some time. He might as well start out the relationship on the right foot.

"I suppose two hundred taels is reasonable," Muchen said, "although I want to be sure about the scope of the purchase."

"We can set out the markers before you have to pay. It's too cold outside for me to drag these old bones to the mountain today," the patriarch said. "Or was there something specific bothering you?"

"On the back side of the mountain, I'd like the property to extend into level ground for one," Muchen said, catching himself before using the word 'mile,' "one li. Just enough to encompass a bit of the river."

"Fair enough. There's nothing much of value back there," the patriarch said. "Provided the river continues to flow as usual."

Muchen nodded. He could hardly hope to become an upstanding member of the community if he messed with their water supply. The water would flow. It might be used to turn a water wheel or three before it was sent on its way, but nobody in Li Village should begrudge him that.

"Very well," the patriarch said. He poured out a round of drinks from the jug of wine Muchen had gifted him. "To a happy cooperation."

Muchen accepted the toast and savored the taste of triumph as he sipped at his wine. He didn't formally own the land yet. As the patriarch had said, the villagers had to approve. But with the patriarch on his side, combined with the perfectly reasonable price Muchen was offering, the deal was as good as done.

It was time to start planning some permanent improvements.