Chapter 354: Chapter 213: Li Juntao: You Dragon Country People Just Love Owing Money and Not Paying Back_2

Zhu Chenghou immediately burst into laughter, as he was quite fond of Ning An’s style.

"Hahaha, wait till I see your master next time, watch me report you for your misdeeds."

"Hey, you report me, and I’ll quietly tell Aunt Yun that you still smoke."

"You brat, when did I ever smoke?"

"Casual slander, Uncle Zhu, how could you take it seriously, let’s have some tea, some tea."

Ning An continued chatting cheerfully with Zhu Chenghou while sipping tea.

Inadvertently, he noticed the exquisite invitation placed beside him, with a Yin-Yang Bagua design in the center, intertwined with gold threads around it, looking both grand and luxurious.

Probably noticing Ning An’s gaze, Zhu Chenghou picked up the invitation and handed it over with a smile: "This is an invitation to a Daoist ritual co-hosted by the Zhengyi Sect’s Three Mountains, inviting you and your master to attend."

"Three Mountains? How long has it been since Dragon Tiger Mountain, Maoshan, and Zaoshan held a ritual together?"

After glancing at the invitation, Ning An quickly formed a vague assumption in his mind.

Suppressing his thoughts, Ning An feigned curiosity on his face and asked, "Uncle Zhu, with such a grand ritual, what are their intentions?"

"Isn’t it simple?" Zhu Chenghou blew away some tea leaves and shook his head: "Do you know the most important thing for the Daoist family over these millennia?"

Ning An: "I don’t know."

"It’s ruthlessness!"

Zhu Chenghou put down the teacup and said seriously, "If we talk about the history of the Daoist family, it started from the Hundred Schools of Thought. Over these thousands of years, various schools and sects have naturally emerged."

"During the feudal dynasties, everyone fought for orthodoxy, leading to internal strife, brothers turning against each other, killing until heartless, just to be ruthless enough to deter many sects and become the orthodox Daoist family!"

"And today’s Daoist family is just the same. If not ruthless, they can only be consumed completely, swallowed whole!"

Seeing Ning An’s still confused expression, Zhu Chenghou gave an example: "Just like me, this province’s vice president of the Daoist Association, how many people despise, thinking I bought my position with money."

"It’s true, I did buy this position, but why was I the only one to make it, despite so many others spending money? It’s because they weren’t ruthless enough, but I am, and those old guys above just love my ruthlessness!"

Oh, this!

Is this something to be spoken aloud?

But it does sound quite reasonable!

Staring at Zhu Chenghou in front of him, Ning An looked a bit admiring, though internally he was greatly shocked.

Zhu Chenghou was very pleased with the look in his eyes and continued to enlighten him: "This is also a compelled act for the Zhengyi Sect. Besides the main president from Dragon Tiger Mountain - old Celestial Master Zhang Yuanyi, thirteen of the eighteen vice presidents are from the Quanzhen Sect!"

"If they aren’t ruthless enough, possibly, they can’t even keep one main and five vice positions, the Quanzhen Sect can eat the Zhengyi Sect to the bone!" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"The relationship between today’s Daoist family and the official sector is closer than ever, the higher the position in the Daoist Association, the heavier the voice in the Dragon Country, able to secure benefits for their disciples and descendants, that’s fundamental!"

"Just like back then, even though your Changchun Temple’s incense was quite poor, many thought they could revoke your Daoist Temple’s qualifications, what about it?"

"As long as your Uncle Zhu is in this position for one more day, these voices are nothing more than clowns, if any act out, your Uncle Zhu will first make an example out of him, killing the chicken to scare the monkey, nothing more!"

Fierce!

The shock in Ning An’s heart immediately turned into admiration, and he promptly refilled his dear Uncle Zhu’s tea cup, filled it to the brim!!!

Zhu Chenghou, however, didn’t intend to drink tea anymore, for the voices from the nearby side wing grew louder, and he couldn’t comfortably delay any further,

Rolling his eyes, he coughed lightly, saying, "Xiaoning, if you have time, remember to look over your Daoist Temple’s cultivation methods, there might be unexpected benefits."

Ning An was startled internally, but his expression was cute, "Huh? Why look at that stuff?"

Zhu Chenghou’s face sank, "You brat, if I tell you to look, you look. Stop with the nonsense, in a few days I’ll come for an inspection, if you don’t do well, I’ll hang you up and whip you on behalf of your master!"

Without waiting for Ning An to respond, he flicked his sleeves and headed towards the door, leaving a reminder as he went: "I’ve known you were a smart kid from a young age, this incense script isn’t bad, but it won’t last long, remember, cultivation methods are fundamental."

"Your Uncle Zhu is indeed a bit shady, but not to the point of deceiving even you, study well, if you don’t do well, I’ll come back and break your legs!"

"..."

Ning An paused for a moment, then sincerely bowed in the direction Zhu Chenghou had left.

With this matter resolved, Ning An carefully kept the invitation and returned once more to the side wing where the villagers were.

From afar, the air was filled with maternal slurs.

"Damn you! You damned thief, fifteen grand, have some shame, why don’t you say I owe you a million?"

"You damn bastard! Be honest, can you deny borrowing fifteen grand from me!"

"Alright then, show me the proof, if you don’t have evidence, you’re just spouting nonsense, what, did you change your name to Gao Chao?"

"Damn it! Don’t stop me, today I will kill him, if you don’t let me live, then you won’t live either, we’ll all die together!"

Listening to these words, Ning An frowned, quickly walking into the hall.

Sure enough, he saw two men arguing once again, with the surrounding villagers trying to separate them, but mostly looking helpless.

At a glance, Ning An saw the designated mediator from the system, sitting on a small stool, with a book in one hand and a pen in the other, writing furiously with great enthusiasm.

"What the heck is this little guy doing, taking notes out here?"

Curious, Ning An quietly walked over to peek, his face immediately turning a bit red.

The notebook was covered with a crooked mess, mostly incomplete Korean characters, which Ning An didn’t really understand.

But the opening and closing lines of the notebook were written in Dragon characters.

Beginning: Sharp quotes from Dragon Country.

Ending: Elegant yet malicious, poems from Satan.

Ning An covered his face, poked him, and awkwardly said, "Stop writing, get to work."

Only then did Li Juntao reluctantly set down his pen, with a thirst for knowledge in his eyes.

Then, Ning An raised his voice, "Everyone, quiet down, everyone quiet down!"

In an instant, like Grandpa Hua and others of his age, only felt they had lost their hearing again.

Soon, everyone’s eyes were on Ning An, hoping eagerly for a result.

They’d been at it since morning, and by now, well past midday, they just wanted to go home for lunch.

Seeing all eyes on him, Ning An nodded in satisfaction, then pointed at Li Juntao, "This is the mediator, this matter, let him mediate it."

Wow!

With these words, the surrounding villagers erupted.

Even Grandpa Hua frowned, unable to resist saying, "This matter, not even a mediator can solve."

The live chat audience also weighed in.

"He’s so young, probably not much mediation experience, might as well let me do it."

"Right, it’s like Dragon Country’s men’s soccer, whoever is swapped in still loses, might as well let me play for a while, maybe there’ll be a miracle."

"You’re dreaming, even if ordinary people were brought onto the field, the amateur players would step up first, next would be folk experts, you, a football enthusiast, just forget it."

"Yes, embarrassing as it is, there’s a difference between being embarrassing and being disgraceful!"

"..."

Appearing completely unaware of the surrounding villagers’ gazes, Li Juntao stepped forward, bowed, and then, smiling, asked Zhang Qiang:

"Your point is, you lent Wang Baoqiang fifteen grand but didn’t make a receipt, right?"

Zhang Qiang reluctantly nodded, "Yes, that’s it."

Li Juntao nodded, then looked at Wang Baoqiang, smiling again, "So your point is, you never borrowed money from Zhang Qiang, he’s slandering you, right?"

Wang Baoqiang arrogantly replied, "Right, with his poverty-stricken look, I’d lend him money? Monk dreams of money!"

Li Juntao pressed both hands down, signaling everyone to quiet down, then looked at Ning An, "I’ve got a grip on this situation, may I proceed with mediation?"

Ning An nodded, "Go ahead."

Ning An was actually curious about what kind of person the system had sent!

Seeing Ning An nod, Li Juntao smiled lightly, then casually picked up a small stool, sat down, and crossed one leg over the other.

As everyone wondered what he was doing, he slowly spoke, "Actually, I’m not from your Dragon Country, I’m from Korea."

Oh.

And so?

No one could fathom what he meant by this.

Just as everyone was baffled, Li Juntao smiled faintly and spoke again:

"Ah-si-bah! I’ve seen this many times. You Dragon Country people are just like that, lacking honesty, always loving to owe money and not repay it!"