Chapter 116: Is There Enough to Go Around?

A travel permit, as the name suggests, is essentially a passport for leaving one’s home region. Anyone traveling more than a hundred miles from their place of residence was required to obtain an official document from local authorities—a pass or letter of introduction known as a "travel permit." To be caught without one, or with one that did not match one's credentials, was a punishable offense under the law. The ancient Yue Kingdom had long ago abolished the travel permit system, leading Fang Mu to speculate that this Cangyun City had appeared even earlier than he had anticipated.

However, the core issue remained: they had no travel permits, and they certainly couldn’t forge any, as they didn't even know what one looked like.

"Brother Fang," the Iron Calculator said with a shifty look in his eyes, "if we don't have travel permits, we can try something else."

"Oh?" Fang Mu asked. "What do you have in mind?"

The Iron Calculator gave a sly grin and fished a blood-stained copper coin from his robe. "Brother Fang, just like the Evil-Severing Stone, this is a hard currency!"

Fang Mu looked at the blood-stained coin and smiled in silent agreement. If they lacked travel permits, they would try to buy their way through; if that failed, they would think of something else.

Fang Mu took the coin and weighed it in his hand. "Do you have any more?"

"Yes, plenty!" The Iron Calculator readily produced a small pouch. Having spent years at the bottom of society, he understood a simple truth: now was not the time to be stingy. Money was only money if it could be used at a critical moment; otherwise, it was no different from scrap metal.

Fang Mu opened the bag, saw the dozen or so copper coins inside, and waved his hand. "Let's go. You’re quite wealthy, aren't you?"

...

The group arrived at the city gate. The eerie soldiers raised their spears again, their aura of deathly silence even more oppressive than before.

"Time and again, you treat Cangyun City as if it were unguarded!" the eerie soldier shouted, pointing his spear forward. "According to the statutes of Cangyun City, those who trespass—uh!"

The soldier stopped mid-sentence, his gaze fixed on the blood-stained coin in Fang Mu's hand.

Fang Mu smiled. "We may not have travel permits, but this should be useful, shouldn't it?"

A look of greed flickered across the soldier's decaying face. Now, the only thing in the soldiers' eyes was the blood-stained coin. Fang Mu tossed two of the coins into the air; they traced an arc and landed in the hands of the two soldiers.

The soldiers clutched the coins, glanced at those in their counterparts' hands, and silently stepped aside to clear the path.

"Brother Fang, let's go," the Iron Calculator urged.

Fang Mu nodded, but he did not move. Beside him, Zhang Liu frowned, not understanding Fang Mu's intentions. Having worked with Fang Mu many times, the Iron Calculator knew the moment he saw that look: Fang Mu was about to stir up trouble.

In a word, Fang Mu was courting death again. Yet this was different from the usual kind; while others courted death and ended up dead, Fang Mu courted death and ended up killing others.

As for who... the Iron Calculator looked at the two eerie soldiers with a touch of pity. You dared to threaten us with your spears? Now that you've caught his eye, prepare to die a second time.

The two soldiers were oblivious to their predicament, still staring at the coins in each other's hands. This sight gave Fang Mu an idea; he certainly wasn't going to just walk away. They had crossed the gate, but the soldiers were still there. In Fang Mu's eyes, these soldiers were ripe for the harvest—how could he let such an opportunity slip by?

From their movements, it was clear they cared more about the coins in the other's hands. Fang Mu mused that this was a classic case of looking at what was in the pot while eating from the bowl. This gave him the breakthrough he needed to deal with them.

Fang Mu retrieved another coin from his pocket and, after a moment’s thought, tossed it to one of the soldiers. It arched through the air and landed in the soldier’s grasp. Fang Mu said nothing, watching from the shadows. The other soldier, now lacking a coin, froze, his eyes burning with even greater greed as he stared at his companion. Still, he did not act.

Fang Mu decided to stoke the fire, pulling out another coin and throwing it.

*Clink.*

One soldier now had three coins, while the other had only one. The empty-handed soldier's greed intensified, his rusty spear trembling slightly.

*Not enough?* Fang Mu thought.

Another coin flew through the air and landed in the soldier's hand. At that moment, a sudden change erupted before the once-quiet gate. The soldier with only one coin moved, his spear striking like lightning into the chest of the other. A breath of dead silence emanated from the spear. The other soldier looked up, his rotting face twisted into a cold, sinister expression, and thrust his own spear forward.

The scene was strangely comical—at least, that was how Fang Mu saw it.

An invisible ripple stirred in his mind, and Fang Mu slowly reached out his hand...

[You touched the Yin Soldiers and obtained a wisp of True Qi.]
[You touched the Yin Soldiers and obtained a wisp of True Qi.]
[You touched the Yin Soldiers and obtained the skill: "Dual Military Formation." By forming a formation of two, the effects of your attacks are doubled!]

Two wisps of True Qi merged into Fang Mu’s body, along with the knowledge of the "Dual Military Formation." After digesting the information, Fang Mu couldn't help but sigh at how brilliant it was. A skill that required two people to execute was exactly what he needed, as it would be of immense help.

In the past, he might have considered this skill useless, as he was only one man. But now, it was different—he still possessed the Clone Technique. With his clone, didn't that make two?

"Indeed," Fang Mu thought, "how can one catch a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den? Opportunities must be sought within danger."

On the other side, Zhang Liu frowned as she watched Fang Mu’s actions. *Vindictive,* she thought. *That is a rather interesting personality, quite different from my pedantic peers. Hmm... though I must observe him further. I am determined to protect Director Wu, so I must be thorough.*

Abai exhaled a puff of black mist, absorbing the two eerie soldiers until nothing remained. The blood-stained coins fell to the ground; Fang Mu picked them up, returned them to the pouch, and tucked it back into his robes. The Iron Calculator twitched his lip but pretended not to see. As an honest and sensible man, he knew that money could always be earned again, but currying favor with his powerful companion was far more important.

...

Having dealt with the soldiers, the group walked through the city gate. The first hurdle was neither difficult nor simple. Fang Mu surmised that the corpses on the city walls were those who hadn't found a way through and had been destroyed upon trying to force their way in.

As they passed through, the scene inside the city was finally revealed...