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The next morning, after returning from exercise near the Qinhuai River, Li Mu came to the courtyard again. Cheng Yong was lying on the ground trembling all over, completely exhausted, and the ground was dirty.

However, Cheng Yong had martial arts skills after all, so his life was still safe. Li Mu held his breath and cleaned the ground, then injected a trace of true energy into Cheng Yong's body again, and the life and death talisman stopped working.

Cheng Yong's trembling body finally calmed down. After a long time, he seemed to regain some energy. He looked at Li Mu with fear on his face. He wanted to say something to beg for mercy, but his mute point was sealed and he could not say anything when he opened his mouth.

Li Mu brought another bowl of water and the same steamed buns from last night. This time Cheng Yong was much more obedient. He dragged his weak and sore body and slowly drank the water and ate the steamed buns.

A night of struggle and suffering had taken a huge toll on him. His stomach was obviously empty, and the steamed buns had become a delicacy.

After checking the sealed acupuncture points on his body, Li Mu locked the door, left the courtyard and returned to the Su Mansion.

After breakfast, in the morning, Li Mu came to the yard again. Cheng Yong was crawling towards the door like a maggot in the yard, obviously planning to escape.

Unfortunately, his acupoints were blocked and he could not exert any strength or scream. He could only wriggle like a maggot, crawling little by little. When he saw Li Mu, his face was full of fear and despair, and he struggled to say something to beg for mercy.

Li Mu ignored him and threw the man back into the house. He injected a trace of true energy into the man. The life and death talisman took effect again and Cheng Yong twisted into a ball again.

Li Mu observed for a while, studied the changes of the Life and Death Talisman in his body, and left again. He still had to go to the academy to teach.

In the afternoon, Li Mu brought some steamed buns to the courtyard again. Cheng Yong was lying on the ground with his body twisted, breathing heavily. He put the buns on the ground, poured a bowl of water, temporarily stopped the attack of the life and death talisman, and watched him eat the buns bit by bit.

Just as he was about to activate the Life and Death Talisman again, seeing Cheng Yong's face full of fear and begging, he decided to let him rest for a while.

Li Mu locked the door, walked on the street until dark, and returned to the courtyard again. This time Cheng Yong seemed to be a little more honest. He no longer thought about escaping and his spirits had recovered a lot.

When he saw Li Mu, his whole body trembled, his face full of fear and despair. The next moment, he slowly moved his body and knelt on the ground, his face full of flattery and pleading.

Li Mu observed carefully and found that although Cheng Yongren appeared to have surrendered, he was still somewhat unwilling in his heart.

This is normal. After all, he was a big shot who held real power in Jiangning. To fall into this situation all of a sudden is like falling from the clouds to the bottom of a cliff. How can it be easy to accept it?

It seems that we need to continue and not let down the chain halfway.

He waved his hand and injected a bit of true energy again. Watching the life and death talisman take effect, Li Mu locked the door and left the yard again.

The next morning, Li Mu came to the courtyard and found that Cheng Yong was in a semi-comatose state. After checking, he found that both his mind and body had reached their limits, so the attack of the life and death talisman stopped.

After cleaning up the dirt in the house, he took Cheng Yong to the backyard and washed him with water. After leaving him in the house, Li Mu wandered around the street for a long time. The news of Cheng Yong's disappearance had spread, and there were many more soldiers on the streets. Checkpoints were also set up in many places for investigation.

Yes, after all, he is a powerful figure in the local area. It is impossible that his disappearance for two days would not attract everyone's attention.

Li Mu thought about Cheng Yong's current condition and thought that he should be able to do it. Back then, the Child-Fairy of Tianshan used the "Life and Death Talisman" to firmly control the masters of the thirty-six caves and the seventy-two islands, as well as other martial arts heroes. Xu Zhu used the "Life and Death Talisman" to subdue the arrogant old monster Ding Chunqiu in the Shaoshi Mountain.

It is impossible for him to not be able to control Cheng Yong with the life and death talisman. Even if there are reversals, he has the ability to control the situation and continue to be ruthless.

When he returned to the courtyard at noon, Cheng Yong finally woke up and his spirits had recovered a lot.

However, as soon as he saw Li Mu, his body began to tremble like a sieve, his face full of fear and despair, as if he was scared to the core and he kept shaking.

Li Mu walked up to him, took a look, and said after a while: "Do you want to live? Continue to be your commander?"

There was an astonishing light in Cheng Yong's eyes, which was a desire for life and a beautiful yearning for the past days.

The next moment, he thought of something, moved his body with force, knelt on the ground, touched the ground with his head, his face full of hope and desire, his lips moved, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Li Mu continued, "As long as you are obedient, you can live and continue to be your commander."

Cheng Yong couldn't make any sound and could only kowtow repeatedly.

Li Mu smiled, stretched out his hand and released the acupuncture points on his body.

Cheng Yong felt that his lost strength had recovered a little, and his hoarse voice also recovered. For the first time, he felt that this state was so wonderful.

The next moment, he prostrated himself at Li Mu's feet and said in a hoarse voice, "Master, I will be your dog from now on. I will always submit to you. Everything I have belongs to you. I will never betray you and will always be obedient."

Li Mu nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Okay, get up. I don't need you to be my dog. Just do your job with your heart. And don't call me master. Call me young master."

Cheng Yong quickly got up and said tremblingly, "Yes, sir!"

Li Mu said: "I have heard about your past. Be more restrained and do what I tell you to do carefully. Otherwise, I don't know if I will give you a second chance."

Cheng Yong knelt on the ground, his face full of fear, and said: "Yes, Master... Sir, I will be obedient. If you have any instructions, I will complete them without any reservation. I will never do anything wrong again, and I will be a good official..."

Li Mu waved his hand and said, "Stand up, stop kneeling, and see how you perform next."

Cheng Yong then climbed up carefully: "Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

Li Mu said, "You've been missing for two days, and someone's already looking for you outside. Go to the backyard and wash yourself, and find a suitable time to go back."

Then he turned to look at him and said, "As for where you've been these past two days, if someone asks you, you don't need me to teach you!"

Hearing that he could go back, Cheng Yong's tense spirit finally relaxed a little, and he said respectfully: "I understand, I understand... I went out of town to the mountains to hunt these two days, and wasted time because of playing..."

Li Mu nodded: "Well! Anyway, you can control me, go ahead!"

Cheng Yong went to the backyard to wash, and Li Mu slowly walked out of the yard. After two days of research, he found some shortcomings of using the Life and Death Talisman in this world. The first was that it was too costly. The cost of making a Life and Death Talisman was equivalent to his one month's cultivation.

The power he gained in one year in this world was only enough to make twelve life and death talismans. The more he made, the more power he would lose, which discouraged him from making life and death talismans on a large scale.

This is normal. It would be cheating to mass-produce something like the Life and Death Talisman, which is rare in the world of martial arts.

On the other hand, casting the Life and Death Talisman also has requirements for the party on whom the talisman is cast.

After the life and death talisman is planted, it will absorb the essence in the body of the person where it is planted in order to exist for a long time.

This requires the person being implanted to be physically strong and have a certain foundation in martial arts. If an ordinary person has no martial arts skills, their essence and blood will be drained quickly.

Just like Cheng Yong, as the commander of the Wulie Army, he had decent martial arts skills, which allowed him to hold on. Ordinary people would not be able to withstand it.

Therefore, ordinary people and those who do not have martial arts skills cannot plant life and death talismans. In fact, there are not many people who are suitable for planting talismans.

……

In the afternoon, Li Mu returned to the courtyard after two hours. The people had left. He cleaned the entire courtyard thoroughly and restored it to its original appearance.

After walking around the street again, the soldiers who set up checkpoints were gone. It seemed that Cheng Yong had gone back. I just didn't know how effective the past two days were, and whether there was a recurrence. At night, after some exercise, Su Tan'er fell into a deep sleep. Li Mu floated out of the Su Mansion, avoided the patrolling soldiers, and came to Cheng Yong's house.

After quickly walking around the mansion a few times, he soon found Cheng Yong in the study. He seemed to be looking for some information, needless to say, about him.

Li Mu sneered, and like a breeze, he came silently behind Cheng Yong and looked at the things in his hand. Sure enough, they were some information about him, as well as some information about Ning Yi before their marriage.

Cheng Yong seemed to sense something and subconsciously looked back. The appearance of Li Mu made his mind go blank instantly. His eyes widened, his body began to tremble, and he fell to the ground in fear.

Li Mu looked at the thing in his hand and asked, "Did you ask someone to check this?"

Cheng Yong quickly got up, knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "My lord, my lord... I didn't investigate on purpose. I just wanted to serve you better. I checked some public information. I definitely didn't send anyone to investigate you. I definitely didn't... Please forgive me this time, please forgive me once..."

As he spoke, he banged his head on the ground non-stop, until his forehead was almost bleeding.

Li Mu snorted. Cheng Yong recalled the nightmare experience of the previous two days. His body trembled even more violently. His eyes were filled with fear, fearing that Li Mu would use the method that made him suffer so much pain again.

His mind was working frantically, and before Li Mu could speak again, he quickly said, "Sir, I have something to offer you... Please forgive me this time, there will definitely not be a next time."

Li Mu glanced at him and asked, "What is that?"

Cheng Yong quickly stood up and opened a secret room in the study: "Sir, this is all the wealth I have accumulated over the years, and I am giving it all to you."

Li Mu took a quick glance and saw a lot of jewels, jades and treasures placed inside, and even more were boxes of silver.

He nodded expressionlessly: "There are some things that will indeed require money, so I'll let you go this time. You can keep some of these goods, and send the rest to me. I know where to send them, right?"

Cheng Yong kowtowed and said, "I know, I know."

Li Mu glanced at him and said, "Don't play so many tricks in the future. Just do your job properly."

Looking at Cheng Yong who was trembling with fear, Li Mu shook his head, and with a shake of his body, he disappeared.

……

At noon the next day, Li Mu sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, sipping his tea gently, watching Cheng Yong directing his men to move things from the two carriages one box at a time. After the things were unloaded, Cheng Yong waved his hand for the carriages and his men to wait outside the door.

He took out a small booklet from his bosom and said respectfully, "Sir, this is the list of these goods. If you need anything else, just let me know and I will get it for you."

Li Mu nodded: "Okay, let's go down first!"

Cheng Yong bowed and said, "I'm leaving!" Then he slowly walked out.

After the others left, Li Mu gently picked up the booklet, which was quite generous.

But think about it, Jiangning is one of the largest cities in Jiangnan and a commercial center. The Wu Lie Army is the largest military force in Jiangning and its surrounding areas. Cheng Yong, as the commander, is an absolute powerful figure, so it is not easy for him to make money.

After looking through the list, there were 170,000 taels of silver, 4,000 taels of gold, two boxes of jewellery and jade worth 70,000 to 80,000 taels, as well as a box of calligraphy and paintings, and a box of rare antiques, which together totaled 40,000 to 50,000 taels.

After some calculations, these things together are worth more than 300,000 taels of silver. It is considered generous and a big loss.

The harvest this time is not just this silver.

In this era, it is indeed not easy for a business to expand without a certain official background.

Now that he controls the commander of the Wu Lie Army, there are almost no obstacles between the black and white worlds in Jiangning, and even in the entire province of Jiangnan.

Bamboo Records can develop relatively freely without interference.

Early in the morning, Li Mu came back from practicing by the Qinhuai River and passed by Nie Yunzhu's small building. She had already gotten up, washed up, made a pot of tea, and walked to the front of the small building. She took a sip from time to time and looked around. Soon, she heard familiar footsteps.

Turning around, she smiled brightly: "Mr. Ning, would you like a cup of tea?"

Li Mu stopped and said, "I'm just thirsty. Yunzhu is the one who understands me!"

As they spoke, the two walked into a pavilion in front of the small building, and Nie Yunzhu poured a cup of tea for Li Mu.

Then he said, "The various parts of the distilled liquor you mentioned are already being made. In order to keep it confidential, different craftsmen have been commissioned to make sure the specifications are met."

"We have also contacted wine brewers, but those with better skills offer higher prices."

Li Mu nodded: "Price is not a problem, as long as the craftsmanship is good. As for the various parts of the distilled liquor, the price can be higher. The quality must be guaranteed and the specifications must be more standardized."

Nie Yunzhu quickly took out a small notebook and wrote it down.

The two chatted for a while about the progress of the project in Hulu Valley and the situation of grain purchase. Nie Yunzhu hesitated for a while and said, "Should we collect less grain? There is not much money left in the account."

Li Mu said: "Don't worry about the money. I will send you another sum in the next two days. Don't complain that it's too much when the time comes."

Nie Yunzhu said with a smile: "Zhuji is spending money in various places now, Yunzhu will not think that the money is too much."

Li Mu smiled faintly: "That's good, get ready to receive it!"

The two were chatting when a sickly sweet voice came from upstairs: "Sister Yunzhu, who are you talking to?"

Nie Yunzhu said with a smile: "Little lazy bug, sleep well. Don't you want to be the shopkeeper? You will be busy in the next few days."

Li Mu said: "Yuan Jin'er!"

Nie Yunzhu nodded and recounted what had happened in the past few days: "I was afraid that Cheng Yong would cause trouble for Jin'er, so I kept her hiding at home these days."

Li Mu smiled and said, "There's no need to be so cautious. Cheng Yong won't cause trouble for her again in the future."

Nie Yunzhu was stunned: "Li Heng, why do you say that?"

Li Mu smiled mysteriously: "I said that after I gave him a good beating, he would behave himself and even help Zhuji's business. Do you believe it?"

Nie Yunzhu looked at him and said firmly, "I believe it."

Li Mu spread his hands and said, "Just believe it. No need to ask more questions. You will know it naturally in the future."

(End of this chapter)