Chapter 3030 — Shen Yushu's Scheme

"This..." The security captain had not expected Fire Burning Cloud to be not only powerful but sharp-witted as well, cornering him with so many counterarguments all at once. He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Our compound is a closed community. Anyone who is not an owner here cannot stay for long. You see, you are not an owner, while all those people are..."

"Oh, so after all that, you're just trying to get me to buy a place here? You should have said so from the start!" Fire Burning Cloud waved his hand. "Find me a house, then. I'll buy it outright, and that way I can stay here, right?"

"If you buy a house, how nice it would be to live in it..." When the security captain had received Shen Yushu's call earlier, he had assumed Fire Burning Cloud was a vagrant, but now the man looked nothing like a poor man, and... the captain watched Fire Burning Cloud walk over to the Range Rover parked nearby, which settled it—this was no poor man at all!

"Here's a bank card. The PIN is 123456, and there are fifty million on it. Just pick me any house, and once you've run the card, bring me the keys and the contract together!" Fire Burning Cloud took a bank card from the car and handed it to the security captain.

Mount Flaming Flame was a relatively wealthy ancient sect, and for good reason: it was a fire-element sect, and it had alchemists of its own. Their trade, however, was all in exports to the borderlands like the Southern Suburbs and the Western Regions, so it never clashed with the business of the Mystic Pill Sect or the Cultivators' Guild.

The security captain was startled. Trembling, he took Fire Burning Cloud's bank card. Fifty million—he could not earn that much in a lifetime! For a moment, he even felt the criminal urge to keep it for himself.

Fire Burning Cloud had money, but he was not about to let himself be cheated. Besides, fifty million was no small sum. Pills and elixirs in the cultivation world were, in fact, not very expensive, worlds apart from the auctions of the secular world.

It was just that Mount Flaming Flame had never cared much for material pleasures. Most members of the ancient sects pursued cultivation; every day was spent either cultivating or scheming to raise the sect's standing. Money merely had to be enough, so Fire Burning Cloud did not much mind the fifty million.

"Don't go getting any wicked ideas. If you want to pocket this money, that's fine by me, but you're the security guard of this property company, and finding you is easier than turning my hand over. So which do you think is harder—your skull or this stone?" With that, Fire Burning Cloud lifted his foot and kicked a nearby ornamental bluestone, shattering it to bits. Then he continued, "If you think your skull is harder than that, then the money is yours."

"Uh... sir, how would I dare pocket it? Rest assured, my sister is the sales manager of this very compound. I'll have her find you a house right away..." The security captain was terrified and said hastily.

In truth, Fire Burning Cloud's kick had been a casual one that any competent yellow-tier expert could have managed, but for these security guards it was the most effective of arguments. Had he displayed his heaven-tier strength, they would not have recognized it anyway.

The security captain came and went quickly. When he returned, he handed Fire Burning Cloud the keys to a house—but to his astonishment, Fire Burning Cloud was still camped out right where he had been! Still, the man was an owner now, so there was nothing more he could say.

After all, those spots in the compound were common areas. In summer, owners did set up tents there for barbecues and card games; it was only in winter that one rarely saw such things. But Fire Burning Cloud happened to enjoy winter camping, and the guard had no way to stop him.

When Shen Yushu saw that Fire Burning Cloud had not only refused to leave but had settled in quite comfortably outside, she was furious and called the property company again. The company's explanation nearly drove her mad—Fire Burning Cloud had actually bought a house here!

"Xiaoshu, why do you hate Fire Burning Cloud so much? Why are you so set on driving him away?" Gu Mengyao had not intended to ask again, but Shen Yushu's behavior made her unable to resist bringing it up once more when they were resting that evening.

"Yao Yao..." Shen Yushu fell silent for a moment. There were some things she did not want to say. Until the moment came, she did not want to speak of them. If she spoke, everyone would be unhappy. If she did not, only she would be unhappy.

So Shen Yushu still said nothing. She only replied, "I just find him irritating. There's no real reason—like how you dislike Zhong Yongliang and An Liwen. Does that have a reason?"

"All right, then!" Gu Mengyao shook her head and asked no more. After all, Shen Yushu was right: dislike was dislike. Who needed a reason?

But the very next morning, something Fire Burning Cloud did gave Shen Yushu yet another handle against him! Fire Burning Cloud, convinced that Shen Yushu was shutting him out, feared that once Wei Zhao returned, she would make up some excuse not to tell him, or would send Wei Zhao off somewhere again. So he waited outside Wei Zhao's villa without leaving for a single moment—but that left the matter of food unsolved.

Yet this did not stump Fire Burning Cloud either. He casually snared a few pigeons out of the sky and, with a flick of his hand, sent out a burst of flame—roast squab, straight away! Back in his sect, he had often caught game on the back mountain to roast, so he was well practiced.

"Hello, is that Sister Lingshan? This is Shen Yushu." Shen Yushu called Qiu Lingshan directly.

Chen Yuxuan was no longer pursuing Qiu Lingshan, and Qiu Lingshan had some connection with Wei Zhao besides. She had even helped Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu get Wei Zhao away during a moment of crisis, and so Shen Yushu's attitude toward Qiu Lingshan had changed as well.

"Oh, Xiaoshu. Is something the matter?" Qiu Lingshan was rather puzzled that Shen Yushu had called her.

"Sister Lingshan, I want to report a crime! Someone is setting fires right outside my villa. Come and arrest him, quick!" Shen Yushu said.

"Setting fires outside your door?" Qiu Lingshan was briefly taken aback, then asked in confusion, "This... is there any need to drag me into it? Can't you just get someone like Wu Chengtian to go chase the man off?"

"Sister Lingshan, the thing is..." Shen Yushu had no choice but to "tell the truth" and explained to Qiu Lingshan that Fire Burning Cloud wanted to trouble Wei Zhao.