174 Hiring Ma Clan
E19, aka Ma Xingjuan, was the first girl that Cao Mao had met during his early days in this world. She was responsible for escorting him to a slave prostitute area, where he met Jiang Lan.
After Ma Xingjuan left Cao Mao to his fate that day, she continued to work as a receptionist while practicing VY techniques. As the top 20 strongest inner disciples at that time, Ma Xingjuan was tasked to capture any rowdy customers to the underground prison.
When Yao Lan migrated VY disciples to the Sky Duck City, Ma Xingjuan tagged along with them since she was a part of Virgin Yin School.
However, Ma Xingjuan didn't like the treatment that her friends from the JY School received after they merged with the Zhu Clan. Although the Zhu Clan gave some pills for all former Xu Xiuying's disciples to cleanse their corrupted Qi from their dantian, the clanswomen still looked down on the former prostitutes.
Ma Xingjuan was disgusted by the hypocrisy. She and several disciples from VY and JY School left the Sky Duck City and the Zhu Clan.
Some of the deserters decided to marry rich cultivators and retired from the cultivation world. A few of them joined other sects. As for the rest, they returned to their hometown.
Ma Xingjuan belonged to the third category. She came back to Xuan City, where her father, grandfather, and her cousin lived.
Currently, Ma Xingjuan's cultivation base got stuck at level 10 of the 3rd-stage. She was unable to condense an essence pond because she gave all her cultivation resources to her grandfather for the clan's expense.
As the Ma clan was lacking funds to run their businesses, Ma Xingjuan volunteered to work here, helping her father running their inn.
And this inn belonged to Ma Shoucheng, Ma Xingjuan's father. He was also Ma Moxi's uncle.
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Looking at the former slave boy, Ma Xingjuan was astonished.
Previously when they last met, Cao Mao was just a first-stage good-for-nothing trash that she could easily kill with one hand. But now, he was a half-step 4th-stage expert.
"H-How!?"
"Heh, you've finally remembered me," Cao Mao laughed and leaned forward, getting to the point. "I'm looking for someone with the same surname as yours. Do you know Ma Moxi?"
Ma Xingjuan widened her eyes, "Do you know my cousin?"
"Not personally, but I would like to befriend him and I have a job for him. Can you introduce him to me?"
"Err…"
Ma Xingjuan was caught off guard. She used to be good at dealing with ruffians, but she had strong backers back then. Without a backer at this place, she couldn't decide what she should do against this suspicious man.
Fortunately, Yu Shun's influence couldn't reach here. Otherwise, Ma Xingjuan would have learned about the bounty, and she might have told others to kill Cao Mao right away.
"Sure, but it won't be free."
"Oho? How much do I have to pay?"
"Erm, how about 100 refined yin stones!? I'll introduce him to you if you can pay me that amount!"
It was an exaggerated price to introduce a trashy young master of her family. As Ma Xingjuan was in urgent of raising funds to restore her family's businesses, she made the price too high by mistake.
But a stupid rich guy was before her. Cao Mao nodded, "Sure. Do you have a blank spatial ring I can use to store the stones? I don't have enough spare rings at the moment."
"EH!?"
Ma Xingjuan had expected Cao Mao to bargain or refute that the fee was too high. However, the guy simply accepted the deal with a straight face.
Thinking back, Ma Xingjuan recalled that Xu Xiuying and several elders used to pamper Cao Mao. She guessed that he had developed a spendthrift habit.
The maid grinned. She planned to extort more money from Cao Mao.
"H-Here. Use this ring! Also, wait right here. I'll go tell my father!"
Before Cao Mao could say anything, Ma Xingjuan shoved a dummy ring in his hand and ran down the stairs, leaving her mop and a bucket of water.
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Ma Xingjuan ran back to Ma Shoucheng, who was still drinking at his bar with his subordinate.
"Dad! Uncle Pang! You're not going to believe this! Come with me, hurry!"
Ma Shoucheng and Pang Lingming, the bald bartender, stared at the maid with a deep frown, "What?"
"Just come! I can't talk here. There are too many customers! I can save our family if we accept this deal!"
The two elders looked at each other in confusion. Then, they recalled that Cao Mao had just gone up the stairs, so Ma Xingjuan should have met him. The deal she was talking about should be related to this mysterious customer.
Ma Shoucheng nodded, giving the bald bartender permission. Pang Lingming acknowledged the order and walked toward the table of 4 drunk customers, "I'm sorry. We're closed for today. Please pay for the bill."
Getting interrupted during their joyous party, the four drunkards' mood became foul, "Hey, Pang Lingming. It's barely noon! Why are you closing the shop so early?"
"It's Ma Clan's urgent business. How about this, you can pay half the price."
"Meh, how are you going to run your business when you're not making money? Oh well, half the price it is. We'll take the whiskey and the bottles, is that okay?"
"Fine. Nine RSS, and you can leave."
The drunkards shook their heads in frustration and left peacefully. Unlike cliché mobs in novels, they understood the strength difference between them and the two monsters here, so they didn't cause a scene.
Pang Lingming sighed and brought the spirit stones to his master. After he closed the tavern and hung the [Closed] signboard, he gazed at Ma Xingjuan, "If your special deal can't make up for the lost 9 RSS, you'll be responsible for the loss."
Ma Xingjuan stomped her feet, "Oh, please! I've just completed the 100-refined-yin-stones deal! Come, come, come! We'll go see him right now!" She dragged her father to his wheelchair and pushed him toward the stairs. As there was no slope path here, Ma Xingjuan lifted the wheelchair and her father over her head. Then, she sprinted as if the combined weight of 120kg on top of her was as light as feathers.
Pang Lingming shrugged and followed after the hasty girl. As for Ma Shoucheng, he didn't have a choice since he couldn't walk. He let his daughter cart him to Cao Mao.
The group met Cao Mao on the second floor, where Ma Xingjuan had abandoned her mop and a water bucket.
"Oh, there are you. I've transferred the stones in your ring."
Cao Mao tossed the ring to Ma Xingjuan, who was pushing her father's wheelchair.
Ma Shoucheng caught the ring in his daughter's stead. He circulated his Qi to examine to spatial ring.
When the crippled man found 100 refined stones inside the spatial ring, he widened his eyes and looked back at his daughter in shock.
"Xingjuan, are you selling your virginity or what!? I won't approve prostitution!"
Ma Xingjuan stomped her feet again, "WHAT!? HELL, NO!! IT'S AN HONEST DEAL!! HELP ME EXPLAIN, YOUNG MASTER MAO!!"
"…"
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Ma Xingjuan, Ma Shoucheng, and Pang Lingming sat around a square table on the ground floor, listening to Cao Mao's explanation. It took him 5 minutes to explain his goal.
"So, you want to see my nephew. But why?" Asked Ma Shoucheng. He was still baffled why Ma Moxi suddenly got popular.
Cao Mao raised his eyebrows when he discovered that this crippled man was Ma Moxi's uncle. His grin widened, "I see that you might not know about your nephew's true ability. I'll be honest with you. I want him to work for me. Rather, if possible, I would like to employ the Ma Clan."
"Huh?"
Pang Lingming and Ma Shoucheng got even more confused. Their clan declined so much that the only fighting force was the bald bartender here. As for Ma Xingjuan, Ma Moxi, Ma Ping, and Ma Shoucheng, they were as good as dead weights.
Therefore, hiring a clan with only one capable subordinate was weird.
"Are you sure about that? Do you know that aside from me, no one can fight at all?"
Pang Lingming revealed his cultivation base. He was an initial 6th-stage expert, who was working as Ma Shoucheng's bodyguard. As he had said, he was the only combatant in the family, so the Ma Clan's shouldn't be a good mercenary force for hire.
"There's an old saying, the best customers are rich customers with a birdbrain. I'm rich and I'm stupid, so you should just accept my terms and get your pay, okay?"
The elders and Ma Xingjuan's furrows deepened. Cao Mao just made himself suspicious since he acknowledged that he was rich and stupid.
"Let me get it straight," Ma Shoucheng had enough. He tried to get Cao Mao to reveal his intention, "What is the purpose for hiring our clan? Who are you fighting, or how do you want to use us?"
Cao Mao's face turned solemn. He considered his words and options for a moment.
'Ma Ping has a grudge against the emperor and the Poison Pavilion. The Poison Pavilion is working for Wei Huang and Ma Xingjuan has a grudge against Xu Xiuying, so I can't be related to them. The only option here is the imperial family…'
Cao Mao took a deep breath as he used his ultimate noble phantasm skill, Unlimited Bullshit Work.
"I need someone dead."
The bartender and Uncle Ma nodded in satisfaction. As long as Cao Mao was honest, the job would be a lot easier, "Who do you want dead?"
"The crown prince, Liu Bian."
Pang Lingming and Ma Shoucheng squinted their eyes and glanced at each other again. They remained silent, but they were communicating with an ancient method, using telepathic voice.
While Cao Mao was waiting for their answer, Ma Xingjuan interjected, "There are many clans to hire, why us, though?"
Cao Mao shrugged, "Major clans are no good. They are prone to betray their employers to protect their little reputation when things go south. But in your case, even though you have nothing to lose, you can't afford to fail the task since it involves the restoration of your clan."
Ma Xingjuan wanted to refute that it was not true, but she focused on extracting more information, "Then, why do you want him dead?"
"Normally, the employer doesn't need to reveal their motive since it's none of your business. But I'll tell you why. Do you know anything about necromancy?"
Instead of using a well-known fact, Cao Mao used a piece of information from the system to reveal Liu Bian's hidden strength and threat.
"Necromancy!?"
"That's right. Liu Bian can use necromancy."
The two elders got interested. At first, they were discussing if this job was another trap from the imperial family. But with a heretic art in the picture, it changed the landscape of all things.
Realizing that the elders got interested, Cao Mao tempted them, "Although I said that I want Liu Bian dead, I don't need you to literally kill him. My goal is to kill his reputation to decrease his influence in the court. First of all, I want to use Ma Moxi's social connection to spread words. I've heard that he's a frequent customer of the red-light district, so he is suited for the job."
Cao Mao summoned a sack with 50 refined stones on the table to close the deal, "I've already given you 100 refined stones to introduce me Ma Moxi. The rest of the stones will be given to you if you accept this job. I'll give you another 50 if the rumor spreads throughout the city and reaches other cities of the Qiang Clan. How about it? Isn't this an easy task for Ma Moxi?"
A wide smile appeared on Ma Shoucheng's face. He understood why Cao Mao wanted Ma Moxi's help.
"Good. Very good! You've come to the right place, junior Mao. We'll take this job, and we'll make sure that Ma Moxi will complete it! You can wait for the good news!"
Ma Shoucheng laughed and cupped his fist, gesturing that he accepted the deal.
With that, Cao Mao got the Ma Clan to indirectly move against Liu Bian and the imperial clan.
But the main problem had not been solved. Would Ma Moxi accept the job?
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