In the short span of an hour, 36 Branch Masters of the Divine Sect were all gathered in one place. Ye Que personally took charge of the meeting and put in order three missions.

Qian Shuxiao didn’t say a word throughout the meeting and kept his brows tightly knitted. After everyone had left, he could no longer hold himself back and said, “Brother Ye, is this the strategy that you’ve prepared? Isn’t it a little lacking?”

Ye Que glanced at him and replied, “Then what do you think we should do?”

Without even thinking, Qian Shuxiao answered, “Start a war. Have a true battle with the Extinctive Sword Manor House and break the legs of that damned Lin Shan! I’ll kill him for bullying my sister!”

Ye Que shook his head, chuckling. “Isn’t your plan the true child’s play? Start a war against the Extinctive Sword Manor House? With what? With those hooligans that we took under our wings? Most of them just started cultivating three months ago. Even the most fast-progressing of them are merely Rank 2 martial artists. What stands behind the Extinctive Sword Manor House is none other than Mount Shu. If we fight them openly, we’re essentially striking a stone with an egg.”

Glancing at the night sky, Ye Que continued, “Natural law is constant. The wilting of one flower is the blossoming of another.”

“Do you know how to make a flower wilt?”

Ye Que extended three fingers. “Cut off the leaves, cover the sun, and eliminate the roots!”

After hearing Ye Que’s words, Qian Shuxiao’s confusion deepened even further. “What does this have to do with the missions you lay out earlier?”

“Of course, it has something to do with the missions. Those missions are so we can cut off the leaves of the Extinctive Sword Manor House, cover the sun atop their heads, and eliminate the foundation that they rely on. Do you know what the most terrifying thing in the world is?”

Ye Que’s voice became low. “Food is necessary for survival but what the spiritual world fears even more is gossip.”

The Extinctive Sword Manor House was located on the suburbs of the Luoyang City. It was like a massive weapon manufacturer. Due to their large number of disciples, their daily consumption was significant.

The moment dawn ascended, the menial workers responsible for the day’s ingredients set off from the back door of the Manor House on five horse-drawn carriages. Their daily task was buying ingredients and returning to the Manor House to prepare meals.

Though they were dressed in the attire of Extinctive Sword Manor House disciples, their true identity was that of a cook.

With the cries of insects for company throughout the whole journey, the five horse-drawn carriages bearing the symbol of the Extinctive Sword Manor House sped past the city gate and arrived at the nearest morning market on Vermilion Bird Lane. Here, farmers had long set up stalls to pedal their fruits and produce.

Tian Xiaosi was recruited into the Extinctive Sword Manor House a month ago and his mentor happened to be the main cook of the kitchen. The experienced Tian Xiaosi was a sweet-talker and served the main cook like the latter was his biological father. Thus, the cushy job of procuring ingredients naturally fell to him.

Walking toward a vegetable stall, he checked the freshness of the produce with a quick glance. He nipped a small chunk off the vegetables for taste and asked, “How much are you selling this?”

The vegetable farmer raised his head to look at Tian Xiaosi. His expression didn’t change even after seeing the latter wearing clothes bearing the symbol of the Extinctive Sword Manor House. He lowered his head and said coolly, “I’m not selling.”

“What did you say?” Tian Xiaosi asked, thinking that there was something wrong with his ears.

The vegetable farmer lowered his head and repeated his words. “I said I’m not selling.”

“You set up a vegetable stall but don’t sell vegetables? What are you trying to do?” Tian Xiaosi looked confused.

“Mind your business. Either way, I’m not selling these vegetables.” The vegetable farmer continued to lower his head, not even sparing Tian Xiaosi a glance.

“Lunatic!” Tian Xiaosi muttered under his breath. He turned around to walk to the other stalls. To think a damned vegetable farmer would have such ego! Even if the farmer vegetable refused to sell him anything, there were still other farmers to buy from. Wasn’t it the act of a fool to go against money?

Tian Xiaosi was in a terrible mood after he was forced to go to another stall. He saved the small talk and directly asked, “How much are you selling these?”

The farmer glanced at Tian Xiaosi. Without even thinking, he replied, “I’m not selling.”

“Are you in cahoots with that person earlier?” Tian Xiaosi noticed that something wasn’t quite right.

“No.”

“Did I anger you?”

“No.”

“Then why are you refusing to sell me these vegetables?”

“No reason. I’m simply not selling them.”

The answers that Tian Xiaosi got out of two people were the same. They refused to sell him any vegetables, not even a single one. Utterly confused now, Tian Xiaosi asked the third vegetable farmer and received the same refusal.

“I’ll pay double the price; are you selling now?” Tian Xiaosi wondered if their Manor House had been bargaining for too low a price, causing these farmers to be upset.

“It has nothing to do with money. I’m not selling no matter how much money you’re offering.” Even after Tian Xiaosi doubled the price, the farmer still refused to sell him anything.

After making a round in the market and returning to the mouth of the Vermilion Bird Lane, the group of menial workers exchanged looks. They saw the confusion reflected in one another’s eyes.

Tian Xiaosi clutched his hair with force. “What’s going on today? Have all these people gone mad? All the stalls aren’t selling!”

The menial worker beside him frowned and added, “Si’er, it’s not that they’re not selling. They’re just not selling to us.”

An idea hit Tian Xiaosi, prompting him to ask, “Did any of you cause trouble here recently, Brothers?”

“We’re all so busy that we didn’t even have time to breathe. Aside from buying ingredients in the morning, who’d have the time to come here? We’re always together when buying ingredients. Do you think no one will know if we cause trouble?” another menial worker retorted.

“Let’s put this aside first. Since we can’t buy anything from Vermilion Bird Lane, aren’t we going somewhere else? In the vast Luoyang City, it’s not like this place is the only place that sells vegetables.”

Soon, the five horse-drawn carriages from the Extinctive Sword Manor House left the Vermilion Bird Lane and headed to another morning market in the east.

To the left of the memorial arch of the Vermilion Bird Lane was a small house, with a small stall selling wonton in front of its door. Ye Que sat at the stall quietly, the bowl of wonton placed in front of him had gone completely cool. A burly man with a scarred face sat next to him.

“Have you made your orders to your subordinates?” Ye Que said placidly while staring at the back of the horse-drawn carriages going off into the distance.

“Rest assured, Sect Leader. The 36 Branch Masters had given their orders last night. I guarantee that no member of the Extinctive Sword Manor House would be able to buy even one stalk of vegetable or one bite of food in Luoyang City,” the burly man with a scarred face said confidently.

“Don’t let even a single fish escape the net.” Ye Que glanced at the burly man.

“There absolutely won’t be. Perhaps you don’t know this; we have information on everyone who makes a living on the lanes. If someone is dishonest and resorts to trickery and stealing, his entire family will suffer the consequences. “Trust me. Not even government officials are as persuasive as we are. Besides, we didn’t ask them to kill or commit arson; we’re only asking them not to do business with a family. No one will play with their lives,” the burly man explained carefully.

“Moreover, all Branch Masters have their eyes peeled. I guarantee that this will go without a hitch.”

Since the beginning of dawn to the scorching noon, Tian Xiaosi and his group had gone to a whopping five markets but ended up not buying even a single stalk of vegetable. The pedalers all took one look at him and said, “I’m not selling.”

Five horse-drawn carriages left the Extinctive Sword Manor House empty and returned in the same state.

When noon fell, the disciples who had been busy for the entire morning rushed to the kitchen to get their food. On a typical day, the aroma of rice and dishes would already be lingering in the air at this hour. However, for some reason, there wasn’t even the smell of raw vegetables.

They entered the kitchen in confusion and found only pickled vegetables, porridge, steamed buns, and noodles in plain water.

“Noodles in plain water? Don’t they have stew? Are they kidding?!”

That afternoon, the main cook helming the kitchen of the Extinctive Sword Manor House suffered 10 lashes of the whip as per regulations. Meanwhile, the group of menial workers knelt in front of the Commandment Hall for an entire night.