Monarch Night

Mu Lin Yuan couldn't help but be surprised: "Why are there so many reception rooms?"

"There are not enough of them. Sometimes when it gets busy, it's not uncommon for a dozen bosses to come at the same time."

Zhou Mei'er smiled reservedly: "This is... this is..."

Just a tour around various departments, and an hour had already passed.

"This is a small garden, this is the Dragon Transformation Pond. The fish inside, it's said they are Spirit Fish, capable of transforming into dragons, so the Chief named it the Dragon Transformation Pond. Who knows when a real dragon will appear..."

Zhou Mei'er smiled: "The big courtyard ahead is usually used for inspecting goods, but inspections are typically done locally, so this courtyard has become a small training ground, where sometimes the escort masters also practice here."

"Those eighteen willows that look almost identical over there, in our Escort Agency, are called the Eighteen Layers of Hell."

Zhou Mei'er smiled sweetly.

"Eighteen Layers of Hell?" Qian Sanjiang was stunned: "This exists in the Escort Agency? What's it for?"

"All the head of the escort who make mistakes, like losing goods, short on money, drinking against the rules on the road, or being impolite to guests, or other errors... will be hung on the branch of those trees and whipped."

Zhou Mei'er explained.

The four were all amazed.

They never expected that these eighteen willows had such a story.

"Those neatly arranged rows of houses over there are the residences of the heads of the escort and escort masters. The row separated by a flower wall is for the female escorts... Let's walk this way... the backyard is the Martial Arts Arena of the Escort Agency."

Upon reaching the backyard, the vast Martial Arts Arena left the four a bit dumbfounded.

It's enormous!

"Every month, the Chief will organize assessments here to check everyone's cultivation progress. The slowest eighteen will be hung on the Eighteen Layers of Hell for a day as a warning."

"..."

"The weapons around here were all obtained with painstaking effort, and the quality is quite good."

Zhou Mei'er guided the Yin Shen Palace and others on a tour, providing as much detailed introduction as possible, showcasing the Escort Agency's reliability while also intentionally dragging time, waiting for the Chief.

The Martial Arts Arena was filled with one or two hundred people practicing martial arts, each one energetic and sweaty.

Dozens more were engaged in fierce sparring, the atmosphere was intense, as if fighting for their lives.

Some, after fighting for a while, collapsed from exhaustion and were dragged away.

Others kept fighting even with bruised faces.

Yin Shen Palace saw a guy land a heavy punch on his opponent's nose, sending blood splattering, but he too got punched in the eye, immediately becoming a one-eyed panda.

Beside him, another guy got kicked in the groin, clutching it with bulging eyes, screaming inhumanely...

Nearby, another grabbed someone by the hair and started kicking fiercely...

The four Old Demons watched with twitching brows.

Mu Lin Yuan felt a bit chilly: "Are these the heads of the escort sparring?"

"Yes, sparring."

"You call this sparring?"

"Yes, as long as no one dies, it's called sparring."

Zhou Mei'er, accustomed to it, said with a smile: "The Chief often teaches us... Sweat more during peacetime, bleed less during wartime, work hard daily, and the guests and goods will be safer..."

"Stop!"

Yin Shen Palace interrupted, rubbing his temples, feeling headachy.

Please don't keep saying 'The Chief often teaches us,' those words give me a headache.

"The Escort Agency is enormous!"

Hou Fang praised.

"Yes, it's all thanks to the Chief's efforts. He sought the Guardian Hall's consent, then negotiated with the surrounding households, buying their properties at several times the market price, and only then could the Escort Agency be as it is now."

Zhou Mei'er said: "The Chief is farsighted, he often teaches us to say..."

"Let's go have some tea."

Yin Shen Palace sighed.

"Okay, this way, please."

The four made a round, their emotions complex. They weren't sure what they were feeling.

This place has everything, truly the epitome of formality.

The eye and experience of the four Old Demons could not discern that this was actually a sub branch of the Demon Sect!

Knowing clearly that the people in the Escort Agency were vicious demons, they were completely undetectable, as if entering a camp of gentlemen.

Yemo, what talent!

...

Fang Che finished arranging the Steward Hall's affairs, as usual, went out to tour the street. Now, as Mr. Fang, the work he did was different.

He was out inspecting.

Looking for problems, hidden dangers, then going back to get angry.

But today he felt a bit uneasy and inexplicably irritable.

Couldn't figure out why.

Tang Zheng, following him, didn't dare to speak.

Mr. Fang wasn't himself today, why?

So Tang Zheng was thinking.

"Mr. Fang, Steward Zhao hasn't returned yet." Tang Zheng said.

"Huh?"

Fang Che was somewhat puzzled, why bring this up suddenly?

But with Tang Zheng's reminder, Fang Che felt something click.

Yes, Zhao Ying'er had been gone for almost two months now.

Why hasn't she returned yet? What kind of injury takes so long to heal?

She was taken home by her family.

Family!

These words, Fang Che felt, were somewhat eerie.

Many in the Steward Hall were speculating about Zhao Ying'er's background, feeling that this previously normal-looking Steward Zhao, after getting injured, revealed information that seemed unusual.

"Have you figured out Steward Zhao's family background?"

"No, but... this should be known by the Hall Master."