Chapter 256
Chapter 256
Although wealthy tycoons had broad knowledge of the world and understood that it was not as simple as ordinary people believed, that supernatural powers truly existed, they were selective about what they trusted.
But what they placed their faith in were things like feng shui, fortune-telling and physiognomy, and talisman arts, things that could bring them direct benefits.
What benefit could a conjurer offer, even if he did possess a small amount of magical power?
But Ni Yang had spent many years fighting his way through society. He immediately answered with a smile.
“That depends on what you think, Boss Wang. You’re a great businessman. I’m sure you have your own understanding.”
The tycoon’s name was Wang Wenguang. He took a puff on a cigar and studied Ni Yang with a scrutinizing, amused expression.
Only after slowly blowing out a smoke ring did he continue.
“Master Ni, there’s no need for us to beat around the bush. I couldn’t have built such a large business without seeing something of the world. Of course I know that many extraordinary people possess unusual abilities. When my housing developments and shopping centers were built, I hired masters to choose the sites and calculate auspicious opening dates.”
The moment Ni Yang heard that, he knew Boss Wang Wenguang understood something about these matters and would not be easy to fool.
He sat up straight and became fully alert.
Wang Wenguang continued…
“But those feng shui masters with genuine abilities are all terribly proud. They’re difficult to deal with, and they aren’t necessarily willing to help me.”
“That’s why I’ve spent the past few years searching for someone with unusual abilities who is willing to help me and follow my orders completely. Today, I’ve finally found that person in you, Master Ni.”
“I, Wang Wenguang, have met countless people. One glance was enough to tell me that you’re the sort of man who has real abilities without being inflexible, and that you love money. You should be willing to follow my direction.”
Oh?
Ni Yang raised an eyebrow. The remark displeased him somewhat.
It was true that he possessed none of a cultivator’s convictions or principles and was an undisciplined scoundrel, but hearing someone say it so bluntly still made him uncomfortable…
However, Wang Wenguang’s next sentence instantly erased that trace of displeasure.
Boss Wang said,
“One hundred thousand. All you have to do is verbally agree to handle this matter, and I’ll pay you a hundred thousand yuan as a token of my appreciation! Complete half the job, and I’ll give you five hundred thousand. Finish it entirely, and you’ll receive another five hundred thousand. Even if you fail, you won’t have to return the initial hundred thousand.”
He waved a hand with lavish generosity.
Ni Yang’s expression changed, and his pupils abruptly contracted! His heart sped up, and even his breathing grew heavy.
More than a million yuan!
That was a tremendous fortune in 2001. It would still be a huge sum more than twenty years later, in 2022!
Wang Wenguang was right. Ni Yang truly loved money.
He had always been a wastrel who spent freely on feasting, drinking, and women… His expenses were enormous.
When he heard that helping Wang Wenguang with a single matter would earn him over a million, nothing else mattered anymore. Even if the job required killing a Corpse King, he would find people and try his luck in a fight!
Seeing Ni Yang’s reaction, Wang Wenguang clapped twice. A subordinate in a black suit came forward from behind them carrying a box and placed it on the table.
“Open it and take a look.”
Wang Wenguang smiled as he spoke.
Excitement surging through him, Ni Yang opened the box in front of him with a click.
Inside lay neat stacks of brand-new hundred-yuan banknotes!
Without waiting for Wang Wenguang to speak, Ni Yang took the box and said with a smile,
“Boss Wang! I’ll take the job. Even if I have to climb a mountain of blades or cross a sea of fire, I’ll get it done for you.”
“Good! You’re a straightforward man, Master Ni. Then I’ll take that as your agreement to help. Keep this hundred-thousand-yuan token for now. We can talk while we eat…”
Wang Wenguang had his private chef serve a meal, then gave Ni Yang a detailed account of the favor he wanted.
As it turned out, Wang Wenguang came from a poor family. His hometown lay in the mountainous countryside right on the boundary between Guxin Town and Lianghe Town. It was an extremely small village.
Only thirty or forty households lived there in total.
Wang Wenguang’s family had been very poor, and both his parents died. He grew up eating meals provided by one village household after another.
By the time he reached fifteen, the villagers could no longer support him, so he had no choice but to go into town and find a way to make a living.
At first, he performed manual labor, carrying cement, stones, and the like. Gradually, he saved enough money for travel. He then went to the main city, struggled for many years, and slowly began to prosper…
Once he made his fortune, he naturally did not forget the people of his hometown.
From time to time, he returned to visit the village elders and his old neighbors.
It was his way of repaying the kindness of the neighbors who had taken turns feeding and raising him as a child…
But as his business grew and his work became more demanding, he had less and less time to return in person. Most of the time, he sent his subordinates in his place…
At first, there were no problems. But gradually, his people reported that fewer and fewer elderly residents remained in the village.
Wang Wenguang initially paid it no mind. Elderly people naturally passed away over time, so a decline in their number was normal.
But about five years ago, on one particular occasion, the subordinate he sent back to his home village failed to report in for several days. Wang Wenguang found that strange…
Mobile phones already existed then, but the signal was extremely poor. Once the subordinate entered the village, there was no reception at all, and Wang Wenguang could not make contact.
With no other choice, he sent another trusted subordinate to investigate.
To his utter astonishment, the second subordinate returned several days later and reported that there was no village at the address Wang Wenguang had provided. There was only a desolate valley overgrown with weeds!
Not a single person was in sight.
The report made absolutely no sense to him. In a rare fury, he berated his trusted subordinates for being unable to find a simple place…
How could the place where he had grown up, his own hometown, be an uninhabited wilderness?
So Wang Wenguang temporarily put aside his business, took a large group of subordinates from Yu City directly back to Guxin Town, and then traveled onward to the little village that was his hometown.
But!
Something utterly horrifying awaited him.
The place where his village had once stood truly was nothing but a desolate valley and wild forest!
It looked as though no one had ever lived there.
It was broad daylight, under a blazing sun, yet a chill ran down Wang Wenguang’s spine!
He could not understand the sight before him.
He had clearly grown up there and lived in the village until he was fifteen. Every house, every path, every field…
He remembered them all perfectly!
Even after decades, they remained vivid in his mind.
How could they have vanished?
Could the village where he had spent his childhood, along with all his memories, have been false?
That was impossible!
Only the year before, he had sent people back with all kinds of gifts for the villagers. When his subordinates reported back, they had even brought a group photograph taken at the entrance to the village. Requiring such evidence was one of Wang Wenguang’s ways of ensuring that his people did their work properly.
Had the villagers moved away?
Even if they had, shouldn’t they at least have told him?
And even supposing they had left without informing him, the village itself should still have been there!
It had only been a year since the last visit. Even if those rammed-earth houses had stood abandoned for decades, there should still have been ruins: broken walls and collapsed structures.
Yet what lay before Wang Wenguang and the people with him was a completely wild valley and forest, without the slightest trace that a village had ever existed.
It was as though… the entire village had suddenly vanished without a trace!