While the two were having a shouting match, Ox finally spoke.

"The two of you, please don’t argue. I think this was purely an accident." He then looked at Snake. "Just like when you suddenly spoke while Mr. Monkey was extracting that sound sensitivity crystal."

"This situation is the same. The information we had was from the night before the operation. Things may have changed during that time. I don’t think Mr. Monkey wanted us to fail," Ox said with a soothing tone that contrasted heavily with the loud and rough voice of such a muscular man.

"Heh." Snake sneered but did not say anything further. She had only been venting her frustration. She knew it had been an accident.

Snake grumbled to herself for a while before finally calming down.

"Since the plan failed... the next thing we need to do is return to our meeting place and report this to Zodiac," Snake said.

"I agree..." Monkey nodded. "But we need to lie low for a few days first. If we go out now, we might get caught."

After the three agreed on their next course of action, they decided to rest and recuperate, especially Ox, who was injured.

As time passed, by the second day the situation outside had become tense and chaotic. Martial law had been declared, and many criminal organizations were uprooted and eradicated.

It was worth mentioning that the smuggling organizations, which had long been part of the economic ecosystem of this city of wealth, had been strictly warned by the Thousand Treasure Pavilion themselves.

They wanted the smuggling rings to cease operations for the next few days. No unknown goods were allowed in, and no unknown goods were allowed out.

Some smugglers got busted because they did not take the warning seriously.

Who are you kidding? Did they really think we are naive children who would believe nonsense like a city that only cares about wealth and profit would stop people from doing business?

As a result, they were wiped out alongside the criminal organizations. During this period, even officials and higher ups did not dare cover for them. As for those who still thought they were untouchable and continued protecting the smugglers... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Let’s just say they had already become acquainted with the fish underwater as their new neighbors.

After enough examples had been made and the bodies started piling up, people stopped questioning the warning.

Everyone obediently halted their operations until further notice from Thousand Treasure City Hall.

The businesses operating openly continued as usual, but most experienced a noticeable drop in customers. That was because some of their regular patrons had been among the criminals and smugglers who were uprooted.

During this time, the trio hiding within the safe house did not get a single good night’s sleep. They tried their best to stay alert. Even the smallest and most nonsensical sounds, such as Ox stubbing his pinky toe while walking around at night, would put the entire safe house on edge.

Finally, Snake, who had the least patience among the three, could no longer endure it.

"Is this going to continue much longer? If it drags on for a month, I’d rather take the risk and leave right now."

Monkey shook his head. "There’s no need for us to gamble. This place is called Thousand Treasure City for a reason. They can’t hinder their own wealth generating operations for too long."

"Besides, I know that Mo Xingyao is probably suffering even more than we are right now. She’s the type who finds losing money more painful than dying," Monkey said.

"I hope you’re right," Snake replied.

— Meanwhile —

And true to Monkey’s words, atop the Thousand Treasure Pavilion headquarters, within the executive office, Mo Xingyao was currently glaring holes through a report.

According to the calculations, the projected profit had dropped by more than eighty percent, and the income from the cuts sent by criminal organizations and smugglers had gone deep into the red.

That was because, as the one who permitted them to operate under the wings of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, she was obligated to guarantee part of their income and compensate for certain losses.

Many smuggled goods were highly time sensitive. If the shipments did not arrive on time, the goods would perish.

This included fragile spiritual beasts, rare alchemy ingredients, and even simple luxury food items.

"Uggggghhh! Gaaaahhhh! I can’t take it anymore! Just stop the martial law already, Dad!" Mo Xingyao finally broke down, tearing the report in half in a fit of frustration.

Mo Jue, who was nearby, let out a sigh. "Haaa... it’s only the third day. Can’t you wait at least a week?"

"A week!?" Mo Xingyao repeated before immediately throwing another tantrum. "Do you know how much we’ll lose if martial law continues for an entire week!? We’re not only losing profit, we’re also losing potential customers too! What happens if this continues for a week and the customers decide to use other people’s services instead because they don’t have problems like us!?"

"Look..." Mo Jue let out another sigh before trying to reason with his daughter. "This is for your safety! It’s for your own good! Those three managed to sneak in without anyone noticing, and if one of them hadn’t messed up and triggered the alarm, we would have already been robbed blind! Worse still, they might even have come after your life."

Mo Xingyao glared at her father. "I don’t care! At that time, Wei Chen had already asked Lady Yan to protect me! Do you think those thieves could win against Lady Yan?"

"But Lady Yan isn’t here right now, is she?" Mo Jue argued.

Mo Xingyao’s frustration flared up again. "That’s why I called you here to protect me, Dad! Not to stop me from making money!"

Seeing that his daughter refused to back down, Mo Jue decided to use his trump card... parental authority.

"No, Yaoyao! This is non-negotiable! I forbid you from lifting martial law! This little sacrifice won’t hurt you! It’s for your own safety, and you know it!"

"But Lady Yan already gave me an emergency talisman. If anything happens, I can summon her!" Mo Xingyao said.

"What!? She gave you a summoning talisman!?" Mo Jue blurted out in shock.

What did a summoning talisman represent? It meant that the designated person tied to the talisman could be summoned according to the user’s will, or the talisman itself would automatically activate if it judged the incoming danger to be life threatening.

Talismans with this kind of function were already extremely rare. People capable of creating them were by no means common.

But... what truly shocked Mo Jue was not the function itself.

It was the summoned person.

In this lower realm, who could possibly possess a summoning talisman capable of calling forth an Immortal Realm expert at will? This was practically the ultimate trump card! A trump card capable of sweeping away every problem!

What? You say not every problem can be solved with violence?

Then that just means you haven’t used enough violence yet!

I... I want it... I really want that talisman...

Mo Jue cried internally. He desperately wanted the talisman, but he did not show it on his face. He still had his dignity as a father to preserve.

"No! Yaoyao! As I said, this is non-negotiable!" Mo Jue acted tough, sterning his face.

Mo Xingyao pouted, then took out her U-Phone and opened the calculator function.

Bip bip bip bip bip

"What... what are you doing, Yaoyao?" Mo Jue asked, suddenly having a bad feeling about this.

"Recalculating the Sky-Severing Demon Valley budget and support funds," Mo Xingyao said blandly.

"You... what does this have to do with the sect budget?" Mo Jue asked, starting to sweat.

"It has everything to do with the budget. Do you think our sect is good at earning money? Almost 99% of the sect’s budget comes from the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. Since our earning capabilities have been limited by the martial law, I, as the CEO of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, need to think long term." Then Mo Xingyao showed him the newly calculated budget.

"This is next month’s budget."

The number on the calculator showed a clean 20,000 spirit stones.

"Have you lost your mind, girl!? This 20,000 isn’t even enough to pay for our sect’s monthly spirit gathering array maintenance! This is too much!"

"It’s not too much at all. I need to calculate the opportunity loss during this period too. The loss of customers, business partners, reputation, and so on. It all needs to be included in the calculation."

"This...."

"As you said, Dad, it’s for my own good, right? As a parent, this bit of sacrifice should be nothing."

Mo Xingyao smiled sweetly, but to Mo Jue, it was nothing short of the smile of a greedy demon.

"Grrr....." Mo Jue gritted his teeth.

"Fine... you win, girl... we’ll lift the martial law today," he said listlessly, as if he had just lost all of his stamina in an epic battle.

Mo Xingyao’s smile widened with a mix of mischievousness and triumph.

Thus... the martial law was lifted the next morning.