135: Chapter 133 exposed him right from the start?

The indifferent tone echoed in the empty mourning hall, drawing the gazes of the seven people.

In an instant, Zhang Mu calmly swept his gaze over them and made a rough judgment about their identities—they were all the City Lord's family.

Six women; two looked to be in their forties, whom Zhang Mu guessed were the City Lord's wives. Of the other four, three appeared to be in their early twenties and were likely the City Lord's daughters.

The last one was a young girl of seventeen or eighteen, presumably the City Lord's youngest daughter.

Their eyes simultaneously showed shock mixed with pleasant surprise. If they were guests, there should have only been the former.

Even those whose interests were tied to the City Lord wouldn't instinctively feel joy at the first moment.

But that young man's expression was one of shock mixed with some panic; he was the only person present showing the emotion of "fear."

It seemed he was the City Lord's "dear son." This extravagant funeral was likely organized by him alone.

Having assessed the current situation, Zhang Mu let out a silent sigh of relief, but his voice remained cold on the surface: "Answer me."

At his second utterance, the group finally snapped out of it, and the six women rushed toward Zhang Mu.

Seeing them about to reach out and touch him, Zhang Mu snorted coldly: "Stop right there.

Answer my question first."

"Darling, it was all your son's idea."

Zhang Mu's eyelids twitched a few times.

It wasn't because of the content—after all, he had known this before coming—nor was it a deliberate display of suppressed anger, which wasn't necessary. Rather, the one speaking was actually that seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl.

Fortunately, he hadn't called her his daughter directly.

Feeling a bit relieved, he realized he couldn't linger here, or he would surely blow his cover if they spoke much more.

"Very well." Zhang Mu fixed his gaze on the City Lord's "dear son." "To the study."

"Yes, yes, Father." The "dear son" stood in place, his hands pressed tightly against his thighs, too nervous to move.

How won't this do? If you don't lead the way, how will I know where the study is?

"You walk in front."

Perhaps terrified by Zhang Mu's cold gaze, he immediately turned and walked toward the side door on the right. Because of his flustered movements, his feet tripped over each other, and he almost fell.

"Clean this up. I will deal with the other matters when I return."

After saying that, he followed behind his "dear son," passing through a double-sided open corridor with pillars but no walls, and entered an exquisitely furnished study.

The room was not small, with the floor covered in wool carpets. The stone walls were not painted or decorated in any other way, and extinguished magic crystal lamps were installed in the four corners and on the ceiling.

The "dear son" consciously walked to the desk and stood at attention.

Zhang Mu sat behind the desk with a straight back, staring at him.

He wasn't considering how to punish him; as long as he established a firm foothold in the City Lord's Mansion, there would be plenty of time to deal with him later.

The urgent matter now was to minimize contact with the City Lord's family and, before they noticed anything unusual, figure out the interpersonal relationships within the City Lord's Mansion, as well as the City Lord's daily habits, personality, preferences, normal way of speaking, and so on.

Zhang Mu hadn't chosen the study just to avoid physical contact with them.

The study was a private space, and there was a high probability of finding secret information about the City Lord, making it easier to understand him quickly.

He had to send him away, preferably so they wouldn't meet for a short while.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Mu looked up: "You are grounded. Without my command, you are not allowed to leave your room.

If you attempt to escape on your own, you should understand the consequences."

"As you command, Father!"

Seemingly not expecting his "father" to let him off so easily, the son turned and ran out of the study as if fleeing for his life.

He looked quite frightened, not even having time to close the door.

Using his Mental Energy to control the door to close automatically, Zhang Mu, now alone in the room, let out a breath and leaned back, sinking into the soft back of the chair:

"It's a good thing the City Lord took all the elite Professionals to the Silent Forest."

Although others couldn't sense his magic fluctuations and he didn't have to worry about his strength as a Beginner Magician being detected, the fact that there were no High-tier Professionals in the City Lord's Mansion right now was also a good thing.

If anyone did discover something was wrong, it would be convenient to silence them.

This way, he had successfully infiltrated.

Next, he had to hurry and investigate all the details of the City Lord's Mansion to avoid exposing himself.

Thinking of this, Zhang Mu exerted force with his waist to leave the chair and stood up, preparing to look around for anything like a diary that recorded his daily trifles.

But just as he turned around, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Knock, knock—"

Knowing that the "City Lord" was currently angry about his son holding a funeral for him, who would dare to come and court disaster at this time?

Zhang Mu was a bit puzzled, sat back in the leather chair, and put on an expressionless face: "Come in."

"Creak—"

"City Lord."

The person who pushed open the door was a Middle-aged Man, wearing complex and cumbersome noble attire, his face covered in fine wrinkles.

Strangely, facing the "resurrected" City Lord, there was neither sorrow nor joy in his eyes.

Holding a stack of gray papers, he stepped forward: "City Lord, these are the city affairs that accumulated during your absence from Gur City."

"Leave them here."

The man placed the gray papers on the desk, folded his hands over each other, and rested them on his abdomen.

Why hasn't he left yet?

Zhang Mu wanted to scratch his head but restrained himself.

Perhaps he usually stayed by the City Lord's side while he handled official business; Zhang Mu had no choice but to pretend to pick up the top sheet of gray paper and scan it.

They weren't major matters.

They were all things like a certain street in the city being in disrepair and needing craftsmen for maintenance, or wild beasts gathering in a certain forest outside the city, requiring a Guard team to clear them out.

His ability seemed quite good; how each official matter should be handled was marked in bold text at the end.

The City Lord only needed to stamp them.

Then there was no need to worry about being seen as unusual; Zhang Mu's heart settled back into his chest as he looked through them one by one.

As he was nearing the end, one piece of information caught his attention.

The Church Bishops of several nearby cities had disappeared in the wilderness for unknown reasons, leading to those cities being attacked by Magical Beast Tides. A large number of citizens were forced to flee and were currently moving toward Gur City en masse.

Refugees are coming to Gur City?

Zhang Mu recalled what he had seen on his way to the Silent Forest and found this quite normal.

Gur City was the closest to the surrounding cities. When disaster struck, the citizens had nowhere else to go but here.

On the way to the Silent Forest, Zhang Mu had replenished supplies in those cities and knew they were all large cities with significant populations.

Normally, a sudden influx of refugees several times the city's own population would obviously be a huge problem.

After all, with such a major event, the royal family would certainly hold him accountable if he did nothing.

But if he did manage it, how?

Even with the simplest preparations for food, clothing, housing, and transportation, the money and grain required for hundreds of thousands of people would exceed all of Gur City's reserves.

But Zhang Mu, on the contrary, grew excited—it was all ready-made labor!

After a few seconds of thought, he looked up and said, "Put other matters aside for now. Send the Guards to clear a safe area outside the city for the refugees to stay.

By the way, arrange for Guards to patrol and keep watch to prevent the refugees from being attacked by monsters."

They were all people who would work on his projects; it would be heartbreaking if even one was injured.

In a great mood, Zhang Mu handed the paper to the Middle-aged Man, but he didn't take it.

Staring blankly at Zhang Mu for a few seconds, he suddenly smiled: "You are not the City Lord."