novelraw Book 15: Chapter 88
Book 15: Chapter 88
Book 15: Chapter 88
Ling Jialan set a string of coins onto the table. “No, just asking to put my mind at ease.”
“That’s more than what it’s worth.” The shopkeeper took the coins, then provided change before explaining, “We only conduct transactions without a desire for profit or connections. We will accept whatever the customer deems the goods to be worth.”
“How do you make money, then?”
“That’s a new question.”
Ling Jialan felt it was stupid to continue wasting money for answers, so she was going to place her request when she realised something. “Why did you only charge ten coins for the marriage certificate?”
“The certificate won’t get him back his wife.”
Ling Jialan finally understood what happened. No matter what sorcery they were capable of, they could only obtain the marriage certificate; it didn’t change the reality of the situation. The bride’s father only needed to write another marriage certificate to continue imposing his will.
“A marriage certificate is but only scrap paper. If he wants to get back his wife, he needs a marriage certificate written by his father-in-law, but such a certificate doesn’t exist, so we can’t sell it.”
“Why didn’t you tell him that?”
“We only carry out business transactions, selling what people want to them. If he wants a wife, we could sell him a method to win back his wife, but he asked for a marriage certificate, so we sold him exactly that.”
Ling Jialan felt as if she was suddenly standing in a vortex where she couldn’t let her guard down for a second.
“What are you looking to purchase?”
Noticing the shopkeeper stare into Ling Jialan’s eyes, the maid pointed out, “Shopkeeper, you’re scaring customers again,” as she took his pipe from him.
“Hey! You expect me to go a whole night without smoking?”
The maid smiled. “The rule is not to smoke in the presence of female customers, right?”
It was the first time the shopkeeper showed a human side to him as he leaned onto the counter and groaned. “Fine, fine, what is it that you want to buy?”
Their interaction reminded Ling Jialan of her interactions with her father back on Mount Lu. Following an exhale, she answered, “I’m looking for two people, Lian Hua and Fu Dalong. They might be fake names, but that’s all I know.”
“How much do you intend to pay?”
“Name a price.”
“Ten gold. Can accept paper notes as an alternative.”
Ten gold taels wasn’t large sum to Ling Jialan; however, she didn’t have that much on her at the moment. She couldn’t have shamelessly told Feng Jiutian that she got played and was now seeking underground intel, so she needed a loan from him. If she reached out for Ming Feizhen, it was more likely that she’d have ended up paying for his lodging and food instead of receiving money. On account of the man who left in a great mood, she decided to place her sword on the counter.
“Can I pawn this? I will come back for it later.”
“Yes.” The shopkeeper passed the sword to the maid, who jogged off to grab something. “The sword needs to be appraised. You will be paid the difference if it is worth more than the cost of the information.”
The maid soon returned with a sheet of paper and a black box. The shopkeeper read aloud the contents of the sheet: “Mount Lu’s Servant Yao, worth 550 gold. You will be paid 540 gold to compensate for the difference.”
“No need. I will bring ten gold back to retrieve the sword.”
“Sure.”
The shopkeeper gave the maid some instructions, and then she took it away. Most probably, the black box contained the 540 gold. Despite the weight of the box, the maid was able to hold it as if it was weightless and walk without making a sound.
Assuming Lian Hua was with Qinghe Warehouse, Ling Jialan was even more incensed.
Half of the men left with Sun Momo. Ling Jialan jumped down and moved in the opposite direction to increase the distance between them. Once there was nobody around, she started to think about what to do. She went to the warehouse to find Lian Hua and Fu Dalong. She couldn’t turn a blind eye to the innocent girls. Alas, it would’ve been virtually impossible to rescue them on her own, let alone when Lian Hua and Fu Dalong were around. Thus, her only option was to seek help. Returning to the capital to seek Liu Shan Men’s assistance was the best choice. Once she left, though, there was no telling what the captives would’ve been subjected to. Additionally, Lian Hua and Fu Dalong might’ve left the warehouse during that window.
Someone’s here!
As soon as she sensed someone entered her space, Ling Jialan reactively jumped out and thrust at them, but a needle fired from a shuttle hit the tip of her fingers, prompting her to back tuck and land silently. She wanted to avoid alerting the guards if it was possible.
One of the boys who saw Ling Jialan was shocked, while the other was indifferent. Ling Jialan was able to pick up on their presence thanks to Mount Lu’s mental cultivation, which was superior to other sects’ mental cultivation in the senses department. Plus, her sword spirit was pure. Had she not made the first move, they would’ve caught her.
Ling Jialan flitted back towards them upon landing, using her hands as swords to thrust at them simultaneously. The smaller one blocked it using an extremely fast palm strike that almost caught her on the face, while the bigger boy glued to her fingers aimed at him, hampering her from attacking his companion. Thankfully, she was fast to react, using Flying Thrust’s sword qi to force them into a retreat strategy.
“Who are you? Why are you following in the footsteps of these criminals at such young ages?”
Seeing Bu’s ambiguous expression gave Ling Jialan chills.
“Bu, she’s not going to harm us,” Li Zizi assured.
“You surrender as soon as you run into pretty girls? Where’s your spine?” responded Bu.
“She deliberately suppressed her voice and the sounds of her movements to avoid alerting the people here. That means she’s not with them.” Li Zizi said, “Hi, Miss. These people are trying to harm my shifu. We are here to look into what they are plotting. We are seeing these people for the first time today. We are not aware of their crimes.”
Ling Jialan thought positively of Li Zizi due to his attitude.
“Why are you explaining that to her? Hey, who are you, lady? What are you here for?”
Ling Jialan cleared her throat. “That’s none of your business... Who is your shifu?”
“My shifu’s name is Ming Feizhen.”
“You’re Ming Feizhen’s disciple?” Ling Jialan had to eye Li Zizi to check if her eyes were playing games with her.
Li Zizi was equally surprised, but he put two and two together quite quickly. “Oh, Shiniang?”
“Go to hell! Who are you calling your shiniang?!”
Bu: “She’s your shifu’s wife?”
“No!” exclaimed Ling Jialan.
Zizi: “Concubine?”
“... I’ll kill you two, you know?”
Translator comment: Twisted Metal Calypso vibes anyone? No? I’m revealing my age?
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