Qingshan

Chapter 63 : Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Money-Grubbing

Xuanyuan watched that little thief shouldering the bronze halberd, watched that wretched back running down the rugged path, and suddenly felt he might have really mistaken him for someone else.

He had rolled up his sleeves, shouldering the bronze halberd like carrying a shoulder pole.

How was this like a warrior?

If this person were that person, even if weaker than the halberd soldier, he could easily defeat him with his innate combat instincts. But now, this one could only flee desperately all over the mountain...

If that person were here, he wouldn't run away even facing the strongest enemy.

Even if towering mountains blocked the path, he would move the mountains.

But the one before him... would take a detour.

At this moment, I shouldered the bronze halberd, gasping for breath.

I looked back to check and saw the halberd soldier running through the mountains. His black armor made clattering sounds, his red cloak billowing behind him. His imposing figure was like a war chariot.

I thought to myself—this fierce general was only one level higher than me? Big brother, the one level you mentioned couldn't be the difference between Acquired Realm and Innate Realm, right?

Wait, that's not right. If the Division Officer were here, would I have a chance to shoulder the bronze halberd and run?

It wasn't Innate Realm, so that was fine.

The two of us, one in front and one behind, came down the mountain. I shouldered the bronze halberd, running slower and slower

, breathing harder and harder. Xuanyuan's gaze also grew more and more disappointed.

However, just then, I suddenly stopped gasping for breath. My steps were no longer heavy. My gaze condensed, and I suddenly turned around!

I twisted my waist, turned my body, and raised my hand in one smooth motion. The bronze halberd in my hand thrust toward my back with thunderous momentum.

This thrust came at just the right time. Under the halberd soldier's charge, it was as if he'd deliberately rushed into the halberd tip. The huge collision force couldn't even be blocked by armor—the black armor was pierced through by my thrust, piercing into the halberd soldier's abdomen!

I breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, but Xuanyuan's lips curved slightly upward, with a hint of mockery: "Futile."

The next moment, the halberd soldier completely ignored his abdominal wound. He gripped the bronze halberd's blade with both hands and fearlessly pulled the bronze halberd out.

With a slight shake of his hands, I felt a tremendous force transmitted. My hands went numb from the shock, and I couldn't help but release my grip on the bronze halberd.

The halberd soldier allowed blood to flow freely from his abdomen. He lifted the bronze halberd high and chopped down vertically like a mountain collapsing!

From beginning to end, the halberd soldier's expression showed no pain. He didn't even furrow his brow, as if being pierced through the abdomen was just a trivial matter.

"Hiss!"

I woke in the clinic's small courtyard, gasping greedily for air.

"Having a nightmare again?" The Prince asked curiously: "You've had several nightmares in a row. Were you scared by the villains you encountered earlier? You..."

While speaking, the Prince saw my eyes.

This apprentice youth clearly wasn't looking at him, yet he felt his heart skip a beat, as if a fierce beast was beside him breathing, exhaling thick, bloody air.

Liang Mao'er came out of the kitchen carrying dishes—white porridge with spicy and sour cabbage and small pickles, light and refreshing.

He looked at me: "Eat before sleeping."

I shook my head and slowly closed my eyes: "I'm not hungry right now. Thank you."

The Prince came back to his senses. He examined me more carefully but found I was just lying wearily on the bamboo chair with nothing unusual.

He must have seen wrong.

At this time, I had already returned to the battlefield. The halberd soldier stood unharmed atop the green mountain's peak, not immediately attacking.

Xuanyuan sat on a boulder, looking at me: "Have you learned your lesson?"

I remained silent.

Xuanyuan scoffed: "Killing on the battlefield isn't about taking advantage of cleverness or looking good. You must learn the difference between truly fatal strikes and showy moves. Just now, that thrust—though it looked spectacular—was useless."

I nodded slowly: "Come again!"

Xuanyuan said: "This time you cannot use any tricks. Stand here and fight properly. If you want to learn from me, you must first learn dignity in combat."

I took a deep breath: "Understood. Let's begin!"

The halberd soldier no longer waited and swung the bronze halberd to attack again.

I no longer fled, only using the mountaintop space to dodge and weave, searching for opportunities.

......

......

From morning I fought to noon, then from noon to evening. I never won, yet the more I fought, the more serious and excited I became.

I didn't know how many times I'd died, but each death made my techniques cruder yet more direct.

Like steel repeatedly hammered in the forge, with all impurities beaten out.

I suddenly realized that skills forged this way had no routines, weren't for show, and were closer to the essence of killing techniques.

Xuanyuan watched me fight again and again, seemingly tireless. This youth didn't have that person's combat instincts, but had identical fighting spirit.

Obsessive.

Possessed.

"Now you finally look somewhat like him."

......

......

In the evening, I opened my eyes in Taiping Clinic's small courtyard. Xuanyuan ordered me to rest for half an hour.

I slowly let out a breath, as if returning from purgatory to the bustling mortal world.

This time I'd fought the halberd soldier for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, locked in stalemate. When I woke, I was exhausted to the extreme.

I raised my head to see the Prince, She Dakang, Liang Gou'er, and Liu Quxing playing dominoes at the dining table. Princess Baili and Liang Mao'er stood watching.

Liu Quxing had a huge pile of copper coins in front of him, including a silver peanut he'd won from the Prince.

Princess Baili looked at me in surprise: "Oh, you're awake! Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"

I smiled: "Princess, why aren't you playing with them?"

Baili shook her head: "I don't gamble. My father forbids it too."

"Huh? But isn't the Prince gambling?"

Baili smiled: "It's fine. I'll report him later."

I: "...Such deep sibling affection."

I felt hungry, but before I could say anything, I heard people outside shouting: "Prince, Prince, get ready to go to White Cloth Lane!"

The Prince's eyes lit up: "Today is when Courtesan Liu from Qinhuai River comes to Luocheng. I heard this Courtesan Liu is skilled in poetry, literature, music, and chess, and is as beautiful as a celestial being. We must go see!"

Liang Gou'er clapped and cheered. He hadn't drunk for several days—the wine worm in his belly was making a fuss.

However, Princess Baili poured cold water: "Chen Ji is still injured. If everyone leaves, who will look after him? Brother, you keep saying you want to be friends with him. Is this how you treat friends? Are you even human?"

The Prince scratched his head, somewhat troubled.

Liu Su was a top courtesan even in Jinling's Qinhuai River. She was coming to Luocheng today to cut the ribbon for the new embroidery building in White Cloth Lane. How could he miss this?

Liang Gou'er whispered: "Prince, how about we go and leave Mao'er and the Princess at the clinic tonight?"

The Prince was troubled: "The money is with Baili."

Liang Gou'er: "..."

I: "..."

Indeed, Baili was the real financial backer. That's why the Prince had to take her everywhere.

The small courtyard fell quiet. Everyone lost interest in dominoes.

For a while, everyone pondered solutions, while only I conserved energy, preparing to return to the battlefield.

At this time, Liang Gou'er came up with an idea: "Prince, why don't we take Chen Ji along to look after him?!"

I: "...I'm injured and can't go."

The Prince looked at Liang Gou'er: "Right, he's injured, and the wounds are on his chest and thigh. We can't even carry him on our backs."

For the sake of mooching drinks, Liang Gou'er had no bottom line. He immediately patted his chest: "Mao'er and I will carry his bamboo chair! After drinking, we'll carry him back!"

I: "..."

You really are a genius. You'll do anything for alcohol.

The next moment, Liang Gou'er called Liang Mao'er, lifted the bamboo chair, and headed outside, as if carrying a bamboo sedan.

I sat up on the swaying bamboo chair: "Hey? I don't want to go!"

Liang Gou'er ignored me: "It's not up to you now. Come with us! If you want to sleep, just lie on the bamboo chair. Don't worry, we won't let you fall! That's White Cloth Lane, that's Courtesan Liu. Are you a man? How can you not be interested?"

I was helpless: "I'm still injured!"

The Prince walked beside the bamboo chair: "I heard it's not easy to see Courtesan Liu. You need to submit poetry, and only if she likes it will she let you in... Do you have any new poems from these days? I'll buy them!"

I fell silent. Right now I had ninety-four taels of silver hidden in the brick crevice under my bed—at most enough to buy three ginseng roots and light six more furnace fires.

But if I wanted to kill the Division Officer, that was far from enough.

I was silent for a moment: "I happened upon a few lines. Maybe they'll be useful."

Princess Baili's eyes brightened: "Let's go to White Cloth Lane!"

Everyone came outside where a group of martial world people had been waiting, each with swords and sabers at their waists.

Seeing Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er carrying me, they showed astonishment and whispered: "Who is so imposing that both Liang Gou'er and Liang Mao'er are carrying his sedan?"

I quickly smiled awkwardly: "It has nothing to do with me. I'm injured and didn't want to go, but Brother Liang Gou'er insisted on taking me to White Cloth Lane to broaden my horizons. I didn't make him carry the sedan."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief...

Along the way, over ten people were lively and laughing. The Prince didn't seem like a prince but more like a wandering guest who ate large chunks of meat and drank large bowls of wine.

I sat on the bamboo chair. Passersby kept glancing at it. My face wasn't thick enough, so I simply closed my eyes and sank back into the battlefield.

I felt I was about to touch a certain threshold. The halberd soldier wasn't undefeatable.

......

......

In front of White Cloth Lane's 'Embroidery Building,' flower baskets lined the street for hundreds of meters, even occupying other establishments' entrances.

On the wide second-floor terrace, wooden railings were hung with red silk, looking festive.

The Embroidery Building's owner was Zhang Chang, an obscure minor figure. But some said he was once a servant in the Xu family's second branch from Shanghai—this made everyone regard him highly.

The Xu family—Chief Grand Secretary Xu Gong's Xu family.

Noble families wouldn't directly touch businesses in White Cloth Lane, Red Cloth Lane, or Qinhuai River—bad reputation—but privately they all had fronts. Everyone knew who backed Zhang Chang. It went without saying.

So when the Embroidery Building opened, not only did Liu Mingxian from the Liu family come to support it, but many noble sons brought literary friends. Some came for Courtesan Liu, some to boost Xu family business—each with their own motives.

In front of the building, two young ladies in plain white ruqun dresses draped with white sable stood prettily in the autumn coolness, smiling at guests: "Lords and young masters, our Embroidery Building welcomes all guests tonight. The first floor has many elegant seats—spacious and bright. But if you wish to go upstairs to see our young lady, you need a presentable poem. If our young lady is pleased, one poem can bring three people. There's a desk and writing materials at the entrance. Please."

A young scholar immediately wrote a poem at the desk and handed it to the young ladies.

One lady took the paper and ran upstairs. Shortly after, she ran back down, smiling: "Young master, my lady says your poem won't do."

Courtesan Liu gave no face at all. If she said no, it was no—not the slightest tactfulness.

The young scholar's face turned red with shame as he lowered his head and squeezed into the crowd.

After this test, quite a few without real talent lost heart.

Outside, Liang Gou'er and other martial world people muttered among themselves, not knowing how to enter the Embroidery Building.

Some said climb in, some said kill their way in—not one serious suggestion.

The Prince lost nerve and whispered: "Baili, we only have half a poem. Will it work?"

Baili thought: "If she knows her stuff, this half sentence can top a hundred others. It'll definitely work."

Liang Gou'er said: "But one poem only brings three people, and we have twelve."

The Prince and Princess Baili looked together at me sleeping on the bamboo chair...

"Chen Ji, do you have other poems?"

"Chen Ji?"

"Chen Ji, wake up."

No matter how the Prince called, I didn't wake.

The Prince grew anxious but helpless. Without poems, how could they enter?

After pondering, Baili pulled a golden melon seed from her purse and stuffed it in my palm.

I opened my eyes: "Got them."