Chapter 3
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Chapter 3: Silver Snake with a Hairpin-like Shape
“Oh my heavens! I slept so deeply that it felt like an earth-shattering event, filled with ghostly wails, even worse than carrying bodies on the battlefield for ten days. I, Li Hui, even in my sleep, can possess such uniqueness; truly, I am the pride of the Jade Symbol Sect.”
Li Hui yawned and stumbled out of bed.
The room was not large, just enough for two double beds.
The wooden bed was intricately carved with dragons and phoenixes, adorned with gold and jade. A mosquito net hung down from above, and golden threads were embroidered in the fabric.
Next to the bed stood a golden night pot, a redwood incense table, and Ink, Brush, Paper, and Inkstone. Against the wall, a bookshelf displayed a variety of literary tastes, and by the window stood a full-length bronze mirror, smooth enough to see one’s reflection clearly.
“Ah! How did I sleep until this time? The sun is already high in the sky!”
Li Hui brushed his hand against his snow-white nightgown, and suddenly noticed bloodstains on his chest. His eye twitched involuntarily as he let out a sharp, piercing scream, “No! How can there be bloodstains? My precious nightgown!”
“Cough, cough, cough, where did these bloodstains come from? This nightgown is worth a silver money symbol, crafted by my sister-in-law’s skilled hands, taking a whole ten days to make!”
The pain was unbearable!
But soon, another scream escaped his lips, sounding even worse than a slaughtered pig.
“Dear parents! Your Li Hui has not yet carried on the family line; is it possible I’ve caught a terminal illness? I am only seventeen; why do I have gray hair?”
Li Hui stared incredulously at the dressing mirror. He saw dark circles around his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for over a week, resembling a panda. Not only that, but a single white strand hung down from his forehead. He appeared nothing like a seventeen-year-old; he looked closer to thirty-seven.
“What is happening to me? I slept in a daze, even worse than Lian Luosha with her shady affairs.”
“Oh heavens! Had I known, I would have simply submitted to Lian Luosha!”
“No, could it be that Lian Luosha did something to me last night? It’s possible, quite possible.”
Li Hui felt dizzy. He gritted his teeth and dug out a small piece of Night Soul Incense from the wardrobe, lighting it in the incense burner on the table. After inhaling a few deep breaths, he began to feel a bit better.
“This Night Soul Incense is precious; I managed to intercept a piece while serving Chief Steward Jin Buduan three years ago. Even if it’s just a remnant, it’s still worth twenty-five copper money symbols! Twenty-five!”
Whenever it came to expenses related to copper money symbols or silver money symbols, Li Hui felt immense pain. After all, this was money! For someone aspiring to build a large fortune, copper and silver money symbols were equivalent to life itself.
“Cough, cough, it’s truly worth twenty-five copper money symbols; the smell…uh, this smell seems a bit foul!”
Even though the incense had dimmed, and its quality had deteriorated, Li Hui didn’t care.
He sat on a wooden stool in front of the dressing mirror, pinching the white strand of hair, smoothing it down repeatedly, the more he looked, the better it felt.
“This style is barely acceptable, though the change is drastic; from a youthful fresh face to a quasi-uncle in an instant. It might appeal to those newly initiated Junior Sisters.”
Li Hui had discovered the source of the contamination on his precious white snow-like nightgown; he had bled from his nose in his sleep and even had blood at the corner of his mouth. This was quite unusual.
“Many disciples in the sect engage in cunning plots and secret harm. I offended a few people in my effort to help Jin Buduan manage the accounts; even if being in charge of the outer disciples’ purchases doesn’t warrant extreme hatred, it’s normal for them to resort to some tricks behind the scenes.”
“Damn it, who is trying to harm me? I’m not doing this just for my own profit.”
“Chuxia Mountain has hundreds of mouths waiting for me to feed! The outside world is in chaos, and everything is outrageously expensive compared to a few years ago!”
As he thought of these difficulties, Li Hui felt a headache coming on. Only after taking off his nightgown did he notice another strange occurrence.
“What is this? How come I didn’t feel anything on my wrist?”
Li Hui’s expression turned serious. He had spent years on the battlefield and learned life-saving skills alongside his comrades; he wasn’t particularly talented with throwing hidden weapons, but he had a knack for golden money darts.
To become skilled in golden money darts, one must be sensitive to weight.
Any copper or silver that passed through Li Hui’s hands, he could gauge the weight without fail; however, there was something odd. A silver bracelet adorned his right wrist, yet he hadn’t noticed.
“How did this bracelet suddenly appear? And I can’t feel its weight—it’s as if it doesn’t exist.” Li Hui thought it strange and raised his arm to examine it closely.
The bracelet, shaped like a small silver snake about the thickness of a finger, coiled around his wrist elegantly, looking exquisitely crafted. It bore faint patterns that were hard to make out. Its scales, eyes, and expression appeared lifelike, as if it had a soul.
It was truly exquisite, almost like a real snake! The only difference was that this little silver snake had fine hair on its head, elegantly tied into a bun with a small golden hairpin, meticulously arranged.
The ends of the hair were perfectly in place, each strand visible, giving the little snake a unique charm that didn’t resemble that of a snake, but rather like a hermit who had lived deep in the mountains for many years.
Li Hui touched the silver bracelet and felt a coolness at his fingertips.
This item was mysterious; he desperately tried to remove it, but it clung tightly to his skin, unmoving.
“Odd, it clearly exists but feels weightless, and I can’t take it off.” Li Hui grew frustrated and took a black dagger from the wardrobe.
This dagger could easily sever hair with a blow. Relying on years of practice with hidden weapons, he attempted to slice the bracelet. However, it left not a single mark; the silver snake remained as it was, quietly coiled around his wrist.
Before Li Hui could find a file to try again, he suddenly saw a ripple through the window, and a rough, ugly piece of yellow talisman paper flew in, about half the size of a palm.
“Li Hui, you are commanded to prepare your belongings within ten hours and depart Jade Spring Mountain before dawn tomorrow. Head to Linggui City in the White Sea’s Twelve Markets to audit the accounts, and bring a copy of the accounts back to the sect.”
Once the rough talisman paper delivered its message, it ignited and turned into a wisp of green smoke that drifted away. Li Hui couldn’t help but furrow his brow and thought, “You want me to check the accounts? This is very wrong! In the past six months, the sect has frequently done major purchases, and Chief Steward Jin Buduan relies on me to manipulate the accounts and secretly make money. If I didn’t have this skill in falsifying accounts, he wouldn’t have upgraded me from a miscellaneous disciple to an outer disciple.”
Li Hui had dabbled in falsifying accounts during his military service.
After retiring and seeking a way to survive with his elder brother and second brother, he sought out a dedicated accountant to learn how to do it, using up a significant portion of his brothers’ compensation to build connections, eventually becoming a servant to Chief Steward Jin Buduan. It took him half a year of hard work to carve out his own niche, starting to handle some expenses and purchases for the outer disciples.
Of course, Li Hui’s job was not limited to cooking the books.
He also took on the promotional responsibilities for Lingfeng Silk and Fuyuan Tavern, often dressed in fine silk and enjoying exquisite wine and cuisine—none of which was solely for himself.
