Chapter 86: Caught in the Game
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Returning to Plum Fragrance Tower, Xu Yan directly kept the two precious horses in his own courtyard and bought back plenty of fodder from outside, making Little Black in the nearby pigpen grunt with displeasure.
What was so great about horses? Pigs didn’t care for them.
Patting the two precious horses as they ate grass, Xu Yan finally felt at ease. These were his and Third Sister’s escape route. At least in Xu Yan’s view, Yue Chengfeng with his three-meridian strength shouldn’t be able to outrun precious horses.
Having been away for two days, when Xu Yan returned, Mei Sanniang ignored him, but a flock of chattering women all gathered around, discussing things like “precious horses match heroes” in Xu Yan’s courtyard.
“Brother Yan, Brother Yan, teach Qingluo how to ride horses, okay?”
The young courtesan tugged at Xu Yan’s sleeve pleadingly, her large eyes watery, making one feel both love and pity.
“What’s a girl learning to ride horses for? Learn your music, chess, calligraphy, and painting well. Once you become a top courtesan in the future and catch the eye of some wealthy family, becoming a concubine would at least give you a place to belong.” A woman’s voice came from outside the door. Hearing it was Mei Sanniang, the women all scattered with giggles.
The madam’s status in a brothel was supreme, not to mention she was also the owner of Plum Fragrance Tower. The other women fled quickly, leaving only the youngest, Qingluo, cowering and not daring to move.
“Ah, poor girl.” Mei Sanniang touched Qingluo’s head and said, “Go on, don’t always bother your Brother Yan when there’s nothing to do.”
Having received a reprieve, Qingluo hurried back to her quarters. She was still young, not yet old enough to receive guests, only learning music, chess, calligraphy, and painting in the brothel. Young courtesans like her were just a kind of reserve in the brothel, meant to earn those wealthy patrons’ lavish spending.
Xu Yan knew Qingluo was an orphan. If she hadn’t been bought by Mei Sanniang, who knows where human traffickers might have sold her now. He’d heard that some wealthy families especially liked girls of this age, and from time to time, small corpses covered in bruises could be seen thrown outside the city.
The status of servants was worse than dogs. Once sold into slavery, the master family had the right to decide the servant’s life and death. Whether in Qi Nation or Pu Nation, killing people would get you hunted by the authorities, but if you killed your own slaves, even the authorities wouldn’t intervene.
Having been in Fengshan City for a year now, Xu Yan had seen much injustice and darkness in the human world, yet was helpless to change it, because this was the mortal realm.
‘Red as clothing, dust as tombstone, once the mortal realm stirs, life and death can hardly follow each other…’
“You brat, what are you thinking about!” Seeing Xu Yan unconsciously begin to bow respectfully, Mei Sanniang’s willow eyebrows shot up in anger. She pinched Xu Yan’s ear and said furiously, “Wanting to be a Taoist again, aren’t you!”
“Ow, ow!” Xu Yan’s contemplation was interrupted by the woman. Grimacing, he said, “Third Sister, I was originally a Taoist!”
“Do Taoists keep horses? Raising flowers and walking birds, racing dogs and flying eagles—those are all pastimes for young masters of aristocratic families. Starting to indulge in such things at such a young age, what will happen when you grow up!” Having long considered herself Xu Yan’s sister, Mei Sanniang showed no mercy when lecturing this younger brother.
“Those are precious horses, Third Sister, our escape route.” Xu Yan finally broke free from her clutches, rubbing his reddened ear and saying aggrievedly, “That old thief Yue will be trouble sooner or later. Third Sister, you’re caught in the game and can’t see the situation clearly. I’m an outsider, so naturally I need to plan ahead. These are precious horses bought from Horse King Town.”
The phrase “caught in the game” nearly brought tears to Mei Sanniang’s eyes.
Yes, she was trapped in a situation she couldn’t escape from, and this situation was the Plum Fragrance Tower before her. To break free, she would have to give up this family business.
“You went to Horse King Town these past two days?” Mei Sanniang asked softly. Seeing Xu Yan nod, she suddenly sighed, patted her younger brother’s shoulder, and left somewhat dejectedly.
Xu Yan knew Mei Sanniang was beginning to face the current situation seriously. As long as she could think it through and bear to abandon Plum Fragrance Tower, no matter where the two of them went, they would at least have a place to stand.
While Yue Chengfeng was away, this was the best time to withdraw.
Having been sent to Linyuan Mountain by Xu Yan’s words, Yue Chengfeng wouldn’t be back for a month from such a long journey. Xu Yan also hoped Mei Sanniang could think things through during this time, because outsiders’ persuasion was no longer useful.
Three days had passed since returning from Horse King Town.
Besides feeding the pig, Xu Yan now had the additional task of caring for horses. Fortunately, doing work was no problem for Xu Yan, so these days not only was Little Black eating until his belly was round, but the two tall horses also appeared increasingly robust.
The golden little snake had taken Xu Yan half a day’s effort to finally contain in a small red porcelain bottle. The bottle was still wrapped in Eight Fingers Wang’s red brocade on the outside. The little snake should be quite useful, but Xu Yan didn’t know how to use it or how to feed it.
That wasn’t a living creature, but a spirit body similar to a ghost. If not contained in the porcelain bottle, Xu Yan always felt chilly.
After all, no one wanted to carry a snake in their chest all day, even if it was a spirit snake.
Buying the horses had used up all of Xu Yan’s savings, but that didn’t matter. His net worth should be quite considerable now—not only did he have a golden little snake, but also a pill that could make a Ghost King Gate hall master like Yue Chengfeng green with envy.
For a year now, Xu Yan had kept the pill obtained at Yuan Mountain Stronghold close to his body. Previously, he knew the pill must be extremely valuable. The greed that appeared in Yue Chengfeng’s eyes after hearing about Liao Jiuming’s whereabouts made Xu Yan even more certain that the pill in his chest was extraordinary. The more extraordinary it was, the more it meant this pill absolutely couldn’t be taken out lightly.
“What kind of pill could it be? Could it really be one of those Foundation Establishment pills?”
When alone, Xu Yan opened the nanmu wood box, holding the small pill and examining it from left and right, muttering to himself, “Yue Chengfeng is a three-meridian innate. His search for Liao Jiuming must be for this thing. A pill so valued by a three-meridian innate should be the legendary Foundation Establishment pill that can break through three meridians.”
With Xu Yan’s intelligence, when observing Yue Chengfeng that day, he could roughly determine that this pill should indeed be a Foundation Establishment pill. This kind of thing that innate martial artists would risk their lives fighting for was indeed somewhat dangerous to carry. If people really knew that he, Xu Yan, had a Foundation Establishment pill, wouldn’t he become a public enemy, hunted everywhere?
This kind of thing should be thrown away.
Xu Yan helplessly shook his head, put the pill back in the wooden box and tucked it into his chest. People were like this—even knowing that wealth could bring not only riches but also fatal disaster, they would still pursue it like vultures.
A common failing of human nature that Xu Yan couldn’t change. He was a Taoist, not an immortal. How could he just throw away something so precious?
Actually, there was another option—to eat it directly.
Thinking of this, Xu Yan sighed, because even now, he didn’t know exactly how many meridians he had broken through. Moreover, the drawbacks of using a Foundation Establishment pill to directly break through three meridians would certainly be enormous, definitely limiting future cultivation. Otherwise, someone like Zhuo Shaoyu, Ghost King Gate’s Grand Guardian, wouldn’t be struggling to break through to five meridians without using a Foundation Establishment pill.
Zhuo Shaoyu was a four-meridian innate. As the only son of Ghost King Gate’s sect master, Xu Yan didn’t believe Zhuo Shaoyu couldn’t obtain a Foundation Establishment pill. No matter how precious the pill was, could it be more precious than a sect master’s only son?
Exactly how many meridians had he broken through?
Thinking about this, Xu Yan began raising his arms and bowing in the courtyard, practicing the Flying Stone movement technique that the old Taoist had taught him. Facing the morning sun, his somewhat robust figure moved agilely in the courtyard, his form extremely nimble.
As Xu Yan practiced, a warm current began rising from his dantian, first flowing into his waist and abdomen, then rushing straight to his shoulders and back, ascending to both arms, and finally stopping at the back of his neck.
