Chapter 235 (2): Yellow Chrysanthemums in My Hometown

Chapter 235 (2): Yellow Chrysanthemums in My Hometown

Cao Xi laughed loudly and said, "We can indeed do business, I mean, doing business with others has always been my favorite thing. However, I dearly hope that you won't ask for too high a price, Senior. Otherwise, I definitely won't buy anything. Perhaps you aren't too familiar with the type of person I am, so let me explain this to you. For the sake of cultivation, I'm even willing to sell my own sons or grandsons. However, I'm quite well off now, and I've returned to my hometown with money and glory. I somewhat miss my parents after seeing the buildings in the small town, and that's why I feel a small urge to act on my feelings of nostalgia."

"There's a young girl called Li Liu. She went to Complete Reed Continent in the north with her parents," Old Man Yang said slowly. "The souls of your parents are in her possession now. If you're willing to make a fair transaction, then I'll be willing to do business with you as well. I guarantee that everything will go smoothly. At that time, your parents' souls will be returned to you with their whiskers and tails fully intact.

"Of course, you can also go back on your word and attempt to forcefully snatch the souls of your parents. If that's the case, then you can turn around and leave now. You'll be fully responsible for what happens in the future."

There was a wry smile on Cao Xi's face as he replied, "Whiskers and tails... Senior Yang, your figure of speech is far too unpleasant. Alright, name your price."

Old Man Yang used his smoking pipe to point at Cao Xi's wrist. Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Cao Xi was enraged, and he exclaimed, "What the heck? You want me to give my bonded flying sword to that Li Liu?! Old Man Yang, have you gone crazy?"

Old Man Yang shot a sideways glance at him and continued, "You've always kept the other flying sword that you had before refining this great river, correct? You can give that flying sword to Li Liu. Remember to teach her the sword technique as well."

There was a dark expression on Cao Xi's face.

Cao Xi chuckled coldly and said, "Don't feel like you're suffering a loss. You've never taken a good disciple in your life, so I'm essentially giving you one for free right now. Perhaps everyone will say this when they mention you in the future — Oh, Cao Xi? You mean Li Liu's master?"

Cao Xi was slightly intrigued by this. He rubbed his hands together and clicked his tongue in wonder, asking, "The girl is this powerful?"

Old Man Yang pursed his lips and replied, "Why, look for her and find out! I'm sure that you'll be extremely willing to hand your flying sword over to her when you see her."

"Then it's a deal! If I want to gamble, then I'll take a big gamble. Only a big gamble can live up to Great Sword Immortal Cao's name!" Cao Xi slapped his thigh and exclaimed.

He then lowered his voice slightly and asked, "Is there anything else apart from this? Are there any other transactions we can make?"

"Your father's soul," Old Man Yang replied calmly.

Cao Xi was taken aback. However, he immediately rolled his eyes and said, "Forget about it. I wouldn't want it even if you paid me to take it."

Old Man Yang started to exhale puffs of smoke again. "If you don't want it, then you don't want it. Let's consider something else. Look for True Martial Mountain's Ma Kuxuan and become his Dao guardian. Look after him for the next ten years."

Cao Xi put on a fake smile and replied, "A sword immortal who has the potential to reach the 12th tier acting as the Dao guardian of a young child?! I don't care much about my face, and I am indeed renowned for my shamelessness in Southern Whirl Continent. However, I still care about this amount of face!"

"I can allow Cao Jun to join the army of the Great Li Empire and temper his sword heart on the battlefield. I can ask someone to protect him in secret for twenty years, all the way until his sword heart is fully healed," Old Man Yang said in a solemn voice.

Cao Xi's expression turned serious.

"Don't try to push your luck," Old Man Yang scoffed. "Which is more important — your face, or an additional terrestrial sword immortal in your clan?

There was a troubled expression on Cao Xi's face, and he replied, "Cao Jun is clearly an ungrateful brat. If he becomes a terrestrial sword immortal in the future, then won't he try to overthrow me? Having two sword immortals in a single clan will indeed allow us to stand up straight and be proud people no matter where we are. Oh, no, I should say 'proud immortals.' But really, who knows whether that brat will seek revenge on me in the future..."

Old Man Yang completely ignored this and said, "Anyway, when Cao Jun becomes a terrestrial sword immortal, he has to promise me one thing. Rest assured, I won't tell him to die or whatever. This task won't be too difficult for Cao Jun at that time."

Cao Xi was slightly puzzled. "Senior Yang, why don't you look for Cao Jun yourself and discuss this with him? Perhaps there are some other schemes and considerations? The two of us can be considered fellow townsmen, so you shouldn't screw me over even if we don't shed tears of emotion upon seeing each other, right?"

"Cao Jun doesn't have the right to do business with me now. But you do," Old Man Yang replied bluntly.

Cao Xi was rendered speechless.

When he finally left the Yang Family's medicine shop, Cao Xi stood on the street and glanced back at the pharmacy. "That old man Chen Chun'an wouldn't have predicted these matters as well, would he?" he murmured to himself.

————

Clay Vase Alley.

It was late at night, and a wealthy-looking young boy in brocade robes dazedly sat in a courtyard.

Before the cultivator from the School of Naturalists was killed by his imperial uncle, Song Changjing, in the capital, he had once visited him and had a shocking discussion with him.

In fact, the old man had even revealed his huge scheme against the emperor of the Great Li Empire. He had persuaded the emperor to cultivate in secret, thereby breaking the rules established by the Confucian sages. Not only had the emperor reached the Middle Five Tiers in secret, but he had even continued upward and advanced to the 10th tier without much difficulty.

The emperor had chosen this path in the hopes that he could see the Great Li Empire conquer the entire continent. Meanwhile, the Naturalist cultivator had enacted this scheme so he could transform the emperor, Song Jixin's father, into an obedient puppet. When the emperor of the Great Li Empire officially entered seclusion to advance to the Upper Five Tiers, that would be the moment he lost his sentience and transformed into a puppet.

However, A'Liang's arrival had shattered the emperor's bridge of immortality. At the same time, it was extremely likely that the emperor had noticed some traces and clues when his bridge of immortality had shattered. The traps hidden inside his bridge of immortality had most likely been exposed.

The man smiled and sat down beside a table. The table was wiped clean, without a single stain or drop of oil on it. There was also a handmade bamboo holder filled with long and slender bamboo chopsticks. As it turned out, this young stall owner was also a dexterous craftsman.

The man received a large bowl of steaming wontons. There were spring onions floating on top of the red soup, and just the look of them was enticing and mouth-watering. Dong Shuijing asked him if he could eat spicy food, and the man replied that the spicier the better. Hearing this, the young boy handed him a large plate of chili sauce.

The man grabbed a pair of chopsticks. He was in no hurry to eat, and he lowered his head and closed his eyes to take in the fragrance of the wontons first. He clicked his tongue in wonder and remarked, "This is the smell!"

He then casually asked, "Do you know about the Mohist Sect?"

Dong Shuijing nodded and replied, "Of course I do. My teacher mentioned them before, he said that the Mohist teaching used to be one of the four great teachings. As such, the Mohist teaching is naturally very impressive. However, learning Mohist theory is difficult, and abiding by Mohist principles is even more difficult. This is a huge test of one's character. Moreover, there's also a bigger risk of splitting hairs and going down dead ends. Teacher described the Mohist Sect as... kind of adorable."

Dong Shuijing scratched his head upon saying this. There was an innocent smile on his face, and he added, "It was my teacher who said this."

The man chewed on a wonton and earnestly nodded. "Such a good description!"

He then asked, "Then have you heard about the saber-lending cultivators[1] among traveling Mohist cultivators before?"

Dong Shuijing shook his head with a blank expression.

Mr. Qi had never mentioned this before.

The man put down his chopsticks and patted his belly. He exhaled heavily and appeared extremely relaxed at this moment. He smiled and asked, "Then do you want to become a saber-lending cultivator?"

Dong Shuijing's pupils contracted slightly, but they quickly returned to normal. He smiled and shook his head, replying, "Selling wontons is quite good. I can make money, and it's also very peaceful."

Back then, he, Li Baoping, Lin Shouyi, Li Huai, and Shi Chunjia, five students from the private school, had tricked the driver of the horse carriage who was actually a spy from the Great Li Empire. Even though Li Baoping and Lin Shouyi had come up with the plan, all of them had been forced to give a perfect performance. Otherwise, all of their efforts would have been wasted if someone had slipped up. Naturally, none of these five children who had eventually become Qi Jingchun's direct disciples were simple people.

Take, for example, Dong Shuijing. He was still young, but he was already smart enough to seek out Ruan Xiu and ask her to sell the old estate in the small town for him. After selling it for an exorbitant price, he quickly went to the prefectural city to buy large new estates. He didn't buy a single estate, but an entire street!

Money had fallen from the sky, and there were many ways to use this money. One could use money to earn more money.

When it came to small amounts of money used for survival, however, it was a different matter altogether. In this case, a penny saved was a penny earned. These two ideas didn't conflict with each other.

The man waved his hand and said with a faint smile, "Don't be in a hurry to answer this question. If you're wondering why I'm choosing you, Dong Shuijing... I've already observed you for quite a long time. You're not the best in each area, but you don't have any issues in any area either. This is already good enough."

Dong Shuijing felt slightly exasperated, and he asked, "You are?"

The man didn't conceal his identity. "My name is Xu Ruo, and I'm a Mohist disciple from Middle Earth Divine Continent. I'm naturally not a saber-lending cultivator, but a very good friend of mine asked me to promise him something before he died. He asked me to find a suitable disciple for him, one that could inherit his lineage.

"He was the previous patriarch of the saber-lending cultivators in Mohist Sect, and he was a very powerful person. He drank with A'Liang many times, and he paid for the wine every time. While A'Liang was traveling around Middle Earth Divine Continent, A'Liang left a trail of debt in his wake. It was again this good friend of mine who helped pay them off."

"Who's A'Liang?" the young boy asked.

"The son of the mortal enemy of your teacher's teacher," Xu Ruo replied.

"What?!"

Dong Shuijing was completely stupefied. What in the world was going on?

Xu Ruo stood up and said, "I'll visit again later. Have a good think about what I said."

"Hang on a second!" Dong Shuijing suddenly called.

The man smiled faintly and said, "I'll put this bowl of wonton on credit first. Perhaps when you agree to become a saber-lending cultivator in the future..."

"How can I accept this? Since I'm doing business, even brothers should keep clear accounts," Dong Shuijing insisted.

Xu Ruo nodded and took out a few copper coins, saying, "Haha, you truly have the temperament of a saber-lending cultivator."

He strode away under the soft glow of sunset.

Dong Shuijing sat down and looked at the disappearing figure of the traveling Mohist cultivator. He raised an arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

He hadn't mustered his courage to ask for the copper coins because he was stubborn and pedantic. Dong Shuijing wasn't a naive and rash person. Instead, he had done this to probe the character of the man in a very crude and basic manner.

Dong Shuijing quietly sat beside the table in a daze. He was motionless, and he didn't feel a sense of wild joy as if a huge fortune had descended from the heavens. He was instead feeling a little lost.

The young boy didn't like this kind of feeling.

In reality, he wasn't a very ambitious person. He simply wanted to earn some money to guarantee himself a comfortable life with enough clothes and food. He wanted a well in his estate, and he wanted a willow tree next to this well. Each spring, he hoped to see tender green shoots sprouting from the willow tree. When the breeze blew over, he wanted to see the willow branches swaying back and forth. This would be... very adorable.

1. This is a reference to knife-lending merchants, a mysterious group of people from folk legends. These people didn't sell their knives and only lent them, and they would offer profound prophecies while doing so. They would receive payment after the prophecies came true. ?