Chapter 40

Chapter 40

At the Chengguo Residence.

In the backyard that spanned across dozens of acres, Second Butler Wang Cheng was directing the servants to move the artificial mountains and supervising them.

A servant came hurrying through the archway and whispered something in his ear.

Wang Cheng nodded and left quickly.

Not long after, he came to a pavilion by the pond.

A burly young man in green clothes was waiting for him in the pavilion. When he saw Wang Cheng, he immediately went forward and whispered, “Uncle, that kid has left the residence.”

A solemn look came over Wang Cheng’s face. “He’s going out of the city?”

The young man shook his head and said in a low voice, “I’m not sure, but I got someone to tail him. According to the rules, the one-month deadline isn’t up yet, so he can only leave the city and pray to his mother after nine days.”

Then he looked about furtively as if making certain no one was watching him, before adding, “Uncle, should we take action in advance? Those people are impatient, and they don’t want to wait any longer. They want to leave after getting the money. They’re murderers, after all. They don’t dare to drag this out anymore.”

The moment he said that, Wang Cheng’s expression darkened, and he reprimanded quietly, “You idiot! Do you have a death wish? If you make a move while he’s still in the city, you’ll get found out! Even if he’s still a member of the Chengguo Residence, we can’t make a move on him yet, not to mention that he’s now a member of the Qin family! After all, he’s an Elementary Scholar and the Third Young Master of the Chengguo Residence. If someone finds out what we’ve done, we’ll lose our lives at most, but it’ll implicate the Chengguo Residence and affect the Second Young Master’s examination next year. When that happens, nobody will be able to bear the responsibility!”

The young man stared at him, aghast, hearing the truth in his angry words. He hurriedly said, “Uncle, don’t worry. I’ll keep them in check. At most, I’ll give them more money and tell them to wait a few more days.”

Wang Cheng had a grave expression. He said meaningfully, “Wang Pu, you must remember this. No one in the Chengguo Residence is an official in the Imperial Court. In addition, they have a title of nobility, and they offended a lot of people. If someone catches wind of them having family strife, even if it’s merely groundless rumors, their enemies will use it to attack them politically. When that happens, all of Second Young Master’s efforts will come to nothing. Furthermore, Old Master and First Madam’s expectations will fall short. Even if both of us die together with our families, it won’t be enough to soothe their wrath.”

“Remember, you have to be careful about this matter. This is the first time First Madam has given you an order, and it’s such an important matter. If you do it well, you will naturally have a secure position in the Chengguo Residence. Your family won’t have to worry about food and clothing in the future. If your siblings want to go to the capital in the future, First Young Master and Second Young Master will help take care of them there. In the future, when both Young Masters achieve meteoric success, you will benefit from it too. You have to be aware of all these things, and you’ve got to work hard, do you understand?”

Wang Pu’s expression was solemn as he lowered his head and said respectfully, “Uncle, don’t worry. I promise to do a good job. I won’t let First Madam down.”

“Remember, this has nothing to do with First Madam or the Chengguo Residence. If you make a mistake, you know what to do, right?” Wang Cheng asked.

“I understand!” Wang Pu replied.

“You may leave,” Wang Cheng said.

–

The streets were very lively.

After Luo Qingzhou bought two sticks of candied hawthorn for Xiao Die, he led her across the arched bridge and arrived at East Street, which specialized in selling literacy and martial arts supplies.

After carefully choosing a few shops, he stopped in front of one of them.

On the plaque at the entrance of the shop, a few large characters were written in a flamboyant manner: Green Mountain Pavilion.

Luo Qingzhou looked inside. The first floor sold books, and the second floor probably sold martial arts supplies.

Luo Qingzhou brought Xiao Die into the shop.

Soon, a store attendant came up to welcome him. Seeing that Luo Qingzhou was dressed in a scholarly robe, and he looked thin and well-educated, the store attendant hurriedly smiled and said, “Young Master, are you here to buy books, brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, or other supplies? We have everything on the first and second floors. Young Master, feel free to choose. All our products are of top-notch quality.”

Luo Qingzhou glanced at the second floor and said, “Are all these also sold on the second floor?”

The store attendant said warmly, “Yes, but the items sold on the second floor are slightly more expensive than those on the first floor. If you’re interested, you can go up and take a look first.”

Luo Qingzhou did not say anything else and brought Xiao Die upstairs.

There were a few rows of bookshelves on the second floor. In addition to books, there were also high-quality brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, folding fans, jade pendants, and other scholarly accessories.

In the corner, there were even all kinds of erotic drawings brazenly placed. They were all exquisitely made.

That store attendant did not follow too closely. He was a few steps behind Luo Qingzhou, quietly waiting for the latter to finish looking through the items. Furthermore, he had a warm smile firmly affixed to his face.

Luo Qingzhou casually walked around and found a few books on needlework on the bookshelf. He took one and handed it to Xiao Die. “You stay here and take a look. I’ll be going upstairs to look at what they’re selling. I’ll come down later.”

When the store attendant heard this, he hurriedly reminded, “Young Master, the items upstairs are all martial arts supplies.”

Luo Qingzhou looked at him and said, “I’m feeling a little curious, so I want to go up and take a look. Is that okay?”

The store attendant hurriedly smiled apologetically and said, “Of course. Young Master, feel free to go up. You can look at anything you want.”

Luo Qingzhou followed him up.

Even though Xiao Die found it strange, she did not ask further and just stood there obediently, reading her book and waiting.

After Luo Qingzhou went upstairs, he was immediately attracted by the weapons around him.

After looking at the weapons for a while, he walked to the shelf beside him and looked at the goods on it curiously.

“What’s this?”

He pointed at a row of porcelain bottles on the shelf and asked.

The store attendant hurriedly came over and introduced, “Young Master, these are the potions used by martial artists when practicing martial arts. These bottles are used by martial artists when they’re refining their skin. Every night, when they take a bath, they only need to sprinkle these in the water, and it’ll repair the wounds and cracks on the skin membrane and relieve their pain.”

Then, he pointed at the row above and said, “These are also the potions used to temper the skin. However, these are of a higher level. Apart from relieving the pain that they feel, they can also increase the effect when the martial artists temper their skin.”

“What about these?”

Luo Qingzhou pointed at another row.

The store attendant was all smiles. He explained patiently, “These are potions used when the martial artist is tempering the flesh. They can refine the soreness in their muscles and stimulate muscle strength. Additionally, these will allow your daily cultivation to yield twice the result with half the effort.”

Luo Qingzhou’s heart skipped a beat. He pointed at one of the bottles and asked, “How much is this bottle?”

The store attendant took a closer look and smiled. “Young Master, we don’t accept silver taels for martial arts supplies. We only accept gold coins. This bottle is not expensive. It only costs slightly over 100 gold coins. There are three drops in the bottle, which is enough to last you half a month.”

Luo Qingzhou was stunned speechless.

He did not dare to ask anymore. He walked to the corner shelf opposite and casually looked at it a few times before asking, “Do you sell spatial items here? It’s those items that can store things inside.”

Upon hearing that, the store attendant understood what Luo Qingzhou was looking for. He smiled and said, “Young Master, you’re talking about storage treasures like spatial rings, spatial pouches, spatial bracelets, right?”

Luo Qingzhou secretly rejoiced when he heard that. There were indeed such items in this world!

“How much is the cheapest item?”

Luo Qingzhou did not feel embarrassed when he asked that.

The store attendant did not despise Luo Qingzhou for saying that. He was still smiling when he replied, “The cheapest item will be the smallest spatial pouch. The price is differentiated according to the material it’s made from. The cheapest one will cost tens of thousands of gold coins for one. Our shop only sells spatial pouches. If you require any other type of storage treasures, you can head over to another shop called ‘Treasure Gathering Pavilion’. They have all kinds of storage treasures there.”

“Tens of thousands of gold coins for one…”

Luo Qingzhou was astounded.

He only had about a thousand taels of silver, and to him, that was already a huge sum.

He did not expect that the cheapest storage bag would cost tens of thousands of gold coins!

As expected, not everyone could become a martial artist. It was even more difficult for the poor.

To dispel some of the awkwardness he was feeling, Luo Qingzhou nodded and casually picked up a palm-sized white jade from the shelf beside him. He changed the topic and asked, “What is this? Am I supposed to wear it?”

The store attendant hurriedly introduced, “This is a Martial Evaluation Stone. Martial artists only need to hold it in their hands, and it’ll activate their internal energy. On top of that, it will display the values of their strength, speed, resistance, and spiritual power.”

Luo Qingzhou looked surprised. “It’s that magical?”

The store attendant smiled and said, “It’s made of special materials and has been refined by a Refining Master. Almost every martial artist will carry a piece with them so that they can observe their cultivation progress and stamina any time they want.”

“Only a greenhorn wouldn’t know this. As expected, this youth is a scholar who’s curious about martial arts supplies.”

The store attendant thought to himself.

However, he still had a smile on his face and still seemed enthusiastic.

Luo Qingzhou looked at the jade in his hand and was very tempted to purchase it. He hesitated for a moment before asking, “How much is this Martial Evaluation Stone?”

The store attendant chuckled. “If you want it, I can sell it to you at a cheaper price.”

Luo Qingzhou said straightforwardly, “I don’t have any gold coins, I only have silver taels.”

The store attendant froze when he heard that. He hesitated for a moment. After taking a quick glance at the staircase, he suddenly approached Luo Qingzhou and whispered, “Young Master, if you want to buy this, just pay 800 silver taels. However, you can’t tell anyone about this. The government has a rule that no matter who buys martial arts supplies, they can only use gold coins.”

“800 silver taels?”

Luo Qingzhou was stunned for a moment when he heard that. He felt that it was unexpectedly cheap.

Although 800 taels was still a huge sum of money to him.

The store attendant said honestly, “Young Master, turn it over and take a look. A crack has appeared on the back of this Martial Evaluation Stone. Although there’s no problem with its function, you must be very careful with it as it cannot afford to have any more collisions in the future. Its lifespan is probably less than a year, so it can be sold for only 800 taels.”

Luo Qingzhou flipped the jade in his hand and saw a clear crack on the other side.

The originally flawless white jade was ruined by this crack.

“What a coincidence. Could this Martial Evaluation Stone have been specially prepared for me?”

Luo Qingzhou thought to himself.

Without any hesitation, he looked at the store attendant and said, “I want this Martial Evaluation Stone. Wrap it up for me.”

The waiter was stunned for a moment before he hurriedly said, “All right, Young Master, please wait a moment.”

He originally thought that this Young Master was just curious and came up to take a look. Unexpectedly, this scholar purchased something that only martial artists would use. That was a pleasant surprise.

Luo Qingzhou took out his pouch and gave the store attendant the silver taels. He then inquired about the price of some other goods.

Just as Luo Qingzhou was about to look at other things, he suddenly heard laughter coming from downstairs, as well as Xiao Die’s panicked voice. “What are you doing? Go away…”

Luo Qingzhou was startled and he immediately walked to the staircase.

He looked down and saw a few familiar figures!