Upon hearing this matter, Nan Zhu did not say much more. He first pointed at the table in front of him and said, “This is the Jin Kingdom.”
He then grabbed two tea cups. With a clack, he placed one at the far left of the table. “This is our current position. We have already left the Jin Kingdom and are at its westernmost edge.”
With another clack, he placed the second tea cup at the far right of the table. “Luan Prefecture, the easternmost part of the Jin Kingdom, where Jian Yuan Mountain is located.”
He pointed at the distance between the two tea cups. “One is at the easternmost point of the Jin Kingdom, the other at the westernmost. More than ten provinces lie between them. Even if we had the funds to change horses at relay stations and ride without stopping, the fastest speed would still take around twenty days. We know nothing about the situation at Jian Yuan Mountain. The merchant identity from You Jiao Port can only help us avoid some malicious attacks. It cannot make everything go smoothly. Ten days is too tight.”
Mu Ao Tie stood with arms crossed and listened in silence. He always maintained an aloof appearance and did not like to speak much.
Yu Qing said, “In that case, we must prepare for the possibility that we cannot use the You Jiao Port merchant identity.”
Nan Zhu scoffed, “If we cannot use it, then we cannot. What preparation is needed?”
Yu Qing replied, “Even thieves do not leave empty handed. This trip has already cost several hundred taels in travel expenses alone. We have no reason to come here for nothing. Since we have already arrived at You Jiao Port, we might as well take the chance to clarify the situation at Jian Yuan Mountain. Remember when we were back home, you told me about Jianghu stories. Did you not mention that You Jiao Port has a lookout tower?”
The lookout tower in You Jiao Port was actually a shop that sold information.
Nan Zhu paused briefly. “You want to spend money at the lookout tower to buy information about Jian Yuan Mountain?”
Yu Qing said, “Is it not better to make preparations after we have some certainty? This is also one of the benefits of coming to You Jiao Port. Think about it. If we go to Jian Yuan Mountain first and then gather information, it is after all in the demon realm. It might attract attention and bring danger. Now, spending some money could reduce the risks. Is that not good?”
Nan Zhu said cautiously, “It is good, of course, but it requires spending money. Information from the lookout tower is not cheap. Even the lowest level messages start at one hundred taels. Can we afford it?”
“Count the money!” Yu Qing declared.
The three martial brothers immediately gathered around the table, pulled out their purses, took out all the money on them, placed it on the table, and counted it together.
This was a habit formed during their journey due to money disputes. It came from arguments over who had more or less money, who should pay more, and who should pay less.
When they encountered expenses that were hard to split evenly, naturally the one with more money would pay.
After counting, Mu Ao Tie had the most with over five hundred and fifty taels.
Nan Zhu came next with around four hundred and thirty taels.
Yu Qing fared worse with only about one hundred and ninety taels. This was only after Nan Zhu had given him one hundred taels earlier.
To gather enough travel funds for this trip to You Jiao Port, he had reluctantly sold the fine blue horse he bought for several hundred taels as part of his outfit and switched to ordinary mounts to reach here.
During the journey, whenever his two senior brothers wanted to eat something better and they calculated shared costs, Yu Qing would complain loudly that it was too expensive.
Fine, if you think it is expensive, you can eat cheap food while we eat ours. So the sect leader could only gnaw on flatbread beside them and watch his two senior brothers enjoy proper meals.
There was nothing he could do. Who told him to have gone too far with things in the past? He had beaten several senior brothers black and blue over money matters. Now that they had their little martial uncle backing them, they naturally wanted to settle accounts with him day by day.
In truth, food did not cost much. The real expense on this journey was the travel fees.
Whenever the horses grew tired and they changed mounts at relay stations, it was not a purchase but an exchange, yet it still started at one tael of silver at minimum.
If they simply rode slowly, a day would not cost much. But once the horses galloped at full speed, the money flowed out like water.
A strong horse could not run long distances without rest.
Try an urgent eight hundred li dash. Just the relay station change fees in one day could easily exceed several dozen taels.
The problem was that the three of them could not possibly ride slowly all the way to You Jiao Port. That might take half a year.
The fact that they still had this much silver left showed they had already been frugal.
In this era, ordinary people would not travel far unless absolutely necessary. Only nobles or Jianghu people who spent money like water could go long distances.
To ordinary people, the three of them were already spending lavishly.
But to the three themselves, they were poor as beggars. They could not even afford any cultivation resources. Could they buy spiritual rice to improve their progress? Even buying a little to taste it might mean they would not have enough money to reach Jian Yuan Mountain.
Especially Yu Qing. He was desperately poor. The travel funds on him could no longer support him to Jian Yuan Mountain.
He wanted to go to Jian Yuan Mountain to make a fortune, yet he no longer even qualified to seek that fortune.
Yu Qing had calculated it properly. He sold the blue horse, persisted until You Jiao Port, found Tie Miao Qing, and borrowed some silver from her. With his reputation, he estimated borrowing a thousand taels or so should be no problem. Who would have thought that Miao Qing Hall itself was on the verge of collapse.
He was unwilling to help even a little and refused to inscribe even a single word. How could he have the face to ask her to lend him money? He still had some pride and did not want others to look down on him.
Money makes a hero. Without money, even a strong man struggles.
The Jianghu path is not easy. Many Jianghu people, because of money, turn to crooked ways, such as robbery. Once they do it the first time, it becomes easy to do it again. Sooner or later they will run into hard obstacles and fall into a pit.
Once the money on the table was counted clearly, Nan Zhu and Yu Qing both turned their eyes to Mu Ao Tie. It seemed they had found the person to fund the lookout tower purchase for Jian Yuan Mountain information.
Mu Ao Tie gathered the money on the table without a word and shook his head. His meaning was simple. He would not pay this sum.
What was his cold aloofness? It was his dignity.
If he had no travel funds left, how could he maintain his dignity? Naturally he would not agree.
Nan Zhu said, “The matter of Jian Yuan Mountain concerns all of us. It is indeed unfair to make Old Nine pay alone. In that case, let us split it evenly.”
Yu Qing looked at the money on the table. If they split further, he feared he would have to go begging. He tapped the table with his knuckles and said, “You two need to understand one point. The inns in You Jiao Port are not cheap. The place you are staying now was found by me. My connection is with Miao Qing Hall. You are benefiting from my light and saving on accommodation costs.”
Mu Ao Tie said simply, “I can sleep outside…”
Nan Zhu raised his hand to stop Old Nine from continuing his foolish words. He stared at Yu Qing and said, “Who is benefiting from your light? You ran off and we brought you back. If you have the ability, go ask now. Ask Tie Miao Qing if she will charge us for accommodation.”
Yu Qing stared blankly. How could he ask that? Of course she would not charge. He immediately pointed at the two and said, “Fine. I knew you cannot change your nature. Sure enough, you tear down the bridge after crossing the river. I brought you to meet such a beautiful woman, yet your consciences have been eaten by dogs!”
With that, he angrily swept his hand and gathered up the roughly one hundred taels. He sat down, patted the table lightly, and sneered coldly. “I actually have some important information about Tie Miao Qing here that you would definitely be interested in. Whoever pays for the Jian Yuan Mountain information, I will tell that person the details.”
The room suddenly fell silent.
Mu Ao Tie said coldly, “Not interested!”
Yu Qing scoffed, too lazy to expose him. After so many years as martial brothers, who did not know whom?
This Ninth Senior Brother was someone who outwardly swore to remain cold to the end. He would not get involved unless it conveniently followed Seventh Senior Brother’s lead.
In short, one glance at the raised tail told what kind of waste it was. If he truly had no interest, he would not have followed Old Seven to drag him back.
Nan Zhu snorted. “You boy are always good at cheating and swindling. Do not try this trick to bluff us.”
Yu Qing chuckled. “It is really not a bluff! Whether I am a man of my word, you know very well. As long as you pay for the Jian Yuan Mountain information, I will definitely share some news that interests you.”
Nan Zhu and Mu Ao Tie exchanged a glance. They did not believe this kid when he claimed to be a man of his word. Only a fool would trust such nonsense. However, when it came to keeping promises about money, they still trusted his character in that area.
There was no helping it. After all, they had trained him themselves.
This junior brother had been pitifully poor since childhood with no money to spend. When village children bought snacks in town, he would stand beside them drooling with envy. He often ran around in front of his senior brothers begging like a little beggar, scrounging a copper coin here and two there.
Give me a copper coin and I will polish your shoes.
Give me two copper coins and I will wash your clothes, and so on.
In plain terms, if Yu Qing dared to break his word on money, he would not be able to beg any more for a long time and could only stand aside drooling with envy.
After suffering losses a few times, this junior brother learned his lesson and never did it again.
The most typical example was when Nine Slope Village once had a pretty widow. Once, driven by restless urges, several senior brothers made a bet on what colour the widow’s undergarments were. Five copper coins motivated the junior brother to climb onto the pretty widow’s roof, lift tiles, and peek at her bathing.
In the end, because the roof was old and damaged or something, it collapsed. The junior brother fell inside. One can imagine the scene. The village came to the temple demanding an explanation.
The senior brothers who suggested the bad idea were terrified that Yu Qing would expose them. They pooled one tael of silver together. The only requirement was that Yu Qing take the blame and not mention them.
Take the money and eliminate the disaster for others. Although Yu Qing was also scared, he still accepted the job. He could not avoid a severe beating from Master. It was truly miserable at the time. Afterwards he was punished with three months of facing the wall. Yet the junior brother stubbornly took it all and never revealed them no matter what.
That incident earned the junior brother a golden reputation in Linglong Temple. However, the prices for washing shoes and clothes for everyone went up. Because he had received a lot of money at once and tasted the flavour of one tael of silver, a single copper coin no longer interested him.
Therefore, as long as the money was agreed upon, this junior brother’s credibility was absolutely reliable.
In fact, even now his martial brothers did not quite understand why Master was quite lenient with the other brothers and gave them some pocket money, yet was the most stingy with this junior brother, even though his cultivation talent was clearly higher than theirs.