In a daze, Nan Zhu suddenly spoke to break the calm. “Shall we go find some unscrupulous rich folk to mess with?”
Yu Qing and Mu Aotie came to their senses, both looking at him strangely. How could they not understand his meaning? It was nothing more than going to rob.
Yu Qing had to warn him solemnly, “Fatty, there is nothing wrong with earning money, but if you become a thief that everyone wants to kill, then you have walked onto an evil path. Master warned us repeatedly that once you succeed at such things, once you taste how easy it is to get money, when you next encounter tight circumstances, it will be very hard to resist doing it a second time. Sooner or later, you will be exposed. The sect rules do not permit such things. I advise you to respect yourself! If it really comes to that, we might as well pack up our stall early and return to live in seclusion freely and easily.”
“I was just saying.”
Nan Zhu chuckled. In the past, he would not have dared to say such things. Now that his cultivation had suddenly broken through to the Xuan level, he felt somewhat disinclined to remain reserved.
Especially after breaking through to the Xuan level and becoming an expert he once admired, yet never having found anyone to prove he was an expert, he felt somewhat itchy for action.
The room fell quiet again for a while before Mu Aotie asked, “Shall we take a boat back slowly, or ride flying beasts back?”
No one answered.
Although they had only flown for one night, if they really took a boat to land and then returned to Youjiao Bu via land, it would take a very long time. If they rode flying beasts back, it would cost another hundred thousand taels of silver.
Spend money or spend time. The three were somewhat torn. The key point was that none of them were willing to return like this.
Particularly Yu Qing, who had just established his authority before his second brother and shown off his abilities, becoming the one in charge. To return in such a disheartened manner would look bad. He too had pride to protect.
The three simply lay slumped in their chairs.
Gradually, the oil lamp went out, and sunlight fell upon the window paper.
“Let’s go. It is dawn. Since we have come, let us walk around the island and see.”
Nan Zhu called out, stood up, adjusted his cloak, and pulled the hood over his head again.
The other two did likewise.
The three left the room, went downstairs, and arrived at the tavern’s main hall.
“They are only recruiting five people. The pay is ten million taels per person.”
“We must go for three months, staying in the Nether Sea for three months. It feels somewhat dangerous.”
The three martial brothers walking through the hall overheard the diners’ discussion. They subconsciously stopped and exchanged glances, then found a table and sat down.
Upon listening carefully, they learned that on Mati Island there was a rather famous Xuan-level demon subduer in the cultivation world named Qiao Gongxu. All the island’s permanent residents knew of him, and he counted as something of a local celebrity.
Qiao Gongxu often hired people to collect refining materials for him to refine certain items, and he paid quite well.
This time was no different, except they needed to collect in the Nether Sea, and would likely have to stay there for three months.
The Nether Sea was a necessary path to the sea market. Without a specific guide, one could easily become lost within it. Travellers all hoped to pass through quickly. So what did staying there for three months mean? It meant great risk.
But the pay for this work was generous. Ten million taels!
A group of men chatting gradually went off topic, speaking of Qiao Gongxu’s granddaughter Qiao Qie’er, because she was beautiful, and some had seen her.
After hearing this, the three martial brothers looked at each other, then rose one after another. They left the tavern, avoided the sparse passersby, and strolled to a more secluded place.
Yu Qing observed the surroundings and asked, “It is the same Nether Sea. Shall we go take a look?”
Nan Zhu said, “Even if all three of us are employed, together we would only get thirty million taels. If we take Youya’s task to find the ‘Nine-son Golden Lotus,’ it would be completely different. I dare guarantee it would be no less than three hundred million. The gap is too great.”
He had not even noticed that his own tone had grown bolder.
Yu Qing said, “If we can get thirty million, we need not worry about next year’s twenty million threshold. If we can solve it in three months, that would already be a great fortune. Otherwise, where would we get twenty million? Proper money in the millions is not so easy to earn. We cannot really go rob people, can we?”
Nan Zhu sighed, “That is not what I meant. I am just sighing. We came to earn big money, yet the standard has suddenly dropped to this level, and it is still going to the same place. The time spent might even be longer. What a waste.”
Mu Aotie said, “You two are overthinking. They are only recruiting five people. They might not want us.”
“Then let us not delay. Come, let us go see first, and while we are at it see if that Qiao Qie’er is really as beautiful as they say.”
Nan Zhu gestured with his hands, his attitude unchanged. Since they had come, they might as well go see.
The three immediately strolled about the island. They asked a random shopkeeper and learned the destination.
Qiao Gongxu’s residence was called Qiao Manor, located at the island’s highest point. The manor encircling the island’s volcanic crater was the place. Qiao Gongxu occupied that location precisely to utilise the earth fire to refine things.
The distance was not far. The three martial brothers quickly arrived outside Qiao Manor’s main gate, a place shaded by green trees.
They saw a group of people already standing at the gate, several dozen of them. At a glance, they too had come to apply. It seemed the ten million tael commission was indeed very attractive.
There was nothing for it. The gatekeeper probably would not bend the rules. The three had no choice but to queue honestly.
People came out from within the gate from time to time. When one came out, another was admitted.
Yu Qing stood at the front. Nan Zhu muttered behind him, “They are still admitting people, which means they have not yet filled the spots.”
It could only be said there was hope. Here, they could not tell what Qiao Manor’s selection criteria were.
The group queued up and inched forward bit by bit. By the time the sun was directly overhead, they had not advanced much.
Perhaps Qiao Manor itself noticed it was too slow. After someone came out, the gatekeeper suddenly pointed at the crowd and shouted, “Enter in groups of five.”
Sure enough, the speed improved greatly.
After about half an hour, it was the martial brothers’ turn. The three happened to be in a group of five, with one extra outsider in front and behind.
The five entered the manor. They saw colourful flower beds everywhere, green trees dotting the landscape, and the manor’s scenery was charming and beautiful.
They arrived outside a flying-eave hall and stopped. Someone signalled them to line up in a row, facing a table on the steps.
Behind the table sat a woman in a water-green skirt. Her cloud-like hair was pinned high, her brows like distant mountains, her bright eyes like water, her skin porcelain white. At a glance, she was a beauty. Unfortunately, a white silk scarf covered her nose bridge, half masking her face in a hazy manner, making it impossible to see her true features clearly.
“Why cover her face?” Nan Zhu muttered softly.
Yu Qing looked at him knowingly, fully understanding his meaning, because he was thinking the same thing. If he was not mistaken, this woman was likely Qiao Gongxu’s granddaughter Qiao Qie’er. The three had no guarantee they could be hired. If they could not, being able to feast their eyes would still be good. With her face covered, they could not see clearly.
Mu Aotie seemed to guess the two’s thoughts. He cast a disdainful glance at them and continued putting on his proud and aloof manner.
The woman on the steps wrote and drew on the paper for a while, then raised her head to look at the five below. She naturally noticed the three martial brothers with their cloak hoods pulled over their heads. Her voice rang out like an oriole, “You three, take off your hats.”
This was not hard to understand. If you came to apply for a job, and they did not even know what you looked like, who would hire you?
The three martial brothers naturally raised their hands and removed their hoods, revealing their true faces.
The two people standing on either side of the three could not help but glance toward the middle.
“From left to right, one by one. Names.” The woman behind the table spoke, dipping her brush in ink, preparing to record.
Yet just then, a woman’s cold laugh rang out. “It is precisely this face. No mistake. It really is you!”
Everyone looked up. They saw a woman in white standing outside the railing on the hall’s second floor, standing on the sloping tile surface.
What surprised Yu Qing most was that this woman in white seemed to be staring at him as she said this.
The woman at the table abruptly stood up and shouted, “Who dares trespass in my Qiao Manor!”
The woman in white said loudly, “Miss Qie’er, I mean no disturbance. I borrow your noble ground for convenience. I will apologise later.”
She then flew down, passed over the head of the woman at the table, and landed on the steps. Staring at the somewhat bewildered Yu Qing, she ground her teeth and said, “Outside Xiyue Fang, I let you escape. I searched high and low everywhere, and guarded outside Youjiao Bu for more than a year. Finally, I have caught you. Today, I shall collect the debt of my husband’s murder with interest!”
Upon hearing ‘outside Xiyue Fang,’ and seeing her appearance as a woman in white, Yu Qing immediately had a guess. Then hearing ‘debt of my husband’s murder,’ his heart shuddered. He knew who it was. His sword immediately left its scabbard.
Hearing her words, he roughly understood. It seemed this woman had been guarding outside Miaoqing Tang all along. This time, it was clear that even hiding and sneaking about had not escaped her notice. She had followed him here.
He was not wrong. The newcomer was precisely Bailan.
Nan Zhu and Mu Aotie naturally also drew their long swords.
“Who is it?” Nan Zhu asked, his expression showing some eagerness to try.
Yu Qing said, “The leopard spirit.”
“Oh.” Nan Zhu immediately understood. He waved his sword and pointed. “Spirit, considering your cultivation has not been easy, the sea of bitterness is boundless, turn back and you shall find the shore. I advise you to turn to goodness, and do not seek your own death!”
Mu Aotie likewise knitted his brows and stared coldly, completely unafraid.
The two people standing on either side of the three immediately dodged aside, clearly trying to disassociate themselves lest they be implicated.
Qiao Qie’er shouted, “If you want to fight or kill, do it outside Qiao Manor as you please. This place does not permit unruly behaviour. Whoever dares act wildly, do not blame me for showing no mercy!”
“Who dares cause trouble in my Qiao Manor?”
A grey-clothed old man with grizzled hair descended from the sky. It was Qiao Manor’s master Qiao Gongxu, his gaze bright and piercing.
Then a group of guards and retainers appeared, half surrounding the foot of the steps.
Bailan remained calm and composed. “Master Qiao, I mean no disturbance. If you can make these three roll out of here, I shall leave immediately.”
Qiao Gongxu snorted coldly. “This is my home. How things are done is not for outsiders to come pointing fingers in my house. They entered openly and honestly to apply. After questioning, I shall make my own decision. As for you, you entered uninvited. You should leave first.”
Bailan stared at him coldly. “Master Qiao, if you insist on this, then do not blame me.”
Qiao Gongxu said fiercely, “What do you intend to do?”