The woman beside them listened with curiosity, “Coming to the Nether Temple to heal? Who has such a grand face?”
This question was directed at Changfeng.
This woman was the matriarch of the Sea Clan, and Changfeng dared not show disrespect. He replied respectfully, “Three years ago, the Duke of Xuan from the Jin State sent someone to escort a young man here, asking my master to help treat him.”
The woman hummed in understanding. She had wondered who could have such influence, and she also knew the relationship between Ying Xiaotang, the Duke of Xuan, and the Nether Monk. However, she was still somewhat puzzled, “With Ying Xiaotang’s power and influence in the Jin State, what illness or injury could he not handle? Why would he need to send someone all the way here for treatment?”
Changfeng glanced at his master’s reaction before replying, “His elbow bone was crushed to powder. If treated promptly, it would naturally be easy to resolve with the Duke’s resources. The problem was that they waited too long. The body’s natural healing ability turned a good thing into a bad thing, causing the bones to heal deformed. It grew like a crooked necked tree, making it nearly impossible to restore. He was already crippled, which is why he was sent to my master for help, asking my master to reconstruct the young man’s bones and tendons.”
The woman hummed again and asked, “Which young man is worth such a massive effort from the Duke of Xuan?”
Changfeng shook his head, “During his treatment at the temple, this humble monk did not know his name and only called him ‘Young Master’.”
The woman immediately looked at the Nether Monk again, knowing that he would most likely not tolerate someone of unknown origins living in the Nether Temple.
Yet the Nether Monk just smiled without answering.
Changfeng took his leave.
The woman, walking barefoot alongside the Nether Monk, showed a hint of anger, “So mysterious. What is there to hide? As if I even care.”
The Nether Monk let her joke, scold, and vent. He slowly climbed the White Bone Tower at his own pace. From the top of the tower, he gazed at the brilliant lights of the Sea Market in the distance. Immersed in the darkness himself, he slowly turned the prayer beads in his hand. The golden patterns on his kasaya faintly reflected the starlight and moonlight.
In the entire Nether Sea, only this patch of land could see the sun, the moon, and the starry sky.
The woman, watching the stars and moon with him, slowly leaned against the Nether Monk. She hugged him from behind, her body pressing and rubbing closely against his, murmuring in his ear, “What a ruthless big monk. You are becoming more and more cold hearted. Back then, you coveted my body, sweet talked me, and spoke all sorts of grand nonsense. You promised you were willing to fall into the sea of bitterness for me forever. Now, you leave me sleepless on a lonely pillow for long stretches, not even giving me a proper look. You even call it a karmic sin. Tell me, are you not a bald hearted thief who breaks his promises?”
The Nether Monk slowly raised his hands and pressed them together in prayer, “This poor monk’s body and mind remain within this square inch, unable to transcend.”
The woman rested her head on his shoulder, eyes closed, hugging him. She looked tender and enjoying, breathing in deeply the glowing Buddhist aura that emanated from him.
The Nether Monk did not reject her.
“Namo Amitabha, Namo Amitabha…”
Inside the temple, the faint, continuous, and repetitive chanting of the two old monks suddenly rang out.
Slowly lowering his hands, the Nether Monk, seemingly stirred by desire, was about to respond to the woman’s clinging behind him. But upon hearing the chanting, his mind instantly returned to Bodhi. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands together in prayer once more.
Yu Qing, leaving the Sweeping Dust Temple, could be described as looking back at every step. Before leaving, he had asked Changfeng who that woman was, but Changfeng would not say. He merely escorted him to the door, said a single “Forgive me for not seeing you off further,” and closed the gate.
Along the way, he mentally reviewed everything that had just happened, and soon reached the swaying suspension bridge.
Before reaching the end of the bridge, he saw Nan Zhu and the other two hurrying up from a stone staircase below on the brilliantly lit cliff face, clearly having seen him return.
Meeting at the bridgehead and seeing Yu Qing safe and sound, Nan Zhu and Mu let out a sigh of relief. Nan Zhu then immediately asked in a low voice, “How did it go?”
Looking at the crowds on the street and the people going up and down the stairs on the cliff below, Yu Qing said, “This is not the place to talk. This matter is not something we can settle in a day or two. Let us find a place to stay first.”
Nan Zhu suddenly sighed, “Sigh, forget about finding a place to stay for now. Let us deal with this kid’s situation first,” pointing at Xiao Hei.
Yu Qing glanced at Xiao Hei and noticed the boy was still barefoot, having lost his shoes in the Nether Sea. He immediately said, “Let us buy him a pair of shoes first.”
Nan Zhu said, “There is a shoe shop down there. We wanted to buy him a pair just now, but it was shockingly expensive. A pair of children’s shoes actually costs two hundred taels. You can understand why fresh fruits and vegetables that cannot withstand long transport are expensive, but a pair of ordinary children’s shoes that take up barely any cargo space costs two hundred taels? Is this not just robbing us?”
Yu Qing said, “That is indeed a bit too expensive. Fine, then let him just go barefoot. He will not keep them on anyway.”
Mu Aotie said, “I will find some rags and make him a pair later.”
Since it was not their own child, the three martial brothers decisively decided not to buy shoes for Xiao Hei to save money.
Nan Zhu gave a bitter smile, “You still have the mood to make him shoes? We should first discuss what to do with him.”
Yu Qing asked, “What is wrong with him? Did he cause trouble here?”
Xiao Hei immediately stiffened his neck and said, “I did not.”
Nan Zhu sighed heavily, “Would he even need to run all the way here to cause trouble? I estimate that Heizi over at the Miao Qing Hall is already going crazy with worry. Can you believe it? This little rascal actually did run away all by himself.”
Yu Qing was speechless for a moment, then said with doubt and surprise, “That is impossible. How could he keep up with us all by himself?”
“Yes, we all thought it was impossible. Otherwise, how could we have brought him here? You have no idea. Just now, we did not dare cross the bridge and were waiting for you here. We saw a cave on the opposite mountain wall with water flowing out. This kid babbled that it looked just like the place we came out from at Youjiao Port. I told him he knew nothing, and he said he had hung onto the big stick and flown all the way out, or something like that. That exit twists and turns a hundred times. Heizi brought him out, would he let him fly out hanging like that? Old Nine and I were immediately shocked and questioned him in detail. We did not know until we asked, and we were scared stiff when we found out. Good heavens, this little brat overheard our conversation with Heizi. Knowing we were leaving, he planned to sneak out to play. Afraid his old man would not agree, he actually played a dirty trick. When we were climbing into the boxes, he took advantage of everyone’s attention being on us and climbed over the wall first. This kid actually left Youjiao Port before we did. He waited outside for us, and after spotting us, he quietly followed us all the way. Old Fifteen, we all treated him like a child, but we ignored one thing. He is no ordinary child. This guy has been playing hide and seek with those people right under the nose of the Rift Valley Manor for a long time. He looks young, but he is actually an old hand at hiding. Besides, he now has the big stick, which is like adding wings to a tiger.”
Mu Aotie added, “It is our own fault for being too self righteous.”
Nan Zhu said, “Yes, he told us himself right from the start that he ran away alone, yet not a single one of us believed him.”
Yu Qing was somewhat dazed and completely speechless. He could not even find a reason to scold Xiao Hei. Just as Nan Zhu said, the boy had told the plain truth from the very beginning, without a single lie. It was them who had overcomplicated things and thought too much.
Nan Zhu continued, “What do we do now? We cannot just send him back. We cannot afford the travel expenses for the round trip. Should we have Qianli Lang send him back? Not to mention whether it is safe or not, the travel expenses would also be a huge sum.”
Xiao Hei shouted, “I am not going back. It is fun here.”
Yu Qing was furious and waved his hand to point, “Fine, then do not go back. Get lost. Go play to your heart’s content. Let you play until you are satisfied.”
Who would have thought Xiao Hei would immediately get excited? He turned around and hopped away, carrying the stick on his shoulder. He looked around with a face full of wonder. The world was so much fun, glittering and colourful, vibrant and diverse, everything he looked at was novel.
In short, without restrictions and with permission, he could play to his heart’s content.
The faces of the three martial brothers instantly fell, looking as if they could drop to the ground and shatter into pieces. They realised this naughty child truly could not tell good advice from bad.
Yu Qing, who had spoken in anger, was left high and dry, his expression rather unpleasant.
Xiao Hei soon stopped in front of a snack stall. He stood there carrying his stick, looking as if he was about to drool. The boss actually took out a meat pie and asked if he wanted to eat it, the unspoken meaning being whether they wanted to buy it.
Xiao Hei would not be polite, naturally reaching out to take it. Fortunately, Nan Zhu was quick. He flashed over, slapped the back of the boy’s head, and cursed, “Eat dirt!”
Then he grabbed the back of the boy’s neck and dragged him back. How could he really let him get lost? If they actually lost this kid, they would have no way to explain it to Wu Hei. They could not just pretend they had never seen the man’s son, could they?
Xiao Hei was unwilling and shouted, “I am hungry, I want to eat.”
“Hungry your foot,” Nan Zhu cursed, dragging him back to Yu Qing.
Yu Qing said with a dark face, “Write a letter. Have Qianli Lang deliver it to his old man. We do not have the money to send him back and forth. Let Heizi come and fetch him himself.”
“That is the only way,” Nan Zhu sighed, then scolded the struggling and unwilling Xiao Hei, “Still want to eat? Wait until your dad gets here and see if he does not spank your bottom raw.”
Hearing that his dad was coming, Xiao Hei felt a bit of fear. After all, that was a man who would genuinely beat him, so he immediately behaved and closed his mouth.
Yu Qing looked around, “Even if we are waiting for Heizi, we need a place to stay where people can find us. Let us find accommodation first.”
Nan Zhu also looked around and reminded him, “We cannot afford to stay in this place for long!”
“Do I need you to tell me that?” Yu Qing said irritably, then led the group wandering east and west.
In short, the three adults were in a bad mood. They had originally thought that by helping Wu Hei look after his child, they could charge Wu Hei a bit more and make some money on the side. Now it turned out that the three of them, being great fools, had made a mess of things. They were the ones who had brought the man’s son all the way here.
Even they themselves felt they had made a mistake only a fool would make. How could a normal person make such a low level error? How could they still have the face to ask Wu Hei for money?
In other words, not only would they not make any money, but they had also spent over ten thousand taels of silver on travel expenses for Xiao Hei along the way.
They had lost the hen and the eggs. Given their temperaments in certain aspects, it would be strange if their mood was good.
The three soon found an inn that specialised exclusively in accommodation.
An inn in the Sea Market that specialised solely in lodging, maintaining a certain kind of quiet, one could imagine just by thinking about it what kind of scale this inn had.
It was a large inn covering ten acres of land, which was absolutely remarkable in the Sea Market. Looking at the magnificent bracket sets and flying eaves, the luxurious carved beams and painted pillars, the three martial brothers, who had originally intended to go in and take a look, actually walked straight past the door. They were too embarrassed to go in.
Because they only realised how much more magnificent it was when they reached the door.
After stopping a short distance away, Yu Qing instigated Nan Zhu, “You go in and take a look. Ask how much the rooms cost.”
Nan Zhu immediately felt timid and said, “With this kind of style, no need to ask. We definitely cannot afford to stay here.”
Yu Qing said, “We are people who have made big money before, people who have earned over a hundred million in a day. Why feel inferior? Besides, we are just trying to understand the situation here.”
Nan Zhu said, “Then why do not you go in and ask?”
Yu Qing said, “You are the only one here who looks wealthy, the only one who looks like a rich man. Look at us, do we look like it?” pointing at Xiao Hei, who was barefoot and carrying a stick.
Nan Zhu wondered if that was true, feeling doubtful in his heart, and looked at Mu Aotie.
Mu Aotie immediately nodded in agreement.
Nan Zhu instantly gained confidence. He raised his head, puffed out his chest, turned around, and went in.