Chapter 43: Chapter 43
Amid wave after wave of astonished cries.
Shen Xiuhan slowly drew his stance to a close, lightly brushed the splinters from his sleeves, and cupped his fists:
“Forgive the crude showing.”
“Crude showing?!”
The first to recover was the pale, plump steward from the Luo clan. He shot to his feet:
“If what you just showed counts as a crude showing, Brother Shen, then nine out of ten martial artists in Changyun County should be ashamed enough to go drown themselves in Yunshui Lake!”
“No time for idle chatter — the ‘Renxin Hall’ our Luo clan runs on South Street is in need of a retainer who can hold down the premises!”
“Just say the word, Brother Shen — monthly pay of four taels, ten jin of meat, with three courses of qi-blood medicinal cuisine provided free of charge! On top of that, one ‘Blood-Nourishing Pill’ every month, gratis!”
He spoke fast and urgent, as though terrified someone would cut in before him, and added:
“If you agree, Brother Shen, I can promise you won’t have to lift a finger on any chores — you’d simply carry the title of honored retainer and nothing more!”
Hearing this stream of words, the face of the Zhang-surnamed disciple who had just been recruited turned green.
The gap in terms was simply too enormous!
Three more taels a month, ten more jin of meat — not to mention the medicinal broth had been upgraded to medicinal cuisine!
One had to understand — a course of medicinal cuisine made with treasure fish and treasure beast meat as the main ingredients, stewed with precious medicinal herbs, held immense qi-blood; at the very least, it was worth two or three bowls of medicinal broth.
Not only that — a free ‘Blood-Nourishing Pill’ every month too!
That was one of Renxin Hall’s most sought-after top-grade pills!
Mild and mellow in potency, of great benefit to Manifest Strength martial artists — a single pill was worth four taels and eight qian!
This wasn’t recruiting a retainer — this was enshrining a living Buddha!
The outer-court disciples around them listened with reddened eyes, breathing as heavily as oxen.
And yet, before they could even recover from this staggering sky-high offer, the Han and Ji family stewards could no longer sit still.
“Brother Shen!”
The Han family steward spoke next, his voice like a great bell:
“Our Han clan’s ‘Refined Iron Arms Forge’ is currently short a house-guard instructor who can command the place!”
“Five taels of ready silver monthly, ten jin of meat, plus two courses of grand tonic medicinal cuisine, along with one pill of our Han clan’s secret-refined Manifest Strength great pill — the ‘Blood-Congealing Pill’!”
“And that’s not all!”
The Han steward’s eyes burned as they fixed on Shen Xiuhan; he raised the stakes openly:
“I hear Brother Shen is still confined to the outer city? Just say the word, and our Han clan will allocate a quiet little courtyard home in the inner city, lent to your family rent-free!”
Whoom!
The entire outer court instantly erupted like a boiling pot!
The assembled disciples were so stunned by these generous terms that their scalps prickled and their jaws nearly hit the ground.
“Giving him a whole courtyard outright?”
“This — this is putting way too much faith in Senior Brother Shen!”
“A small courtyard in the inner city — even in the cheapest district has to run at least a dozen-plus taels of silver!”
“Envy enough to kill a man!”
“Just agree, what’s there even to hesitate about!”
Even Shen Xiuhan’s heart gave a little jolt.
The Han family’s sincerity could hardly be called lacking.
The base silver, pills, and food were scarcely different from the Luo clan’s.
But that small inner-city courtyard — it struck right at his need. He could not help but be moved.
But at that very moment, the Ji clan steward rose abruptly to his feet with a clear laugh:
“Brother Shen — when it comes to depth of tradition, perhaps each of our families has its strengths. But when it comes to terms, our Ji clan has never feared anyone yet!”
The Ji steward stood with his hands clasped behind his back, drawing every eye in the place the moment he spoke:
“Our family is prepared to offer Brother Shen two posts — pick whichever you like.”
“First — Deputy Steward at our Ji clan’s ‘Yuanfeng Fleet.'”
“Six taels a month in pay, plus twelve jin of meat — and not river catch padded in to make up the count, but proper prime cuts. Along with three courses of medicinal cuisine and one Manifest Strength great pill, the ‘Jade Blood Pill’!”
“Second…”
The Ji steward continued with a smile:
“Serve as garrison Patrol Envoy on ‘Yunyi Island’ in Yunshui Lake!”
“Our Ji clan’s fleet runs trade year-round between the various commanderies of Cangzhou Prefecture. To guard against water bandits and cutthroats ambushing our merchant boats, we’ve placed a permanent garrison of Patrol Envoys and patrol guards at the chokepoint waterway of ‘Yunyi Island.'”
“Patrol Envoy requires a Manifest Strength martial artist — eight taels a month in pay, with one rest day in every six, and pills, meat, and medicinal cuisine no different from the ‘Deputy Steward’ post.”
“And given the demands of patrolling on the water, a black-canopied boat will be assigned to you personally, at your command.”
At these words, the outer court first fell silent, then immediately buzzed with murmurs.
“Heavens above, eight taels a month!”
“My father serves in the Robust Division, and he doesn’t earn this much in a whole year!”
“And the medicinal cuisine — I’ve heard the Ji clan’s beast pens raise second-tier treasure beasts, the 『Azure Spike Fowl』; the meat in those dishes is all treasure beast meat!”
“Most important of all, the 『Jade Blood Pill』 — its effects are far beyond ordinary pills!”
“That’s right — the Han clan’s 『Blood-Congealing Pill』 and the Luo clan’s 『Blood-Nourishing Pill』 are both refined from first-tier treasure fish, but the Ji clan’s 『Jade Blood Pill』 is the genuine article, refined from second-tier treasure beasts. Even for Hidden Strength practitioners it has real use!”
“Why does a windfall like this never come around to me!”
“…”
The buzz of discussion rose and fell; gaze after gaze swept over Shen Xiuhan.
There was envy;
there was jealousy;
there was unwilling resentment…
But Shen Xiuhan had no spare attention for any of it.
Because his entire mind at that moment was filled with information about ‘Yunyi Island.’
Shen Sanhuai had once told him, roughly, where the island lay.
The distance…
Shen Xiuhan’s gaze shifted slightly; he tilted his head and looked toward the southwest.
A pale gold point of light, dozens of li away, was giving off a clean, brilliant halo.
That was it!
Yunyi Island was extraordinarily close to the location of the ‘Diaohailou direct-line disciple.’
Rowing from Yunyi Island, it would take him perhaps less than half an hour…
What was there to weigh?
The Ji clan, it was!
Never mind that the Ji clan was already offering the richest terms — for the sake of the 『Diaohailou』 inheritance alone, he had to make this trip!
That Yunshui Lake harbored water bandits, and that in its depths lurked man-eating water beasts and monsters, was no secret.
For him to row out alone and probe it was too great a risk.
But wearing the identity of a Ji clan ‘island-stationed Patrol Envoy,’ he could cruise and patrol openly, using the cover to approach that inheritance site.
Compared to going it alone, this would be safer by more than tenfold.
Shen Xiuhan drew a deep breath, just as he was about to speak.
“Brother Shen, you are young and do not yet know how deep the waters of the jianghu run.”
Beside them, the Luo clan steward suddenly gave a cold sneer, his tone sly and slanted:
“Out of goodwill, this Luo has a word for you — if you truly go to that Yunyi Island, I fear it will be a road from which there’s no return!”
Before anyone could react, he deliberately raised his voice, a trace of mockery pulling at the corner of his mouth:
“Among the younger generation of our Changyun County, there were originally five great prodigies spoken of together. But do any of you know why now only four remain?”
The words dropped, and the air in the courtyard froze at once!
Beneath the covered walkway, the Ji steward — who had just been stroking his beard with a smile — went black in the face:
“Luo Zhan! You old dog, how dare you!”
But the Luo steward, thus named Luo Zhan, showed no fear whatsoever. Instead, he threw his head back and laughed brazenly:
“Why wouldn’t I dare?”
“This old man is going to say it today, and damn the rest!”
“That fifth prodigy — it was his Ji clan that sent him to Yunyi Island, where he was then captured alive by ‘Chenjian Wu’s’ Blood Ascetic and had his head struck off in public!”
“Hahahahaha!”