Ransoming the Master

Ransoming the Master

Xia Fan knew the way to the gambling house like the back of his hand. After all, whenever his master vanished, nine times out of ten he had gone to the gambling house; the remaining chance was that he had gone to a brothel.

Of course, the odds of the latter were lower not because his gambling addiction was worse, but because the times he could actually win money were always few and far between.

The gambling house guards were familiar with Xia Fan as well. Once they learned why he had come, they led him straight to the proprietor's door.

"Oh? His master happens to be here too. Let him in."

The proprietor's voice came through the door.

Having received permission, the guard stepped aside and made a welcoming gesture.

What? Master was here too? Xia Fan's heart tightened slightly. Rather than locking a debtor in a private cell, they had brought him to the proprietor's room... Could they be using violence to force him to repay the debt?

He hurriedly shoved open the door and strode inside. "Stop! I brought all the ransom money—"

Halfway through, Xia Fan suddenly fell silent.

The gambling house proprietor and his master sat facing one another, with a bowl of boiled fish between them. Dots of red chili floated atop the milky-white broth, making it look utterly delicious. Several empty wine jugs lay nearby, and judging from the pile of fish bones before them, they had clearly gone three rounds already.

What was going on? Why had his debt-ridden master become an honored guest of the gambling house after only one month apart?

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Xia Fan would never have believed that this ruddy-faced, glowing middle-aged uncle was his bargain-bin master—Zhao Dahai.

"Stop what? Did you drink too much, kid? What nonsense are you spouting?" His master patted the cool mat beside his feet. "Have you eaten dinner? Come over and have a bowl of fish soup first."

"Old Zhao, is this the disciple who declared that we were not to touch you and promised to come ransom you within a month? Hehe..." The proprietor looked Xia Fan over with a smile. "I had only heard people mention him before, but today I finally get to meet him. Gathering thirty taels of silver in one month—most people would have fled to the ends of the earth by now. Yet you still dared to come back. That alone makes your courage commendable. Not bad. Truly, heroes emerge from the young!"

"He would have been better off fleeing to the ends of the earth." His master stuffed a mouthful of fish into his mouth. "Disciple, let me introduce you. This is Shopkeeper Xiao, who runs Chunxiao Street. Most of the places we used to frequent were his properties."

In other words, he did not merely run a gambling house—the brothels, teahouses, and inns on the street all belonged to him too?

That only deepened Xia Fan's confusion. Why was such a wealthy boss hanging around with his master, and why did they seem to be chatting and laughing so happily?

"Hahaha... It is not as complicated as you think." Shopkeeper Xiao seemed to see Xia Fan's puzzlement and explained of his own accord. "Daoist Zhao did indeed owe a gambling debt, but he also did me a great favor. I, Xiao, believe debts must be repaid and favors must be returned. Once the two cancel each other out, he is still a benefactor of the Xiao Family."

After hearing the full explanation, Xia Fan finally understood what had happened. A brothel had opened on neighboring Lianhua Street, called Hongying Pavilion, creating a rivalry with the Xiao Family's Ruanxiang Pavilion. For a time, it had pressed the latter so hard it could barely breathe. His master happened to know a set of massage techniques, originally meant only to relieve exhaustion during their travels. But after he suggested teaching those methods to the women of Ruanxiang Pavilion and having them use them on customers, the situation instantly reversed. Now Hongying Pavilion had scarcely any patrons, while people lined up outside Ruanxiang Pavilion every day. Its income rose steadily, and compared to a Spring Pavilion's earnings, that thirty-tael debt was not worth mentioning at all.

After hearing that, only one thought remained in Xia Fan's mind: This fucking works too?

"What, did you think I had reached the end of the road and could only wait for you to save me?" Zhao Dahai triumphantly filled a cup to the brim. "I have roamed the martial world for decades. What great storms and towering waves have I not seen? How could I possibly be trapped by such a tiny setback?"

"..." Xia Fan could not help twitching the corner of his mouth. He had imagined many scenarios for ransoming his master: perhaps the man would weep bitterly and repent, perhaps he would grit his teeth and stubbornly cling to his pride. Yet he had never anticipated this.

So whether he passed the Scholar Examination or not made no difference at all to his master.

Thinking he could teach him a lesson really had been wishful thinking.

"So... you passed the Scholar Examination?" Zhao Dahai suddenly asked.

"I did." Xia Fan answered weakly. "I thought Master was suffering terribly, that his disciple could not sleep at night, and that after receiving the settlement allowance, I rushed back here day and night. Turns out I was busy for nothing."

"Pah. Do you think I do not know what is going through that head of yours? It would already be impressive if you thought of your master even once during that month." His master said it dismissively. "Still, since you brought the ransom money, you have done your duty. It is just that I will not be able to travel the world with you anymore."

"You make it sound as though you enjoy drifting about." Seeing that Zhao Dahai was not putting on an act before Shopkeeper Xiao, Xia Fan could not be bothered to keep acting either. "When you were starving so badly you were about to pass out, did you not say you would do anything for a meal? Now that I am a Sorcery Art practitioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, I can at least make sure you never go hungry again."

"T-that was then, this is now! Can words spoken in starving panic be trusted?" The other man glared at him. "Have they decided where you will take up your post?"

"Not yet. But no matter where I am assigned, finding Master a place to live will not be a problem."

Zhao Dahai pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. From now on, go by yourself."

Xia Fan froze. "What do you mean?"

"I am used to freedom. I do not want to settle in one place for long. Besides, living with you would not be as good as living here. Food, drink, and entertainment—I lack nothing. The girls at Ruanxiang Pavilion would love for me to visit every day. It could not be more comfortable..."

"I can attest that your master is telling the truth," Shopkeeper Xiao said with a chuckle.

"You... are serious?" Xia Fan frowned.

"Serious. Absolutely serious!"

"If that is the case, then I will not say more." He shook his head helplessly. "But once the appointment order arrives, I will tell you where I am going. If one day Master regrets this, or cannot get enough to eat, you can come find me anytime. Then this disciple shall take his leave."

"Go on, go on." Zhao Dahai waved him away.

Xia Fan could only cup his hands and leave the room.

After he was gone, Shopkeeper Xiao looked at Zhao Dahai with a sigh. "This is the first time I have seen a master and disciple like you two. Not to mention setting an example and being as steady as a mountain—even if others are not truly like that, they would at least put on some kind of show... Even sworn brothers in the martial world have to burn three sticks of incense."

"What use is a master-disciple bond that is only an act?" Zhao Dahai snorted. "I have seen plenty who were intimate fellow disciples one day, then stabbed each other in the back the next over some petty profit. Put on the act for too long, and sometimes you end up numbing yourself instead. Better not to have it from the start. You should know that better than anyone."

"Hahaha... That does make sense." After filling both their cups, Shopkeeper Xiao said, "Still, your disciple has passed the Scholar Examination and become a Sorcery Art practitioner. From now on, he is a proper court official. No matter how you look at it, that is a great joyous occasion. Any other family would be beating gongs and drums, draping themselves in red and hanging colorful decorations. Why do I feel as though you do not care much? Could it be... you think your disciple is lying?"

"I do not think that. From the moment he said he wanted to take the Scholar Examination, I knew this day would come sooner or later." Zhao Dahai's voice suddenly deepened. "To be honest, I never really wanted him to walk this road... to become a Sorcery Art practitioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs."

"What is wrong with bringing glory to one's ancestors? Others do not even qualify to take this road."

"He is different... That kid scares me a little."

"Scares you?" Shopkeeper Xiao laughed in disbelief. "Old Zhao, you have had too much to drink."

"Too much? Not even close! You have not spent long enough with him, so it is normal that you do not know. I raised him for more than ten years, so naturally I know what he is capable of." Zhao Dahai swept a large hand through the air, as though eager to pour out everything in his heart, but halfway through he began to hesitate. "The more I taught him, the more I could feel the gap between us. You do not understand that feeling. It was like, like—" He deliberated for a long while but still could not describe it.

"I understand. The indigo comes from the blue, yet is bluer than the blue. He has become a Sorcery Art practitioner, while you are still merely 'Daoist Zhao'..."

"It has nothing to do with that!" He cut him off. "I became a wandering cultivator because I could not stand the Bureau of Military Affairs' rules. I have met plenty of people who called themselves geniuses, but that kid is different from all of them."

"How is he different?"

This time, Zhao Dahai was silent even longer. "Have you ever seen someone born knowing?"

So he really had drunk too much. Shopkeeper Xiao smiled. "You are saying your disciple is one?"

"I do not know." He raised his cup and drained it in one gulp. "But if such people exist, he is probably not far from one. When I found that kid, he was only three. At that age, being able to sense qi was already rare. Most disciples of great clans only begin learning to sense qi at four or five. Yet he could draw Talismans at five, and at six he cast a complete spell. In two years, he mastered what others needed five or six years to learn. Even among the great clans, that would count as first-rate speed."

"And when he spoke of drawing in qi, he said it felt as though he had seen stars filling the sky. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Should he not have seen nothing at all, only vaguely sensed something like an extra layer of thin gauze around him? Yet he really did draw qi into his body, so I could only pretend that was how it was supposed to be."

"That... does sound a little exaggerated."

"If that were all, it would be one thing. He found some discarded account book from who knew where and scribbled all over the blank backs of its pages every day. Later, I discovered by accident that some of the things he recorded had been written down long before he ever spoke of them." Zhao Dahai spoke faster and faster. "That meant he deliberately slowed himself down so he would not seem to learn too quickly—would an ordinary person do something like that? From then on, I kept an extra eye on him, and I found more and more oddities. An abnormal obsession with Sorcery Art, extreme self-control while cultivating, and everything he did was arranged in perfect order. This could no longer be summed up with mere talent."

"But would not someone highly gifted be even more suited to the Bureau of Military Affairs?" Shopkeeper Xiao was truly baffled.

"How could a place like the Bureau of Military Affairs be smooth sailing with talent alone? With my disciple's temperament, either he will break inside it, or he will... become a part of the Bureau of Military Affairs." He let out a long sigh. "If it is the latter, then the greater his talent, the greater the harm he will cause..."

The Bureau of Military Affairs... causing great harm? At most, those Sorcery Art practitioners were somewhat arrogant and overbearing. But then again, what official with even a little power in hand was not like that?

Shopkeeper Xiao found the topic growing more and more absurd, so he simply gave up asking. "Fine, I do not understand the intricacies of Sorcery Art. But since you did not want him to join the Bureau of Military Affairs, why did you not stop him from taking the Scholar Examination?"

"This is where the contradictions of the human heart lie." Zhao Dahai gave a bitter laugh. "My talent is utterly ordinary, and my limit in this lifetime ends here. Yet the more ordinary I am, the more I want to see just how high someone with true talent can rise. The things I can teach him are few enough to count on one hand. The only place where he can fully develop is the Bureau of Military Affairs."