Different Paths

As for Ling Yun, he naturally had no idea that a crisis was gradually drawing close to him.

After leaving the martial practice ground, he headed straight back to his own room.

The fatigue brought by the fierce battle left him in no mood to research anything else; he fell back flat onto the bed and quickly drifted into dreamland.

The night passed without incident.

When Ling Yun opened his eyes once more, it was already the morning of the second day.

Looking at the rustic room before him, Ling Yun could not help feeling a bit dazed. All of this was no dream.

He really had left Blue Star and arrived in this unfamiliar world.

Bang, bang!

At that moment, a series of knocks sounded, interrupting Ling Yun's train of thought.

Listening to Fang Yuan's loud-hailer-like shouting from outside, Ling Yun flash a trace of helplessness in his eyes as he got up, dressed, and climbed out of bed.

After washing up a bit, he pulled open the door and stepped outside.

At this time, the sky was just turning bright, and all around, coming and going, he could already see the figures of quite a few martial hall disciples.

As for that fellow Fang Yuan, he stood before the door, looking at him with a glowing, beaming face.

Ling Yun looked him up and down, then could not help teasing out loud, "Smiling so lewdly early in the morning, did you kid pick up money outside?"

Fang Yuan "bah-ed" ungraciously, then crowded over in high spirits and said in a low voice, "Brother Ling, I've broken through!"

Ling Yun was startled at first, but quickly caught on to this fellow's meaning, giving his shoulder a firm pat. "Not bad, you kid. In the future at the martial hall, I'll have to hang onto your coattails."

Hearing this, Fang Yuan scratched his head in some embarrassment instead, then said with a solemn expression, "Brother Ling, I owe the achievements I have today largely to you!"

"If you hadn't shared a bite of food with me back then, I'm afraid I would have starved to death long ago."

"No matter what happens in the future, you will always be my big brother!"

Ling Yun waved a hand. "All right, big brother or no big brother. If you really have that kind of heart, go treat me to a meal at Gathering Immortals Pavilion right now, how about it?"

Fang Yuan's expression immediately stalled, and he sheepishly rubbed his hands together. "This... this... Brother Ling, you know as well that my finances have been a bit tight lately..."

Looking at his distressed appearance, Ling Yun rolled his eyes. "You might as well be a stingy miser, you kid. Oh well, having a meal right here in the martial hall should be no problem at all, right?"

"Hehe, that's a must!" Hearing this, Fang Yuan immediately felt he could manage again, patted his chest, and spoke with full confidence.

Black Tiger Martial Hall martial practice ground.

Two figures slowly walked over, one behind the other, and they were precisely the duo of Ling Yun and Fang Yuan.

"I ask you, is all that necessary? You'd think treating me to a meal was like having your bride snatched away!" Ling Yun looked at Fang Yuan trailing behind him with a mournful face, counting copper coins one by one, and immediately rolled his eyes, speaking ungraciously.

Hearing this, Fang Yuan raised his head with a tearful expression of absolute grievance.

"You call it just a meal?"

"A full forty big meat buns, two massive basins of meat porridge—that was my food allowance for a whole week..."

"Uh..." Hearing this, Ling Yun was also a bit embarrassed. Ever since his strength had skyrocketed, his appetite seemed to have surged along with it.

What he had just eaten in the canteen was merely enough to keep him seven parts full at best!

At that moment, the figure of Ma Ruhu slowly appeared, and the two hurriedly halted their idle chatter, beginning to practice their saber techniques in earnest.

During this period, Fang Yuan sought out Ma Ruhu alone. After undergoing a simple examination right before everyone's eyes, he was bestowed the identity of an official disciple along with five liang of glittering silver.

Amidst the envious gazes of his fellow apprentices, this kid Fang Yuan smiled smugly and returned to the ranks with an insouciant swagger.

Ling Yun watched him secretly flash a thumbs-up in his direction, smiled indifferently, and calmly withdrew his gaze.

He did not plan to expose his current strength just yet—not for the sake of some boring game of playing the pig to eat the tiger, but because there was no need to waste his energy on such matters.

What he needed to do right now was utilize this period of time to familiarize himself with this world as quickly as possible.

Yet his indifference did not mean others felt the same way.

Whether it was because of that fellow Fang Yuan's swaggering demeanor or the temptation of that glittering silver, the atmosphere at the scene was ignited once again.

Right then, Ma Ruhu suddenly let out a heavy cough, drawing everyone's attention.

He swept his gaze in a circle around them, then spoke with a solemn expression, "All right, quiet down. Next, I'm going to announce another matter."

"The martial hall has just received a lucrative errand. Master Deng of the Deng Family has passed away, so we now need five people to keep vigil by the coffin for three days. Is anyone willing to go?"

Yet as Ma Ruhu's voice fell, the scene lapsed into dead silence, a trace of unnaturalness flashing across everyone's faces.

Especially those veteran official disciples, who kept their eyes fixed on their noses and their noses on their hearts, acting entirely as if they had heard nothing at all.

Nighttime was already fraught with extreme danger to begin with.

To run into a funeral on top of that—that was simply courting death out of impatience, like an old longevity star hanging himself!

Ma Ruhu had anticipated everyone's reaction long ago, so he did not become annoyed right now. He merely said with a smiling expression, "Whoever keeps vigil will receive... fifty liang of fine silver per person, per day!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the previously silent ranks instantly broke into an uproar.

Fifty liang of fine silver was enough for an ordinary household to live free of worry about food and clothing for half a year.

Keeping vigil for three days meant a full one hundred and fifty liang!

As the saying goes, people die for wealth; this massive sum of money was enough to offset the fear in most people's hearts.

Moreover, everyone harbored wishful thinking, and before this, nobody believed the unlucky one would be themselves.

Ling Yun remained quiet on his side, but Fang Yuan beside him lit up, continuously signaling with his eyes.

Yet seeing him remain unmoved, coupled with watching the slots dwindle one by one, Fang Yuan could no longer sit still and promptly raised both hands. "Me, me, plus me."

Ma Ruhu glanced at him and immediately laughed as well. "You kid—fine, the last slot is yours!"

Watching this fellow's look of relief, Ling Yun could not help glaring at him. "What is going through that head of yours? You dare thrust yourself into this kind of business—have you lost your mind?"

Hearing this, Fang Yuan gave a wry smile and said, "Brother Ling, listen to me. The situation at my home... you know how it is."

"Just yesterday, a letter came from my dad saying my mom's illness has gotten worse, so this money is truly important to me."

Hearing this, Ling Yun instantly fell silent. As the saying goes, every family has a scripture that is hard to chant, and he had no qualification to point fingers and find fault.

After a long while, he let out a deep sigh, looked at Fang Yuan, and said earnestly, "Be careful in everything."

Fang Yuan grinned broadly. "Don't you worry, Brother Ling, I know what I'm doing."

"I'm planning to wait until I earn the money and go back home to build a large tile-roofed house for our mother!"

"That's right, Brother Ling, haven't you always wanted to go to Gathering Immortals Pavilion?"

"When the time comes, us brothers will go up there and set out seventeen or eighteen tables of food. Besides, I hear the proprietress there is a peerless great beauty, so we'll have her personally accompany the two of us brothers for a drink, hehe..."

Seeing this fellow talking more and more wildly, Ling Yun ungraciously gave the back of his head a smack. "You kid, you haven't even grown your feathers yet and you want to fly—just look after yourself and you'll be fine."

Yet after being interrupted by him like that, the heavy atmosphere between the two men eased up by quite a bit as well.

At that moment, seeing that the headcount was full, Ma Ruhu wasted no more breath, waving his hand to signal the five men to follow him.

Before parting ways, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Fang Yuan suddenly pulled a slip of paper swiftly from his embrace and shoved it mysteriously into Ling Yun's hand.

Looking at Ling Yun's puzzled gaze, Fang Yuan smiled smugly. "Brother Ling, this is something good I specially prepared for you."

"Find a place where no one's around and take a good look at it later, and make sure not to let anyone discover it."

Hearing him put it that way, Ling Yun temporarily extinguished the thought of pulling out the paper slip.

Watching Fang Yuan's receding back, Ling Yun's gaze remained calm, though who knew what he was thinking.