Chapter 33

Master's Tower was packed with people, its tables arranged in disarray and its decor far from exquisite. It was noisy and chaotic; its only distinguishing feature was the sheer number of people, most of them carrying weapons.

The back door of Master's Tower connected to a long, winding alley, where ghostlike figures always lingered. The back door of Master's Tower always appeared to be tightly locked.

Ning Chang'an had not chosen to enter Master's Tower through the front door, because he knew the back door would suit him better. Besides, he believed it would open for him.

Like any other wanderer of the martial world, he never let his weapon leave his side. Ning Chang'an's longsword was carried on his back in a thick black cloth bag. The moment he reached the mouth of the alley, someone had their eyes on him, their gaze furtive and sharp.

Ning Chang'an's steps were steady, his expression calm. Unhurried, he walked into the alley.

A strange smell hung in the narrow, winding alley.

Those familiar with it would know it was the smell of blood—stinking, spoiled blood. It was not quite foul, yet it was harsh enough to make one retch.

Ning Chang'an could not help frowning. His nostrils twitched, and his expression changed slightly. His eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell were now extraordinarily sharp. The benefits went without saying, but there were plenty of drawbacks as well. For instance, now that he had caught this scent, he perceived it several times more clearly than an ordinary person would, and naturally found it far more unbearable.

A sickly, short, wiry man suddenly slapped both hands against the wall and drifted lightly into Ning Chang'an's path. His pale, deathly face faced Ning Chang'an as he asked, "New here?"

Ning Chang'an nodded. His eyes saw only two things: a pair of deeply sunken black eye sockets, and a pair of dry, crooked hands like eagle talons.

The wiry man bared a mouthful of yellow teeth and stepped aside to make way.

Ning Chang'an did not know whether that counted as a smile, but the man's breath was certainly strong enough to nearly fumigate someone to death. He had taken only two steps when a rumbling sound suddenly erupted ahead, and a pungent stench of sweat rushed into his face. A mountain-like man abruptly appeared before him, nearly filling the entire alley and completely blocking his path. Ning Chang'an had thought himself quite fat already, but compared to this person, he felt he could be described as delicate and slender without the slightest exaggeration. What stood before him was plainly a mountain of flesh. Yet for such a mountain of flesh to drop from a height of seven or eight zhang and emerge unscathed was rather strange.

When Ning Chang'an looked up, he saw a frail little girl sitting on the fleshy mountain of a man's shoulder. She was so tiny that, seated atop the big man's shoulder, she looked like a cloth doll. One hand tugged at "Meat Mountain's" ear, while the other held a candied hawthorn skewer that she was eating with great relish. Her little feet swung freely.

It was obvious that she was in a good mood.

Ning Chang'an, however, frowned. He knew that some people were most dangerous when they were in a good mood.

"What is that on your back?"

The little girl asked curiously. She suddenly stopped eating her candied hawthorn skewer. Not only did she stop, she casually tossed it onto the ground. Tilting her little head, she stared wide-eyed at Ning Chang'an in intense curiosity.

"A sword."

Ning Chang'an smiled lightly. The little girl looked like a porcelain doll, adorable enough that he did not sense the slightest danger.

"Can you let me see it?"

The little girl asked, like a child burning with curiosity, with a touch of mischief.

Ning Chang'an shook his head.

The little girl sighed. "That makes things difficult!"

Ning Chang'an suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder, and a head poked out from behind him. At once, he smelled unbearable bad breath. His stomach cramped, and he nearly vomited.

Ning Chang'an let out a long breath, expelling the foul air from his body. He could already feel the person behind him untying his cloth bag. Ning Chang'an sighed. "Very difficult indeed!"

The porcelain-doll-like little girl narrowed her eyes and giggled.

An arm as thick as a water bucket, attached to an enormous palm, smashed down at Ning Chang'an's head. It truly carried the force of Mount Tai pressing down on one's head—or rather, a mountain of flesh pressing down on one's head.

Without even looking, Ning Chang'an spun around, put his back to a wall, and slammed backward. That turn and backward crash were unbelievably fast, almost in the flash of lightning and spark of flint. The person who had already untied the cloth bag from his back cried out, but could not dodge in time. Ning Chang'an smashed him hard against the wall. Ning Chang'an was rather fat himself, so the man behind him immediately suffered a terrible fate from that impact. Like a pasted paper cutout, he was stamped onto the wall and did not fall for a long while. Then Ning Chang'an threw a punch, striking the center of that fleshy palm. The palm seemed full of elasticity and immediately bounced high into the air. "Meat Mountain's" expression turned ugly, as though he had slapped an iron nail. His thick arm flew upward and nearly struck the little girl on his shoulder.

The little girl gave a surprised cry and fluttered into the air like a lark. Her tiny feet touched lightly atop "Meat Mountain's" head, and she landed before Ning Chang'an. She was not even as tall as his chest. Now she stood with her hands on her hips, cheeks puffed out, glaring furiously up at him.

Ning Chang'an calmly turned to look at the person behind him. Sure enough, it was that skinny man. But now he looked even thinner, his eyes more sunken and his eye sockets darker. Ning Chang'an took back the cloth bag containing the Gloomy Cold Soul Severing Sword and smiled. "Brother, are you all right?"

The skinny man's eyes shifted, clearly unwilling to accept this. He squeezed out the words from his throat, "Why didn't you vomit?"

Ning Chang'an's expression changed slightly as he recalled the skinny man's exceptionally foul breath, then his face filled with bewilderment.

He casually peeled the skinny man off the wall and found a human-shaped outline left behind. The skinny man's joints had all shifted out of place, yet after a moment they returned to normal. It seemed he truly had some skill.

Ning Chang'an turned back toward the little girl, smiling warmly.

The little girl looked at Ning Chang'an, then at the candied hawthorn skewer not far away, and grew furious. Suddenly stamping her foot, she pounced on Ning Chang'an, clawing and biting as she cried, "Pay me back for my candied hawthorn..."

Ning Chang'an grabbed the little girl in one hand and laughed. "I'll buy you the biggest, sweetest one!" He had already sensed that the girl's martial arts were not weak, but she was clever. She was only acting spoiled and mischievous, without using any martial arts. This little girl was indeed smart. If she had used martial arts, Ning Chang'an would not have been polite. Since she was merely throwing a tantrum, he did not mind too much.

The only thing that left him stunned and irritated was discovering that his clothes across the chest were covered in saliva. The little girl's wild biting had not injured him, but the aftermath was even more horrible to behold.

But the moment the little girl heard that Ning Chang'an would buy her a candied hawthorn skewer, she immediately stopped. Blinking, she asked, "Really?"

Ning Chang'an nodded seriously and unconsciously loosened his grip. The little girl immediately became well-behaved and was the first to jump over "Meat Mountain's" shoulder.

"Meat Mountain" was blocking the way, so Ning Chang'an had no choice but to do the same before he could continue onward.

There were still many ghostlike figures in the alley, all sorts of strange and varied people. Ning Chang'an followed behind the little girl, feeling deeply moved as he sighed inwardly, A skinny one, a fat one, and a little girl—truly three extremes!

As Ning Chang'an sighed inwardly, the utterly adorable little girl walking ahead of him suddenly turned back. Her large eyes sparkled as she looked at him, and in an extremely serious tone, she introduced herself, "My name is Princess!"

Ning Chang'an smiled faintly and sighed. "You truly are a little princess carved from white jade! What about them?"

Princess raised a fingertip and pointed behind her at "Meat Mountain." "Little Little!"

Little Little?!

That could be called little?! Ning Chang'an was speechless. Before this "Meat Mountain," Ning Chang'an felt that he ought to be called Little Little instead. Yet calling such a mountain of flesh Little Little really did have a peculiar charm to it.

Princess giggled. "Funny, isn't it?!"

Ning Chang'an nodded in wholehearted agreement.

Princess continued, "That skinny, smelly fellow is called Cockroach—a cockroach that can't be killed. But everyone calls him Little Strong!"

Remembering how Cockroach had been slammed onto the wall by him and remained perfectly unharmed, Ning Chang'an sighed. "He truly is an unkillable cockroach. But how did the three of you end up together?"

Princess smiled sweetly and said mysteriously, "That's a secret!"

Ning Chang'an did not press further. Instead, he said, "For the three of you to establish yourselves here is no simple matter."

Princess opened her bright, snow-clear eyes wide and asked proudly, "Impressive, right?!"

Ning Chang'an nodded. Anyone who could establish themselves here was impressive.

Princess blinked and asked, "Do you have money?"

Ning Chang'an froze, then smiled. Of course he had no money, because Yu Fu had all of it. He had only a few dozen taels of silver on him. A few dozen taels might be no small sum in some people's eyes, but in others', it was no different from having nothing, because some people did not even measure money in units of ten taels. For example, many of the people in Master's Tower drinking foul-tasting bowls of tea.

Up to this point, Ning Chang'an was still very poor.

Princess lightly raised three fingers and waved her hand before Ning Chang'an's eyes.

Ning Chang'an narrowed his eyes slightly and sighed. "Three hundred taels?"

Princess looked at Ning Chang'an as though he were an idiot and sneered. "That wouldn't even send away a beggar! Ten times that!"

Ning Chang'an's eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "Three thousand taels?"

Princess said innocently, "That's the threshold!" As she spoke, Princess quietly flashed to the side and pressed herself against the wall.

Ning Chang'an gave a wry smile. "That threshold is high enough!"

"Not high. Not high at all."

Princess had moved aside because of the person who spoke. That person had suddenly blocked Ning Chang'an's path and was staring coldly at him, amusement filling his eyes, like an old cat watching a mouse with no road of escape.

Ning Chang'an saw the coldness and cruelty hidden deep within that amused gaze. From the moment he had decided to step into this alley, he had known things would not go smoothly. It was knowingly walking toward Tiger Mountain despite knowing there was a tiger there. Why? Because he had confidence in himself. Yet though Ning Chang'an had confidence in himself, he would never be blindly arrogant, because this was Yongan Prefecture. In Yongan Prefecture, those who did not know the height of heaven or depth of earth often died horribly, dying worse than pigs and dogs. Ning Chang'an said with complete sincerity, "Three thousand taels is a little too much. I only have seventy-eight taels!" In truth, he had seventy-eight taels, three qian, and sixty coins. Those three qian and sixty coins were meant to buy Princess a candied hawthorn skewer.