A Young Woman at the South City Alley Teahouse

The next morning.

Jiang Wang had yet to wake up.

Xiaoyu pushed open the room door.

She walked straight to the bed and lifted the blanket.

Jiang Wang groggily opened his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Xiaoyu's face was cool and aloof as she said flatly, "Old Xu is looking for you, Young Marquis."

Jiang Wang rolled out of bed and let Xiaoyu help him get dressed. Still bleary-eyed, he said lazily, "There are enough clothes at home, and there's nothing important that requires new ones to be made. Why has Old Xu come running over?"

Xiaoyu did not answer. With a sword on her back and a saber in her arms, she waited until Jiang Wang stepped outside, then casually closed the door behind him.

Outside Xunyang Marquis Manor.

Old Xu was pacing circles over the ground in panic.

The moment he saw Jiang Wang, he ran over excitedly. "Found her! I found her!"

Jiang Wang's eyes were half-open as he casually asked, "What did you find?"

Old Xu said, "I found you a wife!"

Jiang Wang: "..."

All drowsiness vanished at once.

He had nearly forgotten about that.

Old Xu said excitedly, "A major client—no, she's incredibly beautiful! She absolutely meets your requirements. You couldn't find another one like her in all of Hun City."

Jiang Wang was utterly speechless.

So he had blurted out what was really on his mind. That girl must have given him quite a bit of silver, hadn't she?

Old Xu directly grabbed Jiang Wang and led him out beyond Qixia Street, with Xiaoyu close behind.

"Speaking of which, it was fate. That young lady isn't from Hun City. She was strolling about the streets when I spotted her at once. My eyes are sharp as daggers—I only saw her back, yet I knew she had to be beautiful. And sure enough, she looked like an immortal maiden cast down into the mortal world."

Old Xu truly had a talent for matchmaking. Before the two had even met, he had already praised her to the skies.

"I spent the strength of nine oxen and two tigers persuading her to agree to meet you. This proves I really wasn't doing it for money! She isn't from Hun City, so how would she know who the Young Marquis is? You can't wrong me again."

Jiang Wang paused at those words.

If Old Xu was telling the truth, an outsider had no reason to pay him to arrange a match. In fact, the girl had apparently been unwilling at first, only to be forcibly talked into it by Old Xu's silver tongue.

Yet, seeing Old Xu's excited expression, Jiang Wang still felt that something was off.

What the truth was would naturally become clear once they met.

The meeting place Old Xu had arranged was not on Qixia Street.

It was in South City Alley, one street away.

South City Alley was currently the most bustling street in the southern part of Hun City.

All kinds of shops stood side by side, and the street was packed with people.

Jiang Wang was slightly out of breath. He grabbed Old Xu and looked toward a teahouse nearby. "I'm tired. Let's do it here."

Old Xu hesitated, but knowing Jiang Wang was not in good health, nodded in agreement. "Then I'll go bring her here."

Jiang Wang entered the teahouse with Xiaoyu and took a seat by the window.

A storyteller inside was vividly recounting a tale that the tea drinkers had long since grown sick of hearing.

Yet because the storyteller made it so lively and engaging, even those who could recite the story backward still listened with great relish. That was true skill.

They did not have to wait long.

Old Xu soon led a young woman into the teahouse.

She looked quite young. Wearing a long green dress, she curiously surveyed the teahouse with a pair of bright, lively eyes, as though she had never seen much of the world.

But her appearance truly was as Old Xu had described. She might even have been a match for Jiang Wang himself.

"Miss Shu, this is the Young Marquis."

Old Xu introduced Jiang Wang to the young woman very politely.

The girl's gaze shifted from the teahouse to Jiang Wang. Her eyes widened slightly, her lips moved, and she murmured, "So handsome..."

Old Xu said, "I conduct business honestly with young and old alike. You two are a talented man and beautiful woman, perfectly matched. It would be such a pity if you did not marry."

Once the words left his mouth, Old Xu came to his senses. He hurriedly looked at Jiang Wang and said with an awkward grin, "Just a line of patter. Pretend you didn't hear that first part. But the latter part came straight from my heart—I was moved to say it."

Jiang Wang had no response.

He gave a light cough and looked at the girl before him, who seemed utterly infatuated. "I don't know what Old Xu told you, but you'd best not believe it. A girl traveling outside must pay attention to her safety. No matter whom you meet or what you hear, you must remain vigilant..."

Before he could finish, the girl sat down opposite him. No one knew where she had produced a long spear from, but she slammed it onto the table with a bang.

Jiang Wang swallowed hard.

Xiaoyu's expression shifted slightly. One hand still held her saber, while the other had already settled on the hilt of the sword behind her.

Miss Shu glanced at Xiaoyu but said nothing.

Jiang Wang silently looked at the long spear lying across the table, then calmly asked, "What tea would you like?"

Miss Shu stared intently at Jiang Wang's face. "I don't drink tea."

Jiang Wang stiffly turned his neck toward Old Xu, who stood beside them and seemed to have been frightened senseless by the girl's display.

Old Xu came back to himself and stubbornly said, "Girls who know martial arts... are more reliable."

Under Jiang Wang's fierce glare, he leaned in awkwardly and whispered, "Miss Shu clearly does want to get married. Though she seems a little domineering, she's beautiful! I followed the Young Marquis's requirements quite strictly and completed the task..."

Apparently unable to withstand Jiang Wang's gaze any longer, Old Xu hurriedly said, "You two take your time talking. I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first!"

The sight of him fleeing the teahouse was thoroughly panicked.

Jiang Wang was silent for a moment. Looking at the girl across from him, he said solemnly, "I'm very capable."

Miss Shu raised a brow, braced both arms on the table, and said, "That old man told me that you cover the sky with one hand in Hun City, and that there is nothing you cannot do."

Jiang Wang's mouth twitched.

He dearly wanted to drag Old Xu, who had just escaped, back here.

"So..." Jiang Wang looked into Miss Shu's eyes. "You came to Hun City with a purpose."

Miss Shu nodded. "This is my first time in Hun City, but that old man was very enthusiastic. As long as he found me the most influential person here aside from the Hun City Garrison Commander, I would give him three hundred taels of silver as payment."

Jiang Wang relaxed. "You really are rich. But I'm afraid you've found the wrong person."

Miss Shu said, "I went to the Garrison Headquarters. I heard that the Young Marquis fought Fish Abyss Academy's Cai Tanggu. Whenever the Young Marquis was mentioned, the people at the Garrison Headquarters fell silent as cicadas in winter. I had to use quite a few methods before they told me the truth. The old man did not deceive me."

"It just so happened that you were looking for a marriage match, while the old man could lead me to you. I merely played along with the scheme."

Jiang Wang had a terrible headache.

He naturally understood Old Xu's character very well.

Though Old Xu had wanted to earn silver, he had also genuinely wanted to find Jiang Wang a good wife.

He simply had not cared whether Jiang Wang was willing.

Besides, judging by Miss Shu's words, even without Old Xu, she likely would have found Jiang Wang soon enough.

"You could make the people at the Garrison Headquarters obediently listen with just a few methods, so your status must be extraordinary. The Garrison Headquarters would certainly help you do things. Why go to the trouble of coming to me?"

Miss Shu said rather proudly, "I came to Hun City on very important business. If I need someone's help, naturally I must find the most capable person."

Jiang Wang was silent for a moment before saying, "This is Hun City. The Garrison Headquarters is the highest authority here. Has it occurred to you that the Garrison Headquarters might be the most capable one?"

Miss Shu said angrily, "You're making sophistical arguments!"

Jiang Wang said, "I'm speaking reason."

They stared at each other.

In the end, Miss Shu was the first to yield, because her eyes had started to ache.

In truth, Jiang Wang had already roughly guessed.

She possessed the means to make the Garrison Headquarters back down, and she had come to Hun City with some purpose in mind.

No matter how he considered it, she could only be one of the people seeking Immortal Traces, just as the Green-robed Cultivator and White-robed Cultivator had said.

According to the Green-robed Cultivator, these seekers of immortals all believed that the Mirage hanging high above Qixia Street was an omen of Immortals Descend.

And the Mirage seemed to be inside his own mind. Jiang Wang knew perfectly well that he could not possibly be some immortal. If these seekers discovered anything, trouble would have no end.

This was different from wanting Cai Tanggu to seek revenge. Matters involving so-called immortals were beyond Jiang Wang's control.

If he attracted some heaven-reaching figure, then forget truly controlling the power of the Mirage—he might be cut down halfway before he even grew up.

Though ever since the Mirage appeared, he had seemingly never been defeated, whether against Monsters or cultivators, he had nearly stumbled over Cai Tanggu. He was not yet so confident as to believe himself invincible beneath heaven.

When facing seekers of immortals, it was best to avoid them if possible.

How could he possibly let one stay at his side?

Just as Jiang Wang was considering what convincing reason he could use to send Miss Shu away.

Someone else suddenly entered the teahouse.

It was an old man with a weathered face, dressed in coarse hemp clothing. He held a short blade in his hand, its sheath visibly battered and broken. The moment he stepped into the teahouse, he seemed to bring an aura with him, as though a gust of wind had blown straight inside.

The old man in coarse hemp clothing swept his gaze lightly over Jiang Wang.

Jiang Wang could not help but shudder.

Killing intent?!

He became wary at once.

That killing intent reminded him of the Jianli wearing a veiled hat back then.

He had never imagined that, after the Du Family matter had been resolved, something like this would still happen.

Could Du Zicheng be stirring up trouble again?

He could be cold-blooded and merciless toward enemies, but he was by no means someone who slaughtered innocents. If it truly was Du Zicheng, then he really would have to consider uprooting the Du Family entirely.

This was South City Alley, not Qixia Street.

Du Zicheng's "good deed" had come at the wrong time.

At that moment, Du Zicheng, recovering from his injuries at the Du Family residence, sneezed several times in a row. He muttered in confusion, "Could someone be cursing me? It must be Old Du!"

He immediately vented his resentment by wolfing down three bowls of rice.

He wondered whether he should run away from home.

But in his current condition, if he really did that, he would probably die outside.

Forget it. Endure for a moment and the winds will calm and waves will settle. In time, he would get used to it.