Borrowing Silver

"Borrowing silver? What does Senior Disciple Brother need silver for?"

Ji Boying looked utterly astonished, and Yue Lingshan was equally puzzled.

On Mount Hua, they lacked neither food nor drink, shelter nor clothing. There was simply nowhere to spend money.

Linghu Chong gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"Didn't a new Spring Rain Tower open at the foot of our mountain? Spring Rain Tower is a restaurant from Chang'an City, yet they actually came all the way to Huayin County to open a branch. Their most famous offering is twenty-year Spring Breeze Fine Wine. This... this... heh..."

Linghu Chong rubbed his hands together.

"Senior Disciple Brother, when you drank too much and were put in confinement some time ago, was it because you drank this Spring Breeze Fine Wine? What kind of wine is it? How come I've never heard of it?"

Ji Boying asked with a smile.

Linghu Chong waved a hand casually.

"Who cares what kind of wine it is? I don't know either. But when your Second Senior Disciple Brother went down the mountain some time ago, he brought me a jar. Its taste was truly exquisite—richly fragrant, with an endless aftertaste. I couldn't help drinking a little too much, and that was how Master caught me."

The people on Mount Hua did not have much money, but Mount Hua was never short of wine. It was only that Yue Buqun did not allow them to drink too much.

Linghu Chong was a drunkard who often sneaked wine to drink.

In his earlier years, his methods had been clumsy, and he was often caught.

Over the past few years, he had been caught less and less often.

He should not have slipped up this time either, but he had not expected the wine to taste so wonderful that even a drunkard like him could not resist drinking too much.

Yue Lingshan said, "Senior Disciple Brother, you still want to drink? If my father finds out, he'll be angry again. He definitely won't let you off."

Linghu Chong smiled. "Just a little, just a little. I absolutely won't drink too much. Besides, with wine this good, I don't have enough money to drink much of it anyway."

"With wine like this, I'll have more drive when I practice martial arts and can focus better too. As long as I train properly, Master will certainly be pleased."

After hearing this, Yue Lingshan no longer tried to persuade him. Linghu Chong's drinking was truly impossible to stop. Over more than ten years, no one knew how many times he had been punished, yet he remained the same.

"How much silver do you need, Senior Disciple Brother?"

"Twenty taels."

"This wine certainly isn't cheap."

As expected of Spring Breeze Fine Wine, Ji Boying felt a sense of reverence just hearing about it.

The family assets his parents had left behind would not even be enough to drink such wine more than a few times.

But why had he never heard of such fine wine? He truly was ignorant. Many details were not even described in the original novel.

"Please wait a moment, Senior Disciple Brother. I'll go get it for you."

Ji Boying turned and went back into his room, taking out a bundle from the corner at the foot of his bed.

It clinked heavily in his hands.

When he opened it, there were several hundred taels of silver inside, in both loose pieces and whole ingots.

Ji Boying's family had lived by farming and studying. Though they did not possess much surplus wealth, they still had some land and ancestral property.

His identity in this life had also brought him many conveniences.

For instance, he should not have known so many rumors from the martial world over the years, but he could attribute them all to this identity, claiming they were stories passed down by his ancestors.

After his parents in this life died, Ji Boying had conveniently transmigrated into this world.

By chance, Yue Buqun had come down the mountain on business, and Ji Boying had received him at his home.

He had then asked Yue Buqun to examine his aptitude. It turned out that he was a martial arts prodigy, so he went up Mount Hua to practice martial arts and study under a master.

The house, land, and livestock left behind by his family could not become attachments for the transmigrated Ji Boying, so he had sold them all together for several hundred taels of silver.

His fellow disciples all knew Ji Boying's background and knew that he had saved up some family assets.

So whenever Linghu Chong was short of money, Ji Boying was the first person he thought of.

Ji Boying counted out twenty taels of silver, wrapped them in a cloth handkerchief, then came back out and placed them in Linghu Chong's hand.

Though it was not much money, Linghu Chong rarely got his hands on this much silver while on Mount Hua.

Yet without even looking at it, he casually handed it to Laodeno, who had been standing beside them for some time.

"Second Junior Disciple Brother, I'll leave it to you."

Laodeno accepted the money and smiled. "Rest assured, Senior Disciple Brother. I will not fail you."

After saying that, he nodded to Ji Boying and Yue Lingshan, then turned and left.

The moment Laodeno departed, Ji Boying stopped Linghu Chong.

With a smile, he said, "Senior Disciple Brother, you were confined for quite some time, so we haven't seen your esteemed face in ages. Now that this junior disciple has had the good fortune to run into you, I must ask Senior Disciple Brother to give me some guidance in martial arts."

Linghu Chong leaned back, smiling helplessly as he pointed at Ji Boying.

"You little Junior Disciple Brother, you've finally caught Senior Disciple Brother by the handle. Asking me for guidance is only a pretense. What you really want is to knock down your Senior Disciple Brother and seize the throne."

Ji Boying smiled. "I have no desire to catch you by the handle, Senior Disciple Brother. But since you've taken my money, you can't refuse to do me this favor."

Linghu Chong clapped his hands.

"Good, good! Splendid, splendid!"

"So as long as I, Linghu Chong, make a move, Junior Disciple Brother is willing to lend me twenty taels of fine silver. My appearance fee isn't low at all. So these lousy hands of mine are actually this valuable."

Ji Boying added, "If Senior Disciple Brother can come spar with me every day for two or three hours and keep it up for two months, then I truly won't ask for those twenty taels of silver back."

People of the martial world did not place much importance on money to begin with. With the skills Ji Boying possessed, he was not worried about lacking money in the future.

Linghu Chong was one of the best opponents he could find on Mount Hua at present. Spending twenty taels to hire him for two months was not a loss.

Moreover, Ji Boying was confident that if Linghu Chong trained hard with him every day for two months, Linghu Chong would certainly improve greatly as well.

As the senior disciple brother of the Mount Hua Sect, it was naturally better for his martial arts to be stronger. If he could train him up, it would make Master and Mistress happy and lessen Master's burdens and pressure.

But Linghu Chong only gave a bitter smile and waved his hand, unable to satisfy Ji Boying's wishes.

"Junior Disciple Brother, spare me. I can endure training a few times, but if I have to come train every day, it would be worse than killing me."

Linghu Chong continued, "I know I truly ought to practice martial arts diligently, but Senior Disciple Brother was born with this temperament. Even if I work hard, it has to be like this: if I feel like practicing swordsmanship today, then I practice swordsmanship today; if I feel like cultivating internal energy tomorrow, then I cultivate internal energy tomorrow. If I want to practice swordsmanship for one hour, then I practice for one hour. If I want to practice internal arts for five hours, then I practice for five hours."

"I don't waste my time. I train every day. I simply can't stand such rigid arrangements."

As he spoke, Linghu Chong changed the subject and drew his sword.

"Come, come. It's rare for you to be in the mood, Junior Disciple Brother. Half a month has passed since our last friendly match. With your talent, you must have made great progress again. Let Senior Disciple Brother see it and broaden my horizons."

Seeing this, Ji Boying did not say anything further.

He drew his sword and stood in the courtyard, putting some distance between them.

Yue Lingshan also skipped over to a corner of the courtyard, her large dark eyes blinking as she waited to watch the excitement.

"Senior Disciple Brother, be careful."