Renting a House

The inn's soundproofing was terrible; the walls might as well not have existed.

But in a single day, Lu Ming had crossed into another world, hurried along the road, suffered through the cold, and cultivated just now. He was already exhausted beyond measure.

So the creaking sounds, the wails like ghosts crying and wolves howling, and the like did not affect him at all.

Instead, he slept exceptionally soundly.

The next day, Lu Ming woke naturally. After stretching lazily, he hurriedly circulated the thread of inner energy within him. Only after confirming it was still there did he finally feel at ease.

The thread of inner energy in his body was still extremely weak, and the enhancement it could provide was practically nonexistent.

So he was still an ordinary person.

But there was no need to rush. At least he had made a start.

He went to the window and glanced at the sun. Seeing that it was already late, he hurried downstairs to check out, then ignored the strange looks on the waiter's face and strode out.

He was going to rent a house.

At the eastern corner of the city, near the city wall, lay a patch of decrepit land separated off by a small stream.

It had originally been a village, but the construction of the city had made it unsuitable for habitation. It had gradually fallen into ruin, until only several broken houses remained.

After leaving the inn, Lu Ming came here. If the original owner's memories were correct, one household here had desperately wanted to sell its house, but the conditions were too poor, so it had never sold.

The reason he knew this was because the owner was a waiter at a famous restaurant in the city. When the original owner had begged for food outside the restaurant, he had heard the man complain about it to his companions.

Now, Lu Ming could only hope the house had not yet been sold.

When he arrived by the stream, he happened to run straight into that man. He was a young man carrying a bundle on his back, seemingly about to leave.

Lu Ming hurried forward. "Sir, please wait."

"Do you need something?"

Having suddenly been stopped, the young man was startled.

Lu Ming cupped his hands and quickly said, "I want to rent a house. Do you know if there are any available for rent over there?"

He pointed across the stream.

"Rent a house?"

The young man looked Lu Ming up and down. Seeing that the fabric of his clothes was far from ordinary, he was rather puzzled as to why Lu Ming had come here to rent a house.

Lu Ming could naturally see his confusion and explained,

"My family has fallen on hard times. I followed a merchant caravan here and plan to settle down in this city, but I have nearly spent all the money I brought with me."

As he spoke, he revealed just the right amount of embarrassment.

"I see."

The young man accepted that explanation. "Then you're lucky. I happen to have a house for rent. Come with me."

With that, he turned and led the way.

Lu Ming hurried after him.

Following the man's footsteps, they soon crossed a single-plank bridge and reached the other side of the stream.

The road here was badly broken and overgrown with weeds. At a glance, it was clear that few people ever came this way.

"Only two households live here: mine and Old Man Zhao's. I usually stay at the restaurant and rarely come back."

As the young man introduced the situation while walking, they soon arrived at a fenced courtyard. Inside, a white-haired old man was lying in a recliner, basking in the sun.

Perhaps hearing their footsteps, the old man opened his eyes and looked over. He asked irritably,

"Young Man Li, you just left. Why are you back already? And who have you brought with you?"

"A tenant."

The man answered casually, then pointed at the old man and introduced him to Lu Ming. "This is Old Man Zhao."

Lu Ming cupped his hands toward the elder. "Greetings, sir."

"Mm."

Old Man Zhao nodded at Lu Ming in acknowledgment, then said to Young Man Li,

"That house of yours has been empty for ages and is falling apart. Don't go cheating the lad."

Young Man Li gave an embarrassed smile and said unhappily, "Come on, Old Man Zhao, don't talk nonsense. My house is only a little run-down..."

Before he could finish, however, the old man waved him away. "Enough, enough. Get going. Don't disturb this old man while I'm sunbathing."

Young Man Li snorted softly and quickened his pace ahead.

Lu Ming cupped his hands toward the old man again, thanking him for his good intentions, then quickly followed.

After a dozen or so steps, they arrived at another small fenced courtyard. Sure enough, just as Old Man Zhao had said, it was utterly dilapidated, with weeds even filling the yard.

"This is it."

Seeing the weeds filling the courtyard, Young Man Li was somewhat embarrassed as well and explained,

"Don't let the shabbiness fool you. The kitchen utensils and everything are complete, so you won't need to buy any more. There's also a small grove behind it. You can gather firewood there for your usual cooking, so you won't have to buy that either."

Following the direction he pointed, Lu Ming indeed spotted a grove made up of a dozen or so trees. Beyond it stood the city wall.

This location was actually fairly good. There was water in front and woods behind, making it very quiet.

It was simply too close to the towering city wall. From above, the entire courtyard could be seen at a glance, leaving no privacy at all. That was why no one had ever cared for it.

"Brother Li, how much is the rent?"

Lu Ming looked the place over roughly and was quite satisfied. If the city had not forbidden people from building houses without permission, he would have wanted to build a hut in the grove himself.

"Well..."

Young Man Li had not thought of a price yet. After considering it for a moment, he said,

"How about six qian of silver a month?"

"Six qian?" Lu Ming compared it with his memories and knew that this price was already very fair.

After all, this was a world of martial arts. Martial Artists found it all too easy to make money; casually hunting a demonic beast could earn them quite a lot.

They might lack money, but they only lacked large sums, never small change.

They casually threw around thousands of taels at a time.

As a result, prices had become extremely distorted.

Being able to rent a house, and even a small courtyard, for six qian of silver a month was indeed cheap enough.

Still, he pleaded, "Brother Li, you can see that I'm not well-off either. Could you lower it a little more? I'll rent it for a year first."

"Rent for a year?"

Hearing that, Young Man Li furrowed his brow slightly. He did not refuse outright, though, and after a moment he waved his hand.

"Fine, fine. I was planning to give up on this place anyway. Consider it doing a good deed. Five qian of silver a month for you."

"Thank you, Brother Li."

Lu Ming was delighted and hurriedly thanked him. They then signed an agreement. Since Lu Ming could not read, he merely pressed down a thumbprint.

The deal was settled.

"Now, I finally have a home."

After seeing Young Man Li off, Lu Ming gazed at the small fenced courtyard before him and exhaled a puff of white breath with some emotion.

Then, without wasting time, he began cleaning up the house.

In the blink of an eye, it was noon. After most of the morning spent cleaning, the small courtyard finally looked somewhat presentable.

By now, Lu Ming was not only exhausted, but also starving.

He went to the kitchen, which he had not yet cleaned, and found cobwebs everywhere. Even the pot had rusted; it was obvious no fire had been lit here for a very long time.

"Forget it. I'd better go buy some things first."

Lu Ming washed his face, took the remaining three taels and seven qian of silver, and left the courtyard. As he passed Old Man Zhao's home, he found the recliner empty, with no sign of the man.

Without thinking much of it, he headed quickly for the single-plank bridge.

It was not until nearly half an hour later that Lu Ming returned carrying large and small bags. He had bought a sack of ordinary white rice, along with some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings.

He had also bought several sets of coarse cloth clothes to change into.

Another one tael, two qian, and three fen of silver had vanished.

However, this sack of white rice would be enough to feed him for over a month.

Passing Old Man Zhao's courtyard again, he still saw no one. He did see smoke rising from the chimney, though. Not wishing to disturb him, Lu Ming went straight back to his own home.

After putting away his things, Lu Ming changed into the coarse cloth clothes he had just bought. Then he picked up a wooden bucket, intending to fetch more water and thoroughly clean the kitchen.

The well was behind the courtyard. According to Young Man Li, the villagers had once shared this well, and it had been their main water source.

As for the stream, Young Man Li had said that there was a brothel upstream, and those girls often dumped filthy things into it, so Lu Ming should not use its water.

Lu Ming naturally listened. Carrying the wooden bucket, he came to the well. It was actually even closer to Old Man Zhao's courtyard, and the old man himself was drawing water there.

"Old Man Zhao."

Lu Ming greeted him.

"So it's you, young lad. You changed clothes, and I almost didn't recognize you."

Old Man Zhao was lowering the rope with a bucket tied to it into the well. Hearing Lu Ming, he looked up at him and asked, "Have you rented the house? How much did it cost?"

"I have. Five qian of silver a month."

Lu Ming walked closer as he replied.

"Young Man Li is fairly honest."

Old Man Zhao nodded, then looked him over again. "By the way, you were wearing clothes made of fine fabric earlier. Why did you change into this so quickly?"

Lu Ming continued with his earlier story. "My family has fallen into ruin. From now on, I must save wherever I can."

"I see. No wonder you chose to rent a place in this rundown area."

Old Man Zhao did not ask further and prepared to draw up the water.

Seeing his grizzled beard, Lu Ming subconsciously stepped forward. "Old Man Zhao, how about I help you?"

"You?"

Old Man Zhao paused in surprise, then smiled and shook his head. "No need. With that skinny frame of yours, you probably weigh less than a bucket of water. I'd have to fish you out of the well later."

Lu Ming realized that was true as well and smiled awkwardly.

"Watch closely. Don't be fooled by these old bones—I still have strength."

Old Man Zhao spoke again. Then, before Lu Ming's wide-eyed stare, he lightly pulled with one hand and sent the water-filled bucket flying out of the well.

Before it could even fall freely, his other hand gently caught it.

Even more astonishingly, not a single drop of water spilled throughout the entire process.

It did not even sway.

"What are you standing there dazed for? Bring your bucket over already."