Renting a House

The inn's soundproofing was poor, with the walls practically nonexistent.

However, Lu Ming had traveled through time, hurried along the road, suffered the cold, and cultivated all in a single day. On top of that, he was already utterly exhausted.

So the creaking sounds, the howls like ghosts and wolves, and the rest did not affect him.

Instead, he slept exceptionally soundly.

The next day, Lu Ming woke naturally. After stretching, he hurriedly circulated the flow of qi within his body. Only after confirming it was still there did he feel reassured.

The wisp of inner qi inside him was still extremely weak, providing him with almost no enhancement.

So he was still an ordinary person.

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

He went to the window and glanced at the sun. Seeing that it was already getting late, he hurried to check out. Ignoring the shop assistant's strange expression, he strode out.

He was going to rent a house.

In a corner of the eastern part of the city, near the city wall, there was a small, dilapidated area separated by a narrow creek.

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

Lu Ming came here after leaving the inn. If the original owner's memories were correct, one household here was eager to sell its house, but because the conditions were so poor, it had never found a buyer.

The reason he knew about this was that the owner of the house worked at a famous restaurant in the city. When the original owner had begged for food outside the restaurant, he had overheard the man complaining about it to his companions.

Now Lu Ming only hoped the house had not yet been sold.

When he reached the creek, he happened to run straight into that man. He was a young man carrying a bundle, seemingly about to leave.

Lu Ming hurried forward and said, "Wait a moment, big brother."

"Do you need something?"

The young man was startled when someone suddenly stopped him.

Lu Ming cupped his hands and hurriedly said, "I want to rent a house. I wonder if there are any available for rent over there."

He pointed across the creek.

"Rent a house?"

The young man looked Lu Ming up and down. Seeing that his clothing was made of fine material, he was puzzled as to why Lu Ming would come here to rent a house.

Lu Ming naturally saw the man's confusion and explained:

"My family fell into decline. I came here with a merchant caravan and planned to settle down here, but I've nearly spent all the money on me."

As he spoke, he put on an awkward expression at just the right moment.

"I see."

The young man seemed to accept the explanation. "Then you're in luck. I happen to have a house to rent out. 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 arrived on the other side of the creek.

The road here was in terrible condition, with weeds growing everywhere. At a glance, it was clear that few people came this way.

"Only two households live here—me and Old Man Zhao. I basically stay at the restaurant, so I rarely come back."

The young man introduced the situation as they walked. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at a fenced courtyard. Inside, an old man with completely white hair and beard was lying on a reclining chair, 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 have you come back again? And who's the person you brought with you?"

"Someone renting a house."

The young man replied 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 old man. "Greetings, Elder."

"Mm."

Old Man Zhao nodded at Lu Ming, counting that as an acknowledgment, then said to Young Man Li:

"No one's lived in your house for a long time. It's shabby and broken. Don't cheat this man."

The young man gave an awkward smile and said unhappily, "I say, Old Man Zhao, don't make things up. My house is a little run-down, but..."

Before he could finish, the old man waved him away. "All right, all right, hurry up and go. Don't disturb me while I'm enjoying the sun."

The young man snorted softly and strode ahead.

Lu Ming cupped his hands toward the old man again, taking it as thanks for his good intentions, then quickly followed.

After a dozen or so steps, they arrived at another small fenced courtyard. As Old Man Zhao had said, it was extremely dilapidated, with even the courtyard overgrown with weeds.

"This is the place."

Seeing the weeds filling the courtyard, the young man also looked somewhat embarrassed and explained, "Don't let the shabby appearance fool you. The kitchen utensils and such are all there, so you won't need to buy them. There's also a small grove behind the house. You can gather firewood there when you need it, so you won't have to buy that either."

Following where the man pointed, Lu Ming indeed saw a grove made up of a dozen or so trees. Beyond it stood the city wall.

Actually, the location was fairly good, with water in front and woods behind. It was exceptionally quiet.

It was just too close to the towering city wall. From above, the entire courtyard could be seen at a glance, leaving no privacy, so no one had ever shown interest in it.

"How much would you charge to rent it, Big Brother Li?"

Lu Ming took a general look around and was fairly satisfied. If the city had not forbidden people from building houses privately, he would even have wanted to build one himself in the grove.

"Well..."

The young man had not decided on a price either. After thinking for a while, he said:

"How about six qian of silver a month?"

"Six qian?" Lu Ming compared it with the memories he had and knew that the price was already extremely fair.

After all, this was a world of martial arts. Martial Artists made money with ridiculous ease. Killing a single demon beast casually could earn them a great deal.

They might lack money, but only large sums. They did not lack small change.

They tossed around thousands of taels as if they were nothing.

As a result, prices had become extremely distorted.

Being able to rent a house for six qian of silver a month—and a small courtyard at that—was indeed cheap.

However, he still pleaded, "Big Brother Li, you can see that I'm not very well-off. Could you lower it a little? I'll rent it for a year."

"Rent it for a year?"

The young man frowned slightly. He did not refuse outright, but then waved his hand and said:

"Forget it, forget it. I was planning to give up on this place anyway. I'll count it as doing a good deed and charge you five qian of silver a month."

"Thank you, Big Brother Li."

Lu Ming was delighted. He hurriedly thanked him, then signed a contract with him. Since Lu Ming could not read, he merely pressed a fingerprint.

The deal was concluded.

"Now I finally have a home."

After seeing the man off, Lu Ming gazed at the small fenced courtyard before him and sighed, exhaling a puff of white air.

He did not delay and began cleaning the house.

By noon, after cleaning for most of the morning, the small courtyard was finally presentable.

Now Lu Ming was not only exhausted, but also ravenously hungry.

He went to the kitchen, which he had not yet begun cleaning, and found cobwebs everywhere. The pot was already covered in rust, clearly untouched by a fire for a very long time.

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

Lu Ming washed his face, then left the courtyard with the last three taels and seven qian of silver he had. When he passed Old Man Zhao's house, he found the reclining chair empty, with no sign of where the man had gone.

He did not think much of it and strode toward the single-plank bridge.

It was not until nearly half an hour later that Lu Ming returned with bags in both hands. He had bought a sack of ordinary white rice and some oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

He had also bought several sets of coarse-cloth clothes for changing.

His silver had decreased by another one tael, two qian, and three fen.

However, that sack of white rice would be enough to feed him for more than a month.

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

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

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

As for the creek, he had also heard from the man that there was a brothel upstream. The courtesans often dumped filthy things into it, so he had told Lu Ming not to use it.

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

"Elder Zhao."

Lu Ming called out a greeting.

"So it's you, boy. I almost didn't recognize you after you changed clothes."

Old Man Zhao was lowering the rope suspending the wooden bucket into the well. Hearing Lu Ming, he raised his head and glanced at him. "Have you rented the house? How much did it cost?"

"I rented it. Five qian of silver a month."

Lu Ming walked closer as he replied.

"Young Man Li is fairly honest."

Old Man Zhao nodded, then turned his gaze back to him. "By the way, I saw you wearing fine clothes earlier. How did you change into these in the blink of an eye?"

Lu Ming continued with his earlier story and explained, "My family declined. From now on, I'll save wherever I can."

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

Old Man Zhao did not ask any further questions. Instead, he prepared to haul up the water.

Seeing his white-flecked beard, Lu Ming instinctively stepped forward. "Elder Zhao, let me help you."

"You?"

Old Man Zhao was somewhat surprised and paused. Then he shook his head with a laugh. "No need. With a body as skinny as yours, you're probably not even heavier than a bucket of water. In a moment, I'd have to fish you out of the well."

Lu Ming realized that was probably true as well and gave an awkward laugh.

"Watch closely. Don't think that just because I'm an old bag of bones, I don't have any strength left."

Old Man Zhao spoke again. Then, to Lu Ming's stunned amazement, he gave a light pull with one hand and lifted the bucket full of water right out of the well.

Before it could fall back down, he gently caught it with his other hand.

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

The water did not even ripple.

"What are you standing there gawking at? Bring your bucket over already."