At dusk, the cooking smoke in Southern District's alleys had thinned, leaving only a few wisps, like the sparse white hairs at an old woman's temples, trembling in the evening breeze.
Yet in the small courtyard of Ye Qingxuan's home, a domineering aroma of meat was rising.
The fragrance mingled the charred scent of firewood with the salty freshness of sauce, thread by thread slipping over the courtyard wall and stirring the gluttonous worms in the neighboring bellies into a stormy sea.
Before the stove, Ye Qingxuan had rolled up his sleeves and was wielding an iron spoon, intently stir-frying a piece of pork belly streaked with fat and lean meat. The meat sizzled in the boiling oil, its skin already fried golden brown and slightly charred. With every turn, it was coated in another layer of sauce, growing ever more glossy and enticing.
"Smells so good..."
The door curtain was lifted, and a small, thin figure poked her head out. It was his younger sister, Ye Caiwei. She looked about nine years old, with a sallow, emaciated face; only her eyes were large and lively. At that moment, she was staring unblinkingly at the pot, her nostrils gently fluttering as she unconsciously swallowed her saliva.
"Nannan, come carry the dish." Ye Qingxuan did not turn his head. His hands never stopped moving as he sprinkled chopped garlic shoots into the pot and gave it several fierce tosses. A still richer fragrance immediately billowed up.
He transferred the dish to a coarse porcelain plate prepared in advance. The plate was piled high with braised pork, the quivering chunks gleaming with oil.
Ye Caiwei cheered, carefully cradled the plate, and scampered into the room in tiny steps.
Ye Qingxuan extinguished the fire, ladled water with a gourd dipper to wash his hands, and watched his sister's back with a smile. The smile held warmth, but also a trace of vicissitude that did not belong to someone his age.
He was not a person of this world.
Nineteen years ago, he had been an ordinary young man in another world. After an accident, his soul had drifted away and somehow landed in the body of a boy from this world who shared his name.
The boy's family had been poor. His father, Old Ye, had been a constable in the Fengtian Division. But three years ago, Old Ye had been gravely wounded during an operation to suppress the Myriad Tribulation Sect. After lingering for two years, he had ultimately passed away.
Before his death, Old Ye had exhausted his final connections and savings to secure Ye Qingxuan a job in the Fengtian Division as an "unregistered temporary constable."
His status was lowly and his monthly pay meager, but at least it was work that earned him an official meal, enough to keep the siblings from starving in the streets.
The debts Old Ye had incurred for his treatment, however, were like a great mountain weighing down this already wind-tossed, rain-beaten household.
Ye Qingxuan carried a bowl of coarse rice into the room. The plate of braised pork sat in the center of the table. Ye Caiwei sat properly on a little stool, both hands resting on her knees, but her eyes were fixed on the meat, her small face filled with anticipation.
"Eat." Ye Qingxuan picked up the largest piece of meat and placed it in his sister's bowl.
"Big Brother eats first." Ye Caiwei picked the meat back up and pushed it to the edge of Ye Qingxuan's bowl.
Warmth filled Ye Qingxuan's heart. He no longer refused, picking up the meat and taking a bite. The fat melted in his mouth, while the lean meat was tender and rich. The long-missed flavor of meat exploded across his tongue, making him narrow his eyes.
The original owner of this body had once tried to practice martial arts as well, hoping to make a name for himself in the Fengtian Division like his father. Unfortunately, his aptitude had been mediocre. After several years of training, he had not even touched the threshold of the Body Tempering Realm. Instead, the consumption of qi and blood from training had left his physique even weaker than an ordinary person's.
Since crossing over, Ye Qingxuan had known that in this muddy world, without power or influence, only strength could serve as the foundation for survival. He had taken up martial arts again, but the result remained the same. His body was like a sieve, unable to retain qi and blood, and the martial path seemed destined to have no connection with him.
At this thought, Ye Qingxuan's brows creased unconsciously.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind without warning. It was ancient and boundless, impossible to distinguish as male or female.
[Detected an intense desire for the Dao in the host; Martial Path Heavenly Machine Codex... activating...] [Recording cultivation art: Indestructible Vajra Body...]
Ye Qingxuan's hand, gripping his chopsticks, suddenly stopped.
Before his eyes, a phantom scroll seemed to appear and slowly unfurl.
On the scroll, rows of tiny, neat characters emerged clearly.
Name: Ye Qingxuan Realm: None Martial Art: Indestructible Vajra Body (Progress: Zero Inches, Merit: 0/5)
What was this...
Ye Qingxuan's breathing suddenly quickened. He stared fixedly at the phantom characters, his heart pounding wildly. Was this his cheat? Three years after crossing over, just as he had nearly despaired, this thing had finally appeared!
Indestructible Vajra Body—one could tell from the name alone that it was an external body-tempering art. The progress and Merit listed afterward had transformed the ethereal path of cultivation into a clearly visible process.
There was hope!
There was hope for this family!
He suppressed the wild joy in his heart, light bursting from the depths of his eyes. The limitless possibilities of the future unfolded before him with a thunderous flourish, like a magnificent painting.
"Big Brother, what's wrong?" Seeing something strange in his expression, Ye Caiwei asked worriedly.
"It's nothing." Ye Qingxuan came back to himself, took a deep breath, and pressed down his surging emotions. He gave his sister a smile. "Eat the meat quickly. It won't taste good once it gets cold."
The moment he finished speaking—
"Screeech—"
A piercing crash rang out. The courtyard gate had actually been kicked open from outside. One of the two battered wooden doors flew straight away, while the other swayed precariously, its hinges groaning under the strain.
The warm atmosphere inside the room was instantly torn to pieces by the brutal intrusion.
Ye Caiwei's small face turned deathly pale with fright. The chopsticks in her hand clattered to the ground, and she hid behind Ye Qingxuan, clutching his clothes tightly with both hands as she trembled.
For an instant, Ye Qingxuan's gaze turned sharp. But that fierce edge flashed and vanished, swiftly dissolving into calm—or rather, restraint.
He rose slowly, shielding his sister behind him, and looked toward the entrance.
In the moonlight, five or six burly men blocked the doorway. The leader was in his thirties, with a scar running from the corner of his brow to the corner of his mouth. As his face twisted into a feral grin, the scar looked like a crooked centipede, especially horrifying.
Ye Qingxuan recognized him. He was Hu Jiudao, a thug under Duan Tianbao, the hall master of the Fierce Tiger Hall in the western part of the city.
Hu Jiudao shouldered a ghost-headed saber and strode into the courtyard with broad, swaggering steps. His eyes swept around the yard before finally landing on Ye Qingxuan's face. He gave a cackling laugh, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"Well, well, the Ye boy's living quite comfortably. You're even eating meat now."
The few lackeys behind him laughed along, their words dripping with contempt.
Ye Qingxuan's face remained expressionless. He cupped his hands. "So it's Brother Jiudao. May I ask what brings you here so late at night?"
"What brings me?" Hu Jiudao patted his shoulder with the back of his saber and sauntered to the doorway. He sniffed at the plate of braised pork inside. "Tsk, tsk, it really smells good. Ye boy, let's speak frankly. Before your father died, he borrowed ten taels of silver from our Fierce Tiger Hall. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"
Ye Qingxuan's fist quietly clenched inside his sleeve.
"Of course I remember."
"Good that you remember." Hu Jiudao bared his teeth in a grin, making the scar appear even more sinister. "By my count, today's the day you repay it. Ten taels of principal, four taels of interest—fourteen taels in all. Hand it over."
Fourteen taels!
Ye Qingxuan's heart sank.
As an unregistered temporary constable, he earned no more than five hundred copper coins a month. Even without eating or drinking, it would take him more than two years to save enough. To him, this enormous sum was an astronomical figure.
"Brother Jiudao," Ye Qingxuan slowed his tone, his words carrying a hint of negotiation. "My father has only just passed away, and our household is truly struggling. Could you perhaps..."
"Could I give you a few more days?" Hu Jiudao cut him off. The smile vanished from his face, replaced by icy darkness. "Ye Qingxuan, do you take our Fierce Tiger Hall for a charity hall? Debts must be repaid—that's the natural order! If you can't produce the money today..."
He paused, his gaze passing over Ye Qingxuan and settling on Ye Caiwei, who had poked half her little head out from behind him, terror filling her eyes.
"Your little sister's quite a pretty thing. Fourteen taels of silver? If you sold her to Spring Breeze Tower, she'd probably fetch more than that, wouldn't she?"
Those words were like a poisoned needle, stabbing viciously into Ye Qingxuan's heart.
Ye Caiwei shuddered violently behind him and burst into tears with a loud wail.
Ye Qingxuan's body shook. At last, uncontrollable fury began to burn in those usually tranquil eyes. The arm protecting his sister bulged with taut veins.
Yet in the end, he did not lose his temper.
He knew that before Hu Jiudao and his men, he was no more than meat on a chopping block.
He drew a deep breath and forced all his fury and humiliation back into the depths of his heart, his mind spinning rapidly.
Martial Path Heavenly Machine Codex... Indestructible Vajra Body...
With this, anything was possible!
He needed time!
"Brother Jiudao," Ye Qingxuan's voice calmed, revealing neither joy nor anger. "I will definitely repay the money. It's just that I truly can't gather it all right now. Please give me ten days. Ten days from now, I will personally deliver all fourteen taels to the Fierce Tiger Hall, without missing a single coin."
Hu Jiudao narrowed his eyes and sized up Ye Qingxuan.
Faced with his threats, the boy before him had not panicked. Instead, he was so composed that it surprised him.
"Ten days?" Hu Jiudao sneered. "What will you use as a guarantee?"
"With this uniform of mine, and the fact that I am still a member of the Fengtian Division." Ye Qingxuan spoke each word clearly, his voice ringing like iron striking stone.
Hu Jiudao fell silent.
The Fengtian Division was, after all, an official power. An unregistered temporary constable might not amount to much, but if this truly escalated, it would not benefit the Fierce Tiger Hall either.
After pondering for a moment, he nodded. "Fine. I'll give you ten days. But after ten days, it won't be this amount anymore."
He held up two fingers.
"Another two taels in interest—sixteen taels! Ten days from now, if you're short by even a single coin, I'll take your sister away. Do you understand?"
Ye Qingxuan lowered his eyelids, concealing the cold glint in his eyes.
"Understood."
"Get lost!" Only then satisfied, Hu Jiudao waved his large hand and led his pack of lackeys away arrogantly.
Only the courtyard gate, kicked apart, remained in the yard, swaying forlornly in the night breeze amid the wreckage strewn across the ground.
Ye Qingxuan slowly crouched down and held his crying sister tightly in his arms, gently patting her back.
"Don't be afraid, Nannan. Big Brother's here. Nothing will happen."
His voice was soft, yet it carried an unquestionable firmness.
Meanwhile, in his mind, the phantom scroll hovered in silence.
Name: Ye Qingxuan Realm: None Martial Art: Indestructible Vajra Body (Progress: Zero Inches, Merit: 0/5)
Ten days. Sixteen taels of silver.
In this muddy world, he would ultimately have to rely on these fists to carve out a path to survival!
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