The night was deep and dark, and the alleys of the Southern District were carved by moonlight into alternating strips of brightness and shadow.
Ye Qingxuan moved through the shadows, his footsteps light and soundless. The more than six taels of silver in his arms weighed heavily, like a red-hot brand pressed against his flesh, reminding him all the way of the danger and rewards of this trip.
When he reached the outside of his courtyard, he did not push open the wooden door that would creak the moment it moved. He stepped back twice, gathered his breath, and lightly touched the mottled wall with his toes. His body then rose like a fallen leaf lifted by the wind, silently vaulting over the courtyard wall.
Both feet landed, steady as roots taking hold.
Just as he let out a breath and prepared to cross the small courtyard, the door to the outer room creaked open, pushed from within to reveal a narrow gap.
A thread of dim, yellow lamplight seeped through the crack, illuminating a small, deathly pale face.
Ye Caiwei held up the lamp, her tiny body hidden behind the door. Her large eyes were filled with terror. The sudden black shadow in the courtyard had chilled the blood throughout her body.
"Who is it?" Her voice trembled, the last note carrying a sob.
Ye Qingxuan's heart tightened. He strode forward and tore off the black cloth covering his face.
"Nannan, it's your brother."
Moonlight and lamplight intertwined, illuminating his face.
When Ye Caiwei saw that it was her own brother, the chill rising from the soles of her feet finally faded. Her tense body went limp, and tears immediately streamed down. She did not cry aloud. She only bit her lip as large tears rolled down her cheeks, making the oil lamp in her hand sway.
"Brother..." She sniffled, unable to speak properly. "You... you scared me to death..."
Ye Qingxuan crossed the distance in three quick strides, took the oil lamp from her hand, and set it aside. Then he crouched down and pulled her tightly into his arms. The little girl's body was still trembling like a startled sparrow.
"It's brother's fault. I shouldn't have climbed over the wall." He gently stroked his sister's back again and again, his voice softening to the utmost.
Ye Caiwei buried her face against his chest and cried muffledly for a while before lifting her head. Her reddened eyes were full of lingering fear and grievance. "I... I heard something moving in the courtyard. I thought... I thought it was a bad person..."
Her little hands clutched Ye Qingxuan's lapel tightly, as though her brother might vanish the moment she let go.
"It won't happen again." Ye Qingxuan wiped away her tears. When his fingertip touched her cold cheek, his guilt deepened. Holding his sister's little face, he spoke solemnly, word by word. "Brother promises that from now on, I'll always use the front door. I won't frighten Nannan again."
Ye Caiwei sniffed, nodded, and rubbed herself against his chest again before asking softly, "Brother, you came back so late. Did you go catch bad people again? Was it dangerous?"
"Not dangerous." Ye Qingxuan lifted her and walked toward the house. "Brother just went to take care of something. Look, am I not perfectly fine?"
He carried his sister into the outer room. The pile of silver on the table had not yet been put away and gleamed beneath the lamp. Ye Caiwei's gaze fell on the largest silver ingot, and her little mouth formed a round O.
"Brother... that's so much money?"
Ye Qingxuan set her down on a stool, then sat beside her and gathered the silver into one pile. "Yes. I just earned it."
He did not go into the details of his experience at the Ghost Market. He only picked out what could be said and made up an explanation, saying that he had helped someone with some hard labor and had been rewarded for it.
Ye Caiwei understood only half of it, but seeing her brother return safely with so much money, her fright gradually faded beneath her joy. She carefully reached out and touched the silver ingot with one little finger, then quickly pulled back and looked up at Ye Qingxuan with shining eyes.
"Brother, are we... are we almost able to pay off the debt?"
"Almost." Ye Qingxuan rubbed her hair. "Once the debt is paid, brother will buy Nannan new clothes and osmanthus cakes."
"I don't want new clothes, and I don't want osmanthus cakes either." Ye Caiwei shook her head and began calculating like a little adult. "With this money and what we have at home, will it be enough to make fourteen taels?"
Ye Qingxuan fell silent.
They had a little over seven taels—nearly half of the fourteen taels was still missing.
Seeing that her brother said nothing, the small spark of excitement that had just risen in Ye Caiwei's eyes went out again. She lowered her head and counted on her fingers, murmuring, "We're still short by so much... Then... then what do we do tomorrow? The Fierce Tiger Hall's people are coming."
"Brother has a way." Ye Qingxuan took her little hand. "Do you believe in brother?"
Ye Caiwei raised her head and gazed into her brother's calm eyes before nodding hard. "I do!"
"Then go to sleep early." Ye Qingxuan escorted her back to the inner room and tucked the blanket around her. "Leave tomorrow's matters to brother."
Only after watching his sister close her eyes and her breathing gradually settle did Ye Qingxuan quietly withdraw to the outer room.
He sat before the table and looked at the pile of silver. His gaze swept over the standard constable's short saber in the corner. It was an heirloom left by his father and also proof of his current identity. Unless absolutely necessary, he could never touch it.
Seven taels were still missing. Tomorrow was the deadline.
He let out a long breath of stale air, carefully put away the silver, and hid it beneath the bottom of the chest. Then he removed his upper garment and sat cross-legged on the bed board.
Tomorrow's affair would require tonight's cultivation to give him confidence.
He closed his eyes and began circulating the cultivation method of Indestructible Vajra Body. His qi and blood surged, and the familiar soreness, numbness, swelling, and pain returned to his left arm. He rubbed it with the cloth bundle, making the flesh grow hot.
He was now at Body Tempering First Layer Perfection. The pain of cultivation was no longer as difficult to endure as before. Instead, it felt like a kind of nourishment. Amid the pain, he could clearly sense every change in his flesh, tendons, and bones.
After completing one set of the technique, heat steamed from his entire body, and sweat poured down like syrup.
He quietly waited for the reaction of the scroll in his mind.
A mote of light entered, and characters emerged.
[Merit: +2]
Ye Qingxuan's breathing abruptly caught.
He opened his eyes. The darkness inside the room seemed to have brightened several degrees.
Two?
Not one?
He focused his mind and looked inward. The characters on the scroll were crystal clear. They were unmistakably the character for "two."
[Name: Ye Qingxuan] [Realm: Body Tempering First Layer Perfection] [Martial Art: Indestructible Vajra Body (Realm: Minor Accomplishment, Progress: Two Inches, Merit: 2/45)]
A complete session of cultivation had actually yielded two points of Merit!
Ye Qingxuan's heart began pounding.
He recalled what had happened when he broke through that day: his qi and blood had surged like molten lava, while his tendons, bones, and flesh had been tempered again and again. Could it be that after his Realm advanced, the effects of cultivation had doubled as well?
Once this thought arose, he could no longer suppress it.
He forcefully calmed the waves in his heart, picked up the cloth bundle again, and selected the simplest arm-rubbing method from Indestructible Vajra Body. Following the cultivation method, he practiced it meticulously from beginning to end.
This effort lasted no more than a quarter of an hour.
After finishing, he immediately stopped and concentrated on sensing the result.
The scroll unfolded, and another mote of light entered.
[Merit: +2]
Still two!
Ye Qingxuan slowly unclenched his tightly held fist. Enormous joy surged from the depths of his heart and washed through his limbs and bones.
The effects of gaining Merit had truly doubled!
He had originally thought that gathering all forty-five points of Merit to advance to the third-layer "Tough Skin" Realm would take at least more than a month. But now, it seemed that as long as he practiced diligently without pause, he could complete the required Merit in just over twenty days!
This Martial Path Heavenly Machine Codex had truly given him an enormous bargain!
However...
He lowered his head and looked at his left arm. After being rubbed repeatedly, the skin on that arm had already become extraordinarily tough. During the cultivation just now, he had noticed that the pain caused by the cloth bundle had weakened considerably, and the stimulation was far inferior to before.
He remembered that the general outline of Indestructible Vajra Body stated: The Body Tempering method externally refines the flesh, progressing from the surface inward. It begins with cloth, proceeds to sand, then stone strikes, and finally blows from a staff. Only by advancing layer by layer can one achieve mastery.
The cloth bundle's effectiveness had nearly reached its limit. If he wanted to continue advancing and maintain the doubled effect of Merit, he would have to take the second step—sand grinding.
Rubbing with fine sand would cause pain far greater than the cloth bundle, like ten thousand steel needles stabbing into him. Its tempering effect on the flesh was likewise incomparable to that of the cloth bundle.
Tomorrow was his day off, so it was just the right time to make preparations.
However, fine sand and coarse gravel were difficult to find in the city. He suddenly thought of someone.
When his father was alive, he had often associated with a bricklayer from East Street surnamed Zhang, known as Uncle Zhang. Uncle Zhang's courtyard usually had plenty of river sand and gravel stored for emergencies. After his father passed away, the two families had interacted less, but Aunt Zhang was warmhearted. During festivals, she would occasionally have the children bring over some food made at home.
It should not be difficult to ask his family for some.
With his plan settled, Ye Qingxuan suppressed his distracting thoughts and stopped thinking about tomorrow's clash with the Fierce Tiger Hall.
When soldiers came, he would use a general to block them; when water came, he would use earth to dam it. Strength was the foundation of survival.
The next day, daylight filled the sky.
Since it was his day off, the Fengtian Division did not require him to report for duty, and Ye Qingxuan had a rare, sound sleep.
When he woke, Ye Caiwei had already prepared breakfast: a bowl of thick rice porridge and two fluffy steamed black-flour buns.
"Brother, since you don't have to work today, shall we go for a walk outside the city?" Ye Caiwei asked expectantly while taking small sips of porridge.
"Not today." Ye Qingxuan finished a bun in two or three bites. "Brother has to go out to take care of something this morning. In the afternoon, I have to meet with the Fierce Tiger Hall's people."
He said it lightly, but Ye Caiwei's little face fell again.
"Brother will come back to keep you company after I finish." Seeing her expression, Ye Qingxuan added, "Once this matter is settled, I'll take you to buy sugar paintings."
"Okay!" Only then did Ye Caiwei cheer up again.
After breakfast, Ye Qingxuan changed into a clean, old short jacket, said goodbye to his sister, and left the house.
He first went to the grocery shop at the street entrance and spent more than a dozen copper coins on two sturdy burlap sacks.
Then he headed straight for East Street.
The Southern District was mostly home to small households, with crowded courtyards. East Street, on the other hand, was home mainly to craftsmen: blacksmiths, carpenters, and bricklayers. Their courtyards stood one after another, while the clanging of hammering rang without end.
Relying on his memories, Ye Qingxuan made his way through the alleys and soon found Uncle Zhang's home.
It was a courtyard with its main gate standing open. Inside were hill-like piles of sand and gravel, along with rows of neatly stacked gray bricks. A woman in her early forties had rolled up her sleeves and was washing something in the courtyard.
"Aunt Zhang." Ye Qingxuan stepped forward and bowed.
The woman raised her head. When she saw him, she was startled at first, then her face broke into a warm smile.
"It's Qingxuan! You're off today? Quick, quick, come inside and sit!" Aunt Zhang wiped her hands on her apron and moved to pull him indoors.
"Auntie, I won't go in." Ye Qingxuan waved his hand and got straight to the point. "I came because I wanted to ask you for something."
"You child, what do you mean, ask?" Aunt Zhang gave him a reproachful look. "Why be so polite with your aunt? Whatever you need, just tell me."
Ye Qingxuan pointed at the pile of sand in the courtyard, then at a small heap of rounded stones beside it.
"I'd like... one sack of fine sand, and another sack of little stones like those."
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