Life-Buying Money

The side courtyard had been added later. It had originally been a small courtyard next door, but after its owner fell victim to an evil spirit and died under mysterious circumstances,

Master Qiao drove the evil spirit away.

The owner had only one distant nephew. Master Qiao gave him a few taels of silver to buy the property, opened up the wall between the courtyards, and made it his residence in Qihetan Town.

The side courtyard lay east of the inn and was arranged with great elegance. Bamboo grew along the south wall, and plum trees stood in the western corner.

Xu Yuan brought breakfast inside. Accountkeeper Liu was there too.

"Have you settled in all right here?" Master Qiao asked casually.

"Very well. Thank you for taking me in, Master," Xu Yuan replied.

"Your family entrusted you to me, so I ought to look after you. If anything comes up, don't hesitate to tell me."

Master Qiao waved a hand, and Xu Yuan took the hint and withdrew.

Accountkeeper Liu followed him out and called to him in the courtyard. "Were those two men yesterday really going into the mountains to gather goods?"

Xu Yuan opened his mouth to answer, "Yes," but found he couldn't tell a lie.

Accountkeeper Liu's fish-dead eyes stared straight at him. Xu Yuan could only tell the truth. "No. They went into the mountains looking for something, and they wanted to kill me, then bind my soul and make me keep guiding them. I led them to Diaotou Ridge, and that's how I made it back alive."

Xu Yuan explained in great detail, trying to divert Accountkeeper Liu's attention.

But Accountkeeper Liu was no novice; he wasn't fooled in the slightest. "What were they looking for?"

Xu Yuan didn't want to answer, but even a moment's hesitation would give him away.

"I overheard them talking. They mentioned things like Ox Leaf Bugs. I don't know what those are."

He couldn't lie, but Xu Yuan could muddy the pronunciation.

"Were the people you guided before also looking for something?"

"Not the first two groups. The last three were."

Accountkeeper Liu snapped, "Why didn't you report this?"

"I... I didn't know I was supposed to report it."

Accountkeeper Liu glared fiercely at Xu Yuan. "Remember! You work for the inn. From now on, report anything unusual to me! Understood?"

"Understood."

"Get lost."

Xu Yuan hurried away. Accountkeeper Liu had no idea he'd just been played by a child who'd barely seen the world.

Above the side courtyard's entrance hung a calligraphy plaque bearing three large characters: "Land Without Lies." Its power enveloped the entire courtyard.

The ink was still wet.

This was the ability of a Literary Cultivator.

Accountkeeper Liu returned to the room and frowned. "Boss, what's an Ox Leaf Bug? I've never heard of one."

Master Qiao stroked his beard and repeated under his breath, "Ox Leaf Bug, Ox Leaf Bug..."

He was just as stumped.

After a long while, Master Qiao said, "Keep an eye on the inn. I'll go into the mountains and ask around."

In the easternmost room on the second floor of the front courtyard, the woman took a huge ear-shaped device made of sandalwood and brass off her ear. She sneered to herself. Qiao Zi'ang, you idiot. Ox Leaf Bug? It's obviously a June Bug!

This wasn't her room. Master Qiao had personally arranged for her to stay at the westernmost end.

One of her subordinates, a Pill Cultivator, had drugged the guest staying in this room. The guest now obeyed her every command.

She took out a lifelike parrot with a bamboo-splint frame and gave it an order. "Send two people to test that young assistant in the back courtyard."

The parrot flew mechanically out the window and landed in a courtyard at the eastern end of town, where it repeated the woman's command to a group of people.

Xu Yuan was gathering firewood today, with two people following behind him.

Today the river was safe from the Forbidden River Proximity. The snail beauties on Beauty Dam were working especially hard. When the river was safe, outsiders wouldn't skirt around the riverbank, and the women used their voices to lure husbands in. It was the perfect time to haul in a massive catch.

Xu Yuan had taken a long detour. Just after he'd crossed the dam, the two men behind him caught up. "Little brother, slow down."

One was a Law Cultivator, the other a Pill Cultivator.

The Law Cultivator was Nine Streams, while the Pill Cultivator hadn't even Entered Stream.

That was also an ability of Fate Gazing: one glance at a person's fate could tell whether they were a cultivator.

It could even reveal their general level.

Other cultivators couldn't tell a cultivator from an ordinary person unless they had a special ability.

The burly man and Big-and-Small Eyes had watched Xu Yuan in secret for a long time before confirming that he was just an ordinary person.

Martial Cultivators were the exception...

Once a Martial Cultivator Entered Stream, he was always a good deal bigger than an ordinary person.

"We're going to Wangxiang Village. Could you show us the way?" The Law Cultivator took out a Silver Bean. "We won't make you do it for nothing. This is a little something for your trouble."

Xu Yuan had run into his sixth group of people wanting him to guide them in half a month, but they were the first to actually pay him.

The silver had a faint spell-mark on it—this was Life-Buying Money.

In the Law Cultivator's eyes, Xu Yuan's worthless life was worth exactly one Silver Bean, not a copper more.

Law Cultivators were the most chaotic of all the paths, with many different schools. The man in front of him knew how to make Life-Buying Money, so he was probably practicing Merchant Law.

Most practiced Artistic Law; Lawful Law was the hardest.

Xu Yuan had even heard his stepmother mention once that they had people who practiced Transforming Law, capable of turning people into dogs, snakes, or even millstones...

Various thoughts flashed through Xu Yuan's mind. Just as he had with Big-and-Small Eyes yesterday, he said, "Sirs, there are a few things we ought to settle beforehand. It's not about how much you pay..."

The Law Cultivator nodded. "We know the rules."

"Good." Xu Yuan took the Silver Bean. "This way, then."

Seeing him accept the Life-Buying Money, the Law Cultivator chuckled to himself. Now that he's taken the money, his life is in my hands.

Even a cultivator one level above him wouldn't be able to break free once a Merchant Law bargain had been struck.

The two men followed Xu Yuan, chatting idly with him along the way. For the sake of the Silver Bean, Xu Yuan answered patiently.

After they passed Hat Tomb and entered the mountains, the Law Cultivator asked, "Little brother, have many people gone into the mountains lately?"

"Plenty. To be honest, sirs, you're the sixth group I've guided in there over the past few days."

"What are they going into the mountains to do?"

"To gather mountain goods. Most people go in for that."

Xu Yuan's malice toward the two men kept rising, even tipping into murderous intent. Each time, he watched their fates carefully.

That was one way to use Fate Gazing.

Er Liang had harbored improper desires toward the woman in the front courtyard, and a streak of bloody Baleful Intent had appeared in his fate.

But the two men's fates showed no change at all.

Both were green, richer and more promising than Er Liang's White Fate.

Xu Yuan shook his head to himself. Clearly, his own power was still too weak. Even though he harbored malice, he couldn't affect them.

...Then he'd have to find another way.

The Law Cultivator put on a worried look. "With so many people going ahead of us to gather goods, I'm afraid we'll come back empty-handed."

Xu Yuan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something.

The Law Cultivator then took out another copper coin. "You've worked hard, little brother. Take this."

Xu Yuan's eyes turned greedy, but he demurred. "You've already paid me. How could I take more?"

The Law Cultivator held it out to him. "The first payment was for guiding us. This is for the trouble of keeping us company and chatting along the way."

Xu Yuan accepted it.

The Law Cultivator said, "Now you can tell us everything, can't you, little brother?"

This copper coin bought Xu Yuan's answers.

Once he accepted the money, Merchant Law controlled him. He had to answer every question and couldn't lie.

Sure enough, Xu Yuan said, "You needn't worry. Those people ahead all said they were going into the mountains to gather goods, but I don't think that's what they were doing. They..." Xu Yuan lowered his voice. "I think they're looking for something. You should still be able to find things if you go to Wangxiang Village."

"What are they looking for?"

"I don't know." Xu Yuan's eyes darted about, and his expression twisted with inner conflict. In the end, he said, "I heard someone among them mention Ox Leaf Bugs..."

The Law Cultivator and the Pill Cultivator exchanged a glance. No wonder Saint Aunt had told them to keep an eye on him!

The Law Cultivator asked again, "Where did those people go in the end?"

"They all went to Wangxiang Village."

As they spoke, they reached the edge of that stretch of woods. Xu Yuan pointed ahead. "Sirs, follow this road and you'll reach Wangxiang Village. There aren't any evil spirits blocking the way along this stretch, so I'll leave you here. I still have firewood to gather..."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan watched the Law Cultivator's green fate rapidly flood with a blinding crimson.

His Baleful Intent surged!

The Law Cultivator smiled strangely and reached out toward Xu Yuan. "Your life belongs to me!"

Inside Xu Yuan's sleeve, the mark on the Silver Bean lit up—but then went dark again.

The Law Cultivator suddenly felt blood surge backward into his throat. He couldn't stop himself from spitting out a mouthful!

Spell backlash!

Both the Law Cultivator and the Pill Cultivator were stunned.

The Law Cultivator wilted, unable to muster even the slightest strength. The backlash kept striking in waves, and he spat out several more mouthfuls of blood. He stared in disbelief. "What... What's going on? Is this brat's life... worth that much?"