An Opportune Meeting Was Fate

Mo Ci asked worriedly, "Wicked disciple, what are you planning to do? Don't tell me you're thinking of using something like this against Su Chunyi. Cultivators above the Qi Condensation Realm won't be affected."

Chen Ye smiled. "Master, I'm a little devil, not a little fool. Besides, Miss Su and I are friends of noble character. Why would I need to resort to such methods?"

"Then what exactly are you planning to do?"

"Cui County is, after all, the fief of Princess Hongyu. According to Miss Su's investigation, the order to forcibly conscript boys and girls came from the imperial court. And what a coincidence—the princess is about to come to Cui County. You expect me to believe this has nothing to do with her?"

Mo Ci chuckled. "Heh, you little devil. You're planning to use your charms."

Chen Ye laughed too. He wasn't actually planning to bewitch Princess Hongyu until she lost her senses and then take her hostage. He just wanted to find a way in sooner.

The imperial court's affairs were tangled and complicated; even going to the county magistrate might not help. Since Princess Hongyu was coming, why take the long way around?

But to meet the princess, he still needed to make a name for himself.

Chen Ye stuck to his original plan and went to the teahouse. Retrieving his bundle was incidental; the main reason was to see how famous he, the little immortal, had become—whether his name had spread throughout all of Cui County.

He'd thought that, returning to a familiar place, the teahouse waiter and owner would both welcome him with smiles.

But what Chen Ye saw was a teahouse with its doors tightly shut, and a waiter crouched out front, his face full of sorrow. His right leg was splinted, and purple bruises marked his face.

Chen Ye walked over in confusion and asked, "What happened to the teahouse?"

The young waiter looked up. Seeing Chen Ye's face covered, he asked uncertainly, "Who are you?"

Chen Ye removed his face covering, revealing his true appearance. The waiter stared at him, dumbfounded, and only came to his senses after a long while.

The waiter spoke through tears. "Immortal, you're back?! You've finally returned!"

"Take it easy. Tell me what happened."

Chen Ye soothed him for a few moments before the waiter tearfully explained, "Please forgive me, Immortal. Your bundle was stolen. They not only shut down the teahouse, but also hurt the owner. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have run my mouth..."

Chen Ye patiently listened to the waiter's disjointed account, his brow furrowing deeply.

This was a completely undeserved disaster.

That day, Chen Ye and Su Chunyi had put on a performance, and their fame had indeed spread far and wide. The teahouse's business had picked up as a result.

But when more customers came, so did more troublemakers.

The waiter said miserably, "I was only bragging that you and that fairy were peerlessly beautiful, Immortal. They said I was making it up. I argued with them a little, and they broke my leg, smashed up the place, and beat the owner too."

Chen Ye asked, "Did you report it to the authorities?"

"We did, but the yamen said the county magistrate was busy with official matters and had no time to hear the case. They told us to go home and wait. I heard they gave the yamen quite a lot of silver..."

Chen Ye sighed.

It seemed Zhao Hezhou had been right. The county magistrate of Cui County really was a corrupt official.

The waiter wept. "Immortal, they stole your bundle. I ran my mouth and dragged you into this. Please forgive me. Please save the owner. He was hurt because of me, and his injuries are severe. The doctor said he might not last much longer."

Chen Ye looked at the waiter's broken leg. Blood was still seeping through, and it seemed no one had properly treated it. He asked, "Have you been waiting here for me this whole time?"

"I had no other choice. The owner has been as kind to me as a mountain. Please, Immortal, save his life. All the blame is mine."

Chen Ye took out a medicine bottle and handed it to the waiter.

"For external injuries, take one pill with warm water. It should keep him alive. You should take one too; it'll help your leg heal faster."

The waiter took the bottle and immediately kowtowed to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye helped him back up and asked, "Where are those thugs? What are their names?"

The waiter hurriedly said, "There were more than ten of them. I don't know their names, but they seemed to be together. They attacked because I bragged that their young master was the most handsome man under heaven. I couldn't stand listening to it, so I argued back, and then they started beating me. They also left a message: if you want to find them, go to Hengdao Inn and ask for Room Four in the Tian section."

Chen Ye was speechless. Where did this inexplicable urge to compare even come from? What did it matter who was better-looking? In a hundred years, they'd all be dry bones. And the waiter had been arguing over someone else's looks, no less. What utter nonsense.

Chen Ye waved a hand. "Go on. In the future, stay out of pointless arguments."

The waiter thanked him over and over, then hobbled away.

Chen Ye watched his staggering back and sighed.

Mo Ci's voice came from the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. "What, gone soft again? Going to play the hero again?"

"I wouldn't say I've gone soft. It's just..." Chen Ye fell silent for a long while before speaking again. "Master, if I hadn't met you, I might've ended up worse off than that waiter. If he hadn't met me, who could've saved him? It's unsettling to think that there's no cause and effect in this world."

Mo Ci countered, "Why don't you say that if he'd never met you, he wouldn't have taken that beating?"

Chen Ye shook his head. "With a magistrate who takes money to shield evildoers in office, it was only a matter of time before the waiter got beaten. Whether he met me or not had little to do with it."

Mo Ci laughed. "You brat, it's a shame you never studied Kaikou Chan. You might as well join the Nirvana Sect. They have no requirements for accepting disciples. Even if you kill one of their people, it's fine—as long as you recite, 'Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot.'"

"If I had hair, why would I want to become a monk? I still want to marry and have children."

"Let's hear you say that again once you've lost your pure yang."

The master and disciple bickered as Chen Ye kept walking toward Hengdao Inn.

Whether he meant to play the hero, perhaps refine souls by killing, or stir up a commotion to meet Princess Hongyu... Mo Ci didn't ask, and Chen Ye didn't say. Both master and disciple knew the reason didn't matter.

An opportune meeting was fate.

Hengdao Inn was the place in Cui County with the strongest air of the martial world.

That was because the innkeeper had once been a renowned hero. He'd hung up his sword and retired from the jianghu ten years ago, and with his savings and reputation, he'd opened an inn in Cui County.

Half of a stone lion stood by the entrance, with a long saber thrust into it.

It was the treasured saber the innkeeper had used in his jianghu days. Despite the wind and rain, it hadn't rusted in the slightest and still gleamed with a cold light.

The saber was also the inn's trademark.

Guests at Hengdao Inn weren't allowed to draw swords or raise weapons. It was an unspoken rule among people of the jianghu. Anyone who broke it would lose their head.

No one had dared break this arrogant rule in ten years. The powerful figures of Cui County turned a blind eye, which showed that the innkeeper not only held a high standing in the jianghu, but also had considerable connections in the county's official circles.

With its ties to both the underworld and the respectable world, Hengdao Inn naturally became the first choice for all sorts of people.

The recent forced conscription of boys and girls had caused a huge stir in Cui County, and the enormous Hengdao Inn had long been full of guests.

Chen Ye had crossed half the city to get from the teahouse to Hengdao Inn. His feet were starting to ache.

He hadn't come because he truly cared about the loss of his bundle. It was just that in this vast Cui County, there were hardly any inns left with rooms available.

The conscription of boys and girls had already drawn plenty of jianghu folk to Cui County to cause trouble. There'd even been several murders, though the authorities had managed to keep things under control.

Cui County had tightened its rules. Ordinary inns no longer accepted outsiders like Chen Ye, who clearly looked like a man of the jianghu. Hengdao Inn was the only option, which seemed to be a way of keeping them all under one roof.

When Chen Ye reached the inn's entrance, the first thing to catch his eye was the treasured saber thrust into the half-stone lion.

The saber gleamed coldly from the broken stone lion. Its imposing shape and murderous air made the wuxia spirit from Chen Ye's previous life stir back to life.

What boy hadn't dreamed of becoming a dashing hero? Of picking up the perfect branch, sweeping away the rapeseed flowers across the mountains, and imagining himself a gallant swordsman who could kill a man with every ten steps?

This jianghu seemed a little interesting after all.

Chen Ye strode into the inn. He'd come here today to make a name for himself, so he might as well bully a few ordinary people.