After staying up half the night, Chen Xian gently slipped his hand from Yu Qiao'er's tightly clasped fingers and tucked the blanket around her.
Looking at Yu Qiao'er, finally asleep with tear tracks still on her face, he let out a long sigh.
It had taken all his persuasion to convince the girl that he wouldn't abandon her.
It was only after hearing Yu Qiao'er's broken, tearful account that Chen Xian truly understood the Qian Family's methods.
Girls like Yu Qiao'er were specially raised by the Qian Family and sent to the powerful and wealthy in Ask-Dao City as concubines or servants, tools for winning favor.
Chen Xian had come across this practice in history books in his previous life. Such girls were commonly called "slender horses."
An ancient poem said: "A thousand households raise daughters first to teach them song; ten miles of flowers are planted as if they were fields."
They didn't treat people as people, but raised them like crops, all to sell them for a good price.
Such a ludicrous and cruel practice had actually unfolded right before his eyes.
No wonder Yu Qiao'er was so terrified. If Chen Xian sent her away, an utterly miserable fate would await her.
This was all the Qian Family's doing!
"Still, the girl has good aptitude. I could take her back to the sect..."
Chen Xian looked at the latest panel in his mind.
[Name: Yu Qiao'er] [Realm: Mortal] [Traits: Spirit-Connecting Jade Bone (Mysterious), Talisman Affinity (Yellow), Musical Mastery (White), Shadow Tracing (White), Charm Body (White), Lark's Voice (Mortal), Gold Hidden in Calamity (Gray)] [Spirit-Connecting Jade Bone (Mysterious): Increases the speed of comprehending the Great Dao of literary cultivation by 500%. Extremely sensitive to sinister energy, with its suppression effect doubled. Heart blood can serve as a catalyst for Truth-Breaking Pills.] [Talisman Affinity (Yellow): Naturally resonates with the way of talismans; the brush flows as if guided by a divine hand. Increases the speed of crafting talismans and cultivating Talisman Dao techniques by 200%.]
He found that Yu Qiao'er's physical constitution and talent traits were unexpectedly excellent.
Her constitution was even a grade above that girl Hong Yue's. It was a Mysterious-grade constitution, on par with his own Mystic Jade Sword Bone after its refinement.
Moreover, her constitution and talents complemented each other.
Spirit-Connecting Jade Bone enhanced cultivation of the Great Dao of literary arts, and Talisman Dao was part of that!
Yu Qiao'er was born to cultivate talismans.
As it happened, Xuanyun Sword Sect had now established six peaks: Sword, Pill, Artifact, Formation, Talisman, and Beast, each with its own corresponding teachings.
He could speak to Lei Qingyang and have Yu Qiao'er study under an elder of Talisman Peak.
"Fate has its way. This girl is rather lucky."
Chen Xian stroked his beard and smiled at Yu Qiao'er's sleeping face.
She had the gray trait [Gold Hidden in Calamity]—she was prone to falling into calamity, but even calamity concealed a sliver of hope. If she seized that chance, she could turn danger into safety and gain something unexpected.
It seemed that fate had truly had a hand in this.
Li Youde had arranged for Yu Qiao'er to serve him, but Chen Xian was a gentleman, and he had also brought her a new opportunity.
Chen Xian suddenly froze. "Does that mean I count as one of the powerful and wealthy?"
What kind of gray trait was this!
It was clearly a golden trait! Too bad he couldn't copy it.
"Better keep cultivating. I need to raise my realm as soon as possible, or my little brother down there will start complaining too."
Chen Xian glanced at his crotch. What a waste of tears, what a waste of tears...
Yu Qiao'er had taken the bed. Since there was a carpet on the floor anyway, he sat down on it and began cultivating.
The Qian Family, the family head's study.
"How did it go?" Qian Yue asked Li Youde without looking up from the family accounts he was reviewing.
Li Youde stood below him, his peripheral vision sweeping over the six unfamiliar young pages behind Qian Yue. He wondered what was going on.
Recently, the pages around the family head had been replaced with unusual frequency, and every one of them was a child of six or seven. "Reporting to the family head, Yu Qiao'er went into that old geezer's room and hasn't come out since," Li Youde replied respectfully.
"Hmph. That old geezer acted so proper at Ask-Heaven Pavilion, but once a girl was sent to his room, he didn't turn her away after all."
Qian Yue sneered. He didn't believe anyone could resist the lure of wealth and women.
Li Youde leered. "Heh heh, I wonder if that old ox can still get the cart moving."
"Cut the nonsense." Qian Yue's gaze sharpened. "How is your search for the hundred girls between fourteen and fifteen going?"
Qian Yue remembered that he still had to hand over a hundred virgins to the Honored Envoy.
"Nearly a hundred. The city has been cracking down hard lately, and the matchmakers don't have that many girls to offer, so it's taking a little longer."
Li Youde thought for a moment, then asked, "Should we have people raise them as slender horses? Starting at this age, the odds of success probably won't be very high. A lot of them would die."
"No. I have another use for them. You may leave."
"Yes."
Li Youde bowed and withdrew. As he closed the door, that nagging suspicion welled up again.
He didn't go far. Instead, holding his breath, he somehow found himself clinging to a crack in the window and peering inside.
In the study, Qian Yue set down the account book, took a bag of rainbow-colored sugar cubes from his robes, and beckoned the six pages over with a kindly smile.
"Come here. These are treats for you."
The children piped up in their tender voices. "Thank you, family head!"
The children eagerly took the sweets and popped them into their mouths. The sugary taste made their eyes crinkle with delight.
But before ten breaths had passed, all but one little boy collapsed to the floor, lifeless.
"Why didn't you eat it?" Qian Yue stared at the last boy.
"I... I wanted to save it, so I could eat it with my mother when I find her."
The boy clutched the candy in his hand, his childish voice trembling.
"So filial. What a shame you wouldn't listen."
Qian Yue sighed softly, but his aura pressed down like a dark cloud.
The little boy backed away in terror until he bumped into the bookcase and had nowhere left to run. He cried out that he would give the candy back.
"The candy... here, you can have it back. I don't want it anymore."
The little boy looked at Qian Yue fearfully and held out the candy in his palm.
"Hmph." Qian Yue sneered and pressed one large hand onto the boy's head.
The next moment, a teeth-grating crack rang out.
"Gasp..." Li Youde's pupils shook violently, and cold sweat broke out across his back. The family head had snapped the page's neck!
But before he could recover, he saw Qian Yue arrange the six bodies in a row and produce a black wine vessel from nowhere.
Qian Yue tossed the vessel into the air. It hovered there, casting a strange red glow over the six corpses.
Then the bodies on the floor began dissolving at frightening speed, as though the red light could refine and devour them.
After about thirty breaths, only the children's clothes remained. Not a single corpse was left.
Qian Yue cradled the vessel and drank deeply.
Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth and ran down his chin. A faint red glow also rose from his body, which grew more robust as his complexion grew increasingly ruddy.
"An evil art... This is the Blood Prohibition Technique... No wonder the family head's vitality has been flourishing and his cultivation has been advancing..."
Li Youde slumped to the floor, his back soaked with cold sweat.
He had done plenty of wicked things himself, but he knew that the Blood Demon's forbidden arts were a line that must never be crossed.
If this came to light, neither Mortal Elder Pavilion nor Xuanyun Sword Sect would spare the Qian Family. The entire family would be uprooted!
"Youde?"
Qian Yue called out in puzzlement from inside the study.
Hearing footsteps draw closer, Li Youde hurriedly held his breath and scrambled away on all fours.
He had to find the family elder...
The family head had gone mad and was going to drag the entire family down with him!