Cunning Ruyi Star

"Yes, boss!"

The waiter took his orders and quickly headed downstairs to find the accountant and write an invitation from Yanhe Pavilion.

As the Bandit Brother watched the waiter leave, he turned his gaze toward the window.

"If we count this Little Qilin, who's suspected of having reached Post-Heaven Great Accomplishment, there are now nine Post-Heaven Great Accomplishment experts in town."

The Bandit Brother dusted off his sleeves.

"If this Little Qilin gets to know me too, then I'll have met every martial expert in town! I also know a few officials at the local yamen who can put in a good word for me.

"If ordinary martial artists want to come after me, they'll have to think twice about the connections I've made."

The Bandit Brother now enjoyed making friends far and wide.

He was doing quite well for himself in Little Liuzi Town and had become someone people recognized by name.

Though most people called him "the proprietor of Yanhe Pavilion," it was still a reputation that carried beyond the establishment.

Night.

In the little room in the Zhao Family's back courtyard.

Amid the clatter of bowls and chopsticks, Chen Guan sat at a small table, wolfing down a little bucket of rice and eight dishes and two soups.

"Slow down... slow down... don't choke..."

Across the table, Auntie Hua kindly kept piling food onto Chen Guan's plate.

But she couldn't keep up with how fast he ate.

Auntie Hua had barely torn off a chicken leg and handed it to Chen Guan before he reached out to take it, opened his mouth, shoved it in, and crunched away.

His teeth were hard, and a martial artist's digestion was powerful.

Chen Guan swallowed the whole thing, meat and bone, in seconds.

At that pace, Auntie Hua barely stopped piling food onto his plate.

Outside the little room, meanwhile, Patriarch Zhao paced back and forth with several of his sons, unsure how to talk to Chen Guan.

But just then, Auntie Hua kept serving Chen Guan without eating herself.

Seeing that she was only looking after him and not touching her own food, Chen Guan set down the half-bucket of rice he had left and started a conversation.

"Auntie, if you don't eat, then I won't either.

"You keep watching me eat. It makes me feel strange, like this is the only meal our family will ever have."

"Ling—"

Patriarch Zhao saw a chance to join the conversation and came in with a smile.

He had meant to call him Ling'er, but changed his mind at the last moment. "Guan'er!"

As he spoke, he looked at Auntie Hua, who had just started to rise and pay her respects.

"Sister Hua, Guan'er's right. It's not as if our household has run out of food. There's no need to fuss over who eats first or last, or who goes without."

"Father and Fifth Brother are right!"

The Eldest Young Master followed behind Patriarch Zhao.

He also turned to the Second Young Master and Sixth Young Master, who were just coming in behind him.

"Second Brother, Sixth Brother, go to the kitchen and have them prepare another table. Hua Niang hasn't eaten, and Fifth Brother's hungry too."

"Ah... all right..." The two paused, then answered and prepared to head to the kitchen.

Before they could leave, the Eldest Young Master suddenly cupped his fists and bowed sincerely toward Chen Guan at the table.

"Fifth Brother... I owe you my thanks. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have... I would have..."

"The bandit business is in the past." Chen Guan dismissed it and was about to continue eating.

But when he saw the Eldest Young Master still bowing in earnest, and his adoptive father looking as if he wanted to talk but didn't know how, Chen Guan glanced at his little room, then at the Second Young Master and Sixth Young Master about to leave the courtyard.

After thinking for a few moments, Chen Guan suddenly smiled and pointed at his courtyard.

"Second Brother, Sixth Brother, have them bring another table. There isn't room in here for the whole family."

Perhaps it was their blood ties, or perhaps they had never been out to get him.

Or perhaps it was because he was stronger now, so they no longer had any ulterior motives.

Suddenly, Chen Guan felt as if this home had grown warmer.

"Of course, of course!" The Sixth Young Master truly admired the Valiant Fifth Brother from the bottom of his heart.

When he heard Fifth Brother wanted to eat with them, he happily ran off to tell the kitchen.

"Father." Chen Guan then looked at Patriarch Zhao, whose face had just lit up with a smile. "I want to buy some saber manuals. Could the family help me out?"

"Of... of course!" Patriarch Zhao's smile widened. He was delighted to finally have a chance to talk to his valiant son.

"I'll send someone to take care of it right away! I'll have them ask around..."

"This is bad... this is bad..."

The night grew deeper.

At the Liu Family estate on the western side of town, Patriarch Liu couldn't sleep.

He was also a rice merchant in Little Liuzi Town, and his business was on par with the Zhao Family's.

"A few days ago, I had someone leak information to those bandits, leading them to target the Zhao Family.

"I wonder if those bandits knew it was me, or if they'll give me away...

"If the Little Qilin finds out my Liu Family was involved in the bandit business..."

Patriarch Liu thought of how every bandit had been slaughtered that day, all of them cut down by the Little Qilin.

His heart hammered, and cold sweat kept beading on his forehead.

"I never should have done it..."

Patriarch Liu deeply regretted his actions. He felt that he was going to die.

In truth, though, Chen Guan knew nothing about it.

The "fixer" Patriarch Liu had hired was very good at keeping things quiet.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. A short man wearing a bamboo hat walked in.

He was the "fixer" Patriarch Liu had hired.

Seeing him, Patriarch Liu rushed over as if he'd seen his savior and asked anxiously, "Ruyi Star! Does the Little Qilin know about my Liu Family's business?"

"I may know people from every walk of life and have a finger on the pulse of the news," Ruyi Star replied, his expression beneath the bamboo hat unchanged, "but I'm no god in the heavens who knows everything.

"You'll have to ask the Little Qilin himself whether he knows your Liu Family was involved in the bandit business."

"You!" Patriarch Liu's face darkened. Through gritted teeth, he hissed, "I gave you fifty taels to keep this secret!

"Did you tell those bandits about my Liu Family?"

"Of course I didn't. They'd never have found out through me." Ruyi Star studied Patriarch Liu's expression and thought to himself.

But what he said aloud was something else entirely.

"I didn't tell them, but there's no guarantee those bandits didn't find out after asking around. They might have worked out that you, Patriarch Liu, hired them. They've been roaming the martial world for years; they know all sorts of tricks.

"So to be safe, you should assume the Little Qilin already knows you were involved."

As Ruyi Star spoke, his tone grew more emphatic.

"He might come for you any day now.

"Patriarch Liu, you're caught between a rock and a hard place, with a blade hanging over your head.

"Especially since Constable Yan—Lord Yan—is connected to half the martial world.

"If the Little Qilin tells Constable Yan about this, the yamen probably won't be able to protect you.

"And colluding with bandits is a serious crime.

"Your best option now is to give up your business and leave town."

"Give up all my business?" Patriarch Liu didn't want to. Most of his wealth was tied up in his goods.

But he knew that fleeing might be his best option.

Still, when he thought of Ruyi Star, who had all sorts of crooked schemes up his sleeve, he asked hopefully, "Ruyi Star, do you have any ideas?"

"Of course I do." Ruyi Star saw that his few words had brought another familiar client looking for business. At last, he wore a confident smile. "Do you know the Bamboo Swordsman?"

"How could I not know him?" Patriarch Liu blurted out.

"Senior Zhu is the third-ranked Post-Heaven Great Accomplishment expert in our town and a close friend of the proprietor of Yanhe Pavilion!"

"Exactly," Ruyi Star said, his smile undiminished.

"But what you don't know is that he's extremely jealous, especially of young prodigies. He's killed no fewer than eighteen or twenty young martial heroes.

"If I put in a word for you, and you offer him some money, your problem might just be solved."

"Really?"

At the mention of money, Patriarch Liu, a seasoned businessman, furrowed his brow. He couldn't help feeling as if he'd been drawn into a business "chain trap."

But even if he knew it was a trap, he had to step into it.

It was still better than waiting for that Qilin Prodigy to climb over his courtyard wall one day.

"This will cost one hundred taels," Ruyi Star said, ignoring Patriarch Liu's frown and smiling as before. "By tomorrow night at the latest, I'll have the Bamboo Swordsman come to your door."

Patriarch Liu paid the hundred taels to save his life, though it pained him.

That night, after collecting the money, Ruyi Star fled town as well.

After all, offending a Post-Heaven Great Accomplishment expert wasn't a good idea.

Why stay and wait to die?

What if Patriarch Liu was caught by the Little Qilin first and gave him up under questioning?

Ruyi Star didn't think that would end well for him.

Of course, before leaving, he also sent a carrier pigeon to the Bamboo Swordsman's home in the north of town.

Fleeing was one thing; doing business was another.

He still had a sense of honor and hoped the Bamboo Swordsman would kill the Little Qilin so he could come back.

Most of his old clients were in Little Liuzi Town.

He couldn't bear to leave them behind either.

The following afternoon.

Chen Guan was at home when he received an invitation from Yanhe Pavilion.

It was for the evening five days later.

While the invitation was being delivered, Patriarch Zhao also told Chen Guan a little about the proprietor of Yanhe Pavilion.

In the end, Chen Guan decided to meet the owner of the grand restaurant who had invited him.

He wanted to see if he could get some manuals from him too.

His adoptive father had said the proprietor knew many people in the martial world.

"Tell your proprietor..."

In the reception hall, Chen Guan looked at the restaurant waiter.

"Chen Guan accepts the invitation for five days from now."