Another Deal

"I'll take it."

After agreeing at once, Chen Zhuo reached up to rub his temples, trying to ease the swelling ache of the martial art being forced into his mind.

"That's more like it. With me here to answer your questions, I guarantee you'll master this martial art inside and out. One day, you'll soar to great heights."

Old Blind Man smiled and held up five fingers. "Ten lessons for five hundred taels, plus the manual. Package deal: five hundred and fifty taels total. For old times' sake, I can knock off five."

"Fifty taels. I only want the book. You don't need to give me a discount. I'm young, but I hate taking advantage of people."

Chen Zhuo took several silver ingots from his bundle, weighed them in his hand, then set them down in front of Old Blind Man with a clack.

"You only want the book?"

Old Blind Man's expression shifted. "This martial art looks simple, but without someone teaching you carefully, you could end up with serious problems. Don't come blaming me later."

"Don't worry. If I practice it wrong and die, then it was just my fate."

Chen Zhuo stood firm, unmoved by Old Blind Man's warning.

No wonder Old Blind Man kept tempting him to buy the martial art. The real trick was the after-sales service.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"With talent and bone like yours, it'd be a shame to ruin yourself practicing it."

"That's fate."

Seeing how resolute he was, Old Blind Man finally gritted his teeth and accepted the fifty taels Chen Zhuo had offered.

"If you don't buy it today, the next time you come to me, it won't be this price."

Old Blind Man still seemed unwilling to give up.

"What if I manage to master this martial art on my own? Then I won't need to trouble you."

Chen Zhuo carefully tucked the thin manual into his robes, feeling more at ease than he could say.

A martial art for Aperture Opening was worth far more than fifty taels.

He'd made a tidy profit.

Old Blind Man realized he'd lost money, but said nothing. A faint smile remained on his face, as if to say:

"Kid, you'll come looking for me."

Any warrior who reached the second realm and practiced a martial art had a senior from their sect or a close relative there to guide them, locating each acupoint before directing their qi and blood into it.

Unless they were one-in-ten-thousand prodigies, able to open their apertures by themselves.

Old Blind Man didn't believe it.

How could this little backwater of Baiyun County have any prodigies?

It had no prodigies, but plenty of young warriors who didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth.

"I won't see you out."

With the deal off, Old Blind Man had lost patience.

Chen Zhuo smiled. He wasn't offended.

It was all business.

"No rush. I came here not only to pay back what I owe you, but mainly to make another deal."

Without even getting up, Chen Zhuo took the rest of the silver ingots from his bundle and slowly pushed them across the table.

"Oh?"

Surprise crossed Old Blind Man's face.

Chen Zhuo had a feeling that Old Blind Man was blind, but not blind.

He couldn't see with his eyes, yet somehow seemed able to see the gleaming silver on the table another way.

Chen Zhuo got straight to the point. "The Yamen will hold the Autumn Hunt soon. When it does, I'd like you to accompany us into the mountains and keep me safe."

"Oh?"

Old Blind Man gave a half-smile. "You want to hire me as your bodyguard? For this little bit of money?"

"This is a deposit," Chen Zhuo continued. "Ten-Day Demon Sweep. I only need you to protect me for ten days. I'll pay the rest afterward."

Old Blind Man didn't answer. He idly ate a few peanuts, then tried to drink. He turned his empty gourd upside down and shook it for a long while, but managed to squeeze out only a drop or two.

Chen Zhuo watched quietly, saying nothing.

Little Black Donkey was so overheated that it struggled to its feet and tried to drag the cart with a heave and a lurch. But its limbs were weak, and it couldn't budge the cart at all. It could only bray helplessly, again and again.

"Sorry, I forgot about you for a while."

Hearing it, Chen Zhuo hurried over and led Little Black Donkey to Old Blind Man.

"Snort!"

Little Black Donkey snorted and gave Chen Zhuo a fierce, rolling-eyed glare before lying back down.

"Fifty taels a day. Half up front. After ten days, if you're still alive, you can pay the rest."

Old Blind Man picked up his cup. Before Chen Zhuo could speak, he tilted the cup, then barked at Little Black Donkey, "Open your mouth."

As if it understood, Little Black Donkey immediately opened its mouth wide.

Two drops of wine mixed with Demon Blood went down its throat. Little Black Donkey kicked out its legs, then sprang upright, suddenly full of vigor.

"Business is business, and personal favors are personal favors. I hate owing people, and I especially don't want to owe a donkey."

"Those two drops of wine are payment for keeping me company these past few hours."

Old Blind Man smiled faintly, then asked Chen Zhuo, "So, what do you say?"

"Deal."

Chen Zhuo agreed without hesitation.

His life was worth far more than five hundred taels.

It wasn't expensive.

Chen Zhuo took out a banknote from his robes, counted out ten more, and placed them among the pile of silver on the table.

"You can give me Demon Blood in exchange for any extra money next time."

"Fine."

Old Blind Man waved a hand. The black cloth on the wooden table stirred without a breeze and instantly wrapped up the silver and banknotes.

He lifted the bundle and weighed it in his hand, his smile growing pleased.

"Well, I finally came into a fortune, only to spend most of it in the blink of an eye."

Chen Zhuo shook his head to himself.

But he didn't regret it. The money had been well spent.

It also conveniently helped him get rid of stolen goods.

"Get some rest, then. I'm off."

With everything settled, Chen Zhuo stood up to leave.

Just then, two black-robed figures appeared silently at his side.

"The Liansheng Sect?"

Chen Zhuo turned his head. His whole body tensed, his skin drawn tight like a bowstring pulled to its limit, ready to spring.

His hand instinctively settled on the saber hidden beneath his robe.

These two black-robed members of the Liansheng Sect gave him an extremely dangerous feeling.

The next instant, both black-robed figures dropped to their knees beside Chen Zhuo.

To be precise, they had knelt before Old Blind Man.

"Grandpa, a criminal's been causing trouble in the Ghost Market and has killed quite a few people. The sect leader feared he might disturb you, so he sent us to await your orders."

One of the black-robed men spoke coldly.

The other fixed his gaze on Chen Zhuo.

"Disturb me?"

Old Blind Man gave a derisive laugh. "Who are you two talking about?"

"We wouldn't dare."

The two black-robed men bowed again.

Chen Zhuo looked at them in confusion, then turned his gaze to Old Blind Man.

Grandpa?

It seemed there was more to Old Blind Man's connection with the Liansheng Sect than he'd thought.

And he was familiar with the Yamen, too.

"Don't get the wrong idea. It's all old history."

Old Blind Man seemed to have crawled right into Chen Zhuo's mind and immediately guessed what he was thinking. But he didn't seem to want to talk about it, so Chen Zhuo kept his mouth shut.

"All right, I know your sect leader's thinking better than anyone."

Old Blind Man sneered. "Don't worry. I wasn't the one who did it. If I had been, there'd have been a lot more commotion than this."

"Just as you say, Grandpa."

The two black-robed men bowed again.

Chen Zhuo kept his eyes from darting around, but he still had the vague feeling that Old Blind Man was staring at him as he spoke.

"This is an old friend of mine. See him out properly, and don't get in his way."

"Yes."

Following Old Blind Man's orders, the two black-robed men respectfully escorted Chen Zhuo out of the Ghost Market.

Chen Zhuo stood again on the bridge he'd crossed to get here. Watching the crowd being carefully questioned at the entrance, he suddenly felt it was absurd.

He'd been wondering how to get through the inspection, and now he'd been escorted out with the utmost respect.

What was that all about?

"Good thing I made that deal with Old Blind Man."

Thinking of him, Chen Zhuo instinctively opened his hand. Three peanuts Old Blind Man had given him before he left still rested in his palm.

"Why do these peanuts look so strange? There's even a layer of powder on them?"