Chapter 20

The window was quietly pushed open.

The shadow waited in the darkness outside for a while longer. Seeing nothing amiss inside, he flashed into the room.

Clutching a sharp blade, he crouched low and crept toward the bed, one step at a time.

But soon, he realized something was wrong.

"Whoosh!"

He darted to the bedside and yanked the blanket off the bed.

But there was no one beneath it.

Just like the night before, there was only a pillow.

The muscles in his face twitched uncontrollably.

He had clearly seen that brat enter the second room...

Now that he had used up his poison smoke, if he searched the other rooms, he might walk right into an ambush.

"I refuse to believe I can't get your blood!"

He ground his teeth in fury.

The Hundred Fragrance Pavilion had stayed lit all night.

The guests' bodies had been carried away during the night, and the blood and claw marks in the rooms had been cleaned up.

Everyone in the pavilion had been ordered not to speak of what happened that night.

When Luo Qingchen woke beneath the bed in the first room, the paper pasted over the window had already grown bright.

He first felt for the silver on him. After confirming that none was missing, he crawled out from beneath the bed and carefully checked the floor by the door and beneath the window. Only after seeing that the Beast Trap and the thread were still intact did he finally relax.

For safety's sake, before going to sleep the night before, he had climbed out through the window of the second room and moved to this first room.

With a fortune on him, he had no choice but to be careful.

He practiced two sets of the Bone-Strengthening Mountain-Opening Fist in the room. Once he had worked up a light sweat, he opened the door and went out.

Chen Ju happened to be returning from outside. Seeing him, he asked in surprise, "Huh, Brother Luo, didn't you sleep in the second room last night?"

Luo Qingchen glanced at him and replied calmly, "I did. I just got up and came to take a look at the first room."

"Oh?"

Chen Ju smiled and didn't ask further. "By the way, Brother Luo, there's food in the kitchen. If you're hungry, you can go eat."

Luo Qingchen nodded and thanked him, then walked past.

Chen Ju stood there for a while. Only after Luo Qingchen had disappeared into the distance did the smile on his face slowly fade.

Luo Qingchen was indeed very hungry, but he didn't go to the kitchen.

He walked straight out of the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion and hurried toward Old Wu's General Store on North Street.

The damaged Ten-Soul Banner could be ruined completely at any moment.

He had now saved enough silver, so he had to get the banner repaired at the store as soon as possible.

He proceeded cautiously and soon arrived at Old Wu's General Store.

There were no other customers in the shop, only the one-armed old man with graying hair.

When he saw Luo Qingchen enter, the old man asked, "Got enough silver?"

Luo Qingchen pulled two money pouches from his robes. First, he took out the seven hundred taels in banknotes, counted them one by one, and placed them on the counter. Then he poured out all the loose silver from the pouches and said, "It should come to eight hundred taels. Please weigh it."

Banknotes were easy enough to count, but loose silver had to be weighed on a special scale.

The old man glanced at the loose silver on the counter, took an Ebony Steelyard from beneath it, and began weighing the silver carefully.

"There are ninety-eight taels of loose silver."

The old man held the small scale out for him to see, then shuffled the banknotes on the counter with his other hand. "There are seven hundred taels in banknotes, so you're still two taels short."

Luo Qingchen fell silent for a moment. "Senior, could you perhaps..."

The old man didn't answer. He put down the steelyard, took out brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone from beneath the counter, and began to write.

Once he finished, he stamped the store's seal on the paper and handed it to Luo Qingchen. "Leave the banner here. We'll repair it first. Come back in two days with the remaining two taels and take it home."

Luo Qingchen took the receipt and read it carefully. "Thank you."

He carefully drew the damaged Ten-Soul Banner from his robes, but a sudden wave of anxiety and unease swept over him. "My younger sister's soul is inside this banner. Will the repair hurt her?"

The old man replied indifferently, "No."

Luo Qingchen looked at the banner in his hand and found himself unable to part with it.

The old man lowered his head and began putting away the banknotes and loose silver, paying him no further attention.

After a long while, Luo Qingchen finally handed over the banner, slowly. He couldn't help adding, "I hope you can tell the person doing the repairs to be careful. If it's really—"

The old man interrupted impatiently, "If you don't trust us, then don't have it repaired. I'm not keen on taking it upstairs anyway!"

Luo Qingchen said no more. He gently placed the banner on the counter.

The old man put it away and tossed it into the counter. "Come get it the day after tomorrow. Remember to bring the remaining two taels."

Luo Qingchen nodded silently and looked once more into the counter before leaving in silence.

Once he was outside the shop, his heart felt empty.

He stood there dazed for a while, then turned to look into the shop and murmured, "Xiao Yu, don't be afraid. In a couple of days, your big brother will come for you."

"Rumble!"

Just then, thunder suddenly boomed across the sky.

He looked up. Dark clouds pressed down overhead, shrouding the entire town as if the end of the world had arrived.

Was it going to rain?

He didn't linger in the street and headed back toward the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion.

At the street corner where Zhao Shi and his father set up their stall, he saw the two of them sitting on the ground, still staring blankly into space.

Luo Qingchen hesitated, then walked over.

The moment Zhao Laosan saw him, he quickly nudged Zhao Shi with his elbow and whispered, "This brat's probably still got money on his mind and is here to borrow more. I'll do the talking this time. Keep your mouth shut."

Luo Qingchen stopped in front of the stall. "Uncle Zhao, it looks like it's about to rain. Aren't you going to pack up?"

Zhao Laosan sighed bitterly. "We haven't earned a single coin today. How could we pack up? If we don't make some money soon, in a few days we'll be like that Little Mute, searching through the garbage for food."

Zhao Shi looked a little embarrassed beside him.

Luo Qingchen froze at his words, recalling the scrawny figure fleeing in panic the day before. "Does she search through garbage for food? Isn't she working?"

Zhao Laosan sneered. "You mean that Little Mute? We saw that little wretch rummaging through garbage in the alley for food this morning. A few other vagrants gave her a good beating! The little wretch killed her father and mother. May Heaven strike her down—she deserves it!"

Zhao Shi added, "That Little Mute's been mining at the mine, but I guess she couldn't take it and didn't earn much. She's so frail, mining isn't for her. My father and I wouldn't dare do it, either. Once she's hungry enough, she'll probably have to sell herself at a brothel."

As Luo Qingchen stood silently, Zhao Laosan glanced at his expression and assumed he was working up the nerve to ask for a loan. He hurried to speak first. "By the way, A-Chen, did you manage to borrow any silver yesterday? Do you have any left over? Could you lend your Uncle Zhao a little? Just a few coins, a dozen or so would do. Enough for my son and me to eat for the next few days."

"I've spent it all."

"Ah—"

Zhao Laosan let out a long sigh. He pulled an old money pouch from his robes and turned it inside out, showing it was completely empty. "It's hard for everyone."

Luo Qingchen had originally wanted to ask about A-Yun, but seeing Zhao Laosan like this, he chatted a little longer before taking his leave.

When he returned to the Hundred Fragrance Pavilion, he went to the kitchen first.

There were several steamed buns and a few plates of food on the stove. Just as he was about to take a bun, the maid called Xiao Cui came in and stopped him. "Guard Luo, these aren't for you. The guards' meals have already been sent to their rooms. If you don't have any, someone else must have eaten yours."

Luo Qingchen paused, nodded, and left the kitchen.

Just then, Xiao Cui hurried after him and offered him a steamed bun with a smile. "This one's mine. I'm not hungry yet, so you can have it."

The little girl looked about fourteen or fifteen, with a nose covered in freckles.

Luo Qingchen was taken aback. He reached out to take it and lowered his head in thanks.

He was ravenous. One steamed bun wasn't enough, but it would hold him over for a while.

Today, he had to practice and take a medicinal bath.

Only by breaking through to the Blood Changing Realm as soon as possible would he have a chance to escape his current predicament.

Back in the rear courtyard,

he went into the second room first, then the first, and finally the third.

There was no breakfast in any of them.

It seemed someone had already eaten his portion.

He didn't dwell on it. After finishing the steamed bun, he began practicing in the second room.

As he performed several sets of the Bone-Strengthening Mountain-Opening Fist in succession, his bones began to crack sharply throughout his body, and waves of pain surged through him.

At the same time,

outside the window, a shadow had appeared at some point, without a sound.