Peerless Master

"This old man is nothing but a bottom-tier odd-job worker, stinking and filthy all over, yet he's actually a peerless expert?"

Staring in shock at the golden pillar of light above the old odd-job worker's head, a pillar that almost seemed able to pierce through the vault of heaven, Yang Xiao swallowed, and his eyes instantly blazed with heat.

Yang Xiao was just about to observe more closely.

From behind him, Ye Feng's slightly awkward voice suddenly sounded. "Brother Yang, I smell too bad. I'd better not go out with you. This... wouldn't be too good."

Ye Feng was the odd-job worker who dumped the swill. Even after changing out of his filthy, stinking gray clothes, a faint smell of swill still clung to him, impossible to dispel.

"Little Ye, since I promised to treat you to a meal, naturally my word is worth a thousand pieces of gold. There's no such thing as stinking or not stinking. Come on, the braised pig trotters and aged Huadiao wine at Drunken Immortal Inn—we'll have as much as we want!"

Yang Xiao forced down the urge to vomit, warmly threw an arm around Ye Feng's shoulders, and half dragged him outside.

Ye Feng said nothing. He bit his lip, his eyes full of emotion.

What neither of them noticed was that, just as they turned and left...

The old odd-job worker who had originally had his back to them and was lying in the corner of the courtyard—Uncle Mute—suddenly shifted slightly onto his side, slanted his eyes, and coldly swept a glance over their retreating backs.

"One lowest-rung waiter with utterly ordinary bones and aptitude, without the slightest fluctuation of true qi on him. A complete piece of trash."

"One lowest-rung odd-job worker whose bones and aptitude are still passable, but unfortunately came from a poor family and can't afford martial arts resources, doomed to spend his whole life busy yet achieving nothing."

"These two really are a crouching dragon and a phoenix chick, a match made in heaven..."

Uncle Mute soon withdrew his gaze and paid them no more attention. He yawned and lay on the straw, drowsing off.

What no one noticed was that around Uncle Mute, among the swill buckets piled up like a mountain...

That swill reeking to the heavens was actually decreasing at a slow speed almost invisible to the naked eye, bizarre and mysterious.

Drunken Immortal Inn was located in the eastern district of the inner city. Though it could not compare with Vermilion Bird Tower, it was still a restaurant ordinary families could only dream of visiting.

On the second floor of Drunken Immortal Inn.

At the doorway of a private room.

Yang Xiao glanced at Ye Feng, who was sprawled over the wine table and had long since passed out drunk, then looked at the table full of huge pig trotters, wine, and dishes. He could not help feeling a pang in his heart.

Of the ten taels of silver Fairy Bai had given him, this single meal had cost a full tael!

But once he thought of how, over the course of the banquet, he had sounded things out from the side and learned that information, Yang Xiao's mood finally improved a little.

Though Ye Feng was only an ordinary odd-job worker at Vermilion Bird Tower, humble as dust, he could move through one private room after another. While dumping swill, he conveniently overheard many of Vermilion Bird Tower's secrets, as well as all kinds of anecdotes from the martial world.

By analyzing this information, whose truth was hard to distinguish from falsehood, Yang Xiao gained a rough understanding of the entire Great Yan Dynasty, the distribution of power in the capital, the situation at court, and the winds and clouds of the martial world. He was no longer blind with his eyes open.

Especially regarding Uncle Mute's situation—Yang Xiao had not even opened his mouth before Ye Feng, taking advantage of his drunkenness, spilled everything without the slightest concealment.

It turned out that this Uncle Mute had originally been an old bachelor from the outer city, whose family had all died in the chaos of war.

The old shopkeeper saw that Uncle Mute was pitiful, and that he was honest and sincere, so compassion stirred in his heart. He let him work as an odd-job worker at Vermilion Bird Tower, specifically responsible for hauling the swill outside the city to dump it.

Uncle Mute had been an odd-job worker for twenty years, always unknown, silent and taciturn, never interacting with others, extremely low-key.

Because Ye Feng dumped swill, he had more contact with Uncle Mute. Ye Feng keenly sensed that lately, Uncle Mute seemed somewhat not right.

But as for exactly what was not right, for the moment, Ye Feng could not say.

"The real Uncle Mute is probably long dead. The current Uncle Mute is an impostor."

"This old man is clearly a peerless expert, yet he's hiding in the back courtyard of Vermilion Bird Tower's kitchen, willingly serving as a filthy, stinking swill-hauling odd-job worker. Either he's carrying a grave criminal case on his back, or—what he's after is enormous!"

After instructing the waiter to take good care of Ye Feng, Yang Xiao left Drunken Immortal Inn, thinking to himself as he walked.

But what does this have to do with me?

I'm just an ordinary waiter at Vermilion Bird Tower. As long as I keep a low profile and don't cause trouble, even if the sky really collapses, there'll be tall people to hold it up!

Yang Xiao's "home" was not too far from Drunken Immortal Inn. It was in a rather remote little alley, an ordinary small courtyard with three rows of rooms.

In order to treat Yang Xiao's illness, Father Yang had exhausted the family fortune before his death, selling the ancestral residence near the Princess's estate and moving to the inner city, where he rented this cheap little courtyard.

"Two lifetimes as a human, working hard like a dog, not only having to read people's faces, not only being a sickly weakling, but I actually can't even afford a house..."

Looking at the small courtyard that was almost empty aside from various medicinal herbs, Yang Xiao could not help giving a bitter smile.

Fortunately, this small courtyard was rented by the year, and there was still a long time before the lease expired, so this matter was not urgent.

"Ginseng, angelica, spatholobus vine, placenta... that dead cheap father of mine, when you really think about it, was truly willing to spend on the original body. Everything he bought was precious medicine that could nourish the blood."

"Unfortunately, the original body still died of illness in the end, and I ended up benefiting."

After taking inventory of the medicinal herbs in the corner of the courtyard one by one, Yang Xiao walked into the inner room where the smell of Chinese medicinal soup still lingered, and could not help sighing.

The Nine Cicada Auditory Arts was powerful, but it could only eavesdrop on sounds in the distance. As for curing Yang Xiao's frail and sickly body, it actually was not of much use.

Uncle Liu's breathing technique was somewhat useful, but this breathing technique was far too mediocre. It could only let Yang Xiao improve his vitality and spirit slightly through meditation, so its significance was not too great either.

"Tomorrow, I'll first go secretly observe Uncle Mute's qi dynamic and see whether Uncle Mute's cultivation method can cure my illness. If it can't, I'll think of another way."

With a bitter expression, Yang Xiao brewed a pot of bitter medicinal soup. After forcing himself to drink it down, he stopped thinking too much and began closing his eyes to practice breathing.

Early the next morning.

Yang Xiao walked out of the alley and casually bought two baskets of soup dumplings from a roadside stall, eating as he walked. Before long, he arrived at Vermilion Bird Tower.

However, Yang Xiao did not hurry to Ding Pavilion. Instead, he took a detour to the rear courtyard of the kitchen.

"Brother Yang, what brings you here? This... how could I accept this? How could I let you spend money on me?"

Ye Feng, who had risen early and was scrubbing the swill buckets, saw Yang Xiao coming and hurried over to greet him, yet did not dare get too close, afraid the swill still clinging to him would dirty Yang Xiao.

"Little Ye, these are Goubuli soup dumplings, famous in the inner city. They're not expensive, but they've got plenty of meat. I picked them up for you on the way, so don't stand on ceremony."

Yang Xiao did not mind the filth or stench either. He warmly stuffed the remaining basket of soup dumplings into Ye Feng's hands, then turned and hurried away.

"Brother Yang..."

Staring blankly at Yang Xiao's departing back, Ye Feng's eyes reddened slightly.

"That Yang fellow holds the lofty post of shop waiter, yet he's deliberately befriending a menial laborer. That boy is up to no good. Most likely, he wants this little fool Ye Feng to do some wicked deed."

A moment later, Uncle Mute held one of the soup dumplings Ye Feng had shared with him, and a trace of mockery could not help flashing through his aged eyes.

Still, what did this have to do with this old man?

So long as Yang Xiao did not come disturb him, even if Yang Xiao killed people and set fires, Uncle Mute would not make a sound.

When Ye Feng finished all the soup dumplings without any problem and continued lowering his head to scrub the swill buckets...

Only then did Uncle Mute withdraw his gaze, pick up the soup dumpling, and turn his palm slightly.

The soup dumpling, which had long since gone completely cold, became steaming hot again in an instant!

What neither Uncle Mute nor Ye Feng knew was this.

The reason Yang Xiao had left in such a hurry was not because he had meant to deliberately bestow a favor and intentionally win people's hearts.

Rather—it was because he had no choice but to leave!

After leaving the rear courtyard of the kitchen...

Yang Xiao hurried along with his head lowered, panicking so badly he lost his way. He plunged into a nearby latrine, locked the door tight, and only then let out a slight breath of relief.

At this moment, Yang Xiao's eyes were actually—brimming with bloody tears!