The Qian Family Was in Trouble

August in Anping County came with wave after wave of heat. Even the dogs on the streets were too lazy to go out, but Ye An was human.

Ye An went to the Martial Hall to train as usual.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Third Layer): 32/500]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Third Layer): 41/500]

[Azure Cloud Finger (Third Layer): 53/500]

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Micro): 133/200]

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Micro): 152/200]

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Micro): 178/200]

His internal cultivation progressed a little more slowly than his finger technique, but Ye An was in no hurry.

The Qi-Nourishing Formula was not his main cultivation technique. It existed to support Azure Cloud Finger, giving each strike a little more penetrating force.

He only needed to raise the Qi-Nourishing Formula to the next level before attempting Third Body Tempering.

That evening, Ye An left the Martial Hall and headed down South Street toward Willow Alley.

The sun had set, leaving one last streak of red on the horizon. Shops along the street were closing one after another.

When Ye An reached the entrance to Willow Alley, he saw a carriage parked there.

Its body was made of a special dark-brown wood, with copper sheathing at all four corners. The curtain was fine silk embroidered with a subtle pattern. The horse pulling it was black from head to hoof, with sturdy legs. One look told him it was not the sort of horse one could buy in the county.

The driver sat on the carriage shaft, his back straight and a short saber at his waist. Ye An gave him a quick once-over. Stronger than Zhao Tieshan, but weaker than Su Yuanshan. Third Body Tempering!

In Anping County, someone at Third Body Tempering was already a figure of standing. Even among the Four Major Families, such a person would be a guest retainer.

A woman stood beside the carriage in a plain white dress, her hair pinned up with a silver hairpin and a small bundle in her hand. Her features were cool and clear. Standing in the dusk, she looked as though she had stepped out of a painting.

Chen Qingyao.

Chen Qingyao saw Ye An too. She tilted her head and, after making sure it was him, called out.

"Ye An."

Since she had greeted him, Ye An walked over. "You're leaving?"

"For Clear River Commandery."

"My father sent someone to fetch me."

Ye An asked no more. They had played together as children, but the older they grew, the more like strangers they became. That was true of both her and him.

A voice came from inside the carriage.

"Qingyao, why aren't you in the carriage yet? What's taking so long?"

The voice was not loud, but it had an impatient edge. Ye An recognized it as Widow Shen's.

Chen Qingyao's brows shifted slightly. "Coming!" she called toward the carriage.

Then she turned back to Ye An. "I'm leaving."

"Take care."

Chen Qingyao said nothing more and climbed into the carriage.

Before the curtain fell, she looked at Ye An once more. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

The carriage rolled away slowly. The driver flicked his whip, the black horse began to trot, and the wheels rumbled over the stone paving.

Ye An stood at the alley entrance, watching the carriage disappear around the corner.

One corner of the carriage curtain lifted, revealing half a face.

Widow Shen looked at Ye An through the gap. There was something hard to name in her gaze—appraisal, scrutiny, and a trace of disdain.

The curtain fell.

Widow Shen leaned against the carriage wall and glanced at Chen Qingyao, the corners of her mouth lifting.

"That was the Ye Family boy from Willow Alley?"

Chen Qingyao did not answer. She lowered her head and straightened her bundle.

"Second Body Tempering." Widow Shen gave a snort. "That's unusual in a place like Willow Alley, I suppose. But in Clear River Commandery, what does Second Body Tempering amount to? He wouldn't even qualify to guard your father."

Chen Qingyao raised her head and looked at her mother without speaking.

"I'm talking to you." Widow Shen frowned. "Don't think leaving Willow Alley is the end of it. Once we reach the commandery, you'll have plenty to learn. Etiquette, rules, how to deal with people—which of those isn't better than what you learned in Willow Alley?"

Chen Qingyao tied her bundle shut, set it beside her, and looked up at Widow Shen.

"I know."

"Good." Widow Shen's tone softened, and that smug smile returned to her face. "Once we reach the commandery, you'll meet no end of talented young men. You inherited my good looks, too. A face like yours mustn't go to waste."

Chen Qingyao lowered her eyes and said nothing.

The carriage continued on. The sound of its wheels rolling over the stone paving gradually faded.

Ye An remained at the alley entrance, looking in the direction where the carriage had vanished.

What he had seen in Widow Shen's eyes was undisguised disdain.

Ye An could tell it came from deep in her bones.

In Widow Shen's eyes, people from Willow Alley remained people from Willow Alley, even if they practiced martial arts.

It made no difference. But Widow Shen herself was from Willow Alley. The people she looked down on were ordinary people like Ye An, people she believed would never get out.

Ye An felt nothing. Widow Shen's gaze stirred no emotion in him.

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Micro): 179/200]

The Qian Family's mine lay fifteen li north of the county, at a place called Azure Stone Ridge Mine.

Though they called it a mine, it was really an open-air quarry producing a stone known as Blue Ridge Stone.

This stone was hard and made good material for forging Mortal Grade weapons. Several Martial Halls and families in Anping County had need of it.

The Qian Family had run the mine for over a decade without trouble. The Four Major Families had no interest in such a small business, while lesser factions did not dare compete with the Qian Family. Life had been comfortable enough.

But today, in mid-August, trouble came.

Qian Wanguan was doing accounts in his study when the door burst open with a bang!

"Family head! Something's wrong! There's trouble at the mine!"

Qian Wanguan jolted, and the brush in his hand shook. "What happened?"

"People from the Zhou Family came. They say they're taking the mine."

Qian Wanguan frowned. "The Zhou Family? Since when were they interested in stone?"

"Not the Zhou Family themselves." The servant was gasping for breath. "It's someone they brought in—a woman. She says she's a merchant from... Cangwu Prefecture. The Zhou Family sold her the land around the mine, and now she wants the mine too."

Cangwu Prefecture!

He snatched up his outer robe and strode out. "Come on. Let's take a look."

By the time Qian Wanguan reached the mine, the situation was already out of control.

Qian Family guards lay scattered across the ground. Sun Wu was in the worst shape. He was the Mid-Stage Second Body Tempering retainer Qian Wanguan had paid a fortune to hire—the pillar holding up the Qian Family.

Sun Wu lay clutching his chest, blood at the corner of his mouth and his face white as paper.

Someone beside him tried to help him up, but he waved them off. He braced a hand against the ground to sit up on his own, only to collapse again halfway.

"Sun Wu!" Qian Wanguan rushed over. "What happened?"

"Family head..." Sun Wu coughed twice, bloody froth spilling from his mouth. "Their martial artist... Late-Stage Second Body Tempering. His punches were too vicious... I couldn't withstand them..."

Qian Wanguan's face darkened.

"Elder Qian. I trust you've been well."

Qian Wanguan looked up and saw a woman approaching. She was in her early twenties, dressed in pale yellow, with her hair in a simple bun and a smile on her face. It was a pretty smile, but Qian Wanguan found it unsettling.

"And you are?"

"This junior is Liu Ruyan, of the Liu Lineage in Cangwu Prefecture." The woman dipped slightly in greeting, neither servile nor overbearing. "The Zhou Family sold me the land surrounding the mine. By rights, the mine should be mine as well."

Qian Wanguan gave a cold laugh. "The mine belongs to the Qian Family. Land is land, and the mine is the mine. You bought the land, so you think you can take the mine? What sort of reasoning is that?"

"Reasoning?" Liu Ruyan tilted her head, as if seriously considering the word. "Elder Qian, the Blue Ridge Stone vein runs underground. There's ore beneath all the land around the mine. If you keep mining here, sooner or later you'll dig under my land. When that happens, will the ore you take be mine or yours?"

Qian Wanguan was momentarily at a loss for words. He forced his voice to sound firm.

"So what?"

"So this junior would like to discuss it with you, Elder Qian." Liu Ruyan's tone remained gentle. "Transfer the mining rights to me. I'll compensate the Qian Family at market value for what you've invested in the mine. Each family gives a little, and everyone goes home happy."

"Impossible," Qian Wanguan refused flatly.

The smile on Liu Ruyan's face remained, but her eyes cooled.

"Then what do you propose, Elder Qian?"

Qian Wanguan looked at Sun Wu on the ground, then at the smiling woman across from him, and drew a deep breath. "By the rules of the martial world, disputes between martial artists are settled by martial artists. Your people injured mine. This cannot end here!"

Liu Ruyan nodded, as though she had expected him to say just that.

"Very well. We'll follow the rules of the martial world."

She beckoned behind her. A burly man in his forties stepped forward. His arms reached past his knees, his palms were much larger than most people's, and his knuckles were thick. One look told them he practiced fist techniques.

"This is Zhao Heng of the Iron Fist Sect. Second Body Tempering," Liu Ruyan said lightly. "Elder Qian, whom will you send?"

Qian Wanguan glanced at Zhao Heng, then at Sun Wu lying on the ground. His heart sank to the bottom.

"Ten days." Liu Ruyan held up all ten fingers. "Choose any day within the next ten days, Elder Qian. Each side will send one Second Body Tempering martial artist to fight. The winner gets the mine. The loser acknowledges defeat and gives up their claim."

Her tone was courteous, but every word drove into Qian Wanguan's heart like a nail.

"If you decline, Elder Qian, this junior will take it as your admission that you've given up your claim."

Qian Wanguan stood where he was and forced himself to answer.

"Ten days. I accept!"

Liu Ruyan smiled. It was a bright smile, yet Qian Wanguan felt a chill from it.

"Then it's settled. This junior will await your word, Elder Qian."

As Zhao Heng left, he glanced at Qian Wanguan with a trace of pity in his eyes.

The news spread quickly.

Early the next morning, the Martial Hall was in an uproar.

"Have you heard? Something happened at the Qian Family mine."

"I heard. It's people from the Liu Lineage in Cangwu Prefecture. They're no small force."

"What does the Liu Lineage do?"

The factions of Cangwu Prefecture were naturally unfamiliar to people from Anping County.

"The Liu Lineage has several mines over in Cangwu Prefecture. They've come to Anping County to expand."

"Then isn't the Qian Family finished?"

"Looks that way. Their Second Body Tempering retainer was badly injured, and now they can't even find someone to fight."

Someone brought up another point. "Isn't Senior Brother An a Qian Family retainer?"

"Senior Brother An? He only reached Second Body Tempering a month ago. Send him against Zhao Heng? Wouldn't that be... sending him to his death?!" The speaker put it delicately, but everyone thought he was right.

Ye An listened to the gossip from a corner without pausing his training.

The white mark on the iron plate grew deeper and deeper, but he was still far from splitting it open.

Ye An had not seen Qian Duoduo today. Ordinarily, Qian Duoduo would have been boasting to him by now.

Today, though, the spot where he usually stood was empty.

Ye An would not go looking for the Qian Family. If they needed him, they would come to him.

The Qian Family estate, the study.

Qian Wanguan paced back and forth across the courtyard, his brow knotted tight. The tea on the table had gone cold, but he had not touched it. Qian Duoduo stood nearby, looking even worse.

Footsteps sounded outside the door. A servant entered with his head lowered.

"Family head, Wang Shi..."

"Speak."

"Wang Shi failed his attempt to reach Third Body Tempering a few days ago and damaged his Origin Energy. He says he cannot attend the match and hopes you'll forgive him."

Qian Wanguan's face flushed red. He grabbed a book from the table and hurled it to the ground!

"One after another, they're all finding excuses to get out of it! They've decided the Qian Family is finished!"

The book hit the ground with a dull thud.

Qian Duoduo stood to the side, not daring to speak.

Qian Wanguan breathed heavily and paced another two circuits of the courtyard. Sun Wu was down, Wang Shi had backed out—what Second Body Tempering martial artists did the Qian Family have left?

He suddenly stopped.

Ye An.

Ye An was also at Second Body Tempering, and he was the only one among the Qian Family's Second Body Tempering martial artists whom Qian Wanguan had not visited.

He had invited everyone else he could invite, pleaded with everyone he could plead with, and exhausted every option he could use.

Only Ye An. He had never approached him.

Qian Wanguan suddenly remembered what Qian Duoduo had told him: "Ye An reached Second Body Tempering. Four months—from First Body Tempering to Second Body Tempering."

Four months. High-Grade C Bone Structure.

But his opponent was Zhao Heng!

Zhao Heng was at Late-Stage Second Body Tempering, close to its peak. His fist technique was vicious; even Sun Wu could not withstand it.

How long had it been since Ye An broke through? Not even two months. Sending him to fight Zhao Heng would be no different from sending him to his death!

Qian Wanguan closed his eyes and let out a long sigh.

The courtyard fell silent. Only the rustling of wind through the pagoda tree remained.

Qian Duoduo stood nearby, looking at his father's back. It was not as straight as usual. His father stooped slightly, as though he had aged ten years in an instant.

In all the years Qian Duoduo had lived, he had never seen his father like this. No matter what happened before, Qian Wanguan had always found a way. But this time, there seemed to be no way left.

Qian Duoduo hesitated for a long time.

"Dad... why don't I go find Ye An?"

Qian Wanguan did not rebuke him. He neither agreed nor refused.

He simply stood beneath the pagoda tree with his back to Qian Duoduo, motionless. Then he waved a hand.

It was a faint gesture, like shooing away a fly—or brushing aside a cloud of haze he could not see.

He had not given Qian Duoduo tacit permission, nor had he refused. It meant only: do whatever you want.

What else could he do?

Qian Duoduo stared at his father's retreating back, his heart feeling painfully constricted.

"Sigh~"

Just as he turned to leave, a very soft sigh came from behind him.

Qian Duoduo didn't dare look back. He pushed open the door and walked out. Perhaps there was still hope!

Qian Wanguan stood in the courtyard, listening as his son's footsteps grew more and more distant before gradually fading away.

The surroundings fell silent once more.

Qian Wanguan raised his head and looked at the leaves of the old locust tree above him. The leaves had already begun to turn yellow. Autumn was almost here.

This mine probably couldn't be kept.

Qian Duoduo left home. He had originally planned to go straight to the Martial Hall to find Ye An, but he fell into hesitation.

What should he say after seeing Ye An?

"My family is in trouble. Come help me beat someone up?"

His opponent was a veteran in the Late-Stage Second Body Tempering realm. How long had it even been since Ye An broke through?

This wasn't asking for help. It was sending someone to their death!

Qian Duoduo stood dazed for a long while. He was so lost in thought that when the owner of the wonton stall asked him, "One bowl?" he didn't even respond.

At this moment, Qian Duoduo's mind was filled with the image of Qian Wanguan's slightly stooped, helpless back—that back which had seemed to age ten years in an instant...

Forget it. I'll go first and figure out the rest later.

Ye An was practicing the Azure Cloud Finger in the Martial Hall, striking the iron plate again and again.

Qian Duoduo walked over and squatted beside Ye An, not daring to speak.

Ye An ignored him as well and continued practicing the Azure Cloud Finger.

The two of them stayed like that for a while: one striking the iron plate, the other squatting and watching.

"Ye An." Qian Duoduo finally spoke.

"Mm."

"My family is in trouble."

Ye An's hands continued moving without pause.

"I heard."

"Someone has their eyes on the mine. The other side has a Late-Stage Second Body Tempering expert. Sun Wu was injured by him."

"They're going to fight ten days from now. Whoever wins gets the mine."

Ye An jabbed out another finger.

"If you want me to compete against him..."

Hearing Ye An's answer, Qian Duoduo didn't dare say anything. His unease was impossible to describe. He swore this was the most anxious he'd ever been in his entire life.

Ye An withdrew his hand and turned to look at him. Qian Duoduo was squatting on the ground with his head lowered, tracing circles on the dirt with his finger.

"I agree."

That answer made Qian Duoduo spring to his feet, but before he could speak, Ye An continued.

"Set the match for five days from now. I'll resolve this matter then. Also, get me every bit of information you can about the other martial artist."

Qian Duoduo suppressed the delight in his heart and hurriedly nodded in agreement.

"I'll go right now." Qian Duoduo didn't know why. He clearly understood that the difference in their strength was enormous, yet he simply had confidence in Ye An.

Ye An watched his retreating back, then continued practicing the Azure Cloud Finger.

"Clang—"

"Clang—"

"Clang—"

The sound echoed across the training grounds.

[Azure Cloud Finger (Third Layer): 61/500]

[Qi-Nourishing Formula (Micro): 191/200]

Ye An had deliberately left five days. Five days would be enough for the Qi-Nourishing Formula to break through. That was sufficient.