"I didn't think you really lived somewhere like this."
Cheng Yu approached the courtyard, looked around, and said, "The Stable is right next door. Doesn't it get noisy at night?"
Jiang Man was puzzled. She looked as though she had stumbled across something very novel.
He had no idea why she had come.
So he asked outright, "What brings you here, Miss Cheng?"
Hearing this, Cheng Yu withdrew her gaze, though she still sounded surprised when she saw Old Yellow Ox. "You herd cattle too?"
Jiang Man glanced at Old Yellow Ox and nodded. "Yes."
Cheng Yu asked no more about it. Instead, she said, "I'm here to deliver something. It had to be handed to you in person, and since it's urgent, I had to trouble you so late."
"Deliver something?" Jiang Man was a little curious.
He thought it over repeatedly, but could think of nothing that would have any connection to the person before him.
Had she come to send him on his final journey?
It wasn't impossible.
At once, he secretly mobilized the power within his body.
As soon as the person before him did anything dangerous, he would strike first.
Against a wealthy young lady like her, being a step too slow could mean facing her secret arts.
People were different.
Six Harmonies Palm and Three Talents Force were good.
But they were both free.
Anyone could practice them once their cultivation reached the required level.
The wealthy, however, could learn more things, and stronger ones too.
"Yes, a delivery. She's in quite a hurry too, which forced me to come at this hour." As she spoke, she searched her person.
Finally, she produced an envelope.
A few words were written on it: To be opened by Jiang Man alone.
It also bore a wax seal.
"This is it. Here." Cheng Yu handed the envelope to Jiang Man.
Jiang Man took it, somewhat taken aback.
He examined the wax seal closely. The character "Luo" was stamped on it.
"What's this?" he asked in confusion.
"A letter from Luo Xuan," Cheng Yu said casually.
Jiang Man frowned. "What requires an envelope? And why would she write to me?"
Cheng Yu shrugged. Beneath the moonlight, she looked curious too. "Open it and see. I'm curious what she wrote as well.
"She wouldn't even let me open it.
"And she told me to get it into your hands as soon as possible.
"So secretive."
Looking at the envelope, Jiang Man did feel something strange about it.
He had thought she had come to make trouble for him.
Not only that, he had always suspected that Chang Qiwen was working for Cheng Yu.
Everything Chang Qiwen had done against him had been to help her secure a spot.
But this turn of events somewhat overturned his expectations.
Delivering a letter, and one that had to be delivered late at night.
Moreover, the writer was the courtyard's former number one, a wealthy family's young lady.
This...
It was Jiang Man's first time encountering something like this.
It truly was rather unexpected.
"You don't know what she wrote?" Jiang Man looked at Cheng Yu.
"I have a guess, so I need you to confirm it. Hurry and look. I can open it for you if you can't," Cheng Yu urged.
She, too, could hardly wait to see its contents.
After a moment's hesitation, Jiang Man opened the envelope.
The moment he opened it, he caught a delicate fragrance.
It was the very scent from Luo Xuan's courtyard.
He had often smelled it when he went there to work.
Then he unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was elegant and graceful, its strokes light yet possessed of their own backbone.
The ink's shades were balanced. The opening strokes seemed to carry a hesitant pause before flowing like drifting clouds and running water, yet the turns lost none of their strength.
Fine handwriting, Jiang Man couldn't help praising.
These days, everyone devoted all their effort to cultivation.
People with a solid foundation in penmanship were rare.
"May these words be as meeting face-to-face:
As I take up my brush to write, I feel hesitant and uneasy, unsure where to begin.
Our first meeting was when you entered Azure Cloud Pavilion, leading an old yellow ox. Back then, you puzzled me.
When we met again, it was in the Sixth Courtyard.
A courtyard might be the beginning of an unknown bond of fate.
Two years passed in a blink. You came from among the crowd and headed up the mountain.
Your steadfast bearing made me want to lend you a hand. To avoid disturbing you, I could only use Spirit Sources as a means to hire you.
The path up the mountain was arduous. I thought your road ahead would be fraught with difficulties.
Never did I imagine that I would instead have to look up to you.
I dared not say much, dared not converse, dared not face my own heart.
If our bond is destined, once we obtain our spots, let another letter seal our promise to grow white-haired together."
That was the entire letter. There was no signature.
But...
Sometimes, certain things needed little explanation for one to guess a thing or two.
This letter came from Luo Xuan.
After all, Cheng Yu had just said so explicitly.
Yet Jiang Man still had many doubts.
He looked at Cheng Yu before him and asked, "What does she mean?"
Cheng Yu had stood on tiptoe earlier and already seen the letter's contents.
Now she covered her face, blushing. "It's so embarrassing. Can't you understand it?"
Cheng Yu sighed. "She's telling you she's been watching you for a long time, and now she's discovered that her heart is stirred, as though she admires you, but she doesn't dare say it outright.
"If the two of you can both obtain spots, she'll write another letter to arrange a meeting place.
"To pledge yourselves to each other for life."
Then Cheng Yu asked curiously, "Are you any good in actual combat? Are you confident you can beat Fang Yong? So long as you run into him and seriously injure him,
"Luo Xuan's spot will be secure."
Seeing Jiang Man's distracted look, Cheng Yu waved a hand in front of his face. "Are you listening to me?"
Jiang Man nodded. "I am."
"All right, then. You'd better work hard. Don't let our Luo Xuan down." With that, Cheng Yu turned to leave.
After a few steps, she looked back. "If you lack resources and have trouble finding work, I can help you.
"Luo Xuan is my best friend. Of course I have to help her."
Once Jiang Man nodded, Cheng Yu turned back and left.
Now a faint chuckle joined her smiling expression.
Youthful spirit, youthful temperament, youthful purity.
Sure enough, no poor young lad could resist an admiration letter like this.
Honed well, a youth like him would become a blade that fit the hand.
Jiang Man watched Cheng Yu leave, his brows tightly knitted.
Then he looked at Old Huang, the ox beside him. "Old Huang, do you think anyone would take a fancy to me?"
Old Yellow Ox glanced at Jiang Man without speaking.
Jiang Man continued on his own. "What do you think she likes about me? That I bring a plow ox along to study? That I stink of sweat? Or has she taken a fancy to my ox?"
Jiang Man thought the last possibility was somewhat plausible.
After all, his Old Yellow Ox was an Evil God.
"Sometimes, things aren't what they appear to be," Old Yellow Ox said calmly.
Jiang Man was puzzled.
Old Yellow Ox sneered. "Cultivate. Otherwise, three hundred days won't be enough for you to extend your life."
Speaking in riddles again?
Still, he stopped dwelling on it and began cultivating.
As he was now, he did not need much sleep.
He could keep cultivating through the night too.
As long as he kept cultivating, he could keep growing stronger.
Besides, he also needed to go claim some other Spell Arts.
Not only that, he needed to visit the Guard Office to see whether he could hire himself out as a sparring partner.
As for this letter from Luo Xuan,
he didn't believe half a word of it.
Whether it was true or false made no difference to him.
It didn't mention Spirit Sources once.
How was he supposed to find it convincing?
At least last time there had been seventy Spirit Sources.
Before you continue