Buying a Residence

At 3:45 AM, Xu Qi'an rode his beloved little mare, which never gets stuck in traffic, and swiftly arrived at the Bureau of Astronomy. Amidst the warm welcome of the white-robed Warlock, he found Chu Caiwei, who was listening to Song Qing's teachings.

"Miss Caiwei, I'd like to buy a house in the inner city. I know the Bureau of Astronomy observes feng shui, and I'd like to ask for your help." Xu Qi'an stated his purpose.

Chu Caiwei looked away from the bottles and jars on the table, raised her face, and her face, which looked rosy and tender, was still youthful at eighteen.

She was beautiful and delicate, with bright, sparkling eyes and clear, translucent whites like a baby's, giving her an extremely pure appearance.

It is well known that children's eyes are clear, bright, and pure because the whites of their eyes are translucent.

Unlike adults, whose whites of the eyes become cloudy and bloodshot with age, children with cervical stenosis do not develop cervical stenosis.

Chu Caiwei's eyes were as clear as a baby's, large and bright, extremely beautiful.

"I want to learn Alchemy, I'm not going." Chu Caiwei puffed out her cheeks and turned her face away.

"Is she on her period? She seems a bit down," Xu Qi'an wondered, when he heard Song Qing say, "I'll ask a junior brother to go with you."

What would I need a junior brother for? No way! This kind of thing only has meaning when a junior sister is with me. Who wants to go shopping with a grown man? Xu Qi'an shook his head, politely declining Song Qing's offer, and said:

"Why is Miss Caiwei acting like this today, smearing dung on the wall?"

Chu Caiwei answered earnestly, "I've been stuck at the seventh-grade Feng Shui Master for over a year. I could have advanced to Alchemy long ago, but Alchemy is too difficult, tiring, and boring."

Yes, I understand. Science and engineering are a woman's nightmare.

Chu Caiwei continued, "Furthermore, to advance to the sixth-rank Alchemist, one needs to independently complete a completely new Alchemy, promote it widely, and receive positive feedback from the people. Only then can one successfully advance."

Xu Qi'an didn't understand what he meant. "Received feedback from the people?"

Do you know who invented gunpowder?

How would I know?

"Gunpowder was invented three hundred years ago by a Feng Shui Master from the Bureau of Astronomy. After he popularized it, he gained the people's approval and was promoted to Alchemist. Of course, it doesn't mean you have to create something extraordinary. Senior Brother Song Qing was promoted to Alchemist because he created glass," Chu Caiwei said. "The key is the feedback from the people."

So it was you Song Qing, you bastard, who ruined my money-making plan! Xu Qi'an thought to himself with resentment, then asked in confusion, "Why do we need feedback from the people?"

Chu Caiwei immediately looked at Song Qing, who pondered for a moment and said, "This is a secret of the Bureau of Astronomy. It's fine to tell you, but remember not to spread it."

After Xu Qi'an nodded, Song Qing asked, "What do you think is the difference between the Bureau of Astronomy and other cultivation systems?"

"Serving the country and the people selflessly is especially noble," Xu Qi'an said earnestly.

This answer caused smiles to unconsciously spread across the faces of Song Qing and the white-robed Warlock beside him.

As expected of Young Master Xu, a close friend of the Bureau of Astronomy, Song Qing nodded in satisfaction and his tone became enthusiastic. "Yes, you are a person with very unique and accurate insight, which I greatly admire."

"Among the various systems, the Nine Ranks are the foundation; in fact, the uniqueness of the Nine Ranks represents the core of that system. For martial artists, it's the Essence Refining Realm; for Confucian School, it 'Aperture Opening Realm Buddhist School, it's the Novice Realm."

The core of a martial artist's Essence Refining Realm is the body; the body is the foundation of a martial Confucian School. The Buddhist School Aperture Opening Realm requires young monks to observe precepts; receiving precepts is the foundation for a monk's understanding of Buddhist teachings. And what about the Warlock's Ninth-Rank Healer Realm? Doctors don't seem to have much to do with Warlock, right?

Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment. Seeing that he still hadn't Aperture Opening, Song Qing offered a hint: "A ninth-rank Healer is not essentially a healer, but a human being. The Warlock System follows the path of humanity, so the achievement of a sixth-rank Alchemist requires the recognition of the people, which is why the Bureau of Astronomy needs to be affiliated with the imperial court."

Are Warlock practicing humanity? It can't be the kind of humanity I think it is. No wonder these white-robed figures are so proud, yet their actions are supposedly "serving the people." No wonder the Imperial Censors of all dynasties have been guardians of the capital; they had to be subservient to the court. This reminds me of Confucian School, which also requires subservience to the court. To this day, Confucian School hasn't produced a second-rank master. Judging from Erlang's words, it's very likely their career path has been cut off. It's like a seventh-rank Feng Shui Master, lacking the people's approval, can't be promoted?

If some say that other paths exist, then surely there are other paths as well. Beyond the superficial differences in systems, is there a hidden distinction based on the concept of "Tao" itself?

"Any progress on the new Alchemy?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Song Qing glanced at her junior sister and said helplessly, "She's not very bright to begin with, and she doesn't like studying. Sigh, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult."

The other white-robed Warlock shook their heads, expressing their skepticism about Chu Caiwei's promotion.

"Someone like Junior Sister Caiwei can only hope for the fortuitous opportunity."

"Sigh, even the supervising teacher doesn't do anything about it. He probably thinks that my junior sister is just a girl and doesn't need to reach such a high level."

"There's nothing we can do about it."

The white-robed Warlock sighed regretfully.

Chu Caiwei pouted, just like a poor student with terrible grades, facing her elders' sighs of disappointment.

This world doesn't have chicken essence yet. I wonder if making chicken essence would count as completing an Alchemy. Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment and said, "I do have a way to deal with that."

Whoosh! Instantly, all the white-robed figures in the alchemy room turned to look, their eyes gleaming.

"Really, there really is a way?" Song Qing's eyes widened, filled with both the elation of learning new Alchemy and the relief of an old father who had finally resolved a worry.

"Young Master Xu, is what you say true?" The men in white robes excitedly approached, even putting down their alchemical experiments to stare at Xu Qi'an with great anticipation.

"I need to think about it some more, and I'll give you all an answer in a few days." After saying this, Xu Qi'an looked at Chu Caiwei: "Miss Caiwei, are you free today?"

"Yes, yes," the white-robed Warlock inside the room said in unison.

Song Qing helped Chu Caiwei to her feet and said earnestly, "Young Master Xu is a distinguished person in our Bureau of Astronomy, hundreds of times more important than Alchemy. Today, you will accompany him for a stroll around the inner city."

Chu Caiwei was thus pushed into the wolf's den by her senior brothers.

Xu Qi'an brought Chu Caiwei to the brokerage firm, where an old broker greeted them warmly, "Sir and Madam, are you buying property or renting a house?"

"It's an old man. In my past life, I was always entertained by curvaceous, office-uniformed women." Xu Qi'an thought to himself, but smiled outwardly, "Property purchase."

The old broker's smile grew even more enthusiastic; the commission rates for renting and buying property were not comparable.

What size?

"It's a three-stage process, isn't it?"

The old broker's smile couldn't be described as mere enthusiasm; it was as if he had seen his long-lost father and was almost moved to tears of joy.

His excitement was justified. In the inner city, depending on the location, a three-courtyard house, not to mention an ordinary small courtyard, could sell for 5,000 to 10,000 taels of silver.

Houses with three courtyards or more are not something ordinary people can afford. The real estate brokerage firm hasn't sold a single house of this caliber this year; they could live off the proceeds for a whole year if they opened a business there.

"Do you have a house in mind?" the old real estate agent asked humbly.

"List houses worth five to seven thousand taels." Xu Qi'an sat down with an air of authority, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of what was probably the best green tea in the brokerage firm.

The taste was so-so, far inferior to that of Wei Yuan Tea House.

Soon, several lists were drawn up. Xu Qi'an took them, glanced at them, and after a moment of careful recollection, directly eliminated three of them, leaving only one.

"Why only this one house?" Chu Caiwei magically pulled a handful of candied fruit from her deerskin pouch.

"Because the house upstairs is close to the Imperial Academy of Music)," Xu Qi'an said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

The paper listed the location and size of the houses. More detailed information would require further investigation. Xu Qi'an glanced at it and found a house in a good location with a large area, but the price was much lower than the other houses. The brokerage firm's number was: Yi Ershisan.

"Old man, why is this house so cheap?" Xu Qi'an asked casually.

The price of the 23rd house is 5,500 taels of silver, while houses of the same level sell for more than 7,000 taels.

"There's a reason why it's cheap," the old broker said in a low voice, glancing around.

"That house is haunted; it's uninhabitable. Sir, you'd better choose another one."

Xu Qi'an and Chu Caiwei exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves, "Eerie? Well, I, the Nightwatchers, really have to go and see what's so eerie about it."

However, Xu Qi'an didn't act rashly. He cautiously asked, "What happened? Old man, please tell me properly."

Although the capital city was the territory of the Nightwatchers, it did indeed hide many unknown masters, or perhaps there were some very strange places. Xu Qi'an had heard many strange legends about the capital city when he was a child.

P. S.: I suddenly realized something very embarrassing. The academy was originally called "White Deer Academy," but it gradually became "Cloud Deer Academy." The most ridiculous thing is that I didn't even realize it myself until a reader messaged me privately.

I felt instantly ashamed, and then I patted my chest and said: I will definitely change.

Next, I did some research and found that White Deer Academy and Cloud Deer Academy appear in each other's chapters at roughly the same frequency, spanning over a hundred chapters. It's terrifying! There's no way to change this; I could have written a whole chapter with that time.

Let's all just pretend this never happened!