Xu Yuan’s steps paused slightly. He looked back at her. The lake shimmered in the light. A faint breeze stirred the woman’s long black hair. Those peach blossom eyes of hers, so seductive they seemed capable of muddling a man’s senses, were now clear and transparent.
Xu Yuan was very satisfied with Su Jinxuan’s reaction. Compared to talking about feelings, most of the time he preferred people to talk about money. Talking money might hurt feelings, sure, but talking feelings sometimes hurt both the wallet and the heart.
The secret art for the bewitching spores was indeed precious, but only for someone with the Bewitching Soul Devil Body. Without it, no matter how valuable the secret art was, it could only be used to prop up a wobbly table and gather dust.
“All right. I’ll remember that too. I’ll be waiting for you to pay me back someday.”
“Mhm.” Su Jinxuan gave a soft hum. A smile touched her beautiful eyes as she carefully tucked the secret art into her sleeve.
The wetland lake was bathed in fair weather and gentle wind. Everything was quiet in just the right way. Under the warm winter sun, the two walked together for a while. But before long, only the woman remained beside the silent lake.
Xu Yuan had left. Since the investment had been made, he needed to report it to that old auntie Lou Ji back in the Imperial Capital.
He made his way toward the courtyard in the northwest. This time, the guards on duty did not stop him the way they had in his memories. His status as the Third Young Master still stood, and as his behavior over the past few days had grown increasingly reliable, the forbidden areas within the residence had all gradually been opened to him.
He entered the empty, secluded chamber alone. The huge spherical crystal used for communication rested quietly at the center of the formation patterns on the floor.
Over the past few days, Xu Yuan had used this thing several times, so he already knew how to activate it. The transmission array was complicated, but starting it up was actually quite simple.
Xu Yuan walked to the center of the spacious chamber and placed his hand on the surface of the spherical crystal.
Buzz! A low hum rang out. White light spread from within the crystal sphere, and the intricate formation patterns on the ground lit up like water flowing into carved channels.
Several breaths later, the light faded. The sphere that had been pressed against the floor slowly floated into midair.
Looking at the scene before him, Xu Yuan let out what seemed like an emotional sigh. Sometimes, he really did marvel at this world’s technology tree. Maybe if they developed for another few thousand years, they might actually cobble together some alternate cultivation-world version of a portable phone.
The formation had been activated. Next came dialing.
After fiddling with it for about a minute, Xu Yuan finally withdrew his hand from the source crystal’s surface and sat down cross-legged to regulate his breathing.
Making a phone call in this world was troublesome. After all, the other party could not possibly stand guard beside the transmission array at all times.
He sat in the chamber, breathing and meditating for roughly half an hour. Then a woman’s voice suddenly rang out.
“You’ve waited a while. I never thought our Changtian would actually take the initiative to contact this elder sister of his.”
The voice echoed through the quiet, spacious chamber, so alluring it seemed it could squeeze water out of the air.
Hearing it, Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes. The image of the other party surfaced in his mind almost by instinct.
Honestly, if one looked only at appearance and personality, Lou Ji seemed far more like someone with the Bewitching Soul Devil Body than Su Jinxuan did.
Whenever Su Jinxuan had free time, she liked to wear plain white robes to hide her impressive figure. Lou Ji, on the other hand, wandered around the Chancellor’s estate every day in low-cut outfits. She had perfectly recreated the clothing style of her character art from his previous life.
It was a very seductive, very bewitching femme fatale. Of course, femme fatale was only from the perspective of the story’s protagonist. Right now, several of Qin Mo’s uncles and aunties who had been captured alive were still locked up in the Blackscale Guards’ main prison. Because of the physical strength that came with the Origin Awakener Realm, most forms of punishment had to be personally handled by her.
Lou Ji was the terrifying head of the Blackscale Guards, the kind of person whose name alone could make people shiver. But that was only toward outsiders. She had always treated Xu Yuan well.
From childhood until now, she had been good to him. Once, she had even risked damaging her source qi and causing her cultivation realm to regress, all to use her own cultivation art to forcibly cleanse his meridians and marrow.
Unfortunately, it failed. And that failure had directly traumatized him while he was still young. Back then, he had never cultivated and did not understand any of it. He only thought this woman was vicious and wanted to torture him.
As he thought of this, Xu Yuan softly said, “Auntie Lou.”
“Call me Big Sister,” Lou Ji said gently, smiling.
“All right, Auntie Lou.”
Lou Ji fell silent for a second, then giggled. “Changtian, you really are disobedient. Looks like when you return to the Imperial Capital, I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
“Do whatever you want,” Xu Yuan said.
“Tsk. You’re becoming less and less cute.”
“Ahem.” Xu Yuan coughed lightly and pulled the topic back on track. “I’ve already handed the secret art for the Bewitching Soul Devil Body to Su Jinxuan.”
Lou Ji’s extremely seductive voice sounded faintly jealous. “I know. You had Ying’er come to me asking for that thing, didn’t you? Obviously it was for that little vixen.”
Because of his memories, Xu Yuan was already used to her tone. He directly asked back, “Isn’t it a little inappropriate for you of all people to call her a vixen?”
Lou Ji did not care about his words. Her tone remained smiling and playful. “I’m not the one with a succubus physique, so why can’t I call her a vixen? You’ve only known her for a few days, and you’re already speaking up for her. Your big sister is very hurt, you know.”
As she spoke, a trace of resentment entered her voice.
“A secret art worth 50,000 taels on the market, and you gave it away just like that. Because of this, that old man Hua Hong has been nagging me for an entire day, demanding that my Blackscale Guards compensate his Calm Sky Merchant Association.”
Hua Hong was one of his father’s trusted aides, the chairman of the Calm Sky Merchant Association. He always wore a pair of scholarly spectacles like some old pedant. He was an ultimate miser, through and through.
“So did you pay him?” Xu Yuan asked with a smile.
Hearing this question, Lou Ji went quiet for two seconds, then suddenly gave an irritated cold snort. “Pay? Pay what? Every coin the Blackscale Guards has was earned with our lives. Why should we compensate him?”
Xu Yuan instantly understood. The finances of the various forces under his old man were relatively independent. Probably only when there was a deficit would his father, or that strategist uncle of his, step in to allocate funds and fill the gap.
As for where the Blackscale Guards’ money came from… the intelligence business, no matter the world or dynasty, was always a wildly profitable industry.
And judging by Ying’er’s quiet, taciturn personality, Xu Yuan suspected the Blackscale Guards also ran an assassination business on the side.
As he thought this, Xu Yuan came back to himself. Then, he realized that the terrifying head of the Blackscale Guards, the woman whose name made people quake in fear, was still grumbling away like a wronged wife.
“My Blackscale Guards helps his Calm Sky Merchant Association gather intelligence and investigate inside information every single day. Fine, he doesn’t give us a commission. But he even delays payment for our intelligence, and now he actually has the nerve to turn around and demand money from me. Hah. Something he bought for 1,000 taels, and he wants me to pay him 50,000? That shameless old bastard really has the face to say it out loud.”
Even across tens of thousands of miles, Xu Yuan could feel the resentment this old auntie had been saving up for a long time.
After a pause, the woman on the other end took a deep breath and suddenly said, “Changtian, I’m right, aren’t I?”
The corner of Xu Yuan’s eye twitched slightly. He gave a light cough and agreed. “Yes. Way too hypocritical."
No selfish motives here. Only pure emotion. This Calm Sky Merchant Association was just as blackhearted as it had been in his previous life.
A secret art bought for 1,000 taels and sold for 50,000. A 50-fold profit. Highway robbery in a silk robe.