Chapter 62: Money-Grubbing

Xuanyuan, gazing at the little thief carrying a bronze long halberd on his shoulder, watching his sorry figure scrambling down the rugged mountain path, suddenly felt he had really mistaken the person. The other man had rolled up his sleeves and was carrying the bronze halberd like a shoulder pole. How was this like a warrior?

If Chen Ji were that person, even if he were weaker than the Giant Halberd Warrior, he could easily win with innate fighting instinct. But this one could only flee down the mountain in a sorry state. If that person were here, facing an even more powerful enemy, he wouldn't run. Even if a majestic mountain blocked the way, he would move it. And the one in front would go around.

At this moment, Chen Ji was carrying the bronze halberd, panting. He turned back to scout, only to see the Giant Halberd Warrior running through the mountains, his black armor rustling, his red cloak fluttering backward, his figure as massive as a war chariot. Chen Ji thought to himself, this fierce general is only one level higher than me? Brother, you said one level higher, are you not talking about the difference between the acquired realm and the innate realm? No, no. If Si Cao were here, where would I have the chance to carry a bronze halberd and run away? Not being in the innate realm is enough.

The two went down the mountain, one in front, one behind. Chen Ji, carrying the bronze halberd, ran slower and slower, panting more and more. Xuanyuan's gaze also became more and more disappointed.

However, just at this moment, Chen Ji suddenly stopped panting, and his steps were no longer heavy. He saw his gaze condense, and he suddenly turned his body. Chen Ji twisted his waist, turned his body, lifted his hand – his movements were fluid. The bronze long halberd in his hand stabbed toward his back with a thunderous momentum. This stab came just right; as the Giant Halberd Warrior charged, it was as if he was welcoming the halberd tip to crash into him. This huge collision force couldn't even be blocked by armor.

The black armor was hard, but it was pierced by Chen Ji's halberd, stabbing into the Giant Halberd Warrior's abdomen. Chen Ji breathed a sigh of relief, but Xuanyuan's lips curled slightly, as if mocking: "Futile!"

The next moment, the Giant Halberd Warrior actually paid no mind to his abdominal injury. He grasped the sharp blade of the bronze halberd with both hands, fearlessly pulling out the bronze halberd. He saw his hands shake slightly, and Chen Ji felt a huge force transmit, shaking both his hands numb, causing him to involuntarily loosen his grip on the bronze halberd.

The Giant Halberd Warrior let the blood flow like a stream from his abdomen, held the bronze long halberd high, and again chopped down vertically like Mount Tai pressing down. From beginning to end, the Giant Halberd Warrior's expression showed no pain, he didn't even wrinkle his eyebrows once, as if the abdominal piercing was just an ordinary small matter.

"Hiss..."

Chen Ji awoke from the small courtyard of the medical hall, panting greedily.

"Another nightmare?" The prince said curiously, "You've had several nightmares in a while. You must have encountered bad people before and been scared."

As he spoke, the prince looked into Chen Ji's eyes. This apprentice youth was clearly not looking at him, yet he felt a palpitation in his mind, as if a fierce beast was breathing beside him, spitting out thick bloody gas.

Liang Maoer came out of the kitchen carrying food: boiled white porridge with sour and spicy cabbage and small pickled vegetables, light and tasty. He looked at Chen Ji: "Eat something first, then sleep."

Chen Ji shook his head, slowly closing his eyes: "I'm not hungry right now, thanks!"

The prince came back to his senses. He examined Chen Ji carefully again, but found the other man tiredly lying on the bamboo chair, nothing special. It must have been his own misperception.

At this time, Chen Ji had already returned to the battlefield. He saw the Giant Halberd Warrior standing intact on the green mountain peak, not making a move immediately. Xuanyuan sat on a large stone, looking at Chen Ji: "Have you learned your lesson?"

Chen Ji was silent. Xuanyuan laughed: "In this world, you are absolutely not the only one who dares to be fierce on your own. The people who can rush and kill on the battlefield, which one of them isn't a fierce warrior who crawled out of a pile of dead people? Facing a fierce warrior like the Giant Halberd Warrior, relying on mere bravery is useless. We've seen many fierce ones. You must learn to abandon all fancy ideas and master true killing skills."

Chen Ji pondered. True killing skills?

Xuanyuan calmly said: "You want me to teach you the Sword Seed entrance, but you don't even have ordinary killing and fighting spirit. Giving you the Sword Seed entrance is like putting a hair-splitting sharp sword in a child's hand; it can not only hurt others, but also hurt yourself."

Chen Ji nodded: "Let's start, again."

Xuanyuan said: "This time, you cannot run down this mountain top. If you run, I will not teach you the Sword Seed entrance."

Chen Ji was puzzled: "But in killing, if you can't win, running is also a wise choice!"

"You are much smarter than before, but while smart is a good thing, people cannot only have smartness." Xuanyuan laughed coldly: "But there will always be a mountain in this world that you can never go around. At that time, you need some fighting spirit and courage."

Xuanyuan walked to the side of the Giant Halberd Warrior, pointing a finger below his ribs: "The human body has thirty-six vital acupoints, especially the Sun acupoint, Qi Gate acupoint, Wind Pool acupoint, Danzhong acupoint..." He pointed out the vital acupoints one by one for Chen Ji to see, "If your long halberd had just now shifted one inch more to the left, the Giant Halberd Warrior, even with immense strength, wouldn't be able to use it. This is the difference between having killing skills and not having killing skills. Additionally, that halberd you turned back with just now, while good-looking, was useless. Killing people doesn't need to be good-looking."

Chen Ji took a deep breath: "Understood." He didn't know how much killing Xuanyuan had experienced, he only knew that this was the best teacher he could ever encounter.

The Giant Halberd Warrior no longer waited, swinging his bronze long halberd to attack. Chen Ji also no longer evaded, only turning and moving on this mountain peak, seeking a killing method. He tightly stared at the direction the bronze long halberd chopped down, leaning his body slightly to the right. He then saw the bronze halberd brush past his face, chopping down an inch outside his nose tip.

Xuanyuan's eyes lit up. However, before he could even praise him, he saw the Giant Halberd Warrior flip his wrist, and the crescent blade of the bronze halberd turned, cutting into Chen Ji's abdomen. This bronze halberd in the Giant Halberd Warrior's hand was like a living thing. It was clearly a heavy weapon, yet in the Giant Halberd Warrior's hand, it became extremely treacherous.

When Chen Ji returned to the green mountain again, Xuanyuan's face was grim: "You clearly dodged very well just now, why didn't you predict the opponent might have other means after dodging? Killing is like playing chess, you have to think ten steps ahead. With the same strength, whoever can anticipate the enemy first can win."

Chen Ji nodded seriously: "Understood, again!"

He killed from morning to noon, and again from noon to evening. He didn't win, but he killed more and more seriously, killed more and more excitedly. He didn't calculate how many times he had died, only that the more he died, the more rough and direct his fighting method became. It was like a steel billet sent into furnace fire for remolding, and then forged into shape with a heavy hammer time and time again, forging out all impurities. Chen Ji suddenly realized that this kind of forged-out skill had no routine, no need to perform for anyone, and was closer to the essence of killing skills.

Xuanyuan watched Chen Ji kill time and time again, as if he were tireless. This youth didn't have that person's fighting instinct, but he had exactly the same fighting spirit. Obsessed, a madman!

"Now you finally look a bit like you!"

In the evening, Chen Ji was in the small courtyard of Taiping Medical Hall, opening his eyes. Xuanyuan ordered him to rest for half an hour. He slowly breathed a sigh of relief, as if returning from purgatory to the lively human world. This time, he had fought with the Giant Halberd Warrior for the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, a hard and difficult fight. When he woke up, he was utterly exhausted.

Chen Ji lifted his head, only to see the prince, She Dengke, Liang Gouer, and Liu Quxing pushing Pai Gow at the dinner table. White Carp Princess and Liang Maoer were just standing by watching. Liu Quxing had a pile of copper coins in front of him, and also a silver peanut he had won from the prince.

White Carp Princess looked at Chen Ji, surprised: "Ah, you're awake. Are you hungry, do you want to eat something?"

Chen Ji smiled: "Princess, why aren't you playing with them?"

White Carp shook her head: "I don't gamble, and my father doesn't allow gambling either."

"Ah? The prince isn't gambling?"

White Carp smiled: "It doesn't matter, I'll just report him later!"

Chen Ji: "..., truly deep brother and sister affection ah."

He felt a wave of hunger, but before he could say anything, he heard several Jianghu people shouting from outside the door: "Prince, prince, get ready to go to White Clothes Alley."

The prince's eyes lit up: "Today is the day Qinhuai River's Head Liu comes to Lu City. I hear this Head Liu is excellent in poetry, books, zither, and chess, and her person also looks like an immortal. We must go and see."

Liang Gouer clapped his hands and cheered. He hadn't had a drink for several days, and his belly's wine bug was making noise. However, White Carp Princess poured a basin of cold water: "Chen Ji is still injured, if everyone leaves, who will take care of him? Brother, you always say you want to make friends with him. Treating friends like this, are you still a human or not?"

The prince scratched his head, some difficult. Liu Su, even on Jinling's Qinhuai River, deserved to be the top courtesan. Today, she came to Lu City for the ribbon cutting of White Clothes Alley's new embroidered building. How could he miss it?

Liang Gouer whispered: "Prince, why don't we go, and leave Maoer and the princess in the medical hall in the evening?"

The prince was somewhat difficult: "The money is on White Carp!"

Liang Gouer: "..."

Chen Ji: "..."

Indeed, White Carp was the true financial backer. So the prince took her everywhere he went.

The small courtyard quieted down, and everyone no longer had the mood to push Pai Gow. For a time, everyone was thinking of countermeasures. Only Chen Ji was nourishing his spirit, preparing to continue entering the battlefield to kill.

At this time, Liang Gouer, who was standing aside, came up with an idea: "Prince, wouldn't it be good if we also brought Chen Ji along and took care of him?"

Chen Ji: "..., I have injuries on my body, I can't go!"

The prince looked at Liang Gouer: "That's right, he has injuries on his body, and injuries on his chest and leg. He can't even carry his back."

Liang Gouer, always ready to freeload on wine without any bottom line, immediately patted his chest: "Maoer and I will lift his bamboo chair and go. When we finish drinking, the two of us will lift him back."

Chen Ji: "You are truly a talent. As long as you can drink, you can do anything."

The next moment, Liang Gouer greeted Liang Maoer and lifted the bamboo chair toward the door, like carrying a certain bamboo sedan chair.

Chen Ji sat up on the shaking bamboo chair: "Let go, I don't want to go ah."

Liang Gouer didn't mind: "It's not up to you now, just follow us. If you want to sleep, just lie down directly on the bamboo chair and sleep. Don't worry, you won't fall. That's White Clothes Alley, that's Head Liu, are you a man? Not interested in this kind of thing?"

Chen Ji was helpless: "I still have injuries on my body ah."

The prince followed beside the bamboo chair and said: "Hearing that seeing Head Liu's face is not easy, you must hand over poetry. If Head Liu likes it, one poem can bring three people in. There's a table and case at the door, brush and ink, everyone please."

A young scholar immediately took the pen at the table and quickly wrote a poem to hand over to the two girls. One of the girls took the Xuan paper and ran up the building, and not long after, she ran back, smiling charmingly: "This young master, our Head Liu says your poem is not good."

This Head Liu really didn't give any face, saying it was not good was just not good. Not even half a euphemism. That young scholar's face turned red with shame, and he lowered his head and squeezed into the crowd. Through this attempt, those who didn't have much real substance immediately had a sense of retreat.

Outside the door, Liang Gouer and the other Jianghu people muttered to themselves, whispering, not knowing how they could enter this embroidered building. Some said to flip in, some said to kill in, each suggestion was proper. At this time, the prince began to beat a retreat, saying in a low voice: "White Carp, we only have half a poem ah, will that do?"

White Carp thought: "If she knows her stuff, this half sentence can be worth a hundred poems from other people, it can definitely!"

Liang Gouer came over and said: "But one poem can only bring three people, and we have twelve people!"

Having said that, the prince and White Carp Princess looked together at Chen Ji sleeping on the bamboo chair.

"Chen Ji, wake up ah!"

No matter how the prince called, Chen Ji didn't wake up. The prince was almost anxious to death, yet there was no way, if there was no poem, how could they go in?

At this time, White Carp thought for a moment, took out a gold melon seed from her small purse, and stuffed it into Chen Ji's hand.

Chen Ji opened his eyes: "Got it!"

***

White Clothes Alley's embroidered building's entrance was covered in flower baskets, stretching for several hundred meters, even occupying the courtyards of other houses. On the spacious second-floor terrace of the embroidered building, the wooden railings were hung with red silk, looking especially festive.

The owner of the embroidered building was named Zhang Chang, an unknown small figure. But some said he was once a servant in the second house of the Shanghai Xu family, which made everyone have to look up to him. The Xu family, the Xu family of the cabinet first assistant Xu Gong.

Aristocratic families would not touch White Clothes Alley, Red Clothes Alley, or the voices of Qinhuai River, as their reputation was not good. But privately, they all had their respective white gloves. Everyone knew who was behind Zhang Chang, everyone understood tacitly. So as soon as the embroidered building opened for business, not only did Liu family's Liu Mingxian come to support, but many young masters from aristocratic families also brought literati friends to come together. Some came to see Head Liu, some came to give the Xu family's business a boost. Each had their own thoughts.

At the entrance of the embroidered building, two girls wearing plain white Ruqun and draped in white mink stood gracefully in the cool autumn wind, smiling and saying to the guests outside the door: "Various masters, young masters, our embroidered building widely welcomes guests tonight. The first floor has many elegant seats, spacious and bright. But if you want to go to the second floor to see our girls, you must have a poetic talent. If our girl likes it, one poem can bring three people together. There is a table and case, brush and ink at the door, please."

A young scholar immediately took a pen at the table and quickly wrote a poem to hand over to the two girls. One of the girls took the Xuan paper and ran up the building, and not long after, she ran back, smiling charmingly: "This young master, our Head Liu says your poem is not good."

This Head Liu actually didn't give any face at all, saying it was not good was just not good. Not even half a willingness to be euphemistic. That young scholar's face turned red with shame, and he lowered his head and squeezed into the crowd. Through this attempt, some people who didn't have much real substance immediately had a sense of retreat.

Outside the door, Liang Gouer and the other Jianghu people muttered to themselves, whispering, not knowing how they could enter this embroidered building. Some said to flip in, some said to kill in, each suggestion was proper. At this time, the prince began to beat a retreat, saying in a low voice: "White Carp, we only have half a poem ah, will that do?"

White Carp thought: "If she knows her goods, this half sentence can be worth a hundred or ten poems from other people, it can definitely!"

Liang Gouer came over and said: "But one poem can only bring three people, and we have twelve people!"

Having said that, the prince and White Carp Princess together looked at Chen Ji sleeping on the bamboo chair.

"Chen Ji, wake up ah!"

No matter how the prince called, Chen Ji didn't wake up. The prince was almost anxious to death, yet there was no way, if there was no poem, how could they go in?

At this time, White Carp thought for a moment, took out a gold melon seed from her small purse, and stuffed it into Chen Ji's hand.

Chen Ji opened his eyes: "Got it!"