Chapter 138: Tug of War
Chen Ping'an only managed to ask for directions to the old City God temple site. No one had heard of that inn Cui Chan had mentioned. This prefectural city was a major city in the northern part of the Huangting Kingdom, and getting to the old City God site required traversing almost half the city. By the time the group followed the directions of the last pedestrian they asked, it was already near dusk. They only found a vermilion high wall, and it took them a long time to finally locate an inconspicuous alley entrance that could barely accommodate two carriages passing through.
The further they walked, the more it gave one a sense of hidden paradise. From between the cracks of the blue brick road beneath their feet, a faint mist would occasionally emanate, drifting behind the high walls on either side, leisurely gathering like clear spring water flowing slowly across the wall's surface, accompanied by the faint sound of flowing water.
Seeing Chen Ping'an and the others acting suspicious and wary, the young Cui Chan explained, "This alley is one of the signature features of this inn, called the Flowing Clouds and Water Alley. Once we enter the main gate, we should immediately see a Bright Moon Screen Wall. Because that screen wall harbors a spirit of unknown origin, its form is unstable, roughly corresponding to the phases of the moon—waxing, waning, full, and new—all displayed on the wall. But a truly valuable screen wall would have to be one that depicts the sun and moon together. If it could also incorporate some star patterns, even immortal mansions of the highest rank would throw away all pretense of dignity and scramble to buy it."
At the end of the alley was a large gate, carved with two tall, colorful door gods, taller than a strong adult man, fierce and imposing, with robust physiques. Both were clad in golden armor. One rode a tiger and held a sword; the other rode a flood dragon and raised a blade. The two door gods glared angrily down the alley. Since they were carved in high relief wood, not the paper ones used by ordinary households, they gave a strong sense of oppressive pressure, as if about to leap out.
Li Huai swallowed his saliva secretly, thinking that sleeping in the mountains would be much more comfortable and relaxing.
The large door slowly opened. A beautiful woman with peach blossom eyes swayed her hips as she crossed the threshold and walked out unhurriedly. Behind her were two young maids with double-loop hairstyles, each with a green-sheathed sword hanging at their waist. They did not follow the woman toward the group of guests but instead stood at the entrance.
The beautiful woman performed a graceful curtsy, "This slave is Liu Jiahui. Jia as in 'celebratory,' Hui as in 'flowering plants.' The name is hardly elegant enough to grace a hall. You distinguished guests may call me Jiahui. May I ask, are you esteemed guests planning to stay at our Qiulu Inn? Do you have a prior reservation?"
As the woman spoke, her gaze fixed straight on the white-clad youth who was a sight for sore eyes.
But the handsome youth remained unmoved, quite rude. The beautiful woman and the handsome youth stared at each other. Though there was some displeasure in her heart, her smile remained unchanged.
The two maids at the entrance showed obvious anger.
Within the prefectural city, who would dare show such disrespect to their lady? Even the prefect, a regional magnate, would treat the lady with courtesy when encountering her during an outing or incense-burning, politely addressing her as Madame Liu or Second Boss. And if he had a request that required the Qiulu Inn's help in making connections, he would face her with respect and call her Immortal Master Liu.
The beautiful woman's peripheral vision quickly glanced at the cold-faced Lin Shouyi. Not noticing anything unusual, she continued to focus her gaze on the white-clad youth, speaking gently, "Young master, do you find something amiss with this slave or the Qiulu Inn? Have you come here only to be disappointed, finding it unworthy of its reputation?"
The young Cui Chan grew impatient and pointed at the straw-sandal-wearing youth beside him. "You're worshipping the wrong bodhisattva. The one in charge of the money is this one."
The woman was surprised inwardly, quickly gave a separate curtsy to Chen Ping'an as an apology. Before she could speak, Chen Ping'an glanced at the gate, took a deep breath, and made up his mind. "We have quite a few people. Do you have enough rooms?"
The woman smiled radiantly. "We do, how could we not? Although it's almost time for the triennial Water God Sacrificial Ceremony in this prefecture, and various immortal masters have come to support the prefect, the Qiulu Inn's business is not bad. But with your esteemed guests gracing us with your presence, it's an honor for our humble abode. Even if I have to vacate my own small courtyard and temporarily move to another inn, I would never dare let you guests leave disappointed."
In the end, Chen Ping'an rented a large courtyard called Qinglu, located closest to the old water well at the old City God site. It was considered a top-tier courtyard of the Qiulu Inn. The reason it had remained vacant until now was simply its exorbitant price: no per-person charge, but a flat rate of two thousand taels of silver per day. Among those who stayed at the Qiulu Inn, many were cultivators who had attained the status of qi refiners. But in the practice of cultivation, if one couldn't be thrifty and diligent like a swallow gathering mud, lacking a wealthy family background or a strong backing, or lacking the means to generate income day by day, one would be extremely tight on funds—completely different from the common folk's imagination of immortal masters as immensely wealthy.
That old well at the Qiulu Inn was indeed a spirit spring emanating abundant spiritual energy. But for qi refiners, paying two thousand taels of silver a day for it was absolutely an unprofitable deal. So this courtyard was mostly booked by local wealthy magnates as a lavish expense to entertain high-ranking officials and martial heroes.
Madam Liu personally led the group of out-of-town guests through corridors and paths, finally arriving at a quiet courtyard. In one corner of the yard grew a large clump of plantain trees. There was a stone water vat half a person tall, stocked with a school of multicolored carp. On the water's surface, lotus flowers were just budding, small lotus tips just showing.
Madam Liu pointed at a copper bell on the stone table and said with a smile, "If you need anything, just gently shake this bell, and a nimble maid will come to the courtyard. Also, behind this courtyard there is a bamboo gate; push it open and walk north for about thirty paces, and you'll see a pavilion called the Stop Pavilion, with three meditation cushions. Immortal masters may sit in the pavilion to breathe and refine qi. As for the well, it is not open to outsiders. I hope you understand."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "We'll remember. We won't go past the Stop Pavilion or approach the old well on our own."
Madam Liu squinted her naturally spring-like peach blossom eyes, her smile sincere. "Empathy is the Buddha's heart."
Li Baoping asked curiously, "Madam Liu, shouldn't there be a screen wall standing by your main gate?"
Madam Liu sighed, unwilling to go into detail about the matter, and glossed over it. "There was a small incident earlier. The screen wall lost its lunar phase phenomenon, so we simply dismantled it."
There were four rooms. Li Baoping and Xie Xie shared one; Li Huai and Chen Ping'an; Cui Chan and Yu Lu; and the last room was left for Lin Shouyi, who was already a qi refiner.
After entering this place, Lin Shouyi truly felt refreshed. That wonderful sensation was like trudging through heavy rain and mud earlier, each step requiring effort to pull his foot out. Now that it had cleared up, the road was dry, and he had changed into clean clothes, walking felt comfortable and relaxed, as if he had been reborn.
Lin Shouyi was somewhat puzzled. Hidden in the bustling prefectural city, there was actually such a blessed land beneficial for cultivation?
But along the way, they hadn't encountered any other guests. According to Madam Liu, the Qiulu Inn's business wasn't bad, which was quite different from the town inns they had occasionally stayed at before, which were noisy and bustling.
After Madam Liu left, Chen Ping'an first put his backpack in the room and took out a small box of dark wood. Inside were four jade hairpins arranged side by side, the simplest in style. Two of the hairpins were made of mutton-fat white jade, warm and smooth, along with one of green jade and one of black jade. Including the box, they had cost Chen Ping'an a hundred taels of silver.
While searching for the Qiulu Inn, they had passed a jade shop. Chen Ping'an had intended to just go in and look around, to broaden his horizons and satisfy his curiosity. But the moment he saw them, his eyes were fixed. The four hairpins lay quietly in the open wooden box, adorable and lovely, bringing joy to his heart.
When Chen Ping'an heard the shop owner name the jaw-dropping price, he was determined not to dwell on it. But Cui Chan hinted several times that he must buy this box of jade hairpins, and finally even declared that if Chen Ping'an wouldn't buy them, he, Cui Dongshan, would. Chen Ping'an gritted his teeth, negotiated with the fellow, and, just like the lodging fee, had it recorded on credit.
Thus Chen Ping'an owed the white-clad youth his first debt: a hundred taels of silver—not much, but certainly not little.
The shop owner gifted Chen Ping'an a small engraving knife used by jade artisans, while also explaining the differences in hardness between the three jade materials and how the pressure of the knife should vary accordingly. Chen Ping'an silently memorized every word without missing a single one.
On the Embroidery River ferry, the green jade hairpin gifted by Master Qi had inexplicably disappeared. At that time, Chen Ping'an had told Li Baoping that if he ever had the chance, he would buy a hairpin and engrave those eight characters on it.
Now it had simply gone from one hairpin to four.
After placing his small bookcase against the wall, Li Huai fell backward onto the bed, his face full of intoxication. "This really is a place for immortals to live. My parents and sister, they don't have this kind of fortune."
The child suddenly remembered something, quickly sat up, crouched by the wall to open his bookcase, fumbled around, and even moved out the painted wooden figurines and clay dolls, placing them by his feet. Li Huai stuck his head into the now-empty bookcase, then turned abruptly to look at Chen Ping'an's back, aggrieved. "Cui Dongshan really is no good! That silver ingot is gone! Chen Ping'an, what should I do? Can I go ask for it back?"
Chen Ping'an had placed the wooden box and engraving knife on the table and was now staring blankly, his face serious as if facing a great enemy.
Hearing Li Huai's complaint, Chen Ping'an turned and smiled. "That bug-silver is now your property. If it really is with him, you can certainly ask for it back."
Li Huai hurried out of the room. "I'll go settle accounts with Cui Dongshan."
Chen Ping'an reminded him, "Remember to speak nicely to him."
Chen Ping'an went to close the door, then sat back at the table. He picked up the small, delicate jade-engraving knife with two fingers, silently feeling its weight.
What should he carve on his own hairpin? Simple: the eight small characters that had been on the lost hairpin: "Thinking of the gentleman, gentle as jade."
But for the other three jade hairpins, he planned to give them to Li Baoping, Lin Shouyi, and Li Huai as parting gifts when they arrived at the Great Sui Academy.
Baoping. Shouyi. Huaiyin.
In the end, after scratching his head furiously, Chen Ping'an could only come up with these three phrases. Though not elegant at all, at least they wouldn't go wrong.
Lin Shouyi suddenly pushed the door open and stood outside, furious. "Chen Ping'an, have you lost your mind?! Two thousand taels of silver, just to stay here for one night?!"
Chen Ping'an turned his head in bewilderment, looking at the unfamiliar young man.
Beside Lin Shouyi appeared a white-clad youth, hands tucked in sleeves, wearing a smug smile.
Lin Shouyi's lips trembled with anger as he pointed at Chen Ping'an. "Two thousand taels of silver! Are you Chen Ping'an the son of a prefect, or something even more impressive like a relative of the royal family?"
Chen Ping'an frowned slightly, gently set down the engraving knife, and stood up. He was about to speak, but Lin Shouyi had already turned and strode away.
Li Huai tiptoed into the room, clutching that silver ingot in his hand. The child dared not get involved in this mess, so he sat on the edge of the bed, his face somewhat pale.
Chen Ping'an glanced at the white-clad youth and sat back down on the stool.
Cui Chan leaned against the doorframe, the instigator still fanning the flames. "Not a good feeling, having your good intentions taken for donkey's liver and lungs, is it?"
Chen Ping'an ignored him.
Cui Chan thought for a moment, walked into the room, and sat across from Chen Ping'an at the table. He propped his cheek on one hand, smiling at Chen Ping'an, continuing to pour oil on the fire. "Do you think Lin Shouyi might be treating your personal purse as the common property of your group? So even though you spent this money for his cultivation, Lin Shouyi, who is mature for his age and already has a concept of property, weighed the pros and cons and still felt he was losing out, which is why he got angry at you? I think that possibility exists."
Chen Ping'an's expression didn't change.
Cui Chan grinned. "Do you think I'm just a stirrer of trouble?"
Cui Chan mused to himself, "Then you'd be blaming me wrongly. For example, earlier I bought that bundle of junk and paid with a silver ingot. But the bug-silver, when it falls into a stranger's hands, will turn into a locust or dragonfly or something and return to its owner. So you think I cheated that person with magic arts, right? Wrong, completely wrong. That man was a gambler who staked everything on one throw. Looking at his fate, he's a short-lived fool who doesn't know how to cherish blessings. If I had given him real gold and silver as gambling money, I would have been harming him. He might meet a terrible disaster within a few days. Now, without the silver to gamble, that spendthrift will have to steal things from home to sell cheaply, which instead might let him live a few more days."
Chen Ping'an finally spoke. "From the moment you got off the carriage, introducing the City God temple and then casually bringing up this Qiulu Inn, you were actually setting a trap for me, weren't you? But I can't figure out what's the point of doing something that harms others without benefiting yourself."
The white-clad youth, head tilted, tapped the table with two fingers in turn. "There was once someone slightly older than you who had a seal engraved with the four characters 'All Under Heaven Welcomes Spring.'"
The white-clad youth fell into thought.
Chen Ping'an asked, "And then?"
The white-clad youth snapped out of it, rubbed the red mole between his eyebrows, and thought about the strange weather they had encountered along the way, becoming increasingly certain of something. It should be as he guessed: the seal that Qi Jingchun gave the young Zhao Yao was significant. Unfortunately, after his own appearance, the youth chose to protect himself after testing the waters, whether for his own future or his clan's safety. In the end, the youth had handed over the seal, so the thing contained within the seal would naturally return to heaven and earth. No wonder this year's late spring weather was so long.
But Cui Chan felt things couldn't be that simple.
No matter what backup plans Qi Jingchun had, under the old scholar's arrangements, "this Cui Chan" had already tied his fate to the mud-bottle-alley youth's destiny. Although being dragged down by Chen Ping'an had also made his own future bleak, Cui Chan still wasn't willing to give up on himself. Instead, he stirred up a strong competitive spirit, hoping to gradually lead Chen Ping'an onto his own broad highway, rather than letting this uneducated little mud-leg drag him onto his shabby path to starve.
This was like two people playing tug of war. The strength wasn't in the waist or arms but in the will and spirit of the heart.
The white-clad youth's mood gradually improved. Competing in will and endurance with a guy like this? He, Cui Chan, had once been a top-tier cultivator who successfully broke into the twelfth realm, and a chess grandmaster famous throughout the Central Continent. Playing chess with a child—losing would be hard, wouldn't it?
The straw-sandal youth opposite him had completely ignored the white-clad youth.
Because Chen Ping'an had picked up the engraving knife and the jade hairpin, and began carving the first character.
(End of this chapter)