Plutusauthor
patreon
Chapter 92
🕑 Added 2023-03-28 01:16:47 +0000 UTCA wooden ladle slammed onto Wang Xiao’s head. “Not in my house, you won’t,” the old woman said.
Wang Xiao clicked his tongue but reined in his anger after a warning look from his senior brother.
The old woman placed bowls of steaming pork broth in front of them. In the center of the table she laid out a massive platter of noodles, small cuts of meat, leafy greens, and thin-sliced mushrooms.
“Thank you for the meal,” Chen Haoran said.
Jiang Lei clasped his hands and gave his own thanks. Wang Xiao remained stubbornly silent.
The old woman waved them off and seated herself. “Eat.”
Jiang Lei caught Chen Haoran’s eye and graciously nodded his head toward the platter. Left with no other choice Chen Haoran awkwardly used his chopsticks to fill his bowl and eat.
His first bite was one of surprise. His second was one of need. Such were the laws of unexpectedly good food. The pork broth was full of flavor, and the noodles absorbed every bit of that flavor in a combination that punched him in the mouth like the wild pigs of the Clearsprings Mountains. It was by far the best meal he’d had since entering Zumulu.
“It’s delicious,” he said.
“Agreed.” Jiang Lei echoed the sentiment. “You used a milder flavor this time, Elder.”
The old woman paid their compliments no mind and deftly picked out a mushroom from the platter. “The foreigner can’t handle real heat.”
Chen Haoran frowned. “How did you know I don’t like spicy food? I never mentioned that.”
He flinched when the woman unerringly locked a blind eye on him. “I can see the weakness in your soul,” she intoned.
Chen Haoran likened his current feeling to that of a deer caught in headlights. “You’re… talking about spice,” he hesitantly said. “…right?”
She pointed her chopsticks at his bowl, and part of his mind went wild trying to figure out how she did. “Eat.”
Chen Haoaran didn’t. He placed his chopsticks down. “I don’t believe I ever learned your name, ma’am.”
“You can’t learn what you were never taught,” the old woman said. She grabbed more noodles from the platter and dumped them in Wang Xiao’s bowl. “You can call me Granny Jiang.”
Jiang. His eyes involuntarily shifted right to Jiang Lei. Had this been a setup? Had the Liquid Meridian tracked him down and laid out a bait that he waltzed into? Or was this Granny Jiang the one really pulling the strings? None of it made sense, though. He gripped the table.
“I met a man named Jiang, actually,” he said with far more calm than he felt. “Old Jiang, a ferry captain.”
The old woman snorted. “No wonder then.”
What? No wonder what?
“Jiang is a common surname,” Jiang Lei patiently explained. “It’s a coincidence that this elder and I share it in common.”
“Names are the least of the things people have taken from the rivers,” Granny Jiang added.
Chen Haoran hummed a noise of understanding and turned back to his food to disguise the relief he felt. Despite this, he was sure Jiang Lei picked up on what he was feeling. He still wouldn’t say he felt safe, but there were too many inconsistencies for them to be out to get him.
“How did you end up meeting Granny Jiang?” he asked.
Jiang Lei laughed. “I dare say it probably was not much different from how you did. When we arrived in the city, we were looking for accommodation when her wares struck my eye. I believe she took pity on us and invited us as guests.” Something flashed in his eyes as he looked between Granny Jiang and Chen Haoran. “Meeting you like this was quite the surprise.”
Chen Haoran watched Jiang Lei and Wang Xiao with wary eyes. Xie Jin had been endlessly suspicious of the duo when they first met. It was perhaps a good thing that his fiance dragged him out of the city because Chen Haoran couldn’t imagine him taking meeting them again any better than he did. He couldn’t help but mirror Xie Jin’s suspicion. While he had yet to look at a map of Zumulu, he at least knew Daqing was even further away from Reservoir Town than Snake’s End was. Why reason did they have to travel out so far when they could have remained home to cultivate by the Peachwine?
He thought back to their first meeting. Wang Xiao had said their purpose was to do good and protect order. To that end, they were hunting criminals and capturing them alive. That in itself was a clue. Jiang Lei could have killed those poachers but didn’t. He reprimanded Wang Xiao for his behavior at the inn. Being seen doing good and maintaining a good reputation was important to them.
Chen Haoran finished off the rest of his broth and sighed in contentment. He put aside his theorizing. What they wanted to do was none of his business, and he had no interest in pursuing the matter. In any case, he didn’t know enough about Zumulu to make a call one way or the other. So long as Jiang Lei and Wang Xiao didn’t bother him any further- Chen Haoran paused. He glanced at Wang Xiao, who was stiffly eating the noodles Granny Jiang had dropped into his bowl. When he saw Chen Haoran looking at him, he glared, the fire clear in his eyes. Chen Haoran amended his thought: So long as Jiang Lei didn’t bother him any further, he had no reason to go out of his way and investigate them.
He pushed away from the table and stood up. “Thank you for the meal, Granny Jiang.” Despite the fact she was blind, he still clasped his hands and bowed. “Unfortunately, I really must go now. My friends-” he emphasized “-are still waiting for me.”
Granny Jiang casually waved him off. “Begone with you then.” Wang Xiao stood up after him, but Granny Jiang pulled at his sleeve. “Where do you think you’re going? You need to eat. You make every rumor about Zumulus being skeletons look true.”
“I have business-” Wang Xiao began, only for his other sleeve to be grabbed by Jiang Lei.
“Come now, Junior Brother,” he said as he stuffed Wang Xiao’s mouth with another slice of meat. “I have to agree with Elder Jiang.” He looked over his shoulder at Chen Haoran and winked.
Taking the help for what it was Chen Haoran quickly fled out the door and escaped. Leaving Jiang Lei’s laughter, Granny Jiang’s scolding, and Wang Xiao’s muffled shouting far behind him.
The next time he met any of them would be too soon.
—————
As he raced back home, Chen Haoran only had one thought in his mind.
He had to start getting his banknotes in smaller denominations.
While it was not quite yet curfew, it was close enough that Chen Haoran ran into more than one infuriating patrolling team of guards who decided to be an asshole about it. Thankfully his cultivation was high enough that he wasn’t so easy to bully. Even luckier was that money seemed to be a universal weakness among the guards who felt his cultivation and still came to press their luck.
Unfortunately, he seemed to run into a Catch-22. He’d get stopped and waste his time speaking with and paying off the guards before he could continue on his way, only to then get stopped by another team of guards much later into curfew and repeat the process. It was clearly a racket, but he couldn’t be sure if it were deliberately arranged by the security forces of the city to extort as much money as they could or if he was just unlucky.
There was only so much he could do to avoid them without looking like he was deliberately hiding from the guards. Being accused of being a thief or a sneak would open up an entirely different can of worms that he’d rather not deal with. He was thus left with relying on his sense and sight and hoping he got lucky enough to turn onto a different path before running into a guard team. He was met with varying levels of success. If he could see the guards, then they were just as likely to spot him as well. His sense wasn’t yet powerful enough to outdistance sight.
It was a time like this when he missed Lan Fen’s, more accurately, the White Tyrant’s, sensing ability. How convenient she had it to have all the goings-on of an area basically at her fingertips. Having to deal with the White Tyrant’s personality would have been worth it for that alone.
He sighed. “I should’ve had Song Yuelin teach me a stealth technique.” Having something that’d let him hide and avoid a cultivator’s sense would be incredibly convenient right about now.
Chen Haoran’s skin prickled, and he laid his hand on the hilt of his scimitar for reassurance.
How many times had Song Yuelin observed him with him none the wiser? How many times did the White Tyrant? They were both so far above him, not just in realm but in skill. How could an ant realize it was being stared at by something far larger than it in scope?
When it was being obvious.
Chen Haoran drew his scimitar and slashed behind him. White light flashed and cut away the night. Long marks were scored into the stone bricks beneath him. His sword was stopped, but the image of a split sky continued on.
Peach-colored liquid qi covered the street and buildings and shielded them from the effects of the White Tyrant’s Harmonization. Jiang Lei, having failed in sneaking up on Chen Haoran, caught his scimitar with his hands. Liquid qi battled with the white cutting energy, and blood leaked freely from Jiang Lei’s hands.
“Well,” Jiang Lei said with no small shock. “That’s twice today I’ve been surprised.”
