Fengyi Peak sat adjacent to water veins, heavy with yin energy. Once winter set in, the cold became bitter, far colder than anywhere else.
Zhou Can tightened the black steward’s robe he had worn for many years, sitting upright on the grandmaster chair on the second floor of the laundry house. His eyes scanned the room, watching the mortal laborers at work.
He had arrived before the sky was fully bright.
As usual, he was the first to enter the workshop.
Everyone on Fengyi Peak knew that Steward Zhou of the laundry house was the most diligent—more punctual than mortal laborers rushing to draw their work lots. He came personally to supervise every single day without fail, rain or shine.
In truth, these tasks were handled by the inspectors below him; there was no need for Zhou Can to trouble himself. Among the stewards of the four outer peaks, showing up seven or eight times a month was already considered a lot.
But Zhou Can preferred to handle things personally. He had specifically ordered someone to carry a grandmaster chair up to the second floor. When he entered the workshop, he would sit up high, simply watching how those mortal laborers worked from morning to night, never growing bored.
“Back when my father was a tenant farmer, this was exactly how the rural clan lord would act—hands behind his back, strolling slowly along the ridge paths, looking around and asking how this year’s harvest was coming along…”
Zhou Can’s thoughts drifted:
“Say a few light words, don’t raise the rent, and people would be overwhelmed with gratitude, kneeling and kowtowing. My ancestral graves must truly be smoking with green smoke, to let me live such a good life too.”
The workshop was bustling with activity. He rose and went downstairs, pacing back and forth like a scavenging crow.
The laundry house mainly handled washing and dyeing—immersing fabrics through various methods to produce brilliant colors—so the workers were predominantly women. They all had their sleeves rolled up, some stirring large dye vats, some pounding with mortar and pestle, some airing out cloth…
The weather was bitterly cold, and this work was suffering. Most had frostbite on their hands, shivering constantly, yet they still had to work nimbly.
The Hundred Shadow Vestments of Qianji Sect were greatly favored by the female cultivators of the southern Hehuan Sect, with many customers and broad sales. Fengyi Peak benefited by association, its purse bulging with abundant surplus every year, living far more comfortably than Chiyan Peak or Yanghun Peak.
Zhou Can walked slowly, his neck habitually thrust forward, taking small steps as he calculated silently.
“These years, passing things from hand to hand, I’ve skimmed plenty of profit. Another ten years, and I can pretty much retire down the mountain.”
He was in his early forties, in the prime of life. Even if he worked until fifty, his body would remain sturdy; his blood and qi would not decay much. According to sect rules, a workshop steward who had not reached seventy could continue managing an outer peak. Take Yang Xun of the quenching house on Chiyan Peak, for example—his seniority was exceedingly old.
But Zhou Can thought clearly: he was not of rural clan birth. No matter how long a common mortal labored, once buried under yellow earth a hundred years later, nothing would remain. Better to plan early, buy property in his hometown, establish branches and spread leaves, and enjoy his old age in peace.
Thinking thus, Zhou Can silently appeared behind a somewhat attractive female worker. Pretending to inspect her work, he drew close, pressing against her hips. His rough, large hands casually rested on her shoulder or gripped her wrist.
“Steward…”
The woman trembled in fright and hastily dodged.
“What are you afraid of? I’m teaching you how to work.”
Seeing her frightened, tongue-tied expression, a sense of satisfaction welled up in Zhou Can’s heart. He subtly thrust his hips, rubbing lightly a few times, then turned to seek his next target.
This time, however, he encountered a wanton creature. The moment Zhou Can approached, she squeezed out a flirtatious smile and greeted him.
“Wretched slut!”
He stepped back half a pace, brows tightly furrowed, as if he had seen a plate of greasy fat. He instantly lost his appetite and left with a cold face.
“Think you can latch onto a high branch and stop being a miserable beast of burden? Daydreaming! I, a dignified workshop steward, how could I sample vulgar powder like you!”
Zhou Can turned back to the second floor and sat down in his grandmaster chair.
When the bell of Guanlan Peak was struck, the hour to finish work had arrived. The mortal laborers filed out, and the laundry house instantly became empty and quiet.
A triangular-eyed man in a gray Daoist robe popped his head out, leaned close to Zhou Can, and said softly, “Reporting to Steward, some days ago Miss Luo went to Chiyan Peak.”
This man was an “informant” Zhou Can had planted to secretly keep tabs on Luo Qian’er.
“That toad?”
The corner of Zhou Can’s mouth rose in a slight smile, vaguely recalling the matter. Luo Qian’er had mentioned to him several times that a mortal laborer on Chiyan Peak kept harassing her for no reason, which she found unbearably irritating.
“That brat has turned his luck around recently. I inquired specifically—he was promoted to inspector by Steward Yang of the quenching house and often runs to the inner peak now,” the triangular-eyed man said, bent at the waist.
“Yang Xun of the quenching house? The one who lost his son? He got lucky!”
Zhou Can had deep-set eyes, fleshless cheeks, and a somewhat sinister appearance.
“What was that mortal laborer called? I’ve forgotten.”
Being stared at by Zhou Can, the triangular-eyed man felt a hollow in his heart and replied in a trembling voice, “Jiang Yi.”
“Hmph!”
Zhou Can cracked his knuckles and asked again, “Have you seen this person? What does he look like?”
The triangular-eyed man carefully recalled, “When he was still a mortal laborer, he came to harass Miss Luo several times—dusty-faced and pathetically poor-looking, nothing remarkable about him… far inferior to you, Steward, in majesty and might!”
Toward the end, he cleverly added a bit of flattery.
“He’s a pathetic pauper? Then why did Qian’er brave wind and snow to visit him in the middle of the night? Are you saying this steward can’t compare to a pauper?” Zhou Can asked coldly, his gaze sharp.
His fancy for Luo Qian’er of the laundry house was no secret. Moving Miss Luo from Yanghun Peak to Fengyi Peak had cost him considerable effort.
“This one misspoke!”
The triangular-eyed man immediately began slapping himself with both hands, hard and mercilessly. After a dozen or so blows, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Seeing this, Zhou Can called for him to stop. “Enough, you may go.”
He immediately stood, tossing down a few red fu coins along with a sentence: “Continue watching Qian’er. If that surnamed Jiang brat comes again, report to me at once! Think he can turn his luck around by latching onto a steward? If he dares entertain thoughts about Qian’er again, I’ll make him pay…”
Zhou Can strode out of the laundry house, cold wind scraping his face. The latter half of the sentence, suppressed in his heart, now rose with killing intent—
An inspector’s life is not something I can’t afford!
His steps were quick and hurried, crunching over the thick snow. Before long, he saw the standalone courtyard at the peak.
“Qian’er is the legitimate daughter of the Luo Clan of Lianxi. She shouldn’t look favorably upon a mere mortal laborer. But I was also born a common mortal…”
Zhou Can’s mood was complex. As a steward managing a workshop, when had he ever lacked for women? But he had taken a singular fancy to Luo Qian’er precisely because of the temperament unique to a legitimate daughter from a Qi Refining rural clan.
Zhou Can walked to the courtyard gate with an expressionless face and raised his hand to knock on the beast-mouth copper ring. Speaking of which, he had paid to rent this standalone courtyard.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hearing the sound, Luo Qian’er slid back the bolt and opened a crack. Seeing it was Zhou Can, she said softly, “It’s so cold, and such heavy snow—why have you come?”
Hearing these words and thinking of her secret meeting with Jiang Yi, fire was added to oil in his heart, and wicked flames shot up violently. He forcibly suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, “I told you long ago I’d arrange a female worker for you. Daily sweeping and tending to your needs would be much more convenient. Yet you refused.”
Luo Qian’er had always been mild-tempered and soft-natured before Zhou Can. “I like quiet. Furthermore, meditating and breathing alone makes it easier to enter the proper state.”
This was exactly what Zhou Can liked. A Qi Refining rural clan’s legitimate daughter was fundamentally different from those cheap sluts with holes worn through their crotches. He had toyed with the latter a few times and grown bored, unable to raise the slightest interest anymore.
Zhou Can stepped over the threshold into the main hall, sitting down leisurely to sip the fragrant tea Luo Qian’er brought. He did not directly attack, instead casually picking a topic. “I heard you’ve been going out quite frequently lately? Running around for your younger brother’s entry into the inner peak?”
Luo Qian’er gave a soft hum of affirmation.
Zhou Can continued, “Since your brother entered the sect, I’ve had no time to host him. I’ll find time to meet him another day. I also know a few elders at the inner peak and can put in a word.”
Luo Qian’er looked at Zhou Can, saying on her lips, “How could I let you waste your favors on my little brother’s future?” But in her heart, Junior Brother Jiang’s face appeared.
Compared to the vibrant, handsome, and spirited Jiang Yi, Zhou Can—in his forties, thin-bodied, and somewhat gloomy—was like a tree with dried bark, truly unsuitable to serve as a perch for a phoenix.
“We’ll be family before long—why draw such clear distinctions?”
Zhou Can lowered his head and said, seemingly casually,
“Your younger brother is at Chiyan Peak, isn’t he? You can visit more often in the future. It’s easy for him to get homesick staying alone.”
Luo Qian’er’s heart stirred slightly. Zhou Can had come in the middle of the night and suddenly mentioned little brother Luo Tong, unable to stray far from Chiyan Peak in every other sentence. It seemed her previous secret meeting with Junior Brother Jiang had reached his ears.
Luo Qian’er reacted quickly but showed no panic. She was average in other aspects but particularly excelled at handling men. Her bright eyes flickered as she said, “I won’t go to Chiyan Peak again. Zhou Lang, do you still remember I told you earlier about a mortal laborer from the quenching house who often came to harass me?”
Surprise appeared in the depths of Zhou Can’s eyes—he had not expected Luo Qian’er to bring it up herself.
“In the past, he always liked to give me fu coins, hoping to win my favor,” Luo Qian’er said, squeezing out some fragility between her brows. “I repeatedly refused, but he clung on relentlessly. Some days ago, my brother came to find me, wanting me to beg Junior Sister Li Ruohan of the weaving house to let him into that gathering society at the inner peak. I said many good words before Junior Sister Li relented. I wanted to notify my brother overnight with the good news, but unexpectedly…”
The fire raging in Zhou Can’s chest was gradually soothed by these words.
“What enormous dog gall! Qian’er, why didn’t you tell me sooner? If I had known, I would have crippled him!”
Luo Qian’er shook her head, pitiful and lovely. “He also has a steward as a backer, and his cultivation talent isn’t bad—he’ll enter the inner peak sooner or later. Zhou Lang, if you make an enemy because of me, wouldn’t I truly become a femme fatale?”
Zhou Can still had doubts in his heart, but before he could speak, he heard Luo Qian’er continue, “I know what you think in your heart. You think I am greedy for vanity, coveting your status as a steward and this peak-top courtyard. But I, Luo Qian’er, am a proper legitimate daughter of a rural clan. Back in Lianxi, many young masters from great clans and promising talents from major sects came to propose marriage. If I truly wanted to latch onto a high branch, why would I have left home for hundreds of li, why would I have joined Qianji Sect?”
Zhou Can’s face showed embarrassment. He wanted to comfort and coax her, but then he heard Luo Qian’er speak with pear-blossom tears, every word containing tears, “When I first entered the outer sect and was assigned to Yanghun Peak, no one pitied me. It was Zhou Lang who pulled me up. I used to think men mostly coveted beauty and lacked true hearts. These years together, I have seen that Zhou Lang has genuine feelings for me, and I am grateful. Knowing you want to return home and establish a clan, I specifically wrote home asking my parents to send the ninth-grade spiritual object ‘Purified Torrent Lotus Root,’ and added two acres of spiritual fields as a foundation for you to settle down!”
Zhou Can’s eyes widened, seemingly surprised and delighted.
Luo Qian’er turned and flung out a reply letter. “See for yourself! Because of this, the clan had much criticism. Many people cursed me as a money-losing good-for-nothing, only knowing how to throw herself at men and empty the family coffers! My little brother hasn’t established a career or started a family, yet here I am as his sister, squandering the savings!”
Zhou Can was caught off guard by this torrent of words, and together with the memory of how he had taken liberties with female workers in the workshop that day, even his thick skin couldn’t contain the sudden thought, “I truly deserve to die.”
However, he first looked at the letter, confirming the ninth-grade spiritual object Purified Torrent Lotus Root and two acres of water-attribute spiritual fields. Only then did he soften his tone. “Qian’er, all the wrongs are mine! I shouldn’t have doubted you…”
If comparing cultivation, Luo Qian’er’s late third layer of Qi Refining was completely inadequate before Zhou Can. But if competing in observing expressions and tugging at people’s hearts, no matter how shrewd Zhou Can was, he was far inferior to Luo Qian’er.
“Further words are useless. Let us just say that Zhou Lang and I had fate but no destiny. Take back this courtyard, and find someone else for the inspector position at the laundry house. I will complete my twelve-year term and return home to accept whatever marriage arrangement comes!”
Luo Qian’er’s fragrant shoulders trembled, her weeping unceasing, finally delivering the killing blow: “Just treat it… just treat it as me misjudging a person! I originally thought Zhou Lang was worth entrusting my life to, a great husband who could establish a clan and accomplish great deeds!”
Zhou Can’s face twitched, his doubts completely vanishing, no longer caring about anything else. “It was I who failed to understand your heart. Since the elders are so generous, I will not be stingy either. How about this—doesn’t your younger brother want to buy Essence Nurturing Pills? I will pay for them!”
Luo Qian’er’s eyelids twitched slightly. Normally, at this point, it would be time to wrap things up. But thinking of what Junior Brother Jiang had said—if little brother Luo Tong could enter the inner peak, why couldn’t she?
“There is no need. I don’t want to owe you another half-point! I will find another way for my brother’s entry into the inner peak. Go back, Zhou Lang. I am rather tired…”
Zhou Can’s eyelids hooded his eyes, his mind racing. He was still thinking of the ninth-grade Qi Refining spiritual object Purified Torrent Lotus Root and two acres of water-attribute spiritual fields. Those were all good things for establishing branches, spreading leaves, and founding a rural clan!
“Qian’er, you absolutely mustn’t speak like this. Elder Xu and I from the inner peak have met several times. I will carefully plan for your younger brother and let him enter the inner peak. Furthermore, I heard you say earlier that the betrothal gifts for marrying a daughter in Lianxi are several hundred thousand. I will bring two hundred thousand fu coins here for you to keep, as a betrothal gift to show my sincerity,” Zhou Can said carefully.
“Don’t give them to me. When the time comes, you might regret it and feel bad about your purse…”
Luo Qian’er knew the heat was about right but chose to simmer a bit longer, leaving some lingering flavor.
“Absolutely not!”
Hearing that Luo Qian’er was wavering, Zhou Can hurriedly said, “I will write you a note, adding the four words ‘voluntary gift’—how about that?”
Luo Qian’er gave a delicate snort. “I didn’t force you at all. You agreed entirely on your own.”
Zhou Can laughed heartily, pretending to be magnanimous. After speaking a few warm words with Luo Qian’er, he went home to get the money so she could send it to Luo Tong.
“Two hundred thousand fu coins, more than enough to buy Essence Nurturing Pills…” Luo Qian’er pondered, the figure of Junior Brother Jiang Yi soaring to the sky once again appearing in her mind.
…
Jiang Yi returned to Chiyan Peak, a full fifty thousand fu coins more in hand. Several thick bundles stuffed on his person gave him a full sense of security.
“A hundred fifty thousand fu coins—enough to arrange a ritual ceremony, using water pools and fire marshes to refine and temper my spirit, raising my cultivation.”
Jiang Yi’s heart burned hot, and golden light flashed in his eyes. Because the deal with He Shui Cave was settled, the karmic debts owed from harvesting at the inner peak were cleared. Seeing that the Heavenly Book still had remaining power, he asked another question while idle.
[Respectfully requesting the Heavenly Book to show whether there are still gains to be had today!]
[Supplementary condition: No need for specifics, only answer “yes” or “no.”]
The result came quickly. A few flickering thoughts, and the golden paper trembled.
[Yes.]
Jiang Yi was slightly stunned. He looked up at the pitch-black, snowy sky—it was nearly the zi hour—and there could still be gains? What, could money fall from the sky?
As his thoughts turned, Jiang Yi arrived at the entrance to the large compound. Then he halted his steps, his expression strange.
“Junior Brother Jiang…”
Luo Qian’er stood in the wind and snow, her pretty face pale from the cold, yet forcefully squeezing out a hint of a fragile smile. “Last time I heard you say you were tight on money, so I specifically brought some fu coins to help you with the emergency.”
…
Emergency? This was called paying back a debt!
Jiang Yi had always been clear-headed and wasn’t fooled by Luo Qian’er. He returned to his room, where the hard wooden plank bed in the narrow space was covered with red fu coins—a very pleasing sight.
“He Shui Cave’s deposit of fifty thousand, plus the fifty thousand Luo Qian’er returned—that’s a hundred thousand. Tomorrow when the final payment is settled, I’ll hold two hundred thousand fu coins in hand. A veritable fortune!”
Jiang Yi mused to himself. The original owner had probably only given out a little over thirty thousand. He hadn’t expected Luo Qian’er could actually produce fifty thousand. Truly an unexpected delight—a heavenly windfall!
“I even netted a profit of twenty thousand. Consider it compensation for ‘my’ lost wages.”
Jiang Yi was somewhat reluctant to put the fu coins away, wanting to lie down and sleep on them. In a few more days, all of these would be spent.
Just as he was conflicted, he keenly heard movement outside, like someone knocking on the door and softly calling, “Senior Brother Jiang.”
Who could it be?
Jiang Yi slipped on cloth shoes, draped on his outer robe, and walked to the door against the wind and snow, pulling back the wooden bolt. This late, someone on Chiyan Peak was still looking for him?
“Senior Brother Jiang! It’s me, Luo Tong! My elder sister is Luo Qian’er—do you still remember?”
“Oh… Junior Brother Luo.”
Jiang Yi was taken aback. The Luo siblings coming one after another—what were they up to?
“Senior Brother Jiang, when we met at He Shui Cave today, I didn’t have time to greet you properly. This little brother often heard Senior Brother’s name from my sister and knows you once helped her greatly. This is a small token of regard—please accept it.”
Luo Tong took out a thick stack of fu coins from his bosom. “This little brother understands money is a vulgar thing, too crude for climbing connections. In a few days, I will present Essence Nurturing Pills as a gift and treat Senior Brother to drinks.”
Luo Tong didn’t linger after speaking. He stuffed the fu coins into Jiang Yi’s hand, cupped his hands in farewell, and disappeared into the snowy night.
“Sister and brother… both changed their natures? They like being money-scattering children?”
Jiang Yi tucked the still-warm fu coins away, utterly baffled.
ps: Five thousand words, finished! The weather’s cold—sleep early~