“That won’t do. That absolutely won’t do!”
Li Qiuchen hurriedly refused. “If you put it that way, then I really can’t stay here. No matter how poor I, Chu Xiaohe, may be, I still couldn’t do something like eating and lodging for free. If word got out, people would laugh at me!”
This meal didn’t count.
Granny Liu grabbed Li Qiuchen by the hand, craned her neck to look outside, then lowered her voice and said, “Xiaohe, let me tell you the truth. I’m not asking you to stay here for nothing. I’ve got my own little thoughts on the matter. You’re a capable child, I know that, and you know this old woman has a few tricks of her own too.”
“Just look at my household. My eldest is away from home and barely comes back a few times a year. My second is a useless coward, no help at all. If Xiulan and I really ran into some trouble, what do you think we’d do?”
“I’m letting you stay without taking rent not because I pity you for being young, but because I’m begging you to pity us two women. By now, everyone in town knows this old woman took twenty taels of silver from the Zhao family. Those shameless bastards may not dare provoke the Zhao family, but do you think they wouldn’t dare provoke us?”
Of course, the actual situation was nowhere near as frightening as Granny Liu made it sound. She herself was bold to the point of recklessness, with a fierce, shrewish temper. How many ordinary people would dare brag that they could serve as a spirit-medium?
Besides, she had two grown sons at home. Even if they weren’t around, what blind fool would dare come harass her?
Li Qiuchen felt that what Granny Liu was truly worried about was, rather, that Eighth Master Chang.
There was no such thing as love or hate without cause in this world.
Between Eighth Master Chang and the Liu family—or perhaps between him and her—there was definitely some tangled karma that could not be clearly explained.
There was an idiom called Lord Ye’s Love of Dragons.
Don’t be fooled by how Granny Liu went around boasting to a bunch of old men and old women about how capable she was. If a spirit really mounted her body, the one most terrified would be Granny Liu herself.
Thinking this through, Li Qiuchen no longer declined. With a serious expression, he said, “Although I’m young, I have practiced martial arts. You saw that yesterday. I’m not boasting to you, but in the mountains, I once killed a wild boar with my own hands. Three or five ordinary men wouldn’t be able to get near me. As long as I stay here, I’ll definitely keep you safe. But there’s one thing we have to agree on first.”
“If you don’t take rent from me, that’s your righteousness. Later, when I bring food and drink back home, you mustn’t refuse me either. If you’re too embarrassed and insist on being polite, then that’s the same as driving me away!”
Granny Liu was overjoyed. “Then it’s settled! Once we finish eating, I’ll have Xiulan tidy up a room for you!”
The Liu family had three large tiled-roof rooms. Granny Liu occupied one by herself, and her eldest son and daughter-in-law, Xiulan, lived in another.
The remaining room belonged to the second son. His sister-in-law was a diligent woman and usually kept it very clean.
There wasn’t much clutter either. Li Qiuchen went in and looked around, and couldn’t find anything to criticize.
It was ten times better than the cart inn.
After noon, Li Qiuchen left the Liu household. Before he had gone far, he saw Eighth Master Chang crouching by the corner of a nearby wall, both hands tucked into his sleeves, a pair of cold snake eyes staring fixedly at him.
Many people subconsciously felt that snakes were particularly vicious animals.
In truth, most snakes were both lazy and timid, and many weren’t venomous.
The main reason people feared snakes was that no one dared gamble on whether the snake before them was venomous or not.
Li Qiuchen walked forward, cupped his fists, and called softly, “Eighth Master Chang.”
“What were you doing at her house?”
“I made some money at the Zhao family’s place and wanted to move somewhere else. Auntie Liu got a reward of silver too, and she’s afraid thieves might take interest in it, so she asked me to stay and bolster her courage.”
Li Qiuchen told the truth.
“May I ask what relationship you have with Auntie Liu, Eighth Master?”
“No relationship.”
“Ah?”
“Her husband’s family name is Liu. Her own surname is Ma. Her ancestors had a bit of a connection with our family, but that was all five hundred years ago.”
Eighth Master Chang sighed. “That woman was sharp all her life. A few years ago, after her old man passed, something in her was shaken, and her mind grew more and more muddled. She kept telling everyone she had started serving…”
“They all say fortune and calamity have no gate; only people summon them themselves. Some words others may say, but she cannot. Once she opens her mouth, it’s easy to invite trouble. If not for me blocking things for her out of consideration for her ancestors’ old ties, if she really attracted some messy thing to possess her, when she herself doesn’t understand the taboos of this trade, she’d probably already have gone down to keep her old man company by now.”
So that was it.
Li Qiuchen came to a sudden realization. So this was the nature of their connection.
And here I thought Auntie Liu had saved your life when she was young and beautiful, and you’d come to repay the favor.
“Kid, do you know what tricks those two scholars are trying to pull?”
Eighth Master Chang suddenly changed the subject. “I didn’t really understand what they were talking about last night.”
“I didn’t understand either. I came down from the mountains. I don’t even know which way the county school’s gate faces.”
Li Qiuchen smiled. “In any case, the two of them don’t look like bad people. They’re giving me one tael of silver just to act in a play with them once. What’s there for me to be unwilling about?”
“You’re an ignorant brat. You should’ve asked them for spirit stones.”
Eighth Master Chang curled his lip. “Those two youngsters are obviously rich young masters who’ve never traveled far. Foolish people with lots of money. If you can get them to pay you in spirit stones, I’ll exchange them from you for three times the amount in silver!”
You think I don’t know spirit stones are good things?
I’m keeping a low profile. All I want is to play it safe.
Li Qiuchen said without batting an eye, “If there’s a chance, I’ll try.”
Eighth Master Chang had assessed those two as foolish people with lots of money, and that assessment was extremely accurate.
They really weren’t very clever.
Ever since they had reached an agreement that day, the two of them actually didn’t come bother Li Qiuchen for three days straight, making Li Qiuchen think they had packed up and run.
Later, after hearing passersby mention it, he learned that the two of them were doing hard labor.
They were driving stakes along the perimeter of Qingshitai.
The two of them spent a full three days driving thirty-six stone stakes around Qingshitai, setting up a formation that enveloped the entire place.
Once this formation was activated, it created an almost identical illusion in the town, so realistic it could pass for the real thing.
According to them, this was called an “Illusory Scene.”
The Qingshitai within the Illusory Scene was not a simple copy-paste of the real Qingshitai. Rather, it was built from the memories the two had gathered over the past few days from Qingshitai’s residents regarding the turmoil from some time ago.
In other words, it was the scene from the day the government troops surrounded and suppressed the Medicine Master’s followers.
Eighth Master Chang was responsible for playing the role of Perfected Mohe from that day within the Illusory Scene, while Li Qiuchen was to play a role similar to a beginner’s guide.
The lines prepared for him were an introduction to the incident.
He would briefly explain the origin of this Illusory Scene while also providing the trial-takers with a clear goal—defeat Perfected Mohe before the government army arrived, and resolve the crisis in town.
To put it even more plainly, this was equivalent to creating a simple leveling dungeon for the player characters in the county school… ah, no, for the lower-year students. Not only would the BOSS in the dungeon not drop any equipment, these students would also have to actively pay an entry fee.
And what the students gained inside the dungeon was not experience, but tempering of their temperament and will.
According to the two of them, every student in the county school had to enter Illusory Scenes of different grades for tempering each year, and receive corresponding evaluations based on their performance.
Only those who obtained the highest evaluation would be allowed to come into contact with more profound knowledge.