“The little one!” Zhong Li said, having bandaged her head. She took off her embroidered shoes, hugged her knees, and lowered her head. “I’ve stayed at your residence for a long time. From your uncle down to the servants, everyone’s luck has worsened.
“Only that child remains unchanged, unaffected by the bad luck.”
It’s not Ling Yue, of course. Heaven already blessed her with her aunt’s beauty; if it favored her more, that little bean would be too pitiful… Xu Qi An said:
“So, does this mean my little sister is also someone with great fortune?”
Zhong Li slowly shook her head. “Those with fortune have deep blessings and benefits in all aspects. She isn’t one. She simply has a strong fate, unaffected by bad luck.”
“Everyone in the house has had worse luck… Hearing you say this, I suspect that the reason I haven’t picked up any silver these past few days is because of you, isn’t it?”
Since taking in Zhong Li, this unlucky person, Xu Qi An hadn’t picked up any silver.
“I don’t know,” Zhong Li answered honestly.
“I suddenly have an idea. If Ling Yin can immunize you against your bad luck, then I’ll take her with me when I go out in the future. That way, I can pick up silver again,” Xu Qi An thought for a moment and suggested, “Let’s test it out.”
“How do we test it?” Zhong Li asked.
“Wait a moment.”
Xu Qi An immediately went out, took his aunt’s beloved orchid potted plant from the front hall, and placed it on the roof ridge of the corridor. Then he walked towards the east wing room, listened for a moment, and after confirming, he knocked and said:
“Second Uncle, is Ling Yin asleep?”
Second Uncle’s confused voice came from inside, “She’s fussing about in bed. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, just bring Ling Yin out,” Xu Qi An said.
“Alright.”
Second Uncle didn’t ask why and opened the door carrying the little bean. Xu Qi An consciously stepped back a few paces, as this was Second Uncle and Aunt’s bedroom, and it was late at night. It wasn’t appropriate for him to stand at the door.
“Big Bro…”
Ling Yin stretched out her tiny arms, instinctively reaching for Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An carried her towards his room, coming to the corridor where the potted plant was placed above. He set Ling Yin down below and said, “Sit here and eat some pastries. When you’re done, we’ll go back.”
Usually, the clever Ling Yin would find it strange why she had to sit outside to eat, but upon hearing there was food, her already limited intelligence plummeted.
She happily replied, “Okay!”
So Xu Qi An placed the tiny bean on the steps by the corridor, magically produced a piece of pastry, and let her sit there to eat.
“With my bad luck, the potted plant will fall,” Zhong Li said softly.
“Mm,” Xu Qi An nodded.
He was testing Ling Yin’s fortune. If Zhong Li’s judgment was wrong, it didn’t matter; he would knock the pot away, not letting the little bean get hurt.
A few seconds later, there was a “thud” from the roof ridge, and sure enough, the potted plant fell.
Just then, an orange cat sprang out from the flower bed, leaped up, and with one paw, swatted the pot away, sending it towards Xu Qi An.
Xu Qi An dodged by tilting his head, but Zhong Li didn’t dodge…
The pot shattered on Zhong Li’s head.
“I knew this would happen. I’m going back to my room to bandage the wound,” Zhong Li quietly walked away.
“Cat, cat…”
The little bean, with pastry in her mouth, excitedly pointed at the orange cat.
“Alright, alright, big brother will carry you back to sleep,” Xu Qi An picked up the little bean and returned to the east wing room, handing her over to Second Uncle, then reminding him to supervise her teeth brushing.
Considering this was Aunt’s beloved orchid, Xu Qi An also returned the broken pottery pieces, orchids, and soil to the hall.
After doing all this, he came to the backyard and looked around, seeing the orange cat crouched on the good edge, its amber vertical pupils gazing at him eerily.
“Daoist Master,” Xu Qi An approached and greeted.
“What were you doing just now?” The cat spoke human words.
“Just a small experiment,” Xu Qi An said.
The cat slowly nodded. “That fortune teller from the Celestial Observation Bureau just now?”
Xu Qi An responded with an “Mm” and said, “With your keen eye, Daoist Master, you should be able to see the dark clouds gathering above her head, right?”
“Not just dark clouds gathering, she’s practically a person cursed by heaven…” The orange cat raised its paw and stroked its whiskers. “Compared to fortune tellers, the diviners of the shaman system are practically heaven’s favorites, despite both leaking heavenly secrets.
“They only need to endure 81 trials, and if they survive, they can become diviners.”
Hearing this, Xu Qi An played along, “While fortune tellers have to endure 3,600 calamities… Huh?”
Xu Qi An suddenly made a confused “Huh” sound and frowned, “Fortune tellers… diviners… aren’t they the same thing? Just different names?”
As he spoke, he looked to the Golden Lotus Daoist for confirmation.
It was precisely because of the different names that he hadn’t connected “fortune teller” with “diviner” before, but after hearing Golden Lotus Daoist’s words, Xu Qi An suddenly realized that the two seemed to mean the same thing, just with different names.
Just like “goddess” and “sea king,” different terms but doing the same thing: keeping backups and raising fish.
The orange cat lowered its paw, crouching obediently on the good edge, looking quite cute, but unfortunately, the voice that came out was that of an old man: “Heh, it seems you don’t know yet.
“The术士 (Shushi) system only has a 600-year history, sharing the same lifespan as the Great Feng Dynasty. But don’t you find it strange? The martial arts system has been perfected to this day, yet there are still no martial gods. The shaman, Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian systems all have thousands of years of history.
“In a mere 600 years, the Shushi system, despite not having beings beyond the ranks, is very complete from the ninth rank to the first rank.”
Indeed, in just 600 short years, the Shushi system had become so complete. If it truly created a system from nothing, the first-generation Celestial Master must have been an unparalleled genius. How could such a person be unable to transcend the ranks… Xu Qi An keenly sensed the inconsistency and asked puzzledly:
“So, what’s going on?”
The orange cat didn’t answer directly but smiled and said, “Let me tell you a bit of history, and you can ponder it yourself.”
It first licked its paw, then said, “The founding emperor of Great Feng had a difficult time establishing his rule, several times being pushed to the brink. One year, he went to the northeast to borrow troops from the Shaman God Cult, promising that if he could overthrow the corrupt dynasty and establish a new one, he would make the Shaman God Cult the state religion.
“The vast territory of the Central Plains, spanning hundreds of thousands of miles, would also fall under the Shaman God Cult’s domain. The Shaman God Cult agreed. They lent him 200,000 elite troops and many high-level Shaman God Cult experts.
“Later, that founding emperor overthrew the corrupt previous dynasty and defeated various warlords, unifying the Central Plains. However, the Shaman God Cult did not get its wish of becoming Great Feng’s state religion.
“Because Great Feng gained a Celestial Observation Bureau, and the Shushi system was thus born.”
Only two words remained in Xu Qi An’s mind: Holy shit!!
On the surface, Golden Lotus Daoist was talking about the dark history of Great Feng’s founding emperor breaking his promise… though it couldn’t really be called dark history, after all, founding emperors throughout history have always been people with extremely low moral standards and thick-faced. Righteous gentlemen could never achieve such feats… Golden Lotus Daoist was revealing to him the origin of the Shushi system.
The Shushi system was derived from the shaman system!
This was the judgment Xu Qi An made based on his nine years of compulsory education-cultivated reading comprehension.
No wonder the abilities of “fortune tellers” and “diviners” were so similar.
Oh right, there’s a similar operation with the martial arts system and the warrior monk system! The Shushi can be derived from shamans… Xu Qi An suddenly realized.
Moreover, he expanded on this thought, broadening his thinking, suspecting that the first-generation Celestial Master was among the shaman team that aided Feng at that time.
“The Shushi system is derived from the shaman system, and although it has the foundation of shamanism, creating an entirely new system is still not easy. The hidden truth behind this is probably only known to the first-generation Celestial Master and the founding emperor of Great Feng… I suspect this is related to the secret the Celestial Master is guarding. This might unveil the mystery of the enigmatic Shushi in Yun Province.”
Xu Qi An voiced his doubts, hoping the knowledgeable Golden Lotus Daoist could enlighten him.
Unfortunately, Golden Lotus Daoists lacked the desire to impart wisdom to Xu Qi An and pretended not to hear.
I’ll have to ask Wei Yuan or the Elder Princess about this history… Xu Qi An changed the subject, “Daoist Master, why were you looking for me?”
The orange cat gazed at him eerily for a while, then said, “Passing by, I noticed your good fortune had disappeared, so I came to check.”
Upon hearing this, the first thing that popped into Xu Qi An’s mind was: ???
A moment later, it was: !!!
The latter emotion was his realization. No wonder he hadn’t picked up any silver these past few days. It was due to the Celestial Master’s 404 technique.
“But after seeing that girl, I understood the reason,” the orange cat said.
Golden Lotus Daoist thinks Zhong Li’s bad luck canceled out my good fortune? Xu Qi An didn’t explain, maintaining silence.
He was equally uninterested in imparting wisdom to an old Daoist.
…
Bidding farewell to Golden Lotus Daoist, Xu Qi An entered the house with a gloomy expression, glaring at Zhong Li without a word.
This woman, with bandages wrapped around her head and face, looked pitiful. Sensing Xu Qi An’s change in attitude, she said softly:
“What did that Taoist expert tell you?”
“None of your business.”
“Oh.” She lowered her head slightly.
But Xu Qi An wouldn’t let her off, angrily saying, “Did you know I used to pick up silver every day?”
“I didn’t know, but I can understand,” Zhong Li answered honestly.
“But because of you, the Celestial Master kept me in the capital, blocking part of my fortune.” Xu Qi An judged it was only part of his fortune, based on the fact that he could still ward off disasters for Zhong Li.
“I’m sorry…”
“Does saying sorry help? I’m losing millions each day…” Xu Qi An fumed, “You need to compensate me.”
“I… I don’t have any silver,” Zhong Li lowered her head in shame.
“If you don’t have silver, then sleep with me. My bed is sturdy, it won’t collapse.”
…
The next morning, Xu Qi An woke up energized and utterly satisfied. The bed hadn’t collapsed.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Zhong Li. What he said last night was just anger talking. Although the Celestial Master’s actions pained him, he never intended to make Zhong Li experience the pain of deflowering.
This woman was already miserable enough; Xu Qi An’s conscience wouldn’t allow him to take advantage of her.
However, Zhong Li promised to give him two magical items as compensation later, which immediately cheered Xu Qi An up, making him sleep especially soundly.
After washing up, he went to the front hall for breakfast, hearing the little bean wailing from afar.
Crossing the threshold and entering the room, he saw Aunt pressing Ling Yin onto a stool, wielding a feather duster, and spanking her little bottom repeatedly.
Second Uncle, Ling Yue, and Er Lang ate their meals with unchanged expressions, deaf to their sister’s (daughter’s) cries, focused solely on their porridge, buns, and vegetables.
Seeing this injustice, Xu Qi An shouted, “Stop!”
Aunt ignored her nephew; she was disciplining her daughter, what business was it of his?
“Aunt, you’re going too far,” Xu Qi An snatched away the feather duster, saying, “Ling Yin is still young, you can’t hit her like this.”
“Big Bro…”
This cry of “Big Bro” came from the depths of her heart, sounding like she was calling for her father.
“Brother,” Ling Yue explained, “Mother’s beloved orchid was broken and can’t be saved. Mother suspects Ling Yin broke it.”
Xu Qi An returned the feather duster to Aunt, patting the back of her hand, “Children should be educated early. If you don’t discipline her now, it’ll be too late later. Aunt, you’re doing well, please continue.”
“Waaah…” Ling Yin cried heartbrokenly.
Indeed, she was a child without fortune, relying purely on her strong natal chart.
…
As more and more martial artists flooded into the capital, the city’s public safety plummeted. To address this issue, Wei Yuan came up with a solution.
He ordered the construction of four sturdy white jade platforms in the east, south, west, and north of the outer city, named: Hero’s Platform.
These were specifically for resolving disputes among those martial artists who were always looking for a fight. Soon, martial artists arriving in the capital flocked to these Hero’s Platforms. Those with grudges would jump onto the platform and shout, “Does XXX dare to come up and fight? If you don’t come, you’re a coward!”
If XXX heard about it, they would accept the challenge the next day.
This provided a platform for martial artists to resolve their conflicts without endangering ordinary citizens, while also providing daily entertainment for the capital’s residents and boosting local food and beverage consumption…
“Wei Yuan does have some skills; he’s an official who can achieve results,” Xu Qi An nodded secretly, continuing to listen to Second Uncle’s accounts of his city patrols.
Additionally, young martial artists without grudges would also go to the platforms in groups to spar and gain fame. Female martial artists, however, weren’t interested in performing on the platforms. They were more keen on socializing with famous martial arts masters at banquets.
They were eager to find opportunities to associate with high-ranking officials in the capital and to seduce promising young scholars.
This shows that since ancient times, men and women have pursued vastly different things.
Men pursue fame in one fell swoop, while women pursue becoming famous through one intimate encounter.
Precisely because there were so many seductive women out there, Second Uncle ordered Er Lang not to go out unnecessarily, to avoid being tempted by those crude female martial artists.
Er Lang obediently stayed at home, leaving those female demons to his father… Xu Qi An extracted the core meaning of his uncle’s words.
“Second Uncle, among the female martial artists currently in the capital, are there any with widespread reputations for beauty?” Xu Qi An asked.
Seeing the changed expressions of his sister and aunt, he quickly added, “I’m asking this to be prepared.”
As his aunt and sister looked back at Second Uncle, he furrowed his brow and complained, “You rascal, how would I know about such things? Am I the kind of person who pays attention to these matters?”
Xu Xin Nian watched his brother and father’s performance with disdain, letting out a scornful “Hmph.”
After breakfast, uncle and nephew set out together. As they fetched their mounts, Second Uncle stroked the little mare and remarked, “Since it’s been with you, it seems to have become more spirited.”
“It’s been well-nourished,” Xu Qi An replied.
“Hm?” Second Uncle expressed confusion.
“The food at the Night Watchmen’s office is good. They feed high-quality fodder – barley, soybeans, eggs, coarse salt,” Xu Qi An explained.
Hearing this, Second Uncle became envious and said, “Then let’s switch. Send my horse to the Night Watchmen’s office to improve its diet.”
Xu Qi An waved his hands repeatedly, “I won’t switch mounts.”
“Second Uncle, let’s talk more about those female martial artists,” Xu Qi An showed particular interest in them, probably due to his previous life’s martial arts complex.
Speaking of this, Second Uncle was well-informed, “It’s said that there are countless beautiful female martial artists in the capital now, but four stand out the most. First is the daughter of the Cliff Sword Pavilion’s master, known as the ‘Butterfly Sword’. Not only is she highly skilled, but she’s also quite pretty.
“Then there’s Rong Rong from the Wanhua Tower, nicknamed ‘Soul-stirring Hands’. My colleagues say she’s practically a seductive vixen. No man can resist her charms.”
Soul-stirring Hands?!
Is it the kind of soul-stirring hands I’m thinking of, like the stroking kind?
“There’s also the Thousand-Faced Female Thief. No one knows what she looks like, but it’s said she’s a master of disguise, always appearing as a stunning beauty.”
Generally speaking, such people are usually ugly women.
“The last one is even more impressive, a famous female blade user who wields twin blades, a disciple of the Thunder State Twin Blade School.” Second Uncle clicked his tongue and said:
“She’s truly a valiant female warrior. If I were twenty years younger… I’d still choose your aunt.”
Xu Qi An nodded, thinking his uncle still loved his aunt very much. He patted his shoulder and said, “Leave those female martial artists to your twenty-year-old nephew then.”
Arriving at the office and dealing with roll call, Xu Qi An spent half an hour cultivating in the familiar Silver Gong Min Shan’s hall, then planned to take his two Bronze Gongs on patrol – the Spring Breeze Hall had been burned down and wasn’t rebuilt yet.
“Boss, where are we patrolling today?” they asked.
“Do you know where the female martial artists like to hang out?” Xu Qi An inquired.
“Of course, it’s the Hero’s Platforms. The four arenas in the east, south, west, and north are very lively now. Many residents from the inner city are rushing to the outer city to watch the excitement.”
“Alright, then let’s go to the Hero’s Platform in the south city today,” Xu Qi An decided.
Just as he stepped out of the office, he saw a rider galloping towards them. The guard on horseback wore palace livery – he was Princess Lin’an’s guard.
“Lord Xu!”
The guard, upon seeing Xu Qi An, was overjoyed. He abruptly reined in his horse, coming to a sudden stop.
“Lord Xu, the Second Princess requests your immediate presence at the palace.”
“What’s the matter?” Xu Qi An asked calmly.
“The Second Princess said it’s a matter of life and death. Her life is in your hands,” the guard said gravely.
“???”
While instructing the Bronze Gongs to fetch his horse, Xu Qi An asked, “Has something happened in the palace?”