The Deal with Bai Fang

In the Martial World, it was common for disciples to study under a master's tutelage for three years at the shortest and ten years at the longest.

Before Wang Xiaoer's mother came to find Zhang San, she had agreed with him that he was not allowed to go back home if he did not learn proper skills.

However, due to various reasons, Wang Xiaoer had not received a letter from his mother for half a year, and he himself had not written to his mother for a long six months.

...

...

At the city gates of Tian Ruo City, the prosperous city remained as bustling as ever.

After Lu Gaosheng died, Tian Ruo City and even the entire Tian Ge Prefecture was left without a leader. JinWan Pavilion's previous agreement with Lu Gaosheng was naturally rendered void. Over the past half year, Black Heaven Gate had been working to seize back Tian Ge Prefecture while JinWan Pavilion was unwilling to back down either. In the meantime, many gangsters from the south had also taken the opportunity to encroach.

In short, while the prosperity and liveliness were real, raging undercurrents brewed beneath the surface calm.

The two master and disciple who had changed into disguises were talking.

Zhang San said to Wang Xiaoer, "None of the six missions in the last two months succeeded. I need to explain to the people of Five Directions Sect. I'll also buy some medicinal herbs. You wait for me outside the city and gather some intelligence at the Post Station in the meantime."

Other than inns and brothels, the areas surrounding Post Stations in every big city were apparently where information flowed the fastest.

Wang Xiaoer's eyes lit up as he readily agreed.

...

...

After entering the city, Zhang San felt extremely delighted in his heart.

Hehe. No matter how cunning you think you are, little bunny, how can you ever compare with your master's craftiness and foresight?

Failed missions can just fail, why would I need to explain anything to the Five Directions Sect? Other than being steady, what's the most important thing when travelling the Martial World?

Of course it's having many aliases!

Aside from Zhang San's most famous title, the number one killer 'Black Eagle' on the killer leaderboard, he actually had over a dozen other lesser-known aliases, collectively referred to as his 'aliases'.

Each alias corresponded to different disguises and voices.

When one's worn out, just switch to another.

The main purpose of this trip to Tian Ruo City was still to visit Bai Fang at the Ming Mansion, but to prevent Wang Xiaoer's soul from being bewitched by little jade again, Zhang San made him stay outside the city, which also allowed him to gather intelligence on the Martial World - killing two birds with one stone!

With no money, there's no way he could have paid the entrance tax to get into the city! I'll quietly get things done while he's kept busy for at least half a hour negotiating with those gangsters! Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Cackle cackle cackle.

...

...

As Wang Xiaoer watched his master enter the city, he felt extremely delighted in his heart as well.

Hehe. No matter how cunning you think you are, Master, how can you ever compare with Wang Xiaoer's natural intelligence and foresight?

You think I'm penniless? That was half a year ago!

During the two months when Master Zhang was in a coma, in order to stock up on enough medication and food to evade searches, although Master's savings had long been depleted, Wang Xiaoer still managed to exchange the banknote for one thousand taels of silver that Lu Gaosheng left behind for the Clean Slate painting for three hundred taels of silver bullion through the black market.

The reason was that a banknote was not actual silver, but a form of 'note' - you could withdraw money from a money house anytime by presenting the note, or use it for business transactions or gifting.

But it must be clear that a note represented a sum of money deposited by someone in a money house. Money had to be deposited first before a note could be issued. Under such circumstances, even if the note was later used by its original owner for transactions or gifting, the money house still had the capability to trace back to find out who was the first holder of that banknote.

As such, when Lu Gaosheng previously wanted to give Zhang San a gift of thirty thousand taels in banknotes, he once said, "Given Brother Zhang's prudence, he probably wouldn't want commonly traceable banknotes with record codes. I have prepared notes from Bai's Money House that will be ready in a few days."

The banknote that Lu Gaosheng gave for purchasing the Clean Slate painting did not originate from Bai's Money House, and had clear serial numbers on it. For normal business dealings or gifting, this would not have been an issue.

But now that Lu Gaosheng had died, and he had originally been slated to become the next prefect of the prefecture, the authorities naturally treated it as a major case. If the banknote appeared in legitimate market circulation, it would surely draw investigations. Although not completely foolproof, exchanging it on the black market was still the best option then.

It had to be said that when Wang Xiaoer steadied down, he truly resembled Zhang San in his younger days.

What's more, regardless of whether Wang Xiaoer was steady or not, his greediness was completely a younger version of Zhang San.

Exchanging one thousand taels for three hundred taels on the black market was not considered an inappropriate price, given that it was the black market after all. But... this was actually just the version Zhang San knew about.

Master! Did you really think that leaving me outside the city would work? Did you think I wouldn't know why you wanted me to stay outside?

The moment you stepped into the city, I went looking for Little Jade!

Given you need to negotiate with those gangsters, it'll take at least half an hour! I'll quietly get things done while you're kept busy, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Cackle cackle cackle.

...

...

In the recent months, there had been endless rumors swirling around the Ming Mansion in the city.

Just three months ago, the young master of the Ming family had gotten married in the mansion, but it could hardly be called a grand wedding - some red paper was put up around the mansion gates and firecrackers set off for less than half a day before the wedding concluded.

None of the city's prominent figures attended, although most of them were already dead at the authorities' hands. Still, those remaining did not receive any invitations from the Ming family at all.

For a prestigious family like the Mings, this was clearly abnormal. But that was not the only strange happening - every single famous doctor in Tian Ruo City and even the entire Tian Ge Prefecture that the Ming family could invite had visited at least once in the past three months.

In one of the rooms in an annex compound of the Ming Mansion, fits of violent coughs rang out intermittently.

The time happened to be noon when the sun blazed furiously like fire. Cicadas in the trees in the yard were chirping loudly and incessantly.

Under Ming Qing's directives, the guards outside were getting rid of the insects in the trees so as not to disturb Bai Fang's rest. After Zhang San gave each of them a silver needle though, they could happily take a break.

Still, summer insects could be very annoying for sick people, hence Zhang San sent out several more needles as a precaution.

The quiet summer day was accompanied by a gentle breeze.

Pushing the door open, the beauty within remained breathtaking, wearing simple white clothes yet possessing the most exquisite countenance.

Even with her extremely pallid complexion.

"Do you have to make him pass out every time? He's my husband," Bai Fang asked irritably.

Zhang San shrugged and said, "Although I'm in disguise, it's still better if he doesn't see me."

Bai Fang did not disagree with that.

Zhang San then added, "And if you saw how haggard he looks, you'd probably thank me for letting him have some undisturbed sleep."

Ming Qing's haggardness did not come from catching cicadas, but rather months of not being able to swallow food, peaceful sleep evading him. No matter how Bai Fang tried to console him, the middle-aged man simply could not get past the torment.

But sometimes this was how things were.

You seeing things for what they were was not enough - those upset over you would still feel upset.

At his words, Bai Fang did heave a sigh of relief, saying, "I know he's grieving, but I don't know how to say sorry to him."

But Zhang San disagreed, stating, "You're not him, so how do you know that apart from grief, there isn't also happiness? Just like the last time we met, which happened to be your wedding day, that day I saw Ming Qing beaming as if..."

After a thoughtful pause, Zhang San continued, "...beaming as if my Master had eaten twenty chicken legs at a wineshop all at one go."

"..."

Bai Fang couldn't help but laugh out loud, her complexion looking rosier.

Turning to a cabinet by the bed, she took out a wooden box and opened it. Inside were several dozen letters. Bai Fang said, "The things I promised are all in here. I don't know if what I mimicked looks authentic, so check them first."