The sweat on Mr. Dai's forehead from Huichun Hall streamed down as he almost instinctively retracted his right hand, took a step back, and squeezed out a smile, saying, "This, this, Miss Xue, it's a misunderstanding, haha, yes, a misunderstanding."
The shopkeeper's chubby cheeks trembled.
Miss Xue of the Xue Family looked amiable and gracefully said, "According to the pawnshop's rules, if the item hasn't been paid for and hasn't left the premises, a live claimant can come to redeem it at the original price, plus some interest."
"Does the shopkeeper still acknowledge this rule?"
The shopkeeper chuckled a few times, unhesitatingly responding to Mr. Dai, "Yes, Mr. Dai, that's indeed the case. You're out of luck today, this Mr. Li..." He was about to call him "brother Li," but swallowed the words, and his expression became more courteous as he said,
"Mr. Li came earlier, and the item has to be returned to him."
Mr. Dai seemed to awaken from a dream and said, "Yes, that's right."
"Come, Mr. Li, please, please."
He lacked the previous composure he had while conversing and laughing at Huichun Hall; instead, he presented the Jade Pendant with both hands to Li Guanyi, who took it without even looking at the former Young Master from Huichun Hall, took out eleven taels of silver, placed them on the table, and said, "Please take out the previous contract."
"Good, good!"
The shopkeeper's body quivered as he quickly scurried back and forth, promptly finding the previous contract, which Li Guanyi opened. It read:
[Today, a woman with a child pawned a White Jade Pendant, valued at ten taels of thrift silver]
It had Aunt's fingerprint on it.
Li Guanyi carefully folded the contract and placed it in his chest pocket.
As Xue Shuangtao and Li Guanyi were about to leave, Mr. Dai regained his senses, feeling indignant. He was merely an employee in his family-owned Huichun Hall, yet in a blink, he had become a guest of Miss Xue from the Xue Family, prompting jealousy to flare up, along with the notion that Miss Xue might be easy to deceive.
Biting his lip, he leaned forward with elegance and said, "Miss Xue, I was disrespectful today."
"It's been a long while, Miss, you're still as charming as ever."
Xue Shuangtao turned to look at him, puzzled, and asked,
"Who?"
A smile frozen on his face, Mr. Dai stuttered, "I am the son of the Dai family who runs the Huichun Hall in the south of the city; I met Miss at a banquet at the Xue Household some time ago."
After briefly recalling, Xue Shuangtao said,
"Huichun Hall, my family buys some medicines from your shop every year."
A hint of a smile appeared on Mr. Dai's face.
Xue Shuangtao remembered that she had asked Li Guanyi about his past in the carriage just now. She had noticed Li Guanyi being put in a difficult position, which prompted her to step in and intervene, witnessing Mr. Dai's presumptuous behavior. Her eyes slightly downcast, she said in a gentle voice,
"Well, from now on, you don't have to deliver it anymore."
A smile froze on Mr. Dai's face.
His expression turned ashen in an instant.
Xue Shuangtao then turned to look at the modestly dressed young man and said,
"Mr. Li, please proceed…"
After the two had left, the shopkeeper finally took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
His hair was already sparse, and his forehead was wet with sweat, looking exactly like a shelled boiled egg.
"Almost caused trouble, really..."
He glanced at Mr. Dai, standing dumbstruck, shook his head, and instead felt a bit of schadenfreude.
In the city, there were many medicine shops, not just Huichun Hall. He mused about how Mr. Dai had somehow offended the young lady, tsk tsk tsk, it wouldn't markedly impact Huichun Hall's own business, as they still opened their doors to the public and were not involved with these influential families; nevertheless, the Dai Family might have lost the riches they had at this moment.
When he returned, a good beating was likely waiting for him.
Li Guanyi sat in the carriage, his palm stroking the Jade Pendant he had regained from his Aunt, his expression serene and gentle. Apart from this pendant, he also had nineteen taels of silver, enough to afford a better rental place. He was eager to go back to his Aunt.
Yet, he still needed to drop by the Xue Household first, to get acquainted and collect a set of clothes.
Li Guanyi inquired and learned that the Xue Household could help convert his and his Aunt's scattered household registrations into main household registrations. The coachman asked Li Guanyi about his origins, and the young man repeated the fabricated story his Aunt had made up, saying, "I was originally from the Jiangnan Eighteen States; my father was a wandering scholar, and my uncle was a traveling merchant."
"Bringing family along, sadly, two years ago my father fell severely ill and passed away, while my uncle was robbed and killed by bandits during his travels; in the end, my father's last wish was for me to acknowledge my ancestors and return to the clan, and my Aunt brought me all the way to Jiangzhou to visit our hometown."
"We settled down in Guan Yi City, but were still only scattered residents."
Having spent ten years on the run, Li Guanyi recited this set of lies as naturally as breathing.
The coachman chuckled, "Being a scattered resident does have many inconveniences, but don't worry, young sir having been employed by the Xue Household, they naturally can fix your residence in the main household register."
Li Guanyi curiously asked, "Isn't it required to take three years?"
Laughing heartily, the coachman said, "Sir, we are from the Xue Household after all."
"Such matters concerning scattered residents, we've seen plenty, relax, relax."
"Within three months, it can all be settled for you, young sir."
A hint of light glimmered in Li Guanyi's eyes.
Three months... a hundred days to gather a hundred taels of silver and bring my martial arts skills into the Entering Realm.
Once I obtain the household registration of Guan Yi City, and if I can have the experience of applying for the position of Mathematics Master with the Xue Family, it won't be difficult to get the official document for passage, and then I can leave Chen Country, which is great.
However, the method to achieve the Entering Realm has now become the most challenging task...
Yue Qianfeng left directly, while Li Guanyi's mastery of the "Breaking Formation Song" at the twelfth level was almost enough to meet the requirements of the Entering Realm, but he couldn't find the entry point.
Li Guanyi gazed at the roads on both sides, deep in thought.
The Xue Family is a prominent family in Guan Yi City, but was there a method to achieve the Entering Realm available there?
The carriage passed the main road and eventually reached the Xue Family's residence, which had a grand entrance, with two stone lions baring their fangs aggressively. The carriage turned towards a side gate, where a painted wooden gate opened, revealing a cobblestone path with two ruts just fitting for the wheels, into which the wheels precisely aligned.
The speed of the carriage was steady and not slow.
There were walls within walls, courtyards within courtyards.
Li Guanyi's eyes slightly drooped.
The Inner Qi of "Breaking Formation Song" slowly circulated within his body, and a better life was right in front of him.
Each circulation of the Inner Qi from the "Breaking Formation Song" gave him a clear sensation, the feeling that his body was getting stronger bit by bit. Yue Qianfeng had said earlier that when both Inner Qi and the body reach a certain level, they could converge and transform into True Qi, and that was the Entering Realm.
After entering the realm, taking Aunt with him and leaving Chen Country would make the journey much safer.
It's just that Li Guanyi's physical constitution was indeed very poor, his Inner Qi circulated slowly. He could faintly feel that every time the Inner Qi passed through his heart, its speed would greatly decrease, and the meridians in his body would contract, slowing down the circulation of Inner Qi even more.
This was a sensation that gradually emerged after the "Breaking Formation Song" reached great success.
It seemed that a cluster of cold and severe poison at his heart was suppressing the speed of Li Guanyi's Inner Qi circulation, snail-pacing his Inner Qi with each complete cycle.
Li Guanyi placed his hand on his chest, his eyes slightly downcast.
Night Rider Cavalry, severe poison.
The young man couldn't help but curse loudly at his chest.
Feeling blocked Inner Qi was like a super-fast network that's downloading a game until ninety-nine percent completion, then suddenly stops moving, reducing to a few KB per second speed, which was insanely frustrating.
What kind of poison did these losers give me?
Where did my original physical constitution go?
To struggle painfully not to mention, they even shaved off my root bone?
One day when I find out who poisoned me, I will make sure to return it tenfold.
Mr. Li gritted his teeth, jotting this down in his mental notebook as another grievance against the Night Rider Cavalry that had chased him ten years ago. As his Inner Qi struggled to make any progress, he opened his eyes and looked around the vast courtyard.
Rather than a mansion, it was almost like a city within a city, portioned into various large and small annexes.
The walls were extremely tall, at least ten meters, separating the inside from the outside.
Those walking around had the gentle demeanor of scholars and the robust build of strong men.
Their complexion was rosy, their eyes sparkled without a trace of worry.
Even the servants were dressed far better than Li Guanyi.
This was the Xue Family...
Li Guanyi recalled that the Xue Family was an old family of Guan Yi City, yet they never engaged in politics, mostly dealing in business. Just as he was curiously pondering this, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.
Li Guanyi's body jolted slightly.
The bronze tripod at his chest buzzed.
Suddenly, Jade Liquid began to gather.
The young man's pupils contracted, and a Qi Mechanism swirled upwards in his eyes, as if penetrating the walls in front, the air in the void twisted, turning into white hair, blue pupils cold and indifferent, black patterns like a long night imprinted on the white hair, the tail slowly coiling in the void like a whip.
A massive tiger, as tall as a three-story building, paced slowly, head bowed.
Amongst the tiger, an ordinary-looking old man leaned on a walking stick, his hair and beard completely white.
His aura was like a prison, with the White Tiger behind him.
Xue Shuangtao let out a light, joyful laugh:
"Grandfather!!"
She lifted the curtain of the carriage, lightly leaping down, and hurried towards the old man.
Like a fluttering butterfly, she reached out and grasped the old man's arm, her face beaming with a radiant smile, appearing much more like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl than the composed and measured young miss she had been moments earlier.
The coachman helped Li Guanyi down from the carriage, whispering:
"This is my Xue Family's old Family Head."
"Indeed, he is the descendant of General Xue, the top of the Divine General List from five hundred years ago when the border was secured by three arrows during the Unification of the World."
The old man's gaze fell serenely.
The White Tiger behind him bowed its head.
Inside Li Guanyi, the bronze tripod frantically accumulated Jade Liquid.