Chapter 18: Sword!
Chu Huaixu watched the spoon fall into the bowl, soaking in the broth and landing on the four remaining wontons.
Han Shuangjiang sat bolt upright, her expression grave and her eyes scrutinizing.
The brothel she hailed from was named Hongxiu Zhao, a high-end establishment in the capital of Mirror Country.
From childhood, she had been taught by her “mama” and influenced by her “sisters.”
In the years of her growth, she had witnessed her sisters deceiving men, and being deceived by men.
Since ancient times, many storybooks had written about the love that occurred in pleasure houses.
In the capital, there were indeed sisters who were redeemed and left that gilded cage.
However, some lived well, while others merely transitioned from one cage to another.
Overall, living with a man they loved was a luxury for people like them.
Her “mama” had frequently cautioned them: If a man says he wants to live with you, be vigilant.
Especially when some sisters saved enough silver, redeemed themselves, and then threw themselves into the arms of their beloved.
At such times, “mama” would always try to stop them.
If she couldn’t stop them, she would sneer, “You think he truly fancies you? He just doesn’t want to pay to sleep with you!”
—”Freebie’s Reward.”
In reality, some were indeed correctly guessed by “mama.”
Once a man’s novelty wore off, and he grew tired of sleeping with you, he would regain his rationality and disdain your past sulliness.
Perhaps this was also a method they used to control the sisters.
But there were indeed true hearts in this world.
Some people were willing to privatize a public bus and find joy in it.
As long as a few exceptions existed, many sisters who were giddy with love would follow suit.
Han Shuangjiang never imagined that one day a man would look at her and say he wanted to live with her.
More importantly, they had only met for the first time last night.
She believed in love at first sight.
But she was generally not an emotional person.
Both Hongxiu Zhao and the Joyous Sect served as constant reminders that people must control their own destinies and not rely on finding a man to entrust their lives to.
On the “The Borrowed Sword” forum, a player had joked that the game’s four world protagonists catered to the vast majority of people.
Han Shuangjiang was the main female character, focused on her career, with romance pushed aside!
The two protagonists in the Moon Country on the West Continent were also a man and a woman; they had an emotional storyline, their love was passionate, and the sweetness was enough to make CP fans go wild.
As for Xu Ziqing, he didn’t seem to do much, but his looks and demeanor alone caused fangirls to shriek.
Whether you’re a bottom or not, I see you as a bottom! If you stand next to a man, I refuse to believe it’s just brotherhood!
—The prejudice in people’s hearts is as immovable as Chengdu.
After successfully joining the Daoist Sect, Han Shuangjiang felt life was looking up, and she was ready to take control of her destiny step by step.
Then Chu Huaixu went and did this.
—Man, what are you talking about!
It’s only been one meal, and you’re being too presumptuous, too reckless.
But looking at his face in the morning light, she silently removed the word “too” from her thoughts.
The fox-faced man opposite her, hearing Han Shuangjiang say “I’m not eating anymore,” and seeing her clearly misunderstood expression, spoke:
“Heh, ‘overconfident girl,’ really off-putting.”
The cold-faced girl heard these words for the first time and didn’t understand their meaning.
But his expression and tone made her very uncomfortable.
Chu Huaixu lightly tapped his fingertips on the table, then leaned forward, getting as close to her as possible, and began to speak in a low voice.
“Clarify things, we were personally brought up the mountain by the Sixth Elder.”
Han Shuangjiang frowned, “So what?”
What, does that mean a destined marriage?
“Look at the registered disciples and outer disciples around us, do you think anyone else has this kind of treatment?” Chu Huaixu said quietly, looking around.
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Han Shuangjiang was starting to listen.
“So, don’t you think the most important thing for us is cultivation? To raise our realm as soon as possible,” he stared at her intently.
The cold-faced girl’s brows furrowed even deeper.
Strangely, her serious expression made her even more captivating.
The more she looked like this, the more Chu Huaixu wanted to provoke her. He directly broke through everything: “But you don’t have much silver, do you?”
Han Shuangjiang gritted her teeth, but had no retort.
Only then did she realize that perhaps at the entrance of the cafeteria, he had already seen through her predicament at a glance.
Chu Huaixu stopped looking at her and shouted, “Senior Brother! The bill!”
He took out the 100 taels of silver from his pocket and placed it on the table, displaying his wealth.
A man with a registered disciple token also walked over. “Whoa! Junior brother, you don’t have any small change?”
“Unfortunately, no. Could you cover it, Senior Brother?”
“Certainly.”
After paying the bill, Chu Huaixu looked back at her and said,
“To be honest, this is all the money I have, and now it’s less than a hundred taels.”
“My idea is, for this period, we shouldn’t bother with anything else. Let’s focus on cultivating and learning, and see if we can break through to the Meridian-Opening Stage before this hundred taels runs out.”
“Once we reach the First Realm, there will be more we can do.”
Han Shuangjiang asked confusedly, “But why are you pulling me into this?”
Chu Huaixu certainly wouldn’t tell her that he wanted to freeload off her.
Living and cultivating together offered a higher chance of obtaining the Dao Ancestor’s inheritance together.
In fact, a courtesan from a brothel possessed extensive theoretical knowledge on “how to deceive men.”
However, the “Model Of The Year” opposite her had extensive practical experience in “how to deceive women.”
“As I said before, maybe we are different from all the outer disciples.”
“We are two anomalies.”
“In the entire outer sect, perhaps only the two of us are anomalies.”
He looked around, as if he didn’t fit in with his surroundings.
Han Shuangjiang lowered her gaze slightly; she felt the same.
Chu Huaixu looked at her and thought, “Of course, because we just arrived!”
We’re transfer students!
“The Sixth Elder brought us both up the mountain, and Steward Niu arranged our accommodations together. I don’t need to say more, do I?” the fox-faced man added.
Han Shuangjiang remained silent.
She remembered “mama”‘s admonishments to the sisters.
“You think men give you money for no reason?”
“They just want a key, and then to forcefully insert it into your lock.”
“Mama” was always like this; her words were coarse, but not without reason.
Some sisters had their ways and wouldn’t give them the key the first time.
But some sisters also got carried away; after the lock was opened a few times, instead of the lock, their heart was opened.
Others were deluded; after being opened a few times by a golden key, touched by some heady golden powder, they truly believed they were a golden lock.
They no longer looked upon ordinary people.
Han Shuangjiang, having just been ridiculed by Chu Huaixu, no longer thought about romantic matters. However, she also knew that there were no gifts given for no reason, and no kindness shown without cause.
She wasn’t foolish, so she took the initiative to define the situation, “You want me to owe you a favor?”
Chu Huaixu shrugged, his expression nonchalant and indifferent, “If you want to put it that way, I suppose that’s fine too.”
“I’m not asking for you to pay me back silver in the future. We both know what’s what,” he said truthfully.
After saying that, he also began to justify himself, “I also know it’s not much money, so time is tight. We need to break through as soon as possible.”
Hearing this, Han Shuangjiang finally nodded under Chu Huaixu’s gaze.
Immediately after, he watched her pick up the spoon that had fallen into the bowl and finish the remaining four wontons with a clear conscience.
“It’s too expensive, we can’t waste it,” she said, still not full.
The morning light shone on the road home. Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang walked side by side.
They barely spoke to each other during the entire journey.
He was thinking about where the Dao Ancestor’s legacy was hidden.
More pragmatically, she was contemplating whether it would be better to start a fire and cook her own meals, as prices here were indeed too high, even more so than in the capital.
Han Shuangjiang was already calculating in her mind and regretting not eating another xiaolongbao just now.
“So expensive, really expensive,” she repeatedly lamented in poverty-stricken thoughts.
Nearing an open area, Chu Huaixu looked up and saw the cloud-shrouded Ask Dao Peak.
He didn’t know where the Dao Ancestor’s legacy was, but he vaguely remembered a few locations of inheritances developed by Daoist Sect players, which he had seen on the forum.
But he only remembered a few, not all of them.
“Damn it, my memory still isn’t good enough. Why didn’t I get a cheat when I transmigrated, to imprint everything from my past into my mind with meticulous detail!” Chu Huaixu complained in his heart.
Looking at Ask Dao Peak, his thoughts began to drift again.
As fellow world protagonists, why did Han Shuangjiang alone get two Dao Ancestor legacies, while Xu Ziqing, whose script I took, wouldn’t get any?
The reason was simple.
“Don’t forget, the Dao Ancestor also left a sword.”
After the Dao Ancestor passed away, the strongest in the entire Profound Yellow Realm had never been one person.
After so many years, it had always been that sword.
