Chapter 32: Ready to Depart

Early the next morning, sunlight streamed through the window onto Li Xuan, and Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes; getting up early had already become Li Xuan's habit.

"Today is another hopeful day," Li Xuan said, unusually happy to rise early.

After getting up from the bed and doing a quick wash, Li Xuan suddenly noticed that the place he had slept in yesterday was filthy.

"Ow! I forgot, this is the Supervisor's Mansion, not a thatched hut in the North District. Sleeping a whole night in clothes, all that dust and soil got onto the quilt!" Li Xuan patted his forehead in annoyance.

In the North District, everyone has only one set of clothes, so to avoid freezing they all sleep in their outerwear; Li Xuan is accustomed to that as well.

"Fine, I'll have a servant wash it later; besides, I need to buy some new clothes today." Li Xuan glanced at his blood‑stained garment and shook his head helplessly.

The North District is harsh!

Li Xuan steadied his mind and stepped out of his room.

"Master!" two servants at the doorway saluted Li Xuan respectfully.

"Go wash the quilt clean," Li Xuan waved his hand.

"Yes, Master," the servant entered Li Xuan's room and began tidying the quilt.

At that moment, another servant said to Li Xuan.

"Master, half an hour ago a man calling himself Liu Li asked to see you. You were still asleep and I didn't wake you; he's waiting outside the Supervisor's Mansion. What do you think..." the servant asked cautiously.

"Send them in quickly; from now on, if Liu Li and Bai Wen come to the Supervisor's Mansion, immediately provide them with the finest food and drink!" Li Xuan said without hesitation, and walked with the servant toward the Courtyard.

A few minutes later, Li Xuan met Liu Li at the doorway, and the two went into the reception hall together.

"Uncle Liu, why are you here so early?" Li Xuan asked Liu Li with concern.

"Hehe, the four of us brothers stayed up all night to finish the Blueprint, and we wanted to deliver it to you right away." Liu Li didn't mind having waited half an hour outside the Courtyard, and kept a smiling face toward Li Xuan.

"Uncle Liu, your speed is truly amazing; I'm really grateful," Li Xuan said happily to Liu Li.

Liu Li smiled faintly at Li Xuan, then took a stack of Blueprints from his chest and handed them to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan opened each Blueprint and studied them carefully.

Liu Li's Four Brothers proved indeed capable; the Blueprints they designed were extremely exquisite.

It is a four‑wing Courtyard covering three mu, with a main house of three stories, eight guest rooms, a kitchen, two storage rooms, and several miscellaneous rooms. In short, the design is grand; though not as ornate as the Supervisor's Mansion, it is already quite impressive.

However, Li Xuan cared less about the appearance of the houses and more about whether the Blueprint required a lot of materials; if so, he could buy extra, which is reasonable, since his real goal was to acquire more materials for digging tunnels.

Now the Courtyard designed by Liu Li's Four Brothers is large enough; storing an extra twenty‑to‑thirty percent of building supplies would be sufficient to tunnel through.

Li Xuan thought for a moment, hesitated, and considered whether to construct the tunnel together with the house, which would let the tunnel be finished a day earlier.

But that would require Bai Wen to stay in the tunnel constantly, and life there would be extremely harsh.

Li Xuan quickly shook his head; now is not the time to feel sorry for others—the tunnel must be dug out quickly, otherwise another surprise inspection by Jú Dòuluó would be disastrous.

For his own safety, Li Xuan ultimately decided to carry out both projects simultaneously; at worst he would just give Bai Wen some compensation.

"Uncle Liu, build the house according to this Blueprint and give me the list of required supplies; I'll go out shortly to procure some in a nearby city." After planning everything, Li Xuan said seriously to Liu Li, "Rest assured, Xuan Ge'er, I've already prepared the supply list." Liu Li pulled another sheet from his chest and handed it to Li Xuan.

"Alright, Uncle Liu, you go rest first. Tomorrow or the day after, have Bai Wen come to the Supervisor's Mansion; I have business with him." Li Xuan thought for a moment and said to Liu Li?

"Understood, Xuan Ge'er," Liu Li nodded, stood, saluted Li Xuan respectfully, and turned to leave.

Next comes digging the foundation; to build a large house the foundation must be excavated for several days, so Liu Li is not in a hurry for the building materials.

"Take care, Uncle Liu!" Li Xuan placed some snacks and food on the table for Liu Li, escorted him out of the Supervisor's Mansion, and then returned.

At that moment, Lin Mo had already woken up.

He ran into Li Xuan, who was heading back to his room.

"Xuan Ge'er, up so early," Lin Mo, looking exhausted, bowed to Li Xuan and said.

Li Xuan said nothing, merely surveyed Lin Mo from head to toe.

At this moment Lin Mo looked completely drained, huge dark circles under his eyes covering almost half his face; poor Lin Mo was in a pitiful state.

It seemed that Lin Mo had been drained by wine and women the first half of the night, and inhaled the heavy yin‑filled smoke of the Dark Realm Ghost Orchid the second half.

This time, without a year or two, Lin Mo could hardly recover.

"Brother Lin Mo, I want to go out to buy something; now that I'm the supervisor I should have the ability to leave the Flower Sea, right?" Li Xuan smiled and said to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo was visibly stunned by Li Xuan's words; his drained body made his reactions sluggish.

"This is natural; I'll arrange a carriage right away to take you to nearby Salah City. Salah City is the largest city near the Flower Sea; after staying here so long, I'll give you a proper tour!" Lin Mo recovered, his voice flattery as he spoke to Li Xuan.

Li Xuan was also taken aback; he had thought he would have to struggle to leave the Flower Sea, but couldn't imagine Lin Mo would agree with just one sentence.

Nevertheless, Li Xuan, though puzzled, still nodded.

"Brother Lin Mo, how long do we need to prepare?" Li Xuan asked Lin Mo.

"Jú Dòuluó, knowing you can't spare any leisure, had already ordered me to arrange a carriage for you, to accompany you on a tour of the outside cities," Lin Mo forced a weak smile onto his face and said to Li Xuan.

Hearing Lin Mo's words, Li Xuan realized that his own entourage had already been arranged; if he tried to escape, there would be no chance at all.

At this thought Li Xuan felt relieved; since Jú Dòuluó had arranged it, it must be to let him wander within the prescribed limits.

"Let's set off right now," Lin Mo bowed and made a gesture to Li Xuan.

Then Li Xuan followed behind Lin Mo to a carriage in the back Courtyard.

Wishing all the esteemed readers a happy weekend.

Thank you, dear readers, for your support; I've been extremely busy lately, sorry for the neglect.

I humbly thank all the esteemed readers for your great kindness.

(End of Chapter)