Chapter 29: A Timely Encounter Is Cause and Effect

Hearing Mo Ci asked worriedly, "Wicked disciple, what do you intend to do? You must not use such things against Su Chunyi; cultivators above the Qi Condensation realm will not be affected."

Chen Ye smiled and said, "Master, I am a little demon, not a little fool. Besides, Miss Su and I have a gentlemanly friendship; there is no need for such means."

"Then what exactly do you intend to do?"

"Cui Xian is, after all, the fiefdom of that Princess Hongyu. According to Miss Su's investigation, the order to forcibly conscript young boys and girls came from the imperial court. How coincidental that Princess Hongyu is about to arrive in Cui Xian. If you say this matter has nothing to do with her, I do not believe it."

Hearing Mo Ci laughed, "Hehe, you little demon, you want to use the beauty strategy."

Chen Ye also laughed; he did not truly intend to bewitch Princess Hongyu into losing her soul and then use her as a hostage, but rather wanted to find a breakthrough point sooner.

The affairs of the imperial court are intricate and complex; even finding the county magistrate might not work. Since Princess Hongyu is coming, why seek far when the answer is near?

However, to meet this princess, one ultimately needs fame.

Chen Ye still followed the original plan and went to that teahouse. Retrieving the bundle was incidental; the main purpose was to see how famous his little immortal status had become, and whether it had reached the point of being renowned throughout Cui Xian.

He originally thought that upon returning to the old place, the teahouse's attendants and Shopkeeper would welcome him with smiling faces.

But what Chen Ye saw was a teahouse with its doors tightly closed, and an attendant squatting before the door with a face full of sorrow. This person's right leg was still splinted, and there were blue and purple scars on his face.

Chen Ye walked over in confusion and asked, "What happened to the teahouse?"

The young attendant looked up, saw the face-masked Chen Ye, and asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

Chen Ye removed his face cloth, revealing his true appearance. The attendant immediately stared with wide eyes, and only after a long while did he come to his senses.

Only then did the attendant, with a crying voice, say, "Immortal, you have returned?! You have finally returned!"

"Calm down. Tell me what happened."

After Chen Ye comforted him a few times, the attendant tearfully said, "Immortal, forgive my offense. The bundle you left here was snatched away by others. They not only sealed the teahouse but also injured the Shopkeeper. It is all my fault; I spoke too much..."

Chen Ye patiently listened to this jumbled speech and frowned deeply.

This was completely an undeserved disaster.

That day, Chen Ye and Su Chunyi staged a performance, which indeed made a huge name for themselves, and even improved the teahouse's business considerably.

But with more guests came malicious guests.

The attendant said miserably, "I merely boasted that your Immortal self and that fairy have peerless, unmatched beauty. They said I was bragging. I argued with them a few times, and they broke my leg, smashed the storefront, and injured the Shopkeeper."

Chen Ye asked, "Did you report it to the authorities?"

"We did, but the government office said the county magistrate is busy with affairs and has no time to hold court, telling us to go back and wait. I heard they gave the government office quite a bit of silver..."

Chen Ye sighed.

It seems Zhao Hezhou was right back then; the Cui Xian magistrate is indeed a corrupt official.

The attendant cried, "Immortal, your bundle was snatched by them. I spoke too much and implicated you. Please forgive my offense. I beg you to save the Shopkeeper; he was implicated by me and suffered severe injuries. The doctor said he may not last long."

Chen Ye looked at the attendant's broken leg, where blood was still seeping out, seemingly never properly treated, and asked, "Have you been waiting here for me all this time?"

"I had no other choice. The Shopkeeper's kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain. I beg the Immortal to save his life. All faults lie with me."

He took out a medicine bottle and handed it to the attendant.

"For external injuries, take one with warm water; it should save your life. You should also take one; your leg will heal faster."

The attendant took the medicine bottle and immediately kowtowed to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye helped him up and asked, "Where are those villains? What are their names?"

The attendant quickly said, "There are more than ten of them. I do not know their names, but they should all be of the same gang. The reason they acted was that they boasted that their Young Master's appearance is unmatched in the world. I could not bear to listen and refuted them a few times, so they attacked. They also left a message: if you wish to find them, go to Hengdao Inn and look for Room Tian-4."

Chen Ye was speechless; where does this inexplicable desire for comparison come from? What use is it who looks better? In a hundred years, all are withered bones. Moreover, this attendant was arguing over someone else's appearance; it was truly inexplicable.

Chen Ye waved his hand and said, "Go. In the future, engage in fewer verbal disputes."

The attendant thanked him a thousand times and walked away limping.

Chen Ye watched his stumbling back and sighed.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner transmitted Hearing Mo Ci's voice again, "What, are you soft-hearted again? Are you going to act as a knight-errant again?"

"I wouldn't say soft-hearted, just..." Chen Ye remained silent for a long time before speaking again, "Master, if I had not met you, perhaps my fate would be even worse than this attendant's. If he had not met me, who could save him? The fact that there is no cause and effect retribution in this world is truly unpleasant."

Hearing Mo Ci retorted, "Why don't you say that if he had not met you, he wouldn't have received this beating?"

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "With a county magistrate like this who takes money to shield villains, he would have received this beating sooner or later in his life. It has little to do with whether he met me or not."

Hearing Mo Ci laughed, "You kid, it is a real waste that you don't learn the Open-Mouth Zen. Why not just directly join the Niepan Sect? They accept disciples without any conditions; even if you kill their people, it doesn't matter. Just chant 'Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot'."

"Who wants to be a monk with hair? I still want to marry and have children."

"Say that again after you break your Pure Yang body."

While the master and disciple bantered, Chen Ye did not stop his steps and walked toward that Hengdao Inn.

Whether it was to act as a knight-errant, perhaps to kill and refine souls, or to create a disturbance to meet Princess Hongyu... Hearing Mo Ci did not ask, and Chen Ye did not say; both master and disciple knew the reason was not important.

A timely encounter is cause and effect.

Hengdao Inn is the place in Cui Xian with the strongest flavor of the Jianghu.

This is because the innkeeper was once a renowned great hero, but ten years ago he retired from the martial world. Relying on his savings and fame, he started an inn business in Cui Xian.

Standing at the entrance is half a stone lion, with a long sword inserted into it.

This is the treasure sword the boss used when he walked the Jianghu in the past. Despite wind and rain, it shows not a trace of rust and still shines with cold light.

This sword is also the inn's signboard.

Staying at Hengdao Inn means no drawing of swords or guns; this is an unspoken rule among Jianghu people. Whoever breaks this rule shall have their head cut off.

Such an arrogant rule has gone unviolated for ten years. The dignitaries of Cui Xian turn a blind eye, showing that this boss not only has high status in the Jianghu but also has considerable connections in the Cui Xian official circle.

Since Hengdao Inn caters to both the black and white paths, it naturally became the first choice for people of all walks of life.

Recently, the incident of forcibly conscripting young boys and girls in Cui Xian has caused a huge uproar, and the huge Hengdao Inn has long been full of guests.

Chen Ye walked half the city from the teahouse to Hengdao Inn, and his feet were already a bit sore.

Coming to this place was not because Chen Ye truly cared about the loss of the bundle, but because in such a huge Cui Xian, there were actually no inns left to stay in.

The matter of the boy and girl had already stirred up many people from the Jianghu to cause trouble in Cui Xian, and quite a few deaths had occurred, though it was still under control.

Cui Xian's rules had tightened; for outsiders like Chen Ye, who looked like they were from the Jianghu, ordinary inns no longer accepted them, so they could only choose Hengdao Inn, which had a certain air of unified management.

Arriving before the inn's main gate, what caught Chen Ye's eye most was the precious blade stuck in the half of a stone lion.

The precious blade flashed with cold light, lodged in the broken stone lion; this majestic posture and grim atmosphere caused the Wuxia soul of Chen Ye's past life to begin rekindling from the ashes.

Which youth has not dreamed of becoming a dashing great hero, picking up a perfect branch, whittling away the rapeseed flowers across the mountains, and imagining himself to be the hero who kills one person every ten steps.

This Jianghu seems to have some interest again.

Chen Ye strode into the inn; since he had come today to make a name for himself, he would bully some mortals a little.