Chapter 340: Buying a Life

Xu Yuan frowned; forcibly pulling it out was impossible.

Pi Dan unfurled to three zhang, blocking all sunlight aimed at the courtyard gate.

The purple-black mist on the gate weakened slightly.

Xu Yuan opened his mouth and spat out his sword pellet.

The sword pellet flashed with cold light, striking with a ding against the gatepost—it dared not pierce the door panel itself; if the door opened and the pellet fell into that other world, it might never be retrieved.

Where the sword pellet struck, the purple-black mist exploded like ignited gunpowder.

An icy chill instantly made the sword pellet unbearably heavy.

Xu Yuan immediately retracted the sword pellet.

As the sword pellet flew back, its speed slowed further, and it kept plummeting.

Xu Yuan caught it in his hand and quickly burned it with abdominal fire, slowly dispelling the icy weight.

“We’ve all tried—it can’t be forced,” Miao Yu hurriedly said. “Anything that touches it becomes infected.”

Xu Yuan nodded; it was similar to the earlier black fire.

“If we can’t force it, then…” Xu Yuan rummaged through his person and found only a hundred or so taels in silver notes.

This was surely far from enough.

Xu Yuan then asked Zhu Zhanlei: “How much money do you have?”

Zhu Zhanlei’s eyes lit up, and she immediately began searching her person.

Altogether, over two thousand taels.

“Still not enough.”

Miao Yu’s eyes darted, and he immediately said: “Old Zhang, take my badge to the Qingyuan Note House on the next street—borrow one hundred thousand taels!”

“Two hundred thousand,” Xu Yuan estimated and said.

Zhu Zhanlei immediately pulled out her own badge: “Tell the note house the Zhu family will repay it.”

Zhang Jianxiao hurried off.

While waiting, Xu Yuan suddenly noticed Da Fu standing to the side, tilting its head blankly.

He reached out and pulled it back a bit.

But Da Fu leaned forward again.

“Danger!”

Da Fu paid no heed; its eyes glowed with excitement.

Zhang Jianxiao returned with a stack of silver notes; Xu Yuan took them and unleashed his Business Method to its full extent.

Then, fearing to risk delivering them himself, he first retracted the beast-tendon rope, wrapped it around the notes, and shoved them into the gate crack.

Zhu Zhanlei and Miao Yu watched the gate nervously.

Success or failure would soon be clear.

The gate remained unmoved; the purple-black mist drifted upward.

The longer Zhu Zhanlei waited, the colder her heart grew; sorrow welled within her—was her younger brother truly beyond saving? Would her parents have to bury their own child?

Tears swirled in her eyes; Zhu Zhanlei cried out: “Little brother, I—I’ll never scold you again—”

Zhu Zhanlei offered a smile worse than crying: “Third sister, in our next life…”

Before he finished, he suddenly felt his vision blur—a white shadow darted to his feet.

“What is that?”

The thing opened its mouth toward him—Zhu Zhanlei finally saw clearly: it was Xu Yuan’s goose.

I did say I wanted roast goose, but you can’t take this moment to kick me while I’m down and open your mouth at me?

Da Fu pecked off a chunk of the purple-black mist.

Xu Yuan froze, studying closely: the purple-black mist was actually countless tiny flying insects!

Da Fu took a bite and found it delicious.

But it was too little—not satisfying.

So it flapped its wings and lunged forward…

Xu Yuan suddenly realized his Business Method had worked.

The two door panels suddenly swung open, “spitting out” Zhu Zhanlei.

“Oof!” Zhu Zhanlei landed hard on his rear, caught off guard.

Then, all the purple-black mist on the gate hissed and rushed back inside.

Bang!

The two door panels slammed shut; Da Fu crashed into them.

Its flat beak drove into the wood like a chisel, leaving it helplessly dangling midair.

Flap-flap-flap…

Da Fu panicked, flapping wildly—but couldn’t free itself in an instant.

Xu Yuan noticed that after the purple-black mist retracted, the courtyard gate had returned to an ordinary door.

He let out a long breath.

He couldn’t tell whether it was his Business Method or Da Fu that saved Zhu Zhanlei.

Or perhaps both had played a role?

“Little brother!” Zhu Zhanlei rushed toward her brother, but halfway there, her slender body collapsed to the ground.

Xu Yuan was closest to Zhu Zhanlei and had the chance to catch Zhu Zhanlei—but Master Xu cared more for his goose, so he hurried to Da Fu, yanking it free from the door.

When he turned back, Zhu Zhanlei was already on the ground.

Zhu Zhanlei himself was unharmed; he quickly helped his sister up and said seriously: “You just said you’d never scold me again.”

“I won’t,” Zhu Zhanlei’s tears kept flowing; she wiped them away only for more to spill: “From now on, whatever you want to do, I’ll support you. If you want to stay in Zhancheng, I’ll find a way to transfer you.”

Da Fu, pulled free by Fan Zhe, was still shaken.

It had never experienced such a thing before; it was terrified, fearing it might be stuck on the door forever…

If that happened, I couldn’t open my beak—would I starve to death?

Thinking this, Da Fu sneaked behind Zhu Zhanlei and suddenly pecked his nape.

“Ow!”

Zhu Zhanlei screamed, and from his hairpin, a wisp of purple-black mist rose.

Da Fu jumped up and swallowed it down with a few quick crunching sounds.

The Zhu siblings stared in shock.

Xu Yuan seized the moment to pat Zhu Zhanlei’s shoulder and said solemnly: “Next time, don’t say you want roast goose in front of it.”

Zhu Zhanlei nodded like a chicken pecking grain: “I won’t, I won’t!”

But then he added to Xu Yuan: “Will you sell this goose? Name your price—I won’t haggle…”

Da Fu flew up and pecked him again.

This time, it was pure harm—no other reason.

Zhu Zhanlei’s face fell; he rubbed his swollen cheek and dared not mention it again.

“Alright, I must return. On Forbidden Observation Day, I can’t leave the yamen unattended.”

Xu Yuan waved goodbye and left with Da Fu.

The Zhu siblings escorted Xu Yuan all the way out of Shanhe Office, thanking him repeatedly at the gate.

Zhu Zhanlei watched until Xu Yuan reached the end of the street and vanished around the corner, then said to her brother: “I’ll return to Luocheng tomorrow and write home to explain this.”

Our family always repays kindness and grudges clearly—Xu Jianxiao saved your life; the family must reward him handsomely.”

Zhu Zhanlei replied casually: “It’d be best if he got promoted—but sadly, we have no one in the Purification Office.”

…

Xu Yuan, with Da Fu in tow, dared not hurry back; by the time he reached the Nan Cheng Patrol Quarters, it was dinnertime.

The sun slanted westward, its light retreating from the earth.

The ominous entities that had stirred restlessly in the void layer all day finally fell silent.

Only on this day did everyone eagerly await nightfall.

After another hour and more, night finally fell completely.

In the Nan Cheng Patrol Quarters, everyone sighed in unison.

Xu Yuan ate his dinner, still thinking of the “True Seed.”

“Is this True Seed truly unsuited for me?”

“Ever since I learned of the True Seed, nothing has gone smoothly.”

“Something always delays me, preventing me from setting out for Ghost Witch Mountain…”

Xu Yuan felt a dark premonition.

(End of Chapter)