Chapter 293

Yu Ke watched them leave.

He called over a maid to pack the leftover food on the table.

The table still had the fish tail left from the eagle-ox fish.

The unopened bowl of cold-jiao jade mushroom soup!

Yu Ke was very satisfied.

He could get by with another meal—these past few days he'd been mooching meals and hadn't lit the stove once.

Seeing Xie Wanwan deliberately lingering, he teased: "Sister Xie, are you going to make me fight over the leftovers?"

Xie Wanwan wore a red silk dress, her oval face framed by dimples on either side.

A long green jade flute hung at her waist.

She quickly waved her hands, a blush rising on her cheeks.

After the maid packed everything, she handed it to Yu Ke.

The two slowly descended the stairs; it was already dusk.

Above the third floor of Zuijiangyue.

A dignified woman in a purple long dress opened the window and looked down.

Watching Yu Ke and the others depart.

It was none other than the Second Miss, standing by the window, radiant and elegant.

In her hand appeared a jade slip; purple spiritual energy flowed over it, revealing shimmering, clear-textured characters.

What was remarkable!

It listed Yu Ke's birth date and time, and every significant event in his life.

The Second Miss flipped through it repeatedly.

"Born into the collateral branch of the Yu family of Luoshui!" "Hardworking since childhood, yet talent-poor!" "Joined the outer sect for four years, cultivation at Second Rung!" "Good friend: Zhou Liang!" "Owed a massive debt half a month ago, suspected failure in Foundation Establishment."

"Li Qingshui, invitation for trial on the seventh day of the seventh month!"

"Failure in Foundation Establishment?" She had long since established her own Foundation and could sense others' physical states.

In her beautiful eyes, a faint thoughtfulness lingered.

…………

…………

Yu Ke and Xie Wanwan lived in the same small courtyard.

They walked together all the way.

Xie Wanwan shared many amusing cultivation stories; Yu Ke listened patiently.

Xie Wanwan increasingly felt that Brother Yu had truly changed!

Before, she could never have imagined spending time with him—it would've been torture; he was practically a wooden block.

Now he was so interesting!

Before they realized it, they had reached the courtyard.

The two stopped, staring at the courtyard's entrance.

A luxurious carriage had appeared.

A pair of spotted white tigers pulled the carriage, parked at the courtyard gate.

Spirit beasts!

The two tigers were slightly larger than ordinary horses; their pure white fur bore speckled patterns, like electric currents surging across their bodies.

Their tiger eyes radiated gentleness.

Yu Ke felt they resembled giant white cats, as if they might let out a "meow" any moment.

These were "Leize White Tigers"!

Yu Ke inwardly marveled—these spirit beasts were unique to the Leize region beyond the Great Zhou Divine Nation, naturally possessing a Dao art that allowed them to emit sparks of electric fire, and even fly through thunderstorms by riding lightning.

In the cultivation world, any beast that mastered one Dao art was classified as a spirit beast.

Just like cultivators: after Foundation Establishment, mastering one Dao art made them true cultivators.

What made Leize White Tigers rarer still was that, despite being fierce tigers, they had few natural predators in Leize, making them exceptionally docile.

Some cultivation clans used them as mounts.

Extremely expensive!

To have a spirit beast pulling a carriage was absolute proof of wealth and status in the outer sect.

Watching the tigers crouched beside the wall, their "bloodied maws" wide open as they yawned.

They were not frightening at all—in fact, they were kind of cute!

Xie Wanwan almost reached out to pet one, then stopped herself.

Though Leize White Tigers were docile, they were still spirit beasts—not something second-rung disciples like them could fight.

Yu Ke wondered: could this be connected to that boy named Yingzhao?

With these thoughts, the two turned into the courtyard.

As soon as they entered, they found the once-quiet courtyard now bustling.

Only the southern room, previously unoccupied besides Yu Ke, Xie Wanwan, and the new arrival Yingzhao, now glowed with light; servants bustled in and out.

They hurriedly unloaded items from the carriage.

Yu Ke and Xie Wanwan exchanged glances, both silently realizing:

Yu Ke and Xie Wan exchanged a glance, both silently realizing.

Yet neither approached to greet them.

Yu Ke judged the scene: another wealthy household, no doubt.

Yu Ke judged from the setup that it was likely another wealthy household.

Four households in one small courtyard—all rich or noble.

And I'm the only pauper here!

Fuck.

At parting, Xie Wanwan solemnly thanked him:

"Thank you, Brother Yu!"

"Thank you for helping me out."

She mumbled it quickly, then rushed back to her northern room; before Yu Ke could react, she slammed the door shut, leaning against it, face flushed, heart pounding.

Yu Ke, unaware of her state, simply picked up the food box and turned into his own room.

He looked up at the horizon; the sunset's glow had faded, nightfall approaching.

He knew the next opportunity for Celestial Rebirth was drawing near.

At that moment!

The door of the western room opposite Yu Ke's opened softly.

A white-robed boy stepped out calmly.

His lips were red, teeth white, his aura ethereal and refined, like a noble youth stepped from a painting.

Perched on his shoulder, a five-colored, lively bird chirped joyfully.

On his shoulder, a colorful, lively bird hopped cheerfully.

Judging by his demeanor, he seemed to have been waiting deliberately.

Yu Ke's gaze was drawn to the bird on Yingzhao's shoulder—he recalled yesterday's phoenix, towering over ten feet tall, majestic and divine, still stirring his heart.

The bird's display had been breathtaking, far surpassing any spirit beast he'd ever seen; one could only suspect it was no mere earthly creature, but a divine being beyond spirit beasts.

Yingzhao seemed to sense Yu Ke's stare and waved his hand lightly!

The bird obediently flew from his shoulder, landing gracefully atop the pear tree in the courtyard.

It hopped happily along the branches, occasionally plucking a few white petals that drifted slowly down.

Then it spread its wings, flew to the courtyard wall, and perched outside the gate, curiously observing the two guard tigers.

Yu Ke turned his gaze away, silently guessing the white-robed boy's intent.

He understood: Yingzhao had deliberately sent the bird away to put him at ease, to lower his guard.

He didn't beat around the bush!

Yingzhao walked forward and spoke directly at the door:

"I want to sublease your room."

Yu Ke gave him another look—he hadn't expected such arrogance.

But the request was just like his mother's; he was about to answer.

The white-robed boy continued:

"I'll pay you to sublease your room—you can keep living here, we won't interfere with each other."

Yu Ke's eyes widened—what kind of request was this?

You pay my rent, I stay, and we don't bother each other.

What the hell is this?

Sensing Yu Ke's gaze, the white-robed boy explained:

"How much did she offer?"

How much did she bid?

Yu Ke seemed to understand: Yingzhao was asking how much the woman had bid.

Feng Ping bid three thousand spirit stones!

Yu Ke naturally held up five fingers and said:

"Five thousand!"

The white-clad youth said without hesitation:

"I'll give you ten times that—just don't sublease it to her."

Yu Ke froze.

Damn, I bid too low.

(End of Chapter)