Chapter 17: The Bronze Cauldron Moves Again, the White Tiger Swallows Heaven

The young master of Huichun Hall, Dai Ziyao, broke into a cold sweat.

He instinctively pulled his right hand back, stepped away, and forced a smile. “This—this, Miss Xue—it’s a misunderstanding, haha, yes, a misunderstanding.”

The pawnshop owner’s fat cheeks quivered.

Miss Xue, the eldest daughter of the Xue family, spoke gently and elegantly: “According to pawnshop rules, if an item hasn’t been paid for and hasn’t left the premises, the original buyer may redeem it at the original price, plus additional interest.”

“Do you still uphold this rule?”

The owner chuckled dryly, then turned without hesitation to Dai Ziyao: “Indeed, Young Master Dai, that’s correct. You didn’t get lucky today—this Li Xiao…” He swallowed the term ‘Little Li’ before it left his lips, his tone softening slightly:

“Mr. Li arrived first. The item must be returned to him.”

Dai Ziyao snapped out of his daze. “Yes, yes, that’s right.”

“Come, Mr. Li, please—please take it.”

He no longer had the calm composure he’d shown earlier in Huichun Hall. With both hands, he offered the jade pendant. Li Guanyi took it, ignored the former young master entirely, pulled out eleven taels of silver, and placed them on the table. “Please bring the original contract.”

“Yes, yes!”

The owner’s fat body flailed as he scrambled up and down, quickly retrieving the old contract. Li Guanyi unfolded it and read:

【Today, a woman with a child pawned a white jade pendant for ten taels of silver.】

The contract bore the woman’s fingerprint.

Li Guanyi neatly folded the contract and tucked it into his robe.

As Xue Shuangtao and Li Guanyi prepared to leave, Dai Ziyao came to his senses, stung by injustice. This was merely a clerk from Huichun Hall—now suddenly treated as a guest of Miss Xue? Fury rose in him, mixed with the notion that Miss Xue was easily fooled.

He clenched his teeth, stepped forward, and bowed with polished grace: “Miss Xue, I apologize for my rudeness today.”

“It’s been a long time. Your grace remains as radiant as ever.”

Xue Shuangtao turned her head, puzzled. “Who?”

Dai Ziyao’s confident smile froze.

He stammered: “I am the son of the Dai family of Huichun Hall in the southern city. I met you at a banquet at your home not long ago.”

Xue Shuangtao recalled briefly. “Huichun Hall? We buy some of our medicine from you every year.”

A faint smile appeared on Dai Ziyao’s face.

Then she remembered asking Li Guanyi about his past in the carriage earlier. She’d noticed him being harassed and came down to help. Seeing Dai Ziyao’s earlier arrogance, she lowered her gaze slightly and spoke softly:

“Hmm. From now on, you don’t need to send any more.”

Dai Ziyao’s smile froze.

His face turned instantly ashen.

Xue Shuangtao turned to the plain-clad youth. “Mr. Li, please—”

After the two left, the pawnshop owner pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead.

His hair was nearly gone; his damp brow gleamed like a peeled boiled egg.

“Almost got myself into trouble…”

He glanced at Dai Ziyao, standing like a statue, then shook his head, suddenly finding amusement in the scene.

There were many pharmacies in the city—not just Huichun Hall. This young master had somehow angered the eldest daughter. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Huichun Hall’s business wouldn’t suffer much—it still served the common folk, untouched by noble families. But the Dai family would lose its current wealth.

The city had many pharmacies, not just Huichun Hall; this young master Dai had somehow offended the young lady—tch tch tch—Huichun Hall’s own business would suffer little, still opening its doors to the common folk, unrelated to these great families; it was the Dai family that would lose its wealth at this critical moment.

Li Guanyi sat in the carriage, his hand stroking the jade pendant his aunt had regained. His expression was calm and gentle. Besides the pendant, there were nineteen taels of silver—enough to rent a better place. He couldn’t wait to return to his aunt.

But first, he needed to find his way to the Xue residence and get new clothes.

Li Guanyi asked. The Xue family could help transfer him and his aunt from scattered household status to registered household status. The driver asked where he came from. The youth repeated the story his aunt had invented: “I’m originally from the Eighteen States of Jiangnan. My father was a wandering scholar; my uncle, a traveling merchant.”

“We traveled together, but two years ago, my father died of illness. My uncle was killed by mountain bandits while trading. Before he passed, my father wished I return to our ancestral roots. My aunt and I have been traveling toward Jiangzhou, hoping to visit our homeland.”

“We settled in Yicheng, but remain scattered household status.”

After ten years of flight, Li Guanyi told this lie as naturally as breathing.

The driver laughed. “Scattered households have many inconveniences, but no worry—since you’ve been hired as a Xue family instructor, we’ll register you as a proper household.”

Li Guanyi asked curiously: “Isn’t it supposed to take three years?”

The driver burst out laughing. “Sir, we’re the Xue family.”

“We’ve seen plenty of scattered households. Don’t worry, don’t worry.”

“We’ll have it done within three months.”

A faint light sparked in Li Guanyi’s eyes.

Three months… a hundred days to gather a hundred taels of silver, reach the Entry level with Wu Gong, obtain Yicheng household status. With the experience of being hired as a Xue family math instructor, securing a travel pass won’t be hard. Then I can leave Chen Guo. Perfect.

But now, the Entry method has become the hardest hurdle…

Yue Qianfeng left directly. Li Guanyi’s Broken Formation Melody, Level Twelve, nearly meets Entry requirements—but he can’t find the door.

Li Guanyi gazed at the roads on either side, lost in thought.

The Xue family is a powerful clan in Yicheng—could they have an Entry method? The carriage passed the main road and finally arrived at the Xue residence. The main gate loomed imposingly, two stone lions snarling. The carriage turned to the side gate. The painted wooden door opened. Two ruts of cart tracks led forward, perfectly aligned for the wheels.

The Xue family was a prominent clan in Guanyicheng; might there be a way to gain entry? The carriage passed along the main road and finally arrived at the Xue residence, whose main gate was imposing, with two stone lions snarling and baring their claws. The carriage turned to the side gate, where a painted wooden door opened, revealing a stone-paved path with two deep ruts ahead—just wide enough for the wheels to roll into.

Walls within walls, courtyards within courtyards.

Li Guanyi lowered his gaze.

The inner qi of the Broken Formation Melody flowed slowly through his body. A better life lay ahead.

Each time the Broken Formation Melody’s inner qi circulated, he felt his body growing stronger, bit by bit. Yue Qianfeng had said that only when both inner qi and body reached a certain level could they coalesce into true qi—that was Entry.

After Entry, I can leave Chen Guo with my aunt—and finally feel safe.

But Li Guanyi’s innate constitution was truly poor. His inner qi moved slowly. He could vaguely sense that whenever it passed his chest, its speed dropped drastically, his meridians constricting, slowing the flow further.

This sensation emerged gradually after he perfected the Broken Formation Melody.

It seemed the cold poison in his chest suppressed his inner qi’s flow, making it crawl. Each full circuit, the speed was reduced by one level.

Li Guanyi raised his hand and pressed against his chest, lowering his gaze.

Nightgallop cavalry. Poison.

The youth couldn’t help cursing inwardly.

The blocked inner qi felt like a super-fast internet connection downloading a game to 99%—then freezing, dropping to a few KB per second. It drove him mad.

What kind of poison did those bastards give me?

Where did they send my original constitution? They tortured me to death and even stripped my roots?

The day I find out who poisoned me, I’ll repay them tenfold.

Li Guanyi gritted his teeth, adding another line to his mental ledger against the Nightgallop cavalry who hunted him ten years ago. His inner qi stalled completely. He opened his eyes, gazing at the vast estate.

More than a mansion—it was a city within a city, divided into numerous courtyards.

The walls were extremely high—at least ten meters—separating inside from outside.

People passed by: scholars with refined bearing, sturdy men with powerful frames.

Their faces were ruddy, eyes bright, free of worry.

Even the servants’ clothing far surpassed Li Guanyi’s.

This was the Xue family…

Li Guanyi recalled: he knew the Xue family was an old clan of Yicheng, never involved in politics, their descendants mostly merchants. He wondered when the carriage suddenly stopped.

Li Guanyi recalled that the Xue family was an old clan of Guanyicheng, never involved in officialdom, with most of their descendants engaged in commerce; as he wondered about this, the carriage suddenly came to a stop.

His bronze cauldron hummed inside his chest.

Jade fluid began to gather.

The youth’s pupils shrank. His eyes filled with swirling energy, as if piercing the walls ahead. The air twisted, forming white fur, icy blue pupils, black patterns like endless night etched into the fur, a tail like a whip slowly coiling in the void.

A massive tiger, three stories tall, paced slowly, lowering its head.

Within the tiger stood an ordinary-looking old man, leaning on a cane, his hair and beard pure white.

A prison-like aura, the white tiger behind him.

Xue Shuangtao laughed lightly: “Grandpa!!”

She lifted the carriage curtain, leapt down, and hurried toward the old man.

Like a fluttering butterfly, she reached out and clasped his arm, her face radiant—now a girl of fourteen or fifteen, not the composed noblewoman she’d been moments before.

The driver pulled Li Guanyi down from the carriage and whispered:

“This is our Xue family’s patriarch.”

“He is the descendant of Xue Shen, the top-ranked divine general of the world, who three hundred years ago secured the border with three arrows during the unification.”

The old man’s gaze settled calmly.

The white tiger behind him bowed its head.

Inside Li Guanyi, the bronze cauldron frantically accumulated jade fluid.

(End of Chapter)

(End of Chapter)