Chapter 11: Grandma's Rolling Pin (Part 1)

  Li Yuanba laughed and said: "Don't worry, I guarantee he won't be able to run away." He handed the silver ticket to Zhangsun Wuji and said: "Little Wuji, take this as pocket money."

  "It's a small amount, not even enough for his mother!" Long Sunu snorted at the silver ticket and said disdainfully: "This kind of silver ticket, I usually use it to wipe my mouth."

  Xiao Si's eyes blazed with fury as he glared at the two villains from Qing City, his heart filled with extreme sorrow.

  700,000 taels of silver tickets, a astronomical figure that I didn't even dare to think about half a year ago. How many graves would have to be dug and how much soil would have to be turned over to earn that? It's actually just the young master's pocket money, a dandy's handkerchief!

  But who let them be one official second generation and one rich second generation? It is said that the immortal cultivators have no desires or demands, but today Xiao Si has seen through it. That's because they are all so rich that they have lost interest in money and have lost their feelings for beautiful women. Only then do they go to torture their own nerves and play with their own bodies!

  At this moment, Xiang Xiao Si deeply knew that he couldn't lose face in front of Qing Cheng Shuang Jian no matter what, and proudly said: "Either return the IOU to me, or use it as toilet paper."

  Li Yuanba swept his triangular eyes and saw the guards following him, so he beckoned to the leading officer: "Old Wang, take this money and go share it with the brothers!"

  Lao Wang, with four sisters at home, he being the fifth in line, suddenly felt a sense of being overwhelmed by happiness and couldn't help but ask in disbelief: "Really?"

  Li Yuanba didn't say another word and completely ignored the sharp gaze of Xiao Si, who was as fierce as a knife, and threw the 70,000 taels of silver ticket to Wang Lao Wu.

  Wang Lao Wu held the huge silver bill that flew in and couldn't help but be moved to tears, turning his head to look at a group of guards: "Brothers, I Wang Lao Wu have lived for so many years, but never once took so much money! No need to say anything, let's all go to my house!"

  The guards were overjoyed, and they all flattered Li Yuanba, thinking that apart from his slight stutter and eating a bit too much, he was the best commander who loved his soldiers like his own sons.

  Xiao Si was extremely depressed, it's clear that he had spent all his efforts to persuade them and the money was from him, but why did those people only show gratitude to that glutton and completely ignore his existence?

  He angrily abandoned Li Yuanba and Zhangsun Wuji, and went straight to the Huxiang Building to find Li Jing and Hong Chui.

  I returned from Jin Yang these past few days, busy with all sorts of things, never had a chance to drop by, now that I'm about to leave Chang'an for a while, there are some matters I need to discuss with Li Jing.

  Li Jing was sitting alone by the window drinking wine when Xiao Si arrived. He wore a white loose robe, with his two legs propped up on the windowsill, looking very relaxed and comfortable. Upon hearing Xiao Si enter, he didn't turn around, but said lightly, "The wine is on the table."

  Xiao Si was still fuming, and with a huff, he picked up the wine jug on the table, tilted his head back and gulped down the liquor, spilling it all over his face. Through the window, he saw the pavilions and buildings outside where birds were singing and dancing. He let out a long belch and said: "Drinking, womanizing, and spacing out - that's the life!"

  Li Jing smiled and said, "You will soon get tired of such days."

  Xiao Si asked: "If so, why are you still staying here?"

  Li Jing said leisurely, "In the Spring and Autumn period, Chu Cheng Wang sent someone to invite the Taoist ancestor Zhuang Zhou to enter the court as a prime minister. Zhuangzi asked the envoy of Chu State: 'I heard that there is a three-thousand-year-old divine turtle in Chu State, which is worshipped in the temple. Does this turtle prefer to die and be worshipped by people, or does it prefer to live in a muddy pond and wag its tail?'"

  "It's better to live a life of shame than to die with honor, even if it means living in the mud and eating dirt."

  Li Jing said: "The envoy of Chu also replied like this. Zhuangzi then said, 'Then you can go back, I still have to wag my tail in the mud.'"

  Xiao Si was stunned and secretly admired that his ancestor was indeed no ordinary person, actually comparing himself to a turtle.

  Li Jing said calmly: "I am also a turtle wagging its tail."

  "He's a turtle in a muddy pond, you're a king in an urn. You're doing better than him."

  Li Jing put down his wine cup and said: "Now that's enough, what brings you here?"

  Xiao Si said: "I'm going on a long trip and I want to buy some more life-saving gadgets from you."

  Li Jing thought for a moment, then walked into the inner room. A moment later, he came back with a huge bow that was almost as tall as him in his hand, saying: "This is called 'Beidou Tian Gong', made by the ancestors of the Tang family. At the same time, seven magic arrows were refined, and now there are four left. If you want it, I'll give you one for free with four more."

  Xiao Si measured the Northern Dipper Heavenly Bow, seeing that its entire body was a dark red color with a hint of blue crystal light flowing from it, and a fierce aura spread out from it, making one's heart feel cold. Looking again at the four magic arrows in Li Jing's hand, they were of varying lengths and colors, including one that was crystal clear and almost invisible to the naked eye.

  "How much is it? It's too expensive, I can't afford it."

  Li Jing stretched out four fingers. Xiao Si let out a breath and said, "40,000 taels, it's a bit expensive, can't you make it cheaper? We're old friends after all."

  Li Jing hummed and said: "Four hundred thousand taels, I won't sell it for a single penny less."

  "Damn it!" Xiang Xiao Si shouted: "A worthless broken bow that no one wants is also sold for 400,000 taels, why don't you go rob?"

  Li Jing stared at Xiao Si, his eyes as if sizing up a country bumpkin who didn't know the value of goods. "This is top-grade Seventh-Rank Magic Bow," he said. "If it weren't for the fact that you still have some human decency, I wouldn't sell it to you even for 40 million taels. Do you think I'm short on money? Unfortunately, your cultivation is too poor; otherwise, with this Beidou Heaven Bow, Eagle Old Monster would have to call you 'grandfather'."

  "Sunzi!" Xiang Xiao Si stared at Beidou Tian Gong, not knowing whether he was scolding Ying Yang the old demon or Li Jing. He said with a tight face: "Didn't you say one set of seven arrows? Now three are missing and we have to deduct money. One arrow counts as 100,000, three arrows is 300,000..."

  Li Jing gave him a white eye, didn't say much, picked up his bow and turned around to walk into the inner room.

  "Three hundred thousand!" Xiao Si groaned in pain, secretly thinking that retribution had come too quickly. He resentfully added, "Also, throw in a White Crane Bright Wing Dart for me."

  Li Jing said with a smile: "That's a white crane spreading its wings, not a big Chinese cabbage. Add 20,000 more."

  Xiao Si gritted his teeth and pulled out the silver notes, counting them over and over in his hand, even remembering clearly which ones were from Yuwen Chengdu and which ones were from Wang Renze, but now they all had their surnames changed to Li.

  Li Jing snatched the silver ticket, didn't even count it and put it in his pocket. His wrist shook slightly with a "hum" sound as the Northern Dipper Sky Bow suddenly shrunk to less than one-tenth of its original size, turning into a tiny bow less than five inches long that he grasped in his palm and handed over to Xiao Si.

  Xiao Si took over the Northern Dipper Heavenly Bow, and as usual, he shrunk the four demonic arrows to their smallest size, adding a White Crane Bright Wing Arrow, and stuffed them all into the Bundragon Waistband.

  Li Jing sat down again with a satisfied expression and said: "Don't leave at noon, I'll treat you to a drink."

  "Is it you who invited me? That's all my money!" Xiao Si bluntly drank the whole jar of wine without leaving a drop, and said: "You have to help me with something, let's make a deal first, not a single cent will be paid!"

  Li Jing smiled slightly and said: "Let's talk about it, discussing money will hurt our feelings."

  Xiao Siyi took a mouthful of wine and almost choked to death, taking half a day to catch his breath before saying: "While I'm away from the capital, you have to help me take care of Wan'er. I'm worried that Eagle Yang will use the Pawnshop as a knife. Others I don't care about, but this little girl can't lose a single hair!"

  Li Jing's thin lips slightly curled up and said: "You're saying, let me help you take care of a young and beautiful little girl?"

  Xiao Si glared and said: "What, am I supposed to be afraid of you?"

  Li Jing's smile grew thicker as he said, "There is one condition."

  Xiao Si angrily said: "I've already said it, don't even mention money!"

  Li Jing said: "After finishing the matter, return to Chang'an, you must invite me to drink wine."

  Xiao Si was taken aback and muttered: "This can be considered."

  Hong Bu walked in and asked: "Jing brother, what are you doing?"

  Li Jing said with a light tone: "I've just made a pen deal, selling Zhang's useless broken bow to a fool for 320,000 taels of silver. I'll give you the money as makeup allowance."

  Xiao Si almost fainted with rage, earlier it was Qing Cheng's despicable duo, now it's the Tang family's little three, one more despicable than the other, one more arrogant than the other. Is there still a way for honest people to survive in this world?

  He spent a fortune at the Fragrant Pavilion, drinking and eating his fill, but in the end, he only managed to get back a few taels of silver. However, he got so drunk that he stumbled back to the Willow Garden late in the evening.

  Perhaps it was the stimulation of the daytime, or perhaps the alcohol took effect, but that night Xiao Si's state was exceptionally good. He advanced with a loud and bold song, sweeping away all sorts of doubts and obstacles in the 72 Earthly Fiend Star Array. In an instant, his mind became clear and empty, and he suddenly realized all sorts of heavenly mysteries.

  "Boom!" The seventy-two Earthly Fiend Stars in his dantian suddenly exploded, transforming into thousands of strands of mysterious star energy that seeped into his skin pores, bones, flesh and blood, merging with the water and milk to become a harmonious whole.

  His dantian's star energy became increasingly dense and pure, with subtle signs of condensing the yuan and forming the elixir, only a short distance from the realm of observing the microcosm.

  He was completely unaware of the passage of time, until the next day when the sun was high in the sky, and only then did he slowly open his eyes, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

  He washed his face, and couldn't help but think of Yuanyu. This time going to Jiangzhou to build a tomb for Zhang Lihua involved imperial secrets, no matter what, he couldn't bring her along. And who knows if this little girl would miss him when he went out on a long trip?

  Before he knew it, Xiang Si's mind flashed with the image of Yu Wan'er lightly scolding and slightly angry, and for a moment, he was dazed.

  Suddenly hearing someone knock on the door, his mind stirred slightly and a gust of wind was emitted, "slap" the door latch popped up and fell to the corner of the wall.

  The door opened, and a fragrant breeze blew in, bringing with it none other than Zhangsun Wuji. This guy was fanning himself with a folding fan, looking quite pleased with himself, when he suddenly stared intently at Xiao Si for a long time, before letting out a loud cry and hastily adjusting his clothes. He bowed low to her and said with a charming smile: "I am Zhangsun Wuji, also known as 'Yu Nu Jian' in Jianghu, the number one handsome man under Qingcheng Gate. I'm afraid I've been too bold, but may I ask your name, miss, and how old are you?"

  Xiao Si was stunned for a moment, staring at the guy's flirtatious appearance, her whole body covered in goosebumps, and scolded: "You're sick!"

  Chang Sun Wuji heard Xiao Si's words and his facial expression suddenly became exceptionally vivid, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. He let out a loud shout: "Monster!"

  Xiao Si's anger was not focused on one place, she rushed forward and snatched the folding fan from the seductress, throwing it out the door. She cursed loudly: "Your mother is a freak, your father is a freak, your sister is a freak, your whole family are freaks!"

  Chang Sun Wu Jin stared with his eyes wide open and pointed at Xiao Si's face, saying: "Xiao brother, is it really you?"

  Xiao Si was taken aback, turned his head back and glanced at the washbasin, and suddenly became as still as a wooden chicken!

  But there in the water, a beautiful and lovely face was reflected, not Ruan Er but who else? But, but I'm still me, how did I become a fake girl after just one night?

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