Chapter 2: The Mysterious Struggle

  Xueyuan City, as its name suggests, is a castle built on the vast snowy plains. Humans are intelligent beings that live in groups for profit, and the reason why they built a castle on the snowy plains is because there is a large gold mine about 100 kilometers east of Xueyuan City. If all the gold mines on the entire continent were ranked, Xueyuan City's gold mine would definitely be among the top ten.

  Although the living conditions on the snowy plateau are harsh, every summer, after the ice and snow melt, some people in Snowy City will temporarily put down their work and venture into the high mountains to search for the Snow Lotus. The Snow Lotus is a very expensive herb, and an ordinary family only needs to pick one flower to guarantee a year of food and clothing without worry.

  Snow lotus is very rare and not everyone can get it, but every year there will be a few people who pick a few or even dozens of snow lotuses. Although the vast majority of people return empty-handed, the luck of a few people will bring hope to the civilians in the city, expecting to have the same luck next year.

  Where there is sunlight, there will be shadows. Similarly, where there are commoners, there will be nobles. The lord of Snowy Plains City was a count named Jia Tianxiang. On the surface, it seemed like a waste to place a count in such a location, but in reality, that wasn't the case.

  In financial terms, the gold produced by the gold mine only needs to be submitted to the central government of Qizhou at a rate of 50%, and the rest belongs to Earl Jia Tianxiang. This is an astonishing wealth! For twenty years, Earl Jia Tianxiang has been keeping a low profile in Xueyuan City, but his family business has spread to every corner of Qizhou! In any era, starting from scratch is always the most difficult, while making money with money is much easier.

  In the military, Earl Jia Tianxiang gained the favor of King Ji Ruofa. Not only was he allowed to recruit fewer than 2,000 private soldiers, but also given command of the 3,000 heavily armed infantry and 1,000 lightly armored cavalry guarding the gold mines. Adding to this were the troops defending Snowy City, patrol teams, and security forces. Earl Jia Tianxiang, a minor noble, commanded an army of over 10,000 men - a truly great honor! To put this into perspective, the entire regular army of Ji Zhou Kingdom did not exceed 3 million soldiers, with 500,000 being part of the Imperial Guard directly under the Emperor. The kingdom had five dukes and more than twenty marquises; in comparison, Jia Tianxiang's military force surpassed that of a marquis and ranked first among earls! Of course, if not for the constitution left behind by the first king of Ji Zhou Kingdom stating that only military achievements could be rewarded with titles, Jia Tianxiang would have become a marquis long ago due to his relationship with the imperial family.

  Jia Tianxiang has always been deliberately keeping a low profile, so his city master's mansion is not small in size, but the buildings are very simple. The eldest princess of the Ji Zhou Kingdom, Ji Shengyin, came to Xueyuan City with the king's decree and naturally had to move into the city master's mansion. Unfortunately, Qian Budi was also carried in by the princess's guards.

  In a small house in the backyard of the city master's mansion, Qian lay on the bed, his eyelids trembling slightly before slowly opening his eyes to take in his surroundings.

  Qian Buli knew where he was and why he had come to this place. In the long, icy months, he had exchanged countless words with that 'person' and understood everything he needed to know. Unlike ordinary people, Qian Buli's will was unyielding. He knew that resentment, regret, and curses were all useless, and that such negative emotions would only make him more foolish! The phrase "since you're here, then be at peace" is easy to say but hard to do, yet Qian Buli could manage it, so his expression looked very calm.

  A wave of pain came from his left hand, Qian Buli lowered his head to look, and his left hand was still tightly grasping the password box. The joints were purple in some places and green in others, as if they had been forcibly pried open. Qian Buli thought for a moment and knew that it must have been those people who saved him trying to take away the password box, their motives didn't seem very good, if he added a bit more force his finger bones would definitely be broken!

  Money didn't leave, one side gnashed teeth and scolded, while using the right hand to adjust the password and open the safe. The safe was divided into two layers, with a laptop on top and a Colt semi-automatic pistol at the bottom, along with seven magazines, and the bottom of the safe had a leather slot filled with yellow bullets.

  Qian never parted with his guns, always carrying two with him, a habit he learned from his grandfather. Old Man Qian had spent his life in battle and was rarely injured, the only exception being when his pistol jammed during a close combat with an enemy agent, causing him severe injuries despite timely arrival of guards; since then, no matter where he went, Old Man Qian always wore guns and bullets weighing over five kilograms.

  Qian Bunan picked up the notebook, slowly opened it, and the absolutely shielded years did not leave any marks on the notebook. It looked like new.

  "How... are you?" Qian Bu Li muttered to himself, recalling a phrase that Jizhong Xin had learned from 'that person', which could also be considered as compensation for the hardships he had endured.

  "It's fine." A slightly tired voice replied. To be strict, that 'person' wasn't a person. On that day, the nine-tailed silver fox's spirit narrowly escaped into Qian Buliang's laptop, and barely escaped disaster. But for some reason, the spirit could get in but not out. The two pitiful people spent their years unfolding in a helpless manner. Fortunately, it was so; otherwise, Qian Buliang would have definitely not made it to today. Just the endless loneliness would be enough to drive him mad!

  Qian didn't let go, using his right hand to grab the skin on his left arm and pinch it: "Great! The skin is very elastic, looking very young!" "Those things you mentioned seem like they never happened!"

  "You bastard!" The demon soul became enraged: "Do you know how much effort I put into helping you change your tendons and wash your marrow?! If it wasn't for me, you would have long since withered away to become a desiccated corpse!"

  "Is that so... Thank you!" Qian said with a mouthful of thanks, but not a hint of gratitude on his face. Ben Gongzi was about to get married and become an official, but he was inexplicably sent here, who should he thank? Let them all die!!!

  Qian Buli slowly slid down from the bed to the floor, and finally stood up. Perhaps it was because he hadn't walked for a long time, Qian Buli felt very uncomfortable, with pain from his soles to his thighs, and dizziness in front of his eyes. He couldn't help but let out a low, hoarse moan.

  "I'm telling you, you're being totally irresponsible! Cutting corners is not a good habit! You said you'd help me with the tendon-washing and marrow-cleansing exercise, so why is my throat still so hoarse?"

  "You... If I had known you'd say that, I wouldn't have helped you! Let you become a mummy then! Someone else's accumulated spiritual power over such a long time was all used on you, what more do you want me to do?!" The demon soul resentfully retorted.

  "Whose house is this?" Money didn't leave, stunned: "Right, let me ask you a serious question, are you male or female? For such a long time, every time I ask you, you don't answer, it's really strange! Male is male, female is female! What's worth keeping secret?"

  Quiet...

  "Oh... I'm so sorry for asking that, okay okay, so are you male or female?"

  Silence...

  "Are you holding the handle or the hole..."

  Just before the demon's angry roar, the door creaked open and a cute little girl in pink clothes walked in: "Ah! You're awake?"

  "Not awake!" In that world, Qian Buli's skill of being stingy and frugal was top-notch, and it still is now.

  The little girl was tongue-tied for a moment before answering: "You weren't awake, how could you run to the ground?"

  "Sleepwalking!"

  "Sleepwalking... What does sleepwalking mean?"

  Qian Buli continued to argue absent-mindedly, his eyes fixed tightly on the plate in the little girl's hand, which seemed to be holding some kind of pastry. How long had it been since he last ate? Qian Buli took a step forward, wanting to grab the pastry, but unexpectedly took a bigger step than he meant to, and before he knew it, his head spun and he fell heavily to the ground.

  The little girl hastily stretched out one hand and pressed it against Qian Buli's chest, and although she was young, her strength was not small, and she actually stopped Qian Buli's fall.

  Is this a kidnapper? This was Qian Buli's first reaction, but at this time Qian Buli didn't have the time to think much. He hastily tightly hugged the little girl's shoulders and used all his strength to pull over his disobedient legs before standing firm again.

  To be honest, Qian Buli is a decent person and he didn't have any ulterior motives. Unfortunately, it's not the same in other people's eyes. The little girl is still a girl after all, and she's a very cute one at that. Just as Qian Buli was about to exert more strength with his leg, he heard a loud shout: "How dare you!" Then, he felt a sharp pain in his waist, and before he knew it, his entire body flew up into the air and landed heavily on the bed.

  Unfortunately, Qian Buli didn't let go of the little girl and due to conditioned reflexes, he held her even tighter. As a result, both of them flew up together and when they fell onto the bed, their foreheads bumped heavily into each other. Qian Buli was fine, having some experience with being beaten, but the little girl's forehead turned purple and swelled up high, tears streaming out like a fountain, flowing onto Qian Buli's face.

  "Let go! You scoundrel!" The newcomer made a move and produced a crisp, metallic sound.

  "Ke Lan sister, no! Don't!" The little girl, although dazed from the collision, heard the sound of a sword being drawn.

  Qian Bu Li had never been accustomed to putting his own safety in the hands of others, so he pushed the little girl away with his left hand and grabbed the Kotei with his right hand from the password box.