Copper Coins

Chapter 5: Gold Ingots (1)

 

The servant’s legs were short but fast. Because of his young age, there was always a sense of impetuousness to him. Even as he ran alone, after every three steps he had to turn around to wait for Adviser Liu who was following behind. As he was preoccupied doing this, he did not notice that something was sticking to the back of his neck.

 

Xue Xian’s legs inconvenienced him. Even after turning into paper, he was still half paralyzed. With both of his hands, he firmly attached himself to his new “mount”.       

 

The paper was too thin. Riding on a mount that was galloping like a wild horse, Xue Xian was thrown around by the current, almost throwing up before he arrived at Adviser Liu’s mansion. Ningyang County was a rich and prosperous place. Liu Xu must have lived a good life because his mansion was far larger than the Jiangs’ medicine hall with its broken walls and tiles.  

 

The front door didn’t reveal much but the inside was arranged quite exquisitely. 

 

“So exquisite…” Xue Xian poked his head out from the back of the servant’s head, scanning around silently. He sighed to himself, “It’s so damn exquisitely asking for trouble…”

 

The servant, “???” 

 

The servant stood stiffly in front of the threshold, feeling as if someone was whispering behind him. It felt as if they were right by his neck, making his hair stand on end and his scalp tingle. “Who-who’s talking?”

 

Xue Xian replied, “Take a guess.” 

 

The servant, “…” 

 

It wasn’t enough for this bastard to treat him like a horse, he just had to make him cry, too. 

 

The servant was twelve or thirteen at most and had courage no bigger than a needle’s point. Frightened by Xue Xian’s breathy reply, he took off immediately and left everyone else behind. He entered the hall crying and as a result tripped on the threshold and fell.

 

When he landed, Xue Xian was jolted badly. He slipped and fell from the servant’s neck, fluttering to the ground. He was just about to grab onto the servant’s clothes again but, just like a rabbit, he had already gotten up and sprinted away. 

 

Xue Xian, “…”

 

This was exactly what was meant by coming for wool but ending up shorn or coming out to tease only to face karma. 

 

No one noticed the extra piece of folded paper on the ground. The guest hall was a mess at the moment with the old and young alike panicking and crying as they surrounded a young man.  

 

The front of the young man’s robe was wet and his tousled hair was soaked and stuck to his face. Someone had brushed some of the hair away haphazardly, revealing a ghostly pale face. His eyes were closed and looked as if he was not breathing at all.

 

When Adviser Liu stumbled into the guest hall and saw this, his legs buckled under him.        

 

“Jin-er…”

 

Xue Xian, who was paralysed on the ground, snapped his head up and saw a wave of feet crashing towards him. 

 

Xue Xian, “…………………………………”

 

As it went dark before him, he grabbed a piece of wilted grass on the stone floor and tried to inch away. Who could have guessed that just as he shifted one inch, his body was picked up by someone’s fingers. 

 

“Who’s the bastard that picked me up?! Let go!” Xue Xian couldn’t help yelling. He turned around and almost fainted.  

 

It was that stupid monk again!       

 

The reason why Xue Xian had come to the Liu mansion was purely to keep an eye on Adviser Liu and then find an opportunity to get some clues. So why did the Baldy follow him here? Earlier, didn’t he seem like he didn’t want to deal with this affair? It couldn’t be just to get him back, could it?

 

There were so many wandering ghosts and demons out there in the world so why did this monk have to target him?! Xue Xian fumed, completely fed up with him. 

 

He held onto the wilted grass, refusing to let go. Finally, the monk lifted him up along with the grass.       

 

Xuan Min held the “fugitive” in one hand and moved his pupils slightly as he looked at paper man Xue with some reproach.       

 

Xue Xian responded by rolling his eyes. “…” Who do you think you are? 

 

At that moment, Xuan Min gently kicked a pebble in the garden with his toe. The round stone rolled twice and stopped just in front of Adviser Liu. Adviser Liu, who was stumbling forward, stepped on the stone, wobbled unsteadily, and fell forward.     

   

Coincidentally, he fell right onto the chest of the unmoving young man.       

 

“Cough—cough!”      

 

Adviser Liu hurriedly scrambled to get up. Just when he was about to yell at the object that had inadvertently tripped him, he heard the lifeless young man suddenly start coughing up water. He coughed so hard that he couldn’t make a sound, until his face turned red and he finally recovered some liveliness. Only then did he take a deep breath and slowly calmed himself down.        

 

The people in the guest hall were abuzz with shock, some happy and some amazed.       

Adviser Liu was dazed for a long time before he came back to his senses. He quickly ordered people to carry the young master back to his room to rest and then to fetch a doctor.       

With a few words, he comforted the madam whose eyes were red and swollen from crying. Then, he turned around, gave the round stone on the ground a complex look, and glanced at Xuan Min. 

 

The chaos and turmoil had made Liu Xu weary. The sky gradually lightened and the gentle morning light fell softly upon the courtyard. Liu Xu once again measured Xuan Min—        

 

He still thought that the monk was too young and didn’t look like an eminent monk. If nothing else, his qualifications were far from satisfactory at the very least. There were people in their early twenties who wanted to become eminent monks, but it often ended up as merely daydreams. The copper coins hanging by the monk’s waist were still old and unremarkable. Except for some ignorant small-town villagers, anyone would be able to identify such a person as a charlatan.        

 

But that series of events had clearly happened just now in front of him—        

 

Just as Xuan Min had said “Someone has substituted you from disaster”, his son Liu Jin had fallen into a well. He himself had been running perfectly well, yet a round stone before his feet happened to trip him and revive Liu Jin.       

 

One incident could be called a coincidence, but in this case, Liu Xu couldn’t call this a “coincidence” anymore.      

 

Could this monk really be an eminent monk?     

   

Adviser Liu tucked his arms into his sleeves, an embarrassed smile on his face. He extended his arms towards Xuan Min and said, “I was blind as a bat and failed to see…” 

Xuan Min didn’t pay him any attention. He simply looked up and surveyed the mansion. 

 

His action caused Adviser Liu to take in a sharp breath. “Master, please forgive me for earlier. I hope you don’t mind my recklessness just now. There is a real reason why I was so rude just now. You see, I cautiously arranged the fengshui in this mansion. I thought that it would at least help a bit to lengthen my lifespan.”   

 

Xue Xian sniffed. “Superficial.”

 

His words were correct but he really couldn’t pick out any mistakes in Adviser Liu’s courtyard. Facing the South and gathering strength from the mountains, the courtyard followed the sloping roof style, gathering wealth and qi. There was even a curving fish pond in the front hall before them. The “Array of Waves of Water into the Hall” was set up to ensure a prosperous career and rapid promotion.       

 

Of course, Xue Xian himself only knew a little about the skill of geomancy. As a scaly creature, he had better things to do than to pay particular attention to this.

 

He relied on his instincts to search for any problems with the mansion. As soon as he entered the doorway, he immediately felt extremely uncomfortable and that is why he said that Adviser Liu was “so damn exquisite”.       

 

As for the specifics of the issue and how to solve it, that was Baldy’s problem and had nothing to do with him.       

 

He had fought with Xuan Min’s fingers just now. After the long one-sided entanglement, he had finally exhausted himself and had to rest. The thin paper-skinned body was still too limited which made Xue Xian, a man who was used to arrogance in the past, feel extremely suffocated.       

 

He was pressed back into the pocket by Xuan Min so he rolled his eyes and crouched at the opening to observe the Liu mansion. Someone nearby suddenly spoke up.        

 

“What are you murmuring about? Where are we?” asked Jiang Shining, who had been lying in the dark pocket for a long time but had finally gathered the courage to lift his head out of the pocket. He seemed to be afraid of Xuan Min and only dared to speak in a very low voice, so softly that only Xue Xian could hear him. 

 

“That adviser’s place,” Xue Xian sneered. “Can’t you tell? Are you half deaf as well? The people in this yard have been crying and howling for so long…”       

 

Jiang Shining's voice stiffened, “…Adviser? Adviser of Ningyang County?”

 

Xue Xian asked, “Who else?”

 

Jiang Shining suddenly fell silent.

 

Xue Xian felt that it was strange and so he couldn’t help glancing at him. “Have you gone mute?”

      

Jiang Shining silently retreated into the pocket and said in a muffled voice, “I just remembered something from the past.”

 

Xue Xian asked, “The past?”

 

“My family had some issues with that Adviser Liu,” murmured Jiang Shining.       

 

Xue Xian asked, “What kind of issue?”

 

Jiang Shining was quiet for a long time before murmuring, “Issue that involved a human life.”     

 

Xue Xian, “……………………” If there’s human life involved, how can it still be called a mere “issue”?      

 

Xue Xian wanted to ask further but Xuan Min suddenly turned around and directed a cold voice to the side door. “Who’s behind the wall?”

Chapter 5: Gold Ingots (1)

 

The servant’s legs were short but fast. Because of his young age, there was always a sense of impetuousness to him. Even as he ran alone, after every three steps he had to turn around to wait for Adviser Liu who was following behind. As he was preoccupied doing this, he did not notice that something was sticking to the back of his neck.

 

Xue Xian’s legs inconvenienced him. Even after turning into paper, he was still half paralyzed. With both of his hands, he firmly attached himself to his new “mount”.       

 

The paper was too thin. Riding on a mount that was galloping like a wild horse, Xue Xian was thrown around by the current, almost throwing up before he arrived at Adviser Liu’s mansion. Ningyang County was a rich and prosperous place. Liu Xu must have lived a good life because his mansion was far larger than the Jiangs’ medicine hall with its broken walls and tiles.  

 

The front door didn’t reveal much but the inside was arranged quite exquisitely. 

 

“So exquisite…” Xue Xian poked his head out from the back of the servant’s head, scanning around silently. He sighed to himself, “It’s so damn exquisitely asking for trouble…”

 

The servant, “???” 

 

The servant stood stiffly in front of the threshold, feeling as if someone was whispering behind him. It felt as if they were right by his neck, making his hair stand on end and his scalp tingle. “Who-who’s talking?”

 

Xue Xian replied, “Take a guess.” 

 

The servant, “…” 

 

It wasn’t enough for this bastard to treat him like a horse, he just had to make him cry, too. 

 

The servant was twelve or thirteen at most and had courage no bigger than a needle’s point. Frightened by Xue Xian’s breathy reply, he took off immediately and left everyone else behind. He entered the hall crying and as a result tripped on the threshold and fell.

 

When he landed, Xue Xian was jolted badly. He slipped and fell from the servant’s neck, fluttering to the ground. He was just about to grab onto the servant’s clothes again but, just like a rabbit, he had already gotten up and sprinted away. 

 

Xue Xian, “…”

 

This was exactly what was meant by coming for wool but ending up shorn or coming out to tease only to face karma. 

 

No one noticed the extra piece of folded paper on the ground. The guest hall was a mess at the moment with the old and young alike panicking and crying as they surrounded a young man.  

 

The front of the young man’s robe was wet and his tousled hair was soaked and stuck to his face. Someone had brushed some of the hair away haphazardly, revealing a ghostly pale face. His eyes were closed and looked as if he was not breathing at all.

 

When Adviser Liu stumbled into the guest hall and saw this, his legs buckled under him.        

 

“Jin-er…”

 

Xue Xian, who was paralysed on the ground, snapped his head up and saw a wave of feet crashing towards him. 

 

Xue Xian, “…………………………………”

 

As it went dark before him, he grabbed a piece of wilted grass on the stone floor and tried to inch away. Who could have guessed that just as he shifted one inch, his body was picked up by someone’s fingers. 

 

“Who’s the bastard that picked me up?! Let go!” Xue Xian couldn’t help yelling. He turned around and almost fainted.  

 

It was that stupid monk again!       

 

The reason why Xue Xian had come to the Liu mansion was purely to keep an eye on Adviser Liu and then find an opportunity to get some clues. So why did the Baldy follow him here? Earlier, didn’t he seem like he didn’t want to deal with this affair? It couldn’t be just to get him back, could it?

 

There were so many wandering ghosts and demons out there in the world so why did this monk have to target him?! Xue Xian fumed, completely fed up with him. 

 

He held onto the wilted grass, refusing to let go. Finally, the monk lifted him up along with the grass.       

 

Xuan Min held the “fugitive” in one hand and moved his pupils slightly as he looked at paper man Xue with some reproach.       

 

Xue Xian responded by rolling his eyes. “…” Who do you think you are? 

 

At that moment, Xuan Min gently kicked a pebble in the garden with his toe. The round stone rolled twice and stopped just in front of Adviser Liu. Adviser Liu, who was stumbling forward, stepped on the stone, wobbled unsteadily, and fell forward.     

   

Coincidentally, he fell right onto the chest of the unmoving young man.       

 

“Cough—cough!”      

 

Adviser Liu hurriedly scrambled to get up. Just when he was about to yell at the object that had inadvertently tripped him, he heard the lifeless young man suddenly start coughing up water. He coughed so hard that he couldn’t make a sound, until his face turned red and he finally recovered some liveliness. Only then did he take a deep breath and slowly calmed himself down.        

 

The people in the guest hall were abuzz with shock, some happy and some amazed.       

Adviser Liu was dazed for a long time before he came back to his senses. He quickly ordered people to carry the young master back to his room to rest and then to fetch a doctor.       

With a few words, he comforted the madam whose eyes were red and swollen from crying. Then, he turned around, gave the round stone on the ground a complex look, and glanced at Xuan Min. 

 

The chaos and turmoil had made Liu Xu weary. The sky gradually lightened and the gentle morning light fell softly upon the courtyard. Liu Xu once again measured Xuan Min—        

 

He still thought that the monk was too young and didn’t look like an eminent monk. If nothing else, his qualifications were far from satisfactory at the very least. There were people in their early twenties who wanted to become eminent monks, but it often ended up as merely daydreams. The copper coins hanging by the monk’s waist were still old and unremarkable. Except for some ignorant small-town villagers, anyone would be able to identify such a person as a charlatan.        

 

But that series of events had clearly happened just now in front of him—        

 

Just as Xuan Min had said “Someone has substituted you from disaster”, his son Liu Jin had fallen into a well. He himself had been running perfectly well, yet a round stone before his feet happened to trip him and revive Liu Jin.       

 

One incident could be called a coincidence, but in this case, Liu Xu couldn’t call this a “coincidence” anymore.      

 

Could this monk really be an eminent monk?     

   

Adviser Liu tucked his arms into his sleeves, an embarrassed smile on his face. He extended his arms towards Xuan Min and said, “I was blind as a bat and failed to see…” 

Xuan Min didn’t pay him any attention. He simply looked up and surveyed the mansion. 

 

His action caused Adviser Liu to take in a sharp breath. “Master, please forgive me for earlier. I hope you don’t mind my recklessness just now. There is a real reason why I was so rude just now. You see, I cautiously arranged the fengshui in this mansion. I thought that it would at least help a bit to lengthen my lifespan.”   

 

Xue Xian sniffed. “Superficial.”

 

His words were correct but he really couldn’t pick out any mistakes in Adviser Liu’s courtyard. Facing the South and gathering strength from the mountains, the courtyard followed the sloping roof style, gathering wealth and qi. There was even a curving fish pond in the front hall before them. The “Array of Waves of Water into the Hall” was set up to ensure a prosperous career and rapid promotion.       

 

Of course, Xue Xian himself only knew a little about the skill of geomancy. As a scaly creature, he had better things to do than to pay particular attention to this.

 

He relied on his instincts to search for any problems with the mansion. As soon as he entered the doorway, he immediately felt extremely uncomfortable and that is why he said that Adviser Liu was “so damn exquisite”.       

 

As for the specifics of the issue and how to solve it, that was Baldy’s problem and had nothing to do with him.       

 

He had fought with Xuan Min’s fingers just now. After the long one-sided entanglement, he had finally exhausted himself and had to rest. The thin paper-skinned body was still too limited which made Xue Xian, a man who was used to arrogance in the past, feel extremely suffocated.       

 

He was pressed back into the pocket by Xuan Min so he rolled his eyes and crouched at the opening to observe the Liu mansion. Someone nearby suddenly spoke up.        

 

“What are you murmuring about? Where are we?” asked Jiang Shining, who had been lying in the dark pocket for a long time but had finally gathered the courage to lift his head out of the pocket. He seemed to be afraid of Xuan Min and only dared to speak in a very low voice, so softly that only Xue Xian could hear him. 

 

“That adviser’s place,” Xue Xian sneered. “Can’t you tell? Are you half deaf as well? The people in this yard have been crying and howling for so long…”       

 

Jiang Shining's voice stiffened, “…Adviser? Adviser of Ningyang County?”

 

Xue Xian asked, “Who else?”

 

Jiang Shining suddenly fell silent.

 

Xue Xian felt that it was strange and so he couldn’t help glancing at him. “Have you gone mute?”

      

Jiang Shining silently retreated into the pocket and said in a muffled voice, “I just remembered something from the past.”

 

Xue Xian asked, “The past?”

 

“My family had some issues with that Adviser Liu,” murmured Jiang Shining.       

 

Xue Xian asked, “What kind of issue?”

 

Jiang Shining was quiet for a long time before murmuring, “Issue that involved a human life.”     

 

Xue Xian, “……………………” If there’s human life involved, how can it still be called a mere “issue”?      

 

Xue Xian wanted to ask further but Xuan Min suddenly turned around and directed a cold voice to the side door. “Who’s behind the wall?”