Scripture of Days Past

Following the departure of Hao Yongnian and his entourage, Wang Cailiang let out a huge sigh of relief. Then he turned to Chu Qiguang and asked, “Are you alright, Brother Chu?”

“I think my arm is broken,” Chu Qiguang replied, his brows tightly furrowed.

“What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and call a doctor for Brother Chu!” Wang Cailiang snapped, and his knaves sprang into action.

Wang Cailiang turned back to Chu Qiguang, then sighed. “This only happened to you because of me, Brother Chu. I’ll treat you to dinner tonight as an apology, but I’m afraid we’re not going to be able to get revenge for you. That was Hao Yongnian of the Hao Clan. His father is currently a compiler at the Imperial Hanlin Academy, and his grandfather was once a provincial governor.

“The Hao Clan’s power and status are nearly unmatched in Azure Sun County, and Hao Yongnian is infamous in the county for being vicious. I’ve heard that his backyard is filled with the buried bodies of maidservants and servants that he’s beaten to death. If only everyone in positions of power in the county were as kind and easygoing as Young Master Ding Daoxiao.”

Back when the Great Han Empire was first founded, only clans of officials were permitted to keep slaves. However, as the gap between the rich and the poor grew over time, the poor were forced to sell their children just to survive, while the rich required all kinds of servants and manual laborers. It became impossible to stamp out the slave trade.

Nowadays, slavery was common practice, and even ordinary merchants and landowners often had servants at their beck and call. The owners of these servants could beat and abuse them without facing consequences. For someone like Hao Yongnian, who came from such a prestigious clan, the local authorities were happy to turn a blind eye to his frequent killing of slaves.

“Then why did your Wang Clan end up offending the Hao Clan?” Chu Qiguang asked.

“We had no choice in the matter!” Wang Cailiang said indignantly. “They want to seize the plot of land where our clan’s ancestral tomb is located! That plot of land is an extremely auspicious area with exceptional feng shui and a direct connection to the spirit veins of Azure Sun County. It's no wonder that they’ve set their sights on it, but they can’t just seize it from us by force!”

“What are spirit veins?” Chu Qiguang asked.

“You don’t know what spirit veins are?” Wang Cailiang exclaimed. “Situated to the north of our Azure Sun County is Plum Mountain, which originates from Ancestral Dragon Mountain hundreds of kilometers away. It’s a truly blessed place, and thanks to the blessings of its spirit veins, our Azure Sun County enjoys an abundance of martial fortune. That’s why we manage to produce wujuren every single year, and at the moment, there are quite a few current and retired high-ranking officials in the imperial court who hail from our county.”

Chu Qiguang nodded. He didn’t know much about things like feng shui and spirit veins, but it was clear that the people of this world believed strongly in feng shui. As for these so-called spirit veins, it seemed to be a similar concept to the dragon veins from the previous world.

“My father is obviously desperate to try and hold onto this plot of land, but he’s gone to all of his powerful connections in the county, and not a single one of them is willing to mediate for us. In the end, we'll probably have no choice but to comply with the Hao Clan’s demands,” Wang Cailiang lamented.

Shortly afterward, the doctor arrived and bandaged Chu Qiguang’s injured arm. He prescribed some medicine and advised him to rest and recuperate.

Once only Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi remained in the room, Chu Qiguang asked with a dark expression, “This is going to negatively affect my cultivation as well, isn't it?”

Qiao Zhi nodded with a resigned look, then replied, “This is simply how it is for anyone who isn’t cultivating in complete seclusion. Your mental state will constantly be affected by your experiences, and over time, there will be more and more thorns in your heart, further hindering your cultivation.”

“Does that mean people from wealthy clans have not only an advantage in wealth, but an advantage in mental state as well?” Chu Qiguang asked.

Qiao Zhi nodded again.

Chu Qiguang glanced at his bandaged right arm. “Given my current condition, how long will I need to rest before I can resume my martial arts cultivation?”

“This is not a serious fracture, and the medicine the doctor prescribed you is quite effective. On top of that, your physical constitution has been greatly enhanced by the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique, so you should be able to resume your martial arts cultivation after at most ten days of rest,” Qiao Zhi estimated.

After a brief silence, Qiao Zhi asked, “Are you planning to go after Hao Yongnian for revenge?”

“For now, get the dogs to keep a constant eye on him,” Chu Qiguang replied. “I want to be able to know where he is and what he’s doing at all times. Where’s Big Head? I still have to ask him for the whereabouts of that fiend from the steamed bun shop.”

Still feeling quite disgruntled, he picked up Qiao Zhi before licking him from head to toe, and he instantly felt much better.

He continued licking Qiao Zhi as he asked, “Have you considered taking daily baths, Master Qiao?”

Qiao Zhi clearly disliked the idea, and he immediately replied, “Self-grooming is a part of our cultivation, so we never have to bathe.”

Chu Qiguang looked at Qiao Zhi’s less-than-sanitary fur with a hint of disgust and thought to himself that he needed at least thirty pet cats in the future. That way, he could have all of them take monthly baths on different days, and he would have a clean cat to lick every day of the month.

Chen Gang entered the room with Chu Qiguang’s medicine right as the latter was licking Qiao Zhi. He was so frightened by the twisted sight that he immediately turned to leave.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Chu Qiguang snapped. “Aren’t you here to change my bandages?”

Chen Gang walked over fearfully. Chu Qiguang looked at him and asked, “Do you like cats?”

Chen Gang naturally didn’t dare to say no, so he quickly nodded.

“You wanna pet him?” Chu Qiguang asked as he offered Qiao Zhi to him.

A reluctant look appeared on Chen Gang’s face as he placed a timid hand on Qiao Zhi’s back.

As soon as he did this, Qiao Zhi shook his head. “Nope. Compared to a real cat lover like you, he doesn't even come close.”

“How unfortunate. I gave you the opportunity, but it seems you don’t have the aptitude to grasp it,” Chu Qiguang said with a sigh as he took Qiao Zhi back from Chen Gang.

***

Over the next few days, Chu Qiguang continued to rest and recuperate in peace. He had applied for sick leave from Wise Hero Academy, and he didn’t appear to be holding any grudge. This came as quite a relief to Wang Cailiang, and he soon became convinced that Chu Qiguang had given up on any thoughts of taking revenge on Hao Yongnian.

However, unbeknownst to him, Chu Qiguang was simply biding his time. Due to his inability to train, Chu Qiguang wasn’t able to make any progress in his martial arts cultivation over those few days. To make matters even worse, his available funds had dropped to less than nine hundred taels of silver.

On the night of the fourth day after Chu Qiguang’s altercation with Hao Yongnian, the latter was attending a banquet in the finest brothel in Azure Sun County, the Four Fortunes Pagoda. He was surrounded by flattering friends, servants, and prostitutes; they were all doing their best to please him.