Chapter 10: Shadow of Crisis
Chapter 10: Shadow of Crisis
Xiao Xia climbed out of the river like a drowned rat, only to see the little nun tilting her head back with her little mouth pouted up to the sky.
Xiao Xia immediately realized that he had won.
At this time, Zhang Zongguan came over and said with a smile: "Aqiao, I was right, wasn't I?"
The little nun had no choice but to admit defeat, "Okay! The nun asked me to copy scriptures these two days, I don't have time, I will teach him two moves in seven days."
"Acho!"
Manager Zhang interrupted her softly, "He doesn't have much time left, why not start tonight!"
"What do you mean I don't have much time left?" Xiao Xia hated in his heart.
The nun was in a dilemma. She lowered her head and thought for a while, then pointed to a small bridge not far away and said, "I will wait for you on the bridge at five o'clock tonight. I can't stay long. If you are late, I won't wait for you."
After saying that, she jumped over the creek and floated away quickly like a cloud. In the distance was a Taoist temple, which should be the Taiqing Palace.
Xiao Xia exclaimed, "This little Taoist nun is very good at Qinggong!"
Manager Zhang smiled slightly and said, "She started practicing martial arts at the age of seven. She is extremely talented. After only five years of practice, she has surpassed most adults."
"Is she really a Taoist nun?"
Manager Zhang nodded. "I didn't have time to take care of her. She was only one year old at the time, so I had no choice but to entrust her to a sister from my clan who practiced Taoism. So she was ordained as a Taoist nun at the age of five."
"Why let her teach me?" Xiao Xia was still confused.
"She has a unique sword technique that was passed down to her by her master. It is powerful and easy to learn. It is very suitable for you."
Xiao Xia followed Manager Zhang back, but as there were no ox carts left, they had no choice but to walk back to the city.
He wanted to speak several times, but finally held back.
"What else do you want to ask?" Manager Zhang did not turn around, as if he had a pair of eyes behind his head.
Xiao Xia sighed, "I'm actually very happy that you're willing to teach me martial arts, and I'm even more grateful that you gave me expensive medicine, but next time please be direct and don't use those traps."
Manager Zhang stopped walking, a trace of bitterness appeared on his face, and he said after a while: "It seems that you have really lost your memory."
Manager Zhang felt relieved, looked up, laughed, and walked away with big strides.
From afar he heard another sentence, "If I were you, I wouldn't go back to the city tonight!"
While Xiao Xia and the little Taoist nun were competing in speed, a tall young warrior was running wildly by a small river dozens of miles to the north. He looked back in horror from time to time. There was a man in gray following him like a shadow.
There was no way forward, so the young warrior drew his sword, turned around and yelled, "You son of a bitch, I'm going to fight you!"
The young warrior swung his sword at the man in gray at a very fast speed, but unexpectedly the man's sword was even faster. With a flash of cold light, the man's sword ruthlessly pierced his throat.
The young warrior was killed by one sword and fell on his back with his hat falling to the ground. He turned out to be a bald monk.
The man in gray found a certificate of ordination from his arms, and his Buddhist name was Huiming. The man in gray sneered, put the certificate into his arms, stripped him of his clothes, tied a large stone to him, and the body of the young warrior sank to the bottom of the river.
The man in gray changed into the young warrior's clothes and put on his hat. If there were people nearby, they would be shocked because the man in gray's figure and appearance were 80% similar to the young warrior.
In the back hall of the Governor's Mansion, Governor Wei Lihu took a sip of tea calmly and said to a middle-aged man with a smile: "Master Wu, I'll leave this matter to you. After it's done, you will definitely benefit from it!"
The middle-aged man nodded and bowed quickly, saying, "It is my honor to work for you, Your Excellency. Please rest assured, I have a very good relationship with the second son of the Xiao family, so there will be no problem."
Wei Lihu nodded, "You go back first, someone will come to you soon, it's best to recommend him to the Xiao Mansion this afternoon!"
"Of course! Of course! I'll take my leave first."
The middle-aged man said goodbye and left. Wei Lihu narrowed his eyes and watched him walk away. He picked up the teacup and said coldly to the staff behind him: "After the task is completed, the Wu and Shan people must be killed immediately!"
The staff member bowed and said, "Please rest assured, it will be done!" Xiao Xia ate a large bowl of noodles at a shop called Liu Mazi Noodle House. It looked very much like knife-cut noodles. He had just a dozen coins in his pocket, so he paid the bill of twelve coins. He was very satisfied with the meal.
After eating a full stomach, I slowly returned to Erjia Lane. As soon as I reached the entrance of the lane, the bucktooth girl jumped out and said, "Brother Xiao Qilang, Butler Liu just wanted to see you and asked you to come over as soon as you get back!"
The pale-faced bucktoothed girl in front of him reminded Xiao Xia of the beautiful Taoist nun. Hey! They were both young ladies, so why were they so different?
"I see. Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go play with Xiaoya!"
Xiao Ya is the young lady who sweeps the martial arts hall. Her name is Sun Xiao Ya, the granddaughter of the doorman, Mr. Sun. It seems that Lao Liu likes her very much.
Soon, Xiao Xia arrived at the Xiao family's main residence, which was a very large house.
The Xiao family is one of the three major families in Jiangdu. They are considered local tyrants and have a lot of land. Their martial arts hall alone covers at least 20 acres.
Xiao Xia walked up the steps and said to a guard, "Butler Liu asked me to find him!"
The servant walked into the gate, looked around, and pointed ahead. "Look! He's there!"
Xiao Xia looked in the direction the servant pointed and saw a side alley ahead. The short and fat housekeeper Liu was directing several servants to place large water vats.
Butler Liu turned around and saw Xiao Xia. He laughed and said, "Xiao Qilang is here."
Xiao Xia hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, imitating Lao Liu's behavior.
"You're welcome, follow me!"
Xiao Xia followed Butler Liu to a large room where two middle-aged men who looked like accountants were sitting there, concentrating on writing something.
Butler Liu sat down at a table. He paused for a moment and said to Xiao Xia, "Butler Zhang visited the master of the family this morning, and the master of the family sent down a message to give you the treatment of a third-level warrior."
Xiao Xia scratched his head, "What is the treatment for a level three warrior?"
"Don't worry, listen to me slowly. I've read your records. Old Mutou's slavery will expire at the end of this month. He wants to return to his hometown, and the owner of the family has agreed to let him go back. Since he still has to go through some procedures to restore his civilian status, let's go earlier! His care for you ends today."
Ah! Is Uncle Men's life over today? How come I didn't know anything about it?
"Master Men is a slave?"
Butler Liu said calmly: "He was a prisoner of war. He was captured thirty years ago and then sold as a slave!"
Xiao Xia didn't ask any more questions. Butler Liu glanced at him, turned around, took a bag from the table at the back, and poured something out of the bag.
It turned out to be an iron plate. Butler Liu pushed it to him and said, "This is your third-level warrior plate. The benefits are nothing more than food, clothing and shelter. I will arrange a new residence for you. I will take you there later.
Then the monthly salary of a third-level warrior is three strings of coins, but you are not a real third-level warrior, so your monthly salary must be cut in half, to 1,500 coins per month."
Seeing some anger in Xiao Xia's eyes, Butler Liu smiled and explained to him, "Level 3 warriors are not raised for nothing. They have to protect the Xiao family's various businesses and rush to fight against thieves. That's why they can only earn three strings of cash a month. You are raised for nothing and don't have to work, so of course your monthly salary should be halved."
Although Xiao Xia was very unhappy, he had to accept it.
"I understand!"
"Another benefit is free meals. With your iron plate, you can go to Xiao's Canteen to eat three meals a day. You should know Xiao's Canteen!"
Xiao Xia smiled bitterly and shook his head. Butler Liu did not ask him why he didn't know.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know. Someone will take you there."
After Butler Liu finished speaking, he stood up and said, "Let's go! I'll take you to see your new residence first."
(End of this chapter)