On the way back to the inn, Shuanzi chatted sporadically with Xiaoxiao.
"Ha, so many people in the city, huh?"
"The buildings are so tall."
"Watch your step!"
"You're quite the walker, little miss."
A clumsy awkwardness, yet in that very clumsiness, a hint of sincerity showed through.
Xiaoxiao finally replied, "Thanks. You're not bad yourself."
"Ha, ha!" Shuanzi said happily. "I've never been out strolling with a girl as pretty as you before. Wait, I've never been out strolling with a girl at all..."
"We aren't strolling. We're heading back to the inn."
"I've never headed back to an inn with a girl either!"
"..."
Xiaoxiao clutched the bolt of fabric, keeping her eyes on the road and saying nothing more.
Shuanzi could only look left and right, pretending nothing was amiss and that the atmosphere wasn't the slightest bit awkward.
...
After leaving that small courtyard, Jiang Chen didn't linger in the city. He went straight back to the inn.
It was only during his conversation with Xi Zichu that he belatedly realized something.
After he'd obtained the famous artifact Longing, Chongxuan Sheng had sent him to Qingyang Town—likely not just for the Azure Stone mine vein, but to take over the Chongxuan family's entire enterprise in the State of Yang.
This was the support the family had offered after Chongxuan Sheng took a major step forward in the succession competition. Yet the number of people around him who were truly useful remained far too small.
The Hu mine was only the first step of Jiang Chen's time in the State of Yang. The real goal was to help Chongxuan Sheng smoothly seize control of the Chongxuan family's resources in the State of Yang, providing further support for his rivalry with Chongxuan Zun.
Of course, if Jiang Chen handled things poorly and proved himself lacking in this area, Chongxuan Sheng would probably not entrust him with anything else.
For Jiang Chen, this was an exceptionally rare opportunity. Whether facing the White Bone Path or the Zhuang State, he had a need to build his own forces. This was an excellent chance to hone himself. Moreover, as long as he did the job well, Chongxuan Sheng wouldn't mind if he used the situation to grow his own power.
All of this hinged on the Hu mine itself.
He needed to resolve this matter—not to give Chongxuan Sheng an answer, but to give him a reason to convince the rest of the Chongxuan family.
He had Shuanzi drive the cart, loaded with the purchased fabrics, and the three of them left the city directly, heading for the mine.
The only concern with leaving the city at this hour was safety.
But with an extraordinary cultivator like Jiang Chen around, that was never a consideration.
The plan to stay a day in Jiacheng was scrapped. Xiaoxiao naturally had no objections, but Shuanzi was a little disappointed.
As he drove the cart, he asked, "Master Dugu, why aren't we staying in the city?"
Earlier, Jiang Chen had suddenly left without telling them where he was going.
Now he simply said, "There's nothing particularly special about Jiacheng."
As for the fact that he'd already accomplished his purpose in coming to Jiacheng, there was no need to explain that to Shuanzi.
For the rest of the journey, Jiang Chen meditated with his eyes closed. The carriage returned to the mining district in calm tranquility.
...
Once the fabrics were unloaded from the cart and brought to Jiang Chen's courtyard, Shuanzi drove off to report to Steward Hu.
Xiaoxiao, meanwhile, touched the high-quality fabrics, picking them up and putting them down, unable to put them aside.
Jiang Chen went straight into the bedroom and began his evening practice.
After running through all his Dao arts once, he entered the Ethereal Realm and matched into three battles. He won all three.
After withdrawing and doing a brief review, he turned his attention to the problem of the Azure Stone mine vein.
Since the Xi family had been ruled out for the time matter became much simpler.
The remaining leads narrowed down to two directions: the extraordinary cultivator stationed here and the Hu family of Qingyang Town.
In terms of specific events, there were three breakthroughs.
One was a worker who had seen a sheep in the mine tunnel and later left. Another was the stationed cultivator who had clashed with the mysterious person who broke into the mine at night and also subsequently departed. The last was what Shuanzi had mentioned—the incident where Hu You's son, Hu Shaomeng, killed someone.
He wrote these analyses one by one on paper, studied them for a while, then lit a flame and burned the sheet to ashes.
...
Deep in the night, with all quiet.
Jiang Chen leaped from the window without making a sound.
With his current cultivation, no one in the Hu mine could possibly detect his movements.
He left the mining district and ran all the way to Qingyang Town.
The prefect's residence wasn't hard to find—it was the grandest house in the entire town.
At this hour, all was silent. Most of the townspeople were already asleep.
For Hu You to become the actual operator of the Chongxuan family's mine in Jiacheng, he must have had his own considerable abilities. Jiang Chen wouldn't underestimate him.
With his current skills, he truly didn't have a satisfactory concealment Dao art. He decided to simply rely on his physical strength to leap onto the roof, achieving silence purely through mastery of his own body.
The roof of the Hu residence was covered in green tiles. Jiang Chen alighted like a drifting leaf.
He found the main house and faint sounds could be heard from within.
Jiang Chen estimated the position, slowly pried up a green tile, and looked down—only to immediately avert his gaze.
A mound of white, lard-like flesh had nearly blinded him.
Now he could hear clearly: the faint sounds were unmistakably the creaking of a bed.
Jiang Chen held his breath.
After a moment, the sounds stopped.
Then came a long period of rustling.
He heard an old man's voice say, "Don't come over tomorrow. Shaomeng is coming back."
This was presumably Hu You, the prefect of Qingyang Town.
Immediately after, a woman's voice complained, "Your wife has been dead for eight years. Remarrying is perfectly normal, isn't it? Why do we always have to sneak around? Can we hide from him forever?"
Hu You tried to persuade her, "Just bear with it a little longer. He's out cultivating and doesn't always come back."
"Then why is he coming back this time?"
"Don't ask about that. You'll gain nothing from knowing."
The woman grew angry, it seemed. "All you ever tell me is to bear with it and not to ask. Why don't you tell your son to bear with it and let me be called 'Mother'?"
"He's been a stubborn one since childhood. Now he's learned a whole array of skills—you think you'd dare cross him?"
The woman's voice immediately softened, though she still grumbled, "Never heard of a father being afraid of his son."
"Sigh. Once he leaves, I'll make it up to you properly."
...
Jiang Chen eavesdropped for a good while but picked up nothing else useful.
The only information he gained was that Hu Shaomeng's father, Hu You, had secretly found him a stepmother but, constrained by Hu Shaomeng's temperament, didn't dare openly bring her into the family.
What a mess!
He carefully replaced the tile and then leaped away from the spot.
He'd originally planned to search Hu Shaomeng's room tonight, but thinking it over, since Hu Shaomeng hadn't returned in a long time, there probably weren't any useful clues in his quarters.
Better to wait until he actually came back.
From the sound of Hu You's words, it would be in the next day or two.
On the way back to the mine, blown by the summer night's breeze, a thought suddenly struck Jiang Chen.
Xi Zichu, Hu Shaomeng—both were cultivating elsewhere. Why were they both returning during this same period? Was it just coincidence?
...
With this matter on his mind, and the small courtyard nearly in sight, Jiang Chen had a sudden impulse. He deliberately changed direction, pretending he was heading outward.
"Brother Xiang, out to admire the moon as well?"
He greeted the down-and-out middle-aged man who was shuffling over.
He had no idea what this man surnamed Xiang was doing, wandering aimlessly back and forth day after day.
The man raised his eyelids and glanced at Jiang Chen.
"Sigh." He let out a long sigh.
"..." Jiang Chen couldn't help asking, "May I ask why you're always sighing?"
"Don't you feel..." He yawned, utterly devoid of energy, "that this kind of life is terribly dull?"
"...I only just got here."
"Sigh, trust me. There's nothing left for us in this life. Just endure it—get through today, then tomorrow. Day after day, year after year, until we grow old, die, and are buried under yellow earth, turning into yellow earth."
He let his eyelids droop. "Life really has no meaning."
Jiang Chen was not the type of hot-blooded youth who felt compelled to set the world on fire at every moment.
"I just remembered I still have a nap to take."
Without another word, he turned and went back into his courtyard. "Farewell."
Le Wen