Watching Hao Yongnian depart with his men, Wang Cailiang felt as though he had just survived a major battle. He slumped in sudden relief, then turned to Chu Qiguang and asked, "Brother Chu, are you all right?"
Chu Qiguang frowned. "I think the bone in my hand is fractured."
"What are you standing there for? Go fetch a physician to take a look at Brother Chu right away!" After barking instructions to his servant boy, Wang Cailiang turned back to console Chu Qiguang. "Sigh, Brother Chu, I dragged you into this. Tonight, I'll arrange a banquet to make it up to you. But as for revenge... I'm afraid that's out of the question."
Wang Cailiang shook his head. He knew that while Hao Yongnian had struck Chu Qiguang, the warning blow was aimed squarely at him.
Seeing that Chu Qiguang's brow remained furrowed without a change in expression, Wang Cailiang continued his persuasion. "Do you know who it was that injured you? That was Hao Yongnian of the Hao family. His father is currently a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, and his grandfather once served as the Right Censor-in-Chief in the Ministry of War. The Hao family wields monstrous power and influence in Qingyang County.
"What's more, this Hao Yongnian has a cruel, savage temperament—a notorious jinx in Qingyang County. I've heard his back courtyard is practically paved with the maidservants and errand boys he beats to death each year." At this point, Wang Cailiang sighed repeatedly. "Not every prominent figure in this county is as easy to talk to as Young Master Ding Daoxiao. This Hao Yongnian... we cannot afford to cross him... we simply can't..."
Chu Qiguang knew that at the founding of the Great Han Dynasty, only bureaucratic households had been permitted to keep private slaves.
However, as the dynasty progressed, land annexation and the wealth gap had steadily worsened. Bankrupt poor folk increasingly sold their sons, daughters, and even their own bodies, while wealthy families required all manner of servants and domestics, rendering the slave trade impossible to stamp out despite repeated bans.
By now, the use of indentured servants had become commonplace. Not only did bureaucrats and the gentry maintain scores of bonded servants, but even ordinary merchants and landowning households employed several or even a dozen or more domestics.
Masters could beat, scold, and mistreat these servants at whim. When powerful families like Hao Yongnian's beat a maid or an errand boy to death, the matter was almost always swept under the rug—as long as no commoner brought charges, the authorities turned a blind eye.
Chu Qiguang glanced at him. "Then why did your Wang household cross them?"
"How could you say our family crossed them?" Wang Cailiang's voice brimmed with grievance. "They took a fancy to the plot where our ancestral graves lie and want to snatch it away! Speaking of our ancestral graves, the site connects above to the sun, moon, and stars, and taps below into Qingyang County's spiritual vein. It's backed by a majestic, towering peak, with flanking mountains standing like accompanying guards. It is a prime auspicious site, more than enough to shelter and bless future generations with fortune!"
Chu Qiguang asked dubiously, "A spiritual vein?" Though he knew many people in this world placed deep faith in feng shui, the concept of a spiritual vein was something he had never learned about.
Wang Cailiang asked in surprise, "You didn't know? Mount Mei, to the north of Qingyang County, is steep and sublime. Its lineage originates a thousand li away in Mount Zulong, winding and churning with rising crests and plunging saddles, flanked by escorting, welcoming, and guarding ridges. It is a genuine blessed land of spiritual veins!
"Blessed by Mount Mei's spiritual vein, Qingyang County enjoys flourishing martial fortune. Every year, people pass the martial examinations to become juren, and right now there are four or five retired high officials with jinshi degrees residing in the county!"
Chu Qiguang nodded. While he didn't understand much about feng shui and spiritual veins, he could understand that people in this feudal world placed immense faith in feng shui. In his eyes, this talk of spiritual veins seemed essentially the same as the dragon veins of his previous world.
'A spiritual vein is probably the same idea as a dragon vein,' Chu Qiguang thought to himself. 'It's just that dragons in this world seem to have fought a war with humanity, so the terminology ended up a bit different.'
Having finished explaining the spiritual vein, Wang Cailiang let out another sigh. "Sigh... No matter how unwilling my father is, he's visited all the prominent clans in the county over the past few days, and not a single one was willing to mediate for us. In the end, I'm afraid we'll still have to hand over the land."
After Wang Cailiang offered Chu Qiguang a few more consoling words, the physician finally arrived. He bandaged Chu Qiguang, prescribed medicine, and told him to rest well.
When only Chu Qiguang and Qiao Zhi were left in the room, Chu Qiguang said with a grim face, "Now there's another thorn planted in my heart, isn't there?"
Qiao Zhi nodded helplessly. "Isn't that just how ordinary people cultivate? Always entangled in karma, their state of mind can never achieve completeness. As time drags on, distracting thoughts only multiply, and they can never focus on their cultivation."
Chu Qiguang asked, "So scions of prominent clans don't just hold an advantage in silver, but in their state of mind as well?"
Seeing Qiao Zhi nod, Chu Qiguang touched his injured right arm and muttered under his breath, "This isn't just affecting my state of mind, is it? With my right hand fractured, how long will it take for me to resume martial arts training given my current constitution?"
Ever since he began practicing martial arts, with various tonic foods and medicinal supplements combined with the Heavenly Demon Foundation Establishment Method and martial training, his constitution had advanced by leaps and bounds, far removed from what it had once been.
Qiao Zhi estimated, "Your fracture isn't severe. Wang Cailiang is willing to spend the silver, and the medicine prescribed by the physician is quite good. Coupled with the constitution you transformed through foundation establishment, you'll be able to practice martial arts in ten days at most."
Seeing Zhou Bai's expression grow increasingly dark, Qiao Zhi made an assessment based on his rich experience: 'Cursing right to someone's face... as long as Chu Qiguang doesn't have an episode, nothing will come of it. But if someone lays hands on him and hurts him, he'll drive them straight into the ground.'
He asked cautiously, "Are you planning to take revenge on Hao Yongnian?"
Chu Qiguang said, "First, have the dog monsters keep a tight watch on him. I want to know his whereabouts every day. And where's Da Tou? Find out exactly where that monster from the bun shop is."
With that, he couldn't resist grabbing Qiao Zhi and licking him, immediately feeling his mood improve.
As he licked, he said, "Master Qiao, have you ever considered taking a bath every day?"
Qiao Zhi objected resolutely, "Licking our fur is part of our cultivation, so we never need to bathe!"
Chu Qiguang clicked his tongue in his mind, looking at the orange cat in his hands with a hint of disdain. He thought to himself that in the future, he would get at least thirty cats and have them bathe once a month so that he could lick a freshly bathed, perfectly clean cat every single day.
When Chen Gang opened the door holding medicine and walked in, he saw Chu Qiguang holding the cat and licking it. The bizarre, grotesque sight frightened him into turning to leave on the spot, only to be stopped by Chu Qiguang's shout.
"Didn't you come to change my medicine? Why are you leaving?"
Chen Gang stepped forward trembling. Seeing his terrified state, Chu Qiguang asked, "Do you like cats?"
How could Chen Gang dare say no? He nodded vigorously at once.
Chu Qiguang held Qiao Zhi out to him. "Want to pet him?"
Chen Gang looked completely troubled, but after an internal struggle, he finally placed his hand on the cat.
As his hand rested on the cat's back, Qiao Zhi shook his head. "No good. If your cat-loving power is at ten dan, this guy doesn't even have a single dan."
"What a pity. The opportunity was given to you, but you have no talent." Chu Qiguang sighed, pulled the cat back, and began stroking him.
...
Over the next few days, Wang Cailiang saw Chu Qiguang focusing peacefully on nursing his injury and even taking sick leave from Yinglue Academy. Without a trace of resentment or rage visible on his face, Wang Cailiang assumed he had abandoned any foolish thoughts of revenge, which put his mind somewhat at ease.
Yet things completely unknown to Wang Cailiang were fermenting in the darkness of Qingyang County. For instance, Chu Qiguang's martial arts had made no progress for days due to the fracture; and for another, his silver had dwindled to just over eight hundred taels.
And on the fourth night after Chu Qiguang was injured, near Wenchang Temple in the western part of Qingyang County, Sixi Hall—the finest brothel in the county—was still packed with distinguished guests.
Hao Yongnian sat with a woman in each arm, surrounded by hangers-on who took turns toasting him and cracking jokes, coaxing loud bursts of laughter from him from time to time.
Chapter 49