Songyang Mansion Branch

His original weapon was a greataxe as massive and thick as a door plank, so this heavy wooden club weighed next to nothing to him. He raised the spiked club in one hand and tapped it twice against his other palm. "Come on." He Lingchuan gripped his long saber and took a deep breath. When facing an enemy built like a small mountain, was overcoming brute force with skill and matching sheer bulk with agility the best approach? Unleashing the Returning Swallow movement technique, he skimmed forward like a swallow skimming the water, ducking low to dart right in front of Meng Shan and thrusting his saber straight toward the instep of the man's foot. Nobody's instep could have much protection; if this thrust pierced through, Meng Shan's mobility would certainly be crippled. The light above him suddenly went dark. "Holy crap!" He Lingchuan yelled aloud and sat bolt upright. Lingguang the medicine ape, who had been munching on a melon, jumped in fright. Its paw twitched, and the honeydew melon dropped to the floor. It picked up the melon while shooting a resentful glare at He Lingchuan. In this freezing weather, such a sweet melon was not easy to come by. Drenched in sweat, He Lingchuan reached up to rub the back of his head, feeling as though the spot Meng Shan had struck was still throbbing with dull pain. That strike had truly carried the weight of an avalanche. With no way to dodge, he had been sent flying out of the ring amid the crowd's gasps. The pain felt as if the back of his skull had split open. Before he was knocked out of the dream, he had even heard a crisp crack-squish from his noggin. The sound wasn't loud, but it was horrifying. He Lingchuan knew that aside from being forcefully shaken awake, there was only one circumstance under which he would exit the dream unnaturally: Death. Fuck, did his head really get smashed open? That bastard Meng Shan was truly ruthless! A real master at cracking skulls wide open. Seeing him clutching his head, panting heavily, and staring blankly, Lingguang couldn't help asking, "Are you all right?" This was purely concern for its employer; after all, with He Lingchuan looking like a walking corpse and soaked in cold sweat, he could only have had a nightmare. "A nightmare," He Lingchuan muttered sourly after feeling nauseated for quite a while. "Dreamt I was killed." Meng Shan was truly a monster who could fight Captain Xiao to a standstill—at one point, Xiao Maoliang had even been suppressed by him. He Lingchuan had thrown everything he had into the fight and still got sent flying; he really couldn't complain about losing. The smugness and overconfidence from beating Gouzi earlier had been knocked completely out of him by Meng Shan. His preconceived notion of using speed and agility to counter brute weight—bullshit, it didn't work at all. Before him, who knew how many had tried the exact same approach, and every single one of them had lost without exception. Meng Shan was truly vicious, but he was also genuinely a good sparring partner. He Lingchuan clapped his hands together with a smack. For now, he would treat Meng Shan as his target. Up to now, he had already been killed four times in the dream. Heh, he was worried he might get addicted to it. "Oh, then never mind." Having a nightmare wasn't an illness and didn't need medicine. Lingguang returned to the main topic. "By the way, now that you've completed your foundation establishment, I spent the past few days scouring roughly nine apothecary shops according to the formula you gave me for the next stage of Yin-Yang Powder. Well... the herbs are very expensive, and very scarce." The secret behind He Lingchuan's rapid cultivation growth was taking Yin-Yang Powder. Simply put, it was the power of deep pockets. Now that the first stage of the Ziwu Formula had passed, the recipe for Yin-Yang Powder had to be adjusted accordingly. Stronger medicinal potency usually meant a steeper price. He Lingchuan was already mentally prepared for this. "How much more expensive?" "Roughly four times the original price." Lingguang took out a small herb. "The main expense is Lianguang grass. It's the primary ingredient for making the Yin Powder. I could barely find a few stalks in all of Dunyu's apothecary shops, only enough for half a month. You'll have to figure out another way after that." When demand outstripped supply, prices naturally soared. The herb was pale gray and nearly translucent throughout, bearing two blueberry-like berries. The whole thing looked exceedingly delicate. "Four times..." He had been wrong; he wasn't mentally prepared at all. "Buy it." During wartime, the transport of goods was bound to be disrupted. Shipments heading into Xiazhou right now would consist mostly of military supplies. Aside from those, the only things that could entice merchants to risk the journey were Xiazhou specialties whose prices were climbing steadily in the inland provinces. As for an exotic rarity like Lianguang grass, procuring it in Dunyu right now would not be easy. That hundred-thousand-tael banknote was still sitting in his storage ring; He Lingchuan needed to cash it. Just a few days ago, his only trouble was spending more than he earned. Ah, how he missed the old days. He Lingchuan yawned. "Where are my father and the second brother?" "They went to attend the opening of Songyang Mansion." Lingguang tilted its head. "Only you, Boss, slept until now." The sun was already high in the sky. He Lingchuan snapped wide awake. "Huh? Songyang Mansion's new branch is opening today?" Wasn't it tomorrow? No, wait, wasn't it the day after tomorrow? "They only arrived in Dunyu a short while ago!" Didn't renovating a new storefront take time? Besides, why didn't the Old Man wake him to go along? Remembering that he had also promised Li Fubo to attend the opening of the Songyang Mansion branch to show support, He Lingchuan quickly washed, dressed, checked the progress on the broken saber as usual, and rushed out the door. He had only been in Dunyu for a few days, yet he already noticed a marked drop in foot traffic through the streets and alleys. Households kept their doors shut, and shops along the streets were shuttered. In early spring, a palpable sense of desolation hung in the air. Was everyone terrified by the news that the Xunzhou army had invaded Xiazhou? Dunyu's main thoroughfare was long and wide, with an unbroken stream of pedestrians. He Lingchuan urged the carriage forward, paying little attention to the shop signs lining the street. He didn't need to look. Soon enough, he caught the thick scent of firecracker smoke. "It's just up ahead." After traveling another forty or fifty feet, the ground was covered in red firecracker paper, swirling everywhere with the breeze. Two servants wielding brooms were sweeping the street. He Lingchuan stepped out of the carriage. Looking up, he saw three large gilded characters emblazoned on the signboard: "Songyang Mansion." The shop's storefront was imposing indeed. Even the door panels were carved from redwood. When the four doors were brought together, they formed an elaborate openwork carving: Pines and Cranes in a Sea of Forest. A crowd had gathered just to gaze at the doors, with children staring unblinkingly— The picture moved. Strictly speaking, the pine trees in the carving swayed with the north wind, capturing the living essence of "whispering pines." As they swayed, the cranes perched among the branches occasionally flapped their wings, while fish in the pond at the forest's edge leaped out of the water, scattering concentric ripples. It was every bit as good as a shadow puppet show. He Lingchuan knew this was mostly the work of an illusion array. Yet the delicate finesse of the door carving made it exceptional, while constantly flaunting Songyang Mansion's resources—sustaining an illusion array consumed energy with every passing second. Consequently, the newly opened Dunyu branch of Songyang Mansion was the flashiest kid on the block—no, the flashiest storefront on the street. Customers bustled in and out, laughing and chatting, drawing at least ten times more foot traffic than neighboring shops. Yet seeing this scene, He Lingchuan realized he had arrived late. There were no servants or carriages waiting outside, indicating that the dignitaries who came to show support had already departed, leaving only commoners lingering to take in the spectacle. How had a single nightmare let him sleep until midday? He Lingchuan entered the shop and said to the attendant greeting guests, "I'm from the Area Command. Is Master Craftsman Li Fubo around?" Before the clerk could reply, a voice called from behind, "Eldest Young Master He?" He Lingchuan turned around. Yo! "If it isn't Manager Zhao!" The person who had received him at Songyang Mansion in Shihuan City and brokered the exchange of the purple-gold pestle for wujin was none other than Manager Zhao. He Lingchuan hadn't expected the Marquis of Songyang to bring him north as well, and he hadn't noticed him along the journey. He had probably been too engrossed in his cultivation to pay attention to anything outside. Manager Zhao flashed his trademark squinting smile. "You're here! Master Craftsman Li and the Marquis were just talking about you a moment ago." He Lingchuan scratched his head. "My family has already been here, right?" "Yes, yes. Governor-General He and Second Young Master He just left, practically one step ahead of you." He wondered if that was merely a polite figure of speech. Manager Zhao added, "The Marquis will certainly be delighted to see you. Right this way, please." Following him toward the back, He Lingchuan glanced left and right. He found that the layout of this new branch was similar to the headquarters in Shihuan City, packed with an array of dazzling goods, with numerous ingenious curios displayed in the front hall to pique customers' curiosity. Only then did he notice that Songyang Mansion had actually refined certain toys into magic artifacts. The seven- and eight-year-old young masters who walked in couldn't take their eyes off them, begging their parents to buy them. When the fathers asked for the price, ten thousand curses stampeded through their minds, yet under their sons' eager gazes, they still had to pull out their coin pouches. The rear hall consisted entirely of private rooms reserved for negotiating business and appraising treasures. As He Lingchuan passed their doors, he saw that almost all seven or eight rooms were occupied. Manager Zhao led him further back and climbed the stairs up to an attic loft. Marks of recent renovation were evident everywhere, and He Lingchuan caught the clean scent of pine. The loft wasn't large, but it was quiet, with a zither set beside the window. Just as He Lingchuan walked in, the Marquis of Songyang glided gracefully out from behind a drape, smiling as she greeted him, "Eldest Young Master He has arrived." The room was warm as spring. She wore a simple white robe with gold dust along the collar and sleeves, cinched at the waist by a palm-wide, subtly patterned gold sash that accentuated a waist as slender as a willow branch. A gold sash—an accessory that could easily look gaudy and vulgar—carried only charm on her, without a trace of vulgarity. "My deepest apologies." He Lingchuan handed over his wrapped gift, lying through his teeth with a straight face. "Something came up at the last minute, so I'm late." "No matter. Your presence is what counts; it brings honor to my humble abode." Li Qingge accepted the gift and handed it to the maidservant behind her to put away, without opening it on the spot. Both understood that this was merely a token of courtesy, nothing important. "You opened this place with astonishing speed. I thought acquiring the storefront, renovating it, and preparing for the opening would take at least half a month." Li Qingge ushered him to sit by the window. "I thought so too at first, but when I stepped inside this shop, everything was already in place. There was hardly any need to fuss over it, which saved a great deal of trouble, didn't it?" A maidservant served tea. He Lingchuan took a sip; a refreshing fragrance filled his mouth, and the warm liquid was deeply soothing as it went down, leaving a sweet aftertaste on the palate with a delicate floral note. He couldn't help praising, "Excellent tea!" "Your esteemed father praised it the exact same way just a moment ago." Li Qingge smiled and gestured with her hand. Another maidservant presented an exquisite box. "These are Jasmine Dragon Pearls. A portion was already prepared for you." "Who's giving a gift to whom here?" Despite saying so, He Lingchuan accepted it without the slightest hesitation. The two chatted idly for a good while before Li Qingge brought up the progress on repairing the broken saber. "Li Fubo told me the repairs are proceeding slower than expected."