NOVEL NEXT Chapter 131: Taizhou Prefecture City
Chapter 131: Taizhou Prefecture City
Xu Lian emptied the spoils of war he had seized from the storage bag, intending to take stock of them.
It’s worth mentioning that the white storage bag given by the White Fox Quarry Patrol Inspector contained his own belongings, which he regarded as his “main bag”. When he received the spoils earlier, he didn’t use the white storage bag, but instead used the one given to him by the Town Guard Commander.
The Town Guard Commander’s storage bag had been kept empty as a backup, to serve as a “secondary bag” for situations like this.
This was to prevent the “main bag” from being contaminated. If there were any unclean pollutants among the spoils, his own belongings could be damaged. Therefore, it was safer to use the “secondary bag” to receive the enemy’s spoils.
“Not a bad haul,” Xu Lian thought.
He had recovered nearly three hundred thousand spirit stones that he had spent on three hundred Nightbloom Flowers, with an additional two hundred thousand spirit stones to spare. On top of that, he had gained over a hundred Nightbloom Flowers and several bottles of medicinal pills.
He carefully inspected these items to ensure that there were no issues, sorted them, and then stored them in his “main bag”. He emptied the “secondary bag” to keep it ready for future use.
After more than half an hour, Jiang Xianyu woke up.
Xu Lian helped her sit up, propping her up against a pillow and fed her some water that had cooled on the table. “I gave you a healing pill earlier. Try to circulate the energy in your body and see how your injuries are.”
Seeing that they were in an inn, Jiang Xianyu sighed in relief. She assessed her injuries and said, “It’s just an internal shock. Nothing serious. I’ll be fine after a few days of rest.”
She looked at Xu Lian and asked, “Did you bring me back to the inn to take refuge? Has that person left, or is he still guarding outside?”
“We didn’t flee. He did,” Xu Lian reassured her. With a wave of his hand, over five hundred thousand Spirit Stones appeared neatly arranged on the table. “He threw these out to slow me down while he escaped.”
Jiang Xianyu was stunned. This wasn’t what she had expected.
Xu Lian explained, “That person was very fast. With you in my arms, I couldn’t make it back to the inn in time. So I tried to break through my cultivation level. Maybe the danger triggered my potential, and I managed to break through to the second stage of Dark Strength in one fell swoop. I turned around and fought back, defeating him.”
Jiang Xianyu looked at him in awe. “Husband, you are truly blessed with luck. To break through in such a situation…”
Xu Lian lay down beside her, gently holding her and spoke sweet words to deepen their bond. “That’s why we’re a match made by fate. We’re meant to be together for life. How could we die so soon?”
Jiang Xianyu was deeply moved by his words. She rested her head on Xu Lian’s shoulder and looked at his profile with affection. “I have never doubted that you are my destiny.”
Xu Lian felt a sense of accomplishment and reflection. Who would have thought that this once aloof and serious captain would fall in love with him? And now, like a gentle woman, she relied on him.
Comfortable. Content.
After chatting intimately for nearly half an hour, Jiang Xianyu quietly fell asleep, likely due to her injuries making her drowsy.
Xu Lian didn’t disturb her. He gently opened the door and called Xiao Xixi from the next room to take care of Jiang Xianyu.
Xiao Xixi was shocked.
Xu Lian briefly explained what had happened at the underground market, and Xiao Xixi understood.
Xu Lian said, “The inn is safe. Keep an eye on things here. I have to go back to the underground market to buy some things.”
Xiao Xixi nodded. “Alright. Thanks for trusting me, Xu Lian.”
Xu Lian knew that Xiao Xixi’s favorability towards him was 92/100, so of course he could trust her.
Thus…
Xu Lian left Laifu Inn and returned to the underground market, where he purchased another hundred Nightbloom Flowers. This would be enough for him to advance to the ninth stage of the Dark Strength rank.
When making the purchase, he deliberately took out a large pile of Spirit Stones and meticulously counted them before paying. This drew the attention of the surrounding shopkeepers and customers.
As the saying goes, “Wealth should not be displayed. However, given his current unprecedented strength, he intentionally flaunted his wealth… to see if he could lure any “fish”.
Unfortunately, no one followed him or tried to rob him this time, which was a bit disappointing.
“With my current strength at the seventh stage of the Dark Strength Rank, I can now compete with the veteran experts in the county. I should be able to fight for Nightbloom Flowers in their natural habitat. However, since I’ve already acquired enough Nightbloom Flowers, there’s no need to fight for them.”
His original plan was to spend all his Spirit Stones on Nightbloom Flowers in order to first advance to the seventh stage of the Dark Strength rank and then compete for more Nightbloom Flowers. But now that he had already gathered enough, he changed his plans.
Plans are like that, they are never set in stone. You have to adapt to the situation.
Back at the Laifu Inn, Xu Lian saw that Jiang Xianyu had already woken up. Xiao Xixi was peeling fruit for her, and the two women were chatting and laughing, creating a harmonious atmosphere. Of course, it was mainly Xiao Xixi who was talking, while Jiang Xianyu listened and occasionally responded. If both parties are willing to be friendly, they will naturally get along well.
Xu Lian roughly understood the attitude of the two women.
Having come from a humble background, Xiao Xixi knew that her status was inferior to that of Jiang Xianyu, who came from a prominent family in Taizhou Prefecture. Therefore, she wouldn’t put on any airs with Jiang Xianyu.
As for Jiang Xianyu, since Xiao Xixi had been with Xu Lian before her, as a later arrival, she wouldn’t make things difficult for Xiao Xixi based on the principle of “first come, first served”.
Of course, the main reason was that neither of them had a difficult personality. If it was someone like the fiery Pei Zhaoxi… things wouldn’t have been so smooth.
“Once Xianyu recovers from her injuries, we’ll be returning to the Jiang family in Taizhou Prefecture. I plan to accompany her there to visit her parents,” Xu Lian explained his next steps to Xiao Xixi. “If you stay in Yanfu County alone, I won’t feel comfortable. So you should come with us.”
Xiao Xixi hesitated for a moment. She wanted to ask if it was appropriate for her to go, but she really didn’t want to be separated from Xu Lian. So she simply didn’t ask and instead smiled coquettishly, “I’ll listen to you, Husband. Wherever you go, I’ll follow.”
“Good,” Xu Lian nodded. In this world, there was no room for being overly submissive. As the head of the household, he had to act like one. The women who followed him had to obey – that was the most basic requirement. Even someone as headstrong as Caixia had learned to be obedient after being “exiled”.
Jiang Xianyu asked curiously, “Sister Xiao, what were you originally planning to do when you came to Yanfu County with the merchant caravan?”
Xiao Xixi blushed slightly and looked at Xu Lian with a hint of guilt. “There are many commoners in Pingyang County. Male cultivators can easily buy good women from poor families for a few taels of silver. I couldn’t earn many spirit stones there.
I thought that since Yanfu County is more chaotic and there are no commoners, there are no ordinary women here either. Since you can’t buy ordinary women with silver, I’d be more likely to attract the attention of male cultivators and find a wealthy patron. That’s why I came here with the merchant caravan.”
Xu Lian held her gently. ” What is in the past is in the past. You’ve left that life behind and are with me now. I don’t care what happened before.”
Jiang Xianyu apologized to Xiao Xixi, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked about that.”
Xiao Xixi quickly adjusted her mood. “It’s okay.”
They talked late into the night.
Xiao Xixi then returned to the next room.
Perhaps because of her injuries or because she had asked the wrong question earlier, Jiang Xianyu gave Xu Lian a look, letting him figure out what she meant.
Xu Lian understood and went into the next room.
A few days passed.
Jiang Xianyu’s injuries were completely healed.
It was time to leave for Taizhou Prefecture City.