Chapter 85: Only Me
“You shouldn’t have saved her.” The middle-aged man spoke blandly.
I know, Yan Qing thought.
Although violence could solve many problems, there were many that could not be resolved through violence alone. In the case of An Cuihua, helping her drive away the Robust Woman’s servant was only the first step. The more important step was how to properly place her—if he only helped her escape her immediate crisis and then left her to fend for herself, it would merely delay the time before she was captured by the Li Family.
Redeem her with money? What if she was sold again?
Give her money to run away? A lone girl carrying money to another place might fare worse than simply entering the Li Family honestly.
So after understanding the situation, Yan Qing didn’t act immediately, because he could save her for a moment, but not for a lifetime.
If handled poorly, he might even ruin her entire life.
If An Cuihua hadn’t grabbed the Rat Monk’s foot in the end and pleaded to him, Yan Qing truly might not have taken action.
But even so, Yan Qing was not the kind of person who accepted others’ opinions so easily, so he invoked a lofty principle: “Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda.”
“Save? You only harmed her,” the middle-aged man said. “You bald monk may think you’re performing a good deed, yet you’ve only pushed An Cuihua into the abyss. Do you think her father simply found a broker and sold her to the highest bidder?”
“Didn’t he?”
“Of course not. Brokers are all regulated by the authorities, and the buying and selling of slaves requires strict verification. In Great Liang, only noble families are allowed to keep slaves, and even then, not all nobles can buy them. Only those with good credibility can purchase slaves first. Families with poor credibility might not receive any new slaves for decades.”
“What defines good or bad credibility?”
“The number of slave deaths each year,” the middle-aged man revealed a shocking statistic. “Whether from illness, beatings, or old age, the more that die, the worse the credibility. If a family lost more than five slaves last year, even if the broker has slaves, they cannot sell to that family.”
“Li Chongxin of the Li Family, Assistant Minister of the Imperial Treasury, belongs to a top-credibility family, with an average of only one slave death per year. For An Cuihua to enter the Li Family, life might be bitter, but at least she would have decades of food and clothing. Now that you helped her drive off the servants, you’ve surely provoked the entire Li Family. When she falls into their hands again, she will not fare well.”
Yan Qing remained silent for a moment and replied, “I can help her flee to another region—”
“Flee? Unless she escapes to the Zhou or Qi Kingdoms, she will forever bear the status of a fugitive slave in the household register.” The middle-aged man shook his head. “The Household Band must be renewed yearly, and must be done at the local government office. The Li Family bought her from her father, witnessed by a broker, and registered in the government records. A year later, she must either turn herself in as a fugitive or live in Great Liang as a Black Household—Big Monk, do you think she can survive as a Black Household?”
“Moreover, can she really let go of her father?” The middle-aged man looked at An Cuihua. “Don’t be fooled by the fact that her father sold her—she lost her mother young and grew up relying on her father. He hasn’t always been bad; occasionally, he showed warmth. If he hadn’t been set up and lost money gambling, he might not have sold his daughter.”
“When the Li Family comes to collect the debt from her father and he begs her for help, do you think she can stand by and do nothing?”
An Cuihua looked at the middle-aged man with eyes full of fear, trembling all over as if staring at a monster. “You… how do you know so much about my family…”
As she spoke, her strength seemed to suddenly drain away. She let go of the Rat Monk’s sleeve and lowered her head. “He’s right, Master… I’m sorry. It was my trouble… I… I’ll just go to the Li Family…”
“No.”
The Rat Monk reached out to stop her and said in a deep voice, “I will find a way.”
“I originally thought, Big Monk, that you were just a foolish do-gooder. I didn’t expect you to be a hypocrite unwilling to admit your mistake.” The middle-aged man shook his head. “If you truly wanted what was best for her, you should take her to apologize to the Li Family. The longer you drag this out, the worse her future will be.”
“Her predicament wasn’t caused today, but by her birth, her family, her social ties, and her appearance. You may think being a slave or servant is pitiful, but that is already the most suitable role for her. Even if you want her to rise higher, her worldview, education, instincts, and family will drag her back to her place.”
“Heaven has its course, and all things their place. What gives you the right to think you can change another’s life?”
“I’m not sure,” Yan Qing replied, “but I’m willing to try.”
The middle-aged man said nothing more. His expression unchanged, he turned and left. But from the forcefulness of his turn, it was clear he was quite displeased.
Yan Qing paid him no mind. He looked at the trembling, rabbit-like An Cuihua and wondered who he could ask to take her in.
Indeed, Yan Qing actually had many connections in Great Liang. Below were people like Qian Gongyu; above were Jie's Yuanshao and Shang Xinlei. Any one of those noble ladies could easily handle this small problem. But once he contacted them, it would inevitably expose the connection between the Rat Monk and Jiang Ten. Even with his toes, Yan Qing could figure that many people in Great Liang were now searching for leads on Jiang Ten. Once the Rat Monk appeared before them…
Sigh, just thinking about it was troublesome.
But since the words were already spoken, Yan Qing had no intention of taking them back. It seemed he could only take it one step at a time. But whatever he did, the first order of business was to deal with those two tailing servants—otherwise, it would be far too easy to leak his own information…
Eh?
Yan Qing shifted his perspective and discovered that the two servants had disappeared. Noticing that he was searching for the servants, An Cuihua whispered, “Master, I just saw that man say a few words to the servants, and then they left.”
That middle-aged man?
Yan Qing blinked. For some reason, he suddenly felt like laughing and casually picked up a nearby persimmon cake and took a bite.
Quite tasty.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion erupted not far away, shaking even the screen!
Yan Qing raised his viewpoint and saw a fireman running on the rooftop.
Truly a fireman, wrapped entirely in blazing flames, the temperature so intense that even from a distance one could see the air warping from the heat!
But Yan Qing quickly realized he was wrong, because it wasn’t just one—it was six firemen! They charged in from six directions like six mud trucks, and their target was unmistakably the middle-aged man who had just spoken with Yan Qing!
The middle-aged man showed not the slightest panic. Instead, he immediately ran in the opposite direction, attempting to escape their encirclement.
Thud!
Suddenly the ground caved in massively. Amidst the dust, Yan Qing saw people lying in ambush below. This spot had clearly long been dug into a trap, waiting for the target to step in and fall!
At the same time, the seemingly stunned bystanders around them instantly took out various jars and threw them into the pit. With the clinking sound combined with the charging firemen, Yan Qing immediately realized those jars must be filled with fire oil.
Pit, fire oil, firemen!
Move after move, flawless execution!
Even though Yan Qing had once orchestrated the burning of Anguo Temple—such a “feat”—compared to this perfectly choreographed series of attacks, his own plan now seemed embarrassingly naive. These firemen were not some alternate characters he created. Just what level of benefit or hatred could drive so many people to endure the agony of being engulfed in flames, just to perish together with the middle-aged man?
Unclear who either side was, unclear what grudges existed, and unclear what rewards might be gained—should he interfere?
Swoosh!
A fireman near the Rat Monk was suddenly kicked in the head. Though it caused no real damage, the force still made him stumble. Even with medicinal support, the flames were so agonizing they blurred his consciousness. Upon seeing a monk blocking his path, he immediately lunged, eager for the monk to taste his pain!
From the first exchange, Yan Qing noticed the opponent’s Vital Energy and Blood were incredibly strong. Even the Rat Monk couldn’t knock him back with a single blow—clearly not a Messenger, but definitely a seasoned martial artist. But Yan Qing didn’t intend to win. He only needed to delay, to prevent the completion of the Six-Firemen Formation.
Crack! Boom!
The sound of shattering jars, flames erupting, and collapsing rubble all exploded at once. The ground trembled violently like a dragon turning over, a clear sign of how terrifying the blast within the pit was.
But since the encirclement failed, the middle-aged man managed to escape from the billowing smoke. A faint shield shimmered on his body—it was clearly the Heartguard Mirror shield that Yan Qing knew well. At this moment, six of the seven mirror layers had shattered. He had nearly perished in the inferno due to the defensive token breaking!
Seeing the Rat Monk intercepting the fireman, the middle-aged man said nothing. He simply kicked the fireman away and signaled the Rat Monk to follow him. The two sprinted madly down the main street, surrounded by the chaotic screams of the crowd.
“It’s over?”
“I doubt it.”
As the middle-aged man finished speaking, the ground beneath them instantly collapsed. Just as Yan Qing thought this was another fireman assault, he realized the pit actually had a sloped slide. The Rat Monk and the middle-aged man slid down uncontrollably. The middle-aged man tried to steady himself, but the slope was all sand, offering no grip!
They slid for nearly ten seconds before reaching the bottom, where the sound of breaking bottles echoed—clearly shattered upon impact during the fall.
The bottom was pitch-black, the height seemingly only enough for one person to stand. Yan Qing couldn’t jump.
“It’s fire oil,” the middle-aged man said. “The entire place is filled with fire oil. You and I are both soaked in it. What happened earlier was just a test—this is the real kill trap.”
A sloped slide that allowed only entry, not exit, and a base filled with fire oil—this was indeed a death trap. Yan Qing had no idea how to escape.
They were done for.
“Will firemen come down?” Yan Qing asked.
“Firemen won’t survive this long, and they have an easier option.”
Gurgle. They looked up and saw something sliding down the slope—bright and glowing—it was a torch!
As the torch neared, the sound of a sword being drawn came from the middle-aged man’s side. He pinned the torch into the sand, and due to the lack of oxygen, it soon extinguished.
“Why did you come to save me?” the middle-aged man asked.
“I saw you wave off those two servants, thought you were a good person,” Yan Qing sighed. “Forget it. I already regret it. I didn’t think I’d die here.”
“That’s the lesson, Big Monk. Heaven has its course. Interfere with another’s fate, and you’ll suffer unimaginable backlash.”
“That’s how you treat someone who saved your life?”
“Without you, I would’ve escaped all the same. With you, I might not survive either. Your kindness is meaningless.”
“Then why did you wave off those two servants?”
“Just curiosity. Just like I was curious why you saved An Cuihua. I’ve been watching. You didn’t intend to act until she grabbed your foot. Was it compassion?”
“I just hoped someone else would save her,” Yan Qing replied. “Someone in Jiangnan City with power and status, someone who could give An Cuihua a job. Only someone like that could save her life. But until she turned to me, there was no such person.”
“Then it can only be me. Only me.”
After a brief silence, another torch fell. The middle-aged man once again stabbed it into the sand and said, “If we make it out alive, I’ll grant you one request.”
“Make it two.”
“One is to take care of An Cuihua. What’s the other?”
“Offer incense for me. Not in some copper-stinking temple, but in one that accepts the poor. Pray to the Bodhisattva for a peaceful delivery for the daughter-in-law of an old man who sells persimmon cakes.”
In the darkness, the middle-aged man seemed surprised by Yan Qing’s request. He stayed silent for a long while before replying:
“Alright.”
In the dark, the middle-aged man tossed over a sword. By now, the sloped passage was filled with torches—the people above had thrown many down.
“Though not a token, it’s a fine sword. Whether we survive depends on how hard you fight.”
As the torches approached, Yan Qing quickly thrust out. Using the torch’s light, he saw that the sword in the Rat Monk’s hand was indeed extraordinary—its blade was icy-cold, its carvings intricate—and it even… looked a bit familiar.
He couldn’t help but ask, “Fine sword. What’s it called?”
The middle-aged man replied, “Yitian.”