Chapter 102: Buying Wine

Zhao Ruowu was a distant relative of the Zhou Family’s first madam. Since her own family had all passed away, she was brought into the Zhou Family to be raised from a young age. Strictly speaking, she and Young Master Zhou were childhood sweethearts, but she was ultimately living under someone else’s roof. Although Young Master Zhou felt some affection for her, it was not much.

After all, she had no talent, learning only needlework and poetry, while Young Master Zhou possessed exceptional talent. He studied and read in his youth, entered cultivation when he grew up, and by the time he was eighteen, he was already a top-tier genius in Nanfeng City.

Family background, talent, appearance, character: in Zhao Ruowu’s eyes, Young Master Zhou was a dragon among men in every aspect. Therefore, when the first madam asked if she was willing to marry Young Master Zhou, she had been more than willing.

From then on, Young Master Zhou treated her even better, bringing her rare little trinkets when he went out hunting, which made Zhao Ruowu believe she was special. Women are always prone to self-delusion. Zhao Ruowu thought she was beautiful enough that she would never end up in such a state, but facts proved that talking about affection with men was useless.

Young Master Zhou had always been unwilling to settle down, and she had assumed it was because his heart was set on cultivation. But her life could not afford to wait. Even though she took Youth-Retaining Pills, she was ultimately just a mortal whose lifespan differed from that of cultivators. Especially after the first madam passed away, her only support in the Zhou Family disappeared, and the harsh words she had to endure grew more frequent.

She wanted to beg for Young Master Zhou’s pity, but… Young Master Zhou fell in love with another woman, a woman named A-Yu.

It turned out he was not focused on cultivation, but rather his heart was simply not with her. Zhao Ruowu felt only humiliation, but other than making things difficult for others, she could do nothing. In truth, she also knew that she could never be Young Master Zhou’s only one. It was just like the Zhou Family Head; although he only had the first madam on the surface, the back courtyard was filled with mortal women without status.

The noble families of Nanfeng City were all like this. Only by giving birth to talented offspring would their status be truly secure. Zhao Ruowu did not ask for much, but Young Master Zhou, having fallen in love with A-Yu, was extremely stingy. He was unwilling to give her even that.

He wanted to marry her off, saying he would find a good match for her, but the Zhou Family Head did not want Young Master Zhou to be controlled by a woman, and she became the knife the Zhou Family Head used to “kill.”

When news of A-Yu’s death arrived, Zhao Ruowu was terrified. She had not intended for A-Yu to die. In fact, it was an accident that should not have happened, but… A-Yu was dead.

After A-Yu’s death, Young Master Zhou’s heart turned to ash, and he no longer mentioned marrying her off. He even said that as long as she cooperated, he would give her the status she wanted, on the condition that she was cooperative enough.

Zhao Ruowu had no choice. If she wanted a comfortable life, she had to pay a price. This was actually very fair.

And now, she saw that familiar expression on Young Master Zhou’s face again. Such humble begging was only ever related to A-Yu. Zhao Ruowu felt extremely irritated, but she could not show it. “Young Master Zhou, take your medicine quickly.”

“Wu’er, I beg you for one thing. Only you can help me now.”

Zhao Ruowu felt even more irritated, thinking to herself, I’m just a mortal woman. What can I do to help you? I can’t bring someone back from the dead. “Young Master Zhou, I…”

Zhou Ji was also at his wit’s end. He was surrounded by his father’s people. Aside from Wu’er, he could not find a single other person to help him deliver a message. He could not leave, but he had to at least send the news out.

“Just delivering a letter?”

“Yes, please, Wu’er.”

Zhao Ruowu really wanted to refuse, but she couldn’t. She still wanted to maintain her image in Young Master Zhou’s heart, so she prepared to agree. To be honest, she was quite curious. Young Master Zhou was still recovering from his injuries, so how did he know this news? She cast a suspicious glance at Young Master Zhou, wondering if the Zhou Family Head had intentionally let him know.

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She did not refuse any further, took the message, and went out to deliver it. Sure enough, she did not meet a single obstacle.

Zhao Ruowu was certain in her heart that sending this letter was definitely part of the Zhou Family Head’s calculations, but even though she knew this clearly, she could do nothing about it.

She rode the Zhou Family’s carriage to the foot of the Suitian Sword Sect’s mountain. This place was full of cultivators. For a mere mortal woman like her to appear here was naturally very strange, and she could feel the Suitian Sword Sect disciples sizing her up.

“Miss, who did you say you wanted to deliver this letter to?”

Zhao Ruowu was somewhat ill at ease. In front of a great immortal sect, the inferiority complex in her heart had nowhere to hide. Just as she was about to speak, a familiar voice came from behind her. Or rather, the voice was as cold as snow, yet she remembered it very clearly.

Zhao Ruowu’s face was filled with terror. She did not even dare to turn around. Could it really be…

“Aren’t you here to deliver a letter? I thought you came to deliver it to me.”

Zhao Ruowu turned her head in terror, and what met her eyes was a face so familiar it was horrifying. “You…” Not dead?

Zhao Ruowu was brought to an uninhabited mountain peak. Auspicious clouds gathered here and rays of light shone, far surpassing the sacred land she had imagined. Most importantly, she had just been brought here by the other party using a flying talisman.

As everyone knew, mortals could not use flying talismans.

This was even more astonishing than A-Yu coming back from the dead. Zhao Ruowu’s heart swelled with jealousy.

“Are you showing off to me, Sister Yu?”

Xin Ci ignored Zhao Ruowu’s sharpness. In fact, now that the play had reached this point, she was already getting tired of it. “My name is Xin Ci. You may call me Immortal Xin. What, are you unwilling?”

Of course Zhao Ruowu was unwilling, but she had to comply. “This humble woman greets Immortal Xin.”

“Didn’t you bring a letter for me?”

Zhao Ruowu pulled the letter from her robes. It bore a spiritual seal, so she had no idea what was written inside. “You knew Young Master Zhou would send you a letter?”

Xin Ci took the letter. Without even looking at it, she let a wisp of spiritual fire consume it.

“Wait, you…”

“Actually, there is something I have always wanted to tell you.” Xin Ci no longer denied the fact that she had once been A-Yu.

“What?”

“Although you look delicate and lovely, evoking pity in all who see you, you are easily more than ten years older than me.”

Zhao Ruowu did not expect her focus to be on this. But as things stood, if Xin Ci wanted to retaliate, she had no power to fight back.

Xin Ci had no intention of making things difficult for her. Although Zhao Ruowu had targeted A-Yu in the past, compared to the Zhou father and son, she was merely a pawn with no control over her own destiny.

“Aren’t you going to kill me? Or do you want to torture me?”

Xin Ci shook her head. She was expressionless, but to Zhao Ruowu, she looked like a goddess. In that moment, Zhao Ruowu realized with absolute clarity that even if Young Master Zhou were still the renowned genius of the Zhou Family he once was, he would not be worthy of Immortal Xin. For some reason, she felt a trace of gratification in her heart.

“Of course not. Why would I kill you? What good would torturing you do me?” Xin Ci had no desire to bring up her narrow escape from death. She had only appeared before Zhao Ruowu to put the past to rest. She had seen enough of the Zhou father and son’s ugly faces. If she had not saved Zhou Ji back then, he would have died long ago.

The Zhou Family had repaid her kindness with enmity, so she would naturally settle the score.

Looking at this version of A-Yu, or rather, Immortal Xin, Zhao Ruowu felt her heart pounding, but she could no longer feel any jealousy.

“In truth, you also feel resentment toward the Zhou Family, don’t you?”

Zhao Ruowu pursed her lips tightly. She had been raised by the Zhou Family and had felt deep gratitude in the past, but later… She could not harbor such thoughts. The Zhou Family was the sky of Nanfeng City. If she wanted to survive, she must not harbor any resentment.

“I can help you leave the Zhou Family and live a good life.”

Zhao Ruowu was someone who knew how to adapt to circumstances. She immediately understood that Tianji Pavilion crushing her would be as easy as crushing an ant. She had no choice. Furthermore, the Zhou Family had never spared a glance for mortals. Whether it was the former first madam, A-Yu, or herself and the other women kept in the Zhou Family’s back courtyard, the Zhous had always been arrogant.

The malice in her heart swelled in an instant. She thought the Zhou Family was long overdue to pay for their arrogance.

“I am at your command, Immortal.”

*

“The one over there looks like a junior sister from Tianji Pavilion. Tianji Pavilion…”

Wen Xu opened his eyes slightly to take a look, then shook his head. “She is not a junior sister.”

Bian Chunzhou was just about to share some fresh Tianji Pavilion gossip he had heard with Wen Xuxu when he heard this. “Not from Tianji Pavilion? I don’t think I’m mistaken.”

“She is the new closed-door disciple^[1] of Tianji Pavilion’s old Pavilion Master.”

Bian Chunzhou was astonished. “You can recognize her from this far away? Wen Xuxu, your wind-listening ability has really improved a lot. Oh, so she’s the one…” The “A-Yu” that the Zhou scumbag was obsessed with.

He couldn’t help but take another look, and then he noticed a woman next to this Tianji Pavilion Little Martial Uncle. She looked incredibly familiar. Cultivators generally had good memories, but unfortunately, he couldn’t place her.

“Forget it, forget it. Let’s go check out the market at the foot of the mountain. We won’t bring Chen Zuizui.”

Wen Xu didn’t point it out. After all, Chen Zui had gone to find someone to practice his saber skills with early this morning and wasn’t even on the peak.

The market at the foot of the mountain was no longer as bustling as it had been over the past two days. After all, the Five Sects Conference was drawing to a close, and by now, the stage belonged entirely to the favored geniuses. Most of the rogue cultivators at the foot of the mountain had already packed up and headed home. Those still running stalls were either selling useless items they couldn’t get rid of, or overpriced, expensive goods.

The reason the two of them came to the market was because Wen Xu remembered he wanted to bring some spiritual wine back for his master. Although he had ordered some from a spiritual wine shop during his last visit to Sifang City, there had not been many varieties, and his master had probably tried them all. He wanted to hunt for other spiritual wines at the market, preferably ones rich in spiritual energy.

Wen Xu calculated his savings; he could afford even the slightly more expensive spiritual wines.

When Bian Chunzhou heard it was wine for the divine dragon, he absolutely couldn’t miss out. He insisted on tagging along to join the fun. Perhaps it was just luck, but the two of them actually managed to find some decent spiritual wine. Since the stall owner was packing up to go home, the price was very reasonable, so Wen Xu simply bought it all.

He was just about to take out spiritual stones to pay when he heard Chunzhou suddenly slap his thigh. “I remember who that woman is! It’s that Wu’er!”

The Little Martial Uncle of Tianji Pavilion knew Wu’er. Didn’t that mean… she was definitely A-Yu?! Bian Chunzhou silently covered his mouth. Oh no, he had stumbled upon some real gossip.