Hearing Jiang Che say that he was now just an ordinary person, Yun Fan’s expression immediately shifted to one of disappointment.
He had indeed noticed that his senior brother carried not a trace of cultivation.
“How could Master be like this…”
“It doesn’t matter, being an ordinary person isn’t so bad…”
Jiang Che said this with a heavy heart, but whenever he thought of the words “ordinary person,” the first name that came to mind was Xiao Xia, and the other was Hu Qiao’er.
He wondered how Hu Qiao’er was doing.
“Oh! By the way! When did you say the recruitment of new disciples is?”
Yun Fan paused at these words. What was his senior brother planning?
“Tomorrow. Why, senior brother?”
“Does that mean all the elders and First Seats have to be there in person?”
“Yeah!”
Yun Fan nodded.
As expected, Jiang Che suddenly felt he might have a chance to see Hu Qiao’er again.
“Junior brother, do me a favor and sneak me out of Shenxiao Sect tomorrow.”
At these words, Yun Fan’s heart was like a stormy sea, his mind going blank for a moment.
“Senior brother… have I done something wrong? You want to leave…”
Yun Fan had been looking forward to the day Jiang Che returned for a long time.
“Yun Fan…”
Jiang Che felt an inexplicable tug in his heart, not knowing how to comfort him.
But Yun Fan soon thought it through: his senior brother was that all-capable, kind-hearted senior brother. He quickly came to terms with it.
“No, no! Senior brother must have his own reasons for doing this. Yun Fan will definitely help senior brother!”
Huh?
……
Shenxiao Town.
These days, Shenxiao Town was livelier than it had been before.
At the town’s exit, a crowd was gathered around the Notice Board beside the Stone Arch.
“Shenxiao Sect is recruiting new disciples soon. Anyone at Foundation Establishment level or below can participate. Hmph, this announcement’s been up for days. Why are so many people still looking today?”
“Look at your little cultivation. Didn’t you notice the spiritual power dancing between the strokes on the notice?”
“Huh? I heard Shenxiao Sect hasn’t recruited new disciples for a long time. Why start putting up announcements this year?”
“How would I know? But there’s some gossip — the reason they stopped recruiting was because one of the First Seats went missing. Now suddenly recruiting again — either that person is back, or the Climbing Immortal Ladder Trial is about to begin in a year, and they want to find capable disciples.”
“See, you actually know something…”
Many people were chatting back and forth, some even speaking in various dialects.
Meanwhile, at Yuelai Inn.
“Ah? One tael of silver? Isn’t staying at an inn usually about fifty wen?”
Hu Qiao’er’s eyes went wide, her lips slightly parted in shock, and her brows furrowed tightly as her voice suddenly rose.
What kind of rip-off inn was this?
“You guys are running a black shop!”
Wang Hao beside her bluntly voiced what Hu Qiao’er was thinking.
The two young inn clerks, who saw these two children trying to rent a room, merely sneered with disdain and averted their eyes.
“Miss, the fifty wen you mentioned is the price for a regular time, regular room.
We only have the Tianzi Number One Room left.”
“Ah? Isn’t this an inn? How do you not even have any rooms left?”
Hu Qiao’er frowned, her voice tinged with frustration and a hint of accusation.
She had already checked many places, but they were all full. This was the only high-end inn left, and if she could have helped it, she wouldn’t have come here.
“Sigh, you have to see where this is! This is Shenxiao Town, right under Shenxiao Sect. With the new disciple recruitment going on, many inns are packed. You’re just lucky; we only have one room left.”
Hu Qiao’er looked at the hundred or so wen she had saved for lodging.
Wang Hao, that useless fellow, had not a single coin.
Hu Qiao’er could only leave the inn disappointed, taking Wang Hao with her.
“Qiao’er, what should we do?”
“What to do? Find an alley and rough it out.”
“Huh?”
Wang Hao had been living rough for a long time; he truly longed to stay in a somewhat comfortable room.
“What ‘huh’? This town’s big, you can pick anywhere you want.”
The two had no choice but to wander around the town.
There were indeed many alleys in town, but when they entered, they found quite a few people lurking in them.
All looked rather fierce and hostile.
After a while.
At the edge of town, Hu Qiao’er and Wang Hao finally found an alley that seemed deserted.
The entrance was cluttered with rotten baskets and broken tiles, the ground wet and exuding a foul, musty smell.
“Is this it?”
Wang Hao kicked a broken tile aside with disdain, his brows knotted tightly.
“This… this is worse than just sleeping under a clean tree! Damp and stinky, there’ll definitely be rats at night!”
Hu Qiao’er pinched her nose and sighed helplessly. “Make do with it. It’s better than being robbed by those fierce people. Let’s go deeper and find a slightly drier spot.”
They staggered deeper into the alley.
The deeper they went, the darker it became; almost no light could penetrate.
Wang Hao was grumbling when suddenly—
“Ouch!”
He stumbled violently, feeling something tightly coil around his ankle!
Cold, rough, and surprisingly strong.
Wang Hao looked down, nearly jumping out of his skin!
On the ground lay a dark figure! Long, tangled hair like dry grass covered the entire head and face, the clothes torn into rags and stained with mud, motionless.
At a glance, it really looked like a corpse or… a ghost!
“Ghost! A ghost—!!” Wang Hao’s terrified scream shattered the silence of the alley. He flailed his legs desperately, his voice distorted in fear, his entire body bristling.
“Shut up! Wang Hao! Stop making noise!”
Hu Qiao’er was also shocked by the sudden scene, her heart pounding, but hearing Wang Hao’s pig-like wails, she suppressed her fear and urgently whispered a scolding.
If they attracted others, who knew what trouble might come of it.
She took a deep breath, summoning courage, and took a couple of steps forward. Using the faint light filtering in from afar, she carefully looked at the “thing” gripping Wang Hao’s ankle.
That hand… although a bit dirty, was actually quite white and delicate. More importantly, Hu Qiao’er noticed the figure’s body had the faintest rise and fall of breathing…
“Stop screaming, it’s not a ghost!”
Hu Qiao’er relaxed a little, her tone tinged with the exhausted helplessness of having just escaped a disaster.
Sometimes, she regretted bringing this guy along.
She helped the beggar-like person up, brushing aside the hair to reveal a somewhat miserable but fundamentally good-looking face.
Surprisingly, it was a girl.
“Hungry… so… so hungry… give me something to eat…”
Huh?
Hu Qiao’er sighed and let go, and the person collapsed heavily to the ground.
“Ouch! Have some pity! Are you trying to kill me by dropping me like that?”
Wang Hao stood by stunned.
This person’s voice had been hoarse and weak earlier, but now the tone had instantly changed.
Hu Qiao’er simply stood and clapped her hands.
“You have hands and feet. If you don’t want to take care of yourself, we’re not that kind-hearted. Come on, Haozi, let’s go.”
With that, they turned to leave.
“Wait!”