Chapter 178: Tell Him to Get Lost

Talking about money was vulgar?

Lady Pei almost wanted to ask whether the girl could actually produce the money herself.

The young woman did not care. She had already skipped away.

But the moment she stepped through the door, she immediately became quiet and graceful, every gesture that of a proper young lady. Only those bright, wandering eyes betrayed what was happening inside her head.

The interior of Rainbow Inn’s dome consisted of a ring of rooms around a broad circular hall.

Tables and chairs were arranged within the hall, simple, elegant, and refreshing.

At the very center, a ring of railings enclosed the opening where the staircase rose from below.

Lady Pei followed her out.

“Young Mistress, where are you going?”

The young woman looked left and right.

“Which room is Xuanyuan Dao staying in? Has he come back yet?”

“How would I know? I was in the room with you the entire time. I have no idea whether he has returned.”

Perhaps they heard the voices.

The doors of the neighboring room opened as well, and Liu Fenghai and Chai Fei came out.

Just then footsteps sounded on the stairs.

An inn attendant appeared first, followed by Chu Anlou.

Then Niu Youdao and the others came up one after another.

On arriving, Niu Youdao’s group naturally surveyed the surroundings.

The four people standing outside their rooms made them pause.

Every gaze landed on the young woman in the long pink dress.

Her hair was piled high in cloudlike coils. She was tall and graceful, with a slender waist and full bosom, large bright eyes, and a youthful, delicate face.

At first glance, she was strikingly beautiful.

Most distinctive of all was the lively youthfulness radiating from her, utterly unlike the reserved restraint of an ordinary well-bred young lady.

If Lady Pei and the other two had not been standing beside her, Niu Youdao might genuinely have failed to recognize her.

That effeminate young master had actually changed back into women’s clothing.

And she was, unexpectedly, a rare beauty.

Niu Youdao’s group exchanged looks.

Chu Anlou was merely surprised by her beauty for an instant and paid it no further attention.

After the attendant pointed out the room, Chu Anlou extended a hand toward Niu Youdao.

“Mister, please.”

Niu Youdao came back to himself and cupped his hands.

“Innkeeper, there is no need to trouble yourself any further. Please attend to your business.”

Chu Anlou nodded.

“Very well. Then I will not disturb Mister.”

“You have traveled a long road to reach this place and must be tired. Rest at ease first. Whatever needs discussing can wait until Mister has recovered your energy.”

“You need not worry about food or anything else either. Whatever Rainbow Inn has, simply ask for it. Everything is free.”

“If you need anything, have an attendant handle it. You may also come directly to me.”

“Much obliged.”

Niu Youdao thanked him and cupped his hands as Chu Anlou descended the stairs.

The group then followed the attendant to their respective rooms.

The quality of the accommodations exceeded even Niu Youdao’s expectations.

Black Peony and the others followed the attendant to inspect their own rooms.

Niu Youdao was still pacing around his room, looking things over, when the young woman and her three escorts knocked and came in.

“Well, well. You used a false name to fool us all this time. So your real name is Xuanyuan Dao?”

The young woman immediately moved close to him, her large eyes blinking brightly.

Niu Youdao looked her up and down.

He could not help scratching the back of one hand.

He truly was not accustomed to the change in appearance.

He smiled.

“You never told me your name either.”

The young woman promptly patted her chest.

“Hao Qingqing. My name is Hao Qingqing.”

Lady Pei and the others looked as though they wanted to stop her.

Had they not agreed she would not use her real name while traveling?

But the words were already out.

Stopping her now was pointless.

“Hao Qingqing...”

Niu Youdao repeated the name.

Then he looked her up and down again.

Something about this woman still felt strange.

Why had she suddenly become so much friendlier?

Her attitude was completely different from before.

Had changing clothes changed her personality too?

Or had seeing his relationship with Chu Anlou made her want to curry favor with him?

Yet after traveling together this long, the temperament she had shown had clearly been genuine.

She did not seem like someone who flattered the powerful.

Niu Youdao asked suspiciously, “You did not come here because you lost the wager and now want to renege, did you?”

“Eww!”

Hao Qingqing looked at him with contempt.

“What kind of person do you take me for? Am I someone who refuses to pay a wager?”

“A bet is a bet. I admit I lost. An IOU is easy enough. I will write it for you right now.”

She gathered her skirt and trotted into the study.

“...”

Niu Youdao stared after her in surprise.

The others followed into the study.

Hao Qingqing was already grinding ink quickly.

Then she pulled over a sheet of paper and rapidly wrote an IOU.

She lifted the page, blew once across the ink, walked back to Niu Youdao, and held it out with a bright smile.

“Here!”

Her handwriting was actually quite good.

But after reading the IOU, Niu Youdao’s face became even more suspicious.

“Two million? You have only lost one wager. How did it become two million?”

Hao Qingqing waved one hand with complete ease.

“Your relationship with Rainbow Inn looks pretty good. I figure I will probably lose the next wager too, so I may as well write them together and save myself the trouble of writing twice.”

“...”

Niu Youdao fell silent.

He looked over the IOU again to make sure there was no trick in it.

He had no intention of capsizing in a gutter because some little girl fooled him.

Lady Pei, however, hurried to Niu Youdao’s side and glanced at the paper.

The instant she saw it was a perfectly proper IOU written under Hao Qingqing’s true name, with nothing false about it, her face darkened completely.

Her eyes burned with anger as she stared at Hao Qingqing.

Most of the wealth beneath Heaven might be concentrated in cultivators’ hands, but that was because the things cultivators bought and sold among themselves were enormously expensive.

A spirit herb could hardly cost the same as a head of cabbage.

Large sums therefore changed hands routinely.

But ordinary daily expenses actually cost cultivators very little.

For an ordinary commoner, a single gold coin was enough to live comfortably for half a year.

Two million gold coins equaled the entire annual tax revenue of a wealthy province.

For cultivators, if one ignored time and other factors, the cultivation resources two million gold coins could purchase would be enough to raise ten people into the Golden Core Realm.

This was absolutely not a sum that could be casually taken out and treated like a game.

Yet this young mistress had done precisely that.

How could Lady Pei not be furious?

That was also why, back at the relay station, Niu Youdao’s casual display of a stack of gold drafts had been enough to deter them.

Niu Youdao glanced sideways at Lady Pei’s expression.

Then he casually handed the IOU to her.

“How would I know whether this paper can actually be collected? The wager is not finished anyway. We can discuss the IOU later.”

Hao Qingqing immediately cried, “You think I would cheat you? Once you reach the Qi capital—”

“Shut your mouth!”

Lady Pei snapped, cutting her off.

“If you dare make trouble again, I will have you escorted home immediately!”

Hao Qingqing’s lips pushed out in a pout.

At the threat of being sent home, she no longer dared speak.

Just then Black Peony entered after inspecting her own room.

Seeing a crowd gathered in the study, she had no idea what was happening.

Niu Youdao left the study and said to her, “That man we met in the main hall. Go find him and bring him here.”

He meant Yuan Gang.

Black Peony said, “I do not know whether he registered under his real name at the front desk.”

She was thinking of asking the counter which room Yuan Gang occupied.

Niu Youdao understood.

He shook his head slightly.

“No need for that. He will make sure you can find him. Walk around the inn once and you will find him.”

“Very well.”

Black Peony accepted and immediately turned away.

Niu Youdao looked back at Lady Pei’s group and spread his hands, plainly asking whether they had anything else to say.

The group took the hint and left.

The instant they stepped outside, Hao Qingqing immediately planted herself in the circular hall and sprawled into a chair.

She looked as though she were throwing a tantrum.

“This is so annoying. Leave me alone for a while.”

“Leave someone to watch her. Do not let her run around!”

Lady Pei was still clearly angry.

After giving the order, she returned to the room she shared with Hao Qingqing.

Liu Fenghai went back to his own room as well.

Chai Fei remained outside, found a chair not far away, and sat down to keep watch over Hao Qingqing.

About half an hour later, footsteps sounded on the stairs again.

Black Peony returned.

Yuan Gang and Wei Duo appeared behind her one after another.

Hao Qingqing immediately rose and walked quickly over.

She smiled and nodded toward Black Peony, then flashed Yuan Gang a brilliant youthful smile.

“We met earlier in the inn’s main hall.”

Yuan Gang swept one cold glance over her.

He said nothing.

He did not even acknowledge her.

He simply continued striding forward.

After being completely ignored, Hao Qingqing watched him enter Niu Youdao’s room.

She pursed her lips and gave a cold snort.

But she did not leave.

Instead she clasped her hands behind her back and paced repeatedly outside Niu Youdao’s door.

From a short distance away, Chai Fei watched, unable to understand what this eldest young lady was doing.

Inside the room, Niu Youdao stood at the window looking out.

Black Peony was about to report that she had brought the man when Yuan Gang, already approaching, spoke first.

“You all right?”

Niu Youdao shook his head.

Still gazing at the distant snow-covered mountains, he sighed softly.

“You should not have come.”

Yuan Gang said nothing.

Niu Youdao turned.

His gaze passed over Yuan Gang and landed on Wei Duo.

His brow furrowed.

“Tell him to get lost.”

Yuan Gang turned his head toward Wei Duo.

“Go outside for a while.”

Wei Duo lowered his head and left.

Black Peony was secretly wondering what exact relationship this man had with Master Dao when Yuan Gang looked at her as well.

His tone was equally blunt.

“You too.”

“...”

Black Peony froze.

She very nearly asked: Who are you to order me around?

Before she could react, however, Niu Youdao nodded toward her.

“Go on.”

Black Peony was speechless.

She could only turn and leave.

Before closing the door, she glanced once more at the two men inside.

When she turned around, she saw Wei Duo standing there with his head lowered.

She also saw Hao Qingqing hovering nearby with a face full of ingratiating smiles.

Inside, Niu Youdao asked, “What is going on with you mixing around with that stutterer?”

“This man is solid,” Yuan Gang replied. “Utterly loyal to you. Hard to find someone like him.”

“I do not care whether he is solid or not. He is a man of the Shangqing Sect. Tell him to get lost.”

“In the Shangqing Sect, he recognizes only you. He was also the only person in the whole sect who obeyed its rules from beginning to end and spoke up for you.”

“He told you that and you believed him?”

“He has already died once.”

Niu Youdao paused.

“What does that mean? Something happened on the road and he saved you?”

“At the gate of Prince Ning’s Villa, he knelt for a very long time.”

Yuan Gang’s voice remained flat.

“He knelt until he nearly died there. The soldiers almost picked him up and buried him alive.”

“At the last moment, Bai Yao discovered there was still a faint pulse in him and pulled him back from the gates of death.”

“He remained unconscious for a long time before waking.”

“He has already died once.”

Niu Youdao was silent for a moment.

“The Shangqing Sect has already established itself in Beizhou. Let him go back.”

“Following us may not be a good thing for him.”

“And I do not want to remain tangled up with the Shangqing Sect.”

“If he suffers, that is his own choice,” Yuan Gang said. “I am short of people. I want him.”

Niu Youdao glared at him.

“Bullshit.”

“It is settled.”

Niu Youdao stabbed a finger at him furiously, then clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth around the room.

Yuan Gang glanced at the tea boiling nearby.

He poured a cup, walked over, and held it out.

Niu Youdao swept a sleeve dismissively.

“Save it. Just looking at you annoys me. I’m not drinking.”

[End of Chapter 178]