I was going to find Ze Que.

..In all honesty, I really wasn’t talking about him when I’d said “to drink tea and pick up girls.”

It was just that my codebook wasn’t at the inn, and the shopkeeper said my things had already been confiscated by the Zhongli Court’s people long before. After thinking about it, Ze Que would probably know the most about it, but it seems that his life was hanging by a thread at the moment and I didn’t know what the situation was.*

*Refers to Chapter 9 when MC was able to access the plug-in interface, where he saw that Ze Que’s HP was only 40/3000

After arriving at the city gates, my throat was parched. I truly wanted to drink some tea, but I truly had no money.

I just so happened to not know the current level of my Qinggong,* so I locked onto a target in the crowd, intending to “borrow” some spending money.

*Qinggong = martial arts technique of making the body extremely swift and light in weight

An idle-looking, wealthy young master caught my eye, dressed lavishly in embroidery and furs, his words and actions impetuous, in the middle of teasing a girl from a brothel at the side of the road. I moved swiftly behind him and easily took hold of a purse.

Hiding and opening it in an alley corner, I found that it was indeed so plump that it seemed to overflow with oil.* Thinking that the price of tea shouldn’t be too high, I took only a few coins and then put the rest back as they were.

*overflow with oil = oil is golden, so it refers to something very rich, or in this case, overflowing with money

When I walked back out and looked, the loitering man was still flirting in the same place, so I proudly strolled over and tucked the purse back to his waist.

A true master is daring, these words are not false.

Now that I had funds, I entered the teahouse with my head raised and chest puffed. This little shop was worn and tattered and the tea was cheap, but the business was bustling and lively.

After situating myself momentarily, I found that the town was full of life, with different people entering my sight one by one. The strong men gathered raucously and punched their friends, the married women whispered gossip such as the Dong family’s is long and Li family’s is short, and the street peddlers argued with red eyes. I was seeing everything with my own eyes for the first time, and it was truly fascinating.

A few tables away, there were a few strong men who just so happened to mention the words Zhongli Court. So I picked up my teacup, calmly and quietly moving to a closer table.

Yet, when I had just seated myself, a very familiar-looking person came smiling and laughing into the store. Yo, it’s a small world; it indeed happens to be that young master who I borrowed money from without permission. There were not many seats left in the store at this time, so he asked around at a few other tables, but none of them were willing to share a table with him. Turning his head and seeing the empty space near me, he smilingly came over and started talking. “This little brother looks benevolent; is it possible for you to let this young master stay and rest here for a while?”

I was focused on eavesdropping on the people next to me, and only nodded in response.

Both of us didn’t speak, and after listening for a moment, I understood a bit more.

Ye Tan’s words, “The Eldest Young Master has a prodigal temperament,” actually had another version here:

Zhongli Zixu was addicted to beauty, not distinguishing between male and female, excessively licentious, and had slept with everyone in Zhongli Court.

I picked up my teacup and respectfully offered a cup to the emptiness.

Eldest Young Master, I respect you as a man.

Cheers! Gulp gulp gulp gulp gulp.

After sighing, I couldn’t help but start worrying over this.

Ye Tan was also once a member of Zhongli Court.

....I don’t feel so good.

“Little brother, what are you doing?” Seeing my inexplicable behavior, the rich young master couldn’t help but ask.

“Respecting a strong man.” I shook my head and stood up. “I still have things to do. I will be leaving first.”

“You’re leaving? Little brother and I were brought together by fate. Today, this young master will treat you to tea.” The rich young master enthusiastically took my wrist and moved it to his waist. Just as I was about to decline, he started to exclaim, “My purse is gone! When did I fall under the hands of a thief?”

..So it turns out I’m not the only thief who took a fancy to you.

The rich young master’s eyes spun around: “I think little brother’s bearing isn’t ordinary, and must also be from an important family; would you please treat this young master to a cup of tea?”

I was in a hurry to leave, so after shoving a few coins back into his hand, I turned around and left.

”Would little brother tell me his name? So I can remember it later.” The rich young master unforgivingly pulled on my sleeve and said, “This young master’s family name is Ye, I have no name, and I live just outside the city..”

And what does that have to do with me? But I considered myself a thoroughly polite person, so I still replied: “Jun Xuanheng.” Nodding, I left swiftly.

Once I left the city, I took a deep breath and started running wildly, but it ended in suffering because I didn’t have directions. I went around and around, only finding the place by sunset.

It turns out that Zhongli Court was not only a manor residence, but due to prosperous trade, a small town had actually formed around it. After asking around, I found that most of the shops in town were owned by subordinates of Zhongli Court, each one well-managed and prosperous.

Thus, with those bold, visionary words about how “the Eldest Young Master has done it with everyone in Zhongli Court” stamped in my heart, I looked at the city full of old and young, feeling very uncomfortable.

Zhongli Court’s city walls were lofty and towering, sinking into the lush, dense forest. Avoiding the guards, I stealthily moved around the outside, finding that there was a long stretch on the north side with no one guarding it, and no lights or activity inside either. It looked very insecure, so I assumed it wasn’t any important place, and I quieted my steps and sneakily entered.

After randomly walking around for a bit, I started to notice the smell of blood filling the air. Under the bright and clear moonlight, I saw that the courtyard was covered in torture devices and shackles; this area was probably where corporal punishment was given.

There was an area within eyesight that was lit up, and although no conversation could be heard, there was the sound of lashing. I held my breath and stealthily moved over, and sure enough, I saw a person bound to a torture frame, with only one guard beside him, who seemed bored to death as he hit him and counted the strikes at the same time.

Seeing the man looking bloody and mangled, in an incomparably miserable state, my sense of justice naturally flared up. I lightly and quietly circled behind the guard and gave him a good blow in the back of the head, and he fell to the ground with a muffled sound.

I found a few keys on the guard’s body, tried them out, and carefully carried the person down from the torture frame. He had already fallen into a partial coma; his pulse was weak and he was completely unconscious.

It really was Ze Que.

After going through several days of practice, my experience in caring for the wounded and the sick had reached great heights. I easily took him back to the town to find a medicinal hall and borrowed some money to stay there.

I didn’t send word the whole night. The next day I was afraid Ye Tan would get worried, so I went outside to buy some snacks, attached a note, and sent an errand runner to deliver it to Changluo. Of course, I didn’t mention that I had already arrived at the doorstep of Zhongli Court; otherwise, that little brat Ye Tan would definitely come cause trouble again.

When I went back to the medicinal hall in the afternoon, the doctor announced a bunch of things to me, none of which I understood except for that he hadn’t woken up.

I returned to Ze Que’s bed and sat down next to it, and only then took a good look at Ze Que’s appearance. With sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, a phoenix- and dragon-like beauty, he was a handsome young man.

He has definitely been done by the Eldest Young Master.

Thinking that waiting around would just be a waste of time, I transferred some of my internal force to him.

Sure enough, after just a moment, he woke up a little bit and turned around, finally saw clearly that it was me, then immediately jumped up ready to fight for his life.

“Noble warrior, don’t be too excited. I only wanted to ask you where my booklet went?” I shook out the quilt, wrapped him tightly in a bundle and put my foot on him, and he finally became a bit more obedient. “But the severity of these wounds were from the torture in your own household.. It couldn’t be that you failed to capture me and were condemned by your master? Even if you were responsible, this is too cruel..”

“I received the punishment myself; it has nothing to do with you.” Ze Que sniffed disdainfully.

“If it’s not because of me, could there be any other reasons?” I thought about it, and felt that I wasn’t just making stuff up in my head.

“Because I touched someone I shouldn’t touch.” Ze Que was probably injured too badly and his voice was very hoarse. “The Second Young Master said that I shouldn’t have touched Yaksha.”

Great.

I was totally making stuff up in my head.