Li Guanyi had not slept all night yesterday. In the afternoon, he said he wanted to rest for a while. Xue Daoyong prepared a guest room for him in the side courtyard of the front yard. He slept soundly for more than an hour before recovering his energy. Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he gazed at the setting sun outside, feeling somewhat languid.
He contemplated the tasks ahead.
He picked up a silver coin and placed it on the bed.
“Break through.”
He then placed an arrow in front of the silver coin.
“However, it would be best to enter the realm… If I could obtain a set of inner armor when breaking through, that would be great.”
“I still need to resolve the poison in my body.”
“I need the strongest foundation for entering the realm.”
“And…”
“Money, enough money.”
Li Guanyi looked at the irregular silver coins on the bed and sighed. These coins were the spoils from his battle against Qian Zheng and his remaining faction last night, totaling thirty-three taels of silver and over a hundred copper coins. Some were the current Taiping coins, while others were from the previous emperor's Da'an coins, all wrapped in cloth.
For his previous self, this amount was sufficient, but traveling to Ying Kingdom and considering the consumption for cultivation, it was evidently not enough.
Old Master Xue did not mention giving him more money.
Li Guanyi felt he needed to find a way to earn some money.
He couldn’t just turn around and call for Miss Xue whenever something happened.
As he pondered, he sorted through his spoils—besides the silver coins, there were some hemostatic powders that had already darkened and emitted a strong, pungent odor. They were the kind of powders that worked well but were very volatile and irritating.
In addition, there were some letters, some of which had already yellowed. Li Guanyi opened one to read; they were all family letters, and the yellowed one was the earliest, with a somewhat complaining tone.
“Elder brother, this year the winter clothes are made a bit slowly. You wrote that if it’s not enough, you would send money, but this year the taxes are too heavy, and there isn’t much money, only half. Elder brother has military pay; you shouldn’t have spent it all.”
“You can endure the cold for a few days.”
It seemed that when Qian Zheng was at the border, he had asked his parents to send him winter clothes.
The border of Chen Kingdom bordered Ying Kingdom, situated in a place neither north nor south.
Winter was as cold as the north but also as humid as the south. When the west wind blew, the cotton clothes would get damp from the moisture, soaking into the body, feeling like a layer of ice thorns piercing through the skin and drilling into the bones. Soldiers at the border who reached fifty or sixty years old often had poor bones, suffering greatly.
However, was Chen Kingdom so wealthy that even the border soldiers had no money?
Li Guanyi recalled Xue Daoyong’s words and flipped to the next letter.
“Elder brother, don’t write to urge me. You said the army lacks silver; mother has already helped you borrow some. Grandfather has gone to the fields in winter, and your army and father’s army are supposed to merge, right? Father is not young anymore; you should take care of him.”
The third letter.
“I heard that your army has also followed Marshal Yue’s command and won several battles.”
“The reward silver for elder brother has been sent back home, and grandfather is very happy; he drank a bit.”
“He also talked about a good family for me, the second son of Old Liu’s family at the town entrance. You used to play with him when you were young; I wonder if you still remember him.”
“Elder brother, you should also find me a sister-in-law.”
The following letters were filled with family matters, and one unavoidable word was taxes.
Five years of taxes, three years of taxes.
And Qian Zheng was risking his life to kill enemies for reward silver.
When Li Guanyi saw one letter, he paused slightly.
“The officials have collected spring taxes again.”
“After collecting the three years of taxes last year, elder brother, your reward silver has all been taken away. There’s nothing at home, and we can’t borrow any. Grandfather had his leg broken and is bedridden; first, he developed sores, then they festered, and he couldn’t stand anymore, and then he passed away…”
“Grandfather didn’t want us to spend money on his treatment; he didn’t eat and just passed away.”
“Elder brother, I heard that Marshal Yue has been transferred, and father clashed with his superior and was punished. Is he seriously injured?”
“Along with this letter, there are some copper coins; father’s injury needs to be treated well.”
The fourth letter.
“Father is gone, and mother has cried her eyes blind; Old Liu’s family no longer wants me.”
“There’s no way; a high-ranking eunuch came to the city, saying the palace still needs people. I thought about it, and the conditions are good, so I went to the palace first. I’ll send you part of the money and leave part for mother. You said you would be much better off once you enter the realm; I’ll wait for you, so don’t worry.”
“It’s good here; no one hits me, and no one bullies me.”
Then came the last letter, with delicate handwriting.
“Today, maid Qian Qian died, and according to the law, fifty guan must be compensated.”
“Since no one is in charge, five guan were used for her burial, five guan affected palace affairs, and thirty guan for various debts, five guan were transferred to the post station, and three guan and seven mo for the sealing and delivery of the letter, leaving one hundred thirty-five wen, transferred to her brother Qian Zheng, to clarify the account.”
Li Guanyi remained silent for a long time.
He saw the colorful bloodstains and watermarks on this letter.
He saw the cloth bag containing over a hundred shiny copper coins.
So he saw the crazed Qian Zheng.
Li Guanyi put down the letter.
Then he placed the one hundred thirty-five copper coins back into the cloth bag and wrapped it up.
He looked outside, seemingly lost in thought.
Finally, he gathered the chaotic emotions and thoughts swirling in his mind, exhaled, and murmured to himself, the border is decaying, lacking reward silver, while the families of the soldiers have to bear heavy taxes. Qian Zheng’s situation is not the norm, but it won’t be an exception either.
In such circumstances, the generals are also wronged.
“It’s over.”
There was no need for further deduction.
Li Guanyi’s historical perspective transformed into intuition, almost slamming this answer into his face.
A strong sense of urgency arose, urging him to quickly elevate his realm. If Qian Zheng could break through to the realm ahead of time, perhaps the story would be different. No matter how much Li Guanyi saw from it, at this moment, stepping into the realm became his top priority.
In this broken world, without power, he couldn’t even protect himself and his aunt.
He was only skilled in offense and needed to defeat that Iron Liao Third Prince quickly to obtain the Canglang Guard.
When Li Guanyi walked out of the courtyard, he saw Xue Shuangtao still practicing archery. As he picked up the bow and arrow, he suddenly called out to Xue Shuangtao. The girl looked at him in confusion, and Li Guanyi said, “I just said I shot a crow that feeds on human flesh and rotten meat; I was wrong.”
“That was originally a bird of prey in the sky.”
“It went mad because of this sky and eventually began to eat carrion.”
Xue Shuangtao looked at him.
She took a step back.
Then she tapped the boy’s forehead with the bow in her hand and said, “Although I don’t know what you’re implying, Li Guanyi.”
She paused and said, “Let’s practice archery first!”
The girl raised her eyebrows, pointing to the arrows over there, and said, “Playing the zither can calm the heart, and practicing archery can also bring peace of mind. No matter what happens, when the body gets tired, many things will become clear.”
“Don’t worry; I will accompany you to practice archery until you understand in your heart.”
While practicing archery, Xue Shuangtao curiously asked, “Then, when you shot that vulture, did you regret it?”
Li Guanyi looked at the clear-eyed young lady, unsure if she understood something or simply thought he was melancholic for having shot a bird, so he replied, “It was already a carrion-eating evil bird.”
So there was no regret.
In this world, he was still a spirited young man, so thoughts would occasionally flash through his mind.
Would I also one day change my appearance in this chaotic world?
He inexplicably thought of Yaoguang’s words.
As long as you don’t become a tyrant who stirs up chaos, I will always accompany you.
As arrows rained down, Li Guanyi was now learning various shooting techniques rather than accuracy. Xue Shuangtao had been trained by Xue Daoyong since childhood, and her archery foundation was solid and outstanding, which was what Li Guanyi lacked.
By the time the sun began to set, he put down the bow and arrow.
Xue Changqing had long since slumped over the stone table. Li Guanyi leisurely took out the technique book to begin teaching. After another hour, Xue Changqing was almost completely exhausted, his little face pale, and said, “How about this, sir, you tell me some other stories instead of technique?”
Li Guanyi said, “I can, but I came here to teach you techniques.”
Xue Changqing replied, “I’ll pay more!”
He took out a small piece of silver and placed it on the table, his eyes bright, “Sir, don’t teach techniques! Just according to your salary, tell me another hour of stories today.”
Li Guanyi pondered for a moment and said, “Then, let’s talk about the Iron Liao Third Prince from five hundred years ago.”
Xue Changqing cried out in frustration, “I don’t want to hear history!”
The young man laughed, “My story is different.”
He told the story, but unlike the usual dry history books, it felt more like a wandering hero’s tale. Li Guanyi portrayed the Iron Liao Third Prince as a formidable enemy, and even Xue Shuangtao listened with curiosity, “Where did you hear these stories?”
The young man revealed a shy smile, “On my way fleeing, I met two people drinking; one was surnamed Jin, and the other was surnamed Gu. They were drinking and telling stories, and I listened in.”
Xue Shuangtao said irritably, “You’re making things up again.”
Then she crossed her arms and leaned on the stone table, listening curiously to the story.
Xue Changqing said, “That Iron Liao Third Prince isn’t a giant three zhang tall, with a waist three zhang wide, and a green face with fangs? That’s different from what you said, sir.”
Li Guanyi said, “Good description.”
Xue Changqing beamed with pride.
“You haven’t seen him, so it might just be as I described!”
Li Guanyi said, “Based on your description, I’ll give you a technique question. What is the volume of a wooden body three zhang high and three zhang in circumference? How many wooden chairs can it make? If it’s cut into three-foot-long and two-finger-wide firewood, how much would that be?”
Xue Changqing’s little face turned pale.
Xue Shuangtao tossed a fruit lightly at Li Guanyi and said, “Don’t scare him, tell the story.”
Li Guanyi smiled slightly and began to narrate the history of the Iron Liao Third Prince he had previously searched through, saying, “The Iron Liao Third Prince is skilled in using a curved saber, his saber technique is light and agile, he has a big beard, but his appearance is handsome. The history books all say he is the reincarnation of the Canglang from the heavens.”
His tone was calm, and the story was captivating.
In the tale, the one who clashed with the Iron Liao Third Prince was a swordsman. The swordsman wielded a heavy sword and faced the Iron Liao Third Prince head-on. Suddenly, their blades clashed, and the Iron Liao Third Prince’s saber danced like a butterfly on the blade, then slashed down in a magnificent manner.
The young man telling the story under the setting sun had black hair fluttering in the wind, his eyes warm, exuding a scholarly aura.
The light of the setting sun reflected in his eyes.
A cold light reflected in Li Guanyi’s gaze.
Li Guanyi turned, raising his hand to hold the heavy sword horizontally, colliding with the Iron Liao Third Prince’s saber.
The clash between swordsmen.
It was the intertwining of legends from five hundred years ago and contemporary figures. At this moment, night had fallen, and he had entered this secret realm once again to challenge the Iron Liao Third Prince. General Xue smiled as he watched this scene, the young man created distance, avoiding the magnificent saber dance, looking at the enemy he had killed countless times.
“Iron Liao Third Prince.”
“Today, I will definitely defeat you.”
General Xue raised his eyebrows and smiled, saying, “Good, you have courage. Shall we raise the stakes? If you can defeat him this time without dying.”
“Besides the Canglang Guard, I will give you another technique, my inheritance and gift.”
“It’s something that even the great emperor wanted back then.”
“If you lose, I will write this character on you.”
At this moment, the Iron Liao Third Prince let out a long howl, and the Canglang Dharma form emerged, crossing his arms, charging forward with great strides!
Li Guanyi said to General Xue, “Then you better be ready!”
The bronze ding rang out with a roar.
He held the bow.
Thus, the dragon roared and the tiger howled.
Thus, in this body, the dragon and tiger accompanied him.
(End of this chapter)