Ji Yuan's door was beyond repair, so considerately, he took down Deng Yunliang's door and installed it on his own house.
Then he tossed those few broken boards into Deng Yunliang's courtyard, making it look like someone had kicked in the door.
As for an investigation… Water Dragon Sect only goes after those with dependents or who aren't all dead—like Ji Yuan or Deng Yunliang, both living alone?
Water Dragon Sect would probably just mutter a bit—let the dead rest in peace.
The three gamblers together only handed over 5 Spirit Stones, and the rest of their elixirs and talismans weren't worth mentioning, total paupers.
Ji Yuan could guess, if any of them had a little cash, they'd run straight into the gambling den.
So the only thing worth anything was that magical artifact—a bronze nail.
But for Ji Yuan, this thing just got in the way. With his current cultivation, handling the Black Gold Saber and Death Needle was about his limit.
So after arriving in Zengtou City, the first thing he did was trade the artifact for spirit stones.
Not a whole lot, sold it for a measly 20 spirit stones.
After that, Ji Yuan went and bought some talisman paper and half a spirit fish. By the time he finished running around and got home, he found out Lin Hu and his wife were already back early as well.
And both of them had an unmistakable, barely hidden joy in their eyes.
"Brother Ji, you went to Zengtou City?"
Lin Hu came over, then gestured subtly at Deng Yunliang's house, and whispered, "Looks like someone broke into his place."
"Oh?"
Ji Yuan turned to look, face full of surprise. "Looks like it."
"I saw it coming a mile away. Those gambling types are all like this—owe money they can't pay back, and they go break into someone's house to grab stuff for debt repayment."
Lin Hu snorted, seemingly forgetting that just days ago he was just like Deng Yunliang—a gambling addict.
"You planning to gamble again?"
Wu Qin behind them looked pretty happy, glanced at Lin Hu, and snorted coldly.
"No more gambling, never again."
Lin Hu finished his silly laughter, then quickly turned to Ji Yuan: "Brother Ji, just wait a bit, I'll be able to pay back those spirit stones real soon."
"Spirit Stones? No rush."
If Lin Hu hadn't brought it up, Ji Yuan would've totally forgotten.
Only two spirit stones. Drawing just one Water-Resistant Talisman nets that much—piece of cake.
Lin Hu didn't care, grinned at Wu Qin, and rushed off to Zengtou City.
Seeing him like that, Ji Yuan guessed he must've struck some kind of luck.
Sure enough, Ji Yuan had only just gotten home and finished tidying up when Lin Hu came back out of breath, knocking on the courtyard gate and holding out two spirit stones with both hands.
"Brother Ji, thank you."
Seeing Ji Yuan accept the spirit stones, Lin Hu bowed deeply again, looking very earnest.
"No problem."
Seeing Lin Hu and his family managing to get by, Ji Yuan felt genuinely happy inside.
Just as Ji Yuan was about to turn and head back in, he saw Lin Hu with a look like he wanted to speak but hesitated.
"What's up? If there's something, just say it."
"Well…" Lin Hu scratched his head. "Back then, Brother Ji, didn't your family always get along with the Lu family?"
"Lu family? Which Lu family?"
Ji Yuan had just asked when he remembered himself, "Lu Wan?"
"Yeah, yeah, that's the one."
"What about them?"
The last time Ji Yuan saw Lu Wan was still at the Hundred Treasures Tower, back when she came with Wu Yan.
By her standards, she and Ji Yuan could be considered friends, so Ji Yuan felt a bit concerned hearing Lin Hu mention her.
"I overheard someone in Zengtou City saying that she and the Wu family had a falling out. Someone even heard Master Wu Wenbin cursing her for being ungrateful."
"How come?"
Lu Wan had always been Wu Wenbin's proud disciple—he even hoped she'd join Water Dragon Sect. Why would she fall out with them now?
"I'm not too sure myself."
"Heard it's because Master Wu wants Lu Wan to become Daoist partners with his son, but Lu Wan refuses no matter what, so things ended up like this."
After Lin Hu finished, he shook his head, looking puzzled. "To be Master Wu's daughter-in-law, what's there to hesitate about?"
Ji Yuan recalled their previous encounters.
That does add up. Back then Wu Yan looked at Lu Wan with eyes full of feeling, but Lu Wan always just acted politely toward him.
It's just… Ji Yuan hadn't expected that Lu Wan would dare refuse to his face.
The Lu family only has Lu Song at Qi Cultivation Level Five—even that's not late-stage. But up against the Wu family, so what if he hits late-stage?
Wu Wenbin can draw top-grade first-rank talismans, never mind he himself is a late-stage Qi Cultivator.
With that kind of gap, for Lu Wan to have the guts to refuse in person…
She's got some backbone, that's for sure.
But faced with this kind of thing, there's nothing Ji Yuan can do—he only hopes the Wu family doesn't push her too hard.
Lin Hu, whatever treasure he got, took off back home gleefully.
Ji Yuan gave one last glance at Deng Yunliang's courtyard. With that business done, he closed his own courtyard gate, and resumed his cultivation life.
The day after Deng Yunliang died, Lin Hu came to share some good news.
He'd successfully reached Qi Cultivation Level 3.
That same day, Wu Qin also advanced to Qi Cultivation Level 3.
At that point, Lin Hu came clean to Ji Yuan: turns out, while fishing in Cloud Rain Marsh, he chanced upon an earth treasure—Jade Lotus Root.
Brought it to Zengtou City and sold it for a solid 30 spirit stones.
These spirit stones not only solved their pressing needs, but also let the two of them reach Level 3 Qi Cultivation.
With both of them at Level 3, when they set out fishing again, they'll be able to catch more half spirit fish—now that's a real steady livelihood.
Ji Yuan, of course, congratulated them, but politely declined the dinner invitation.
Though the days of bitter cultivation were tough, Ji Yuan's life was full—cultivating and eating spirit eggs, resting during the day, painting talismans in his spare time, and studying other basic spells.
On the fifth day after Deng Yunliang's death,
a new family moved into that courtyard—not like the previous Old Man Huang nor Deng Yunliang, but a family of three.
A young couple with a cute daughter.
Ji Yuan didn't make a big effort to get close—just greeted them, then went back to secluded cultivation.
Ever since Deng Yunliang's death, Ji Yuan's life had finally settled down.
No surprise, really. He's not a troublemaker by nature, stays home, doesn't even go to Cloud Rain Marsh—hard to get in trouble that way.
And the one time any big trouble came, Qiu Qianhai took it all on himself.
He's just like an onlooker, hidden in this little market town of Zengtou City, quietly cultivating alone.
The days rolled by, the sun kept turning.
Three whole months flew past. Even Cloud Rain Marsh looked withered and frostbitten, and most of Zengtou City's fishermen had packed away their boats for the winter.
If not for the Immortal Residence fees being overdue, nobody would even go out fishing again.
Having finished off three whole spirit pigs, Ji Yuan had forgotten what "cold" meant—but to keep up appearances, he put on a thick cotton jacket anyway.
On this day, he strode through the morning sunlight to a Zengtou City shop called "Hidden Treasure Pavilion."
Outside the market may be dangerous, but some powerful cultivators still run trade caravans to carry goods between different markets.
Hidden Treasure Pavilion was one such shop with that kind of backing.
Once inside, Ji Yuan was greeted by a white-haired female cultivator, but he still called out with a smile, "Sister Wang."
"Sister Wang, did that centennial paulownia wood arrive?" Ji Yuan asked with a grin.
"It's here, it's here! Our caravan made a special trip to Jing'an Market just yesterday and brought back this bit of centennial paulownia wood—just for you, Daoist Ji."
Damn, talks prettier than she sings… Ji Yuan watched as she took out a chunk of wood from her storage bag, full of strong wood attribute spiritual qi, and compared sizes for a moment.
It was a little small, but enough to make boards for a chicken cage.
These past three months, aside from cultivation, Ji Yuan had asked around for people all over Zengtou City to help seek out "centennial paulownia wood," "decayed bone flower," and "cold iron sand."
He'd managed to gradually amass a full jin of cold iron sand.
There was still no trace of decayed bone flower.
As for the centennial paulownia wood, today was the first time he'd found it.
"Thanks, Sister Wang. About the price…"
"Just the same as last time," Sister Wang said with a big grin.
Ji Yuan let out a quiet sigh of relief and handed over 20 spirit stones, taking the chunk of centennial paulownia wood.
This time, when he returned, his very first Level 2 building should finally appear.