Chapter 44 Real Practice
“Alas…”
Li Yin sighed and finally floated from the lake. He flew down on the bridge and held his fists, “I didn’t expect to meet someone in Jianghu. I’m not as good as you in terms of cultivation. We admit our defeat this time. I just wonder why a senior of the acquired ninth hurdle who can obtain ten thousand of taels of silver at his fingertips embarra.s.sed the Su Family.”
Su Li gave a cold humph without a reply.
When Li Yin saw it, a cold sweat appeared on his forehead. He went to Su Huanli and whispered, “Master, sorry, I can’t defeat him.”
Su Huanli looked gloomy and said, “You have never fought against each other. How can you know the victory or defeat?”
He suspected that Li Yin was perfunctory.
Li Yin’s expression changed slightly, and his voice became cold, “Master, do you want me to be badly hurt before you believe me? If I fight against him, maybe he’ll kill you together…”
Hearing the sentence, Su Huanli got panicked.
He never thought that his life would be at risk before he came here. In his eyes, Li Yin was a senior, who had ended all the attacks of the Su Family before.
“It’s not easy for your Su Family to do business. I’ll give you a way out.” Seeing Su Li’s eyes blazing with anger, Su Huanli trembled slightly. “One jin (equivalent to 500 g) of raw materials are sold at a price of one thousand taels. Buy, or get out!” Su Li continued.
One jin was sold at one thousand taels!
Su Huanli was almost suffocated. The price was terrifying. In this way, half of the profits of the Beggar’s Chicken were taken away. But he had no choice but to continue to operate the Baiwei Building.
After a long time, Su Huanli struggled to speak, “I don’t have so much liquidity. I have only fifty thousand taels.”
“That’s easy.”
Su Li throwed away the raw materials prepared earlier, “This is fifty jin of raw materials, which can support the Baiwei Building for two months. Two months later from today, I will continue to trade with you.”
Su Huanli almost blacked out. The mysterious man knew all about the Su Family’s liquidity, which was terrifying.
Li Yin sighed and didn’t speak. It was easy for a senior of the acquired ninth hurdle to deal with the Su Family, a small aristocratic one.
Su Huanli nursed great grievance but had no choice but to hand over bank note kept in his arms.
Su Li nodded and said, “Five bank notes of Wantong Money Shop. Nice! You look sincere. See you in two months, Master Su.”
Upon finis.h.i.+ng her words, Su Li, like a light smoke, disappeared in the mountains and forests in the blink of an eye.
Su Huanli, holding fifty jin of raw materials, seemed to have lost all his strength. After a moment, he burst into tears and said,
“Woe! My silver…”
Li Yin stood by and sighed inwardly. The Su Family was too unlucky. In such a situation, they could only bite the teeth and swallow blood to accept it. It was useless to report to the local government.
Su Li, who restored her original appearance, went back to the Jinyuan Court. She looked extremely calm. It seemed that the fifty thousand taels of silver couldn’t shake her faith.
“The silver is enough for the time being, but if I want to refine poison, I can’t stay in the Jinyuan Court. I need to find another secluded place.”
After a moment of thought, Su Li remembered the secluded valley. A yard built there would be very secluded.
The next day, Su Li asked Fang Yuan to buy a large number of bamboos in other towns and to pile them up in the valley. After several times, Fang Yuan was tired with dark circles of eyes, and the building materials were almost prepared.
After Fang Yuan took a few days off to recover, Su Li asked him to start building a bamboo building and gave the construction plan to him.
Fang Yuan wailed and was reluctant to move. But he acted again hearing what Su Li said.
“When the bamboo building is built, you and your sister will have a home. Don’t you want it?”
So, Fang Yuan worked hard in the valley after midnight almost in every day, with his figure looking weary. After a month, the bamboo building was finally built, but there wasn’t the fit-out.
Fang Yuan was so tired that he collapsed onto the ground. Looking at the two-story bamboo building standing in front of him, he could not help but feel a strong sense of pride and expectation.
He couldn’t believe that he would have a home after years of wandering.
After looking at the bamboo building, Su Li nodded satisfactorily. She smiled and said, “Have a rest. Let me fit it out.”
Fang Yuan slightly moved. When he was about to ask Su Li how to move the furniture, he suddenly felt an abnormal change of the pubic region.
A breakthrough?
Stuck in the acquired fifth hurdle for a year, he found an opportunity to break through because of extreme fatigue!
Su Li felt surprised, but that look was quickly concealed. Fang Yuan did not see it. He looked up and said, “Although you are smart and have strange skills, you are an ordinary person who has never practiced. Be careful of everything.”
“I’ll be careful.” Su Li did not expose her cultivation and nodded her head.
Shaking his head slightly, Fang Yuan said helplessly, “Unfortunately, my practice is only suitable for men, and Ling is only an ordinary person. Otherwise I will teach you the practice method. Then you can protect yourself more or less.”
“It doesn’t matter.” With her eyes flas.h.i.+ng, Su Li said and left the valley, leaving Fang Yuan to practice alone.
On the second day, Fang Yuan took leave of absence from the restaurant and practiced somewhere to break through.
Su Li spent the day as usual. But at night, as Fang Yuan did these days, she went to buy furniture in other towns by disguising herself and then moved it into the bamboo building. It took only a few days to fit out the bamboo building.
On the night of the next day, Fang Yuan came to the bamboo building with his sister Fang Ling and instantly exclaimed. The two-story bamboo building in front of them was quite different from the original one. It seemed that some grease was poured onto the dense and bright emerald green bamboo.
Bamboo windows were decorated with top-quality window paper, which looked extraordinarily exquisite. Fang Yuan became even more surprised when he opened the bamboo door. The decoration of the first floor was no worse than that of the guest rooms in the restaurant. Cus.h.i.+ons were laid on the ground floor layer by layer to prevent against dampness. Finally, quality carpet was laid. There were two beds in the room. The bedding had been prepared. The table, chair and incense burner table were all available.
“Brother, is this our room?” Fang Ling’s eyes flashed because she really liked the place.
“This…” Fang Yuan hesitated. Although the bamboo building was built by Su Li and him by doing wrong, the money came from the Su Family. How could it be Fang Yuan’s?
“The first floor belongs to you two.”
Suddenly a gentle voice came from behind. Fang Yuan turned around in surprise. Sure enough, he saw Su Li coming with a smile.
“Sister Li!” Fang Ling acted like a spoiled child. She ran into Su Li’s arms and raised her head and said, “Sister Li, you are so good!” I love the place!”
“Nice! I’m afraid that you’ll get bored and won’t like it.” Su Li smiled gently, “The valley hasn’t been used up. It will be great if your brother cultivates it for some food.”
“Brother, do you hear that? Go ahead!” Fang Ling immediately turned back and said by pretending to be furious.
Fang Yuan instantly had a long face. The two little girls seriously took him as a coolie. He stiffened his face for a long time but then laughed happily.
He hadn’t seen Su Li’s true features, yet his “happy” mood did exist after years’ disappearance.
Su Li and Fang Yuan sat in the corridor of the bamboo building after Fang Ling felt asleep. In the dark night, they could vaguely see each other’s expressions.
After a short period of silence, Su Li said, “As for the second floor… Don’t go there. So does your sister.”
“What are you planning?” Fang Yuan felt curious. He wondered why the girl at the age of fifteen had built the secluded bamboo building.
“Refining poison.” Looking at Fang Yuan expressionlessly, Su Li answered directly instead of hiding it, “For some poisons… there’s no antidote. If you’re poisoned, I can’t save you.”
It’s impossible to hide it. She would refine many poisons here in the future and inevitably need Fang Yuan’s help. She might as well speak out frankly.
“Poison?”
Fang Yuan opened his mouth wide in horror and said, “You can refine poison?”
“Didn’t you think that the knockout incense was bought by me?”
Su Li’s words made Fang Yuan speechless. Yeah. How could the knockout incense of the black market in the remote town have such a powerful effect? It could only make people sleepy for an hour at most.
“What else do you refine?”
“You will know it later. Don’t worry. I have made arrangements, and the poisonous smoke will not float down to the first floor.”
Su Li gave a promise. Fang Yuan twitched his eyes. It turned out that she arranged the building by herself for the purpose.
After a short period of silence, Fang Yuan focused his eyes and murmured, “I still didn’t get it. In spite of the dishes developed by you, you are a member of the Su Family. What’s the difference between the two facts that the silver belongs to you or it belongs to your father? After all, he is one of your families. Unlike Fang Ling and I… both our parents died. Why are you so capricious? You should learn to cherish…”
When he spoke, Fang Yuan was unable to go on. It seemed that his throat was held by hands. With his eyes widened, he saw the girl in front of him gently remove the sleeves and expose her arm. He thought that the arm of such a delicate girl would be as white as a lotus root, but he was wrong.
Su Li gently stroked the crisscross wounds on her arm and said while smiling, “Such wounds are all over my body. My mother made them, but my father turned a blind eye. Do you still think one will be happy as long as parents are alive?”
Fang Yuan s.h.i.+vered slightly, took a deep breath and severely held back the shock in his eye socket. He couldn’t help weeping seeing such wounds. But was she laughing?
“I… I’m sorry for being rude.”
Fang Yuan helped Su Li cover the sleeves of her upper outer garment at a loss. He felt a strong feeling of pity. There seemed to be a reason for all the strange acts of the girl in front of him. But he dared not speak arbitrarily for fear of hurting her.
“You don’t have to feel guilty. What I will do in the future is doomed to be dangerous. You have to practice hard and protect me.”
Since Su Li’s tone was gentle, Fang Yuan was in a daze. Immediately he nodded hard as if he had been injected with infinite power.
At this moment, he swore that he would never let the girl who was always smiling in front of him suffer from any harm.
Su Li settled down the brother and sister. After a few days, Su Li improved her cultivation in the appearance to the third hurdle. Qi Xianqing was so happy that he immediately returned to the Baicao Tang with Su Li after the morning cla.s.s.
At this moment, a long queue had been formed in Baicao Tang by ordinary people who saw the doctor. Qi Xianqing had a busy time and could have a rest until the noon. He led Su Li to the back room and solemnly said, “Apprentice, you have begun the third hurdle of Xuangong. It can be considered that you gain the mastery of it. Today, I will teach you the real practice method!”