Chapter 63: Yunshui Marsh

“Want to cross the bridge? Pay up,” Xi Xiaoru said lazily.

“No problem, it is one thousand gold coins, right?” The leader was a strong man around thirty years old. The fact that he could ask this meant he had contacted the wanderers returning from their trip. He quickly took out a stack of gold notes and handed them to Xi Xiaoru: “Please count them, Chief.”

Xi Xiaoru felt a bit strange. For half the day, not a single team had been willing to pay to cross. One thousand gold coins was not a small amount. However, she was too lazy to check them and simply handed the notes to Su Tang.

Su Tang took the notes, checked them once, and found the amount was correct—exactly one thousand. He nodded.

“Go ahead,” Xi Xiaoru said.

“Thank you, Chief,” the man said respectfully. He then led the Martial Artists behind him and quickly crossed the chain bridge.

After waiting for a while and seeing no more people, Xi Xiaoru said, “Little San, should we go back?”

“We cannot go back,” Su Tang said, shaking his head.

“Huh? Why?”

“Big Sister, think about it. What will those Wandering Martial Artists do if they cannot cross the bridge?” Su Tang said, “They will definitely send people to stay near the city gate, or maybe even sneak into Zuiyue Tower. Once they find out we have returned, they will set off overnight!”

“This…” Xi Xiaoru blinked. “That makes sense.”

“I guarantee that tomorrow, even if we wait the whole day, we won’t see a single person,” Su Tang said. “They just adjusted their timing slightly. This way, we can save a thousand gold coins! When there are rules above, there are always countermeasures below…”

“Little San…” Xi Xiaoru tilted her head and looked at Su Tang. “How does your brain work? Why do you have so many sneaky thoughts…”

Su Tang smiled bitterly in his heart. Silly girl, I am helping you! He coughed and added, “Also, didn’t you suspect anything about those people just now?”

“What about them?”

“They knew we would charge a thousand gold coins as a toll, so they should also know that if they split up, we would only charge fifty gold coins per person,” Su Tang said. “With a little flexibility, they could have saved at least half the money. Why did they still come together?”

“Why?” Xi Xiaoru asked with wide eyes.

“One reason is that they were in a hurry and didn’t want to risk us seeing through them and starting a conflict,” Su Tang said. “The other reason is that the profit from entering Yunshui Marsh should be over ten thousand gold coins. Without a ten-fold return, they wouldn’t have handed over the money so readily.”

“Oh…” Xi Xiaoru replied, sounding as if she half-understood.

“Are there commissions with such high prices in Red Leaf City?” Su Tang asked. In his memory, the commissions handled by Miaodao Pavilion in Changshan County rarely exceeded one thousand gold coins. Even if Red Leaf City was much more prosperous than Changshan County, it seemed unlikely there would be a massive commission worth ten thousand gold coins.

“Little San, do you mean sky-high commissions?” Zhou Qian joined in. “I remember a few, but they didn’t have much to do with Yunshui Marsh.”

“Big Sister, do you want to sneak in and see what they are actually doing?” Su Tang tempted her.

He was currently relying on Xi Xiaoru, but he couldn’t rely on her forever. Once Xi Xiaoru got bored, he might have to start over as an ordinary Wandering Martial Artist. Therefore, he really wanted to learn more information about Yunshui Marsh.

This kind of information could not be obtained through simple conversation or friendship. For example, if a Martial Artist knew a certain area like the back of their hand, they would surely want all other Martial Artists familiar with that area to die. Then they could monopolize all the commissions in that region and would never share information with others.

The best way to become familiar with Yunshui Marsh was to go in and see for himself, and he had to drag someone powerful along to ensure his safety.

“Sure!” Xi Xiaoru’s eyes lit up.

“But…” Su Tang showed a look of hesitation. Of course, he was doing this on purpose for Xi Xiaoru to see.

“What? Oh, you! If you have something to say, say it quickly!”

“Uncle Zhong isn’t here, and I’m worried about encountering danger in Yunshui Marsh,” Su Tang said. “Also, this was a sudden idea, and I haven’t prepared anything.”

“Uncle Zhong will find us, so don’t worry,” Xi Xiaoru said. “Prepare… what do you want to prepare?”

“For example, water, food, and Fire Seeds.”

“It doesn’t matter. There is water everywhere in Yunshui Marsh, and for food… we can catch fish,” Zhou Qian said, beaming with joy at the thought of an adventure. “I have fire-starters with me; they will last for dozens of uses.”

Su Tang smiled bitterly. These girls thought nothing in the world was difficult; how could they know the dangers?!

“And we have over a thousand gold notes. If we really lack something, we can buy it from others. If buying doesn’t work, we’ll just rob them!” Xi Xiaoru said. “Haha… I didn’t expect making money to be so easy. Little San, how much did we earn in total today?”

“One thousand six hundred and fifty,” Su Tang said.

“My my… then if we stay for ten days, we can earn sixteen thousand, and in a month, it’s fifty thousand!” Xi Xiaoru was showing off her calculation skills.

In reality, it was impossible to earn fifty thousand. Su Tang only used this method to force that man named Ruan to show his face and bow to Xi Xiaoru. If they really blocked the bridge for a month, the Wandering Martial Artists of Red Leaf City would have turned the world upside down. They might not dare fight the Xi Family, but they could avoid them, or simply leave Red Leaf City.

Su Tang secretly found it amusing. Was she this happy just because they earned sixteen hundred? That box of Spirit Nourishing Pills she gave him yesterday was worth at least three thousand gold coins. Of course, that was her family’s wealth, while today’s money was “hard-earned.”

“Are we really going to Yunshui Marsh? Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Lu Feixia shouted.

“Alright,” Su Tang nodded. He would just take it one step at a time. Since Xi Xiaoru dared to say Uncle Zhong would find them, she must have some way of communication that he didn’t know about.

“Wait a moment,” Xi Xiaoru said. She then picked up the Sword of Taisho, which was placed behind a rock, walked quickly to a large tree, and swung the sword to carve off a large piece of bark. Then, she wrote a line of large characters.

Those who cross the bridge without permission shall be killed without mercy. Finally, she added the character “Xi.”

“If we delay any longer, we won’t catch up with them!” Lu Feixia urged.

For the three of them, going on an adventure in Yunshui Marsh was a highly anticipated event. Their footprints covered every street and alley in Red Leaf City, but they had never experienced a real adventure because Uncle Zhong didn’t allow it. Today was special; Uncle Zhong happened to have an urgent matter and had to return to the Xi Family, which gave them the chance to run to Twin-Head Ridge and act as road bandits.

“It’s fine,” Su Tang said. “I remember the size and tread of their boots; we won’t lose them.”

“You have that skill?” Xi Xiaoru asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Su Tang said. “I have many skills. You will find out slowly in the future.” Su Tang was planting a seed of curiosity; he hoped she wouldn’t get bored in a few days and toss him aside. Since he was relying on her, the longer he could do so, the better.

However, Su Tang felt that Xi Xiaoru was not that kind of person. He remembered what she had said during their swearing-in ceremony. What does it mean to be brothers? To ignore right and wrong, to not ask about the facts, and even if a disaster is brought upon them, to help them, support them, lead them, and protect them.

How arrogant was that oath?! To ignore right and wrong meant that no matter the reason, hurting his brother was unacceptable.

“Target: Yunshui Marsh, move out!” Xi Xiaoru pointed behind Twin-Head Ridge. “Our Heaven and Earth Demon Team is coming!” After speaking, she slid the Sword of Taisho into its scabbard and turned around to throw it to Su Tang.

Su Tang was startled. He dropped into a half-squat stance, concentrating fully to catch the sword. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself again.

Xi Xiaoru suddenly burst out laughing. “This sword is too heavy for you. I’ll carry it for you.”

“No, I’ll carry it myself,” Su Tang said seriously, shaking his head.

“You little…” Xi Xiaoru frowned. “Are you afraid I’ll take the sword back? That I won’t give it to you anymore? You… Little San, you still don’t understand your Big Sister. I never take back things I have given away! If you don’t believe me, ask these two.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Little San, you underestimate Big Sister too much,” Zhou Qian said.

“I want to train myself,” Su Tang said softly.

Xi Xiaoru was stunned for a moment, then she understood. She nodded and slowly handed the sword to Su Tang. After he took the Sword of Taisho, she patted him hard on the shoulder. “Little San, good man!”

She remembered her own past. She had gone through similar Cultivation. From dragging a giant blade and struggling to move forward, to lifting and lowering the giant blade repeatedly like a stone weight, until she finally reached her current state of making the heavy feel light. She had trained hard for over ten years.

Looking at Xi Xiaoru’s back, a flicker of emotion crossed Su Tang’s eyes. He could tell that Xi Xiaoru had truly given him the Sword of Taisho. Unfortunately, this sword would ultimately not belong to him.

There was only one road from Twin-Head Ridge to Yunshui Marsh. By chance, after walking for less than half an hour, the group encountered a team of Wandering Martial Artists who had just left Yunshui Marsh. There were about twenty people. They didn’t know what had happened today, and upon seeing Xi Xiaoru, their expressions showed some fear and a desire to please her.

The Martial Artists who had been blocked by Xi Xiaoru at the bridge had left without saying a word, their faces grim. They were sincerely angry at Xi Xiaoru’s bully-like behavior, but they dared not speak out.

Su Tang immediately stopped those people. He wanted to buy all the remaining daily necessities they had—everything.

The Wandering Martial Artists were completely confused. However, they were already near Twin-Head Ridge and would be back in the city soon. Those items were no longer useful, and since someone from the eldest Miss Xi wanted to buy them, only a fool would refuse.

As they approached the edge of Yunshui Marsh, they ran into seven or eight more Wandering Martial Artists. Su Tang bought another large pile of things. Aside from the Sword of Taisho, which weighed hundreds of pounds, he now had two large bundles over his shoulders, making his walking extremely difficult.

Xi Xiaoru couldn’t bear to watch and once again offered to carry the Sword of Taisho for him. This time, Su Tang did not refuse. Cultivation was important, but one had to act according to their ability. If he continued like this, he would exhaust himself.