Rain was pouring heavily as Zhang Yin trudged through. He went around an entire stretch of forested area at the foot of the mountain. All of a sudden, his heart jumped and he dived into a large crack between a pair of huge boulders. Trying his hardest to muffle his breathing, he could almost hear his heart thumping wildly.
Before long, a pair of shadows moved past him with several people following closely behind. Each of them had immense killing intent. It almost felt like an entire tidal wave had swept over him, causing his heart to turn cold.
However, the Concealment Talisman seemed to have worked perfectly well, as nobody noticed him. Zhang Yin patiently waited, in case anyone turned back. When he noticed that nobody did, he stood up and went in the opposite direction.
At the foot of another mountain, there was a lake with several birds chirping merrily around. When Zhang Yin walked past, they flew off clearly startled. When he finally stopped walking, he looked up to see several people appear before him. One of them stepped forward to receive Zhang Yin.
Zhang Yin hurriedly fell to his knee, "Elder Xu, thankfully I didn't lose my life. I've already obtained the lanterns."
Seeing that the three Fate Lanterns were within their possession, Elder Xu gave a smile before patting Zhang Yin on the back, "That’s good. You’ve done us a big service. Once we get back to the Sect, you shall be promoted to a Core Disciple."
Hearing these words, Zhang Yin was elated as he hurriedly shouted out, "Thank you, Elder Xu."
At this point Elder Xu seemed to have felt something move, as he kept his smile. "There are movements on the mountains, let’s get rid of our tracks and disperse."
The few of them cleared out and left hurriedly.
Several minutes later, Yu Yun Jun appeared right where they stood. She looked into the reeds as her face turned severe as if there was some danger right there.
At this point, Chen Zhong Yu’s master, Elder Chen came around as well. He stood beside Yu Yun Jun and looked into the dense reeds. His face was ashen as he spoke out harshly, "This wayward traitorous disciple!"
Chen Zhong Yu and Zhang Yin were both his disciples. But Cheng Zhong Yu was his son, and hence he was particularly upset that one of disciples turned out to be the traitor, and actually betrayed his son.
"There seems to be something dangerous lurking beyond the reeds." Yu Yun Jun spoke out.
"Let’s test it and we’ll find out." Elder Chen extended a finger and pointed into the reeds, causing it to split down the middle. Although it was raining, a fire seemed to be burning within the reeds. Looking at the flame, Yu Yun Jun’s expression turned austere. She sighed, "There might be traps lingering around for us. We can’t afford to chase after them anymore."
Hearing these words, Elder Chen’s gaze turned icy, "Damn it. Looks like we have to start making preparations."
Straight Bridge County
A gentle breeze was brewing, and the river was gushing fiercely. An entire stretch of long walls were lined with moss. The streets were dark while Pei Zi Yun walked slowly across. He was deep in thought, 'It seems like this is the place. Straight Bridge County, this is it.'
Even before he was done with his thoughts, he looked over and saw a young girl approaching. She was dressed in plain robes with many uneven patches sewn across. However, she appeared to be clean and neat, with very sharp features. The minute the young girl saw Pei Zi Yun, she seemed to be wary, and slowed down her footsteps. As soon as they walked past each other, she quickened her footsteps.
'Is that her?' Pei Zi Yun was already a Yin Master and had a certain intuition that came along with it. Once he saw her, he thought of calling out for her when he noticed she was being obstructed at the end of the alley.
The man at the end of the alley looked like a local thug as waited for her to approach. She took slow, cautious steps while approaching him. This thug cast a glance at Pei Zi Yun and felt like a weak looking student shouldn’t pose much of a problem. The thug then shouted out, "Hand over your money!"
"No!" The girl begged, "You can’t rob me. I’ve just pawned the precious hairpin given to me by mother in order to buy medication for my younger brother. Please don’t rob me…"
As she spoke, her voice started to crack but the thug was unmoving. He stepped towards her and covered her mouth with his hands in order to muffle her cries. The young girl struggled until she saw him whip out a long knife. She was terrified by the threatening blade and froze. The thug then reached into her robes and pulled out a pouch of money and a box.
"No, you can’t take that money. That’s meant for my brother’s medication to save his life." The young girl screamed out as she attempted to chase after him, tears were rolling down her cheeks as she shouted out and cried at the same time, "No, return me my money. That money is going to cost my brother his life…"
The young girl was running too fast for such uneven ground and fell down face first onto the ground. Just as she tried to pick herself up and continue the pursuit, the thug had already disappeared into an alley. She shrieked and wailed loudly, "No, no no."
The thug slipped into several small alleys when he suddenly saw Pei Zi Yun standing in front of him. He didn’t have time to wonder how this person who was behind him managed to appear before him. He then waved his knife and shouted, "Get lost. If not, I’m going to stab you."
Pei Zi Yun just extended a finger and pointed towards him casually. Although it was a very slow movement, the thug couldn’t avoid it. He gave a groan and fell to the ground. Just as he tried to climb back up to his feet, a pair of large black eyes glared down at him, "Who sent you here?"
The thug trembled, his expression was a blank, "It was the pawnshop broker down the street. He asked me to steal her money so that she would pawn off her jade pendant. But I got greedy and stole the jade pendant as well."
"Jade pendant?" Pei Zi Yun then picked up the box and the money. The minute he touched the box he knew that there was indeed a Legacy within the box. However, there seemed to be some sort of resistance to it. He then knew that this jade pendant had an owner.
Pei Zi Yun handed everything back to the young girl, who relaxed considerably after seeing her possessions returned to her. She hurriedly thanked him, "Many thanks Young Master. Thank you Young Master."
Pei Zi Yun swept a glance around and saw that the young girl was crying. He then spoke to her, "I wonder what problems are you facing? It seemed like something of yours caught the eye of the pawnshop owner when you went to pawn an item."
The young girl choked, "My little brother is ill and I was prepared to pawn off the golden hairpin and jade pendant."
"My mother’s family produced an official some time ago. This was used as a dowry. She told me that the golden hairpin was worth at least five taels of silver, and the jade pendant was worth at least ten. But the pawnshop only offered me three taels."
"Hence I refused to sell the jade pendant, but sold the hairpin for my brother’s illness. Looks like that was when he eyed my jade pendant and wanted it for himself." The young girl gradually stopped choking with tears and explained everything that happened.
Pei Zi Yun looked at her and sighed. He had kicked the thug and knocked him out. Since he didn’t kill anyone, and thus shouldn’t be punished with death. Pei Zi Yun then spoke, "Forget about other matters for now. Go and treat your brother’s illness!"
He paused for some time before continuing, "You’re just a young girl and is not safe for you to travel alone. I shall accompany you to the drugstore."
The young girl thanked him profusely before the pair went to the drugstore.
The doctor of the drugstore was a man of about fifty years old. He looked to be an old, honest man. The minute he saw them, he exclaimed, "Miss Fu you’re here again. This visit must be because of your sick brother. I told you that you have to use proper medications in order to treat him and do it regularly."
"With this amount of money, it can only ensure that your brother’s condition doesn’t deteriorate further. We’ll then see if he can hang in there."
As he spoke, he opened the cabinets to his herbs and medication. Pei Zi Yun waved a hand, "How can someone prescribe medication without first taking a look at the patient? Why don’t you follow us back!"
The doctor was somewhat hesitant, as Pei Zi Yun reached into his pockets to obtain a piece of silver and threw it over to him.
The doctor received the silver and looked at it. He could tell that it was worth a tael and had been cut out from a bigger piece of silver. It was almost white around the edges, and was at least 98% pure. He then agreed, "That’s more like it."
The young girl’s face turned red as if she wanted to say something. But her lips quivered and she remained silent. The doctor picked up some of his equipments and medication before leaving. When they arrived at the young girl’s house, the doctor frowned, "How can someone live in an environment like this. The atmosphere is so damp and moist, no wonder he can’t recover."
Hearing the doctor’s words, the young girl’s face turned red once again.
"Cough cough, cough cough." The sounds came from the bedroom where a young boy was resting in his bed. He was covered by a torn and tattered quilt. "Sister, I don’t feel too good."
"Little brother, the doctor has come. You will be fine!" The young girl choked up as she reassured him.
The doctor stepped forward and looked at the young boy in bed as he frowned, "His condition has worsened."
The doctor then took his arm and felt for his pulse as his brows furrowed even tighter, "Your brother’s situation has worsened quite a bit since the last time. The virus seemed to have attacked harder. This must be because you’ve been dragging and delaying treatment."
"Doctor, hurry save my brother." The young girl sobbed, "You know this too. My brother fell into the water and caught a cold. Our family is poor, and we thought that it was just a common cold. Hence we allowed it to drag on without treatment. Please save him now."
Hearing her words, the doctor replied, "I shall write you a prescription. As long as you take the prescribed medication regularly, he should recover. It’s just that the drugs required is somewhat expensive. And he has to take it daily for a month."
"Mister, just treat him how you should treat him." Pei Zi Yun spoke out, "If he follows the prescription he would be able to recover right?"
The doctor then replied him, "For now, it probably wouldn’t deteriorate. However, if he isn’t treated soon it might become untreatable at some point."
Pei Zi Yun looked at the young boy’s pale face and knew that the doctor was making sense. They managed to locate a pen within the house as the doctor wrote a prescription down.
Pei Zi Yun then told the doctor, "Mister you don’t have to go back yet. Please wait for me in the next room."
The doctor then left. The young girl picked up the prescription and took a look, her face turned pale almost instantly. She knew how to read and knew that the medication indicated on the slip of paper were expensive herbs. She knew that a large sum of money was required especially since he needed to use the medication daily. At this point she found it hard to breathe.
The young boy was resting in bed and he asked, "Sister, are the medications expensive? Don’t worry about me. I can recover without those medication."
Although he spoke bravely, his voice trembled.
Hearing him speak this way, the young girl put a hand to her mouth as a large teardrop rolled down her cheeks. She paused for some time before replying, "Little brother, don’t worry. I was just thinking whether we need to purchase a medicinal pot."
"Sister, if you think we should buy it, then we should buy." The young boy then asked, "Sister, do we have enough money saved up?"
She sucked in a deep breath of air, "We have enough brother. Just lie down and rest. Young Master, would you follow me outside for a moment?"
Pei Zi Yun followed her out. The minute they stepped out of the door, the young girl paused before falling to her knees, "Young Master, thank you for saving my brother’s life."
The young girl then retrieved a wooden box from her robes and opened it. It was the jade pendant. She had an anxious look on her face as she thought of her parents, tears welled up within her eyes and rolled down her face.
"Father, father, I’ve let your family down. For my young brother, for our family line to continue, I have to do this!" The young girl then handed the jade pendant to him. "Young master, this jade pendant is worth ten taels. As a young girl, I cannot pawn such an item. Please accept this."
Pei Zi Yun received the jade pendant and looked at her, "What’s your name?"
"Fu Yu!" She replied.
"Did you parents leave this jade pendant to you?"
"It’s a family treasure which was passed down from my father’s side." The girl replied, clearly heartbroken.
Pei Zi Yun paused for some time before speaking, "You have two issues on hand right now. The first is that your brother is sick, and you need money."
"The second is that your brother is too young, and you as a young girl cannot support the family."
"Since you were born to an official, you seem to be able to read and are educated. This means that your family used to be rich. How your household declined so quickly... I guess its because everyone else already treats you like your family will die out sooner or later."
"The reason the pawnshop broker is so heartless, is probably because of the same reason, they don’t expect you to survive for much longer."