First, he cleared his throat.
Then he waved at his subordinate beside him, as if signaling something.
Soon enough, that subordinate brought over a wooden chest, and once opened, inside were neatly stacked gold ingots, dazzling to behold.
"My lord, you must have worked hard dealing with Yunkong Temple’s matters. These are but a token of my respect. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay in Nanmu City these next few days!"
"We Embroidered Uniform Guards act under imperial orders. Even if you didn’t mention it, I’d still handle Nanmu City’s affairs. Let’s let it go this time, but don’t you dare do it again!"
Saying this,
Ye Liuyun put on a righteous face as he accepted all that gold.
"Of course! Of course!"
The words sounded so grand and proper, and seeing Ye Liuyun so serious, the County Magistrate immediately got the point.
Nodding repeatedly.
After some more polite small talk, he took his leave.
In the room, Shi Sheng and Si Nan had been there the whole time, only they hadn’t spoken up earlier.
Now, after the County Magistrate left, Shi Sheng and Si Nan finally came over.
Eyeing the gold in Ye Liuyun’s hands, Si Nan couldn’t help but remark,
"That magistrate’s really willing to spend, huh!"
All that gold—though it couldn’t compare with what they got at Yunkong Temple—it was still quite a sum.
"Humph! Another greedy official!"
Shi Sheng didn’t buy it.
With a County Magistrate’s salary, how could he possibly have this much? He had to be skimming off the top somewhere.
Nanmu City was full of perks, after all, plenty of ways for the magistrate to line his pockets.
If it was before, Shi Sheng would’ve dared say such things to the magistrate’s face.
But nowadays—
Honestly, there’s no need anymore.
Seen too many corrupt officials; if a truly honest one showed up now, that’d be the real surprise for Shi Sheng.
Ye Liuyun didn’t care, just waved his hand casually.
"Take out a portion and split it among yourselves. The next few days, have a good time here."
"Got it, sir!"
Si Nan understood in a flash.
He couldn’t hold back a sleazy grin.
After all, they were living in a brothel right now.
Did their lord really need to clarify what he meant by "have a good time"?
"Let’s go, let’s go, drinks are on me!"
As Si Nan spoke, he put his arm around Shi Sheng’s shoulders.
"Now? We didn’t sleep all night—shouldn’t we get some rest first?"
Shi Sheng, all surprised, was half-dragged toward the door.
Because of the Yunkong Temple fiasco, they hadn’t slept all night. They’d just returned, not even rested, and already being dragged out drinking?
"Rest? What’s there to rest for? Once you’re dead, you’ve got all the time in the world to rest. While we’re still alive, we should enjoy ourselves!"
"..."
That logic was so irrefutable,
Shi Sheng didn’t even know how to argue back for a moment.
"Fine, whatever!"
He didn’t object anymore.
"Your treat?"
"You’re stingy, you know that?"
They’d just pocketed a pile of money, but Si Nan was used to it by now.
Every time they went to the brothel, Si Nan ended up paying, even that first time when Shi Sheng said it was his treat—still Si Nan paid at the end. Ridiculous.
...
Night.
Below, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, led by Shi Sheng and Si Nan, were drinking and making merry in the brothel.
Of course, maybe Shi Sheng was just drinking, nothing else.
As for Ye Liuyun, for other reasons, he hadn’t joined them—he stayed in the room upstairs, window open, gazing at the bright moon in the sky.
"Talent Entry System!"
Host: Ye Liuyun!
Realm: Innate Perfection / Seventh Grade Mage
Martial Arts: Wind-Slaying Saber Skill, Cangyang Force, Pine Wood Saber Skill, Shattered Jade Hand, Blazing Blade Skill, Phantom Steps Ninefold, Overlord Saber [click for details],
Magic Arts: Basic Fire Control Skill, Flying Sand and Rolling Stones, Illusion Heart Magic [click for details],
Talent Entries: Heaven’s Chosen (Gold), Battle Physique (Gold), Hundred-Refined Divine Armament (Gold), Extraordinary Comprehension (Purple), Extreme Yang Body (Purple), Scent Discernment (Blue), Traceless Step (Purple), Mage’s Aptitude (Blue),
Multi-tasking (Purple), Alchemy Talent (Cyan), Yin-Absorbing Body (Purple),"
He opened his character panel for a look.
The Yin-Absorbing Body talent from Hui Fen—Ye Liuyun had naturally claimed it for himself.
But alas—
"What a pity!"
He’d wanted to check out that Gathering Yin and Concentrating Spirit Skill Hui Fen mentioned, but in the end, he couldn’t find it. Seemed after reading the manual, Hui Fen memorized it and destroyed the written copy.
Still, pity aside,
having the talent was enough—sooner or later, he could test what it could do.
Besides that, although most monks in Yunkong Temple didn’t have high-level talents, the sheer number of lower-level ones was considerable, and accumulating them brought a pretty good effect.
In terms of physique talents, for instance—
Not long ago, the Battle Physique talent had reached gold quality.
The experience bar jumped another big chunk—at this rate, it might well be the first talent that Ye Liuyun could push to red quality.
"Almost there!"
Ye Liuyun was pretty excited.
Curious what would change once a Talent Entry hit red quality.
He had a feeling it’d be a qualitative leap.
Thinking this, Ye Liuyun picked up the wine jug on the table and took a swig.
Then he said directly,
"Come on out. You’ve been tailing me all the way here—aren’t you afraid I’ll lock you up in the Celestial Prison again?"
Earlier that day,
even though Shu Fan had left, Ye Liuyun could still sense someone quietly following him; he just didn’t pay much mind.
Now, with no one else around, Ye Liuyun signaled for the person to show themselves.
When he finished speaking, it was still quiet all around.
Ye Liuyun wasn’t in any hurry, just took another swig from his jug.
The next moment,
a figure clothed in sheer gauze appeared before Ye Liuyun.
"Does my lord really have the heart to lock me up in the Celestial Prison again?"
Bathed in moonlight, Shu Fan’s silhouette was faintly visible through the haze of her clothes.
...