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    Edict of Peace 32

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    Chapter 32: Yaoguang Meets the White Tiger

    Li Guanyi hadn’t slept well the entire night due to the malicious ending of the cultivation technique inheritance left by Xue Shenjiang (Xue Divine General). Everyone has a thirst for knowledge; it’s like getting stuck in the middle of a game’s plot, neither advancing nor retreating. The next morning, when Li Guanyi went out, his driver, Zhao Dabing, was already waiting at the gate, along with two pretty maidservants carrying food boxes containing various medicinal meals.

    Zhao Dabing took a large bite of a flatbread. Inside, smoked meat and the white parts of scallions were wrapped. He didn’t like the green parts of the scallions! After one bite, the distinct layers of flavor made him exclaim in satisfaction, “It’s the old Patriarch’s order.”

    “He said, having heard that the guest’s aunt is frail, he specially prepared these medicinal meals. These two girls were raised by the Xue family since childhood; they’re good family girls here to help take care of the guest’s aunt and family. If you’re worried about being disturbed, I’ll bring them back to the Xue family every day when I bring the guest back.”

    Li Guanyi informed his aunt and then sat in the carriage, asking Zhao Dabing why he didn’t eat some as well. The man laughed loudly, “Medicinal meals don’t taste good; this is much better! I’m from central China. Although I’ve been in Jiangnan for a while, I still think this flatbread is better than rice.”

    “My wife made this; it tastes great!”

    “I can’t share it with you.”

    He showed off the flatbread in his hand. Li Guanyi smiled and changed the subject.

    “But, won’t sending these two girls affect their original work?”

    Zhao Dabing said, “The Xue family has many people; it’s fine.”

    “There are so many girls in the family…”

    Li Guanyi was puzzled: “So many? Where did the Xue family get them?”

    Zhao Dabing smiled, “Where did the guest think they came from? The Xue family doesn’t engage in such business. Rather, it’s the Xue family who helped them…” He hesitated, “Do you know about the palace maids?”

    Li Guanyi nodded.

    Zhao Dabing said, “Two hundred years ago, when the Chen Kingdom was founded, Emperor Wu of Chen established a law abolishing slave registers from the era of chaos. Even servants had to sign contracts, and high-ranking officials who killed servants would be severely punished, even facing the death penalty.”

    Li Guanyi said, “This law is good.”

    “It is good, but this was long ago, two hundred years! Emperor Wu of Chen has long since died on the battlefield. He saw the rules established during the chaotic times violated one by one. Now, those useless officials in the palace go out to buy things.”

    “To get kickbacks, they started buying boys and girls from brokers, and human trafficking slowly grew. Now, it’s become customary for the palace to buy children from brokers. It’s a third cheaper than hiring good family girls. Most importantly…”

    Zhao Dabing hesitated, “If a good family girl dies unexpectedly, a large sum of money needs to be paid.”

    “But if they’re bought from brokers, you don’t have to pay.”

    “The chief eunuchs in the palace kill some palace maids every once in a while and take their compensation for themselves, buying properties outside. This led brokers to use various means to abduct and sell people, with rumors even circulating about them drugging beautiful women they see on the road.”

    “Therefore, real estate in Jiangzhou is extremely expensive. I heard that even third-rank officials can only afford to rent, and it’s called ‘Chi’er Qian’ (Crazy Child Money).”

    “It’s the money even crazy children can earn, referring to those palace maids.”

    Li Guanyi looked at Guan Yi City of Chen Country. Guan Yi City was prosperous, and Jiangzhou was even more extravagant in the world, but such darkness exists. Only a large family like the Xue family knows about this. Zhao Dabing said:

    “The second miss witnessed such things, so she bought them and sent them to the Xue family. It’s not easy for her to confront those eunuchs in the palace, and Chen Huang (Emperor Chen) also doesn’t know how to react.”

    “After the old patriarch learned about this, he simply bought out all the people from the brokers in the surrounding ten cities.”

    Li Guanyi said, “Wouldn’t that make those human traffickers even worse?”

    “Of course not…”

    Zhao Dabing laughed, “After that, no one ever saw those brokers again.”

    “And the flowers on Nanshan Mountain bloomed better than they had in the previous thirty years.”

    No further explanation was needed.

    Zhao Dabing drove very steadily. When they arrived, Li Guanyi lightly jumped down, wearing a heavy saber and longbow. He first went to the Xue family’s martial artist dining hall. It served food for martial artists, mainly meat dishes, served with rice and a bowl of ginseng soup. Those serving the food were all martial artists with steady hands; they were afraid you wouldn’t eat enough.

    The *Pozhen Qu* (Breaking Formation Song) internal energy refining required energy. Plus, Li Guanyi was a young man experiencing a growth spurt, so his appetite was enormous, and he ate his fill.

    During martial arts practice, Xue Shuangtao seemed to no longer care about yesterday’s “Xue family sister” remark. She was still extremely strict and serious in her teaching. Li Guanyi, having some archery foundation from the inheritance, still valued the basics and learned diligently. By the end, his muscles and bones were tired, but the girl still had a bright expression and fierce archery skills.

    The eldest Miss Xue had been brought up by Xue Daoyong since childhood, cultivating Qi at age five, and was skilled in music, mathematics and martial arts, not lagging behind her peers.

    Li Guanyi and Xue Changqing sat on the grass.

    “Was Miss Xue always this strict?”

    Xue Changqing took a large gulp of iced tea and muttered, “No, I don’t know.”

    “She wasn’t like this before.”

    “Sister seems to be putting in extra effort today, as if someone angered her, but she doesn’t seem angry. Sir, do you have any idea?”

    Li Guanyi thought for a moment, his smile shy and sincere, his answer resolute:

    “I don’t know.”

    *Buzz!!!*

    The arrow shot from the bow spiraled through the air, the bowstring singing like a swarm of bees in frenzied dance. The arrow pierced the bullseye and flew through the target, embedding itself firmly in the wall. Xue Shuangtao raised a strand of hair and tucked it behind her ear. Turning around with her bow, her expression was as gentle as when they first met. She said,

    “Practice archery.”

    Xue Changqing’s face turned pale.

    Who on earth angered this she-tiger?!

    *Sir, do you have any idea?*

    The pale-faced child frantically winked at the boy beside him.

    The boy, calm and sincere, thought for a moment, and replied with a warm smile.

    “I don’t know.”

    Xue Shuangtao taught archery and footwork, but the *Seven-Strike Scattered Hand* technique was taught by someone else—a drunkard elder. After a demonstration, Li Guanyi understood why Xue Shuangtao didn’t teach him this technique. The old man swayed in front of Li Guanyi, performing the seven moves in sequence.

    Groin strike with an arc step, groin strike from the side, groin kick with a retreating step.

    Eye-covering inch-punch to the throat, throat strike, eye gouge, back elbow strike to the Dazhui acupoint, side-body throat strike, eye gouge.

    Only seven moves. The elder demonstrated how to use them in various situations and then stopped.

    “This is a technique used by beggars in my Beggars’ Clan. We don’t have much meat to eat, little strength, and no weapons.”

    “It’s not pretty, but it’s basically enough.”

    “The stances of the famous sects and schools are elegant, but before reaching the realm of mastery, they may not be as effective as these seven strikes. But you should use them sparingly. These strikes require little strength and can kill.”

    Because there were only seven moves, Li Guanyi quickly mastered them.

    At noon, he hurried to the library and began searching through the archives. He found the history of the Xue family—to leave the secluded area, you need the strength to enter the realm; to receive the inheritance, you need the strength to enter the realm; but the best method to enter the realm was hidden by the Xue Divine General.

    Li Guanyi remembered.

    He said that a friend named Yaoguang found a geomantically auspicious site for the Xue family, which prompted the relocation to Guan Yi City. Therefore, the historical records should contain the corresponding information. Xue Daoyong originally wanted to have Li Guanyi called to the Listening Wind Pavilion for a meal but heard that he was in the library and left him be.

    However, upon hearing that the first book Li Guanyi borrowed was the Xue family history, he was surprised.

    After much thought, unable to understand, he only smiled and said, “Indeed, he is different from others.”

    “Let’s see what he can do.”

    “Surely he won’t be able to find me a Golden House or Jade Pavilion.”

    For several days, Li Guanyi searched several times, finally finding three possible clues: the mountains behind the city, a river flowing through Guan Yi City, and the Xue family’s ancestral home. Li Guanyi decided to try all three.

    If all else failed, he would have to try to hold that divine bow again.

    Two more days passed. Li Guanyi went to the mountains first. Except for encountering a lone wolf, which he killed with his Su Ni bow, he didn’t find much. He only stole some fruit from a squirrel, earning the squirrel’s curses, and brought it back, cleaning a jar to make fruit wine.

    The Xue family’s ancestral home couldn’t be easily accessed, so he went to the river. Following the stream, he found many people picnicking. The deeper he went, the fewer people there were, until he finally found a secluded pool. Beyond that, there was nothing else.

    “It’s really in the Xue family’s old house…”

    Li Guanyi was somewhat disappointed, lost in thought.

    As he was about to turn to leave, he suddenly paused: “…No, he worried that the Xue family would be liquidated by the emperor at the time, so he placed his halberd on the Tangut’s sacred mountain; he left the inheritance in the divine weapon. Such a person would certainly consider the situation where the Xue family’s fallen ancestral home was no longer in the Xue family’s possession.”

    “Sun Tzu’s Art of War says, to make what is real seem unreal, and what is unreal seem real…”

    “If it were him…”

    Li Guanyi pondered, looking at the dark pool. He gritted his teeth, hid his clothes, and dove into the water. After diving, he found that the pool was deep, inconsistent with the stream’s level, with cavities in all directions, leading to unknown places.

    After circling for a while, Li Guanyi surfaced, gasping for air.

    “…It’s really here, but it seems to be hidden.”

    “I don’t know where.”

    Li Guanyi pondered for a long time, watching the sky gradually darken.

    “Yaoguang… resembles the Yaoguang star in the Big Dipper. The Big Dipper, the north?”

    Li Guanyi decided to try it anyway and entered the water again.

    He chose the northern direction in the cavity.

    Relying on his internal strength, he swam for a while, and found light ahead. Surfacing, he found that the pool led to a cave. Emerging from the water, he gasped for air, curiously looking around, and climbed up to examine his surroundings.

    This was what the Xue family’s Divine General left behind?

    At this time, the stream of Guan Yi City welcomed a new visitor.

    A young man in a hood walked slowly along the stream, bypassing rocks and layers of water, finally reaching a pool surrounded by rocks. The pool was quiet, and the young man took out a yellowed scroll from his bosom, his gaze falling on the surroundings.

    “This is the hidden realm discovered five hundred years ago by that Yaoguang and the White Tiger Grandmaster?”

    “I’ll search here for the aura of the White Tiger Grandmaster. Perhaps it will be related to finding the contemporary White Tiger Grandmaster.”

    The contemporary Yaoguang’s eyes flickered, suddenly surprised.

    He saw clothes neatly stacked behind a rock.

    “Already, someone’s here?”
    (Chapter end)

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