Settling Down

Returning to Linjiang City, Xia Ci and Xia Xiayin were not as rushed as when they had come, taking a total of five days to return to Linjiang City.

Shortly after entering the city, they were stopped by a carriage coming from the opposite direction. It was Yan Sanniang from Notsecond Manor, with her guard A-Qi driving the carriage.

"Young Hero Xia, welcome back!"

Yan Sanniang climbed directly onto Xia Ci's carriage, bringing a large bundle that landed with a clang in the carriage, revealing shining silver.

"What's this?" Xia Xiayin asked curiously.

"It's the bounty for Iron Arhat and Abbess Kuye, a total of five hundred and fifty taels of silver, all here," Yan Sanniang said.

Xia Ci asked puzzledly, "Doesn't Notsecond Manor take a cut?"

"No cut," Yan Sanniang said. "These two were killed by Young Hero Xia and Sister Xiayin on your own encounter, so Notsecond Manor doesn't take a single share of the bounty."

Xia Ci said, "That doesn't follow the rules. If I remember correctly, the government bounty for these two added up to only about three hundred taels. Now there are five hundred and fifty taels, which means Notsecond Manor still spent effort collecting private bounties. In this case, according to the contract we signed earlier, of the extra two hundred and fifty taels, Notsecond Manor should take half."

"No cut, not a single share," Yan Sanniang said. "Young Hero Xia, let's amend our contract. From now on, for all wanted criminals not provided by Notsecond Manor's intelligence, as long as you kill them yourself, Notsecond Manor will help you collect private bounties from various places for free. Additionally, even for those that Notsecond Manor provides intelligence on, the commission will be reduced from fifty percent to thirty percent. I'll only charge a small fee for costs."

Xia Xiayin exclaimed happily, "Really?"

"Really, truer than true gold," Yan Sanniang said.

But Xia Ci was quite rational and asked, "Madam Yan is a businesswoman, not a charity worker. There must be a reason?"

"Ah," Yan Sanniang said, "Young Hero Xia, aren't you just asking what you already know? Your value in the bounty hunter industry is different now."

"Because I killed Flying Dragon?" Xia Ci asked.

Yan Sanniang shook her head and said, "The Tang family of Zhushan County being attacked by evil martial artists hasn't spread widely yet, but we who are in the pursuit business primarily rely on intelligence. We've heard that Young Hero Xia single-handedly killed Flying Dragon, Wu Huan, and Yang Tang despite their combined forces. Most importantly, White Cloud Sword Shen Bai personally said he was impressed by your martial arts.

That's White Cloud Sword Shen Bai! His one statement has multiplied your value in the bounty hunter industry several times. Although you're still a newcomer in the industry, your value is already comparable to a gold-medal bounty hunter. I'm worried now—Notsecond Manor has finally found a bounty hunter with top-tier potential like you, and I'd cry if you were poached by other pursuit towers."

Xia Ci smiled slightly and said, "Madam Yan, this treatment is even better than what a typical gold-medal bounty hunter receives. I don't think any other pursuit tower would offer me such terms. Aren't you afraid of losing money?"

This treatment could truly result in a loss.

After all, intelligence is very costly, and Yan Sanniang only taking thirty percent means she can make a profit, but not much. Most crucially, it doesn't mean that every piece of intelligence given to Xia Ci will result in a successful hunt. Unless Xia Ci's success rate reaches eighty percent, meaning at least eight successes out of ten attempts, Notsecond Manor would barely break even. If it's below eight, Notsecond Manor would definitely lose money. After all, Yan Sanniang also promised that for intelligence Xia Ci gathered himself or for wanted criminals he encountered on his own, Notsecond Manor wouldn't take a cut and would even spend money to help collect private bounties from various places. With this arrangement, Notsecond Manor was basically heading toward a loss.

Yan Sanniang smiled and said, "Young Hero Xia, I'm a businesswoman. You should believe that any decision I make has its rationale. You might profit, but I definitely won't lose.

Notsecond Manor's Pursuit Tower is newly established, lacking both bounty hunters and wealthy clients. In this situation, I'm betting that you can become a top-tier bounty hunter. When that happens, Notsecond Manor, riding on your reputation, will definitely thrive in business. You'll be a living billboard for Notsecond Manor. Do you think I'll lose money? Investing a little in you now will allow me to earn many times more from other sources.

Young Hero Xia, you may not understand, but pursuit towers don't really make money from government bounties. More comes from private bounties. Take Flying Dragon, for instance. The government bounty is only one thousand taels, but the private bounties that Notsecond Manor can connect with already amount to two thousand taels, and that's not even counting the larger ones.

Last year, the Dongyang Pursuit Tower in the north city received a bounty job from the wealthy merchant Yang Qiao. It was for a criminal wanted by the government with only a five-hundred-tael bounty. But the wanted criminal had a grudge with Yang Qiao, so Yang Qiao found the Dongyang Pursuit Tower and directly offered five thousand taels. Because the Dongyang Pursuit Tower had a big reputation with gold-medal bounty hunters, Yang Qiao had enough trust in them.

Additionally, having a top-tier bounty hunter makes it easier for me to negotiate business. For example, if the government recently issued a bounty, and I find out that the wanted criminal has a grudge with a wealthy person, it becomes easier for me to approach them for a commission.

These are just one aspect. There are many other benefits. In this martial world, reputation represents countless wealth. Young Hero Xia, I believe you can become a top-tier bounty hunter, so I'm investing in your future reputation. Even if I lose money now, I won't lose in the future."

Xia Ci chuckled lightly and said, "Madam Yan, you don't seem like a businesswoman, more like a gambler."

"But I'm good at gambling, I've never lost."

"I hope this time, Madam Yan won't lose either."

As Xia Ci spoke, he tossed a bundle in front of Yan Sanniang and said, "These are the heads of Flying Dragon, Wu Huan, and Yang Tang. I'll trouble Madam Yan with them."

"Leave it to me, don't worry."

Yan Sanniang immediately passed it out, and A-Qi took the bundle and placed it in their carriage.

"Young Hero Xia, would you like to rest for a while or shall I arrange your next task soon?" Yan Sanniang asked.

"Let me rest for a few days," Xia Ci said. "This journey has yielded significant martial arts insights. I need to organize them, and also use this time to guide my sister's martial arts properly."

Besides guiding Xia Xiayin's martial arts, Xia Ci also planned to retrieve the Minor Restoration Pill from the system for Xia Xiayin to consume. He needed a few days to help Xia Xiayin absorb the medicinal power of the Minor Restoration Pill. If Xia Xiayin were to consume it on her own, she would at most absorb fifty percent of the efficacy, which would be very wasteful.

"That's good. If Sister Xiayin's martial arts improve, it will also be a great help to you," Yan Sanniang pondered for a moment and said, "Well, Young Hero Xia, whenever you're rested and ready to take on a task, just come and tell me. I'll select suitable ones for you."

...

Early morning, in the small courtyard.

Xia Ci and Xia Xiayin were seeing off a middle-aged man at the door. This person was a high-ranking member of a pursuit tower who had come to recruit Xia Ci.

"Young Hero Xia, you can consider my proposal carefully. Our Fuwei Pursuit Tower is a well-established pursuit tower with a hundred years of heritage. We not only have channels in Linjiang Prefecture but also have many channels throughout all six prefectures of Yun Province. With your strength, if you come to our Fuwei Pursuit Tower, you can definitely achieve great things. As for the breach of contract fee with your current pursuit tower, our Fuwei Pursuit Tower can cover it for you."

Xia Ci nodded slightly and said, "I will definitely consider it carefully. Thank you for your kindness."

"Then I won't disturb you further," the middle-aged man said. "Young Hero Xia, once you've made your decision, you can come find me anytime. Farewell!"

"Take care."

The middle-aged man cupped his hands in salute, got into his carriage, and left.

After seeing him off, Xia Xiayin smiled and said, "Brother, you're really famous in the martial world now. This is already the fifth pursuit tower that has come to recruit you."

Xia Ci shook his head slightly and said, "I can't be called famous in the martial world. I just have a bit of reputation among bounty hunters. And the reason these pursuit towers are willing to offer those benefits is not primarily because I've demonstrated great value myself, but because of Shen Bai."

"Hehe," Xia Xiayin laughed. "Regardless, it's also because you're very powerful. In the future, when I go out, I'll sit down somewhere, and people will definitely ask, 'Who is this young lady?' Then I'll slam my hand on the table and say with perfect enunciation, 'My brother is Xia Ci.' Then everyone below will be shocked, hahaha..."

"Your little head is always full of random thoughts," Xia Ci smiled lightly. "But seriously, no matter how much those pursuit towers try to recruit me, they can't possibly offer the treatment that Yan Sanniang gives me. Although their intelligence capabilities might be stronger, they wouldn't allocate as many resources to me. But Notsecond Manor is different—right now, Notsecond Manor is giving resource priority to me."

Xia Xiayin nodded and said, "That's true. Madam Yan is quite nice, and she's beautiful too. When she came to deliver the money yesterday, she also brought me rouge. Hmm, Brother, we now have more than two thousand taels. When we save up to ten thousand taels, we can find Qi Miaoxuan to treat your eyes."

"We'll see. You should find time to buy or rent a larger courtyard, and also buy a carriage. We need to buy a good horse as well. Additionally, we need to replace our knives with better ones. Calculating all this, we don't have that much money left!" Xia Ci said.

Xia Xiayin thought for a moment and said, "Brother, let's not buy these things yet. Let's save money first, okay?"

Xia Ci shook his head and said, "Sharpening the knife won't delay the wood-cutting. I know you want to save enough money quickly to treat my eyes, but if we improve our basic facilities, we can earn money faster. Also, the things we're using now are all from Madam Yan. Although Madam Yan hasn't asked us to return them, we can't just comfortably take advantage. We still need to return these things.

Moreover, don't rush about my eyes. Inviting Qi Miaoxuan to help requires meeting his conditions—the so-called ten thousand taels of silver is just the first condition. The most difficult part comes later. We can't rush."

"Alright, I understand."

Xia Xiayin looked a bit dejected.

Indeed, as Xia Ci said, among the three conditions for inviting Qi Miaoxuan to help, the seemingly large sum of ten thousand taels of silver was actually the easiest to fulfill.

"Don't think too much about it," Xia Ci reached out and patted Xia Xiayin's head, saying, "I've almost adapted now. Whether my eyes are treated earlier or later doesn't make much difference."

"But I just want you to recover soon," Xia Xiayin was still glum.

Xia Ci smiled and said, "Alright, let's leave it at that. Let's go inside to practice. I'll help you absorb the medicinal power of the Minor Restoration Pill. According to the progress these past few days, it will take at most three more days for the medicinal efficacy to be almost fully absorbed, and you'll be able to break through to the seventh level of the Mysterious Heart Method."

The day after returning to Linjiang City,

Xia Ci had extracted the Minor Restoration Pill from the system for Xia Xiayin to consume. With him using his Nine Yang internal energy to help Xia Xiayin absorb the Minor Restoration Pill, the effect was twice the result with half the effort.

Originally, Xia Xiayin had only cultivated the Mysterious Heart Method to the fifth level. After fully absorbing the Minor Restoration Pill, she would reach the seventh level, and at that time, Xia Xiayin's internal energy would reach the level of an ordinary second-rate internal energy martial artist in the martial world.

The Mysterious Heart Saber Technique is divided into the heart method and the saber technique. The heart method is ordinary—even when cultivated to the ninth level of mastery, it's at most upper second-rate. However, the saber technique is exquisite and can be considered a first-rate saber technique in the martial world.

Xia Xiayin had made remarkable progress during this period. With the support of the Minor Restoration Pill for her internal energy and Xia Ci's guidance for her saber technique, she had already mastered nearly forty of the seventy-two forms of the Mysterious Heart Saber Technique, not much worse than Xia Ci before he lost his sight.

Additionally, Xia Ci was also teaching Xia Xiayin the two supreme skills: Cloud Stepping Skill and Divine Finger Flick Technique. However, since the time had been short, she had not yet entered the gateway, after all, Xia Xiayin's martial talent was very ordinary, not the kind of genius who could understand with just a hint.

...

In the following days,

Xia Xiayin became busy, looking everywhere for a house. Finally, after running around for four or five days, she bought a small courtyard that she really liked. Afterward, she spent several days furnishing the house, purchasing a carriage, horses, and weapons, directly spending more than half of the over two thousand taels of silver they had.

Xia Xiayin felt the pain when paying, but she was also very happy because, starting ten years ago, the siblings had sold their family home and set out on the path to find their parents, wandering the martial world. For ten years, the siblings had been like drifting duckweed without roots.

Now, they finally had a real home.

From the moment they entered their new home, Xia Xiayin had been jumping around excitedly with Xia Ci.

"Brother, there are two rooms in the east wing. One will be your practice room, and one will be my practice room. The two rooms in the west wing will be guest rooms for when we have visitors. The main hall here, one room will be the kitchen, and the other two will be our bedrooms."

"Good."

"Brother, can I keep a big goldfish in my bedroom?"

"You can."

"Brother, should we dig a well in the courtyard?"

"Sure."

"Brother, I want to go to the roof to look at the stars. Before, when we rented other people's houses, I didn't dare climb onto the roof, afraid of damaging it. Now this is our own house, so I'm not afraid anymore!"

"Brother..."

"..."

Xia Xiayin was truly very happy, pulling Xia Ci to sit on the roof, chattering away. Xia Ci just sat quietly. His eyes were blind and couldn't see, but he could feel that tonight's sky must be full of stars with bright moonlight.

Xia Xiayin seemed to have endless things to say, and who knows why her little head was filled with so many strange thoughts.

After an unknown amount of time,

Xia Xiayin gradually quieted down and fell asleep leaning on Xia Ci's shoulder.

Xia Ci smiled slightly,

Slowly raised his head,

Tonight's moonlight must be very bright!