"Maybe... I got scratched by a branch in the woods," Xue Qing said guiltily. How could she possibly say that she had accidentally stumbled upon someone else's (censored) battle?
Liu Ying approached Xue Qing and crouched down to examine Xue Qing's bleeding lips closely. Xue Qing looked around awkwardly. Liu Ying extended a finger and touched Xue Qing's lips. A drop of bright red blood stained her fair finger, and Liu Ying licked the drop of blood off with the tip of her tongue.
"Hey! You!" Xue Qing exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't worry, Uncle-Master, there's no poison in the blood. There are many poisonous plants in the forest, so the cut should be checked first," Liu Ying said calmly.
So that's the reason. I overreacted. Xue Qing pinched her eyebrows awkwardly. What's wrong with me? I'm getting more and more impure. Look how open-minded the ancients were. I should learn from them.
Fortunately, after two more days of travel, the carriage finally emerged from the forest. Following a narrow path over low grass for another half day, they arrived at a small town. Good heavens! There was human habitation everywhere; living, breathing people were everywhere. Xue Qing was so moved that tears welled up in her eyes. Xue Qing asked Liu Ying to stop the carriage by the roadside, and she jumped down.
"Liu Ying, hurry and book two superior rooms at the inn, or there won't be any available." Xue Qing urged Liu Ying to lead the horse to the inn and settle it in.
"Uncle-Master, where are you going?"
"Find a blacksmith to take care of this thing." Xue Qing patted the cloth bag in her arms, inside which was the stiff, ornate hidden sword inlaid with gems. She told the blacksmith to remove the gems, which would then serve as travel expenses.
"Will you go by yourself? Or should I go with you?" Liu Ying was worried about Xue Qing walking alone in the unfamiliar town.
"Don't worry, this town is bordered by Kunlun Palace to the east and Wudang Sect to the west. With two major sects protecting it, the security is definitely very good. I'm fine." Xue Qing told Liu Ying to quickly take the horse to the inn to eat hay. After eating wild grass in the forest for several days, the horse had become wild and had a particularly bad temper.
This town is much larger than a small town like Wuzhen, and its level of prosperity is on a completely different level. Although there are many shops, the blacksmith shop is relatively easy to find because it is a very large shop. The owner must be very rich, having bought at least three shops. Xue Qing walked in with a sigh.
Upon seeing Xue Qing enter the shop, the clerk immediately went up to her and asked solicitously, "Miss, are you buying a weapon or modifying a weapon?"
"Change it," Xue Qing said softly, her gaze sweeping around the blacksmith shop. The owner had indeed bought three shops, knocked down the walls, and set up a row of smelting furnaces in the huge shop, with someone guarding each furnace.
"What weapon would you like to modify, young lady?"
"A hidden sword in the sleeve."
“Alright, young lady, please follow me. I’ll introduce you to Master Sun. He’s the best at swords,” the apprentice said, gesturing for Xue Qing to follow him. They walked to the innermost furnace, where a burly man with dark skin was banging something loudly. “Master Sun, this young lady wants to have her sword modified. Could you please help her?”
"Alright, young lady, how would you like it changed?" The burly man stopped hammering, wiped the sweat from his brow, and asked Xue Qing.
"I want to remove all the decorations from this sword, leaving just a clean one." Xue Qing placed the small cloth bag on Master Sun's table, opened it, and revealed a jewel-encrusted hidden sword.
"Let me see..." Master Sun could tell at a glance that this sword was valuable. He wiped his hands with a rag and carefully picked up the hidden sword to examine it. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he pushed the hidden sword back to Xue Qing, saying, "Miss, we can't change this sword."
After dining and dashing
"Why?" Xue Qing asked curiously. It was just a matter of having him remove all the jewelry and polish the sword blade; there shouldn't be any technical difficulties involved.
"Is this sword from Broken Sword Manor, young lady?"
"Yes." Xue Qing nodded, remembering that this was the name Liu Ying had mentioned.
"I dare not modify the swords produced by Broken Sword Manor. Not only me, but no blacksmith shop in the Central Plains can modify the swords of Broken Sword Manor. If you are not satisfied with the sword, you should go to Hunan to find someone from Broken Sword Manor to modify it."
"Xiangnan? That's a long way, Uncle. Please change it for me secretly, I won't tell anyone."
"No, these are the rules, please don't make things difficult for me, young lady."
Having said all that, Xue Qing stopped nagging the blacksmith. What kind of backing did Broken Sword Manor have? They were too domineering, forbidding other blacksmiths from modifying their swords. Fine, they wouldn't modify them, but at least they shouldn't have made the swords so… dazzling! Xue Qing wrapped the hidden sword in her sleeve again, walked out of the blacksmith's shop, and her first important task upon entering town had failed—a tragedy.
Stepping out of the blacksmith's shop, a tall wine vessel greeted her with the three golden characters "口福" (meaning "Good Fortune of the Mouth"). Xue Qing swallowed hard; she hadn't had a decent meal in so long. Her stomach could endure it, but her mouth couldn't. She resisted the temptation, and the aroma irresistibly drew her in. The waiter, seeing Xue Qing's elegant attire, recognized her as a lucrative target and immediately brought her to the counter. Xue Qing didn't disappoint, ordering a table full of dishes. She packed up the leftovers to take back to Liu Ying, ensuring nothing was wasted.
After finishing the meat buns, she ate squirrel fish, and after that, she ate sliced duck. The world was truly wonderful! Xue Qing, full and satisfied, wiped the thick layer of grease from her mouth and called for the waiter to settle the bill. The waiter scurried over, but Xue Qing reached into her robes and her face instantly paled. She had originally intended to remove the jewels from the sword—it was a huge sum of money—but she hadn't brought any banknotes with her, and all her travel expenses were in the carriage. She was doomed; she had no money to pay the bill.
"Miss? That'll be five taels of silver and seventy coins in total." The waiter repeated himself, and seeing that Xue Qing's expression was not good, his expression also turned sour.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot to bring my money when I went out. How about I give you this as payment?" Xue Qing had a sudden idea and took out a sword from her sleeve. The sword was covered with jewels, more than enough to cover the cost of a meal.
“Miss, although our shop is not famous, we are not ignorant. This sword is from Broken Sword Manor. I can tell at a glance. Swords from Broken Sword Manor are all specially made for specific people and cannot be pawned. No matter where you got this sword, we will not accept it. Please pay in cash.”
What?! This sword is covered in jewels and can't be sheathed? Broken Sword Manor, you've really ruined us! Xue Qing entered a state of utter distress, and the waiter's face was already very sour: "If you want to dine and dash, young lady, don't blame us for being impolite."
"Hey, hey, let's talk this out, don't be impulsive, don't come any closer!" "Don't come any closer!"
After Xue Qing finished speaking, she noticed something strange: there was an echo. She turned her head and saw that a man dressed entirely in white was also surrounded by waiters at the next table.
"I told you, I just forgot my money, why don't you believe me?" the man in white said helplessly. It turned out he was also a dine-and-dash hogger. Xue Qing felt a sense of sympathy for him, as if they were both in the same boat.
The man in white also noticed Xue Qing. Upon realizing she faced the same predicament, he gave her a helpless smile. Seeing the man's face, Xue Qing was unsure whether he was male or female. His clothing suggested he was dressed as a man, but his features were too delicate. While Liu Ying and Yan Ming were also beautiful, they were clearly male, but this man gave off an androgynous air. His physique was also very slender. Could he really be a woman disguised as a man? But would a woman disguised as a man have an Adam's apple? She was conflicted.
The two were surrounded by the waiters, who kept getting closer and closer as they retreated.
"My money was with the maid, and we got separated. Alas," the man in white sighed.
"What a coincidence, my money is with my lackey too." Xue Qing glanced at the man in white with affection, feeling as if they had known each other for a long time. They were both in a tragic situation.
"Oh no! Oh no!" A child who worked as a helper at the wine shop ran up, panting, and said, "The people from Xiangman are talking badly about us again. They say our cooking is bad and the fish is rotten."
"Bullshit! A bunch of country bumpkins from Xiangman dare to climb onto the roof if they don't clean up the mess in a day! Guys, let's go, grab our weapons and head to Xiangman!" the oldest waiter roared.
"Brother, what should we do with these two?" a young waiter asked, pointing at Xue Qing and the man in white.
"Take him away. Deal with Xiangman first, then deal with the other two."
"Alright!" all the waiters in the shop said in unison. A group of waiters, some carrying kitchen knives and others carrying iron ladles, forced Xue Qing and the man in white to march towards the west end of the town. The passersby, seeing this scene of a chef's riot, showed no sign of panic, as if they were already used to it. They merely whispered among themselves or pointed at Xue Qing and the man in white.
Xue Qing wished she could cover her face. It was so embarrassing to not have money to pay for a meal, especially since she wasn't short of money. How unfair! She would definitely sew a few banknotes into her bib in the future! After estimating the distance from the east to the west of the town, the team of chefs with cleavers and ladles stopped. The restaurant in front of them was called Xiangman, and another team of chefs was standing below, also holding cleavers and ladles.
"You country bumpkins from Xiangman, how dare you say my cooking is bad! You don't even try your own dishes, they're like they've been soaked in dog piss!" the chef from Koufu immediately shouted.
"Your cooking smells like dog poop! Dog poop!" Tianxiang's head chef immediately retorted.
"What a childish and low-class argument!" Xue Qing thought, feeling she didn't want to eat any more of the food from either of the restaurants. The two chefs, finding the mutual insults pointless, started a full-blown brawl. A cleaver flew from their hands, brushing against her neck as Xue Qing slightly turned her head. Even colder was the cleaver's touch on her heart—what kind of fate was this?! No wonder she'd transmigrated to the least safe world of martial arts; even chefs fighting were this bloody. Everyone was engrossed in the fight, oblivious to Xue Qing. Now was the perfect opportunity to escape. Xue Qing lifted her cumbersome skirt and took off running, dodging flying spoons and other projectiles. But without internal energy, her movements were clumsy, like an ordinary person. She watched as someone fell and was about to hit her. Before her body could react, Xue Qing stood there blankly when suddenly she was shoved hard in the waist, losing her balance and falling to the side. A crimson figure flashed into view, nimbly moving to Xue Qing's side and catching her, helping her regain her footing. The one who saved Xue Qing was a young girl's body. Just as Xue Qing was about to look at her face, the girl released her grip and, using her light-footed skill, leaped up and disappeared into the chaotic crowd.