Chapter 7: Fortune Comes in Twos, Setting Off Alone
The next day, Shiyang Academy.
The Wilderness cohort.
The study hall buzzed with chatter.
The moment he spotted Gu Lin, Wang Mu threw an arm around his shoulder, launching into gossip:
“Did you hear? Just last night, Shen Chi of the Shen Family Pawnshop dropped dead right out on the street!”
“Shen Chi?”
Gu Lin feigned shock, then quickly let a satisfied smile spread across his face.
Seeing Gu Lin’s amusement, the surrounding students found nothing strange about it at all—if anything, it seemed only natural.
After all, the Shen Family Pawnshop had been the one lending to Gu Jingming this whole time, bleeding this fool dry over and over. Hearing that Shen Chi had died, it made perfect sense he’d be pleased.
“How’d he die?”
Gu Lin asked.
Wang Mu shook his head, lowering his voice:
“Word from the county office says the killer was likely someone at Life’s Mandate!”
“Life’s Mandate?”
Gu Lin looked genuinely stunned.
Wang Mu nodded:
“Possibly even high-tier Life’s Mandate!! I didn’t see the body myself, but apparently he died horribly—the whole corpse was frozen solid. A move that terrifying could only come from someone at high-tier Life’s Mandate or above.”
Gu Lin looked even more puzzled.
“Why would someone at high-tier Life’s Mandate waste their time killing a Shen?”
Wang Mu continued:
“Maybe they just couldn’t stand how arrogant and predatory the Shen family’s lending practices were. Though from what the Heaven cohort’s been saying, their theory is that some Life’s Mandate cultivator was passing through East Street in a foul mood and just casually crushed Shen Chi like the ant he was.”
“Either way, the Shen family’s wailing up a storm, demanding the county office petition the prefectural government to send down a team of elite investigators. They’ve sworn they won’t rest until the killer’s found!”
Gu Lin gave a noncommittal shrug.
He was about to say something when a familiar figure walked into the hall.
The man wore mourning clothes, hemp sackcloth draping his usually spirited frame, his face awash in gloom and grief.
It was Shen Xun of the Shen family—Shen Chi’s own younger brother.
“Our condolences…”
“Young Master Shen, our deepest condolences…”
The Wilderness cohort students murmured their sympathies.
Shen Xun made his way toward Gu Lin.
The latter’s expression remained entirely unmoved.
Shen Xun’s eyes were red and swollen, his voice hoarse:
“Gu Lin, the loan contract stands regardless of my brother’s death—the lender was the Shen family, and it’s on official record with the county’s revenue office. Don’t even think about skipping out on your debt.”
He’d come to the academy today for exactly this reason—to remind dozens of debtors across all eight cohorts that, though it had been his brother who’d signed the contracts, the lender listed on the paper had always been the Shen Family Pawnshop itself.
Gu Lin nodded, a faint, barely perceptible sneer flickering in his eyes.
‘Truly drowning in greed for money, this one.’
The Shen family had just lost their eldest legitimate son yesterday, and here they were, already fixated on money the very next morning.
Hearing that Gu Jingming had racked up yet another debt, Wang Mu shook his head in disappointment—this friend of his was hopelessly, incurably foolish!
After delivering his warning, Shen Xun turned and headed off toward the other cohorts.
After paying back Wang Mu’s three taels, Gu Lin followed after him.
Once they reached the corridor, he said quietly:
“Everyone here grieves deeply for your brother’s passing. Young Master Shen, please take care of yourself and stay strong.”
Shen Xun replied coldly:
“If you have something to say, say it.”
Gu Lin got straight to the point:
“I’d like to borrow another three hundred taels.”
“Three hundred taels?”
Shen Xun studied him carefully.
Gu Lin nodded.
He had it all calculated—money borrowed through skill and cunning, why should he ever have to pay it back??
The loan term was one month.
If, a month from now, he was already a disciple of one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds—
Let the Shen family try producing that contract then!
Would they even dare demand repayment?
Their bones would be scattered to ash before they got the chance!
‘Damn the Shen family—they’ve bled me, Gu Lin, dry for so long already. It’s about time I got some of it back.’
Shen Xun paced back and forth, lost in thought.
Last time, he’d only suggested the three hundred taels as something of a joke, meant to mock this fool.
But now the fool’s family had nothing left at all—he no longer had the means to secure a loan of that size.
Two years ago, sure, the Gu family still had their shop and their large estate; even if they couldn’t repay in silver, they’d had property to seize as collateral.
But now, a massive sum like three hundred taels—could this fool possibly ever pay it back?
But then again, a thought struck him—this fool’s father was a bodyguard at Tongxing Escort Agency. If he couldn’t repay, wouldn’t he steal escort silver to cover the debt and spare his son from prison?
After turning it over several times, Shen Xun finally nodded:
“Let’s head to the pawnshop first. You’ll need to wait a while there—this is a significant sum, I can’t authorize it myself. I’ll need to go home and consult my father first.”
“Fine.” Gu Lin could barely contain his eagerness.
The two of them left the academy.
Not far off, in the bamboo grove where she’d been practicing, Li Qingwu caught a glimpse of the scene—seeing that Gu had linked up with the Shen family, her eyes lit up instantly.
***
After waiting nearly two hours at the pawnshop, Shen Xun finally arrived, still dressed in mourning clothes.
“Same terms as always—one month, and you’ll owe three hundred ninety taels when it’s due!”
Shen Xun drafted the loan contract, and once Gu Lin had signed and thumbprinted it, he had the shopkeeper bring out the silver.
Five silver notes worth fifty taels each, plus a pouch containing twenty taels.
Two hundred seventy taels total.
Gu Lin had never intended to repay it in the first place, so the interest rate meant nothing to him now. He even feigned reluctance, asking carefully, as if the words were difficult to get out:
“Young Master Shen, might I borrow another two hundred taels? I need the money desperately—but don’t worry, a month from now, I’ll find a way to repay every last tael. I wouldn’t dare skip out on this!”
Shen Xun refused flatly:
“Given the Gu family’s current situation, three hundred taels is already the absolute limit!”
If it weren’t for his father’s position as an escort guard, given how bare the Gu family’s coffers were, he wouldn’t have even qualified for that thirty-tael loan last time!
Gu Lin pressed the matter several more times, only to be firmly turned down each time.
He had no choice but to give up, taking the silver notes and pouch and leaving.
The moment he stepped out of the pawnshop, a woman in a ruqun stood watching him with a bright smile.
Li Qingwu had witnessed Gu Lin tuck the silver notes into his robe sleeve, her voice soft and sweet:
“Gu Lin, I just knew you’d think of me. You’ll always be my most devoted follower—the only man I’ve ever truly favored.”
With that, she opened her palm, clearly expecting Gu Lin to hand it over on his own.
Gu Lin’s gaze turned cold, disgust plain on his face:
“Get as far away from me as possible.”
Li Qingwu’s smile froze in place.
Borrowing that much money—who else could it possibly be for, if not her?
“Did you hear some rumor going around? That I’m involved with Young Master Qilin, Zhao Yao? Is that why you’re jealous and refusing to follow me anymore?”
“That’s all just gossip! My whole ambition is to become a Blade-Bearer through my own merit in the selection trials—I intend to take you with me, Gu Lin, out of Shiyang County and on to Chu Province!”
Desperate over the large sum of money, Li Qingwu scrambled to defend herself.
Her ambitions ran deep—she wanted to become a Blade-Bearer attached to the Chu Province Martial Extremity Palace, wanted to use her beauty and charm to marry into a life with some exceptionally talented man from the Martial Extremity Palace, soaring upward from that branch like a phoenix taking flight!
As for the so-called Young Master Qilin, Zhao Yao—sure, he was the undisputed leader here in Shiyang County, but out in Chu Province, he’d barely register at all.
Her man needed to be someone truly resplendent—a disciple of one of the Four Great Sacred Grounds with a boundless future ahead of him!
And to reach that goal, the first step was standing out in the selection trials.
Which required money—for medicinal herbs, for frantic self-nourishment and cultivation!
“Go borrow your own.”
Gu Lin dropped that line and walked off quickly.
Staying a moment longer, and he wasn’t sure he could hold himself back from acting.
If he acted now, his entire future would be ruined!
Li Qingwu’s face twisted with humiliation. Of all her many suitors, that surnamed Gu had always been the most generous, the most devoted—could this sudden change in attitude mean some other woman had gotten her claws into him?
Borrowing money for another woman?
Needing that much silver—it had to be someone from the Heaven cohort, surely?
Wei Xuan? Or Lin Yan’er?
Li Qingwu seethed with fury—how dare this spineless creature offer up his devotion to some other woman?
“I will secure a seed candidate spot, no matter what it takes!”
Her voice rang out firm and resolute.
The rest of the world doubted her, ranking her somewhere between tenth and fifteenth in the academy standings, but she firmly believed that with her hidden trump cards, she could absolutely break into the top ten—perhaps even seventh or eighth place!
‘A disloyal dog switching households? Just wait for the selection trials—open those dog eyes of yours wide, and see just how brilliantly I, Li Qingwu, shine!’
***
Back home.
Gu Lin tucked the silver notes and pouch into a box hidden beneath his bed.
Knock, knock, knock—
His father knocked at the door.
“Father, come in.”
Gu Changchuan pushed the door open, an official notice in hand.
He spoke unhurriedly:
“Jingming, last time you asked me to look into bounty notices for you—well, you’re in luck today. The head guard handed me one just now. The bounty’s nine taels, and the target’s only at Energy Condensation, Third Layer. I could handle that one easily myself.”
Gu Lin took the bounty notice from him. On it was a sketched portrait of the wanted criminal, along with the man’s likely hiding spot, over in the neighboring Xiajiang County.
His emotions surged, and he forced himself to keep his excitement in check.
“By the way, why were you asking about this in the first place?”
Gu Changchuan asked, curious.
Gu Lin paused for a moment, carefully choosing his words:
“It’s for a friend from the Heaven cohort. He’s thinking about trying his hand at bounty hunting too, but he said this particular bounty should go to me—he’s mainly doing it for the experience.”
Gu Changchuan’s expression shifted abruptly, fury rising within him.
The moment he heard “Heaven cohort,” he instinctively assumed it had to be Li Qingwu, and naturally his anger flared.
But then, on second thought—Li Qingwu was a serious contender for a seed candidate spot; at a moment that would determine her entire fate, surely she’d be focused entirely on cultivation, with no time to spare for something like bounty hunting.
“Who is it, then? Are you planning to go along with them?” Gu Changchuan asked, suddenly anxious.
Gu Lin gripped the bounty notice tightly, offering no further explanation, only saying gently:
“Father, your son knows his own limits.”
Gu Changchuan studied his son for a long moment, but in the end, he didn’t push back or object.
His son had clearly changed—never mind that he’d dared to take an axe to a man’s neck without flinching; even the human-skin masks in his own room had clearly been rifled through by Jingming. What could he possibly need those for?
“You’re nineteen years old now. Your father won’t interfere—just be careful out there.”
With that, Gu Changchuan waved a hand and left.
Though his son’s behavior had grown strange, he found he didn’t particularly want to dig any deeper. No matter what he’d become, it was a thousand, ten thousand times better than the spineless, shameless coward he used to be!
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