Ye bei often blamed himself for being born into a status he could never live up to.
The sole son of a Sword God who could hold off a million soldiers alone, the only heir to the Heavenly Origin Mansion, born clutching a jade pendant—any one of these titles alone would be a lifetime of renown that ordinary people could never dream of.
Even the crown prince might not be born more nobly than he.
His mother, the Sword God, could face a million soldiers single-handedly; his other mother, the Courtesan Queen, was unrivaled in beauty among all the women of the world.
And he?
He was mediocre, born with a boy’s face yet a girl’s features, possessing neither martial arts nor intelligence.
Although no one dared to criticize him to his face, Ye bei knew clearly that everyone laughed at him in secret for being nothing but an ordinary man.
The only thing he could not understand was why this Yin-Yang Fish Jade Pendant had been born with him.
He gently rubbed his thumb over its delicate patterns, then suddenly hurled it far away.
It arced through the air and landed precisely in the pond, raising an unremarkable splash.
Watching it sink to the bottom, Ye bei had no intention of retrieving it.
Instead, he unconsciously reached for his chest.
Sure enough, his hand found the jade pendant in its usual place.
What purpose did this jade pendant serve?
Decoration?
Boasting?
Or being sold to someone else only to return to him unseen?
To ordinary people, being born with such a pendant was a stroke of luck.
But to him, it was nothing more than a burden he could never shake off.
Ye bei repeatedly tossed the pendant up and down in boredom, all of which was captured in the eyes of the black-haired girl under the eaves.
The three-eyed crow dwelled in Lu Shan’s shadow, watching the jade pendant along with her.
Greed flickered across its crimson eyes time and time again, unsure of what to say.
Lu Shan was firmly bound within her own shadow, unable to move.
The three-eyed crow, covered entirely in black feathers, perched weakly on Lu Shan’s shoulder and spoke in human tongue, its voice raspy like a dying old woman.
Her shadow suddenly writhed strangely, as if something alive stirred within it.
She watched the jade pendant, coveted by countless people, dance through the air.
“Miss, what is that?”
But just as it was about to spread its wings and snatch it away, Lu Shan stopped it.
Lu Shan shook her head and offered no explanation.
Seeing this, the three-eyed crow seemed to want to speak but held back, then dissolved into a pool of ink and melted back into her shadow.
The Western Regions and the Central Plains rarely interacted, and their disciples seldom traveled to the Central Plains.
Most martial artists in the jianghu had only heard of Mìxiānshān, but they knew it was the number-one sect in the Western Regions.
However, not long after Ye bei was born in the Heavenly Origin Mansion, a group of black-robed ascetic monks trekked all the way from the Western Regions, carrying a baby girl less than a month old.
When asked why they had come, the ascetic monks remained silent.
Only the leader, an old black-robed monk, pressed his palms together and said, “Heaven wills it so.”
Everyone expected the Heavenly Origin Mansion to return the baby or give her to someone else.
But unexpectedly, Ye Jing personally received these visitors and accepted the baby girl as a disciple, giving her the name Lu Shan.
The world knew that Mìxiānshān must be plotting something, and everyone in the mansion treated the black-haired girl coldly.
But what could they do?
She possessed such astonishing martial talent that she not only outshone everyone in the Heavenly Origin Mansion, but even among her peers in the entire jianghu, few could match her.
Of course, one had to ignore that pink-haired bug of an existence.
Even without regaining her memories, she had become the true champion of Flower Full Tower at her young age, and her current strength could no longer be measured by jianghu standards.
But after all, she was raised by “Heaven” itself, and in her previous life, before she ran out of time, she had become Heaven’s favorite—in a sense, she was on Heaven’s side.
In comparison, Lu Shan’s background seemed rather ordinary…
Still, Lu Shan was now a top-tier master in the jianghu.
Even sect leaders and renowned heroes dared not slight her when they met; they respectfully called her Lady Lu.
Although Lu Shan usually just answered lightly, deep down she thoroughly enjoyed these flatteries.
To maintain her cold and aloof image, she always pretended to be indifferent, but in truth, she was floating on air, oblivious to the world.
In crowded settings, she could barely suppress the smile threatening to spread across her lips, so she had to leave quickly.
And Ye bei, her childhood friend, gave her a completely different feeling from everyone else.
Although Lu Shan had been sent by Mìxiānshān for only one purpose—to steal the jade pendant born of Heaven’s mandate—so her proximity to Ye bei was not entirely pure, she had grown up practicing martial arts and playing with him since childhood.
They were innocent companions, and she never took her mission seriously.
Even when Mìxiānshān’s messengers pressed her, she didn’t care.
To her, the distant, unreachable Mìxiānshān was nothing compared to the Heavenly Origin Mansion, which was right beside her.
Her birth parents, whom she had never met, could not compare to the warm and kind Master Ye Qing and the gentle, beautiful Mistress Su, who fed her snacks.
But the one she could not let go of most was the yellow-haired boy on the eaves.
Every time she saw him looking lost, dejected, and disheartened, a wave of overwhelming helplessness washed over Lu Shan.
She could control surging inner energy like a river, but she could not pour it into Ye bei’s empty meridians.
She could easily comprehend the mysteries of martial arts, but she could not make any change in Ye bei.
Everyone believed that the jade pendant Ye bei carried was priceless, but she knew it was nothing but an unshakable burden.
That was why she could not understand why her family had sent her all the way here.
Her long hair danced wildly in the wind.
She lightly tapped her toes, her figure darting like a nimble swallow onto the eaves, coming to a stop behind the yellow-haired youth.
Hearing Lu Shan’s voice, Ye bei’s mood lightened considerably.
He stood up, and the oncoming cold wind ruffled his dashing yellow hair.
“Shan’er, I want to go on a journey.”
“You’ve said that before… Little Bei, aren’t you afraid of the wind?”
“I’m not afraid of strong winds. After all, I’m a martial artist too.”
“This time, it won’t be as Ye bei.”
Lu Shan shook her head.
She lightly touched her toes, and her figure darted out like a nimble swallow, dazzling the eye.
Ye bei turned around and gave Lu Shan a bright smile.
His handsome face was especially striking in the wind.
Lu Shan was silent for a moment.
“I want to see the real jianghu.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
***
“Esteemed guest, all our first-class rooms are already booked. If you wish to stay, we only have third-class and below.”
At the counter, a pink-haired scholar-looking youth was trying to reason with the innkeeper.
But the latter held his nose in the air, looking completely indifferent, clearly looking down on her childish face.
“Don’t think money can make the ghosts turn the millstone, guest. In this place, those yellow and white things are nothing but dirt.”
Hearing this, the young green-haired bookkeeper beside her was indignant.
She stood on her tiptoes, tilting her face up, ready to argue, but the scholar stopped her.
“I really don’t want to share a room with dirt…”
She said that, but money was still money, and dirt was still dirt.
Su Mu’s face darkened as she recalled the damp, moldy environment of the third-class rooms and the uncleaned wooden bucket by the bed.
She wanted nothing more than to slap her Flower Full Tower champion jade pendant right across the innkeeper’s smug face.
Remembering what Tang Nai had said, Su Mu had to endure.
Just as she was about to take out more gold to open the innkeeper’s eyes, her hand unconsciously touched the brocade pouch at her waist, sparking some curiosity.
‘Tang Nai said I could open it whenever I ran into trouble. Why not try…’
Thinking this, Su Mu’s heart itched.
She took out the first pouch and untied it.
But when she saw the words on the slip of paper, she was dumbfounded.
[Unlocking the hint requires using one free attempt. Little Su Mu, you currently have one free attempt~]
Even without Tang Nai saying it explicitly, Su Mu immediately understood what that “free attempt” meant.
She angrily threw the pouch on the ground and ground it under her heel.
“Owe… you make me use it… ‘free’… and you said so much in one breath…”
After a while, she finally cooled down.
She tossed a heavy gold ingot at the innkeeper’s hand and slammed her palm hard on the counter, her stance imposing.
“I suggest you wise up and prepare a first-class room for me now… in short, your best guest room. Otherwise…”
To her surprise, the moment the innkeeper saw the gold ingot in his hand, his eyes went wide, unable to look away, and he only grinned foolishly.
“Your humble servant was blind… hehe, that’s wonderful. This noble guest is extraordinarily generous. I was rude earlier. Waiter, take the guest to the third floor!”
Su Mu stared at the innkeeper, who was like a completely different person, and twitched her mouth slightly, feeling some regret.
‘I definitely overpaid.’
But since it had come to this, she had nothing more to say.
She could only follow the waiter upstairs.
On the stairs, the waiter, who had a dog-skin plaster on his forehead, couldn’t help but gossip.
“Guest, you’re really generous… not to mention, you’re likely to run into trouble with those _jianghu_ people. If you’re willing to listen to my advice…”
He turned around, rubbed his fingers together at Su Mu, and deliberately dragged his words.
Su Mu understood and reluctantly handed him another silver ingot.
It’s just a dream, it’s worthless.
Besides, Flower Full Tower is the best at making money.
The waiter weighed it in his hand and grinned.
“With your appreciation, I’ll make sure you stay safe. Actually, the entire third floor is first-class rooms, all occupied by top-notch _jianghu_ masters. They won’t easily degrade themselves. As long as you don’t provoke them with words, you’ll mostly avoid trouble.”
Su Mu curled her lips.
‘Keep me safe? Just by saying that?’
“So what I’m going to tell you is something else—those dirty things even more dangerous than the jianghu…”
At the mention of “dirty things,” Su Mu perked up.
Even Qing’er couldn’t help but prick up her ears.
“You see, in this town of Jingyuan, there’s a spine-chilling old story. I can’t explain it in just a few words. You just need to know—”
The waiter finally brought Su Mu to the guest room door.
He gently pushed it, and the aged wooden door let out a grating sound.
He turned back, a strange smile hanging on his thin, dark face and said, “If you see a family of three dressed unlike Central Plains people at night, don’t be curious and greet them. If you happen to run into them, mind your own business and go your separate ways. In short, never speak to them.”
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