Seeing this, Qin Guan placed his palm on Nan Rou's forehead. A domineering surge of Gang Qi instantly invaded her body and suppressed the cold poison.
Nan Rou immediately felt much better. Qin Guan helped her into the room.
Inside, the walls were cracked, and the broken windows let in drafts from all sides. Qin Guan was speechless. How could a young lady of a prominent family live in a place like this, and without a single servant or maid by her side?
Nan Rou was shivering uncontrollably from the cold, looking as if she was about to freeze to death. Now that the cold poison was temporarily suppressed, it was best for her not to get chilled. Thinking of this, Qin Guan quickly asked:
"Miss Nan, where is the charcoal? I'll go get some to warm you up."
Nan Rou shook her head. "The charcoal for this month hasn't been distributed, and I've already used up last month's supply."
"Who's in charge of distributing the charcoal? I'll go get it for you," Qin Guan asked.
Nan Rou hurriedly waved her hands. "Young Master Qin, please don't go. Hu Liu, the one in charge of internal affairs, is ruthless and difficult to deal with. If you anger him, he'll beat you!"
"Beat me? If he dares to lay a hand on me, I'll break his arms and turn them into legs," Qin Guan said with a casual laugh.
Seeing that Qin Guan wasn't taking her words to heart at all, Nan Rou grew anxious.
"Young Master Qin, the Nan Family isn't as harmonious or easygoing as it seems on the surface. You should leave quickly. Don't worry about me."
"You go lie down on the bed first. I'll be right back." Qin Guan ignored her and walked out of the room after he finished speaking.
Seeing Qin Guan leave the room, Nan Rou hurriedly chased after him, wanting to stop him. But as soon as she stepped outside, Qin Guan was already gone.
Soon, led by a servant, Qin Guan found Hu Liu, the man in charge of internal affairs.
"Master Liu, this is the Young Lady's husband, Qin Guan!" the servant said, approaching Hu Liu.
The news of Qin Guan coming to the Nan Family to marry the Second Young Lady had already spread throughout the household.
Hu Liu sized up Qin Guan, then picked up a meat skewer and started roasting it over a brazier. After a long while, he finally spoke, "What is it?"
"I'm here to collect some charcoal," Qin Guan said.
"This month's charcoal has already been distributed. Come back next month." Hu Liu flipped the skewer in his hand without even looking up.
Qin Guan frowned slightly as he looked at a large pile of charcoal in a nearby corner.
"Just distributed? Then why doesn't the Young Lady have a single piece?"
"I wouldn't know about that."
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Hu Liu blew on the glowing red embers in the brazier and muttered casually, "She's a dying person anyway. Why waste resources on her?"
"What did you say?" Qin Guan's expression changed instantly.
"What do I mean?"
Hu Liu sneered. "With your and the Young Lady's status, you're not worthy of using charcoal. Understand?"
"Damn... Ha!"
Qin Guan suddenly laughed out of anger. For a mere servant to be so arrogant and domineering, it was truly unbelievable.
But he was even angrier at Nan Yunqi. As the head of the family, to allow his own daughter to be treated this way... What a great father he was!
Seeing Qin Guan laugh, Hu Liu raised an eyebrow. "What, you got a problem with that?"
"Yeah, I've got a problem. What are you going to do about it?" Qin Guan nodded and asked with a smile.
Hearing this, Hu Liu's face darkened, and he snorted coldly.
"You think just because you're the Nan Family's son-in-law now, I wouldn't dare touch you? Let me tell you the truth. Forget you, even if the Young Lady herself came, she'd still have to depend on my mood. If I don't give the nod, who would dare touch that charcoal?"
The moment Hu Liu finished speaking, Qin Guan suddenly appeared in front of him.
*Bang!*
Without a word, Qin Guan slammed his palm down on the top of Hu Liu's head.
*Crack!*
The tyrannical force of the palm strike instantly crushed Hu Liu's cervical vertebrae. With a sickening crunch of shattering bone, Hu Liu's neck vanished. His fat, round head was pressed tightly between his shoulders. His eyes were wide open, blood streaming from all seven orifices, dead with a look of disbelief.
Seeing this, the surrounding servants were scared witless.
Qin Guan's gaze swept over the servants as he said in a low voice, "Move all of that charcoal to the Young Lady's courtyard."
Hearing this, the servants jumped in fright and hurriedly began moving the charcoal.
Qin Guan grabbed one of the servants. "You, go get a brazier. The Young Lady's room doesn't have one."
The servant glanced at Qin Guan's hand and nearly collapsed on the spot. He scrambled away, running and stumbling towards the storeroom.
Before long, all the charcoal from the warehouse had been moved to Nan Rou's courtyard.
Seeing the servants bring in so much charcoal and even install a brazier for her, Nan Rou was in disbelief.
"Young Master Qin, this is so much charcoal... Did... did Hu Liu not give you any trouble?"
"I didn't give him the chance," Qin Guan said with a smile.
Didn't give him the chance?
Qin Guan's answer left Nan Rou completely baffled.
"You may all leave now." Seeing the servants had finished, Qin Guan waved them away.
The servants heard this and scurried away.
On their way, one servant said urgently, "Quick, go report to the Madam! Brother Hu was killed by Qin Guan!"
"Wasn't Qin Guan supposed to be a good-for-nothing with no cultivation? How on earth did he kill Brother Hu? Brother Hu was at the fifth level of the Body Refining Stage, after all!"
Thinking back to how Qin Guan had killed Hu Liu with a single palm strike, the servants were still shaken with fear.
On the Yuan Yang Continent, cultivators had ten major realms:
Body Refining Stage, Qi Refining Stage, Spirit Refinement Realm, Profound Connection Stage, Peak Stage, Free and Unfettered Stage, Star Stage, Circle Breaking Stage, Unity Stage, and Oneness Stage.
Besides cultivators, there was another type of practitioner known as a martial artist, who was born without a Dantian and could not condense Spiritual Power to cultivate.
The martial artist path was also divided into ten major realms. These ten realms were also known as the Ten Heaven-Defying Gates. With each realm they reached, they would open a Battle Gate.
The ten Battle Gates were: the Power Gate, Speed Gate, Frenzy Gate, Energy Gate, Life Gate, Fright Gate, Fate Gate, Kill Gate, Illusion Gate, and Heaven Gate.
"Idiot, can't you see it?" the leading servant glared at the other man.
"There were no fluctuations of Spiritual Power from him. He's clearly a martial artist. To be able to kill Brother Hu so easily means he's at least a second-realm martial artist!"
A second-realm martial artist already possessed the strength of a second-realm cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage. Of course he could crush Hu Liu, who was only at the fifth level of the Body Refining Stage.
Meanwhile, Qin Guan had brewed a bowl of ginger soup for Nan Rou.
Seeing the ginger soup Qin Guan brought her, Nan Rou's heart suddenly warmed, and she began to drink it.
As she drank, her eyes began to turn red.
For countless days and nights, whenever the cold poison acted up, she could only curl up in bed, silently enduring the pain, facing the fear of death all alone.
How she had wished for someone to be by her side, to give her a sliver of warmth, a trace of security. And this bowl of ginger soup that Qin Guan had brewed for her moved her deeply.
Seeing Nan Rou's reddened eyes, Qin Guan understood how she felt. A young lady on the verge of death, with no one to accompany or care for her. Thinking of this, Qin Guan said angrily:
"If it weren't for your sake, I'd smash that good-for-nothing father of yours' head in with one punch."
Hearing Qin Guan's words, Nan Rou was frightened and said hurriedly, "Young Master Qin, you mustn't be reckless! My father is at the Spirit Refinement Realm! He could kill you with a single palm strike!"
Seeing how nervous Nan Rou was, Qin Guan gave a wry smile. "Don't worry, I won't do anything rash."
Just then, after finishing the ginger soup, Nan Rou began to search for something in her bed.
After a moment, she pulled out a money pouch from under her quilt and said:
"Young Master Qin, there are thirty gold coins in here. It's what I've managed to save up. It's not much, but if you're frugal, it should be enough for your travel expenses home."
Hearing Nan Rou's words, Qin Guan was a little speechless. "Travel expenses home? I... Never mind."
Qin Guan wanted to say something but felt it would be pointless. The girl was just trying to do what was best for him, which was why she kept trying to make him leave.
After a moment's thought, Qin Guan took the money pouch. He weighed it in his hand and said with a smile:
"I wonder if thirty gold coins will be enough to buy medicine for you."
"I'm sorry, that's all I have," Nan Rou said, a little helplessly.
"It's fine. If it's not enough, I'll figure something out. You get some rest." Qin Guan turned and left after speaking.
"Young Master Qin, thank you for the ginger soup!"
As Qin Guan reached the door, Nan Rou suddenly called out, then gave him a sweet smile.
"Get some rest," Qin Guan said before closing the door.
In bed, Nan Rou glanced at the closed door and then slowly lay back down.
"He was just looking for an excuse to leave. I'm a dying person. Whoever gets involved with me will have bad luck."
"For him to have brewed me a bowl of ginger soup, I'm already very content. I wish you a safe journey, and a life free of illness and disaster."
…
After leaving the Nan Family, Qin Guan asked for directions and made his way to the Tianbao Pavilion.
The Ice Silver Flower he needed wasn't sold anywhere else. After asking around, Qin Guan learned that only the Tianbao Pavilion had it.
The Tianbao Pavilion had branches in cities across every state. Inside, one could find all sorts of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, martial skills, cultivation methods, and more. It was backed by a transcendent power that no one dared to provoke.
The interior of the Tianbao Pavilion was vast. After looking around for a while, Qin Guan finally found the area where spiritual materials were sold.
He scanned the medicinal herbs on the counters but didn't see any Ice Silver Flowers.
Seeing the owner finish with a customer and become free, Qin Guan asked with a smile, "Excuse me, do you have any Ice Silver Flowers?"
The owner glanced at Qin Guan and said nonchalantly, "Yes. Fifty thousand gold coins per plant."
"What? Fifty thousand!" Qin Guan was shocked.
He never expected an ordinary Ice Silver Flower to be worth fifty thousand gold coins.
He remembered when he was tempering his body on the Ice and Fire Double Mountain, the ice mountain was covered with Ice Silver Flowers, growing like weeds...
Seeing the owner's shrewd eyes fixed on him, Qin Guan fumbled with the money pouch and said awkwardly, "Fifty thousand gold coins... I'm a little short."
Hearing Qin Guan say he was "a little short," the owner's expression softened, and he quickly smiled. "No problem, we can offer a small discount. How much do you have?"
"Thirty gold coins," Qin Guan said with a grin.
Hearing this, the owner's eyes narrowed. "You call that 'a little short'? Are you messing with me for fun?"
Qin Guan waved his hands and said with an embarrassed laugh, "Of course not! I really had no idea the Ice Silver Flower was so valuable!"
The owner became impatient. "Go on, get out of here! Don't fool around and disrupt my business!"
Qin Guan scratched his head. *Motherfucker, it's hard to get anything done without money!*
When he was with his master, he had access to all kinds of heavenly materials and earthly treasures and never had to worry about money. He didn't have much of a concept of money. He only remembered that the old man had a black Storage Ring that seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of things...
"Owner, do you have any tiger demon bones?" Just then, a middle-aged man walked over.
Seeing the man was dressed in luxurious clothes, the owner hurried forward with a broad smile. "Yes, of course we do!"
"Pick out a high-quality one for me," the middle-aged man said, looking at the counter.
"One moment, please!"
Soon, the owner brought out a white bone, about one foot long.
"How much?" the middle-aged man asked, taking out a Storage Bag.
Hearing this, the owner placed the tiger demon bone on a scale.
"Sir, look here. It weighs just over ten jin and three taels. At fifty gold coins per tael, that comes to five thousand one hundred and fifty gold. I'll round it down for you, just five thousand gold!"
"Mm," the middle-aged man nodded, paid, and turned to leave.
Qin Guan, who had been watching from the side, saw this, and his eyes lit up. A tiger demon, the bones of a mere second-rank demonic beast, were actually worth so much! If he caught one, wouldn't he be able to sell it for a lot of money?
At this thought, Qin Guan called out urgently, "Owner!"
"Keep your voice down!" The owner was startled by Qin Guan and almost hit him.
"Do you buy tiger demons?" Qin Guan asked.
"Why do you ask?" the owner raised an eyebrow.
"How about I go catch a tiger demon and trade it for one of your Ice Silver Flowers?"
"Of course, you can," the owner said, amused.
"Do you want it alive or dead?" Qin Guan asked again.
The owner's eye twitched. "Dead, of course..."
"Owner, where can I find a tiger demon?"
"Kid, let me tell you, tiger demons are very powerful. A skinny guy like you would be killed with a single swipe of its claw!"
Seeing that Qin Guan wasn't joking, the owner quickly warned him.
He could tell with a single glance that this young man had no cultivation whatsoever. Making money was one thing, but it would be a sin if he caused the boy to lose his life.
"Don't you worry. Just tell me the location, and then wait for me to come back and trade for the Ice Silver Flower," Qin Guan said with a smile.
"You..."
The owner was about to say more when a young man dressed in silk and jade nearby suddenly said with a malicious grin:
"If you want to catch a tiger demon, go to Wanyao Valley! There are all kinds of demonic beasts in there. You'll definitely be able to catch one!"
"Where is Wanyao Valley?"
"Three hundred li west of the city!"
"Thanks!"
Qin Guan cupped his fist in thanks and turned to leave.
Watching Qin Guan's rapidly departing figure, the owner turned to the young man who had given the directions. He said with displeasure, "Young Master, what you've just done will likely get him killed."
Even on the outskirts of Wanyao Valley, it was hard to survive without a group of eight or ten Qi Refining Stage cultivators. The owner felt that Qin Guan was heading to his certain death.
The young man sneered, "What does it matter to me whether he lives or dies!"
Hearing this, the owner shook his head and said no more.
Proofreader: Peter Pan