Roaring Dragon-Chapter 70: Big Pig Hooves

The next day.

Golden morning light spilled across the horizon, and the banks of the Chongming River were beginning to bustle with life.

Xie Jinhuan rode his little red horse down the street at a leisurely pace, catching bits of idle chatter from passersby as he went:

"Hero Xie is incredible—he's only been in Danyang a few days and already wiped out all the demons and monsters..."

"Not a hero, he's a young hero! Kid’s not even twenty yet..."

"At this rate, that Wei Wuyi of Daizhou will have to step aside in less than ten years..."

...

Xie Jinhuan had sworn at the age of three to outshine every local brat—his dream? To walk the streets one day as all eyes turned to him with admiration, ladies swooning at the knees, noble girls swearing never to marry another, and Meiqiu feasting on whatever he pleased in the street.

This... was almost exactly how he imagined it as a kid.

But with his ghost wife about to blow out of her coffin at any moment, he really wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it. Instead, he kept racking his brain for where he might find Sixty-Year Lotus to make that pill.

Lost in thought, he and Meiqiu arrived outside the clinic on Ning’an Street.

Meiqiu, already quite familiar with the place, leapt ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ from Xie’s shoulder and fluttered up to the second-story window, peering inside.

"Guji guji?"

"Meiqiu?!"

Crash!

Thump-thump-thump—

From upstairs came the sound of a chair being knocked over and hurried footsteps.

A breathtakingly beautiful face appeared at the window—under her gold-rimmed glasses, Lin Wanyi's eyes were filled with worry.

Xie Jinhuan, feeling her concern, was just about to dismount and greet her when her expression darkened:

"You still remember how to come back, huh?!"

She looked exactly like a pissed-off wife waiting up all night for her husband.

?

Xie Jinhuan’s smile froze. He raised his hands slightly.

"I just went for a little stroll. What's the big deal?"

"You're just—!"

Thump-thump-thump—

She vanished from the window, footsteps racing down the corridor and stairs, and then—here she came, storming toward him with her sleeves rolled up, chest bouncing like it had its own agenda.

Seeing this posture, it was clearly not the kind of "rush into his arms and cry" moment, so he quickly lifted a hand to ward her off:

"I'm injured, alright? Tugging at each other in the street doesn't look good."

Lin Wanyi grabbed his sleeve with a little fist, clearly still fuming:

"Why’d you run off yesterday without saying anything?! And not even waking me before you left!

"I opened my eyes and found myself in bed, surrounded by the Dan Prince, the Academy Head, and a bunch of people at the door. Linghu Qingmo even scolded me like some useless vase—you know how I got through that?!"

Xie Jinhuan hadn’t expected the Dan Prince to personally check on her and apologized:

"I healed you and saw you were sleeping soundly, didn’t want to wake you. I left a note—nobody saw it?"

Lin Wanyi’s chest heaved again, still wanting to scold him, but remembering their "two-headed dragon" plan, she swallowed it down and tugged his sleeve toward Wencheng Street:

“Come on, you need to go see the Dan Prince and get your hands on that Martial Dao Codex. I passed your message to Lord Tie the day before yesterday, and the Dan Prince read your poem and got so moved he nearly married Princess Changning off to you...”

Xie blinked. “Wait, the Princess agreed?”

“You and Miss Linghu are already suspiciously close. They're like sisters—what would it look like if she agreed?”

“Oh...”

Lin Wanyi narrowed her eyes. “You sound disappointed.”

“No, I prefer the slow-burn romance types.”

“Hmph.”

Still tugging his sleeve, she led the way cheerfully:

“Anyway, the Dan Prince thinks very highly of you. He’s been looking for you everywhere. Just say the word and that Codex is yours.”

Xie Jinhuan did want that supreme cultivation manual, but even the best martial arts couldn’t be mastered in twenty days. He considered for a moment, then asked:

“Zisu’s medicine—kind of sketchy, sure, but it did save my ass. How much would that Vital Tiger Pill of hers cost to make?”

Lin Wanyi frowned. “Don’t put too much faith in Zisu’s concoctions. And if it really works ten times better, it’ll cost more than ten times more. Leaving aside the priceless Sixty-Year Lotus rhizome, the rest of the ingredients would cost at least...”

She held up three fingers.

Xie Jinhuan paused, face darkening.

There was no way Glasses Girl meant three silver.

To pull together thirty thousand taels in twenty-one days, he’d have to make ten grand a week. Even if he became a professional sugar baby and polished every rich old widow in town, he wouldn’t even make a dent.

And that was just the rest of the ingredients. The lotus itself? Not even in the equation yet...

“Is Sixty-Year Lotus only found on Zihui Mountain?”

“They have it, but only the live kind. Digging one up would destroy the sect’s foundation. Unless you wipe out the whole sect, there’s no way they’ll give it to you.”

She looked him up and down.

“What, are you seriously planning to make that Vital Tiger Pill?”

Xie Jinhuan wasn’t planning on it. But it wasn’t like he had a choice.

If Ghost Wife really blew out of that tomb and went rogue, the worst-case scenario wasn’t the fall of Great Qian’s thirty-two provinces—it was him being the first casualty.

So before anything went nuclear, he needed enough strength to reseal that tomb, just in case.

But that wasn’t something he could explain to Glasses Girl. So he simply said:

“Cultivation’s like rowing upstream—you either move forward, or you drift back. If the opportunity’s there, I have to try. We’ll see if I get lucky.”

Lin Wanyi didn’t buy into the whole “ten times stronger, one pill solves all” thing, but since he was set on it, she replied:

“Sixty-Year Lotus is used by super-tier experts. A rhizome that’s naturally shed is priceless. Only ancient sects with long heritage or the imperial treasury would have it. Without a super-tier cultivation base, you won’t even get a sniff.”

That was fine. As long as he knew where it existed, that meant he had a shot.

After a moment, he asked:

“Say, we agreed I’d learn the Codex in three years. If I get it done in six or seven days, don’t I deserve a bonus?”

...?

Lin Wanyi instinctively covered her coin pouch, voice cautious:

“What... what kind of bonus are you talking about?”

Xie Jinhuan’s gaze briefly swept over her luscious, curvy figure. He figured she probably wouldn’t agree to what he was thinking.

“Mm... I’ll figure out the lotus myself. But the other ingredients—could you help cover a bit of the cost?”

“Me?”

Clutching her purse, Lin Wanyi silently fumed—you’ve kissed me, groped me, and now you want me to pay? What do you think I am, your wife? Your Dao partner?

Still, he did finish the task ridiculously fast. Not giving him a reward felt a bit stingy. She hesitated a moment, then said:

“Southern Border’s Wildlands are rich in spiritual herbs. If you’re dead set on making this pill, I can have Moonless Manor search for ingredients there. Herbs are cheaper, and if they smuggle them in, you’ll avoid merchant markups and taxes. Should save at least twenty percent.”

That was a six-thousand tael discount. Xie Jinhuan nodded.

“Deal. I’ll find a way to scrounge up a deposit soon.”

“I still think you shouldn’t go this route. If you end up spending a fortune and the pill messes you up, don’t blame me for not warning you.”

“Heh...”

They chatted casually while leading the horse, eventually turning down a side street and arriving at the entrance of Qingquan Alley.

Lin Wanyi had planned to go straight to the prince’s mansion, but Xie Jinhuan’s ears twitched. He heard a faint sha-sha~ sound from his courtyard—someone sweeping.

Only one person would be kindly enough to tidy up for him: sweet, simple-hearted Mo-mo.

He turned toward the alley and saw a charcoal-red horse parked outside the Yang residence. Yang Dabiao was strapping on luggage and a saber.

His sister-in-law held their baby girl in her arms, fussing with obvious reluctance.

“You behave yourself out there, y’hear? If I hear you’ve been fooling around, I’ll take the girl and remarry!”

“Ugh, quit nagging. It’s official business, not a damn party.”

“What kind of business needs you gone for days? Really—eh? Young Master Xie’s back!”

“Huh?”

Yang Dabiao turned and spotted them, then smacked his thigh.

“Ah! Jinhuan! You’re finally back!”

At the same time, movement stirred from inside the residence.

Fwoosh—

Linghu Qingmo, dressed in a white skirt as pristine as snow, leapt onto the wall, broom in hand. Spotting them at the alley’s entrance, she visibly relaxed, then scolded:

“I told you not to run off! Who said you could sneak away? Do you know how many constables were sent to look for you?!”

Worry and concern were written all over her face.

Xie Jinhuan handed the reins to Glasses Girl and stepped into the alley.

“I wanted to check out Zihui Mountain, but my body couldn’t handle the climb. I came back. I won’t act tough next time.”

Linghu Qingmo, relieved to see him unhurt, held back from rushing over since the ‘main wife’ was standing right there.

Xie looked at Yang Dabiao, puzzled.

“You heading out somewhere far, Big Bro Yang?”

“Sigh, don’t get me started.”

Yang Dabiao waved a hand, looking deeply troubled.

“The Zombie Flower case is cracked, but the three skeletons found at the Li residence haven’t been traced. Taishu Dan probably wasn’t even in Danyang six months ago, so they might’ve been killed by other cultists from the Nether God Sect.

“You’ve heard about the ‘Desiccated Corpse Case’ in the capital, right? Seventeen dead from that essence-devouring technique. Same method. The higher-ups suspect a connection and want me to go investigate. Should be back in four or five days.”

The capital?

Xie Jinhuan immediately perked up, standing tall with righteous fervor.

“I was involved in the Taishu Dan case from start to finish—I’m familiar with everything. Let me come with you—”

“No!”

The rebuke came instantly from the wall.

Linghu Qingmo knew he couldn’t sit still whenever there was demonic trouble. She jumped down at once. freёnovelkiss.com

“You’re injured. You should be resting at Danyang Medical Hall. What use would you be in the capital?!”

Oh, lots of use, actually.

The monsters in Danyang were all wiped out. There’d be no new spawns for a while. He only had twenty days—he couldn’t just sit around waiting for evil sects to hand him money.

The capital was full of rare herbs and fast money. If he didn’t go now, he’d have to rob Grandpa Li later.

“Nothing lasts forever. I grew up in the capital. Now that the case here’s wrapped, I just want to visit home. Big Bro Yang can keep an eye on me.”

Hearing “nothing lasts forever,” Linghu Qingmo’s heart trembled. She glanced at the courtyard where she’d been cleaning.

“You... you mean you’re leaving Danyang for good? You only just moved into that house...”

“I’m not going for good. Just tagging along with Brother Yang. Once he’s done, I’ll come back.”

That finally eased Linghu Qingmo’s heart. Still...

“You’re injured. How’s a big rough guy like him gonna take care of you? ...Go see the Dan Prince first. See if he allows it.”

Lin Wanyi chimed in, walking closer.

“Yeah, you go check with the Prince. I’ll help tidy up your room.”

“...Alright then.”