Chapter 273: Task Failed… Successfully
"Go back to the Ximen Clan and do whatever you can to lure the man named Wei Chen there. That’s all you need to do, and consider your debt to me repaid," the mysterious hooded woman said.
Ximen Ren wanted to protest, but before he could do anything, the woman struck one of his acupoints, forced his mouth open, and shoved a pill down his throat.
"That’s Bone Melting Poison. It will cause you agonizing pain every midnight until you receive the antidote from me. Do as I say, and I’ll give you the antidote."
With that, the woman walked out of the cavern, leaving Ximen Ren alone.
After struggling for hours, the sealed acupoint finally unsealed itself.
The moment it did, Ximen Ren collapsed to the ground and slammed his fist into the earth, venting all his frustration.
"Bitch!" he grumbled. Usually, he was the one feeding poison to others to ensure their loyalty, not the other way around. This time, the humiliation inflicted upon him by both those bastards from the Underworld Palace and the mysterious woman was more than he could endure.
"Just you wait! Underworld Palace, and that woman too. Just you wait until I ascend to the Immortal Realm! I’ll show you a fate worse than death!" he screamed in fury before finally calming himself down.
First... he needed to find a way back. There were many people who had come with him who were completely loyal to him, and also...
Ximen Ren tried to sense the gu inside Song Wan’s body. It seemed the gu was still there and hadn’t been discovered. It looked like feeding that naive little fool the gu had been a good idea.
But... he couldn’t use that woman to get himself out of this situation. The gu was his guarantee that the foolish woman wouldn’t say anything that would put him at a disadvantage.
He needed to contact the people who were completely loyal to him.
— Meanwhile —
Within Wei Chen’s tent, Dream Butterfly, who had been coaxing Lady Song as she slowly recovered from her sobbing fit, sat calmly beside her.
Mo Xingyao was also with them. Seeing that Song Wan was getting better, she didn’t say anything. She simply stayed by her side and quietly listened as Song Wan’s sobs gradually subsided.
"Sob... Thank... thank you... Lady Mo... and Lady Yu." She thanked the two women who had stayed with her during this difficult time.
The two women nodded at each other and smiled.
"It’s okay, Lady Song. We’re here for you. If you want to talk, or... if you just want to vent, I’ll listen to you," Dream Butterfly said. Listening to people vent their frustrations so they could feel better had also been part of her job before she followed Wei Chen.
She had listened to countless people pour out their hardships to her. All she needed to do was sit with them, listen, offer a few comments, and give advice if they asked for it.
After all, most of her clients had been influential people, and many of them were powerful cultivation experts with great pride. If they didn’t ask for advice, she would simply listen and occasionally offer a comment.
Mo Xingyao, seeing that Song Wan had calmed down considerably, finally couldn’t hold herself back any longer.
"Seriously, why do you think people who always smile, always speak humbly, and act frugally despite being the Second Young Master are automatically good people?"
Song Wan glared at Mo Xingyao, but her eyes soon softened. She remembered what the so-called good man Mo Xingyao had exposed. No... he was just a hypocrite.
"Isn’t frugality a virtue? The sages always teach us to humble ourselves and be frugal," Song Wan argued.
Hearing this, Mo Xingyao scoffed.
"Heh... Yeah, if you’re a peasant or a commoner earning less than a tael of silver a year, then yes, you should be frugal because you don’t know what might happen in the future, and you need savings in case of an emergency." Mo Xingyao paused before continuing.
"But it’s different for people like us. The more frugal we are, the more ordinary people suffer and pay the price for our frugality."
"What do you mean?" Song Wan asked, confused.
Mo Xingyao pointed at her robe. It was a luxurious black and red robe embroidered with exquisite golden patterns woven from gold thread.
"Look at my robe. Isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it the complete opposite of the frugality you’re so fond of?" Mo Xingyao asked.
Song Wan nodded in confusion.
"Yeah... but why?"
"How many common people do you think this robe helped keep alive?"
Song Wan looked at Mo Xingyao’s robe once more before answering honestly.
"No... it didn’t help anyone."
"Wrong. You’re completely wrong, Lady Song," Mo Xingyao replied confidently. "In fact, this single robe helped support more than a thousand people."
"Huh? How?"
"To make this robe, hundreds of miners had to extract the gold. Dozens of goldsmiths refined it and turned it into thread."
"There were also hundreds of low-level cultivators who raised snow silkworms to harvest the silk used to weave this robe."
"Then a dozen tailors devoted their skill and effort to sewing everything together into the robe I’m wearing."
"Each of those people may have families depending on them to put food on the table. That means this single robe supports not only them but also the families who rely on them. It helps them continue living and perhaps even improve their lives," Mo Xingyao explained.
"But haven’t there been many kingdoms, even empires, that fell because they were extravagant?" Song Wan argued.
"Of course there have, because those rulers were fools who didn’t appreciate the people’s labor and took it for granted. That’s called corvée labor. Those people were forced to work without receiving anything in return. Of course their kingdoms and empires collapsed. No one likes working for free!" Mo Xingyao explained before continuing.
"What I do is pay those who deserve to be paid. I appreciate the labor and craftsmanship they put into everything I wear and everything I eat," she concluded with a confident smile.
Hearing this, Dream Butterfly chuckled.
"Sister Yaoyao, but you seem to take our husband’s work for granted, hmm? You’ve asked him many times, even throwing tantrums, just to get him to make ice cream for you!"
"Hey! Don’t accuse me! I tried to pay him, but he wouldn’t accept it!" Mo Xingyao immediately retorted.
"Hahaha, I know! Sister Yaoyao, I was just kidding." Dream Butterfly smiled mischievously.
Hearing what Mo Xingyao said, it was like a ray of light piercing through a cloudy sky. Song Wan felt as though she had gained an incredible new understanding of the world.
Until now, she had only studied the teachings of sages like Confucius and had never given much thought to things like this. She had always believed simple ideas such as merchants being greedy by nature, common people always being poor and in need of help from virtuous, frugal rulers. She had never thought about it from this perspective or heard anyone explain it this way.
Then she remembered that Mo Xingyao was the founder of one of the most successful conglomerates in the Three Provinces. Of course she possessed knowledge that ordinary people like her did not.
"I see... Is this why Thousand Treasure City is the most bustling and lively city in the Three Provinces?"
"Of course!" Mo Xingyao smiled proudly, puffing out her chest.
"You puffed out your chest, but Sister Yaoyao still doesn’t have much of a chest to puff," Dream Butterfly said with a giggle.
"What did you say!?" Mo Xingyao roared before immediately pouncing on Dream Butterfly.
But Dream Butterfly already had cultivation now, so she easily dodged her good sister’s attack while giggling, which only irritated Mo Xingyao even further.
The two of them messed around for a moment before finally stopping, and Mo Xingyao returned to the topic.
"As I said, one glance was enough for me to know that Ximen Ren was a huge hypocrite. Honestly, people with no filter like Wei Chen are much better. They’re open about their feelings even though... that guy’s smirk is very punchable from time to time," Mo Xingyao said with a huff.
Song Wan listened and thought back to the first time she met Wei Chen until today. Then her mind returned to the scene where he had led a group of warriors in black armor to surround Ximen Ren and save her.
Then she remembered what Wei Chen had said to her before.
"That Wei Chen... Didn’t he say he’d let me face the consequences of my own actions? Then why?" Song Wan muttered.
Dream Butterfly smiled.
"You’re wondering why he helped you, right? You might not know this, but our husband’s mouth is harsh while his heart is soft. I can sense my lord husband’s mark on your shoulder. He had already placed it on you in case anything happened to you, so he could come to your aid."
"At first, he only wanted to use you to expose all of Ximen Ren’s dirty deeds. But the moment he sensed the agony you were in, he immediately set out to surround Ximen Ren," Dream Butterfly said.
"Yeah... Isn’t that what you call... a tsundere, Yuyu?" Mo Xingyao asked.
"Yes, it’s called a tsundere."
Hearing this, Song Wan’s face flushed red for a moment before she calmed herself down. Her heart fluttered with an unfamiliar feeling.
Seeing this, Mo Xingyao secretly gave Dream Butterfly a thumbs-up.
Potential sister acquired!
This was good news! Mo Xingyao had heard that Wei Chen had already broken through to the Soul Transformation Realm, and his soul had transformed into an ancient dragon. A soul transformation also affected the body.
She definitely wasn’t going to face that dragon-level vitality alone. She needed reinforcements, fast! Dream Butterfly shared the same sentiment, as she was currently the only one on the receiving end of that dragon-level endurance and vitality.