Volume Two: Eventful Times, Full of Twists and Turns Chapter 151: Three Masters, Cash on Delivery

Yang Chengzi seemed to have found a glimmer of hope. "Is this reliable?"
"Reliable? As long as you have silver, your big brother here is more reliable than anyone. But don't get me wrong, this silver isn't for me. You and I are old friends, but they don't know you, and I don't have enough clout to speak for them."
"I understand. In the martial arts world, everything requires silver, especially since I'm a stranger to them. Roughly how much silver will it take?"
"Sigh! As long as you understand. Generally, the Kaitian Sect assigns three top experts to keep watch in rotation every twelve hours. One hundred taels for ten days, two hundred taels for twenty days. I figure you won't be staying here too long. Now that the bounty is out, ten or twenty days should be about enough, I suppose."
"I do have two hundred taels, but..."
Seeing Yang Chengzi hesitate, Yang Shiqian knew he wanted to take a look at these experts.
"Qin Feng, Wei Chengliang, Jiang Daohan."
At Yang Shiqian's call, three figures flashed into Yang Chengzi's presence in quick succession, all armed with weapons.
Yang Chengzi was startled, having no idea where they had popped out from. Their speed was almost comparable to the Daoist ancestors of legend.
No wonder it cost so much silver; such lightness-gongfu and footwork could not be mastered in just a decade or two. Yang Chengzi hesitated no longer.
"I don't have banknotes on me right now. Let them accompany me back to fetch it, and I can settle some other matters along the way."
"See? As long as you have silver, this place is safer than anywhere else. The three of you, accompany him back. As for the rest, use your own judgment. Maintain a 12-hour rotating watch. The one coming is Meng Wuyan, so do not lower your guard."
"Understood." The three bowed. Yang Chengzi bid farewell and hurried back with them in tow.
Along the way, the three men spoke even less than Yang Chengzi. When Yang Chengzi asked them about Meng Wuyan, he learned that if any of them fought her one-on-one, they were certain to kill Meng Wuyan in under ten moves.
Since Meng Wuyan knew them, upon seeing the three of them, she surely would not dare to show her face. If that was truly the case, spending one or two hundred taels could be considered well worth it.
From their conversation, Yang Chengzi also learned that after leaving the Kaitian Sect, Meng Wuyan seemed to have joined the Immortal Valley. Although the news might not be entirely accurate, Meng Wuyan must have such a hiding place; otherwise, the three major sects and their tens of thousands of experts would have tracked her down and killed her long ago.
Before leaving Yutai Town, she had lost count of how many sect members she had killed. The three major sects gnashed their teeth in hatred toward her, pursuing her for thousands of miles, yet she always managed to escape. As for why she could always escape, there must be hidden reasons unknown to the sect members—perhaps this was the secret of why so few could ever find the Immortal Valley.
All four possessed swift movement techniques, and their journey was much faster than ordinary people. Before long, they arrived at Cuiwei Tower, and Yang Chengzi knocked on the door.
Chang Yu's voice came from inside. "Who is it?"
"It's me."
With a creak, the door opened. "You're back!"
Chang Yu opened the door happily and was just about to make a move when she saw three stern, unsmiling men standing behind Yang Chengzi.
Chang Yu whispered, "Who are these three?"
"They are experts sent by the Kaitian Sect to protect you."
Yang Chengzi invited them inside. As soon as they stepped into the room, Yang Chengzi froze, and the three experts were also filled with confusion and disbelief. "This..."
Yang Chengzi looked at Chang Yu and Chen Xin with a frown. "What utter nonsense..." With that, he walked over to the Spirit Tiger and began untying the hair ribbons from its body one by one.
The two girls stuck out their tongues in reluctance. "We were just bored."
Yang Chengzi had been gone nearly all morning, and the two girls had nothing to do, so they had tied all the newly bought hair ribbons onto the Spirit Tiger.
Though the tiger's fur wasn't long, the ribbons happened to catch on it, tied densely all over its body like a cluster of taro roots, with a pink silk handkerchief tied to the tip of its tail—looking utterly flamboyant.

While Yang Chengzi untied them, the Spirit Tiger let out low whimpers at him, as if blaming him: *Look at the brilliant idea you came up with, how am I supposed to show my face in public from now on?*
Yang Chengzi was deeply embarrassed. "Brother Tiger, thank you for your hard work. Don't hold it against the two girls; they haven't been out for days and were dying of boredom."
A single roar shook his scalp numb.
Hearing the Spirit Tiger's impatience, Yang Chengzi sped up his movements.
"Once we leave Yutai Town, I'll treat you to some good food. Don't be angry, I'm almost done untying them. Why don't you head back first? You can settle this score with Chen San later—make sure you settle it properly."
Hearing Yang Chengzi say this, the Spirit Tiger stood up, shook the silvery-white fur on its body, sauntered over to the soundly sleeping Chen San, and let out a roar. It startled Chen San so badly that he leaped straight into the air. Before Chen San could recover his wits, the Spirit Tiger had already transformed into a streak of white light and vanished.
"Its tail!" Seeing that the Spirit Tiger still had that rather pretty silk handkerchief tied to its tail, Yang Chengzi tried to untie it, but it was too late—the Spirit Tiger was already gone.
He shook his head with an awkward smile and explained to the three experts, "That's a Spirit Tiger, here to protect them temporarily. It doesn't bite, it just has a rather bad temper."
Yang Chengzi invited them to sit, but they remained standing.
Qin Feng said solemnly, "There's no need. Just tell us who we are to protect, and once the silver is paid, we will find suitable places to hide and keep watch. We take silver to do a job, not to make friends."
Chen San, nearly frightened out of his wits by the tiger, got up and immediately spotted Yang Chengzi and the three experts.
Yang Chengzi nodded, pointed at Chen San, and said, "This is Chen San. We often have to go out, and he doesn't need protection. You just need to protect these two ladies."
Chen San nodded awkwardly. Qin Feng and the other two merely glanced at Chen San before turning their gaze to Chen Xin and Chang Yu, making the two maidens blush with self-consciousness.
"Very well. Who is paying the silver? Does today count?"
"Oh, right, the banknotes for you first."
Yang Chengzi flicked his fingers toward Chen San, who clutched his chest with an expression of utter disbelief.
"Tsk, is your life more important, or your silver?"
"But we only have three hundred taels left!"
"Right, isn't there still three hundred taels? What are you getting so excited about?"
Chen San hesitated and stalled, while Chang Yu and Chen Xin frowned and glared fiercely at Chen San. Catching their gazes, he instantly lost his nerve.
"Tch, look at you! Of course my life is more important. I was just joking, look at you all... not funny at all."
Trembling, Chen San fished out a hundred taels from his inner pocket and handed it to Yang Chengzi, who took the banknotes and passed them to Qin Feng.
"Today counts as well. The weather is nice today, and they want to go out shopping."
"Understood. We will remain within five feet of them. The moment you step outside, we will follow."
"Great, I'll have to trouble you then."
Yang Chengzi cupped his fists in salute. Qin Feng and the other two returned the gesture, opened the door, and stepped outside.
Hearing Yang Chengzi say they were going out shopping, the two girls were overjoyed.
"Really? Can we really go out?" Chang Yu grabbed Yang Chengzi's hand, trembling with excitement.
"Yes, it's been many days. Staying cooped up inside all the time drives people stir-crazy. Since we have protection now, you can go out. But you can't just wander off whenever you like—it still has to be when Chen San and I are around."

"Oh, come on! Don't worry, we'll only go out every few days just to get some fresh air. If you guys aren't around, who's going to pay for things? Right, Chen San?"
Chang Yu and Yang Chengzi looked over simultaneously. With a pained expression, Chen San planted a loud kiss on Chen Xin's lips, causing her to shove him away instantly.
"What are you doing? So annoying!"
"Don't you need silver when you go out? This is hard-earned silver I swindled! Let me have a kiss first to ease the pain in my heart."
"Oh, please! If you're going to be lewd, just be lewd, what's silver got to do with it?" Chang Yu said, looking at Chen San with utter disgust.
"Hey! Don't you kiss Yang Chengzi all the time?"
"True! But if Yang Chengzi went to the magistrate and accused me of molesting him, do you think the county magistrate would believe it?"
"I..."
"People are different, don't make blind comparisons. Then you'll just make yourself sick with anger and blame it on me. How wronged would I be~"
"I..."
Chen Xin had already burst out laughing nearby. Chen San's dumbfounded expression, completely at a loss for words, was utterly hilarious. Although he was sometimes in the right, he truly suffered from his lack of formal education; whenever he argued with Sister Chang Yu, he never won a single time.
Chen San slumped down into a chair, panting heavily.
"I—I'm running out of breath, let me catch my breath."
Yang Chengzi shook his head. "Look at your useless spine. You just lost an argument, is it really that deep?"
"You think you can do better? Can *you* win an argument against her?"
Unconvinced, Chen San muttered to himself that Yang Chengzi was even more pathetic than him...
"Can't win..."
"If you can't win, why all the nonsense!"
"Tsk, why are you so dense? If you can't win with words, use other methods!"
Chen San perked up instantly. "What methods?"
"You could beat her up. Don't say I didn't give you pointers; the method has been taught to you. If that still doesn't work, you'll just have to accept your fate."
"I..."
Chen San nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood right into Yang Chengzi's face, buried his face in his hands over the table, and began to fake a sob.
"Wife dear, the two of them are bullying me..."
Chen Xin patted Chen San's head and gently consoled him, "There, there. Wasn't I not bullying you? Compared to that, doesn't this feel much better?"
Chen San raised his head, took one look at Chen Xin's sweet, innocent face, and put on a crying expression all over again. "No, it doesn't! It feels like crap."