Life as a Rogue Cultivator - Chapter 140: Elder Cai’s Suggestion

After a string of successes, Liu Xiaolou started getting ambitious again. He rushed over to Meiling, planning to pull the same trick, but this time things didn’t go his way. The source of thɪs content is N0veI.Fiɾe.net

By all accounts, Liang Shiwei, the head of Meiling, was the kindest toward Liu Xiaolou among the three sect leaders. Yet no matter how hard Liu Xiaolou talked and argued, Liang refused to part with even ten spirit stones. He kept brushing him off, pretending not to understand, until Liu Xiaolou left frustrated and empty-handed.

“What a cheapskate. Just waiting to reap the rewards without lifting a finger, and he can’t even give up ten spirit stones. After all the effort I put in, tsk!”

Master Liang stroked his beard as he watched Liu Xiaolou walk down the mountain. A close disciple stepped forward and asked, “It’s only fifty spirit stones in total, and our share would just be ten. If it really works out, wouldn’t that be a fine deal? Why not agree, Master?”

Master Liang sneered. “If he were asking for two or three hundred spirit stones, maybe I’d consider chipping in. But fifty? Ha! Have you ever seen Elder Cai pull off something this big for a mere fifty spirit stones? I don’t buy it for a second.”

“But he is the son-in-law, after all. The other two, Guan and Jin, already gave their share.”

Liang gave a dry laugh. “They just couldn’t refuse him to his face, so they tossed him a token. I don’t play that game.”

“And if he really pulls it off?”

“If he actually makes it work, I’ll go to him myself and apologize.”

When Liu Xiaolou returned to Shenwu Mountain, he also received word that Su Zhi and Su Wan had come back. Su Zhi summoned him to the Gualu Hall for a meeting, looking displeased.

“As I hear it,” Su Zhi said, “the rare sesame from Jue Valley in the Yin family’s sacred incense recipe was something you helped Ninth Lady track down. That should count as a merit to your name. But I’ve also been told that Concubine Li and that guard surnamed Liu have eloped and run off together. Was that your doing?”

Liu Xiaolou thought for a moment, then asked, “And what’s wrong with that?”

Su Zhi scolded him. “At a time like this, the Yin family might start suspecting us! If that happens, we’ll have an even deeper feud on our hands.”

Liu Xiaolou looked puzzled and turned toward Su Wan. She explained, “This trip to Yuezhou, my father and I already made a deal with the Ouyang family. This year, all of their Jue Valley sesame will go to our Su family, not a grain left outside. Father worries that the Yin family will get suspicious and think the business with Concubine Li was arranged by us. If she’s caught and dragged back, it might implicate us.”

Only then did Liu Xiaolou understand. He couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. He wanted to solve the problem, but he didn’t want to completely break with the Yin family either, afraid they would bear a grudge. But really, how could there be such a perfect solution? They were being far too timid. So he said, “Please rest easy, Father-in-law. The Yin family won’t be finding Concubine Li.”

Su Zhi fixed his gaze on Liu Xiaolou. “You’re that certain?”

Liu Xiaolou replied, “If anything goes wrong, just put the blame on me.”

Su Zhi gave a cold snort. “Put the blame on you? And would that really work? If something happens, who do you think the Yin family will come after? Won’t it still be me? And when I agreed to take you as a son-in-law, what did I say? Do not tarnish the Su family’s name. The things you’ve done, the methods you use, they can’t stand the light of day. From now on, you are not to do such things again, and you absolutely must not drag Ninth Lady into them. Do you hear me?”

“Yes,” Liu Xiaolou answered helplessly.

Afterward, Su Wan tried to comfort him. “Don’t take Father’s words too much to heart. He only worries for the Su family’s future. He carries heavy responsibilities. Some of it is my fault too. I shouldn’t have told him so much.”

“I know,” Liu Xiaolou said. “It’s fine. I’m just a son-in-law married into the family. What else can I do? The only real problem is that when it comes to the Yin family, the Su family is too soft, and it shouldn’t be that way. In terms of strength, the Su family is far above the Yin family. In terms of sects, Danxia Sect is no weaker than Qingyu Sect, maybe even stronger. So why can’t we stand tall? Forget it… To be honest, if it weren’t for helping you, I wouldn’t bother with this at all.”

Su Wan nodded and chose not to dwell on the matter. Instead she said, “These past few days, the Ouyang family has been harvesting the Jue Valley sesame. Tomorrow I’ll head to Yuezhou and bring it all back. After that, I’ll need to make a trip to Weiyu Soaring Crane Sect.”

“There shouldn’t be much trouble, right?” asked Liu Xiaolou. 

Su Wan said, “No, nothing else. Don’t worry. Once we secure the Jue Valley sesame, we’ll lay our cards on the table with the Yin family. This time we won’t let them keep us under their thumb. Either we get along properly, or we cut ties completely. If that happens, our family will find another way, and theirs can forget about refining incense.”

“That’s the spirit.”

“By the way, I want to tell Father that you should come with me to Yuezhou. I’ve heard you understand formations. Over at the Ouyang manor in Yuezhou there’s a formation master who’s also a good friend of Fifth Sister’s. I call her Sister Qingzhu. She’s the one who brokered the talks with the Ouyang family this time and did a lot to make it happen.”

Liu Xiaolou shook his head. “I’d better stay out of it. You heard yourself just now, Father-in-law doesn’t like me meddling in Su family affairs.”

Having been inexplicably scolded by Su Zhi just a while ago, Liu Xiaolou had no interest in prying into whatever the Su family planned to do with the Jue Valley sesame. As far as he was concerned, it was none of his business. All he cared about now was when Master Guan would release his friend.

As for Su Xi, the future heir of Shenwu Mountain, Su Zhi was pouring his heart and soul into grooming her. At this stage, the focus was entirely on raising her cultivation, with all cultivation resources tilted in her favor and no outside matters allowed to distract her. His goal was clear: he wanted her to break through to the Golden Core realm within twenty years. This determination came after being shaken by the Danxia Sect’s millennium grand ceremony, where the four sects clashed in their sword trials. Each family had young prodigies who reached Golden Core at an early age to represent them, and Su Zhi had been deeply rattled by it.

Because of this, Su Xi went straight to cultivate inside Danxia Sect’s Grotto-Heaven, even taking with her two maidservants, Xiaohuan and Susu, who both showed some aptitude. She planned to train them carefully. For a while, the SunRain Hibiscus Garden suddenly felt deserted.

Liu Xiaolou stayed quietly in the Yiling Hall, waiting for word from Elder Cai while cultivating in the meantime.

He counted the days anxiously. Five days passed quickly, but still there was no news about Elder Cai. He couldn’t help growing uneasy. Had something gone wrong?

If something really had happened, the Plum-Breaking Sect wouldn’t expect their spirit stones back, but the Moon-Plucking Sect would definitely demand a refund.

Unable to sit still any longer, Liu Xiaolou decided to head to Danxia Mountain and find out. The excuse to enter the sect’s Grotto-Heaven was easy enough: he could simply say he was looking for his wife. Who would stop a husband and wife from meeting?

Leaving the SunRain Hibiscus Garden, he noticed the manor was much emptier than usual. Everywhere he looked, he saw only household servants and maids. Not a single member of the Su clan was around, nor even the stewards with real authority.

Puzzled, he happened to run into a servant working under Steward Su, who was in charge of building projects. He pulled the man aside and asked, “Where is everyone?”

The servant replied, “Is young master looking for someone in particular? The masters have all gone to Meiling, and it’s not clear when they’ll return.”

“Meiling? The eldest master and the second master both went? Butler Song too? What about your Steward Su?”

“They all went. They left the mountain just yesterday. I heard the sect said an elder was going to Meiling to visit his former residence, so everyone rushed over to receive him.”

“Which elder is going to Meiling?”

“I heard it’s Elder Cai.”

Letting go of the servant, Liu Xiaolou’s mind churned with thoughts as he strolled out through the mountain gate and down the path.

So Elder Cai hadn’t met with any accident after all. He really was a man of his word. He had kept his promise and gone to Meiling, most likely planning to bring up the proposal of renaming the mountain at the right moment. Whether the Su family was willing to accept his suggestion, though, was no longer something Liu Xiaolou could decide. Perhaps even now, up on Meiling, Su Zhi and Su Xun, the heads of the Su clan, were wrangling with the three sect leaders over it.

What stung, however, was that even Steward Su had gone, while he, the one who had set everything in motion, hadn’t been informed at all.

In the eyes of the Su family, this son-in-law of theirs really wasn’t much different from the household servants.

Two days later, the Su family returned to Shenwu Mountain in a lively crowd. Liu Xiaolou sought out Steward Su to ask about it and learned that sure enough, Elder Cai had suggested changing Meiling back to its old name, Liangling. His reasoning was that sixty years ago, a close friend of his had lived there in seclusion, and recalling that friendship had moved him deeply, leading to the proposal.

It was said that Su Zhi and Su Xun had already agreed in principle and were preparing to discuss the specifics with the three sects.

And on that very same day, Tan Bajhang returned to General’s Temple.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by AiKurou