Chapter 18: Sword!

Chu Huaixu looked at the spoon that had fallen into the bowl, soaked in soup, lying among the four uneaten small wontons.

Han Shuangjiang sat upright, her expression solemn, her eyes carrying scrutiny.

The brothel she came from was named 【Red Sleeves Beckon】, a high-end establishment ranked among the best in the Mirror Country’s capital.

She was taught by “Mama” from a young age and influenced by her “sisters”.

Over the years as she grew, she had become accustomed to seeing her sisters deceive men, and being deceived by men.

Since ancient times, many romance novels had described love stories that took place in such pleasure quarters.

In the capital, there really were sisters who were redeemed and left that cage.

However, some lived well, while others merely moved from one cage to another.

Overall, living with a man one liked was a luxury for people like them.

“Mama” often reminded everyone: the moment a man said he wanted to live with you, you had to stay alert.

Especially when some sisters saved enough silver to redeem themselves, then threw themselves into the arms of the one they fancied.

At such times, “Mama” would always try to stop them.

If she couldn’t stop them, she would sneer and say, “You think he truly loves you? He just doesn’t want to pay to sleep with you!”

——《Freeloader》.

In fact, “Mama” had indeed guessed right in some cases.

Once the novelty wore off and the man got tired of sleeping with her, he would become rational again and find her past disgusting.

Perhaps this was also a tactic they used to manipulate the sisters.

But there were always truly sincere people in the world.

Some people were genuinely willing to privatize public goods, and even enjoy it.

As long as there were a few examples, many sisters, dazed by love, would follow in their footsteps one after another.

Han Shuangjiang never imagined that one day a man would look at her and say he wanted to live with her.

Even more shocking, the two of them had only met for the first time last night.

She believed in love at first sight.

But overall, she was not a sentimental person.

With places like 【Red Sleeves Beckon】 and 【Joyous Sect】, everything that happened there constantly reminded her that people needed to control their own fate, and could not rely on a man for their entire lives.

On the forum for 《Borrowed Sword》, some players even joked that the game’s four world protagonists were crafted to cater to nearly every kind of audience.

Han Shuangjiang was the main female lead, focused entirely on her career—romance, get lost!

The two protagonists in Moon Country of the Western Continent were a man and a woman, with a passionate romance, so sweet it drove shippers wild.

As for Xu Ziqing... he hadn’t done much at all, but just his looks and temperament were enough to make the fujoshi scream.

Don’t care if you’re a zero or not, to me you’re a zero! The moment you stand next to a man, I just don’t buy that it’s brotherly love!

——The prejudice in people’s hearts is a capital city.

After successfully joining the 【Dao Gate】, Han Shuangjiang felt like she was finally taking control of her life step by step, and life was starting to look hopeful.

Then Chu Huaixu pulled something like this.

——Men, listen to yourself!

This was just one meal, and you’ve already gone too far, too rash.

But looking at his face under the morning light, she silently erased the word “too” from her mind.

The fox-faced man sitting across the table heard Han Shuangjiang say “I’m not eating anymore,” then saw her clearly misunderstanding expression, and spoke up:

“Heh, typical self-centered woman, such a turn-off.”

The cold-faced girl heard such phrases for the first time and didn’t understand what they meant.

But his expression and tone made her feel very uncomfortable.

Chu Huaixu’s fingertips lightly tapped the table, then he leaned forward, trying to get closer to her, and began speaking in a low voice.

“Get this straight, we were personally brought up the mountain by the Sixth Elder.”

Han Shuangjiang frowned. “So what?”

What, now this is fate tying a red thread?

“Look around at these enrolled disciples and outer sect disciples—do you think anyone else gets this kind of treatment?” Chu Huaixu spoke in a low voice, glancing around.

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Han Shuangjiang started to listen in...

“So, don’t you think that for us, the most important thing is cultivation? To raise our realm as soon as possible.” He stared at her intently.

The cold-faced girl furrowed her brows even deeper.

Strangely, when she put on that stern face, it made her all the more attractive.

The more serious she looked, the more Chu Huaixu wanted to pierce through her.

He laid everything bare: “But you don’t have much silver, do you?”

Han Shuangjiang clenched her silver teeth but couldn’t refute him.

Only then did she realize—perhaps from the moment at the canteen entrance, he had already seen through her plight.

Chu Huaixu stopped looking at her and called out loudly: “Senior Brother! Bill, please!”

He pulled out that 100 taels of silver from his chest and placed it on the table, flaunting his wealth.

The man who also wore a Registered Disciple Token walked over. “Whoa! Junior Brother, you don’t have any loose silver?”

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“Unfortunately, I don’t. Sorry to trouble you, Senior Brother.”

“No problem.”

After settling the bill, Chu Huaixu looked at her again and said:

“To be honest, I only have this one hundred taels on me. Oh, now it’s already less than that.”

“My idea is, during this period, we don’t care about anything else. Just focus on cultivating and studying, see if we can break through the Qi‑Opening Stage before the money runs out.”

“Once we reach the First Realm, we’ll have more opportunities.”

Han Shuangjiang didn’t understand and asked, “But why are you dragging me into this?”

Of course, Chu Huaixu wouldn’t tell her it was because he wanted to cling to her.

Living and cultivating together gave them a higher chance of obtaining the Dao Ancestor’s legacy together.

In truth, a courtesan raised to be a top courtesan had plenty of theoretical knowledge in “how to deceive men”.

But the Model Brother across from her had rich practical experience in “how to deceive women”.

“I said before, we’re probably different from all the other outer sect disciples.”

“We’re two oddballs.”

“The entire outer sect might only have the two of us as oddballs.”

He looked around again, seemingly out of place with everything around them.

Han Shuangjiang lowered her eyes slightly. She felt that way too.

Chu Huaixu looked at her and thought, “Duh, that’s because we just arrived!”

We’re transfer students!

“The Sixth Elder brought the two of us up the mountain together, and Steward Niu arranged for our residence to be shared. Need I say more?” the fox-faced man added.

Han Shuangjiang remained silent.

She recalled once more the admonitions “Mama” gave her sisters.

“You think men will spend silver on you for no reason?”

“They just want to get a key, and then... shove it deep into your copper lock.”

“Mama” was always like this—crude words, but full of truth.

Some sisters had skill and wouldn’t hand over the key on the first try.

But some sisters would get emotionally attached, and after their lock had been opened several times, it was their heart that got unlocked.

Others lost their clarity. After being opened a few times with a golden key and catching a whiff of that golden powder, they really thought they were golden locks.

They no longer looked at ordinary people.

Han Shuangjiang had just been mocked by Chu Huaixu, and wasn’t thinking along romantic lines anymore.

But she knew—there was no such thing as a free gift, and no such thing as kindness without reason.

She wasn’t stupid, so she took the initiative to define the situation. “You want me to owe you a favor?”

Chu Huaixu shrugged, his expression carefree and unruly. “If that’s how you want to put it, then sure.”

“Anyway, I’m not expecting you to pay me back in silver in the future. As long as we both understand it in our hearts.”

He spoke plainly.

After speaking, he also started rationalizing for himself: “I know the money’s not much, so time is tight. We need to break through soon.”

Upon hearing that, under Chu Huaixu’s gaze, Han Shuangjiang finally nodded.

Immediately afterward, he watched as she unashamedly picked up the spoon that had fallen into the bowl and ate the remaining four small wontons.

“It’s too expensive. Can’t waste it,” she said, still hungry.

...

...

Morning light fell on the road home as Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang walked side by side.

Along the way, the two hardly spoke.

He was thinking about where the Dao Ancestor’s legacy might be hidden.

She, being more practical, was wondering if it would be better to cook herself and buy groceries—prices here were just too high, even higher than in the capital.

Han Shuangjiang was already calculating the budget in her mind and regretted not eating one more soup dumpling earlier.

“So expensive, really too expensive,” the voice of a broke soul echoed repeatedly in her heart.

When they reached an open area, Chu Huaixu looked up and saw the cloud-shrouded Ask-Dao Peak.

He didn’t know where the Dao Ancestor’s legacy was hidden, but he vaguely remembered a few legacy spots that Dao Gate players had discovered—he’d seen them on the forum.

But he only remembered a few locations, not all of them.

“Damn it, my memory still isn’t good enough. Why didn’t the transmigration give me a cheat that stamped every past detail into my brain?” Chu Huaixu complained inwardly.

Looking at Ask-Dao Peak, his thoughts began to swirl again.

They were both world protagonists—why did Han Shuangjiang alone get two Dao Ancestor inheritances, while Xu Ziqing, who had received the script, got none?

The reason was simple.

“Don’t forget, the Dao Ancestor also left behind a sword.”

After the Dao Ancestor’s death, the strongest being in the Xuanhuang Realm had never been a person.

So many years had passed, and it had always been that sword.

...