45 A Sense of Dread

After being led through a spacious courtyard, Jiang Ya Lin and Paoxiao were brought to a richly decorated veranda. The servant that led them was silent, light on his feet, and focused. It was obvious that he trained in martial arts.

Although she did not train in the arts, having grown up the Jiang home she could easily tell if a person had any martial training by their mannerisms. The servant that led them coupled with the few she had seen in passing convinced Jiang Ya Lin of the rumors she would hear every now and again.

The Magistrate of this town only kept servants that displayed generous abilities in martial skills. Even better were the ones that had skills in laying arrays. She had also heard it said that this taste in servants came from his fear of Li Yu Rong.

While it wasn't farfetched for that to be the case, she hadn't heard of any tragedies that occurred between the magistrate and the Elemental Master for such a fear to occur. Then again, just the mere act of having such a fearsome and unpredictable individual nearby could have inspired such a want for protection.

The servant cupped a fist and bowed his head as he said. "Master, I've brought the guests."

The master he spoke to was a pot-bellied middle-aged man, his long hair was gathered and tied neatly into a knot on the top of his head. He was sitting at a table, drinking tea with an air of elegance. "Hnn, you may go." Setting down the cup and turning it slightly, he turned his gaze toward the visiting pair. He arched a brow questioningly. "To what do I owe to this surprise visit by the young miss Jiang?"

Her father often referred to the magistrate as a smiling fox, however, when it came to the Elemental Spirit Master of their town, that magistrate was as if he had his claws and fangs pulled. It made her curious as to what their story could be?

Armed with this knowledge and knowing that she might not be able to match him otherwise, she was straightforward with her words. "The man next to me is one who is representing his master, the Elemental Spirit Master, who guards the gates. They're interested in that old property of Minister Li's at the center of the Open Market."

At the mention of Li Yu Rong, the magistrate, Ning Shufen jolted involuntarily causing the table to shake with a sharp rattle. Swiftly collecting himself, he tried to play off the lapse in control by straightening his posture and clearing his throat.

"Oh, is that so." He responded lightly.

He didn't even need to ask how they knew about information that hadn't been released yet. Not counting the girl with the identity of Commander Jiang's beloved daughter -despite her being adopted- nothing could be hidden from that terrible man. He had eyes hidden in every corner of the world.

Not bothered by the way the magistrate hung back, saying nothing more as if the interest being spoken of here held no more weight than a person causally speaking of the weather. Jiang Ya Lin quite easily jumped ahead, laying everything out.

"As it is a seized property one must go through the Magistrate's Office to acquire the deed. The representative is hoping that you'll be able to name a fair price for him to work with."

A fair price? Ning Shufen wanted to snort in disdain while sweat began collecting at the back of his neck from his nerves. What would that monstrous man count as fair? Handing over the property free of charge? Ah, but he really couldn't do that!

And that guy! The one standing behind the Jiang girl. Why did he have to be so silent, letting the girl handle everything for him while watching the proceedings as if watching an interesting insect? This made him far more nervous than the sharp-tongued ones that monster, Li Yu Rong, normally sent.

So, because of all that, Ning Shufen was forced to name a price that physically hurt him speak. "fifteen gold coins."

Even though it was a shop in this backwater town so far from the capital, considering their one-of-a-kind Open Market, he could have easily gotten thirty gold coins for a property located at its center. Ah... why did this devil have to come and show an interest!?

Jiang Ya Lin was thrilled, it was such a good price. Turning to Paoxiao, while trying to signal him with her eyes, she said. "What do you think? Will this price work for you?"

Being asked this, Paoxiao was a bit thrown, though it didn't show on his face. Although she had explained, a bit, the value of money... he wasn't quite sure what a good price would be for a building in this town.

If it were the Spirit Realm you had three choices when it came to properties: You either took what you wanted for yourself, bartered for it, or you picked a good spot and built yourself one. Now, whether or not you were the one to actually handle building it was another matter that could be dealt with in similar ways.

Although he didn't know about pricing, from the expression on her face he decided it had to be a good one. Grinning in that arrogant, proud way, of his, Paoxiao said. "It'll have to do."

After that had been agreed upon, Ning Shufen ordered a servant to bring ink and paper to draw up a contract and to also bring over the deed for the property. Once the discussions were over, everything signed, the money was taken, and the two finally left his estate Ning Shufen wilted in his chair.

Ah, how he hated dealing with that monster and those related to him. The fact that he was short fifteen gold coins had him on the verge of tears. That insufferable Li Yu Rong was going to be the death of him one day.

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To make sure that his master wouldn't be bothered, Hui Se Ying decided to gather up the spirits that needed to make their reports, into a line. He listened diligently as the spirit spoke, making sure to take everything down word for word, that his master could read it later. However before he even finished the first report, a bitingly cold voice floated over.

"What are you doing?"

Jumping up from his seat, Hui Se Ying cupped his fist and greeted his master. His movements were stiff and unnatural due to his guilt for interrupting his master's good thing.

Wait...

Not much time had passed and he was done already? Isn't it a bit too quick? Hui Se Ying thought that his master would be occupied well into the morning, but it was merely a small fraction of the time an incense stick took to burn.

This was really concerning. Didn't his master read the books he slipped to him on the sly? Though his master hadn't touched a girl before those books should have been rather telling. There's no way that he couldn't know what to do.

Should he have a talk with him, explain the ins and outs? Ah, but if Lu Se Ying appeared during that conversation, he shuddered to think of the consequences. Lu Se Ying was the old-fashioned sort that didn't believe in talking about such things; especially since he felt that Hui Se Ying had a warped sense when it came to romance and sex.

As he was about to ask if master read the books he'd given, he took note of Li Yu Rong's fierce glare and gulped the words back. Ah, that's right, he did interrupt them. It would be difficult to continue after that.

Feeling a sense of impending doom, that he was going to be suffering over the next few days, Hui Se Ying said faintly. "Ah, master those from the south finally returned. None of them were injured. I was gonna write down the reports for you, but now that you're here it's not necessary anymore."

That said, he vanished. Hopefully the next time he saw master, master would have calmed down and forgotten his anger toward him.