Early the next morning.

Qin Lu, who had slept restlessly all night, rose early.

After a simple wash, he walked out of his room, feigning composure.

His first destination was the remote path where yesterday’s battle had taken place, to check the scene.

When Qin Lu arrived, the two corpses that had been lying in the middle of the road yesterday were gone. The loose cultivators passing by showed no signs of unusual discussion, as if nothing had ever happened.

“The bodies are gone. I don’t know if it was the Wuji Sect who collected them, or Fang Hu and his men…”

Qin Lu let out a long sigh of relief, calming his tense nerves a little, then turned and left.

After leaving the scene, Qin Lu did not head straight for the market. Instead, following his memory, he found a house in a remote part of The Slums and went up to bang on the door.

“Who the hell is it? Banging on the door so early in the morning when people are trying to sleep!”

The angry voice of a man came from inside before the door even opened.

“It’s me, Qin Lu.”

Bang!

The door swung open.

A young man with disheveled hair appeared inside, looking impatient. “What do you want, old man? Here to borrow money again? I’m telling you, no way! You still haven’t paid me back from last time!”

“No, no, no! This time I’m here to repay you!”

Qin Lu hurriedly explained, then took ten Spirit Stones from his robe and handed them to the young man.

The young man looked very surprised, holding the Spirit Stones with an expression of utter disbelief. “Well, well, what’s going on today? Did the sun rise from the west? You’re actually taking the initiative to repay your debt!”

“Yes, yes. I really must thank you for your help before…” Qin Lu said with a wide, ingratiating smile.

“Heh! Looks like I didn’t misjudge you after all. As long as you pay up, we’re still good brothers!”

“Of course! Let’s have tea sometime, let’s have tea sometime!”

After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the young man, Qin Lu cupped his hands in farewell and left.

He headed to the home of his next debtor.

After spending a little over ten minutes, Qin Lu cleared another small loan.

The total of twenty Spirit Stones in external debt was all settled today. Now, his only remaining debt was the one hundred and seventy Spirit Stones owed to Jishan Store.

……

With his business taken care of, Qin Lu walked slowly into the market district. However, he did not head towards the market stalls. Instead, he went straight to the rice shop.

He hadn’t come out today to set up a stall. He planned to buy some provisions and go into seclusion for cultivation.

The rice shop was still sparsely populated, with few customers. The price of spirit rice hadn’t changed either, still one Spirit Stone for four jin.

Since Qin Lu wanted to stay in for a month this time, he directly bought over thirty jin of spirit rice, spending eight Spirit Stones in total.

With spirit rice, meat and vegetables were naturally also necessary.

After that, he went to the market and spent seven Spirit Stones to buy a sufficient amount of demon beast meat and vegetables.

After spending nearly half an hour, Qin Lu finally succeeded in purchasing all sorts of daily necessities. Carrying several large and small bags in each hand, he walked out of the market feeling satisfied.

This time, to be cautious, he wandered around the market district for a long time in a suspicious manner, taking many twists and turns.

He was afraid someone might be following him.

Only when he felt safe did he finally leave the market district and head home.

He made his way home, his heart in his throat the entire journey.

After carefully putting away all the provisions he had bought, Qin Lu finally let out a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to pick up a cup of water to drink, a sudden knocking came from the door.

“Big Mouth, open up, it’s me~”

The voice of Auntie Li came from outside.

Hearing this voice, Qin Lu’s eyes lit up. He quickly put down the water cup and got up to open the door.

Was she here to deliver him a wife?

He opened the door.

Standing outside was the heavily made-up Auntie Li, and beside her stood the round little fatty, Cao Mo.

“Big Mouth~ Auntie has finally found a good match for you!”

As Auntie Li said this, she craned her neck to peer into the room behind Qin Lu, though it was unclear what she was trying to see.

“Really?!”

Qin Lu looked somewhat excited and quickly asked, “Auntie, tell me quickly, what kind of good match is it?”

Auntie Li’s eyes shifted, looking at Qin Lu with a mysterious smile.

“Do you know Mistress Zhang from the North Shed District?”

Qin Lu shook his head repeatedly. “No, I don’t.”

He was joking. Ever since arriving here, the memories he had received were fragmented, and many things were unclear. He definitely had no impression of any Mistress Zhang from the North Shed District.

“Ah, you’ve hit the jackpot this time! Mistress Zhang is young and beautiful, only twenty-six this year, extremely fresh and lovely. She’s a famous beauty in our area!”

Auntie Li blinked her small eyes, saying with a giggle.

Hearing this description, Qin Lu couldn’t help but swallow. After a pause, he tentatively said,

“But could such a beauty really take a liking to me? I have no house, no carriage… no, no, I mean, I’m so poor. Isn’t it a bit unsuitable…”

“Under normal circumstances, you’d have no chance. But two months ago, Mistress Zhang’s dao companion died out in the wild, you see. Now she’s a widow with a child. Their family needs a man to support them. Ah, let me tell you, I had to talk for a long time, saying you’d turned over a new leaf, that you don’t gamble anymore, before Mistress Zhang was willing to even meet you!”

“Ah?!”

Qin Lu’s smile gradually froze, turning into an expression of utter astonishment. “Auntie, no, wait, what you’re saying… she’s a widow? And she has a child?”

“That’s right!”

Auntie Li nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Then she paused, looking Qin Lu up and down with a frown.

“What? Don’t tell me a kid your age dares to look down on her?”

“This… this… It’s not good, I can’t accept it right away!” Qin Lu said, sounding troubled.

He wasn’t Cao Cao!

“Ah, you kid! If you can find someone with Mistress Zhang’s looks, you should be laughing behind your hand already! How dare you be so picky!”

“Alright, alright! When Mistress Zhang has time, I’ll notify you to go meet her!”

With that, Auntie Li turned and left directly, giving Qin Lu no chance to refuse.

Qin Lu watched her retreating back, a look of helplessness on his face.

It was true he wanted a wife, but getting a buy-one-get-one-free deal all of a sudden seemed a bit too generous…

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Qin Big Mouth, I never thought you’d be so desperate at your age, not even letting a widow slip by!” The fatty Cao Mo said with a cheeky grin, crossing his arms.

“Go on, get out of here! What does a little brat like you know! Go home and do your homework!”

Qin Lu waved his hand, shooing him away.

“I definitely know!”

Cao Mo immediately retorted, but then paused, his face full of confusion. “Huh? What’s homework?”

“It’s playing Honor of Kings!”

“Who’s Honor of Kings? How do I fight him?”

“Sigh…”

Qin Lu looked up at the sky, speechless. After a moment of silence, he suddenly stepped back and slammed his own door shut with a bang.

“Ah! You damn Big Mouth! Closing the door before you’re even finished talking! Have the guts to open up! I want a one-on-one with you!” Cao Mo cursed in a rage.

Qin Lu ignored Cao Mo’s words, calmly sat back down in his chair, picked up the plain water he hadn’t gotten to drink earlier, and took a gentle sip.

The cool plain water flowed from his mouth straight down into his chest, making Qin Lu unable to suppress a sigh of emotion. Then, an image of a pale, slender thigh involuntarily popped into his mind.

He murmured softly under his breath,

“A widow…”

==========