Mortal Bones

Chapter 3: The Seventh Day, The Evil Aunt Sells Her Nephew into Slavery

Six days later.

At the home of Xu Taiping’s Second Uncle.

“What? You want to sell Taiping?!”

Xu Taiping’s Second Uncle, Xu Erniu, stared at his wife in utter disbelief.

“Shh!…”

The aunt, her fleshy face scowling, pressed a finger to her lips, signaling him to keep his voice down.

“What do you mean ‘sell’? Becoming a servant at the Bai Manor is an opportunity most people couldn’t get even if they begged on their knees.”

She rolled her eyes at her husband.

“Be that as it may, he would still be entering into a slave contract…”

The Second Uncle hesitated, guilt flickering in his eyes.

“At the Bai family, he’ll eat well, drink well, and live well! What does a slave contract matter? Keep your nose out of this; I’ve already pocketed the deposit.”

The aunt waved her hand dismissively, her tone brokering no argument.

“Alright.”

Unable to sway his overbearing wife, Erniu let out a soft sigh and nodded in defeat.

“Where is Taiping?”

she demanded.

“He is still in the mourning hall. Today is the seventh day of the funeral rites; Taiping wants to keep vigil for the old man.”

Erniu, draped in coarse mourning hemp, wiped his mouth as he answered.

“The envoy from the Bai Manor is already waiting at the village entrance. Tell him to get back here immediately.”

The aunt shot Erniu another piercing glare.

“They’re here already?”

Erniu blinked in surprise.

“The young master of the Bai family starts at the private academy next month, and he happens to be short a page boy. Otherwise, why would they move so fast? Stop your blabbering and go drag that brat back from the mourning hall.”

She viciously poked her husband’s chest, her patience wearing thin.

“But… but today is the old man’s seventh day. Shouldn’t we at least let Taiping finish tonight’s vigil before he leaves?”

The Second Uncle scratched his head, deeply conflicted.

Ever since Xu Taiping’s grandfather passed, the couple had been scheming to rid themselves of the burden that was Taiping. However, the Second Uncle still harbored a shred of familial affection and could not bear to send the boy off into servitude before the final funeral rites were complete.

“Seventh day, seventh day, what is so great about the seventh day?! Is it more important than silver?! You fool!”

Exasperated by his spinelessness, the aunt jabbed a thick finger into his forehead, before leaning in to whisper conspiratorially:

“Do you know how much silver the Bai family is willing to pay? Thirty taels! Thirty taels of silver!”

Raw, unrestrained greed burned in her eyes.

Hearing this astronomical sum, the Second Uncle froze, before nodding vigorously.

“I will go fetch Taiping right now.”

…

Half an hour later.

The entrance to Qingniu Village.

Xu Taiping cast a reluctant, lingering glance back toward the mourning hall before turning to plead with his aunt and uncle.

“Second Uncle, can I truly not leave tomorrow?”

“Taiping, becoming a servant at the Bai Manor is a once-in-a-lifetime Fated Chance! If you don’t leave now, by tomorrow, you won’t be able to go even if you beg!”

His aunt beamed at him, her face a mask of false warmth.

“Aunt is just worried that if you wait until tomorrow, you won’t be able to sell me for a good price, isn’t that right?”

Xu Taiping met her gaze with chilling indifference.

Though he had spent the last few days keeping vigil, he had tasted the bitter fickleness of human nature since childhood. How could he be blind to the underhanded scheming of his own flesh and blood?

The only reason he hadn’t fought back was twofold: first, he simply lacked the power to resist; second, he found himself thinking that going to the Bai Manor might not be a terrible fate. With his grandfather gone, nothing anchored him to this place anymore.

“You wretched child, is that how you speak to your aunt? She is doing all of this for your own good!”

Hearing Taiping’s accusation, the Second Uncle shot him a furious glare to mask his own guilt.

“Stop dawdling and get in the carriage! There have been rat demons prowling this area at night recently. We must reach Green Bamboo Ridge before sundown.”

The Bai family steward, seated atop the waiting carriage, barked impatiently.

“Coming, coming!”

Spurred by the warning, the aunt and uncle grabbed Taiping by the arms without another word, physically dragging him toward the wooden cart.

Xu Taiping offered no resistance, only feeling an icy void expanding within his chest.

…

“Look closely, little brat. This is the slave contract you signed with the Bai family. From this day forth, you are property of our house. You no longer hold any ties to Qingniu Village or the Xu bloodline.”

Standing before the carriage, the steward sneered, waving the freshly ink-thumbed parchment in the air.

“Mhm.”

Taiping nodded, his face utterly devoid of emotion.

It seems the Pill Grandfather gave me was a failure. Six days have passed, and no Immortal has descended to fetch me.

While the steward finalized the transaction with his aunt and uncle, Xu Taiping quietly tilted his head, gazing up into the boundless sky.

He didn’t actually feel much disappointment regarding the failed immortal path. After all, his singular driving motivation for seeking the Dao had been to cure his grandfather’s illness.

“Eh? Up in the sky! There’s a white crane larger than a water buffalo!”

“Where? Where?!”

“Wait, on the crane’s back… there appear to be two people standing!”

Suddenly, shouts of shock and awe erupted from the villagers gathered at the entrance.

Drawn by the commotion, Xu Taiping, the steward, and the Erniu couple all looked to the heavens. Sure enough, a colossal white crane had materialized high above, the silhouettes of two human figures standing proudly upon its snowy plumage.

“Im… Immortals?”

After staring blankly for a few breaths, the word slipped slowly from Taiping’s lips.

“They are Immortals! They must be Immortals!”

The crowd of villagers erupted into a frenzy of terrified excitement.

Screeeech!

Accompanied by an ear-piercing avian cry, the two figures descended from the heavens, drifting down with weightless grace to land directly before the stunned masses.

They were a man and a woman. The young man wore a sky-blue robe; the woman was draped in a crimson dress. The man possessed sword-like brows and eyes like the starry night, radiating a dignified, otherworldly handsome aura. The woman’s features were even more devastating, resembling a celestial maiden descended to the mortal realm; her sheer beauty seemed to drain the color from the surrounding landscape.

“Apologies for the disturbance, everyone. I am a disciple of the Qingxuan Sect from Yunlu Mountain. Today, my Junior Sister and I have descended to this humble place to seek out a certain youth.”

The young man offered a courteous martial salute to the awestruck crowd.

Upon hearing this, an uproar swept through Qingniu Village. They hadn’t dared to truly believe these figures were Immortals, much less the legendary beings from the neighboring Yunlu Mountain.

“Might I ask, does this village harbor a young man by the name of Xu Taiping?”

The crimson-clad Junior Sister from Yunlu Mountain stepped forward, clasping her hands with a breathtaking smile as she inquired.

That single smile was devastating enough that not only the men, but even the women present felt their hearts skip a beat.

“Xu… Xu Taiping?”

“It’s him! He is Xu Taiping!”

Shaking off their stupor, several villagers frantically pointed shaking fingers toward the boy standing by the carriage.

The denizens of Qingniu Village were intimately familiar with one another. Considering Taiping’s family was one of the few to carry an outsider surname, practically everyone knew who he was.

“You are Xu Taiping?”

The Junior Sister took a graceful step forward, her eyes lighting up with undisguised delight as she assessed the young boy.

“Mhm.”

Xu Taiping gave a slow nod.

Deep within his heart, he had already deduced their true identities.

“Senior Brother.”

Seeing Taiping confirm his name, the woman eagerly turned back to the young man.

“The jade slip is reacting. He is the one we seek.”

The Senior Brother nodded firmly, raising a jade slip that pulsed with a faint, ethereal green glow.

“T-This Immortal Maiden… has my nephew… committed some grievous crime?”

Unable to bear the suspense, Second Uncle Xu Erniu finally choked out a terrified question.

“Who told you to run your mouth?!”

The moment the words left Erniu’s mouth, his wife violently yanked him back by the collar, deliberately maintaining a distance of five or six feet from Taiping.

It wasn’t just them; the surrounding villagers hastily scrambled backward, terrified to stand anywhere near the boy.

Clearly, the collective assumption mirroring Xu Erniu’s dread was that Xu Taiping had committed a horrific offense to warrant the personal descent of Immortals.

After all, living in the shadow of Yunlu Mountain, even if they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, they had all heard the bloody tales of Immortals descending to slaughter demons.