Volume One: The Emperor’s Sword Chapter 93: The Rich Man

Hearing Luo Xiaoyu mention the doll, Yun Que felt a chill creep up his back.

There had never been any outsiders in Si Ruonan's home.

Not only had Wu Dachuan once confirmed that Si Ruonan lived alone, but just now Yun Que had searched the entire courtyard and found it empty to the point of being deserted, not even a shadow of a ghost.

"How big was the doll?" Yun Que asked at once.

"About... this tall." Luo Xiaoyu gestured to the level of her knees, then said in surprise, "Huh? It seems a little smaller than that. How could such a tiny doll have run away?"

Yun Que measured the height she had indicated.

It was about the size of an infant. Such a tiny doll should not only be incapable of peeking around doorframes for a commotion, it should not even have been able to walk.

"How dark was its face?" Yun Que went on.

"Very dark, like the skin of a scorched potato! But its eyes were bright, like they were glowing blue."

Thinking of the taste of roasted potatoes, Luo Xiaoyu swallowed unconsciously, entirely unaware that her description had become increasingly eerie.

"Are you sure the doll you saw just now was alive?" Yun Que's voice dropped.

Luo Xiaoyu shivered at that, immediately forgetting about roasted potatoes. Blinking her large eyes, she said, "I-I think so. Otherwise how could it have run? Senior Brother Yun, wasn't that doll Lady Si's child? Could there be something wrong with it?"

"Si Ruonan has no child, only a younger brother." Yun Que said blankly.

"Then it must be her brother!" Luo Xiaoyu said.

"Her brother has been dead for a long time." Yun Que's tone remained calm.

Luo Xiaoyu trembled all over, glancing nervously to either side as she said fearfully, "Senior Brother Yun, don't scare m-me like that. I-I don't have a very big b-b-bravery."

"Isn't your courage quite decent?" Yun Que teased.

"I'm not afraid of living things, but I am afraid of ghosts!" Luo Xiaoyu whispered, as though sharing some secret.

"Si Ruonan may not be without a child," Yun Que murmured thoughtfully.

He suddenly thought of the chubby boy from Wild Goose Gate Town.

If Si Ruonan and Hu Tieshan were husband and wife, then Si Ruonan might well be Hu Congming's mother.

As Yun Que was thinking of old acquaintances from his hometown, Luo Xiaoyu mistakenly thought he was saying that the black doll was Si Ruonan's child, and grew even more alarmed.

"Could it be Lady Si's child who died young, and she refined him into a magical artifact to preserve him forever? A dead infant artifact! How terrifying!"

Hearing Luo Xiaoyu's wild speculation, Yun Que felt helpless, and then a glimmer moved in his eyes.

"Dead infant..."

Wu Dachuan had once said that Si Ruonan had secretly purchased dead infants, and that Wu Dachuan himself had even helped transport them.

Could the black doll Luo Xiaoyu had just seen be one of the dead infants Wu Dachuan delivered?

But how could a dead infant come back to life?

No, not come back to life.

Yun Que gave Luo Xiaoyu a startled look. Perhaps she had guessed correctly after all: the dead infant Wu Dachuan transported had been refined by Si Ruonan into something akin to a magical artifact, which made it appear as though it had revived.

Only, this dead infant artifact had clearly gone somewhat out of control, running out on its own, or else it had not yet been fully completed.

Recalling Si Ruonan's weakened condition when she emerged from the woodshed, she must have been expending tremendous effort to refine something or arrange some formation, only to be interrupted by Yun Que at the very end.

"Collecting strange medicinal herbs and antiquities, grafting demon beasts, refining dead infants, and buying qiu wood crystals at such high prices—what on earth is she trying to do?"

Yun Que pondered Si Ruonan's ultimate purpose. It was probably not as simple as refining a single dead infant.

The little dog Wealth had also been one of Si Ruonan's creations, and this artifact refiner was clearly researching some forbidden things.

Since none of it concerned him, Yun Que naturally would not delve into the truth.

Besides, she not only knew Hu Tieshan, but had also given him such a low price for the item; bargains like that could not be found even by lantern light. How could he go and uncover her secrets?

It had not been easy to meet an artifact refiner, and Yun Que did not want to offend her.

If he had enough materials in the future, he might even ask her to help refine flying swords.

Within the world of cultivation, there were a few kinds of practitioners most in demand.

Alchemists, artifact refiners, formation masters, and talisman makers.

Each possessed a special skill, standing far above others in a certain field, and could easily accumulate vast wealth.

So cultivating immortality was not easy either. With a sigh, Yun Que put the strange affairs of Si Ruonan's home behind him.

Since they had come to Willow Street, they naturally ought to look around properly.

He already had the flying sword and the mask; what remained was to gather elixirs.

Yun Que intended to buy some Spirit Origin Pills.

With spiritual medicine to aid cultivation, the effect was almost doubled for half the effort.

He also planned to inquire where qiu wood crystals could be sold.

It was not that he distrusted Si Ruonan, but Yun Que remained puzzled by the qiu wood crystals carried by those two blood barbarians.

Back when he killed the two barbarians on Willow Street, they had no spirit stones and no pills on them, only a small pouch of qiu wood crystals.

At the time, Yun Que had concluded that the two must have been gamblers who had lost all their valuables and, in desperation, had decided to commit robbery and murder in the market.

Now it seemed that might not be the case. Something about it was highly suspicious.

That small pouch of qiu wood crystals alone was worth at least three hundred spirit stones. The two barbarians would rather kill in the market than sell the crystals, which meant that material must have been extremely important to them.

What did the barbarian race need qiu wood crystals for?

If he could solve that riddle, perhaps he could find the barbarian lair in the imperial capital.

After inquiring at more than a dozen shops in succession, he found that the value of qiu wood crystals matched Si Ruonan's asking price, yet there was no stock.

A commodity with a price but no market.

No wonder Si Ruonan had been overjoyed upon seeing the crystals; they simply could not be bought on the open market.

It was merely a material, rare though it was, and not something that should make everyone scramble for it.

That was strange. Could someone be buying qiu wood crystals in large quantities?

Yun Que probed a shop owner in a roundabout way.

Just as he had suspected, someone really was purchasing qiu wood crystals in bulk; whenever any appeared in the market, they were immediately bought up.

Because this customer was a major buyer for the various shops, the owners refused to reveal any details, saying only that it was a rich person.

Yun Que tested the matter with a few indirect remarks, and the one buying qiu wood crystals was indeed not the artifact refiner Si Ruonan, but someone else.

And this "rich person" who was collecting qiu wood crystals in large quantities was the key to all the clues, and very likely involved in the barbarian lair within the imperial capital. As long as he found this person, many mysteries could be unraveled at once.

"I'm starving! Senior Brother Yun, let's go eat something. I can hardly walk anymore."

Luo Xiaoyu's pitiful voice sounded in his ear. Yun Que temporarily set aside his thoughts and found a small eatery on Willow Street.

It was around noon.

The restaurants and taverns on both sides of the long street were packed full. The calls of the waiters and the chatter of the diners rose and fell without end, lively beyond measure.

Yun Que decided that once the contest among the sword heirs was over, he would begin with this "rich person" buying qiu wood crystals and trace any threads related to the barbarians. So he stopped dwelling on it and focused on lunch.

After eating his fill, the two of them went to an elixir shop that specialized in selling medicinal pills, where they happened to meet someone familiar.

It was Yun Que's fellow townsman, Han Jiao.

Han Jiao stood alone before a tall counter, asking about something.

Yun Que recognized her from behind at once and was about to go over and greet her.

It had been many days since they last met; he wondered whether her dragon spirit root physique had shown any improvement.

As he drew nearer, he heard the conversation between Han Jiao and the shopkeeper.

"Miss, I am truly sorry. Our shop is small and does not carry the kind of elixir you want, one that can suppress bloodline power. Perhaps you should try another shop?"

"Then... do you have any elixir that can extend lifespan? It doesn't need to last long, even a few extra days of life would do."

"Elixirs that can add a few days of longevity do exist, but they are very expensive, and for a young cultivator like you they are hardly worth it. They are mostly used on elderly people on the verge of death, to buy them a little time to leave their final words."

"How many spirit stones? I want to buy some..."