Evergreen Immortal-Chapter 21: One Man’s Poison, Another Man’s Honey

By the banks of the Qing Shui River.

Inside a grand residence with vermilion gates and green-tiled roofs, exuding an air of nobility, a middle-aged man with a hooked nose and a cold, stern expression sat in a pavilion overlooking the water.

From time to time, bright red koi fish would rise to the surface.

The middle-aged man toyed with a pebble no larger than a fingernail, his fingers curled slightly.

Whoosh!

The pebble shot out like an arrow, piercing through the air and striking a koi fish in the water with precision. The pond splashed, and the koi quickly went still.

A strike across distance!

“Fish it out, we’ll eat it tonight.”

The maid standing nearby was already accustomed to this sort of thing and showed no surprise.

“Yes.”

Just then, a disciple of the Heaven-Earth Alliance, dressed in dark robes, hurried up the corridor to the pavilion, holding a name list in both hands.

“Branch Master, this is the recommendation list for this month.”

The middle-aged man glanced at the list.

“Those who’ve reached the entry level can be made deacons. The rest, throw them into the training grounds for a few years. We’ll talk after their assessments.”

The disciple in dark clothing said, “Branch Master, yesterday Deacon Wu recommended an entry-level martial artist. His skills are decent, and he understands the rules of the Jianghu... but he’s a bit old. Name’s Li Rui.”

“How old?”

“Seventy.”

“...”

The middle-aged man flipped through the list and soon found Li Rui’s name.

“We’re short on people right now. Let him go to the Tianyi Hall, maybe he can still be of use.”

“Yes.”

Elsewhere—

“The blade goes where I go. Man and blade as one!”

Li Rui swung a wooden staff, knocking down leaves one after another. The courtyard was soon littered with fresh green leaves.

Though the small house he had rented through a tooth agent was modest, it came with a rare little courtyard. In early spring, the willows on both sides were flourishing.

After leaving the Zhu family, freed from worldly troubles, his blade technique had improved swiftly.

Even those instructors in the city who specialized in blade arts probably wouldn’t dare say they could beat him.

“When one lives, one has to strive.”

A martial artist never stops striving, for techniques, for fame, for wealth…

If you don’t strive, you’ll be left behind, trampled underfoot.

Fortunately, Li Rui had a cheat.

A body built for martial arts, paired with the White Ape Phi Blade. It gave him the luxury to be indifferent to fame and fortune. As long as he secured a decent job, his herbal medicine expenses could mostly be covered.

After finishing his blade practice, he had just stepped back inside when,

Dong, dong, dong!

A knock sounded from outside the courtyard.

When he opened the door, it was Yang Yong.

Yang Yong looked anxious as he stared at Li Rui. “Old Li, did you ever visit that abandoned temple outside the city?”

“I did.”

Li Rui nodded, heart suddenly tightening.

He had no idea why Yang Yong was bringing this up now.

Yang Yong shouted in alarm, “Something’s happened! Head Constable Liu from the court came to the Zhu family today, I just happened to be there. He said that many of the constables who went to that abandoned temple back then have been killed, one after another. He suspects someone’s targeting them deliberately and told the master to be careful!”

“I thought about it, and remembered you went that day too so I rushed over to tell you!”

Li Rui’s brows furrowed sharply.

“This is trouble!”

The rumored murderer must be that disciple of Splendid Purity Sect.

He had taken that disciple’s secret technique. Clearly, the other party was unwilling to let it go and had come for revenge. Unable to identify the exact target, the killer was just eliminating everyone one by one, until the person with the secret technique was found.

“I understand, Old Yang.”

Yang Yong advised with concern, “Old Li, maybe you should hide out in another county for a while.”

Li Rui shook his head.

“There’s no escaping this.”

He knew better than anyone how valuable the White Ape Phi Blade was. Unless he fled all the way out of Yunzhou, the other party would never let him go.

“Then what will you do?”

“I’m going to join the Heaven-Earth Alliance.”

The moment he heard that, Yang Yong was shocked. Of course he knew the name of the Heaven-Earth Alliance.

“Do you have someone to recommend you?”

“Mm.”

Seeing Li Rui nod, Yang Yong finally relaxed a bit.

The Heaven-Earth Alliance was filled with experts. As long as Li Rui lived at their headquarters, that killer wouldn’t find it easy to strike.

After all, those constables were killed on their way home.

Not long after Yang Yong left, a burly man with a full beard, dressed in the dark uniform of the Heaven-Earth Alliance, arrived at the courtyard gate.

Li Rui smiled and stepped forward. “Brother Wu.”

Wu Tu entered the courtyard and took out a brass token from his robes. The number 28 was engraved on it.

“Brother, this is your token. The number corresponds to your identity. If it’s lost, report it to the Logistics Hall immediately. If someone uses it to commit evil, you’ll be held accountable.”

Li Rui nodded and accepted the token from Wu Tu.

Just as he was about to thank him, Wu Tu pulled out a densely marked sheet of paper from his sleeve.

With just a glance at the “Wanbao Trading Company” seal on it, Li Rui realized it was a silver note.

In ancient times, the poor used copper coins, and the rich used silver.

But silver could be inconvenient to carry when in large amounts, so it was often deposited in trading firms and exchanged for silver notes. Thin and light, these notes were easy to carry, and thanks to special treatment, waterproof and fire-resistant.

Li Rui didn’t quite understand what Wu Tu meant by giving it to him.

Wu Tu stared at him for a moment, then suddenly sighed. “Old Brother, I feel ashamed. This little brother didn’t do right for you. I can’t accept this recommendation reward.”

Visit freewebnoveℓ.com for the best novel reading exp𝒆rience.

“What happened, Brother Wu?”

“The number on this token represents your rank. The smaller the number, the higher the status. Our Qinghe branch only has 28 entry-level martial artists.”

“I thought with your experience and skill, you’d at least rank in the top 20…”

“But turns out…”

As he spoke, Wu Tu raised two fingers and swore, “Don’t worry, brother. I’ll make sure to win you more benefits in the future.”

Before he finished speaking, he stuffed the silver note worth one hundred taels into Li Rui’s hand.

The token was made of brass, with the characters “Heaven and Earth” carved in relief using the yang engraving technique, surrounded by red patterns that gave it a grand, elegant look.

“Brother, with this token, you’re now the Hall Master of Tianyi Hall.”

“Tianyi Hall is in charge of guarding the branch’s martial manuals and other miscellaneous books. You only guard them, distribution is handled by the Transmission Hall.”

“It’s a very leisurelyjob.”

Wu Tu struggled for a long time, but couldn’t think of a real advantage. Finally, he had to point out a benefit that most martial artists wouldn’t even consider a benefit.

He truly wanted to find Li Rui a good position.

Don’t be fooled by his ruthless methods, if he respected someone, he genuinely looked out for them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have risen to the top of Rong Gate’s ranks.

After interacting with Li Rui a few times, he had come to believe that, aside from his age, the man’s martial skills and character were impeccable.

Li Rui finally understood.

Hall Master of Tianyi Hall… In other words a librarian.

He looked down at the silver note worth one hundred taels in his hand.

Paid in silver, and the job’s this easy?

Could there really be such a good thing in this world?!