Chapter 5: Orphan

One hour ago.

Breeze Pavilion, third-floor tea room.

Behind a landscape screen, a woman gently plucked a pipa, singing a soft, melodic tune.

A middle-aged man sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, his hand forming a seal. A water dragon rose from the teapot, enveloping tea leaves within as it emitted billowing steam.

Clearly, he was brewing tea.

The water dragon danced for a moment before finally descending into the teacup.

“Please.”

The brewed tea was pushed by a gentle breeze, coming to a stop in the hands of the person opposite him.

“Good tea.” Zhao Qiantong picked up the teacup, took a sip, praised it, and then set the cup down.

“This is the Spiritual Root you asked me to keep an eye out for a while ago. Today, I’ve finally lived up to expectations and brought it for you.” He took a long wooden box out of his storage ring and pushed it toward the middle-aged man.

“Mr. Ge may verify it.”

He held a position at the school, and all the Spiritual Roots in his hands were allocated by the Ministry of Education for student use. This one should have been sold to Qin Wu, but he had secretly swapped it out.

Thinking of Qin Wu, a hint of irritation flickered in Zhao Qiantong’s eyes.

The boy only had a spirit root worm in his body. Although there was no difference in effect between the larval stage and a real Spiritual Root, the rate of absorbing Spiritual Qi was at most equivalent to a Low Grade Spiritual Root.

Who could have expected him to draw Qi into his body overnight, and that his talent for the Obscuring Concealment Technique would be so high?

Although he indeed hadn’t seen Qin Wu’s application to enter the ruins today, for some reason, he felt a sense of unease.

Unfortunately, the situation over these two days was special; it wasn’t a good time to kill someone at this critical juncture.

Zhao Qiantong rubbed the rim of his teacup, murderous intent rising in his heart, though not a trace of it showed on his face.

“No need to verify, I trust Teacher Zhao’s credibility.” Ge An laughed heartily and, without even looking, placed the wooden box directly into his storage ring.

Zhao Qiantong nodded. The fee for the Spiritual Root had actually been paid in advance. The transaction was complete, and he should have left immediately, but he picked up the teacup and took another sip.

“The Breeze Pavilion is Mr. Ge’s property, isn’t it? On my way up just now, the maids I saw were actually all Cultivators.”

Before Ge An could respond, he shifted the topic: “To be honest, I hope Mr. Ge can do me a small favor.”

Ge An was stunned for a moment, then said heartily, “As long as it’s within my power, of course I can.”

Hearing this, Zhao Qiantong pushed up the gold-rimmed decorative glasses on the bridge of his nose and smiled. “There is a person I hope you can send to the hospital for a few days.”

“Oh, and it would be best to make your move after I’ve arrived at the school.”

After seeing Zhao Qiantong off, Ge An looked at the photo on his phone; it was clearly Qin Wu’s likeness.

“Dad.”

The sound of the pipa in the room stopped, and the woman from behind the screen walked out, her expression somewhat displeased. “Why are you trying so hard to please him? You even insisted on buying a Spiritual Root from this man; his price is even steeper than the black market’s.”

“What do you know!”

At this moment, Ge An was completely unlike his previous hearty self. With his disguise gone, his brow was full of ferocity as he shot an impatient glance at his daughter.

“What I value is the person behind him. That’s a certain lord from the Inner City. As long as I can establish a connection with that person, what does it matter if I suffer a little loss?”

He tapped his thumb on the phone screen and sent Qin Wu’s photo to the woman.

“First, have someone check this person’s identity. If he really is just a poor student with no background as Zhao Qiantong said, find a Cultivator unaffiliated with our family to go and break one of his legs.”

“I understand.”

…

…

Hospital.

After the Caregiver arrived, Qin Wu explained a few things that needed attention. Finally, after a glance at his mother lying on the bed in the ward, he turned and left.

But he didn’t go to school; instead, he went back home first.

“Brother Qin Wu, you’re back!”

A thin, small child was sitting at the doorstep, wrapped up tightly. Seeing Qin Wu return, he trotted over to meet him.

“How is Auntie? Is she okay?”

Qin Wu could see the concern in his eyes. He didn’t mind the dirt on the boy and reached out to ruffle the child’s head. “She’s fine now. Thank you for bringing me the news yesterday; otherwise, it would have been a real problem.”

“I’m just glad I could help.” The child smiled shyly.

Qin Wu handed him the buns he had bought on the way. “Here, eat.”

“Thank you, Brother Qin Wu!” The child swallowed hard, took the buns, and devoured them ravenously.

The place where he lived was considered poor even for the Outer City. The surrounding environment was filthy and messy, and the residents were a mixed bag, though mostly desperate ordinary people. Its only merit was the cheap rent.

Furthermore, orphans ran all over the streets here; if one wasn’t careful, they might have their things stolen by them.

When the original owner first moved here, he had been stolen from several times. But instead of getting angry, he often spared his own rations to give to them.

Over time, he actually became well-acquainted with these children.

“Come, follow me inside for a shower.” Qin Wu took out his key to open the door, led the child inside, and took out toiletries to place in the bathroom.

Boys were naturally quick at showering, and since it was summer, he took a quick ‘combat shower.’ When he came out, however, his face was deathly pale, and he seemed to be clutching a pitch-black object in his hand.

Qin Wu was cleaning up the living room, which had been a mess since yesterday. Seeing his expression, he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

The boy walked over despondently, his hand trembling as he opened his palm. “The spirit poison in my body seems to have worsened again.”

Qin Wu’s gaze narrowed. What lay in the palm was clearly a piece of rotten flesh that had fallen off the boy’s body.

“Am I… about to die?”

The air fell into a dead silence for a moment. After a long while, Qin Wu let out a heavy sigh.

In truth, purification potions targeting spirit poison had long been on the market. Although they couldn’t cure it, they could suppress its onset; ordinary people could live to their fifties or sixties without any problem.

But although these potions weren’t expensive, they weren’t something these children could afford.

As for why his own spirit poison had been so severe back then, it was entirely because his Spiritual Root had been gouged out, causing a spirit poison backlash that ordinary purification potions were completely useless against.

Qin Wu walked over, pinched the rotten flesh from the boy’s palm, threw it into the trash, and said calmly, “I’ll buy you a bottle of purification potion in a few days. It’ll be fine.”

Thinking of the three-digit balance left in his card, Qin Wu instantly thought of Qian Tuo. A servant’s money was naturally the master’s; he surely had a lot of savings.

Influenced by Qin Wu’s attitude, the child gradually calmed down.

“I’m going to school in a bit, you…”

*Clink—*

A sharp sound suddenly came from the window, as if someone had thrown a small stone against it.

The child immediately ran over, opened the window, and looked down.

A young girl stood below. She probably couldn’t speak, as she was gesturing something with her hands.

“Brother Qin Wu, this is bad!” The child turned and said to Qin Wu anxiously, “Xiao Liu says a strange Cultivator has entered the area and looks to be heading this way. Could it be the people from the casino again?”

Qin Wu’s first reaction was that it was impossible.

Little Maternal Uncle was already dead, and his gambling debts had been settled. How could the casino people come here?

He thought for a moment and said to him, “You leave here first.”

“Okay.” The child didn’t hesitate, immediately running out the door and downstairs to slip away.

But what he didn’t expect was that the Cultivator’s speed was so fast; he ran right into the man after going downstairs.

“Are you a tenant of this building?”

The man was tall and powerful. He grabbed the boy by the collar, but after seeing the rotten flesh on his body through the collar, he let go in disgust. “Is there a person named Qin Wu in this building?”

“I…” The child was about to say he didn’t know when his ears suddenly twitched. Hearing a transmission, he immediately changed his tune. “Yes.”

He shrank back a bit, then leaned in subserviently. “My lord, if you can give me a little money, I can even lead the way for you!”

“No need, get lost.”

The man waved his hand impatiently and strode into the building.

The intelligence mentioned that the target was on the third floor and hadn’t left home yet.

*Bang—*

The iron door painted in black was kicked open. One could see the small apartment was kept clean and tidy. The balcony window was wide open, and as a breeze blew through, the clothes hangers on the line clattered against each other, making noise.

The man looked around once. “Wait, where’s the person?”

“Jumped out the window and ran?”