Tan Bajhang and Zuo Gaofeng couldn’t buy any real spirit wine in Wuchao Town, of course. But Su Wan had a storage artifact. She took out a jar of Osmanthus Fragrance from it and got everyone completely drunk.

Liu Xiaolou didn’t know whether Su Wan herself got drunk or not. Early the next morning, when he was woken up by Big White stepping on his face, he realized she had already left Qianzhu Ridge. He stared silently in the direction she’d gone for a while, stretched lazily, and then noticed something in his sleeve pocket. He pulled it out. It was a pouch, with ten spirit stones inside.

So that’s your idea of an apology? Just throw me a bag of spirit stones and disappear without a word? What’s that even supposed to mean?

Grumbling to himself, he put the stones away and looked around. Dragon Mountain Wanderer, Zuo Gaofeng, and Tan Bajhang were sprawled all over the veranda in front of the house, still sound asleep. The wooden floorboards beneath them were already damp with morning dew.

The spirit energy in the Osmanthus Fragrance was way stronger than in the Bamboo Leaf Green. He had to admit, the good stuff from the Su family really was something you can’t help but miss.

He told Big White and Little Black to step on the others and wake them up. A new day had begun.

Dragon Mountain Wanderer dusted himself off and left first, leaving Tan Bajhang and Zuo Gaofeng behind. They handed Liu Xiaolou a pouch of spirit stones and said, “The Zhanglong Sect was really pleased about what happened yesterday. Elder Bai met with us personally. We also reached an agreement. Going forward, whenever we turn in a corpse that’s confirmed to be one of the Gengsang Cave bandits, the reward will be based on cultivation level. Starting from the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, killing someone at that level earns six spirit stones, and for each layer above that, you get two more.

They’ve already confirmed that Wu Zhuzi’s real name is Wu Hongjin, an outer steward of Gengsang Cave at the peak of Qi Refinement. So the reward came to eighteen spirit stones. How should we split them?”

When it came to killing Wu Zhuzi, Su Wan had done the most, though Liu Xiaolou had been the one pushing things along. So it was only right that he decide how to divide the reward.

It was a pretty generous sum. Back when Liu Xiaolou was at his lowest, he’d have killed for just one spirit stone.

“Ninth Lady doesn’t need a share. I’ll take five. Junior Fang was pretty brave this time, give him one, and you can split the rest.”

“Sounds good,” they agreed.

As it turned out, handing the corpse over to the Zhanglong Sect was a smart decision. In the days that followed, Wu Zhuzi’s death didn’t stir up any real trouble. No one knew how the major sects had communicated or settled things among themselves, but one way or another, no suspected Gengsang Cave cultivators showed up in the mountains again. Even the Zhanglong Sect stopped sending people up.

The cultivators of Wulong Mountain also kept their heads down for a while, quietly staying on the mountain and not daring to step off it. Day by day, time passed, and before anyone realized it, two months had gone by.

The first snow that year came late. It didn’t arrive until the very end of the year. Overnight, it dusted Wulong Mountain with a thin layer of white, and by the next afternoon, it had all melted away.

Liu Xiaolou woke from his cultivation and exhaled a breath of hot air. It came out like a long white “sword,” shooting five feet forward before fading. It was thicker, harder, and longer than the sword-light of the Three-Mystery Sword.

The sword-light of the Three-Mystery Sword had grown a lot too, now about a foot and a half long. The good news was that it finally had some stiffness to it. At least the “base” wasn’t so floppy anymore.

It was an encouraging sign of how far he’d come. Over the past two months, Liu Xiaolou had opened six new acupoints in succession and even broken through the major acupoint of Guangming. His true qi had deepened considerably.

Only six acupoints remained on the Foot Lesser Yang Meridian. He was getting close to reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

Deep in the bamboo grove, Liu Xiaolou checked on the nest of golden-ring bees. The hive still hung intact from the cliffside, but after two months, it looked much the same as before. Inside were still the queen and five adult bees. No new larvae, no cocoons. The adult bees huddled tightly around their queen, forming a circle as if shielding her from the cold.

Judging that they were likely in hibernation, Liu Xiaolou hung a bunch of freshly picked pine needles above the hive to block the wind and snow.

Just then, Fang Bu’ai came hurrying up from below the cliff. “Senior,” he said, “someone’s here to see you. Real bold fellow, I’ve no idea where he came from. Just walked straight up to Qianzhu Ridge. I tried to chase him off, but he wouldn’t leave. Says he knows you, but when I asked who he was, he wouldn’t say.”

Liu Xiaolou leapt down from the cliff, brushing the dirt off his hands. “Junior Fang, what do you think of the little shelter I built for the hive? Next time it snows, they won’t freeze.”

It was only then that Fang Bu’ai noticed what Liu Xiaolou had done. Without a word, he sprang up the cliff, knocked down the pile of pine needles. “Senior, you don’t know how to raise insects,” he complained. “You can’t do it like this. Especially not with spiritual insects. They have to endure wind, frost, rain, and snow, and feed on the essence of heaven and earth. Otherwise, they’ll lose their spiritual nature.”

Liu Xiaolou felt a little embarrassed and cleared his throat. “Ah… so you’re the expert. Mmm, if you say so. You mentioned someone was looking for me just now? I’ll go see who it is.”

He left the bamboo grove and came back to the little courtyard. The place was empty, but he could sense someone inside the house.

By the usual rules, if Fang Bu’ai saw a stranger he would never let them climb the mountain freely. Even if they made it up to Qianzhu Ridge, Fang would not allow them into the house. It was obvious he couldn’t handle this visitor.

Fang Bu’ai pointed toward the house. “Senior, the person is inside. You check him out. If you don’t recognize him, I’ll help you kick him off the ridge.”

Just then a voice from inside said softly, “Xiaolou, come in, quick.”

Liu Xiaolou froze for a moment, then told Fang, “Go wait on the mountain path. Don’t let anyone else up.”

Fang Bu’ai immediately understood. He went down the mountain, drew his long sword, and sat cross-legged halfway up the path, blocking anyone from coming up.

Liu Xiaolou stepped inside and widened his eyes. “Why all the secrecy, Brother Wei? Don’t tell me you got yourself in trouble on Tianmu Mountain?”

The man in the room was indeed Wei Hongqing. He sighed. “Not yet. But I’m getting ready to.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lu Yan’s seeing someone else.”

Liu Xiaolou blinked. He didn't know what to say for a moment. “Brother Wei… someone like you, so talented and good-looking, and she already got someone else? Who is this it?”

Wei Hongqing’s face darkened. “Her late husband’s cousin. A man named Lu Zhongqiu.”

For Wei Hongqing, this was no small matter. He had no official standing, no title. Just a man kept by Lu Yan out of her favor. It was only thanks to her, a disciple of the inner sect, that he’d been able to stay on Tianmu Mountain at all. If she truly had a new lover, the consequences were your guess.

Liu Xiaolou didn’t know how to comfort him, so he said, “She ought to at least give you some spirit stones. You’ve been together four or five years, after all.”

Wei Hongqing took a deep breath. “Five years and three months.”

Liu Xiaolou thought it over. “You should talk to her. Either keep your title as the boss of Hongji Tavern, or get compensation. Fifty spirit stones at the very least. Ideally, you’d keep the title. Or if she insists on taking over the tavern, then she should at least arrange another post for you, something like an outer-sect steward.”

Wei Hongqing shook his head. "It’s not that simple. If it were, I’d have just accepted my fate by now."

Liu Xiaolou frowned. “Surely Lu Yan wouldn’t just cut you off completely. You two were husband and wife in all but name. That has to count for something.”

“When I first found out,” Wei Hongqing began, “I stopped interfering with Hongji Tavern altogether. I stayed quietly on Tianmu Mountain, didn’t bother anyone, didn’t cause her any trouble. It was miserable, but I accepted it. I’ve been swallowing that bitterness for months, hoping things might settle down. But this Lu Zhongqiu…”

“What about him?”

“I’ve confirmed it. Five days ago, Lu Zhongqiu went to Hongji Tavern with two of his friends. Probably to take it over. They drank too much that night, and he said it plain as day: he was going to drive me off Tianmu Mountain, then find a chance to finish me off.”

“So ruthless?”

“He’s planning to marry Lu Yan. You think he’d let me stay there? Let me live? I was a fool to believe keeping my head down would be enough to hold onto what I had. These past few days, I’ve been thinking. Life on Tianmu Mountain’s made me too soft. I’ve lost my edge.”

Liu Xiaolou sighed. “Brother Wei, tell me what you want to do.”

Wei Hongqing looked toward the door and gritted his teeth. “Take him out,” he said.

P.S. To all the readers; please be patient. I really don’t have any more chapters stocked up. I’m running on fumes here!