Lanke Chess Edge -
Chapter 267: Debt Collector
After the two outsiders left, the Dragon Son and Daughter discussed somethings without reservation.
As the River Goddess of the Tongtian River, the Dragon Daughter also had responsibilities. In general, no one would dare to disturb Ji Yuan when he practiced in his own home. Since he had come out this time, she naturally had to report some events.
“Uncle Ji, We have mobilized a small number of aquatic creatures from the sea, and gone into some swamps along the waterways by the sea in Eastern Cloud Continent to investigate.”
“What did you find?”
Ji Yuan asked. The Dragon Son answered first.
“Most aquatic creatures don’t care much about the things on shore. They had no unusual situations to report for the time being. However, a local river god told us that the waterway had been blocked by corpses for ten days, and tens of thousands of people died.”
Ji Yuan was startled and turned to the Dragon Son.
“What happened?”
“It’s not evil spirits, but rather a military confrontation. The two sides fought fiercely by the river. One side attacked halfway across the river, and the defeated side suffered heavy casualties.”
Ji Yuan frowned. There were always wars in this world. Even Dazhen had fought one of the neighboring countries a few years ago. There were almost always constant small frictions at the border, especially in a land the size of Eastern Cloud Continent.“Is it Tianbao Country?”
“No, it’s in a place called Daegu Country.”
Ji Yuan said “oh,” and didn’t say anything more. He just rowed his oars. Although the rowing frequency was not that high, the force of each stroke seemed to sweep away the waters behind the boat. The strokes appeared to be powerful and heavy, so the boat sailed along at high speeds. This process did not use internal energy to mobilize the surrounding spiritual energy, but instead was simply strength and technique.
The boat was quiet for a while. The Dragon Daughter sat on the wooden bench in the cabin, her hands on her knees and her eyes closed, while the Dragon Son sat casually on the side of the boat at the stern.
“Don’t you have your own things to do?”
Seeing that they seemed to want to keep following him, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but ask.
“Hey, I really don’t have anything to do. My sister is a river god, she has a lot of things to do.”
Hearing what her brother said, Ying Ruoli couldn’t help but quickly defend herself.
“I’m fine too. A river god is not like a city god, how can I be in charge of things all day long?”
“Uncle Ji, what are you going to do in the Capital Prefecture this time? The entire Capital Prefecture is now empty. There aren’t even lonely ghosts, let along evil spirits.”
Ji Yuan looked at Ying Feng and told the truth.
“Two reasons: one is to collect debts, and the other is that the old emperor of Dazhen is about to die. Let’s see how the dynasty of Dazhen will determine its own destiny.”
“Collecting debts?”
The Dragon Son and Daughter were curious. Was there anyone in the Capital Prefecture who would dare owe Uncle Ji a debt?
“Uncle Ji, who owes you a debt? My father is asleep. If you want to collect on the jar of Ambergris that he lost to you in the last bet, you should go under the water. He doesn’t intend to default on it…”
“Of course it’s not Mr. Ying, its a mortal.”
Ji Yuan smiled and explained.
The Dragon Children were even more curious. A mortal who was strong enough to owe Uncle Ji a debt? No matter what he owed, they must take a look at this person.
. . .
Two days later, in the evening, the setting sun had already fallen halfway down the horizon. Ji Yuan took the Dragon Son and Daughter to walk along Xining Avenue of the Capital Prefecture.
In order to prevent the Dragon Daughter’s appearance from causing trouble, the Dragon Son and Dragon Daughter concealed themselves. They were now only just above average in both clothing and appearance.
“Uncle Ji, I heard that you have a registered disciple in the underworld of the Capital Prefecture?”
The Dragon Son Ying Feng suddenly asked, causing Ji Yuan, who was walking in front, to pause and turn his head to look at him. When he saw the Dragon Son grinning, Ying Ruoli looked at him intently. Obviously she too wanted to know.
“Where did you learn about this?”
Even the white deer in the underworld was not aware of the last Water and Land Assembly in the Capital Prefecture, and no ghosts would go to the city of the dead in the underworld to inform her.
“Hey, is it true? Uncle Ji, your disciple snuck away and fell in love with a mortal for decades. She thought she was hiding well, but you must have known the whole time, right? Otherwise, how could you have been so lucky as to come out when disaster was about to strike?”
“Ahem, brother, she’s his mount.”
“Hey, close enough!”
If it was the Dragon Son, it was to be expected, but he hadn’t expected the Dragon Daughter to also be fond of gossip today. Ji Yuan simply ignored them. After all, there was no way he could go into detail about this matter.
The Xiao family residence was actually on Yongning Street, but Ji Yuan had divined that the young master of the Xiao family was not in the mansion at present, but instead was in a restaurant on Xining Avenue with the real Hongxiu.
When Ji Yuan and the Dragon Children approached the restaurant, they actually spotted an acquaintance.
The Head of the Astronomical Department, Yan Chang, was supporting a drunk man with a short beard. The two walked out of the restaurant together. The second man was still shouting that he wanted to continue drinking.
Yan Chang was thin but strong. He lifted the man’s arm onto his shoulders and led him out.
It was already dark, but not many people were coming and going near the restaurant.
“Brother Yan… Brother Yan, let’s go to my house, let’s drink, let’s keep drinking…”
“Okay, okay, Lord1 Yu is in such a good mood, I will definitely accompany you to the end — hey, watch your feet.”
The drunk man laughed.
“Hahahaha… It must be fate to meet Lord Yan here. Today I will take out my treasured Aged Golden Jade Wine…”
“Master Yu, you are too polite!”
Yan Chang supported the man as they walked, and inadvertently looked up and saw Ji Yuan not too far away. He was was obviously stunned for a moment.
“Mr. Ji?”
Yan Chang rubbed his eyes and looked again. It really wasn’t an illusion.
“Lord Yan, how have you been?”
“Mr. Ji, it’s really you! I… I greet Mr. Ji, and the two of you.”
Yan Chang dragged the other man into a reluctant bow. Although he looked happy, he was not overly excited.
“Ah? Why aren’t we moving? Have we reached home? Let’s go… let’s go have a drink…”
Ji Yuan nodded towards Yan Chang, and looked at the person he was supporting. He had the aura of an official, and was likely not a commoner.
“This lord seems to be very distressed?”
Yan Chang smiled helplessly.
“Mr. Ji, what do you think is the most difficult job in the world?”
“Can this be ranked?”
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but ask.
Yan Chang didn’t hold him in suspense,2 and pointed to the person next to him.
“The most difficult job in the world is being Governor of the Capital Prefecture.”
The highest officials in the government offices of the two major prefectures of Zhili Province were not called magistrates,3 as they were in other places, but rather governor,4 which was one rank higher than magistrate, and of the fourth rank, like ordinary governors5.6
The Dragon Children did not know much about human affairs, or perhaps they hadn’t yet realized it, but Ji Yuan understood as soon as he heard it, and couldn’t help but look twice at this drunkard.
The emperor was directly in charge of this government office, and if there was some special case, it might involve some high-ranking officials, or perhaps some royal relatives, were was indeed very difficult to handle.
“Lord Yan, please continue as you please. I have something else to do, so I will take my leave first.”
Ji Yuan didn’t go into the details, he just bowed and left with the two people behind him.
Yan Chang opened his mouth, but in the end he didn’t dare to call out to Ji Yuan.
By now, Emperor Yuan De’s fervor in seeking immortals and immortal medicine had greatly decreased. To be frank, Yan Chang even hoped that the old emperor would not find a true master.
Given the current situation in the Capital, if Yan Chang worked too diligently to find an immortal, Emperor Yuan De might not die before Yan Chang himself would be put in danger.
Moreover, the actions of immortals were not something that a mortal like himself could control. It was impossible for him to call them to stop.
Ji Yuan and others soon arrived at the door of the restaurant. Ying Feng was still looking at Yan Chang and the Governor of the Capital Prefecture, who were walking away.
“Uncle Ji, this Head of the Astronomical Department is quite free and casual. He didn’t come to pester you, despite the fact that he should know that you are an immortal.”
“Ah, yes, he is more sensible than His Highness Ying.”
Hearing Ji Yuan’s ridicule, the Dragon Son felt a little rare embarrassment, while the Dragon Daughter covered her mouth and snickered.
Ji Yuan didn’t say anything more and led the two of them into the restaurant one after another.
“Ah, you three guests, please come in. May I ask if you have reserved a table in this building?”
Although he was originally thinking of going to the private room on the second floor, Ji Yuan immediately changed his mind after hearing the waiter’s words.
“A reserved table…”
Ji Yuan looked up at someplace upstairs.
“It’s in your private room upstairs at the northeast corner.”
“Huh?”
The waiter froze for a moment.
“Uh, sir, are you mistaken? That private room is already occupied.”
Ji Yuan stepped into the restaurant and shook his head with a smile.
“No mistake, no mistake. It was Young Master Xiao who booked it. He arrived first, and we are the guests.”
“Oh oh oh! I understand, sir, you should have told me earlier, I’ll take you upstairs!”
“Okay, thank you.”
Ji Yuan walked up the stairs with the waiter. The Dragon Son and Dragon Daughter looked at each other, then hurriedly followed.
In the private room at the northeast corner of the second floor, Xiao Ling and the woman he loved were toasting each other and drinking together. There were two tables in the room, one with wine and food, and the other with the four treasures of the study and a newly finished painting.
While they were in high spirits, there was a knock at the door.
“Knock knock knock…”
“Master Xiao, your guests are here.”
Xiao Ling put down the cup and looked at the beautiful woman beside him in confusion.
“Who is it?”
With a “creak”, the door was pushed open, and Ji Yuan walked in. He bowed with cupped hands to Xiao Ling and Duan Muwan.
“It’s me, Mr. Xiao. Hello, Miss Duan!”
Xiao Ling didn’t know Ji Yuan at all. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but he was obviously shocked when he heard Ji Yuan’s words.
One of the hands of the woman next to him grabbed Xiao Ling’s clothes under the table, but her face was calm as she spoke before Xiao Ling could.
“Sir, I’m afraid you have made a mistake. The little girl’s surname is Lu.”
Seeing this situation, the waiter outside realized that he might have done something wrong. Just as he was about to speak, he saw the woman behind the man who had entered the room stretch out her hand and wave it across the air in front of his eyes. His mind was dizzy for a moment, and then he walked downstairs.
Ji Yuan ignored what was happening behind him and walked into the room. The Dragon Son and Dragon Daughter also came in together and closed the door. The latter even touched the door frame, and a hidden magical light flashed across the room.
Xiao Ling did not speak for a while, staring with narrowed eyes at the three strangers who had come in. He could see that these three did not know martial arts, and he could kill them with one hand.
“Who are you?”
Xiao Ling asked in a cold voice, three silver coins at the ready in his hands under the table.
“Uncle Ji, he is the one who owes you the debt? Interesting, they truly are two…”
Mortals!
Ying Feng seemed very curious. Before entering the capital, Ji Yuan told him some of the story. He was very shocked to learn that the fox demon actually tricked his uncle Ji and escaped unscathed.
“Ridiculous! When did this Lord Xiao7 owe you a debt?”
- 大人 (dàren): title of respect toward superiors
- No joke, this was translated by MTL as “didn’t give a shit.” I am CACKLING
- 知府 (zhīfǔ): prefectural magistrate
- 府尹 (fǔyǐn): magistrate/prefect
- 知州 (zhīzhōu): senior provincial government official
- T/n: hello I would like to scream at the fact that all of these titles were translated the exact same way. There is nothing hopelessly funnier than having your raw text read, “is not called the prefect as in other places, but the prefect, who is one rank higher than the prefect, and is the fourth rank like the ordinary prefect.”
- Referring to himself in 3rd person for Extra Importance
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