abnabooks Chapter 10: Helping Out
Chapter 10: Helping Out
The withered hand clutched the white cloth, the bright red writing clearly visible.
On one finger, the bite wound was still dripping blood.
Trembling, she stood before him.
Perhaps feeling that she wasn't being sincere enough, she hesitated for a moment, then took out a silver hairpin inlaid with jade with her other hand.
"Take this. It's a very fine piece of jade, worth five taels of silver now. Consider it my way of thanking you, okay?"
She watched nervously and expectantly, her chest exposed and swaying, clearly having torn off her breast wrap to write the blood oath.
They were going all in, risking everything.
"I helped."
Wu He readily agreed and accepted the blood-written letter and hairpin.
"You want your uncle to redeem you, right?"
Wen Qiaoniang breathed a sigh of relief and then nodded her chin.
"The ransom offered by the Desire Immortal Pavilion is double the usual price. With your looks, the price must be quite high. Are you sure your uncle will squander his entire fortune to redeem you?"
Wu He put away the hairpin with the blood-written letter and turned to look at the woman in front of him.
This act of redeeming people is always doubled, no matter where you are.
The same applies to the Desire Pavilion. Moreover, for such brothels, if someone is beautiful and talented, the fee for their first night is very high.
A woman like Xu Niang, who devours people without spitting out the bones, must be meticulously planned down to the last detail.
The money spent when buying it, the money for the first time, and it may even include the profits from serving customers for more than ten or twenty years.
All these piles together amount to a considerable sum.
Wen Qiaoniang's expression changed upon hearing this, then, as if she had thought of something, she nodded firmly: "Uncle will, I have something he desperately needs!"
"Okay, I'll deliver it to you."
Wu He didn't ask any more questions.
"Brother Wu."
She paused, then said very seriously, "You're younger than me, but I still want to call you Brother Wu. Please!"
"I will definitely reward you handsomely after this is done!"
……
At noon, Wu He was able to go out.
This was also the first time he had stepped outside the area surrounding the Desire Immortal Pavilion since he transmigrated.
Xiongzhou City was slightly different from the ancient cities she remembered. Although it was also populous and prosperous, its thick walls and hard mud roads exuded the solemnity of a border city.
Moreover, almost every intersection of the main roads and alleys was guarded by city defense soldiers.
Leather armor gleamed, swords and spears gleamed coldly.
"There seem to be more soldiers on the streets lately."
As Wu He walked along, he noticed that there were many more soldiers on the streets than the original owner remembered, and in some places where people gathered, there were also many wanted posters.
That makes sense, considering this was the most important frontline hub for defending against the Khitan in the north.
"Wen Xin..."
He looked around, but only knew one name. He couldn't just wander aimlessly if he wanted to find someone.
As he passed a bustling tavern, Wu He took two steps back and turned to go inside.
In such a chaotic place, information is likely to be highly concentrated, and there may even be brokers who make a living by selling all kinds of information.
After scanning the room, he focused his gaze on an old man at a table in the corner of the hall.
The old man was dressed simply, with a gaunt face and almost all of his white hair gone, but his eyes were very sharp. He was drinking a small cup of wine by himself, with only a plate of fried peanuts in front of him.
From any perspective, he seems like a layperson.
That's him.
Wu He immediately walked towards him, but just as he passed a table, a sallow-faced man next to him suddenly stood up and bumped into his shoulder.
The impact was very solid; to Wu He, it felt like he had hit a lump of iron.
I instinctively turned around and saw the man with a sullen face, carrying a bundle, quickly leaving the tavern.
A person who practices martial arts.
He was quite certain that this person was also a martial artist, and judging from his quick yet steady and powerful, rooted steps, he was clearly an experienced one.
The martial arts world is a place where hidden talents abound.
Who knows, some seemingly unremarkable person might actually be a martial arts master.
Wu He regained his composure and went to the old man's table.
As he expected, he had found the right person.
I learned from the old man that Wen Liang, a physician, was a well-known doctor in Xiongzhou City. He was most famous for his Mianyang acupuncture technique. He once used 49 Mianyang acupuncture needles to save a general of the Zhenguan Army who was seriously poisoned, and his reputation spread from then on.
It is also known as "silver needle warmth".
He currently runs a medical clinic called Xichuntang in the eastern part of the city.
After obtaining the information he wanted, Wu He paid fifty coins to the old man for his wine and went to the eastern part of Xiongzhou City to find Xichun Hall.
The legendary Silver Needle Doctor Wen is now in his sixties. Although he runs a large medical clinic and lives a wealthy life, he still dresses simply, wearing only a long gray coat stuffed with cotton. His wrinkled face is etched with the marks of time.
When Wu He took out the blood letter written by Wen Qiaoniang, Wen Xin's expression changed drastically.
His hands trembled slightly as he carefully examined the crooked characters in the blood-written letter, his breathing becoming somewhat rapid.
"Qiao Niang...she, she's at your Desire Pavilion?!"
Wen Xin raised his eyelids, his gaze cold and his face full of anger.
Wu He remained unfazed, nodding calmly and saying, "It's been several days. This letter was asked by her to be delivered to you."
Wen Xin's gaze was somewhat dangerous, and his gray beard trembled slightly.
He quickly recovered from his anger. While it was true that the Desire Immortal Pavilion deserved to die for kidnapping his niece, the fact that this person had gained his niece's trust and sent her a letter written in blood meant that he wasn't a truly evil person.
"I see."
He put away the blood-written letter and immediately ordered the guest to leave.
After Wu He left, Wen Xin took a deep breath, put his hands behind his back, and hunched over as he returned to the counter.
He picked up the golden scales used to weigh medicine and continued to dispense the medicine for the customer.
However, at this moment, there was an unknown and strange look in his bright eyes.
"Alas, fourth brother, your life is truly miserable."
"Don't worry, brother will redeem Qiaoniang."
"I hope she is safe and sound, and... that she has already learned your acupuncture techniques."
……
Taiping Pawnshop.
Wu He handed the hairpin to the second cabinet on the steps.
He was a shrewd man with shifty eyes, who examined the hairpin carefully from all angles several times.
He then sighed softly and clicked his tongue, saying, "The style is quite new, it doesn't seem to be from the Central Plains, but the quality of the jade is too poor, and the joints are rough, it's obvious that it was set on later."
"This is the only amount I can offer..."
He held up one finger.
"One ounce?"
"One tael."
Upon hearing the price of one or two taels, Wu He's breathing became heavy, and an unnamed anger rose within him.
He knew that pawnshops usually offered very low prices, and he wasn't sure if Wen Tieniang was exaggerating when she told him the hairpin was worth five taels of silver, but he was still a little angry when he heard it was only worth one tael of silver.
However, I need money to practice martial arts right now, so I'll just take whatever it takes.
"I got it."
"Alright!"
The swindler raised his voice: "A worthless stone, a poorly crafted piece, cracked porcelain, a broken silver hairpin, and rusty iron—one tael!"
"I work from 8 AM!"
"I quit!"
Wu He, with his fiery temper, immediately flew into a rage upon hearing this shout and snatched the hairpin away.
That's absolutely outrageous!