Let Me Explain, Fairy-Chapter 81 - Seventy-Five The First Meeting

Xu Yuan’s mood had been quite good over the past two days.

Firstly, because his initial investment had paid off.

The enchantress had been working hard in her recent cultivation, and the growth rate of his Will-spirit was quite pleasing.

Secondly, because Xu Changge arrived in Jiuyuan City this morning.

Yes, the Jiuyuan City that his eldest brother had mentioned as a threat, the satellite town next to Jingjiang Prefecture, only forty li away from Jingjiang Prefecture itself.

The casual threat from the other party turned out to be more than just talk, as there indeed seemed to be matters to deal with in Jiuyuan City.

According to Auntie Lou Ji, it seemed there was a problem with a large "Demonic Beast Breeding Site" deep in the mountains, which would affect the supply of a certain type of Soul System Elixir in the southwest region.

Of course,

Beyond these superficial matters, what truly delighted Xu Yuan was the improvement of his own strength.

Since the day he had used the Blood Mirror in actual combat, it felt as though he had broken through some kind of bottleneck, with his combat prowess improving rapidly in a visibly noticeable way.

Now, when facing those Eighth Grade martial disciples, although he still had to fight for a long time, these martial disciples could hardly touch him anymore.

Of course, the downside of this style of fighting was that his Origin Qi consumption would increase rapidly.

Originally, Xu Yuan could brawl with those Eighth Grade martial disciples all morning, but now, after five or six fights, his Origin Qi would be exhausted.

Coming out of the Lake Heart Pavilion,

While mulling over these matters, Xu Yuan suddenly noticed a group of people dressed like servants standing at the edge of the marshy lake.

He was somewhat surprised.

This was the first time he had seen so many servants gathered by the lake. In the past, at most, there would be just one or two servants pruning and cleaning up around here.

His gaze swept over them, and as his eyes met theirs, the servants immediately looked down in a fluster.

Just as Xu Yuan was about to dismiss the matter from his mind, his eyes suddenly met with another pair.

"......"

The moment their eyes met, those eyes also immediately looked down.

Xu Yuan glanced at the owner of the eyes with a trace of curiosity.

He was a young and robust man wearing gray hemp clothes.

His appearance was very ordinary, and his demeanor was unremarkable, inconspicuous in a crowd.

Yet, for some reason, Xu Yuan felt something was amiss as he looked at the man.

After a moment’s hesitation, Xu Yuan stopped walking.

The nearby foreman had been watching this Third Young Master out of the corner of his eye; keen observation was a vital skill for a person of his low stature to survive.

Seeing Xu Yuan stop, the foreman immediately approached with a sycophantic gait and began to wring his hands anxiously,

"Hehe, does the Third Young Master have any instructions?"

Xu Yuan glanced at the servants and asked,

"Why are these people here?"

The foreman cursed silently in his heart and signaled the newly recruited servants to quickly leave by waving them off. He responded in a servile tone,

"These are the mansion’s new servants, and I am currently showing them around to familiarize them with the environment."

"...."

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

New servants?

At this time?

How long does it take to get from Changhong Valley to Jingjiang City?

His thoughts began to wander slightly, and Xu Yuan subconsciously called out to the dispersing servants,

"Wait."

"...."

As the voice of the silk-robed young master sounded, Qin Mo’s peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the Great Grandmaster coachman, who he had seen before, leisurely approaching from a distance.

His heart tightened slightly,

"Old man..."

"Don’t panic, I’m here, the kid just looked at you, what’s the rush?"

"Hmm..." Qin Mo felt a slight ease in his heart.

And the next moment,

He heard the silk-robed young master’s following words, spoken with a rather annoyed tone,

"In the future, bring fewer people to gather by this lake, it’s unsightly."

Hearing this, the foreman felt a surge of fear and quickly nodded and bowed, assuring him,

"Yes, yes, these good-for-nothings will never appear here again to trouble the Third Young Master’s eyes."

Xu Yuan glanced at the foreman,

"You too."

"..." The foreman.

After the brief exchange,

The foreman then left quickly with a sheepish smile, leading the group of servants away.

Mixed within the crowd, Qin Mo let out a sigh of relief, exhaling deeply as he left with the others.

Watching the crowd depart, Xu Yuan, who remained standing in place, also let out a long sigh.

He shouldn’t have called out to them just now.

If there had been no issue, there would have been no need to call out.

If there was an issue, his subconscious action would have been tantamount to sending people right back into peril.

He almost made a mistake, but fortunately, he reacted promptly.

After a brief contemplation, he decided not to go to the Wuxuan Institute either.

Xu Yuan realized where the sense of incongruity he had felt earlier stemmed from.

The eyes.

When his gaze swept over them, many servants met his eyes, but all of their looks were filled with panic and fear.

But that ordinary-looking young man was different.

Even though it was only for a moment, Xu Yuan clearly saw that there was no panic in the other’s eyes.

What was present was calmness, and even a faint confidence that looked down from a superior height.

It was as distinctly exceptional as a crane stands among chickens.

Even if he had seen such eyes in a poor scholar, Xu Yuan would not be surprised, for fame has its own presence.

But to find it in a servant within the mansion...

This was not the world he had once known; this was a supernatural world with a strict hierarchy that could suffocate people with its pressure.

Even the mansion’s chief steward would cower when seeing him, let alone the lowest-ranked servants and laborers.

It was very abnormal.

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Xu Yuan subconsciously thought of Qin Mo, feeling a faint absurdity in his heart.

Was that man just now Qin Mo?

Xu Yuan had considered that the other party might want to rescue Su Jinxuan, but he had not expected him to dare to enter the mansion for the rescue.

He hadn’t gone looking for him, yet he had taken the initiative to show up.

Three Great Grandmasters plus the grand array inside Jingjiang Prefecture, and he dared to come?

Are the protagonists of these stories all so bold nowadays?

Xu Yuan rubbed his temples.

That said, it is not entirely the case; Qin Mo might not be aware that he had Great Grandmasters protecting him.

Moreover, he still had a Soul Ring, and within that Soul Ring lived a Saint.

From the other party’s perspective, infiltrating the mansion to rescue someone might not be an impossible task to complete.

"...." Xu Yuan.

"Third Young Master, are you going to the Wuxuan Institute?"

As he was pondering, a voice came from behind Xu Yuan.

It was Zhou Chen.

Xu Yuan glanced sideways at him:

"Resting today, going to find Su Jinxuan."

He then turned and walked toward the northwest courtyard where the Communication Formation was situated, where Ying’er had been "training" Su Jinxuan lately.

There was a simple way to verify whether the person just now was Qin Mo or not, just let Su Jinxuan try to test him.

There had been a plan by the Black Scale Guards to have Qin Mo save Su Jinxuan, thus allowing her to go undercover.

But Xu Yuan dismissed the plan as soon as it was proposed.

The matter of killing Qin Mo was more important to Xu Yuan than the forces hidden in the shadows.

He was well aware of the rate at which the other person was growing, as well as the heights the other person could reach in the future.

Silently,

He entered the heavily guarded courtyard and suddenly asked Zhou Chen:

"Mr. Zhou, do you know how the long-term servants in our mansion are recruited?"

"Hmm?"

Zhou Chen appeared slightly surprised and subconsciously glanced at the servant walking away in the distance before smiling and saying:

"I’m not clear on the specifics, but essentially they are mostly relatives of old servants in the mansion, with many inheriting their father’s positions."

"Are there no exceptions?" Xu Yuan continued.

Zhou Chen was somewhat puzzled as to why Xu Yuan would ask this, but after hesitating briefly, he still replied truthfully:

"Of course, there are exceptions, and quite frequently so. The slots for lower-rank servants like the one we just saw can be attained through many dishonest means, essentially with someone in the mansion selling those slots."

Zhou Chen had started from the bottom and was fairly familiar with these lower-level money-making schemes.

Xu Yuan frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Selling?"

Zhou Chen replied in a quiet voice:

"The outside world is somewhat chaotic now, and many people are desperate to become long-term servants within a great family, even going so far as to sell themselves into servitude. With buyers out there, naturally, there will also be sellers."

Xu Yuan furrowed his brows at this:

"Won’t this method of recruiting long-term servants allow spies to infiltrate?"

"The Third Young Master is observant."

Zhou Chen saluted with his hands clasped and continued, "People below take these matters into accord to a certain extent. Even when selling, they do not sell to strangers. Moreover, it is rare for anyone to plant spies in this manner, as a servant remains a servant for life, unable to access important information."

"What if someone uses this to perpetrate an assassination?" Xu Yuan pressed on.

"Assassination, huh..."

Just as Zhou Chen was about to reply, Xu Yuan waved his hand to interrupt, indicating that there was no need to explain.

His last question was somewhat naive.

Both Cultivating Energy and martial training constantly improve physique as one advances in their practice.

Unless one reaches the Fourth Grade Integration Body to transcend the mortal frame, or practices some precious Secret Technique, it is difficult to conceal such physical enhancements.

If someone practices cultivation, a mere check of the body will be enough.

Servants aren’t usually given such scrutiny.

As for those of Fourth Grade and above or those who have practiced precious Secret Techniques infiltrating to assassinate...

It is easy to act as a thief for a thousand days, but difficult to guard against one for a thousand days.

In his past life, even guarding against gun and knife assassinations was difficult, let alone in a world beyond the ordinary. If the enemy is willing to expend substantial resources to assassinate, whether there is a way into the mansion or not is irrelevant.

Seeing how the conversation was going, Zhou Chen shifted the topic and asked softly:

"Did Third Young Master bring this up because there’s someone among those people who’s suspicious?"

"Mm."

Xu Yuan did not deny it.

Although he could not confirm whether it was Qin Mo, it wouldn’t affect his preparations.

Zhou Chen frowned upon hearing this and looked toward the direction where the servants resided.

Xu Yuan, noting his gaze, immediately reminded:

"Don’t act rashly."

Zhou Chen paused his actions and, after a moment’s thought, asked quietly:

"Third Young Master has suspicions about them, but did you notice something just now?"

Xu Yuan stated truthfully:

"Among the new batch of servants, there was one whose gaze seemed off."

?

Gaze seemed off?

Zhou Chen clearly hesitated upon hearing this but quickly grasped the meaning and cleared his throat, saying:

"Cough... Third Young Master is cautious, but isn’t this perhaps a bit too anxious?"

"..."Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan wasn’t sure whether he should be stirring up such a commotion over a mere look in someone’s eyes.

But the timing was just too coincidental.

Changhong Valley was only a hundred and twenty li from Jingjiang Prefecture, a distance that could be covered in just a few days, and Qin Mo indeed had both the motive and ability to infiltrate the mansion.

When it concerns one’s own life, one must be extremely cautious.

Without further explanation, Xu Yuan glanced at Zhou Chen and said:

"Throughout all this time, have you ever seen me worried about someone else? Mr. Zhou, I suspect it’s that Qin Mo who has infiltrated to save Su Jinxuan."

Zhou Chen pondered for a moment and then said:

"The youngster from before who reversed Seventh Grade Practice Bones with an Eighth Grade Refined Veins slash?"

"Mm." Xu Yuan nodded.

Zhou Chen ventured to say, "In that case, does Third Young Master need me to go and check?"

Xu Yuan glanced at him and countered:

"Mr. Zhou, you should have examined that group of servants earlier, hadn’t you?"

"Of course, I did."

"Could you sense any Qi on him?"

"....."

Zhou Chen frowned at this.

In contrast with Xu Yuan’s judgment based on a gaze, Zhou Chen would naturally prefer to believe his own findings.

But if Xu Yuan’s suspicions were true, then the person in question was a powerful individual who could elude his perception.

While the likelihood was small, considering it involved the Third Young Master’s safety, even a one-in-ten-thousand chance could not be ignored.

With a somber expression, Zhou Chen gave a slight bow:

"Could the Third Young Master accompany me back to the room for a moment? I’ll go fetch my sword."

He could have summoned his sword from afar, but that would cause a fluctuation of Origin Qi. Since they were suspicious, everything had to be done with caution.

Xu Yuan thought for a moment and then shook his head, declining:

"For now, everything remains as usual. Since Qin Mo has chosen to disguise himself as a servant rather than infiltrate directly to rescue someone, it is clear that he still has reservations and is unlikely to act immediately."

"Besides, I am not certain that the person is Qin Mo. I need to let Su Jinxuan test him first."

After speaking,

Xu Yuan paused for a moment before adding:

"As for you, Mr. Zhou... Could I trouble you to enter the communication matrix and relay my words to Xu Changge just as I’ve said them?"

When you’re up against a boss, and there’s an expert to lead you, you naturally don’t go at it alone.

He needed to shake up the expert to come over.