Chapter 49 Deciphering the Token

Qian Gongyu listened with such envy that she wished she could become a retainer herself; the terms were so exceptionally generous that she could not fathom any reason for refusal. Though slightly reluctant, deep down she prayed that Jiang Shi would accept immediately—if she missed this boat, she would never find another!

"If I agree to become a retainer," Jiang Shi did not refuse, but instead asked, "will the five artifacts be given to me immediately?"

Qun Yushu shook his head, "Of course not. They are awarded according to your years of service—one piece every year, and all five delivered after five years."

"Then never mind. Please take your leave." Jiang Shi turned to head back.

"Wait. Suppose the five artifacts are given to you immediately, would you be willing to become a retainer of my family?"

Jiang Shi turned back to look at him, her voice holding neither joy nor anticipation. "Yes."

Qun Yushu stared at her for a long while, then suddenly offered a helpless smile. "This is the first time I've ever met someone like you."

He drew a jade pendant from his robe and handed it to Jiang Shi. "Let's turn this into a trade. If you can tell me all the powers of this jade pendant, I will give it to you."

Shang Xinlei, Jie Yuanshao, Jie Zilong, and the others exchanged flickering glances, but none spoke, watching quietly as Jiang Shi accepted the pendant. Sensing vaguely that something was amiss, Qian Gongyu tried desperately to signal Jiang Shi with her eyes to refuse, but Jiang Shi did not even look at her.

"The first power is the Protective Spirit Shield. It requires consuming three points of spiritual power to activate. Once activated, three shields appear to block three attacks of any kind. The shields last for only three seconds, and a fifteen-second cooldown is required before they can be used again."

"The second power is the Exploding Spirit Shield. If the Guardian Pendant is activated again during the cooldown of the Protective Spirit Shield, it generates an exploding spirit shield that inflicts damage on the attacker. At the same time, both powers enter a sixty-second cooldown before they can be used again."

Qun Yushu listened very intently. Only after Jiang Shi finished did he ask, "What does a second mean?"

"Roughly the time it takes for a single breath."

"I understand." Qun Yushu nodded. "Thank you, this pendant is yours."

With that, Qun Yushu said his farewells and turned to leave. He not only departed himself, but also chased the other guests away. Before leaving, Chen Linchuan cast a deep glance at Jiang Shi. He summoned two guards and gave them a few instructions, after which the two guards stood guard outside the Qian family's carriage.

Once the idle onlookers had left, Jiang Shi resumed practicing her saber technique, as if nothing had just happened.

"Jiang Shi, you..." Shang Xinlei did not even know what to say. "You jumped straight into such a massive trap..."

"Enough talk," Jie Zilong interrupted. "Fourth Young Lady Shang, please ensure your family makes a firm decision before the day after tomorrow. I will also use the fastest horses to contact my clan."

"What's going on? What's going on?" Qian Gongyu looked bewildered. "Why do you all seem even more nervous than before?"

"Because the situation has grown far more serious. This is no longer just a minor matter concerning the Overgrown Woodlands." Shang Xinlei looked at Jiang Shi, her expression exceptionally complex. "Had I not witnessed it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it..."

"In this world, there is actually someone who can instantly pierce through the powers of an artifact with a single glance!"

***

"Why is Jiang Shi so weak?!"

The very first thing Qun Yushu did upon sitting down was complain. He grabbed a wine pot and gulped down a large mouthful. The spilled liquor wetted the front of his garments, but he paid it no mind, turning to vent his bitter grievances to Chen Linchuan. "Even if she were at the second transition, it would be fine, but she happens to be an artifact courier who has just stepped into the first transition! What am I supposed to do about this? What can I do?"

"Young Master Qun, I am not one of your sycophantic underlings accustomed to playing the straight man to your jokes." Chen Linchuan walked over to the cabinet, retrieved a glass decanter, and poured blood-red wine into a luminous jade cup. "Speak your mind clearly, and get straight to the point."

As an elder of the Chen family and a third-transition courier, Chen Linchuan had no need to pander to Qun Yushu's moods. The reason Qun Yushu had dominated the conversation during the banquet was because their two families had reached a tacit agreement to jointly counter the Jie and Shang families, not because the Chen family was a vassal of the Qun family. Among the Seven Great Families of the Upper Three Grades, there existed only cooperation, never subordination.

Qun Yushu was not annoyed. He spread his hands and said, "It's not as though people like Jiang Shi have never appeared in the past. Take the 'Demon-Slaying Courier' from two hundred years ago, for instance—a fourth-transition foundation builder who roamed the world before heading to the outer domains. During his journey, he had a brief period of interaction with the Qun family. According to our ancestral records, every time the Demon-Slaying Courier contacted the Qun family, he was thoroughly disguised. Not only did he possess artifacts capable of preventing divination, but the scope of his transactions was strictly limited to artifact appraisals. No matter how high a price the Qun family offered, he refused to help explore secret realms."

"The Demon-Slaying Courier's defenses were utterly flawless, so the Qun family naturally could only treat him with courtesy. Both sides parted on good terms, and even if they failed to forge a bond, they at least avoided becoming enemies."

"Aside from the Demon-Slaying Courier, the Qun family has encountered many uniquely gifted prodigies over centuries of heritage. Some, like the Demon-Slaying Courier, only contacted the major aristocratic clans once they possessed self-preservation strength; others possessed nothing but their talent, and gladly accepted the Qun family's meticulous cultivation to become pillar outer elders of the clan."

"So, is there anyone who is both talented and weak, yet refuses to accept the recruitment of aristocratic noble families?"

"Yes, and many of them." Qun Yushu shook the wine pot, drained the last drops, and massaged his temples. "Most of the demonic scoundrels who still roam free outside the law are of this type—self-important, proud, and unyielding to the death."

"Unyielding to the death? I'd say they're just holding out for a higher price." Chen Linchuan shook his head. "I could tell the moment she refused the banquet invitation that she was deliberately creating difficulties to force us to lower our heads first. Once even we lowered our heads and showed goodwill, the Jie and Shang families would naturally feel a sense of crisis, forcing them to offer even better terms to win Jiang Shi over."

"Thinking about it now, this woman truly executes every step to perfection. First, she made a sensational splash in the Overgrown Woodlands. Even if she wasn't on the same team as the people from the Jie and Shang families, she would have contacted those two clans first. By the time we received the news and arrived, we were forced to deal with the Jie and Shang families first, which invisibly helped Jiang Shi keep tabs on them. Without expending the slightest effort or engaging in heavy maneuvering, she leveraged the strife among our various families to maximize her own benefits. She may seem reckless and ignorant, but in reality, she is calculating to the extreme."

Watching Chen Linchuan heap such 'praise' upon Jiang Shi, Qun Yushu shook his head repeatedly, and upon hearing the latter part, he could not help but clutch his stomach and burst into loud laughter.

"It seems Young Master Qun holds a different view." Chen Linchuan said coldly, "Could it be you think a beauty is incapable of harboring malicious intent? Or is the rumor widely circulated in Jiangnan that you were defrauded of one hundred thousand spiritual jades by a courtesan entirely false?"

"No, no, I am very egalitarian. I beat men and women equally, so how could I possibly think a woman cannot be wicked?" Qun Yushu finally managed to check his laughter and said, "I can also see that Jiang Shi is no saint, but her wickedness is not as complicated as you imagine."

"Earlier, she deliberately asked whether becoming a retainer would immediately secure her five artifacts, and only rejected my invitation upon receiving a negative answer."

Chen Linchuan froze slightly. This middle-aged man, weathered by the ways of the world, wore an expression of sheer disbelief. "Could she possibly have wanted to..."

"Indeed. This is also my first time seeing someone so viciously close to being honest." Qun Yushu could not suppress his laughter. "If she could have obtained five... no, even a single artifact, she would have agreed without the slightest hesitation to become a retainer of the Qun family! Just like when I proposed the trade of appraising the jade pendant—she agreed instantly just to get the pendant! As long as she can acquire the artifact, she cares not for the consequences, nor does she intend to fulfill any obligations whatsoever!"

"So she was merely a short-sighted and ignorant country girl after all." Chen Linchuan's gaze turned contemptful. "There is no need to waste effort on her anymore. She will inevitably be co-opted by the Jie and Shang families. It is far more practical to negotiate directly with them."

"Let us hope so. When negotiating with the Jie and Shang families, those stubborn old fools in my clan will at least exercise some caution." Qun Yushu let out a long sigh. "What I fear most is that Jiang Shi's rejection of the Jie and Shang families might awaken the greed of my uncles and elders... I would rather not resort to unseemly methods to deal with her."

"If such a golden opportunity truly arises, there is no need for you to dirty your hands; my Chen family will gladly do it in your stead." Chen Linchuan opened the carriage door, signaling a dismissal. "I have no fear of offending an ignorant country girl."

Qun Yushu shrugged, dusted himself off, and left, making sure to purloin a bottle of wine from Chen Linchuan along the way. Stepping outside, he glanced toward the direction of the Qian family's carriage. Although it was quite far, he could still faintly make out a figure practicing her saber technique.

"Short-sighted, you say..." Qun Yushu murmured.

To gamble away one's reputation for the sake of a few artifacts, completely disregarding long-term interests, was indeed short-sighted.

Yet the problem was this: upon learning that she could not immediately obtain the artifacts, she could unhesitatingly abandon a position like a Qun family retainer—a post that guaranteed lifelong comfort and security. Rather than calling this short-sighted, it was more accurate to say she simply did not care.

She did not care for luxury.
She did not care for high status.
She did not care for broken promises and untrustworthiness.
She did not care for life or death.
She did not care for the future.

The only thing she cared about was the blade in her hand.

For some reason, a sudden chill crept over Qun Yushu, and his heart hammered forcefully against his ribs. It felt as though he were standing at the edge of a cliff, making him innately aware that he was in danger.

*Pray that the Jie and Shang families remain overbearing,* he bitterly mocked inwardly. *Do not give us a chance...*