Chapter 51

Ten Cities.

Seeing the Ten Cities again.

Yang Yu touched the new stubble on his chin, lost in thought.

The Ten Cities were marked on his recipe, which he originally thought was just a grading system for ingredients, like "excellent or inferior," by the Cauldron of Gluttony.

But now…

Deep in thought, Yang Yu entered the Cauldron of Gluttony, glanced at the numerous progress bars on the cauldron walls, and picked up the Ghost Head Great Saber.

Fine and intricate text covered the entire blade, and the "Diagram of the Ghost God of the Ten Cities" was inscribed on the hilt.

Following the Daoist text, Yang Yu began to decipher the secret manual of divine skills that the four generations of the Wei family had never understood.

"I was born extraordinary, recognizing a thousand characters at three and reading a hundred classics at five. My parents and neighbors all called me a prodigy, and the county magistrate praised me as a potential top scholar."

"But my ambition is not in this! Learning literary and martial arts to serve the imperial family is not my path. My path lies in exploring the heavens and earth…"

"I dare to ask the heavens, are there immortals? The question of the ancient sages, I will surely answer it!"

The opening was a self-narration with a strong foreign accent.

"Foreign…"

Yang Yu frowned.

The Daoist text had long been standardized, but dialects had not. Even within the six prefectures of Qingzhou, the accents varied greatly.

This was just Qingzhou; across the land, there were countless dialects.

Many secret manuals could not be practiced immediately, not just because of the terminology, but mainly because of the dialects.

For example, in Shunde Prefecture, there was a bird called "little bug" in Heishan County, but in other places, it was called "home clever" or "old home egg."

People from other places might recognize the characters, but how would they know what they meant?

Next, Yang Yu encountered such a problem.

The narrative of this self-proclaimed "Fei Deng Daoist" was filled with words he recognized but completely failed to understand, leaving him utterly baffled.

In the end, he could only put down the Ghost Head Great Saber in frustration.

"…Who knows which dialect this is?"

Yang Yu was speechless.

After finally learning the Daoist text, he had to learn a dialect?

This was too ridiculous.

In the stories told by storytellers, those who picked up a secret manual and practiced it without dying must have had incredible luck.

"Standardizing language is as significant as standardizing writing…"

Sighing, Yang Yu calmed down and began to practice his skills.

Stepping, twisting, sweeping, and chopping…

As the saber light danced, Yang Yu's movements were unpredictable.

With the Head-Cutting Saber technique hitting a bottleneck, he focused more on footwork.

Saber techniques require footwork, and the rapid progress in the Head-Cutting Saber naturally boosted the Wind-Chasing Steps.

However, the Wind-Chasing Steps were not particularly advanced.

But he could dodge and evade the attacks of the Liansheng Sect's followers, thanks to this seemingly unremarkable footwork.

"The ninth level of the saber technique is the pinnacle, but what is the tenth level like?"

As he moved and the saber light swirled, Yang Yu's mind was still filled with杂念.

"Li Er, who travels far and wide telling stories, should know a lot about dialects from other places, right?"

……

On the high platform, Li Er rolled up his sleeves and spoke with a rising and falling tone:

"As it is said, the past luxury is now empty, the silver screen and golden house are but a dream. The yellow reeds and the setting sun leave only ruins, the green grass and the cold smoke lock the old palace.

The tunnel fish lamp oil is almost gone, the makeup table and the phoenix mirror box are long sealed. Who can tell the story of the rise and fall, a monk in a robe with two sleeves of wind."

Bang!

The wooden clapper was struck heavily, and the audience below finally came to their senses.

"What a wonderful past luxury is now empty, a monk in a robe with two sleeves of wind! Sir, you are truly a great talent!"

Liu Qingqing slapped his thigh and called out in approval.

At first, he had refused to listen to "Jin Ping," as the trivial matters of the common people could not compare to the thrill of revenge. But as the story unfolded, he became unable to stop listening.

After that, whenever Li Er started, he was always the first to arrive.

"Good performance, good performance!"

The other audience members also called out in approval, and before the servant with the basket could come down to collect, the platform was already filled with copper coins.

"Thank you all for your support, I am truly grateful."

Li Er thanked his audience, the source of his livelihood.

Sweeping up the coins, he was quite satisfied, but seeing the gold ingot given by Liu Qingqing, his lips twitched.

These days, Li Er had not been stingy with his rewards, being quite generous.

But every time he came off the stage, someone would come to collect, and over time, he truly hated the old parents of Heishan City.

That was gold, gold!

With the curtain call, the audience dispersed, but Liu Qingqing raised his hand and called out to Li Er: "Sir, don't leave yet!"

"What is it, young master?"

Li Er turned back, puzzled.

"The young master wants to invite you to his residence to tell a few stories!"

A servant explained the intention.

"This…"

Li Er was hesitant.

He really did not want to deal with this Liu Qingqing, but his ability to tell stories without disturbance was indeed due to him.

He was somewhat hesitant.

"What? You dare not go?"

The servant immediately shouted.

"Rubbish!"

Liu Qingqing cast a cold glance, dismissed the servant, and smiled invitingly.

Li Er was very hesitant but still politely declined:

"To be honest, I have already finished all my stories and was planning to leave the city today…"

He was not lying.

Although the inner city was still relatively calm, he had long noticed the unusual atmosphere in Heishan City.

If not for the difficulty in dealing with Li Er and his desire to say goodbye to Yang Yu, he would have left Heishan County twenty days ago.

"Sir, you are leaving?"

Liu Qingqing was surprised and then shook his head:

"What's the hurry? Sir, come to the residence this afternoon, and I will see you off tomorrow with a good gift!"

"…"

Li Er wanted to tell him that he had not received a single copper coin from him, but feeling the threatening gazes of the servants, he gritted his teeth and agreed.

It was already noon, and Li Er ate a tasteless meal, then was taken to Liu's residence by the bailiffs.

"What a 'good official'…"

Looking at the large mansion before him and thinking of the government office he had passed, Li Er felt a bit sour.

Just this one mansion, he might not be able to afford it even if he told stories for a thousand years.

Even after being welcomed into a courtyard by the servants, Li Er was still nervous, not wanting to drink the tea or sit down.

The servant was even more restless, unable to sit still.

He thought Liu Qingqing would come soon, but after waiting for two hours, not a single person appeared.

Perhaps because he had drunk too much tea, Li Er felt the urge to go to the toilet. Seeing no one coming, he asked the bailiff waiting nearby to take him to the toilet.

"Not a problem!"

The bailiff made a face and led him there.

The servant naturally followed.

"Phew!"

In the toilet, Li Er fastened his pants and was about to leave when he suddenly heard voices from the next stall.

"…We dug up the graves but found no bodies of Wang Wu, Tan Hong, and Yang Yu…"

"Yang Yu?"

Li Er did not want to eavesdrop, but hearing Yang Yu's name, his heart skipped a beat.

He could not help but press his ear to the wall.

He heard a rather gentle voice respond casually:

"Wang Wu is nothing, but failing to kill two minor henchmen? A rabble is just a rabble."

"The Liansheng Sect is not a rabble."

A somewhat aged voice spoke up:

"The first sect to detect the 'shock' cannot be underestimated. However, there seems to be nothing else in the prison, perhaps the 'prison' the Liansheng Sect is looking for is not the same prison…"

"Whether it is or not is not important. I do not care about these things…"

The gentle voice was indifferent.

"Do I need to take action against these people?"

The aged voice asked again.

"They won't cause much trouble, whether they live or die is not important."

The gentle voice paused slightly:

"But today, outsiders have come to the residence…"

Li Er's heart tightened.

Before he could slip away, he heard a loud "bang," and the wall in front of him was punched through, sending bricks and stones flying, splashing a large amount of feces and urine.

"Ah!"