I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 318: Chapter 186: Obsession

Staring at the few pieces of silver left in his bag, Zheng Xiu was suddenly overcome with nostalgia for his former life of wealth. He laughed at himself. ’To think I’d see the day I was worried about money.’

”Lady Gongsun has unfortunately caught a chill. It’s a good thing you came in time, or the consequences would have been dire.”

After taking Xiaotao’s pulse, the old Physician delivered his customary scare tactic, prescribed several packets of herbs for decoction, and explained in detail how to prepare the medicine.

Zheng Xiu pushed open the paper window and borrowed a stove and a clay pot from the inn. Before long, the unpleasant smell of herbal medicine filled the room.

After giving Xiaotao her medicine, she muttered a few words and fell back to sleep.

By now, Zheng Xiu was utterly exhausted. He slumped over the side of the bed, his eyelids heavy, and drifted off to sleep.

As he drifted in and out of sleep, Zheng Xiu felt someone touching his nose.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Xiaotao, her own bright eyes blinking. Her face was flushed red, like a thief caught in the act. Huddled under the blanket, she had been secretly poking the tip of his nose. The moment she saw he was awake, her finger Bounced Away as if shocked, and she quickly squeezed her eyes shut, pretending she was still asleep.

”Young Master... I think I heard someone... someone... someone say ’Lady Gongsun.’”

The air between them grew awkward. After a few moments of silence, Xiaotao blushed and asked her strange question.

”You must have misheard,” Zheng Xiu said firmly.

”Oh, really?”

Xiaotao sank back into the blankets, her voice still weak from her illness.

Zheng Xiu reached out and pressed his hand to Xiaotao’s forehead.

Her fever had broken.

”I’m going out to get you something to eat.”

Once outside, Zheng Xiu weighed the pieces of silver in his robes and sighed. He doubted there was even enough to pay the next day’s lodging. An idea of how to make money came to him. He found a busy spot and set up a stall on the ground.

Selling paintings.

The marketplace was bustling, the competition fierce. At first, no one gave Zheng Xiu’s humble stall a second glance. Out of options, he hung up a sign: ”Direct Disciple of Gongsun, with the skills of a Painting Saint.”

Soon after the sign went up, a young nobleman approached, skeptical. ”Gongsun? Which Gongsun?”

”*That* Gongsun,” Zheng Xiu said with a smile.

”Another fraud,” the nobleman sneered, walking away.

’Another?’ Zheng Xiu wondered, puzzled by the comment.

A full two hours later, Zheng Xiu finally made his first sale.

A certain young nobleman from within the city had a father who would be celebrating his eightieth birthday in a month. He went on and on to Zheng Xiu, complaining that his father had no interests except for calligraphy and paintings. The young man had two older brothers and one younger, and his father also had three beautiful concubines and ten thousand acres of farmland waiting to be inherited. He hinted that if Zheng Xiu could produce a piece of art that would truly please his old man, a handsome reward would be forthcoming.

He also clarified that he had no interest in his father’s concubines—it was mainly the ten thousand acres of farmland.

”No need for a handsome reward. One tael of silver, a fair price for young and old alike.”

”Anything at all?”

”No portraits.”

”Very well. Master, please begin.”

’Not all rich heirs are arrogant bullies. This one is quite polite. Then again, maybe he’s just not rich enough yet,’ Zheng Xiu mused.

Zheng Xiu wondered what kind of painting was worth a tael of silver. After a moment of thought, he painted a landscape: facing the sea, a white-haired old man with clouds beneath his feet, ascending eastward toward immortality.

He inscribed it: *Longevity to Rival the Southern Mountains, Ascension to Immortality.*

He signed it: Gongsun Mo.

Zheng Xiu had spent nearly half a year painting Xie Luohe’s ”back,” and his skill had improved without his realizing it, reaching a level that even he found unrecognizable. The moment the painting was complete, the nobleman tossed down a bag of silver, happily rolled up the scroll, and departed.

He bought a steamer of hot meat buns and a bowl of fragrant ”Flowing-Fat Millet Porridge,” a delicacy from the Yan Region. As Zheng Xiu hurried back to the inn, clutching two large oil-paper bags, he spotted a familiar figure standing quietly in his path, wearing a conical bamboo hat with its brim pulled low.

Zheng Xiu pursed his lips, walked over, and lifted the person’s hat.

Revealing a high, black ponytail.

Zheng Xiu froze.

”Is Xiaotao feeling better?”

Xie Luohe asked with a smile.

Seeing Xie Luohe here in Li City, Zheng Xiu couldn’t decide whether to be angry or amused. He jammed the bamboo hat back on her head, covering the familiar ponytail.

”None of your business.”

Zheng Xiu ignored Xie Luohe and went upstairs. He and Xiaotao ate and drank their fill, then he prepared her medicine and helped her change out of her sweat-soaked clothes.

THWIP.

An arrow embedded itself in the windowsill.

Zheng Xiu glanced at it, then ignored it.

A second arrow shot in, bizarrely curving mid-flight to strike the headboard.

The sleeping Xiaotao’s eyelashes trembled.

Zheng Xiu leaned out the window, looked down at Xie Luohe still standing at the inn’s entrance with her Longbow, and mouthed, ”What the hell are you doing?”

Xie Luohe crooked a finger, beckoning him down.

Once he was downstairs, Xie Luohe said, ”My brother will arrive in Li City in about three days.”

Zheng Xiu’s brow furrowed. ”What are you trying to say?”

”We need to find Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault,” Xie Luohe said, getting straight to the point.

”Is Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault all you can think about?”

”Yes.” Xie Luohe nodded calmly. ”I told you. When I find Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault, I will return... her... to you.”

Zheng Xiu fell silent, turning to head back into the inn.

Xie Luohe watched him go, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. ”So,” she murmured, ”are you Zheng Xiu right now... or Gongsun Mo?”

When Zheng Xiu didn’t answer, Xie Luohe sighed. ”I win.”

Zheng Xiu turned back, his face expressionless, and walked to her side. ”What about Xiaotao?”

”Relax. I’ve already hired people to guard her in secret. We just need to be back before dark.”

Only then did Zheng Xiu notice them: several figures dotted around the inn who clearly belonged to the Jianghu. Their bearing was completely out of place, and their eyes kept darting toward the window of Xiaotao’s room.

”Xiaotao is just a commoner. No one’s going to harm her. You’re worrying for nothing.”

Xie Luohe flicked him on the forehead.

”You’ve been following me this whole time?”

Zheng Xiu finally noticed that Xie Luohe was still in the same clothes, which had clearly been soaked and dried multiple times. Her boots were caked with mud; she looked completely worn out from her journey.

”What do you think?” Xie Luohe rolled her eyes. ”Did you really take me for such a heartless person? Besides, I was curious to see if you’d take advantage of her situation to do something... beastly.”

Their horses were kept in a stable by the city gate.

Xie Luohe had even fed the horses already. Upon seeing Zheng Xiu and Xie Luohe approach side-by-side, the two mares whinnied and snorted, exceptionally excited.

Once mounted and riding out of the city, Xie Luohe began to explain. ”While you were looking after Xiaotao, I was making inquiries with the ’Mountain Wanderers’ near Ba Mountain. There are, in fact, several bottomless caves in the mountains. If you wander into one, the inside is a twisting, shifting labyrinth. They say of ten who enter, none ever return. The path to Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault might very well be hidden there.”

So-called ”Mountain Wanderers” belonged to a rare and unorthodox profession. They made their living by relying on their agility to cross mountains and peaks year-round, searching for unclaimed treasures—mostly valuable medicinal herbs from the deep mountains or rare animals.

The more remote the mountain range, the more treacherous the terrain. With no mountain paths to follow, Mountain Wanderers had to rely on their hands and feet to scale the rock faces. A single misstep meant a fatal fall from a cliff. It was an extremely perilous life.

’That’s Xie Luohe for you,’ Zheng Xiu thought. While he had been busy looking after Xiaotao, she had managed to gather all this intel.

Zheng Xiu did a quick calculation on his fingers. The distance from Li City to Ba Mountain was neither far nor near—about twenty li. With no villages around Ba Mountain, Li City was the closest town. Leaving Xiaotao here seemed reasonable.

Xiaotao was an ordinary person, after all, and Zheng Xiu had no idea what they might face in Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault. Settling her in Li City for the time being was the logical thing to do. With that thought, he stopped objecting to Xie Luohe’s plan and went with her toward Ba Mountain.

They rode on in silence.

「Four hours later.」

Zheng Xiu and Xie Luohe arrived at the foot of Ba Mountain.

Ba Mountain wasn’t particularly tall. It stood like three fingers piercing the thick fog, its peaks barely visible.

The slopes of Ba Mountain were steep and covered in a dense jungle thick with thorns.

Xie Luohe found a path where the thorn bushes had been hacked away with a machete. It was clearly a trail left by the Mountain Wanderers.