Shackles of Humanity

The teahouse primarily dealt in tea they grew themselves. One was called Sweet Tea, the other Bitter Tea. The former could soothe the body and mind, while the latter could clear away internal heat. Luo Kai tried them and found they actually worked. After drinking the Sweet Tea, his restless qi and blood noticeably calmed. The Bitter Tea, though astringent, had a unique flavor of its own; a refreshing coolness that cleared the mind swirled within its bitterness.

When people are young, they love sweets. Adults, however, prefer more stimulating flavors, like cigarettes, alcohol, coffee, and tea. It’s like savoring life—only after experiencing its joys and sorrows do you understand its true meaning.

For the past two days, Luo Kai hadn’t left the teahouse. His routine was just eating and sleeping. Xiaozhuo, meanwhile, waited on him like a little wife, cheerfully bustling between the dining hall and the storeroom each day, trying to get the teahouse owner to whip up some delicious food.

To Luo Kai, it was a life fit for an immortal. The meat supply was unlimited, and in two days, he had eaten nearly a whole cow.

He’d start his mornings with a pot of Bitter Tea, then practice a set of the Mighty Dragon Fist to circulate his qi and blood and speed up his body’s recovery. Afterward, he would teach Xiaozhuo a few moves from the Soft Body Technique. The little girl’s body was naturally flexible, making her a perfect fit for this set of Body Techniques.

However, the deeper levels of Muscle and Bone Refining couldn’t be achieved with just a few external movements. It required an external force.

Luo Kai didn’t have the ability for Bone Forging. ’Thinking back,’ he mused, ’Shui Su, who taught me Body Techniques, probably also possessed a mysterious Power that could penetrate skin and muscle to reach the very bones, altering their original structure.’

When he was done, he would go back to sleep. His physical fatigue recovered quickly, but his mental exhaustion wasn’t so easy to shake. He couldn’t muster the spirit for anything. The only reason he was teaching Xiaozhuo the Soft Body Technique was because she had accidentally seen him practicing. He couldn’t fend off her constant pestering, so he just perfunctorily taught her a few moves.

The teahouse did very good business. Every morning, a crowd of magnificently dressed old men would flood in. They would sip their tea and discuss the state of the nation and the world while reading newspapers.

Today, they were discussing a major event closely related to Longyang County. It turned out that Duke Yiven, the Great Lord of the Xingma Lordship Kingdom, had signed a Surrender Order for the Dragon Shark Pirates. This meant the notorious South Sea Pirates were now a legitimate force. In the future, the Dragon Shark Pirates would likely choose several coastal County Mansions as their garrisons, and Longyang County was one of them.

The group of old men sighed and wrung their hands. One with a long beard said with a worried frown, ”The South Sea Pirates burned, killed, and looted throughout the County Mansions in their early years, committing countless heinous acts. The Great Lord is just appeasing them. I fear we’re doomed to repeat the same mistakes!”

Another old man, with a sallow complexion, shook his head. ”You can’t say that. The Great Lord has his own grand strategy. Our Xingma Kingdom has constant friction with the Nanzhao Kingdom. Both sides have amassed hundreds of thousands of soldiers around Tieheng Mountain. A great war is inevitable in the next two years.”

”The Xingma Kingdom is poor in resources. We have to import half of our coal and iron ore. If not for that, we wouldn’t be fighting the Nanzhao Kingdom over the Tieheng Ore Vein. War is a battle of attrition. When the time comes, if Nanzhao cuts off our land routes and pirates still control the sea lanes, this war will surely be lost.”

The long-bearded old man was still indignant. ”But we can’t just appease them like this! If it comes to it, we should contact the Upper Country. The Dongyuan Upper Country has always strictly forbidden all nations of the Human Race from blockading transportation routes for any reason. The Nanzhao Kingdom would never dare defy an order from the Upper Country.”

”Brother Hu, you’re mistaken. The Dongyuan Upper Country would love nothing more than for the various Lordship Kingdoms to fight among themselves and weaken each other. When war breaks out, they’ll definitely just turn a blind eye!”

While the two were arguing incessantly, a beautiful young woman in a green trench coat entered the teahouse. Her almond eyes swept coolly across the room as she passed through the main hall with a blank expression.

”Huh, that looks like the Third Lady.”

”It is. The Chief Steward isn’t here, and I heard the Third Lady has been terribly busy. What’s she doing coming to a teahouse for tea?”

The beautiful woman had just passed through the corridor and entered the rear courtyard when she saw a young, still-childish-looking girl washing clothes by a trough. The girl was too young to scrub a heavy winter coat, and she was struggling with it, her face scrunched up in frustration.

The woman’s heart ached with sadness and pity. She hurried forward. ”Xiaozhuo, my little darling, you scared me to death.”

When Xiaozhuo saw her, she just smiled and held up the stiff, wet clothes in her hands. ”Third Mother, I know how to do laundry now! But this coat is too stiff, I can’t scrub it.”

The woman cradled Xiaozhuo’s little red hands, tears of heartache streaming down her face as she rambled incoherently, ”How could Old Fu let this happen? If you needed clothes, we could have just bought more. How could he let you wash them?”

”No, this isn’t my coat. It’s Big Brother’s.”

”The man who saved you? Where is he? We have to thank him properly.”

”He’s sleeping inside. Big Brother might be asleep. Third Mother, don’t wake him. Can you help me wash this coat? Big Brother hasn’t had a change of clothes for two days.”

Luo Kai had no money to buy new clothes. He had worn this coat all winter without washing it, and it was soaked with a lot of blood. It had grown stiff, and one could only imagine how difficult it was to clean.

The beautiful woman took off her trench coat. She came from a humble background, so washing clothes was second nature to her. As she washed, she blamed herself. ”It’s all Third Mother’s fault. I was so busy running around these past few days, I didn’t even know you were gone. If something had happened to you, Third Mother wouldn’t have been able to go on living.”

Xiaozhuo shook her head obediently. ”It’s okay, Third Mother. It’s not your fault. If this hadn’t happened, I never would have met Big Brother. He has this really small handgun, and it’s so powerful! He fought a whole group of people all by himself and they were too scared to even show their faces.” She stood up and mimed the motion of shooting, her big eyes full of joy.

The woman had already heard about the danger of the situation from Uncle Fu, but hearing Xiaozhuo talk about it now gave her a different feeling entirely. Imagining how helpless the frail little girl must have been when she was abducted, her eyes reddened and she began to cry.

Seeing this, Xiaozhuo quickly changed the subject. ”Oh, right, when is Dad coming back?”

”He should be back in the next day or two. When he is, he definitely won’t let those villains off the hook,” the woman said fiercely, wiping her tears.

When noon arrived, Xiaozhuo ran to the kitchen, shouting for the cook to prepare lunch, and even started stir-frying a dish herself.

Luo Kai finally woke up. The moment the woman saw him, she bowed deeply. ”I am Xiaozhuo’s Third Mother. Thank you for saving her.”

Luo Kai sidestepped the bow and waved his hand. ”No need to thank me. Are you here to take Xiaozhuo away?”

”Yes. I’ve recalled a hundred guards. Safety won’t be an issue.”

After lunch, the woman stated her intention to leave, but Xiaozhuo refused to go, no matter what. Unable to persuade her, the woman had to leave some lookouts near the teahouse and depart by herself.

The next day, Uncle Fu arrived again. He said that Zang Haisheng had returned to Longyang City and that the matter was resolved. He was here to take Xiaozhuo away.

Luo Kai was a little confused. ”How was it resolved?”

Uncle Fu sighed. ”Longyang County has always been governed by three major powers: the County Affairs Bureau under the City Lord, the Farmer faction represented by the Jiuyuan Farm Stronghold, and the merchant guild representative, Black Stone Heavy Industry. Now, it’s almost certain the Dragon Shark Pirates will garrison their troops in Longyang County, which will shatter the existing balance. The higher the level, the more compromise is needed. The powers involved this time are simply too immense. A single move could affect the entire situation, and the boss has many concerns.”