Chapter 4: Jiang Baiqiu

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Dawn was breaking, and the pale light was spreading across the eastern sky. Qin Xi stood before the palace’s towering red walls, on which a large golden character meaning “Forbidden” was inscribed in shimmering powder. His gaze was steady as he pulled out the Second Prince’s token and pressed it against the golden character. Suddenly, the glowing symbol illuminated, and the road that had been sealed off by the crimson wall seemed to part like an illusion, revealing a passage.

Qin Xi glanced around cautiously, noticing no one was paying attention. Relieved, he stepped through. But someone followed closely behind him.

“One time using ‘Word as Law’ to repel enemies, once to cross the palace’s forbidden boundary—two uses of the youthful version of ‘Word as Law.’ You now owe me two thousand low-grade spirit stones,” a cold, indifferent girl murmured from behind.

She moved with delicate grace, as if floating lightly behind Qin Xi.

“I’ve told you dozens of times already, stop repeating it—I can’t pay,” Qin Xi scratched his ear. “Why do you think I can afford two thousand spirit stones?”

“Aren’t you royal? It should be easy for someone in the palace to pay that much,” the girl scoffed. “Don’t try to fool me—I’m not a woman easily deceived.”

“But I’m not royalty.”

“Not royalty, yet you can get so close to this sealed hall that imprisons me?”

“Look at my clothes—do they look royal to you?” Qin Xi showed her his patched, coarse linen robe—a novice outfit he had upon arriving in this world.

The girl scrutinized him, her expression wavering slightly. “No, maybe you’re an illegitimate prince, bullied by other princes, even having your innate supreme bones removed and exiled to the borderlands! You came to me now because you discovered you have the aptitude to absorb the Confucian Sage’s spiritual root, planning to slap everyone in the face and use this talent to claim the throne, right?”

“No... you’re overthinking. I’m just an ordinary person who got captured.”

“Or maybe you’re a jilted youth, swearing to make everyone look up to you, only to find halfway that you possess blood from one of the Eight Ancient Immortal Clans and royal lineage, waiting for thirty years of fortune to turn and become the ultimate victor in this great contest?”

“Your first task is to stop reading so many fantasy novels and come work with me.”

“...” The girl stared at Qin Xi with a look that said, “This kid’s trying to fool me.”

“Hah, you can’t lie in front of me!” She pointed at his forehead. “Tell the truth!”

An unknown force suppressed any falsehood from escaping his lips, yet Qin Xi remained expressionless and said, “I’m an ordinary person.”

Every word he spoke was true.

“...Brother, you really are mortal.”

“Tenfold compensation if I lie.”

Her faint smile faded, replaced by a blank stare as she opened her mouth in shock.

No longer cold and aloof, she now shrank her neck and hugged her head, trembling in fear as her voice quivered: “It’s over, it’s over, it’s over...”

“Completely over!”

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“So, uh, what happens if I don’t have the two thousand spirit stones?” Qin Xi asked.

“Spirit energy depletion... we’ll both die!!!” The girl’s previous calm demeanor vanished as she wailed. “The spirit energy I borrowed from the Heavenly Dao just now, if not repaid within a month, will trigger a heavenly tribulation! I thought you had the potential to reach the pinnacle of this world and lent you a hand... If I’d known, I wouldn’t have helped! I really thought you could pay it back!”

“How exactly would we die?”

“Debt repayment tribulation! After it strikes, you and the box will weigh just two jin!” She made double gun gestures at Qin Xi. “You’ll die, which doesn’t matter as much as me—my true form is inside your body, and I’ll die with you!”

A month... that gave him some time.

Panicking wouldn’t help; this life was a gift anyway. Qin Xi shifted gears and asked, “By the way... what exactly are you?”

“I’m a spiritual root—the very root you worked so hard to obtain! Haven’t you forgotten how I helped you defeat your enemy just now?”

Qin Xi looked her over. “But you’re a person now.”

“All things have spirits; animals and plants can become demons. Spiritual roots are the spirit within spirits. Weapons can become blade spirits and sword spirits; treasures can become artifact spirits. So why can’t a spiritual root become a spirit?”

The girl spoke with conviction.

“So you’re a spirit formed from a spiritual root? A ‘spirit root’?”

“Can’t you be a bit more cultured? You make it sound like I’m just a ginseng root,” the girl objected. “Besides, I have a name!”

“What is it? Weapon spirits are called sword spirits; are you called root spirit?” Qin Xi found the name unappealing, like some organ coming to life.

“I HAVE A NAME!”

“I’m just classifying species,” Qin Xi shrugged. “So, what’s your name?”

“I never change my name or surname. The Confucian Sage personally named me—Jiang Baiqiu!”

“Confucian Sage’s surname is Jiang...” Qin Xi muttered.

“Focus! Don’t zone out!”

“Alright, Miss Jiang. One more question: since you’re my spiritual root, why are you wandering around outside?”

“I’m your lucky charm, your personal old lady spirit. What’s wrong with letting me have some freedom?”

So you’re like Pikachu to Ash, huh? Other Pokémon go back to their Pokéballs, but you don’t.

“That’s not really appropriate. I feel like spiritual roots are like underwear—you need them, but you shouldn’t show them to others...” Qin Xi still thought Pikachu should return to its Pokéball.

“Shut up! You should be honored to have a talking spiritual root!” Jiang Baiqiu put her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed by Qin Xi’s disrespect toward his elder.

“Wait!” Qin Xi’s pupils contracted as he realized something crucial.

“If you, as a spiritual root, are like a person, then...”

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“I can work two jobs!”

Qin Xi nodded. “That’ll help pay off the debt faster.”

“Two thousand low-grade spirit stones? You’re a mortal—you’d have to work your whole life and still not pay it off! And don’t try to count me in!”

...

Qin Xi stood beside the city gate under the midday sun, the heat making him restless. He clenched five copper coins and a half-eaten pastry from before, deep in thought.

There was a serious problem now.

The Second Prince was dead, and the Confucian Sage’s spiritual root had been stolen. This was a seismic event for the royal family; the culprit had to be found.

Every brick in the imperial city might be overturned to check for hiding suspects.

Could he still stay in the city under such circumstances?

Though he had left no obvious trace, the royal family might have magical items to track him. A mere mortal like him would be easy prey.

In such a perilous environment, his life was constantly at risk.

For example, right now.

Qin Xi queued with the crowd to leave the city. As the assassin who killed the prince and stole the supreme treasure, staying longer was basically courting death.

The guards atop the walls scanned everyone leaving with cold, sharp eyes.

If that were all, Qin Xi wouldn’t be too afraid. His mental fortitude was extraordinary; he had been calm even when confronting the Second Prince.

But...

Jiang Baiqiu stood beside him, curiously looking around like a girl who had been sheltered indoors her whole life and was now stepping outside for the first time.

This was the royal family’s most prized treasure—the Confucian Sage’s spiritual root.

She refused to stay hidden inside Qin Xi’s body, and he himself was strikingly handsome, even more so than the favored concubine who rose by looks alone. Such rare, otherworldly beauty made Jiang Baiqiu and Qin Xi the center of attention in the crowd.

People looked at Jiang Baiqiu with awe, but their gazes at Qin Xi were filled with... jealousy.

Jealous that he could walk alongside a woman as divine as a celestial being.

But Qin Xi only felt... he had truly been cursed for eight generations.