A simple yet tidy room, a small wooden table set with one meat dish, one vegetable dish, a soup, and three bowls of rice.
Su Changhe thought of the room full of gold and silver treasures at the Underworld Pawnshop, glanced around, and sighed, "I'll send someone to bring some silver when I return this time..."
"What do we need silver for?" Xiao Chaoyan placed three pairs of chopsticks on the table.
"Dark River earns so much silver in a year, yet the so-called Homeland is just a poor village. The old man was too stingy before," Su Changhe replied.
"Meat in every meal, wine at every dinner—this is called poor? I think you've never seen real poverty. The village seventeen miles from here considers white rice a luxury reserved for New Year's," Xiao Chaoyan picked up her bowl. "Eat if you want, or go to Wang Jie's place if you don't."
Su Muyu smiled and picked up a chicken leg, tossing it into Su Changhe's bowl. "Before we entered Ghost Cry Abyss, when could we ever have a chicken leg?"
"But now we have money. One gold brick from that wall could transform this village," Su Changhe declared loudly.
"Don't mind him. People who were poor and suddenly rich are all like this," Su Muyu said, placing another chicken leg into Xiao Chaoyan's bowl.
"Hey, hey, what do you mean 'suddenly rich'? Have you forgotten the silver buried underground in Qiantang City?" Su Changhe retorted.
"We're fine here. We don't need your silver," Xiao Chaoyan remained unmoved, calmly eating her rice. "Do you know who lives here?"
"Of course I do. People connected to Dark River but who don’t want to be involved in the martial world," Su Changhe answered.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Three measured knocks—"Thud," "Thud," "Thud."
Su Changhe flicked his sleeve, and a dagger appeared in his palm.
"Relax, it's safe here," Xiao Chaoyan waved at Su Changhe before walking to the door and opening it.
Su Muyu and Su Changhe exchanged glances, both seeing wariness in each other's eyes.
"It's Uncle Xie Mo," Xiao Chaoyan called out. "Come in, come in. I'll get you a pair of chopsticks."
"No need, I've already eaten," said a tall middle-aged man as he stepped inside. A long scar ran down his left cheek, but it was still evident that he must have been a handsome youth in his younger days.
"Then let me pour you some tea," Xiao Chaoyan hurried to prepare it.
Su Muyu and Su Changhe both stood and clasped their fists in greeting.
The middle-aged man nodded slightly. "Zhaoyan has guests."
"Su Changhe," he grinned.
"Su Muyu," she inclined her head slightly.
The man nodded thoughtfully. "From the Su Family."
"May I ask your esteemed name, senior?" Su Changhe inquired.
"I share your surname, but I hadn’t heard of either of you when I left home. By then, you should have already been born," Su Xie Mo said quietly.
"But we’ve heard of you. 'Seven Swords Chasing Stars' Su Xie Mo, once codenamed 'Soul Reaper' because you’d chase a target three thousand miles to kill them," Su Changhe replied. "We heard you died in the desert north of Mo River. Never imagined you’d be here in Homeland.""I survived, but I lost my qualification as an assassin. The Head took pity on me and settled me in the Homeland to guard its safety," Su Xie Mo said as he accepted the teacup handed to him by Xiao Chaoyan. "You still haven't answered my question."
"We are the Nameless Ones," Su Changhe raised an eyebrow. "But now, I am the Head of Dark River, and the one beside me is the current head of the Su Family."
"Oh?" Su Xie Mo's expression shifted slightly. "Then this cup of tea should be for you to drink."
"In that case, I won't refuse out of politeness," Su Changhe reached out and took the teacup.
Both men's movements froze for an instant. The tea in the cup swayed gently before steaming heat suddenly rose from it.
Xiao Chaoyan looked puzzled. "The weather is so hot, I'm sure I poured a cooled cup of tea earlier. Did I make a mistake?"
"How can cooled tea still have flavor?" Su Changhe took the cup fully and raised it to take a sip. "The tea leaves are ordinary, but the spring water used to brew it is exceptional."
"Truly worthy of being the Head, such impressive skill," Su Xie Mo praised.
"Let me pour Uncle another cup," Xiao Chaoyan went to make more tea.
"Since you've come here, it means the old master has died. And now that Dark River's leadership has fallen to you Nameless Ones, something major must have happened," Su Xie Mo sighed lightly. "So why have you come here?"
"Rest assured. We have no purpose in coming here. Xiao Chaoyan is my sister, and her presence here was also arranged by the Head years ago at my request," Su Muyu replied.
"I see," Su Xie Mo took the tea Xiao Chaoyan handed him and drank it in one gulp. "Then I won't disturb you further." With that, he set down the cup and walked out the door.
Su Changhe also put down his cup: "An interesting man. Hearing our identities, he showed only slight surprise before immediately wanting to distance himself."
"The people here fear nothing more than being entangled with Dark River again. There are many like Uncle Xie Mo who have retired. If they were recalled to Dark River, they would form a formidable force. So when Uncle Xie Mo heard your identities and confirmed you weren't here for them, he left immediately. Had you come for them, there might have been trouble," Xiao Chaoyan picked up her bowl and chopsticks again. "Come now, let's continue our meal."
"Earlier you said there's wine with every meal?" Su Changhe asked. "Where is it?"
"Homemade aged liquor, extremely strong. Dare you drink it?" Xiao Chaoyan smiled smugly.
"A thousand cups won't make me drunk," Su Changhe slapped the table.
Fifteen minutes later.
Su Changhe lay sprawled on the roof, snoring thunderously loud enough to lift the tiles.
Su Muyu and Xiao Chaoyan sat on cool chairs beneath the eaves. Xiao Chaoyan scoffed, "What 'thousand cups won't make me drunk'? One bowl of strong liquor knocked him out."
"Changhe has a peculiar ability—he gets drunk after one cup when he wants to, but stays sober through a thousand when he chooses to, even if you brought all the wine in this village."
"Then why did he choose to get drunk tonight?" Xiao Chaoyan asked."Because I found the hidden truth from back then in the Ten Thousand Scrolls Tower of Heaven Revelation City," Su Muyu said solemnly. "The fall of Swordless City was orchestrated by someone behind the scenes."
"Who?" Xiao Chaoyan trembled all over and immediately stood up.
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