Blood River

"Crane Rain Medicine Manor."

Su Muyu murmured softly as he gazed at the plaque before him. Clearly, the name of this medicine manor was formed by combining the "Crane" from Bai Hehuai's name and the "Rain" from his own. Back when they had opened a medicine shop in Qiantang City, they had only used the words "White Crane." He smiled faintly, suddenly feeling a warmth in his heart.

With his "Rain" character included, it felt as though this place could belong to him too.

Just as he was lost in thought, Bai Hehuai pushed the door open and stepped out. Spotting Su Muyu at the entrance, she was momentarily taken aback before following his gaze upward. Her face flushed slightly. "Since we used the money earned from our medicine shop in Qiantang City to open this one, I thought it only fair to include your name as well."

Su Muyu lowered his head and smiled at Bai Hehuai. "Thank you, Miracle Healer."

"What are you thanking me for?" Bai Hehuai looked puzzled. "I heard you went to meet someone earlier. Do you have friends here in Nan'an City?"

Su Muyu shook his head. "Not exactly friends. Just an old acquaintance I happened to run into here."

"Oh." Bai Hehuai thought to herself that this was a rather dull answer.

"Miracle Healer," Su Muyu suddenly called out again.

Bai Hehuai blinked. "What is it?"

"Since half of this medicine manor belongs to me, why haven't you invited me in yet?" Su Muyu asked.

"Oh, right, right. Come in, come in." Only then did Bai Hehuai snap out of it, hastily stepping aside to make way. She remembered their first meeting—how she had boldly walked alone into the heavily guarded Spider Shadow estate with just a small medicine chest, facing Su Muyu and The Head with composure and confidence. Yet now, she was acting like a clumsy goose, which annoyed her a little.

"Where is everyone?" Su Muyu stepped into the courtyard but found it completely empty, not a soul in sight.

Bai Hehuai went inside to pour a cup of cold tea and returned. "I originally thought only you would come, so I prepared one set of bedding. Dogfather, however, had the foresight to know Su Changhe would tag along and secretly prepared an extra set. But who could’ve guessed you’d bring a childhood friend along too? So Dogfather took them out to buy some bedding and supplies."

"I see." Su Muyu pictured the former Dark River Undertaker and the Bamboo Hat Ghost haggling over quilts and sundries in the market and couldn’t help but find it amusing.

"What’s so funny?" Bai Hehuai asked, confused.

"Do you think Su Changhe would bargain when shopping?" Su Muyu asked out of the blue.

Bai Hehuai immediately mimicked Su Changhe’s mannerisms, stroking an imaginary beard. "Wrap these up, and those too—I’ll take them all. Here’s a silver ingot; keep the change."

Su Muyu burst into rare laughter. "Hahaha! Spot on, absolutely spot on!"

"You said it yourself—newly rich people act like that," Bai Hehuai said smugly before casually asking, "By the way, what’s the story with that sister of yours? Why did you suddenly bring her out from Homeland? Didn’t you say Homeland was the safest place?"Su Muyu put away his smile and said seriously, "Because we discovered that Dark River was the one who wielded the blade in the destruction of Swordless City back then. Some of those people are still alive and currently within Homeland. Although they’ve long retired and, barring unforeseen circumstances, would no longer engage in killing, there’s still enmity between us. I can’t rest easy leaving Zhaoyan there. That’s when I thought of the Miracle Healer—this place is extremely safe. With someone as reliable as you and Uncle Zhe overseeing things, Zhaoyan will undoubtedly be secure here."

Hearing Su Muyu praise her as reliable, Bai Hehuai naturally felt pleased, but she also caught the underlying implication in his words. She asked, "Listening to you, it sounds like you’re entrusting her to me. But hasn’t the matter with Dark River already been settled? Do you have something else to attend to?"

"Mm, some old business from years past," Su Muyu replied lightly.

Bai Hehuai, sharp as ever, immediately guessed, "Related to Swordless City?"

"I won’t be leaving just yet. I’ll be staying in Nan’an City for a while," Su Muyu said with a smile. "After all, this Medicine Manor has my share in it. I should focus on building it up properly first. Who knows, after staying long enough, I might not even want to leave."

"Everyone, come in, come in!" A loud voice called from outside, followed by Su Changhe kicking the door open and bounding in excitedly. "Careful with that, careful! Take the food to the kitchen first. The bedding and such—Uncle Zhe, lead them to the inner rooms. The rest of the things, leave them in the courtyard for now. Let me think about how to arrange them."

Bai Hehuai and Su Muyu exchanged a glance. Bai Hehuai shrugged. "See what I mean…"

"Make way, make way!" A burly man staggered in, carrying a massive glass water tank in his arms. The tank was completely transparent, dazzling under the sunlight, and filled with water. Inside, a few vibrantly colored, unknown fish swam about.

"What in the world is this?" Bai Hehuai exclaimed in surprise.

The man was drenched in sweat. Originally, they had only been selling the tank—the fish were just for display. But Su Changhe had insisted on taking both the tank and the fish, forcing the man to haul this enormous thing over by himself. Just as he reached the courtyard and was about to set it down, his foot slipped, and he nearly fell.

"Ah!" the man cried out in alarm.

"Tsk." Su Changhe sighed lightly, leaped forward, and caught the glass water tank with one hand. The tank, which weighed as much as a thousand pounds, felt weightless in his grip. With a light touch, he set it down steadily on the ground.

The man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Thank goodness."

Su Changhe patted the fish tank. "Five hundred taels, you know."

The man swallowed nervously. "So you’re a master, sir."

"Used to perform in the martial world, did acrobatics," Su Changhe waved it off. "The rest of you, put everything in place. Then go to Uncle Zhe to collect one tael each."

Bai Hehuai walked over, watching as the men carried in all sorts of strange items, and sighed helplessly. "This is a Medicine Manor, not a general store."

Su Changhe waved his hand dismissively. "I’m not setting it up as a Medicine Manor. I think of this as our home, where we’ll live from now on. Naturally, we need more fun things, things we like to have around."

Su Muyu chuckled. "Since when did you take up fish-watching…"A bird's chirp interrupted Su Muyu's words.

Su Muyu turned his head and smiled wryly, "Playing with birds..."

"Everyone has their own preferred way of life. If you enjoy grinding herbs and cooking to be a decent family man, then I prefer watching fish, strolling with birds, and listening to music—living as a shameless, prodigal young master," Su Changhe said rather smugly. "To each their own!"