By the time evening came, Ninth Lady arrived with Xiaoqin. Xiaoqin carried a food basket, and one dish after another was set out until the whole table was filled. She even brought a pot of osmanthus wine.

Liu Xiaolou didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down at the table and rolled up his sleeves. “A feast for me? Thank you, Lady Jiu.”

Su Wan poured his cup full of spirit wine. “Today is your birthday. Fifth Sister is away, taking part in the Weiyu Soaring Crane Sect’s trial... so I... I’m celebrating for her.”

Liu Xiaolou raised his cup and clinked it against hers. Suddenly he smiled. “Twenty-three now. And it’s been three years since I came to your Su family...”

After drinking, he couldn’t help glancing at her lips, still touched with wine. The memory of that time he forced a kiss on her stirred in his chest, but he didn’t know what to do. In the end, he held himself back.

Su Wan didn’t say much either. She simply kept him company, drinking and eating in silence. The two of them sat across from each other, sharing the birthday meal quietly. By the time they finished, the moon was already high outside the window.

Xiaoqin came in to tidy up, then left with Ninth Lady. Before leaving, she told him, “One more thing. When we went out to save that person, everyone was there. Eldest Brother went too. He was captured alive by the Gengsang Cave people. In the end, it cost two hundred spirit stones to ransom him back. He nearly lost his life. Father and Second Uncle are both furious. Second Uncle says it was trouble you brought on us... Think carefully about how you’ll explain it. Don’t talk back to Father. If you feel wronged, just bear it.”

Liu Xiaolou couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. “Two hundred spirit stones. Eldest Young Master must be worth a fortune, hahahaha...”

Not an hour after the women left, a steward from the household arrived at his door. “Young master-in-law, Master requests your presence at the Gualu Hall.”

Liu Xiaolou drew in a deep breath. He turned and glanced back at Big White and Little Black, who stood side by side on the eaves watching him, then followed the steward toward Gualu Hall.

The hall itself was dark, only a side chamber under the veranda was lit. Liu Xiaolou remembered that room all too well. Three years ago, it was right there that he had signed the agreement to become a live-in son-in-law.

After steadying his mood, he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Su Zhi wasn’t there. Instead, one man sat waiting. Butler Song, the very one who had overseen that agreement. In his three years with the Su family, Liu Xiaolou had barely dealt with the old man, less even than with his father-in-law, Su Zhi.

Butler Song smiled and nodded, gesturing for him to sit.  “I’ve been meaning to speak with you these past few days, but you’ve been laid up and unconscious with your injuries. How are you now? All better?”

Liu Xiaolou cupped his hands politely. “Thanks to your concern, Butler, I’m fully recovered.”

Butler Song paused in thought, then said, “That’s good... The master actually wanted to speak with you in person. But... the Second Master is still angry, so it wouldn’t be proper for you to meet him now. You know how it is; Thirteenth Young Master is the apple of his eye. He nearly lost his life at Zhuoshui, and since the matter involved you, it’s only natural some of that anger has spilled onto you. Still, the master also said it was you who brought him back alive, so you shouldn’t be blamed too harshly...”

Liu Xiaolou gave a half-smile. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

“The three-year term is up. Would you be willing to take a position as an outer steward of Shenwu Manor?” asked Butler Song.

“The Su family has an inner sect and an outer sect too?” Liu Xiaolou said.

Butler Song hesitated a moment. “Let me be frank. Your presence in the Su family has stirred a lot of debate. Some want to keep you, others don’t... So... this ‘outer sect’ isn’t part of the Su family. It’s mine. Come work under me for a few years first. Once the mark of Wulong Mountain fades from you, we’ll find a way to bring you back into the Su family.”

Liu Xiaolou chuckled. “Work under you?”

“Do you look down on me?”

Liu Xiaolou shook his head. “Not at all... There aren’t many people in the Su family I truly respect. You’re one of the few. But this has nothing to do with you. The truth is... I’m tired. I want to go back home...”

Butler Song stayed silent for a long while before letting out a sigh. He took out a wooden box and slid it across the table to Liu Xiaolou.

Liu Xiaolou opened it. Inside were fourteen spirit stones and twenty taels of silver. After a moment’s thought, he understood: two stones and twenty taels were his wages for the past two months, while the remaining twelve were clearly the compensation that had been agreed upon from the start.

Butler Song then pushed forward a sheet of yellow paper. At the bottom of it was Fifth Lady’s signature.

Liu Xiaolou read it, nodded, folded the divorce letter, and put it away. After a pause, he asked, “What about Susu...”

Butler Song said, “Susu has been raised in my household since childhood. She has talent for cultivation, and we’ve never treated her poorly. We’ve put in many years of effort training her. Whether she can reach the Foundation Establishment stage, I can’t say, but within ten years reaching the peak of Qi Refinement is no problem. She’ll be a great help to Fifth Lady in the future. There’s no way we’d let you take her away.”

Liu Xiaolou fell into troubled thought for a moment. “I’m willing to compensate the Su family...”

Butler Song gave a small laugh. “Let’s not even talk about whether she’d want to go with you. Even if she did, would you really take her back to Wulong Mountain? What does Wulong Mountain have? Can it spare her the worry of spirit stones? Can it give her a chance to cultivate inside a blessed land? Can it provide her spirit rice and spirit dishes to eat, spirit wine and spirit dew to drink? If she followed you to such a bitter, barren place, when would she ever advance in her cultivation? Could you bear to see that?”

Liu Xiaolou felt a wave of melancholy... After a long silence, he still pressed on. “If, just if... if Susu were willing, would the Su family let her go? I’m willing to make compensation.”

Butler Song studied him for a moment before replying slowly. “The Su family isn’t unreasonable. If that girl truly wanted to share hardship with you, it’s not impossible to release her. But how much could you compensate? Raising someone isn’t easy, especially someone with talent for cultivation.”

Liu Xiaolou opened his mouth. “How much would it take?”

Butler Song shook his head. “Here’s how it is. Right now Susu is with Fifth Lady in the Weiyu Grotto-Heaven. Whether they’ll be gone half a year or a full year is hard to say. Let’s make an agreement. If, a year from now, you still insist on taking her, I can report it to the master. If the master agrees, if Fifth Lady agrees, and if the girl herself agrees, then we can discuss the matter of compensation. But let me warn you; don’t cling to false hope. Without at least a hundred spirit stones, you won’t be able to take her.”

Liu Xiaolou thought it over and nodded. “I’ll come back in a year.”

Butler Song only smiled faintly and let the matter drop. “Let me tell you some news,” he said instead. “During the month you’ve been recovering, the situation at Zhuoshui has already been settled. The Zhanglong Sect suffered badly. Their great formation was broken and they took heavy losses. Dongyang Sect and Mount Tianmu rushed overnight to give aid, but Bashu’s forces also came to support. Pingdu Mountain stood up for Gengsang Cave. In the end it was only when the Qingyu Sect stepped in that they reached a compromise with Pingdu Eight Formations Gate, and both sides agreed to cease fighting.”

Since this concerned Liu Xiaolou’s future, he naturally paid close attention. “So what was the final outcome?”

“Gengsang Cave and the Zhanglong Sect have put aside their feud. The Zhanglong Sect paid a large sum in compensation, and the two sides agreed to use Wulong Mountain as the boundary, with neither crossing over. You’d better think carefully for yourself. Do you want to return to Wulong Mountain, or find another place to go?”

Liu Xiaolou was taken aback. “Wulong Mountain as the boundary? Does that mean we’ve been handed over to the Badong bandits?”

Steward Song shook his head. “Not exactly. You’re still counted as belonging to Western Xian. But word is, neither side is allowed to cross the mountain. Whoever does will be breaking the pact, and then the Qingyu Sect and the Pingdu Eight Formations Gate will join forces to hunt them down.”

Back at Yiling Hall, Liu Xiaolou went through his belongings. His magical tools included the Three-Mystery Sword, the Abyssal Blackstone Formation Disk, and the Mysterious True Cord. From Second Young Master Lu of the Qingyu Sect, he had the Jade Talisman of Concealment, and from this last battle he’d taken a bone flute. His supply of Bewildering Fragrance Tendon had been completely used up in the fight at Zhuoshui and would need new materials to be refined again.

He also had three sect tokens: the Token of Sanxuan, the Token of Purple Pole, and the Token of Xingming.

As for cultivation methods, there were the Scriptures of Sanxuan Sect, the Thousandfold Formulas, and the Abyssal Blackstone Formation Manual.

He also had hand-copied versions of the Essentials of the Golden Scroll Formations and the Five Talismans, along with The Secret Methods of Serpent Gu from the Badong cultivator.

There were three bottles of pills: Heart-Nourishing Pills, Tiger Bone Pills, and Obstacle-Avoiding Pills, each bottle holding two or three. All of them came from that damned Badong cultivator.

And of course, there was the Dragon Gall Yin-Yang Pill that Su Jing had gone through untold hardship to find. Liu Xiaolou had tested it, and just as he suspected, it turned out to be nothing more than a common virility pill. Something you could buy for a couple of taels of silver a bottle in Wuchao Town.

What a swindle. Liu Xiaolou let out a quiet sigh.

Next came a little over a hundred taels of loose silver.

All the spirit stones were kept in his sash. Fifty-two in total. Looking back on the past three years, it was quite a haul. Some had been taken from the Badong cultivator, some came as compensation from the three-year pact, some were advance payments from young masters eager to test the formations, and some were the “expenses” from the reconciliation of the three sects two years ago. Apart from what he’d spent, the rest was all here.

Three years as a son-in-law, and he’d managed to put away this much wealth. His cultivation had also risen from the third layer to the sixth. On the whole, Liu Xiaolou was satisfied. There had been plenty of frustrations, but compared to the fortune in front of him, what did those really amount to?

It all felt like a long dream. Now that the dream was over, it was time to move on.

Better to set out tonight, under the cover of moonlight. With the moon as his companion, the road ahead would be easier to walk.

“Big White, Little Black, let’s go!”

The moonlight was clear as water, but the mountain path was not easy. Someone was blocking the way.

Liu Xiaolou looked at Su Fan standing across from him and, for a moment, didn’t know what to say. Su Fan, however, only kept sneering.

“Liu Xiaolou, planning to tuck your tail and slip away in the night?”

“What’s the meaning of this, Third Young Master?”

“Have you forgotten what you promised? The two-year pact!”

Liu Xiaolou glanced around. “You came here by yourself, Third Young Master?”

Su Fan scoffed. “You’re just a fifth-layer Qi refiner. You think I’d need anyone else to deal with you?”

Liu Xiaolou sighed. “I’d meant to let you be, but since you put it that way, you’re right. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have broken our agreement.”

“Then let’s do this,” said Su Fan. “Three years as a son-in-law, you’ve taken advantage of my Su family plenty, dragged endless trouble onto us. Before you leave, I’ll give you a lesson, so you understand that some advantages should never be taken. And some people are not to be trifled with!”