Chapter 8

As the sun set in the west,

Tang Zheng and his two companions were already standing on a small path at the outskirts of the city.

Achi snorted derisively from his nose, "Look, just follow this road north, and it will lead you to Wulong Town's Tang Family Castle. There are no forks in the road, so if you walk for six or seven hours, you should arrive."

Tang Zheng nodded and snapped his fingers, "Thanks."

"Hmph, I didn't want to tell you in the first place," Achi still looked displeased.

"Then, farewell, and may we meet again if fate allows!" Tang Zheng ignored him, bowed to the old man, and turned to leave.

After Tang Zheng had walked far away, Achi was still standing there, blinking his large, bright eyes for a long time before asking, "He... he just left like that?"

The old man smiled and nodded, "Yes."

"Ah, did he even listen to me? I said, six or seven hours!" Achi paced back and forth in anger, "He's not planning to hire a carriage to get back to Wulong Town, is he?"

"He can't go back," the old man sighed.

Wulong Town was about to be turned upside down by the Lan family.

Hiring a carriage now would be too late.

"But, six or seven hours, he's just going to... walk the whole way?"

"Probably," the old man affectionately patted Achi's head.

Achi suddenly caught his breath.

He looked up in confusion at the old man's withered hand.

Even when the old man touched his head, he could sense it in advance!

But when that person touched his head just now, he didn't feel a thing!

It was as if that hand didn't exist until it touched his head!

"Right, I didn't even ask his name," Achi remembered, feeling depressed. It seemed he would have to wait for their "fateful meeting" again.

...

Without the clear stamina data from the game, controlling stamina was purely a matter of experience.

But this didn't pose a problem for Tang Zheng.

When to walk quickly, when to stroll, and when to rest were not big issues.

What he really wanted to complain about was the poor quality of his shoes!

By the time he reached the gate of Tang Family Castle, his big toes were poking out, and his appearance was a mess.

It was quite late.

Tang Zheng estimated it was past midnight.

However, Tang Family Castle was still brightly lit.

The three-story dark red gate was open, but as soon as Tang Zheng approached, two servants blocked his way, "Stop! What do you want?"

Given the time and his appearance, there was no way to explain, so Tang Zheng didn't bother. He weakly handed over Tian Meng's jade pendant.

When such a valuable jade pendant was presented, although the two servants didn't let him in immediately, their gazes became much friendlier. One of them bowed politely, "Please wait, I'll go and inform them!" and went inside.

After about fifteen minutes...

A girl jumped out from inside Tang Family Castle.

The girl had her long hair tied up high, wearing a very short top with no buttons, revealing a tight black undergarment that held her budding chest. Her lower body wasn't in the usual skirt seen in Wulong Town but a long pair of pants with a slight skirt edge.

Her slender waist was exposed where the top and pants met, and a bright red thorn flower was tattooed next to her navel.

"Miss!" the two servants bowed simultaneously.

The girl's lips were red and lustrous, like a strawberry that had just been sprinkled with rain.

The unique youthful aura spread toward Tang Zheng as she spoke, "Truly, a teacher who dares to come to a place like Wulong Town must have character, to visit at such a time!"

At midnight, to receive a "character" comment for knocking on someone's door was definitely polite.

"May I ask, where are you from, sir?" The girl led Tang Zheng in while sizing him up, her gaze finally landing on his feet, "Did you get into a fight on the way?"

"I came from the East Land of Tang... cough, no, I'm here on behalf of a friend," Tang Zheng tried to joke but quickly reined himself in, "I walked from Wulong Town, and my shoes broke."

"Ha ha ha ha..." The girl laughed, her brows like a wild fire, "You... walked? From... Wulong Town? Ha ha ha..."

"Pretty impressive, right?" Tang Zheng laughed along.

"How can you be so stupid!" The girl retorted, "Why didn't you hire a carriage?"

"..." Tang Zheng's brief smile froze on his face.

"Uh, you don't have money?" The girl suddenly seemed to realize something.

"Yes..." Tang Zheng thought about the small golden treasury in his purple-gold belt, no, a large golden treasury, but then realized that no matter how much money he had, it was useless if he couldn't access it. He reluctantly nodded, "Alright, yes, no money!"

"Poor thing!" The girl tiptoed and patted his head, just like the old man had done to Achi, "Don't worry, as long as I have a meal, you won't go hungry in Tang Family Castle! We respect scholars the most!"

"..." Tang Zheng, who could talk non-stop for two hours, was speechless in front of this girl.

Although Tang Family Castle was located in the northern suburbs, it wasn't very large.

In the time it took for them to walk and talk, they reached the main hall.

Inside the main hall were two middle-aged men. When Tang Zheng entered, he vaguely heard them discussing the flower fields of Yinlan Manor.

When Tang Zheng came in, the two men stopped talking.

"Mr. Tian, you're here?" one of the middle-aged men looked at Tang Zheng, "You seem... to have gained some weight?"

"He's also grown taller, and his skin is darker..." the other man added, "You've been through a lot!"

Tang Zheng rubbed his forehead, "Um..."

"Sit, sit. It's been five years since we last saw you. Sigh, no scholars are willing to come to Wulong Town, so it's really great that you're willing to teach at Tang Family Castle..."

"Um, but..."

"Xiao Tang, why don't you pour some tea?"

"Wait, wait, wait..." Tang Zheng stopped the fiery girl from pouring tea, "Mr. Tian didn't gain weight or grow taller, his skin is still white, and his combat skills are still terrible..." Seeing the men's expressions change, he summarized, "In short, I'm not Mr. Tian."

Saying this, Tang Zheng took out Tian Meng's letter from his pocket and handed it to the two men.

After they read it, they looked up with slightly awkward smiles. One of them bowed, "We're really sorry, we... haven't seen Mr. Tian in a long time, so we... overstepped, overstepped..."

"No problem, no problem," Tang Zheng waved his hand.

Tang Zheng had read Tian Meng's letter, which didn't detail their experience in Fengmen Village. It only mentioned that Tian Meng had encountered bandits and was saved by Tang Zheng. He was severely injured and needed to find the young master of Tianyi Valley, Xiao Tanshi, so he entrusted Tang Zheng with the task of teaching at Tang Family Castle and promised to apologize in person later.

"From what Mr. Tian wrote, you also have the surname Tang? What a coincidence," the middle-aged man returned the jade pendant to Tang Zheng, "Mr. Tang, I am Tang Boyuan, the lord of Tang Family Castle."

"Pleased to meet you!" Tang Zheng said.

"Mr. Tang, you must be tired from the journey! Recently, due to some issues in Wulong Town, most of our young people are out. You can rest for a few days in the castle. When they return, I'll arrange a grand welcome banquet for you!"

"Are they all out? Then this one..." Tang Zheng pointed to the girl beside him.

"Oh, this is my only daughter, Xiao Tang. She's... a bit spoiled. Please be strict with her in the future," Tang Boyuan looked at his daughter with affection, "Xiao Tang, it's late, take Mr. Tang to rest."

Tang Xiaotang skipped out, turned back at the door, and smiled, beckoning to Tang Zheng.

When Tang Zheng followed her out, he faintly heard the two men resume their interrupted conversation...

"Yinlan Manor has really taken a big hit this time!"

"Yes, next month they won't have enough goods and will have to pay a lot of money to Zhaixing Sect and Qintian Sect."

"They'll have to sell some of their shops! We can take them over. We need to prepare the purple-gold resources in advance."

"It's already prepared. Hmph, Yinlan Manor has been doing immoral business for so long, it's time for them to pay the price!"

"But..."

"What?"

"The Lan family's flower fields are so secret that even we can't find their exact location. Who could have taken them down this time?"

"Not many people can enter those fields and burn them. Could it be... the Purple Gold City... Du Qixi?"

"But why would Du Qixi go and burn their fields for no reason?"

"Maybe he set the fire for a pretty girl? To make her laugh?"

"Cough, it's possible!"

"If it really was Du Qixi, the Lan family can only accept their bad luck this time..."

Their voices grew fainter as Tang Zheng moved farther away, so he quickly followed Tang Xiaotang.

Tang Family Castle had arranged a two-courtyard house for Tang Zheng.

A stream flowed through the yard, and black bamboo was planted along the water.

"Here it is. It's not very big, but I clean it every day. Is Mr. Tang satisfied?" Tang Xiaotang stood at the gate, pleased with her work.

"You? Cleaned it?" Tang Zheng's face twitched as he looked inside...

It was clean, but the uniform red color was bizarre. He was here to teach, not to get married!

Tang Xiaotang put her hand on Tang Zheng's shoulder, "It's hard to find a teacher willing to come, so we won't neglect you. This is the best set of furnishings in the Tang family. Even my brother didn't use it for his wedding..."

Tang Zheng swallowed hard, "Um... I see..."

"If Mr. Tang needs anything, just let me know," Tang Xiaotang patted her chest confidently.

"Good... um... my books were destroyed by the bandits. I hope the Tang family can provide some tomorrow..."

"Of course, no problem!"

"Also, I need a flower pot... a big one."

"A flower... pot?"

"Yes, the books can wait, but the flower pot would be best to have now..."

"Getting a flower pot in the middle of the night..." Tang Xiaotang went to find the flower pot, muttering to herself, "He's really interesting..."

.