Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
[I’m young?] Yang Kai was speechless at that comment, thinking that he was already about 200 years old, but he was still treated like he was a little kid. Nevertheless, he recalled that the Proprietress had lived for many times longer, so had the right to act this way.
However, even if she wanted to reprimand him, she shouldn’t have made a move against him.
An enraged Yang Kai bellowed, “Stop hitting me. Otherwise, I’ll resist.”
The Proprietress stopped what she was doing and gazed nonchalantly at him, a faint smile on her face as she asked, “How are you going to resist?”
Yang Kai parted his lips, but he was unable to say anything because he couldn’t defeat her; otherwise, he would’ve counterattacked and made her beg for mercy long ago.
“I’ll only give you one chance. If you dare to stay over at some random person’s house again, I won’t let you off!” The Proprietress snorted and kept the feather duster.
Seeing that, Yang Kai slowly got to his feet and moved his body a little. Still furious, he muttered, “You’re so ruthless.”
Her lashes just now were immensely painful; however, she had exquisite control over her strength, so she was able to make him suffer excruciating pain while leaving no marks on his body.
“If you do it one more time, I’ll show you the true meaning of ruthless.” The Proprietress sneered, “Come with me!”
Yang Kai wondered what she was up to. Although he was apprehensive, he had no choice but to follow her. Soon, they reached the yard and walked up to Bai Qi.
With a fawning smile, Bai Qi called out, “Proprietress…”
“Shut up!” The Proprietress shot him a glare, whereupon he hurriedly kept his mouth shut.
Then, she shifted her attention to Yang Kai and pointed at the spot beside Bai Qi, “Stand right there.”
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched as he finally realised what the Proprietress was trying to do and the reason Bai Qi was squatting in the yard in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.
“Proprietress, is this even necessary?” Yang Kai shot her a glance.
She giggled and lifted her hand, at which point the feather duster appeared.
After a gulp, Yang Kai hurriedly nodded, “Good. You’ll regret this!” Then, he stood beside Bai Qi.
“Why do you always have so much nonsense to spew?” The Proprietress snorted and extended her hand into the void. After fishing out a wooden rod, she placed it on his shoulders.
In an instant, Yang Kai’s figure shrank. The wooden rod looked ordinary and was only about a metre long, but it weighed at least a hundred thousand kilograms. It was no wonder that Bai Qi was panting while carrying it on his shoulders.
Apparently, the wooden rod was a kind of rare material that could be used for Artifact Refining.
“If you dare to not come back again, you won’t be standing here. I’ll definitely throw you out on the streets.” The Proprietress snorted and swung her sleeve before shuffling into her room.
A fawning Bai Qi said, “Have a good night’s sleep.”
Ignoring him, the Proprietress slammed the door shut.
The breeze whisked through the yard as the Brothers who were suffering together respectively carried a wooden rod on their backs and looked dazedly at one another.
“She’s crossed the line,” Bai Qi suddenly said. “I just didn’t come back for two nights. Why was she making a fuss over it?”
After shooting him a glance, Yang Kai scoffed and closed his eyes to focus his mind. Although he was indeed in an embarrassing situation, no one else could see them at the very least, so he simply regarded it as a cultivation session.
He had intended to inform the Proprietress about the fact that he had collected a debt of 10 million already, but he wasn’t in the mood to do that now. To the side, an infuriated Bai Qi kept muttering on and on. Eventually, an enraged Proprietress struck the air and landed a slap on Bai Qi, which caused Bai Qi to collapse to the ground. He became quieter after the incident.
In the latter half of the night, most of the customers were gone. The accountant, the chef, and the other shop boys had nothing else to do, so they came to the backyard and watched Yang Kai and Bai Qi, which made them feel exasperated.
At the break of dawn, Yang Kai said, “Proprietress, we have to go out to demand repayments.”
“Scram!” She was heard bellowing from the room.
After trading glances, Yang Kai and Bai Qi hurriedly put the wooden rods down on the ground and dashed out of the inn.
Since that horrible experience, the two of them became much better behaved. For the next few days, they would always return to First Inn in the evening to serve customers before going out to demand repayments in the morning.
After a few days, they visited all the shops on their respective lists and all that was left was to wait for the one-month deadline to pass. Yang Kai had fully paid Luo Hai Yi’s fees and treated her to a meal to thank her.
In fact, he had the intention to help her join First Inn. Presently, business was booming in the inn, and the shop hands were swamped with work, so a new helper would ease their burden. If Luo Hai Yi could enter First Inn, it would be good for her as well. Regardless of whether her salary would be better than what she would get as a local guide, she would have a shelter at the very least; after all, no ordinary people would dare to offend the shop hands from First Inn.
However, he realised that he didn’t have the right to make any decision in the inn. Moreover, the Proprietress seemed to have something against him recently, so it would only produce the opposite of the desired result if he brought it up at this point.
Yang Kai reckoned that he should collect all the debts first before mentioning it to the Proprietress. It would be wonderful if she would agree to it, but if not, he wouldn’t suffer any losses. Also, he didn’t inform Luo Hai Yi about his intention as it still wouldn’t be too late to tell her about it after it was confirmed. Certainly, she wouldn’t turn him down.
The following days were peaceful. In the morning, Yang Kai would serve the customers in the main hall. After the customers were gone at night, he would have some time to cultivate.
During this period of time, Pei Bu Wan from Hundred Refining’s Hall visited the inn several times. After greeting the Proprietress, he would directly look for Yang Kai. Naturally, he wanted Yang Kai to take part in more matches in Asura Arena to make more money.
Yang Kai wasn’t interested, as although he had defeated Yu Luo Sha, he had also exposed his Demon Eye of Annihilation at that time. If those from Myriad Demons Heaven found out about it, he wouldn’t even know what the consequences would be.
Moreover, he wasn’t lacking money at the moment as he hadn’t even touched the 1 million pills he had earned from the last match. In any case, the things he wanted couldn’t be bought with money. Seventh-Order and above materials couldn’t be gauged in monetary terms. Also, he wasn’t in the rush to return the 16 million to the Proprietress, so it wasn’t necessary for him to go to the Asura Arena anymore.
In the blink of an eye, one month had passed. Yang Kai calmly stepped out of the inn and followed the path he had walked down one month ago to demand repayments from the various shops.
His mission could be regarded as successful. Those from Second Class forces couldn’t afford to offend First Inn, so after they sent a message to their headquarters and confirmed that their top cultivators were indeed involved in First Inn’s destruction, most of them generously paid the debt of 10 million. After six days, 13 out of 19 shops had repaid the debts. The remaining 6 shops were also willing to pay up, but 10 million was a lot of pills, so they needed more time to prepare them.
Yang Kai wasn’t a ruthless man, so he agreed to their requests and extended the deadline. He would only visit them again when the time was due.
A few days later, he stepped out of a shop after getting the repayment from them. While he was walking on a street, he heard someone calling out to him. Lifting his head, he saw Bai Qi beckoning to him from the second floor of a restaurant.
It was such a coincidence. This Star City was apparently just a mid-sized city, but it was the first time he came across Bai Qi while collecting debts. Certainly, he was more than happy to grab a drink with him.
Seeing that Bai Qi was drinking on his own by the window, Yang Kai took a seat across from him and told the shop hand to get him a bowl and a pair of chopsticks. Then, they had a small celebration together.
After eating and drinking for a while, Bai Qi asked, “How are you doing with the debt collection?”
While picking up some vegetables, Yang Kai replied, “There are two shops left. We’ve agreed on a time to collect the debts. What about you?”
Bai Qi pressed his lips together, “Most of them are willing to pay up, but there’s one shop that is particularly difficult to deal with.”
“Which one?” Yang Kai was surprised. They would always leave a notice of debt before demanding repayment, but there were still some people who had no regard for First Inn, which was why he was curious.
Bai Qi replied, “Wind and Cloud Auction House.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Is that a business of Wind and Cloud Paradise?” Although he wasn’t aware of all the great forces in the Outer Universe, he was familiar with all Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises at the very least. Wind and Cloud Auction House was obviously an industry of Wind and Cloud Paradise.
“En,” Bai Qi nodded.
“What did they say?” Yang Kai asked.
Bai Qi snorted, “They said that they have no money. If I want any repayment, I should get the Proprietress to visit them.”
“Did they really say that?” Yang Kai was shocked. He had visited the shops owned by several Paradises before, and although the shopkeepers were not obsequious, they were still polite to him.
What was wrong with those from Wind and Cloud Auction House? Why would they humiliate a shop hand from First Inn?
Apparently, Bai Qi was frustrated over this issue. He couldn’t tell others about it, but since he had come across Yang Kai, he decided to vent his frustration to him, “What do you think I should do? It’s not like I can really get the Proprietress to go over. It will make me look useless. However, they are unwilling to give me the money, and I can’t explain myself to the Proprietress.”
“Have you explained what happened to them?” Yang Kai stared at him.
Bai Qi replied, “Of course I have. I even met their shopkeeper twice, but after that, they refused to let me in again.”
“They’re pretty brazen of them,” Yang Kai sneered. Whatever the case, he was also part of First Inn now, which was why he shared Bai Qi’s fury.
Bai Qi took a look at him and darted his gaze around; then, he said with a grin, “Yang Kai, why don’t you visit them on my behalf? They have never met you before, so they won’t shut you out.”
With a frown, Yang Kai replied, “It might not be useful even if I go.” Just like Bai Qi, he was also a shop hand from First Inn. Since Bai Qi couldn’t demand any repayment from them, it was pointless for him to go over as well.
“Regardless of whether it’s useful or not, please give it a try. If that doesn’t work, we’ll just inform the Proprietress about it.” Seeing as Yang Kai was hesitant, he decided to push a little harder, “She has said that you’ll get five percent of the money you collect to put towards your debt. The debt you collect from Wind and Cloud Auction House will be considered yours. There’s no harm in trying.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai decided not to turn him down as he nodded, “I’ll give it a try, then.”
An elated Bai Qi immediately filled the cup for him, “You’re a good friend! Let’s drink!”
After they were done with the meal, they walked out together.
Wind and Cloud Auction House was a huge building that was located in the centre of the city, which was a key location.
When they arrived at the auction house, they were shocked to realise that there were many people outside the building. The shop hands from the auction house hospitably welcomed everyone into the hall while a well-dressed elderly man greeted these important guests.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai furrowed his brows.
After giving it a thought, Bai Qi suddenly realised something, “I think they have an auction going on today… En, they indeed have one scheduled for today. No wonder there are so many people.”
