“In there!” Tie Bu Tian coldly said with an expressionless face, “Minister Chu, I will wait out here. You can go in and choose yourself… You can take everything if you want; I absolutely won’t complain!”
Being a victim of debt collection was definitely uncomfortable… Throughout history, this was probably the first time someone came to directly collect gambling debts from a prince. An unprecedented event indeed…
Tie Bu Tian was feeling very bitter right now, so all of his words were aimed at mocking Chu Yang.
Look at me! This is what class is! This is what grace is! This is my virtue! Look at you! A rogue from the street collecting debts?
Moreover, with just you, how much could you carry? Thinking so, Tie Bu Tian decided to speak magnanimously…
“Good… really good… Hahaha…” Chu Yang’s eyes brightened. He rubbed his hands together as if he got a big score. All the while, he seemed to not notice Tie Bu Tian’s resentment, “Haha, Your Majesty is a really good person… I will go in then!”
Before he even finished… he disappeared with a ‘swoosh’.
Before Tie Bu Tian had a chance to answer with a few humble words, Chu Yang was gone from his sight… He laughed dryly, and said with a darkened face, “This Chu Yang must have been dirt poor in his previous life. He robbed from dozens of rich households after arriving in Iron Cloud, and now he is ogling the palace’s vault. Like bandits entering a village… this type of excitement is disparaging!”
Thinking to this point, he called someone to bring a chair; then he sat in front of the vault to see how much Chu Yang would manage to carry out. With that miserly look of yours… hmmm…
The moment Chu Yang stepped into the vault, his eyes widened… Oh god, so much good stuff…
Nine Tribulations Sword in his dantian immediately became animated.
“Don’t rush, let’s slowly look around.” Chu Yang looked at the entire vault in excitement. This was definitely worthy of the palace; so much treasure had accumulated over the years…
First thing in front of him was exotic metals. Plus, to help Chu Yang out, each shelf was clearly labeled.
“Truly orderly.” Chu Yang praised, “This saves me a lot of work…!”
His hand shook and Nine Tribulations Sword’s tip appeared, glowing.
“Absorb! No need to restrain; absorb everything you can!” Chu Yang’s eyes brightened, “Anything not too rare, leave some behind. Absorb the rest. These are all hard to find!”
Nine Tribulations Sword was like a wolf that was hungry for a long time. It swallowed everything per Chu Yang’s instruction…
Tie Bu Tian waited outside for a long time and still did not see Chu Yang come out. Somewhat puzzled, he stood up.
Is this King of Hell Chu going to stay in there and chew all the herbal medicine raw? The vault is so large, could he have gotten lost?
He wanted to walk in and see, but after his magnanimous gesture earlier, going in now would be monitoring… It would give King of Hell Chu an excuse to say that he was a sore loser…
After thinking for a long time, Tie Bu Tian finally sat back down on his chair. He thought maliciously: King of Hell Chu, I want to see how long you can remain in there! Let’s see who can last longer!
A long time passed. And when Tie Bu Tian almost lost his patience…
Finally… (walkthejianghu.com)
King of Hell Chu came out with a look of annoyance on his face. It was as if he was not happy with what he found… as if this palace’s vault had disappointed him…
In Chu Yang’s left hand was a few herbal medicines, and in his right hand was a few pieces of shiny precious metals…
“Huhhhh…” After coming out, Chu Yang sighed with great dissatisfaction.
“You were in there for so long and you could only choose so little?” Tie Bu Tian’s eyes widened.
“Huhhh…” Chu Yang sighed again and looked at Tie Bu Tian, “Your Majesty, your palace’s vault is very large, but it’s a little shabby…”
“Oh? How?” Tie Bu Tian frowned.
“There was nothing valuable.” Chu Yang complained, “I ran around and searched everywhere, but could only pick out a few things.” Then he held up two Snow Ginseng and waved them back and forth. He also rubbed the pieces of precious metals against each other creating a clear ringing sound. This was a quiet place, so the sound spread far.
For such a huge treasure trove, finding just a few things was too pitiful…
“Only that much?” Tie Bu Tian asked in surprise, “How high is your standard? Those things in your hands are not too valuable?”
“That is not what I meant to say…” Chu Yang said gloomily, “Let’s just go…”
“Wait a minute!” Tie Bu Tian waved his arm, “I will go in and see.”
Then he strode into the vault, looking very determined.
However, he was immediately in shock then moment he walked in!
This is the palace’s vault? On each shelf was just a few pitiful chunks of precious metals. And some shelves were completely empty…
Orderly placed labels lined both sides; as he walked deeper and deeper into the vault, Tie Bu Tian’s steps started to falter… They seemed to scream out endless grievances…
On each shelf was a thick layer of dust.
Tie Bu Tian was unable to believe any of it; his mouth was constantly muttering, “What happened? What’s going on here…?”
Our pitiful prince was currently in a slight state of disarray…
Chu Yang came up to him and quietly consoled, “Your Majesty, you don’t have to be like this! I am very satisfied with finding these two five hundred year Snow Ginseng!”
Tie Bu Tian remained deaf to his words. His two legs walked quickly into the area containing medicinal herbs. As he remembered it, it was filled with heavenly treasures…
But with one glance, he staggered and almost fell to the floor.
There was supposed to be many medicinal items, not just pink ginseng fungus, but much more… even the rare items almost impossible to see in life were numerous… And yet, not a straw was to be seen now…
Even the precious jade box used for storage was gone…
Tie Bu Tian became dizzy and staggered a few times.
Chu Yang kind-heartedly caught him and said, “Your Majesty, are you alright?” The moment Chu Yang held his frail shoulder, he got a queer feeling…
Tie Bu Tian quietly took one step forward, escaping Chu Yang’s support. He said, “I cannot believe the palace’s vault has fallen into this condition already…”
“Your Majesty rarely comes here?” Chu Yang asked.
“Of course, if there is no need for it, why would I come? I am not a miser.” Tie Bu Tian said casually.
Chu Yang pretended not to notice the fact that Tie Bu Tian was implying he was a miser, and sighed, “No wonder. This country has been at war for years, even with a wealth of treasures, it would not last for long. Every day, every hour, there are wounded soldiers… No matter how valuable the treasures, how can they compare to the precious lives of heroic soldiers who fight for their country?”
These words of Chu Yang directly aimed the blame on Tie Long Cheng. Moreover, he implied that all the medicines were used up, and for a just cause, no less.
Tie Bu Tian remained silent for a while. Then he slowly said, “It must be so… It can be considered that these things were used for their rightful purpose.” He saw the vault himself… and with Chu Yang consoling him, he did not give it further thought.
In the whole world, only Second Uncle Tie Long Cheng could come here. And second uncle was a general, leading the entire army, so he must have great need for medicinal herbs and rare metals… Tie Bu Tian knew this well!
As for the possibility of theft, he cast that idea aside immediately. Theft of medicinal herbs was possible, but the rare metal chunks weighted a few hundred pounds each. Some were even a few thousand pounds. How could they be snuck out of the heavily guarded palace?
Even if they could steal one block, who was capable of cleaning out the entire vault? Even a Supreme level master could not take everything without anyone noticing…
Of course Tie Bu Tian did not know that the thief was this King of Hell Chu standing right next to him, sighing with a sense of loss and full of empathy…
It has been too hard on this King of Hell Chu… He just obtained a great fortune and he had to pretend to be sad… How powerful a mind must be? How accomplished…?
When he finally turned to look at Chu Yang, Tie Bu Tian was really embarrassed. He had promised to let Minister Chu get whatever he wanted. In the end, he just went in to get some air. And it seemed that Chu Yang just took those things to save him the embarrassment…
The more he thought about it, the more embarrassed he became.
Minister Chu was truly an ethical and honest person, always thinking of others…
“Minister Chu, let’s just say that I have yet to pay my debt to you!” Tie Bu Tian smiled and said, “I guarantee that you shall be fully compensated.”
“What is Your Majesty saying?” Minister Chu said gallantly, “I just wanted to get these things to make a few weapons to equip the military. Plus, I wanted to see if I could find the appropriate herbal ingredients to make a saintly elixir for Your Majesty’s health. What’s all this talk about debt?”
Minister Chu sincerely and ceremoniously said, “Your Majesty is too serious.”
Tie Bu Tian was touched; he now looked at Chu Yang in a whole new light. Tried as he might to control his own thoughts, Tie Bu Tian could not control himself, and patted Chu Yang on the shoulder, saying, “Minister Chu is truly good. Good! Good!”
Minister Chu is truly kind, and thoughtful; he is a true hero with thoughts as bright as a full moon. (TLN: Righteous mind.) If I keep talking about compensation, how could he say that he wants it? Not only I should not say so, but my saying so would be insulting to Minister Chu’s moral character.
I should just write it all down in my heart. Tie Bu Tian was not an ungrateful person!
