That food cost me a half silver tael, 50 copper coins, what a waste to leave it behind like that, but i guess it's understandable, it was either the big saddle or the food bag .
I'm not regretting my decision back then, but I'm very much bitter about it, on my way back, i should buy some food, the food in the family won't be affordable to me no more and i don't believe they will take a pity on me and lower the prices, so that would be the best solution for now at least, i'm really tired of being this miser with my expanses, but there was nothing i can do with my current situation .
I cleared my head from those unnecessary thoughts and stopped in front of the clerk, i saw that he had a strange expression on his face, like as if he was terrified or something, i asked about the fee to enter and he seemed to be completely out of it, i noticed that in the yard there was a cart parking inside .
I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes a few times and luckily he finally regained focus, i once again asked for the price to enter the Bathhouse, he directly told me that now wasn't a good time to enter the Bathhouse since a very special guest was inside, the young master of the Han Family, Han Jun .
" How long will he stays in for ? .
Wanting to not create troubles for myself, i decided that was better just to wait for him to finish before going in .
The clerk who seemed to be a guy merely older than me by 3 or 4 years, he wore a Han Family servant uniform, he wore a paper hat that had the word Bathhouse written on it, he regained enough clarity to lock on me the person who was talking to him .
He looked at me up and down as if sizing me up, but then he blocked his nostril and cursed loudly, saying :
What is that cursed smell, were you bathing in dung all day or something, get out of here, before you curse the whole place with your smell, a begger like you should go and find a pond to shower on, hurry and go away .
I took all that in, but i didn't feel insulted by what he said, i really was surrounded by dung all day and whether i like it or not i really now looked indeed like a beggar, i waited for him to finish saying all that he have to say, then get 5 big copper coins out of the bag i was given earlier, just to show him that I'm no beggar .
He seeing me pulling out 5 copper coins with complete ease, he fixed his eyes at me for a bit, but once he saw the sword strapped to my waist, he removed any thoughts of grabbing the money from his mind, i once again asked, how much would it cost to get in the Bathhouse .
It will cost 20 copper coins, but i really suggest that you don't enter now, as long as you appreciate your life that is, Young Master Han Jun doesn't like people bathing with him, i had heard that he killed everyone that did dare to share a bath with him .
After i showed him the 5 coins, his attitude completely changed, that was another lesson that i had learned today, in this world the way you are treated by others is completely based on one of these 4 or 5 things, Face And Looks, Family Background And Influence, Money, Strength, those things are the things that give your face a value, without them you will be treated poorly, if people gave you any mind at all .
If i didn't have money, i would have been driven out directly, 20 copper coins for a good bath seemed to be indeed quite worth it, but just in case, i began to haggle with that guy and found out that my decision was indeed correct, that guy indeed was about to ripp me off, to get 5 copper coins more, the actual price was 15 copper coins .
I paid the money and was going to enter, when he once again told me that i shouldn't be doing this, i too agreed that i shouldn't be doing something like this, but after i asked how long does the Young Master usually take to bath back in the Han Family, the clerk told me that it ranged from 4 incense sticks of time to sometimes 9 incense stick of time,
That both shocked me and troubled me, waiting for half an hour was a problem in itself, not to mention a full hour, night is falling soon and if the city was already this dangerous when we still in day, i couldn't even imagine how would it be in the night, i also wanted to register myself in the Dojo as quick as possible and return back to the Lu Family Complex .
Feeling conflicated by what should i do, i caught a glimpse that was now hanged around my belt and an idea suddenly appeard in mind, i ignored the tries of the clerk who was still dissuading me from entering the Bathhouse and still decided to enter the Bathhouse .
As i passed the yard in a stealthily kind of manner I was able to notice two things, the lack of existence of guards on the yard leading to the entrance and the existence of them on the two sides of the building, some distance away from the entrance, they were wearing black uniforms that had the words Han on the back of them, i didn't understand why they were waiting that far from the entrance, but i thanked my luck that it seemed i won't be stopped from going in, i entered directly into the building through the linen cloth that acted as the door .
The interior of the building was simple and it was deathly quiet in here, probably due to the appearance of that Young Master Han Jun, even the people that were bathing fled, if i wasn't forced to do so today, i really might have choose to do the exact same thing, but sadly i didn't have the luxury of being able to wait for the next day .
I picked a bathtub and filled it with water, from the water barrel that was in the room i picked, luckily there seem to be warm water, i stripped my clothes after i put the package away from the bathtub, then began to clean myself with loofah and a scented soap, i was forced to change the water a few times due to the water changing colors, due to all the dirt that was being cleaned, 3 times to be exact, that was how dirty i was .
After i finished washing, i was feeling refreshed and still hadn't come out of bathtub, it hadn't been 5 minutes since i entered, so for another half stick of incense more, i continue to soak my body in the bathtub, i looked at the towels that was already prepared and hanged on the walls and was not yet willing to get out of the water, but noting that i had already overstayed, i reluctantly decided that it was time to go .
I put on my new clothes, there was no mirrors here to take a closer look at how currently i looked, but i was certain that it was miles apart from before, i combed my hair and just as i was about to go on my way, wondering that i should have done everything as quietly as possible, so i shouldn't have alarmed that Young Master thankfully to my existence .
I heard a sound coming from the doors leading towards the luxurious hot public bath, i almost jumped out of my place in fright, that place should be where that Han Jun pretty much in, i should hurry and go away then, that was my initial plan and my only thought at the moment .
just as i reached the entrance, i heard a sulking voice coming from the same direction, he seem to be talking to himself out loud thinking that no one was around to listen to what he was saying, he said :
Why did i need to come to such a rural area and act as if i'm a Han family member, what that had to do anything with showing power, father really didn't put me in his eyes at all, i should have just waited for the next Heavenly Messenger visit and asked him to test me as well, but luckily i still have a chance .
I stopped in my place completely dumbstruck and for all different kind of reasons, but the what struck me the most was the fact that the voice i just heard was nothing that should be associated with a Man, no that sulking tone and the voice, there was not an ounce of doubt in me that it must belong to a woman, but how, was there someone else inside that door other than Han Jun, i kept silent trying to hear if there were any other voices coming from inside, but there wasn't any .
Even the first voice had completely stopped talking and began to hum some tones, but if i was still a little suspicious before then I'm completely certain now, that sweet and magnetic, melodious voice that i was hearing can't possibly belong to a male .
The words she had just said were another shock, but in a completely different way, i stared towards the door leading towards the door leading to that hot spring a bit too much, i suddenly heard her tone change as she asked coldly in a more tough voice that sounded as if a male was the one speaking, but i was able to tell that it was the same person but he had just changed his tone, she said :
Who was there ? .
The moment i heard her ask this question, my heart fell into my knees, but my mind was luckily quick to act, i directly put the mask on as before and directly headed out of the Bathhouse, the moment i was in the Yard, i sprinted out of the place and gave the clerk who was shocked to see me like that no mind and swarmed directly into the crowds with my mask on .
My heart still couldn't calm down even after i got away from the Bathhouse, i believe she didn't know that i was there but just in case, i decided to run for a bit more distance than needed to make sure that i would be safe .
As i was passing by the street running like crazy, i thought that i might catch more attention like that, the person inside the hot spring may be still doubtful about whether someone was there or not with her or him, i can't help but wonder about his or her identity, either way i believe him to be powerful enough to deal with me himself, even though i only stared a bit intently, he was able to guess that someone was peeping at him or her .
I'm really doubtful myself whether that person in the Bathhouse a girl or a man, the fact this was a world of supernatural Martial Arts, nothing can be considered too weird in here, in the that wasn't the only reason to why my heart was beating so hard now, it was the the thought about the background of such a figure who can infiltrate a powerful family like the Han Family with that much ease, not to mention me, even the Lu family can't stop a guy like that .
I didn't beat myself much over it, i had to do what i had to do and nothing else, my heart relaxed a bit at this thought, but it triggered a bit of uneasiness in me to know such a huge secret all of a sudden, i was suddenly burdened but what i found .
What was even the heavenly Messenger he mentioned, knowing that alone could put me at risk, especially that clerk, he had seen my real face before, so if the person who was inside the hot spring decided to investigate it more throughly, i believe that guy would tell them everything that happened .
Luckily, they didn't require identity to enter things like the Bathhouse around here, so i guess until they were able to catch me in my current disguise i will be safe, as for when i need to go back, i will pick another road to return through and from now on i guess i will be looking for another Bathhouse .
I reached the Red Light District again, that district name was Dragon And Phoenix street, that was the name that vendor before gave me, this time, i was being looked upon in a new light and in a more welcoming way, there was no mirror before to see how i looked like .
But i reckoned that the original Tian Long was a handsome guy even though his clothes from before were quite shabby, so now after he bought new clothes and had a scented air around him, i believed that he currently looked like a proper young man, if not for the fact that i was currently wearing a fox mask covering my face, i began to hear a few whistles from the women working on those establishments and some were inviting me in .
For some reason, i found myself thinking that Instructor Lu might be in one of those places, or maybe was even a regular there, my heart and mind eased a little bit more at this thought, as i continued on the way that was described to me, i began to see that were a few people standing in front of a building that had the sign of a fist and word Dojo written beneath the fist, that place was my current destination .
Solid Rock Fist Dojo was a spacious building, i kept hearing voices of people practicing inside even though, i was still a bit far in distance, i reached to where those guys were cramping up, in front of the gates of the Dojo, i wondered what was going on and i asked some of the gossiping guys and got told that someone was trying to enter the Dojo through his qualifications .
In simple terms, the Dojo was recruiting people and didn't need them to pay 4 silver taels, but you will have to show them that you are qualified to receive their kindness, through what, through going through a test of course, a quite dangerous trial even .
The challenger will need to fight someone from the Dojo, he didn't need to win, but he need to survive for an incense stick of time under the hand of the guy from the Dojo and he will get accepted as an outer disciple, failing, just as the gossiping guy was about to say what failing would result in, the gates was opened, i didn't see who was opening the gates, nor anything at all, there were black curtains hanged behind the gates, but what i saw was .
A body, yes a body came flying from those black curtains and dropped close to where i was chatting, so being thrown out like a sack, i said that out loud and the guy in front of me had a regretful expression on his face and as he was about to say something, the guy laying on the ground like a dead dog, suddenly screamed, saying :
My hand, my hand .
That guy didn't screamed for help, but he screamed out of despair, i was then told by the regretful guy besides me that this was the end of to those who failed, living the rest of your life as a crippled, not only this will cripple your body, this will cripple your path in Martial Arts, at his words i was once again reminded of how cruel this world I'm in was .
As i heard all that, i felt my that my whole body ran cold, my vision disappeared for a second and the moment it came back, i was standing in front of the gates while raising my hands .
My whole body shook at the fact that i appeared in front of the gates, even though i was beginning to have a second thoughts about all of this, but as if i was no longer in control of my own body, my hand suddenly began to knock on the gates strongly .