Jiang Zhaoye's heart stirred slightly as he listened.
So, in that case... He recalled his current cultivation level of Third-Layer Qi Refining. Did that mean he was actually considered a person of status in this city?
However, Jiang Zhaoye didn't show it, simply asking casually, "Do members of these families... walk around the city often?"
"Not very often." Ah Ya shook her head. "Immortals generally don't come out much, so you don't see them in the city often. I don't know what's going on today, though..."
"Oh?"
Ah Ya looked up at him. "Those prominent clans keep many retainers to help them tend shops, collect rent, and manage the market squares."
"Those lords dress similarly to the wealthy folks in the city, but they wear tokens with different clan crests at their waists, so you can tell at a glance which family they belong to."
Jiang Zhaoye nodded and didn't ask further.
He noticed that while saying this, Ah Ya's eyes would occasionally glance toward the depths of the market square before quickly pulling back.
Everyone had their secrets... Sensing no malice from Ah Ya, Jiang Zhaoye didn't press the matter and simply kept strolling forward with her.
Time flew by like a shuttle. By sunset, Ah Ya thoughtfully led Jiang Zhaoye back toward the south of the city.
Jiang Zhaoye bought two portions of meat broth at the roadside, and the two of them squatted in a quiet street corner, eating their broth in the evening breeze.
The freshly cooked meat broth was still steaming hot. Ah Ya drank very slowly, holding the bowl preciously in her hands and taking tiny sips. Her small face glowed rosy red in the steam, as if she were drinking some divine nectar.
Jiang Zhaoye shifted his feet with slight discomfort. After watching Ah Ya eat her broth for a while, he suddenly asked, "Ah Ya, how do you usually... make a living?"
Ah Ya's cheeks paused mid-chew on a bit of meat. She swallowed slowly before replying, "Running errands, doing chores, passing messages, or sometimes watching market stalls for people—just to earn a bite to eat and fill my stomach."
"Does no one... take care of you all?"
Ah Ya fell silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice, "In the eastern district, there's a gang called the Crooked Snake Band. The gang members collect protection money, manage that territory, and oversee us small beggars and vagrants. Anything we scavenge or pick up, we have to hand over a portion to them, or we get beaten."
Jiang Zhaoye hadn't actually meant to ask about that... He had wanted to ask if the government or wealthy families ever cared for these orphans...
Like the shelters back on Blue Star.
But Ah Ya had misunderstood, bringing up the gang's extortion instead, speaking so calmly as if it were entirely normal and something she had long grown accustomed to.
Jiang Zhaoye listened, feeling his heart sink slightly. "You're under the Crooked Snake Band too?"
Ah Ya nodded, showing no negative emotion. "Mm! After Ah Ya came to the city, the gang's lackeys took me in. They assigned Ah Ya a turf where I make my living, but half of any money or valuable things I earn or pick up has to be handed over."
As she spoke, she even flashed a small grin. "Though they don't take it for nothing. When someone picks on Ah Ya, they step in to help."
Jiang Zhaoye didn't ask any further; asking any more would only drive him to despair.
He lowered his head and bit into the flatbread he had bought to go with the broth, chewing vigorously before swallowing it down.
Four cultivation clans, Qi Refining cultivators, plus gangs managing the city's market squares and underworld... Gangs, what an ancient concept. If cyber-archaeology hadn't become popular on Blue Star in recent years—allowing Jiang Zhaoye to occasionally catch clips of old mobster films, along with web novels where readers complained about "triad cultivation"—he wouldn't even know what such a thing was.
An upright, model student like him had never witnessed anything like this before.
The waters of Ju City were completely different from what he had imagined... shallow where they should be deep, and deep where they should be shallow.
A complete mess.
To manage a border defense city into such a state—was the government here completely useless?
Thus thought the flower raised in a greenhouse, full of righteous indignation.
At the same time, Student Jiang possessed an overly clear self-awareness, knowing that he was currently just a passing Third-Layer Qi Refining rookie who lacked the ability to wade into these murky waters.
What he needed most right now was to establish a base in this city, set up a few safehouses, acquire an identity, and lay low until the day the immortal sects recruited disciples.
As Jiang Zhaoye pondered, he suddenly turned to ask, "Ah Ya, how old are you this year?"
Ah Ya froze for a moment and scratched her head. "Ah Ya doesn't know... Maybe thirteen, or maybe fourteen."
"Huh?!" Behind the veil of his hat, Jiang Zhaoye's face was filled with shock and disbelief. "You're thirteen???"
He was only fourteen himself! He had just celebrated his birthday a few months ago! This pint-sized kid barely reached his waist, yet they were peers???
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
"As far back as I can remember, my grandfather was the only family I had. He wasn't usually home, so when Ah Ya was starving, I could only scavenge for food. Kind folks in the village would give me a few bites sometimes. Later, Grandfather passed away too, and Ah Ya just survived like this, never knowing my date of birth."
"..." Jiang Zhaoye wished he could slap himself twice.
How could he not understand now? Ah Ya's stature was entirely due to starvation. Living meal to meal since childhood, lacking nourishment, of course she hadn't grown.
Thinking of his own fourteen years—with parents, a home, limitless spirit rice, vegetables, fruit, and meat, along with school to attend and cultivation techniques to practice... What was so impressive about growing to 178 centimeters?
What did Ah Ya have? She had nothing, not even knowing how old she was.
Jiang Zhaoye remained silent for a long moment, then simply handed over the flatbread in his hand. "...Then eat more."
Ah Ya was taken aback. She took the flatbread but didn't eat it right away. She just stared at it, lost in thought, before looking up at Jiang Zhaoye and asking softly, "Benefactor... why are you so good to Ah Ya?"
Jiang Zhaoye froze for a second. "No reason. I just think you should eat more to grow taller... Does that even count as being good to you?"
Ah Ya lowered her head and didn't speak further.
She tucked the flatbread into her coat, still refraining from eating it.
The sky gradually darkened, and fewer and fewer people remained on the street.
Jiang Zhaoye stood up and patted the dust off his clothes. "Curfew is approaching, so I should head back. You should go back and rest early too—don't wander around outside."
After thinking a moment, he fished a few pieces of broken silver from his robes and stuffed them into the child's hands.
"This is your payment for today."
Ah Ya shuddered in shock. Holding the bowl in one hand and clutching the silver in the other, she looked around warily, gazing at Jiang Zhaoye as if he were an immortal. "All this silver for me?! This is too much!"
"And didn't you already pay me? In all my dozen-plus years of life, I've never eaten as well as today! On a normal day of running errands, I'm lucky if someone throws half a steamed bun at me!"
Jiang Zhaoye tried his best to keep a straight face, standing there with a haughty air. "If I gave it to you, just take it!"
Rate on N.U.
