Chapter 155 - 144: Seeing the Huang Family Again

Chapter 155: Chapter 144: Seeing the Huang Family AgainSister Cui whispered to Zhou Xuan’s ear, "Two people asked me about the origin of the tattoos in my shop, Lao Ma slipped up." "No worries, if they are asking about tattoos, they’re most likely here to do business with me," Zhou Xuan said with a smile. Just yesterday, Lao Yun had enlightened him that doing tattoo business should be handled openly and confidently; no one would dare to cause trouble with a Tattoo Master. Zhou Xuan also thought likewise; he felt that the art of tattooing was not just about making money. Now that someone had come looking, so be it. While they were talking, Si Ming and Housekeeper Bai had already arrived at the shop’s entrance. "Sister Cui, you can go ahead with your tasks," Zhou Xuan said with a smile, and Sister Cui bowed her head and left the door. Lao Yang, seeing that Zhou Xuan had potential business, also found an excuse to leave. "Mr. Zhou, sorry for disrupting your good mood, your friends left as soon as I arrived." "They each have their own tasks to attend to, please have a seat," Zhou Xuan replied, grabbing an orange in his hand. Meanwhile, Housekeeper Bai closed the door gently, and the room suddenly darkened. "Who closed the door? Mr. Yun is reading the newspaper here." There was a screen standing in the great hall, Yun Ziliang was behind it reading the newspaper, while Lv Mingkun was sitting in the corner with his legs crossed, watching Housekeeper Bai and Si Ming. "Can’t even read a newspaper smoothly." Yun Ziliang complained as he walked out from behind the screen, originally wanting to move a chair outside to read, but upon glancing at Si Ming and then his hands, he sat next to Zhou Xuan instead. "Greetings, old sir," Si Ming, feeling Yun Ziliang’s gaze, greeted him proactively. Yun Ziliang didn’t reply, while Zhou Xuan also sat with his legs crossed, peeling an orange for himself. Since Si Ming had come to him for the tattoo, he must have his reasons, and since he came forward, let him speak first. Si Ming waited for half a minute for Zhou Xuan to speak, seeing no indication, he started the conversation, "Mr. Zhou, a few days ago, two of our disciples were nailed down, but my visit today is not for revenge." Zhou Xuan understood; those disciples were most likely killed by Peng Long and Peng Hu, but there was no need to clearly sever ties under the banner of the Ancient Tattoo Clan. He smiled and said, "You wouldn’t find a reason for revenge on me anyway, every debt has its debtor, we have many people in our clan, find the one responsible, otherwise, if the clan’s actions all fall on me, I wouldn’t have enough lives to pay the debts." "That’s also true," Si Ming said with a nod and a smile. "Which Tangkou are you from?" "Divine Stealer," Si Ming motioned with his lips towards Yun Ziliang and said, "I can’t hide it from the Tangkou, that old gentleman glanced at my hands and must have spotted which incense I worship." "It’s good that you admit it yourself," Yun Ziliang said somewhat displeasingly. "Divine Stealer, are you the Master or the Second Master in your Tangkou?" Zhou Xuan asked next. Si Ming initially only felt Yun Ziliang’s piercing gaze, now he realized that this young man in front of him also had a keen eye. He didn’t ask which position he held, but directly whether he was the Master or Second Master. He wasn’t aware that Zhou Xuan’s spiritual gift was Face Reading, capable of perceiving the essence of all beings. In Zhou Xuan’s eyes, Si Ming’s facial expression looked too authoritative, suggesting that he wasn’t just another regular member of the Tangkou. "Master, I’m Si Ming." Si Ming admitted openly, since the other party had narrowed it down to Master or Second Master, there was no point in lying. Divine Stealer Hall was quite a major establishment in Mingjiang Prefecture, and it wasn’t difficult to inquire about who the Master and Second Master were, and what they looked like. "So you are Master Si of Divine Stealer Hall, let’s talk, what are you seeking me for?" "Save my daughter. She has Blood Well Madness, been a Spiritualist for almost four years now. I heard that tattoos can cure madness." "Blood Well Madness?" Zhou Xuan feigned surprise and asked. "Yes," Si Ming, speaking of his daughter’s illness, seemed somewhat grief-stricken and said, "The madness is getting worse, she often mistakes people and then wildly slashes with a knife. It’s lucky no one has been killed yet. As a father, there’s little I can do but lock her up with iron chains in the room." "Mmm, I have some understanding of Blood Well Madness, I know its suffering," Zhou Xuan said with a smile, "This condition is quite bizarre, it’s not easy to cure." "Not easy? So there’s a possibility of a cure?" Si Ming caught the implied meaning. Zhou Xuan shook his head, saying, "There’s not much certainty, but we can try." He switched on the electric light, went behind the screen and sat down, took the Bone Teeth in his hand, and using the leftover pigments from yesterday’s "High Monk Moon Gaze," he started working on the "Buddha’s head" tattoo. The reason he chose to tattoo a "Buddha’s head" instead of directly selling the "High Monk Moon Gaze" tattoo to Si Ming was that Zhou Xuan believed that the value of that tattoo wasn’t entirely in suppressing Blood Well Madness. Yun Ziliang had mentioned that something "indescribable and unclear" resided in High Monk Moon Gaze, which was of no great use to people of lower Incense Fire Levels and only beneficial to those of higher levels. The value of this tattoo was difficult to estimate, and selling it as a mere commodity would be too wasteful. To prevent Si Ming from detecting that he was a Blood Well Spirit Communicator, Zhou Xuan only released a very small part of his Perception while tattooing the Buddha’s head, hence, the tattooing process was slower. The slow pace didn’t matter, it served well to give Si Ming an impression of the painstaking effort involved in tattooing, potentially allowing Zhou Xuan to charge a higher price. While Zhou Xuan tattooed in a leisurely manner, Si Ming, growing anxious, initially managed to chat intermittently with Yun Ziliang. After about ten minutes, his chat grew distracted, and after another half an hour, he started pacing back and forth in the room, visibly unsettled. Finally, with the ringing of a Buddha Bell from behind the screen, Zhou Xuan’s "Buddha’s head" tattoo was successfully completed. The solemn and profound Buddha’s head, in Zhou Xuan’s perception, had some effect in suppressing the Blood Well. Although it fell short of the High Monk Moon Gaze, as the "first batch of goods" for Si Ming, it was satisfactory. "Master Si, take good care of this tattoo. Have your daughter visualize it when you get home. If it works, you can come back to me. If it doesn’t, you can also come back, and I’ll refund you." Si Ming grabbed the Buddha’s head tattoo and unfolded it in his hands, feeling the flowing Buddha energy within. He knew good stuff when he saw it. Feeling the Buddha energy, he was instantly delighted and strode out of the shop, only thinking about hurrying home to try the tattoo on his daughter. Housekeeper Bai followed him out. Zhou Xuan called out, "Master Si, have you forgotten something?" "What thing?" "Paying, of course." Zhou Xuan almost laughed out loud, watching Si Ming admiring the tattoo while walking out, thinking that in a little more, he would have made it home with it. "I was so focused on the tattoo, I forgot about the money." Si Ming tucked away the tattoo and asked, "Mr. Zhou, what’s the price for this tattoo?" Zhou Xuan held up three fingers, "Thirty thousand!" "That’s... agreed." Si Ming felt the price was rather steep, but considering it was crafted by the Ancient Tattoo Clan and could cure his daughter’s illness, thirty thousand it would be. "Lao Bai, settle the payment with Mr. Zhou, I’ll head home first." After Si Ming fist-saluted Zhou Xuan, he walked away excitedly down the street. Housekeeper Bai bowed towards Zhou Xuan, asking, "Mr. Zhou, thirty thousand is no small amount. Cash, bank promissory notes, business promissory notes, or silver notes, which payment method would you prefer?" Zhou Xuan thought for a moment, then said, "Just cash." Thirty thousand was just three stacks, not too much. "Alright." Housekeeper Bai pulled out three green stacks of hundred-dollar bills from his bag and handed them to Zhou Xuan: "Thank you, Mr. Zhou." "Money-grubber," Zhou Xuan joked as he took the money and watched Housekeeper Bai leave. Once they were far away, Lv Mingkun came over, enviously saying, "Is money that easy to make? Without even half a morning’s work, and thirty thousand is already in hand?" "In my opinion, you asked for too little, thirty thousand is hardly enough. How hard is it to cure a disease from Blood Well? You should have asked for seventy or eighty thousand." Yun Ziliang thought Zhou Xuan had asked for too little. Zhou Xuan smiled knowingly, saying, "Seventy or eighty thousand would suffice? Encountering such a big cash tree, we should shake it well. The tattoo just now has the ability to suppress the Blood Well effects, but the duration is probably very short, the effect is there but limited; my main intent was to show Master Si the authentic quality of our tattoos. Let’s wait, he’ll have to come back to us! If I conceive a better tattoo, I’ll really make him pay a good price." For Zhou Xuan, the "Buddha’s head" tattoo was at best a "recovery experience card"; the crucial part lies in the tattoos that were to be done later. Zhou Xuan took out a hundred-dollar bill from the freshly received cash, placed it on the table, and said, "You all go eat at the diner at noon, I’m stepping out." "Where you headed, should I accompany you?" Lv Mingkun yelled. "No need, I’m just going to the vegetable market entrance on East Market Street to look into Si Ming." Right now, Si Ming was Zhou Xuan’s major client, but Zhou Xuan only knew him as the Master of Divine Stealer Hall and was completely unaware of his assets. Not knowing the extent of his wealth, Zhou Xuan wasn’t sure how high he could push the price. Furthermore, Zhou Xuan also wanted to thoroughly understand the Incense Fire Level of Master Si. If Si Ming’s Incense Fire Level was sufficiently high, Zhou Xuan could ask for less money, allowing Si Ming to pay in another way. He thought this over as he walked towards the vegetable market entrance. East Market Street had roadside vegetable vendors, as well as a dedicated vegetable market. At the very back of the market was a chicken stall. Zhou Xuan entered the chicken stall, selected three old hens, and had the shopkeeper slaughter them, he gave the innards and the chicken blood to the shop, and the shopkeeper did not charge extra for slaughtering the chickens. Carrying the processed hens, Zhou Xuan walked to the back courtyard of Old Painting Pavilion. The courtyard had a pond which was now almost dried up, piled with heaps of household trash – a place with many rats, and where there are many rats, yellow-skinned creatures often followed. To unravel the secrets of Si Ming, Zhou Xuan was relying on this group of yellow-skinned creatures. He threw the old hens into the pond, grabbed a stool from Old Painting Pavilion, sat down, and started smoking. After waiting for a good half hour, finally, the first cautious yellow-skinned creature scurried over to the hen, bit a piece of meat, then retreated a few steps to confirm it was safe before continuing to eat. One yellow-skinned creature wasn’t enough. Not all yellow-skinned creatures possessed spiritual qualities; Zhou Xuan was still waiting. Another ten minutes passed, and this time more yellow-skinned creatures appeared, almost a whole nest, at least a dozen, a swarm of bustling cinnamon-brown. Zhou Xuan thought it was about enough, stood up, and revealed his right thumb. On his thumb, he wore a ring, a gift from Lady Lianhua after he induced three Buddha sounds for her. At the time, Lady Lianhua had mentioned that with this ring, the Huangmen Immortals of Ping Shui Prefecture, Mingjiang Prefecture, and Guangyuan Prefecture would come to assist. Zhou Xuan presented the ring out loud: "Lady Lianhua from Ping Shui Prefecture is my friend. The younger Huangmen brothers seeing this ring will know I’m not lying. I’m new here and don’t know which brother is in charge, but I’d like to meet!" He shouted, and half of the yellow-skinned creatures scattered, a few still nibbling the chicken, but three spiritually awakened yellow-skinned creatures, unafraid, hurried in front of Zhou Xuan. Seeing the ring clearly, they bowed and saluted him... ps: Bros, three updates, ten thousand words, kisses.