Volume One: The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter Sixty-Two: Trafficking

Chen Chang'an stood awkwardly, as if his feet were trampling on trouble, fidgeting helplessly. After a brief moment of daze, he promptly stuffed the undergarment back into Wen Jin's personal space. The victim, Wen Jin, kept her head lowered, her lips barely moving as she murmured, like the whisper of a mosquito, "Sorry, I forgot this space is for my personal belongings. I'll open another one for you." She raised her trembling hand and, with an unnatural gesture, tore open a new pocket at an angle.

Chen Chang'an was about to reach into the previous space, but thought better of it and withdrew, turning to Ruan Jingchu, "You... you do it. Move all the meat buns Wen Jin stored inside to the new space." At first, Ruan Jingchu was resistant when she met Chen Chang'an's gaze, but after hearing his request, she readily agreed.

Chen Chang'an nodded in satisfaction. He certainly didn't want his meat buns at Qinghua Mountain to be tainted with the scent of cosmetics or some other flavors. "Oh, the new space is quite large. I’ll go buy some more." Unceremoniously, he fished out a few taels of silver from Ruan Jingchu’s little knitted pouch and strode off toward the bustling marketplace. When he returned, his arms and shoulders were laden with food: all kinds of flatbreads, buns, cakes, even freshly scaled carp and bloody chicken wings just chopped off.

Of course, spices were essential as well.

Wen Jin, Lan Yingxue, and Ruan Jingchu’s eyes became round and clear as glass marbles, disbelief mingling with confusion. They could tolerate someone preparing food for the assessment, but bringing raw meat? Did he think this was a game? Ruan Jingchu furrowed her brows, commanding, "Throw it all away!"

"Oh!" Chen Chang'an replied, casually tossing everything into the new independent space Wen Jin had opened.

Ruan Jingchu was instantly seized by murderous intent.

Lan Yingxue asked in bewilderment, "Why are you preparing so much food?"

Chen Chang'an glanced up at the sun, his tone mysterious, "It has its uses. You'll understand soon enough." He laughed, looking at Ruan Jingchu, who seemed on the verge of hitting him. "Well, I get hungry easily, so I brought extra. Besides, it’s two hours, you’ll all need to eat, right?" As he spoke, he handed Ruan Jingchu a meat bun, "Here!"

She took it and nibbled a small bite, realizing they couldn’t afford to fall too far behind the others, so she didn’t dwell on Chen Chang'an’s "glutton" habits. Her tone was brisk and firm, "Let’s go."

Thus, the four became the last group to set out for Qinghua Mountain. The mountain lay north of Chang'an City, stretching for several miles, its ridges and peaks winding like coiled dragons and crouching tigers.

It was deep summer, the forest lush and trees thick, the mountain blanketed in deep green, like ink poured over the landscape. Wild shrubs and vines grew rampant, swallowing many of the original paths, leaving only a winding little trail.

By the time they reached the foot of Qinghua Mountain, all the other groups were already halfway up. Having filled her stomach, Ruan Jingchu analyzed unhappily, "If we’d bought less food, we might have already found several copper coins by now."

"This feeling of being overtaken isn’t pleasant," she said.

Wen Jin said nothing, but worry faintly creased her brows.

Lan Yingxue was itching to go, as if copper coins awaited her just a few steps ahead.

Chen Chang'an stretched lazily, unconcerned, "Don’t worry. What I just did won’t delay us, in fact, it’ll be very useful."

Wen Jin and Lan Yingxue exchanged glances, and in each other's eyes seemed to read, "Unreliable!"

As two practitioners at the third rank of the Enlightenment Technique realm, they suspected this mere body-training peak, and newly recruited son-in-law, was here to stir trouble. With him, their overall performance might well be ruined.

So they both looked to the highest-ranked among them, Ruan Jingchu, hoping her Mountain-Opening realm strength could salvage the situation.

Her agile, alert gaze swept from Qinghua Mountain, and with innate leadership, Ruan Jingchu began her strategic deployment, her logic clear, "The copper coins should have been scattered randomly from above, so there’s no fixed location. To find them, we’ll have to search the ground methodically."

"Wen Jin, Yingxue, you two will focus on searching, since girls are more meticulous. I’ll take care of the coins we collect, because we might encounter others trying to steal them, and my higher cultivation will help protect them."

"They’re approaching from the front of Qinghua Mountain. If we follow that route, it’s already been searched. We won’t find much, so we’ll ascend from the side."

"Alright!" Wen Jin and Lan Yingxue nodded in unison.

Chen Chang'an opened his mouth to speak, hesitated, then asked, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

Ruan Jingchu thought briefly and replied offhandedly, "You’re on lookout. If another group approaches to steal our coins, alert us immediately."

"Oh, and keep an eye on that official from the Ministry of Justice, the one named Ye something. He kept giving me strange looks at the entrance to Wuyi Alley—probably planning to snatch our coins. Watch him closely."

No, he’s just coveting your body, Chen Chang'an muttered to himself, then asked aloud, "Nothing else?"

"Nothing else!" Ruan Jingchu answered firmly. Like Liu Yingfeng, she knew Chen Chang'an had connections among Chang'an’s elite, even the princess, but she wouldn’t let that cloud her judgment.

Chen Chang'an had intervened for a girl on the street and clashed with Liu Yingfeng, a third-rank Enlightenment Technique practitioner—an act of chivalry, but chivalry and cultivation were two different things.

In the Wuyi Guard assessment, cultivation mattered most.

"Alright," Chen Chang'an accepted his role.

With their tasks divided, the group circled Qinghua Mountain in a half arc, finally deciding to climb up the northwest slope, hacking through vegetation with their blades.

Upon reaching halfway up, Ruan Jingchu judged this was the zone where copper coins would have landed after being scattered from above, so the group began searching.

The assessment lasted two hours, but ancient timekeeping differed from that of Chen Chang'an’s previous life’s twenty-four hour cycle.

One hour was eight quarters, each quarter about fifteen minutes, so two hours equaled one hundred twenty minutes.

"Ha, so the assessment runs from noon to four—really long!" Chen Chang'an mused, hands clasped behind his head as he gazed at the sun, a smile playing at his lips. If he were a bandit, such a smile meant he’d found a captive bride; if a gambler, he’d be cheating every hand.

In short, he was supremely confident.

"Here!"

"I found one!"

"Another! Here are two or three!"

"..."

"..."

Time passed swiftly. By about two thirty in the afternoon, Chen Chang'an, who had quietly been on lookout, suddenly stood and shouted, his voice booming, "Let’s go, time to collect the coins!"

"Wha... what?" Wen Jin, Lan Yingxue, and Ruan Jingchu were stunned, speaking in unison, "Collect what coins?"

Chen Chang'an shrugged, as if it were obvious, "Copper coins."

"Where?" Wen Jin’s bright eyes were adorably puzzled.

Chen Chang'an winked, "Find a spot facing the wind, at a high altitude. Come, you’re the key." Without further explanation, he grabbed Wen Jin and rushed up the mountain.

"Hey, what are you doing, Chen Chang'an, don’t be reckless!"

Ruan Jingchu, worried they’d run into other groups and complicate matters, hurried after him.

Lan Yingxue followed as well.

Soon, Chen Chang'an had successfully "led astray" the whole group to the highest peak of Qinghua Mountain. He bowed to Wen Jin, whose hair and clothing were disheveled from being dragged, "Sorry, truly no malice intended. Please open your space."

"Uh..." Wen Jin was dumbfounded, her mind unable to keep up, as if she were 2G while others were 5G.

Ruan Jingchu, still catching her breath as a Mountain-Opening realm martial artist, couldn’t understand how Chen Chang'an outran her. She didn’t dwell on it, though, and instead demanded angrily, "Hey, what are you trying to do?"

Chen Chang'an took a deep breath, exuding an air of absolute control, and replied slowly, "I’m going to make money!"

...

...

...

...

A few quarters of an hour later, wisps of smoke began rising from the summit. The high altitude and strong winds carried the rich aroma of roasted chicken wings and grilled carp far and wide, gradually enveloping the mountain.

"Quick, it must be just ahead, it smells amazing!"

"Ugh, since leaving Wuyi Alley this morning, I haven’t eaten for six or seven hours. Climbing wore me out, I’m starving."

"Look, there’s smoke up ahead—the wind is blowing the scent from that direction. The food must be there."

"Definitely, hurry, I’m famished."

Soon, martial artists roaming the mountain in search of copper coins, hoping for a good result in this Wuyi Guard assessment, but famished from rushing up the mountain without eating, followed the scent.

One!

Two!

...

...

Twenty!

Thirty!

More and more people gathered at the summit, bending over, eyes fixed hungrily on the glistening grilled chicken wings and dried fish, saliva dripping incessantly.

Even the plain white buns were tempting.

"Quick, give me some, I’m starving!"

One martial artist, first to recover from his hungry daze, rushed forward to devour the food, but Chen Chang'an blocked his path.

"What do you think you’re doing? Want to die?" the man shouted.

Chen Chang'an calmly stroked his brow, then clasped his hands behind his back, straightening his spine as he paced back and forth, announcing in a loud, clear voice, "All this food was brought up the mountain by me—it’s my private stash. If you want to eat, you’ll have to pay."

"Roasted chicken wings, five copper coins. Grilled fish, eight. Meat buns, three. Plain buns, one. Flatbread, two... If you want to eat, speak less and bring more coins!"

His confidence was unshakable, prices clearly marked.

The martial artists participating in the Wuyi Guard assessment: "..."

Ruan Jingchu, Lan Yingxue, and Wen Jin: "So that’s what it was!"