Hua Xianle

Chapter 61:

Xue Yang sat in the large bathtub that was full of warm water. Never before had he been able to have a hot bath, usually having to resort to rain barrels or the nearby stream. Now he was being gently scrubbed by the pretty gege who saved him from getting beaten, soap being poured over him as he giggled in the bubbles.

“How does this feel, A-Yang?” the pretty gege asked as his hair was scrubbed.

“Really good, gege,” he replied without hesitation, closing his eyes and relaxing for perhaps the first time in his life. “A-Yang is most grateful.”

As the young boy drifted off into bliss, he was ignorant of the scrutiny surrounding the scroll he had been carrying. The two Lans and Nies were looking it over, their faces grim as they did.

“It would seem that the man Hua-Gongzi encountered was the village elder,” Xichen surmised, running a finger along the characters. “This message says that it’s the village’s fault that resentful creatures were on the rise in this area since the Wens came through and insisted it was safe. It goes on to say that Yueyang Chang will not waste any more resources on a town that’s barely keeping up with its taxes and that it will be up to the elder to pay us for our services..”

“Anyone would get angry after reading something like that,” Mingjue snarled, glancing over at the bath. Most of the dirt had been washed away, revealing the bruises on Xue Yang’s far-too-skinny torso. “Chang Ci’an probably bribed the kid to take the message so he’d take the inevitable beating.”

“Despicable…” Lan Wangji let out.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Nie Huaisang nodded.

Back over at the bath, Hua Ying pulled Xue Yang from the water, drying him off gently so as not to make his bruises any worse. He then wrapped one of his sleep robes around the boy, the silk pooling around him and hanging off his skinny frame.

“I can wear my robes, gege,” Xue Yang innocently offered. “I don’t want to take your robes.”

“You’re not taking, you’re borrowing,” Hua Ying corrected, sitting Xue Yang down at the vanity so he could start combing the boy’s hair. “You see, my friends and I want to get you some new robes of your own. Much better robes that fit you and aren’t falling apart.”

Xue Yang gasped at that. “Gege, that’s too much! A-Yang is fine with his old robes! Really!”

Hua Ying just smiled, knowing exactly how the boy felt. He was no doubt worried about how he’d pay them back. Of course, no one intended to make the boy indebted to them. They weren’t the Jiangs after all.

“Please, let your gege do this for you,” he said, flashing one of his dazzling smiles. “I just want to help out a brave little boy, that’s all.”

Xue Yang still looked unsure, chewing on his lip as if trying to figure out how to say no. Meanwhile, the door to their room opened, allowing the innkeeper to enter with a tray of soup and some mantou. The man was all smiles until he saw Xue Yang. At the sight of the boy, his smile became strained.

“Ah, young masters,” the innkeeper began, his discomfort visible in his tone. “I see you’ve met Xue Yang.”

The mood of the room soured at the man’s tone. Xue Yang’s face fell and he curled in on himself as if trying to disappear. The innkeeper placed the food on the nearby table, pointedly ignoring the boy as he did, before turning his attention to the five Young Masters.

“While I normally would not speak up about the affairs of my esteemed customers, I feel I must warn you about that boy. He is the son of Xue Chonghai, a rogue cultivator who went mad some years ago. His crimes were too heinous to repeat, but the blood left in his wake was enough to merit his immediate execution.”