Chapter 454: Huang Jiaofu
However, her habits as a chief caused her to always be alert, so she became more cautious.
Li Qiye looked at the young man in front of him and smiled: “You actually came before I went looking for you. Interesting, interesting…”
The ghost in the yellow robe cheerfully smiled: “Hehe, I like providing services to customers the most. This lowly one only does small business to provide for the family day by day so of course this lowly one will have to satisfy all prospective customers.”
Li Qiye gave him a look and said: “Since when did Huang Jiaofu, someone who has so many colorful tales, become a small businessman and need to provide for his family on a day by day basis? No, I have to call you a businessghost.” 1
“That, of course, depends on the customer.” The yellow robed young man didn’t mind Li Qiye’s sarcasm and cheerfully smiled: “My colorful tales are only impressive to ordinary customers. I heard that Sir was able to enter the Ancestral Flow as a respected guest. Before Sir, who is like an immortal from the nine heavens that descended to the mortal world, I am but an insignificant character.”
“Ah, I understand, you want to make connections with the Ancestral Flow.” Li Qiye smilingly said: “Huang Jiaofu ah Huang Jiaofu, your sly heart still hasn’t changed.”
“So this customer knows this insignificant one?” Huang Jiaofu followed up and immediately tried to establish a friendly relationship with Li Qiye.
“Huang Jiaofu, how many times have you died?” Li Qiye asked with a smile while staring seriously at the young man.
Huang Jiaofu was shocked. He scratched his head before replying: “Dear customer, I don’t know what you are talking about. I am in the prime of my youth; based on the age of those in Necropolis, I can live for 10,000 to 20,000 more years without an issue.”
Li Qiye laughed and shook his head to say: “Huang Jiaofu, you really haven’t changed. Let us get back to the topic, I have something I need you for.”
“What does this customer need? I guarantee that I can satisfy all your wishes or find whatever you need instantly.” Huang Jiaofu calmed down and immediately replied.
Li Qiye said with a wide smile: “I don’t need a lot of things, just manuals, Fate Laws, Longevity Techniques, and techniques from Necropolis — a little of everything around the level of a Virtuous Paragon, the type worthy of divine investiture experts.”
“That is a bit difficult.” Huang Jiaofu smiled wholeheartedly and rubbed his hands together.
Li Qiye glared at him and said: “I will throw you into Nightsea! If there are things that Huang Jiaofu can’t find at Necropolis, not many others would be able to either.”
“Hahaha, Sir is too kind.” Huang Jiaofu was still smiling. He then embarrassingly said: “Sir should know the market price. Those who die at Necropolis usually have their corpses sink into the river. Although many old men happily die here at Necropolis each year, their bodies are rarely found.”
Li Qiye waved his hand and dismissively said: “Okay, Huang Jiaofu, don’t go in circles, I don’t have time to barter with you. Find the manuals for me and just name the price in Yang Nightfish.”
Huang Jiaofu laughed and scratched his head before acting like he just had an epiphany, then he slapped his thigh and replied: “I just remembered that I might have a box with a few manuals inside.”
He then took out an old, long box from his sleeve. He handed it over to Li Qiye and continued: “Sir, please have a look and see whether you like them or not.”
Li Qiye opened the box and nodded his head approvingly before saying: “Little Boy, you have been hiding a lot of good things.”
Li Qiye gave the long box to Qiurong Wanxue and said: “It might not be possible to find the lost manual of the Snow-shadow Tribe, but there are a few manuals in here that are suitable for your tribe. These are surely good things, so you can bring them back.”
“But…!” Qiurong Wanxue exclaimed in shock. Her nose felt stuffy as she was on the verge of tears; her melted heart was full of emotions. She wanted to rush into Li Qiye’s embrace and cry, but she tried her best to hold back.
As the chief, she was not an emotional woman and always had a steady and solemn demeanor. But now, she was quite moved.
She came to Necropolis in order to find an important manual of her tribe. She had no expectations, but Li Qiye actually remembered.
These were manuals from Virtuous Paragons that were capable of earning a divine title, manuals that everyone lusted for! However, Li Qiye still gave them to her.
Li Qiye could sense her emotions, so he smiled: “The merit laws of the ghost race are not suitable for me, so you should keep them.”
Qiurong Wanxue tried not to cry by taking in a deep breath. She quietly put away the long box then gripped her fist and swore to follow all of Li Qiye’s orders in the future.
After she accepted the box, Li Qiye asked Huang Jiaofu: “How many Yang Nightfish do you want?”
Huang Jiaofu cheerfully replied: “It is nice to see Young Noble gifting these items to such a beauty. This lowly one does not dare to take a lot, one hundred fish is plenty.”
Qiurong Wanxue was astonished. One hundred fish was definitely not enough to buy so many manuals.
“Huang Jiaofu, since when did you become so generous?” Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and said while gazing intensely at the fella: “Very well, one hundred Yang Nightfish. Now, say what you want to say.” Having said that, he handed one hundred fish to Huang Jiaofu.
After accepting the fish, Huang Jiaofu carefully took out an ancient scroll and handed it to Li Qiye with the appearance of a sycophant. He then said: “Young Noble, I know that you are an immortal visiting our world, surely you must be an amazing True Immortal. This lowly one has an old book named the Dragon-subduing Fist. Consider this a token of my appreciation for your business.”
“Dragon-subduing Fist?” Li Qiye movingly said: “This ancient technique is quite old. I remember that it had not appeared for a long time. It is capable of tempting even emperor’s lineages.”
Huang Jiaofu immediately smiled and said: “As the proverb says, rouge for beautiful ladies and swords for great heroes. Only a great character like Sir is qualified to have this ancient technique, don’t you think?”
Qiurong Wanxue was quite surprised. Even though she didn’t know what the Dragon-subduing Fist was, the ability to tempt even emperor’s lineages was indicative of its worth. She understood that Huang Jiaofu selling manuals to Li Qiye earlier was just the beginning to express his goodwill.
“Huang Jiaofu ah Huang Jiaofu…” Li Qiye shook his head and said: “If I remember correctly, you are notoriously stingy, so why the sudden spurt of generosity? Just say it, don’t walk around in circles with me.”
Huang Jiaofu forced an awkward smile while rubbing his palms together. He hesitated for a long time before speaking: “I… I have a favor to ask of Sir. I want Sir to talk to the Ancestral Flow Ancient God about… this lowly one wanting to leave Necropolis.”
Qiurong Wanxue was shocked. Leaving Necropolis? This was something impossible. Since the start of history, no one had ever heard of ghosts leaving Necropolis besides one particular case.
“Plead with the Ancestral Flow Master?” Li Qiye leered at him and said: “Huang Jiaofu, you should know that no one has ever left Necropolis. At least, you guys won’t be able to.”
“No, Sir, someone has left before.” Huang Jiaofu quickly added: “He successfully left. Although I am not too clear about the details, it seems that he eventually obtained permission from the Ancestral God.”
Qiurong Wanxue then glanced at Li Qiye. Back at the Ancestral Flow, the master did indeed mention such a thing about how Li Qiye tricked someone into leaving Necropolis. This meant that her Young Noble had successfully made one ghost leave the city.
However, she did not know that the person who left in the past was not a sentiment!
Qiurong Wanxue didn’t know what happened between Li Qiye and the master, but she faintly felt that there was a rift in their relationship because of this.
Li Qiye looked at him and said: “Huang Jiaofu oh Huang Jiaofu, you really did not give up. You have died time and time again, but you still won’t give up.”
“Hahaha, this lowly one does not know what Sir is talking about.” Huang Jiaofu scratched his head like an honest but confused man.
Li Qiye squinted his eyes and spoke in a serious fashion: “Huang Jiaofu, you are not a human, you are only a strand of sentiment inside Necropolis. Once you leave the city, you will turn into mere smoke. Even if the Ancestral Flow Master allows you to go, you still won’t be able to leave this place. Your efforts will be in vain.”
Huang Jiaofu took a deep breath and solemnly said: “Sir, I feel that I can. I can sense my lifeforce and the pulsing of Necropolis.”
Li Qiye’s eyes became serious as he gazed at Huang Jiaofu’s pair of bright eyes that were full of life and gravely asked: “Huang Jiaofu, your body has metamorphosed eight times, right?”
Huang Jiaofu embarrassingly scratched his head and replied: “I don’t know what Sir is talking about. However, I feel the life within me; I can probably leave Necropolis.”
Li Qiye quietly stared at Huang Jiaofu. In the past, Immortal Emperor Ming Du had left Necropolis. The truth was that Li Qiye also took note of Huang Jiaofu at that time, but he was different from Immortal Emperor Ming Du. In fact, he was different from everyone else. With sufficient time, he would be able to break free from his cocoon and become a butterfly.
However, this matter was far from being so simple.
1. Huang Jiaofu could be his name, or it could be Porter/Bearer Huang. However, he doesn’t look like a carriage driver/porter, and Li Qiye is praising him in this sentence so it would be weird to call him using an unflattering title/occupation. Huang means yellow, the same color as his clothing. I’ll keep Huang Jiaofu for now unless the author states something otherwise.