Xiuxian, I can travel to another world

Chapter 495 Determination
"Miss."

The servant extended his hand to lead the way:

"This way."

"Ah."

Zhou Ruxuan nodded, and the two crossed a courtyard, where faint sobbing could be heard.

"Is this Ying'er's courtyard?"

She paused slightly in her steps:
"what happened?"

“Reporting to Miss,” the servant bowed and explained.
"Miss Ying'er will soon be married and settled in Wangcheng, so she probably doesn't want to leave her family."

"Getting married..." Zhou Ruxuan looked bewildered.

"How old is she?"

"Yes, Ying'er is already sixteen years old this year, and she's reached the age to get married."

The servant should be.

"Aunt Xuan!"

At this moment, a boy of about ten years old ran over, staring angrily at Zhou Ruxuan:
"So it was you who stole my older brother's spot to enter the Xuanbing Cave?"

"Are you Zhou Yao?"

Zhou Ruxuan's expression remained unchanged:
"The quota for entering the Xuanbing Cave is decided jointly by the family and the elders. It's just my turn this year."

"You're lying!" the boy shouted angrily, pointing at her.

"There has never been a precedent in the Zhou family for a woman to enter the Xuanbing Cave, which is due to the patriarch's doting and favoritism."

"I don't agree!"

"besides……"

He pointed to the neighboring courtyard and said:
"Sister Ying is supposed to get married at sixteen. You are already an old woman of twenty. Why are you still staying in the Zhou family? You and Zhu Ju have long had an affair. You should marry into the Zhu family."

"You're delaying your marriage just to monopolize the Zhou family's resources, which is against the rules."

"Snapped!"

Zhou Ruxuan slapped him hard, her pretty face turning gloomy.

"shut up!"

"What do you know?"

She did receive her father's favoritism when she was young.

But over the years, he has almost never used anything from the Zhou family; everything he has used comes from the Zhu family's cloth workshop and the mines outside the city.

As for the qualification to enter the Xuanbing Cave, it was obtained by exchanging spirit ore.

"Ugh..." The boy covered his face, cried out, and backed away.

"That's how it is. My older brothers and sisters all say so. Family resources are limited. If you take them, we won't have any left."

"I don't agree!"

At this time.

Two maids rushed over in a panic, and one of them covered the boy's mouth.

"Oh my God!"

"Young Master, how can you run around like this? If Madam finds out, will we even be able to live?"

"Go back quickly, go back quickly!"

As the maid forcibly dragged the boy away, Zhou Ruxuan's expression did not soften in the slightest.

Instead, it became increasingly cold and austere.

She could feel many eyes on her from all around, and they were full of hostility.

The once warm Zhou Mansion is growing colder and colder.

The boy ran over to complain, and she didn't believe that no one was behind it, and that these words were definitely not just one person's thoughts.

even……

Even my second brother is the same!
The fact that Second Brother didn't come to such a big event as entering the Xuanbing Cave clearly shows that he wanted to distance himself from it.

For a while.

Zhou Ruxuan thought she might as well marry into the Zhu family instead, so she could stop suffering here.

Do not!
I still need to cultivate to reach the sixth rank.

My father said that everything would change if I could become a sixth-rank official before I turned thirty.

"go!"

"Go to the Xuanbing Cave."

"Yes," the servant replied, and continued leading the way.

After going through layers of checks, Zhou Ruxuan entered the ice cellar alone. After pushing aside a heavy ice wall, a cave leading straight to the ground came into view.

The Xuanbing Cave is the core of the Zhou family.

Even the rise of the Zhou family is related to this.

It is said.

This cave originated from the spirit of a highly respected master who had been missing for many years. Cultivating the Mysterious Ice Force here is twice as effective.

Keep going down.

Frozen human figures came into view.

"Father!"

Zhou Ruxuan stopped in front of one of the ice sculptures, her eyes reddening and tears streaming down her face.

Zhou Huaishan did not die.

Or rather, the Zhou family elders frozen here are not actually dead, but their condition is beyond cure. The only option is to freeze them here, keeping their lives frozen, so that future generations can find a way to thaw them and bring them back to life.

Each ice sculpture and each ice coffin is a testament to the Zhou family's generations of tradition.

"call……"

He exhaled a long breath, and the hot air turned into white smoke, condensing into ice dew that fell to the ground.

Zhou Ruxuan's expression hardened, and she stepped into an ice room not far away, where she sat down cross-legged.

*
*
*
All rivers converge and flow into the sea.

midnight.

Lihe River.

A warship bearing the insignia of the Divine Dynasty's navy slowly entered the estuary and came to a stop on the calm water.

"Brother Zhu."

Zhang Kui, with a full beard, stood on the deck and spoke loudly:
"Zhang has taken you this far; any further would be outside his patrol area."

"Thank you for your trouble." Zhu Ju bowed.
"Being able to deliver it here already saves Zhu a great deal of trouble."

"Haha..." Zhang Kui laughed loudly:
"Give!"

He handed over the token and said:
"With this item, plus the elemental crystals you have, you can get what you want from that old monster."

"Don't rush back."

"Lianshan Island is a wonderful place, with treasures from the East China Sea and inland gems, making it a place you'll never want to leave!"

"I've long admired your name." Zhu Ju gazed into the distance.
"We were just about to investigate."

He has been in this world for many years but has never truly left Taiyuan Prefecture. This is a perfect opportunity.

"Guards!" Zhang Kui shouted.
"Lower a small boat and send Brother Zhu out to sea."

"Pfft!"

"Wow..."

A small boat landed on the water. Zhu Ju leaped onto it, cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd above, and with a light step, the boat broke through the water and headed straight for the East China Sea.

"head."

On the big ship.

One person spoke in a low voice:
"This person is merely an eighth-rank martial artist, and he is already twenty years old. It is unlikely that he will achieve much in the path of martial arts. Why are you being so polite to him?"

"Heh..." Zhang Kui chuckled softly.
"Zhang does things entirely based on his mood."

"Although Zhu Ju's cultivation level is not high, he has a good personality and we get along very well, so he is a friend."

"If someone is malicious and commits many evils, even if they have profound cultivation, I will not submit to them!"

"In life and in business, how can one deceive subordinates and flatter superiors?"

“…Yes.” The man’s expression changed, and he lowered his head.

"It's about the lesson learned."

…………

Lianshan Island.

On a certain island.

A man dressed in white robes stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the moon, his eyes filled with the shimmering moonlight.

It was as if moonlight had fallen from the sky and landed in his eyes.

"Lord."

A man entered from outside the courtyard, holding a letter in his hands.
“The obsidian vein we excavated in Taiyuan Prefecture was seized by a local family surnamed Zhou, and they are currently selling the ore.”

"Golden obsidian?" The man withdrew his gaze from the moon, turned his head to look, his face showing no emotion.

The man had firm skin, like a young man, but his expression was calm and shrewd, making it impossible to guess his age.

"I remember it was a small mine?"

"Yes."

The servant should be:

"My subordinates have estimated that the entire mining operation could yield a profit of five to eight thousand yuan per crystal."

"It's just a small mine, so losing it isn't a big deal. But golden obsidian is quite rare; we can buy it back." The man waved his hand.
"in addition……"

"How did you lose it?"

The thousands of elemental crystals seemed unremarkable to him.

"We were originally cooperating with the Sky Eagle Bandits, but for some reason, they offended the Huang family. Except for their leader, Yue Xihong, and a few others who escaped, everyone else was killed," the servant replied.
"The mine was also lost to a businessman named Zhu Ju."

"Well……"

"This person is currently on Lianshan Island."

"Oh!" The man raised an eyebrow.
It is rare to see merchants from Taiyuan Prefecture doing business on Lianshan Island.

“My lord, that is not the case,” the servant said.
"Zhu Ju obtained a merit token from the navy and wanted to exchange it for something from the old cripple."

"I haven't found out exactly what will be exchanged."

The Divine Dynasty's navy can earn merit by killing water bandits and water demons, and these merits can be exchanged for various resources.

However, the process of exchanging these items is very complicated, so private transactions have emerged.

Some people specialize in collecting credits from online trolls; they have ways to quickly exchange them for resources.

The naval commanders were happy with this arrangement.

after all.

If we follow the normal procedure, it will take at least six months, so it's better to sell it to someone else at a lower price.

(End of this chapter)