Dao Companions Help Me Live Forever

Chapter 2: Indulging in Pleasure and Diligent Practice

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Yu Xian paid no attention to the outside world, devoting himself wholeheartedly to his practice.

The process of his practice is omitted in 200,000 words...

Tian Building No. 2, although called a building, is actually a courtyard with facilities such as a garden, pavilion, and small pond.

On this day, the chief steward of the Wang Mansion hurriedly arrived.

He saw several maidservants from the mansion whispering and stealing glances at the courtyard from time to time, their faces blushing and giggling like silver bells.

The chief steward recognized them as the maidservants responsible for serving Building No. 2.

"Ahem!"

He coughed lightly to remind everyone.

The maidservants quickly fell silent and bowed to the chief steward.

"Your Excellency, the chief steward, we have seen you."

The chief steward's surname is Li, an old eunuch in his fifties. He has a fair complexion, a slightly chubby figure, and a round face. He looks like a kind-hearted person.

"We are here on the orders of the prince to invite Yu Xian for an audience. Does he have time now?"

The maidservants looked at each other, hesitated for a while, and finally, one of them gathered the courage to speak up:

"Your Excellency, the chief steward, Yu Xian has been staying in the room with Miss Yulan these days. We don't know if he has any free time. Um, maybe you should go and ask in person?"

"You know nothing at all, and this is how you serve the nobleman?"

The chief steward waved his feather duster and walked forward. After a few steps, he turned back and said angrily:

"You lazy bunch, be careful in the future. If the nobleman hears something unpleasant behind his back, you deserve to be beaten to death."

"Now go back to work."

"Yes."

The maidservants knew that the chief steward meant well, so they laughed and dispersed, leaving behind a fragrant breeze.

Chief Steward Li shook his head helplessly, turned around, and walked into the courtyard, calling out softly towards the attic:

"Yu Xian, Yu Xian..."

"Who is it?"

The window of the attic opened, and a young man stuck out half of his body. He casually draped a coat over himself, his hair messy, his face slightly pale, and his eyes dark, showing signs of excessive indulgence.

It was Yu Xian, who had been practicing diligently.

Seeing the person, Chief Steward Li was taken aback.

"Yu Xian, what happened to you?"

Yu Xian held his lower back and pretended to be strong: "Recently, the practice has been quite exhausting, and it has taken a toll on my mental energy. I will ask Doctor Huang from the mansion to prescribe some medicine later. It should help me recover."

"Chief Steward Li, is there something you need from me?"

In the past half month, he had been gaining an average of five cultivation points per day. He not only successfully broke through the fifth layer of Qi Refining but also took a firm step forward in the fifth layer.

However, the hardship he endured was not something he dared to speak of.

He originally thought that Yulan would be the first to give up, but instead, he became increasingly thin while Yulan seemed to be radiant and spirited day by day.

Yu Xian felt that if he continued to practice like this, he would eventually develop a shadow.

Therefore, even if Chief Steward Li didn't come, he planned to interrupt his practice.

Although it was gratifying to see his cultivation progress, his health was the foundation and should not be excessively damaged.

The matter of cultivation should not be rushed.

Chief Steward Li snapped back to reality and remembered his task.

"The prince heard that there is a Heaven-level Attendant in the mansion and was delighted. He wants to meet you. Does Yu Xian have time?"

"If the prince summons, how could I dare to refuse? Please wait a moment, Chief Steward Li. Yulan, help me change clothes."

Yu Xian closed the window and gave instructions to the person behind him.

...

After about half an hour.

The back residence of the Wang Mansion.

Prince Fu was lying on a grand chair, covered with a fine blanket. His face was pale, and his eyes were filled with exhaustion. However, he forced a smile at Yu Xian.

"After I was injured, I often fell into a deep sleep. Today, I finally feel a little better and wanted to invite Yu Xian to come and talk."

Yu Xian bowed respectfully, "Your Highness's favor is overwhelming. I am humbled."

Prince Fu asked, "Does Attendant Yu know why I was injured?"

Yu Xian knew that the matter at hand was serious. "I have heard a little."

Sure enough, Prince Fu spoke earnestly, "The assassin who injured me has been found. The government has already dispatched people to capture him, but we are still lacking a martial arts master to suppress him, to prevent him from resorting to desperate measures."

"I hope that Attendant Yu can lend me a hand."

Yu Xian looked troubled and said, "My lord, I have heard that the thief is highly skilled. Even the three major protectors of the Wang Mansion couldn't stop him and suffered heavy losses. With just me alone, would I be too weak?"

He had only been staying in the Wang Mansion for half a month and had slept with a woman. What kind of sacrifice was he making?

The Duke of Fu explained, "Please rest assured, Yu, that assassin Chen Xiao was severely injured when he forcefully entered the Wang Mansion, despite considering himself a master of the Five Poison Palm. He even injured three grandmasters and many guards in the mansion. If not for that, he would have come back to cause trouble for me long ago. Your presence alone, as a protector of the Wang Mansion, may be enough. The government officials may be able to handle it without you having to take action."

So, he was going to collect the heads of the remaining enemies.

Yu Xian immediately felt relieved, but still pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "Since I am a protector of the Wang Mansion, it is my duty to contribute to its defense. I will accept this task."

The Duke of Fu clapped his hands and smiled, "Yu, you are a straightforward person. I will not treat you unfairly."

"Come in," he said.

As soon as he finished speaking, a beautiful maid entered the room, holding a tray with a stack of silver bills and some jewelry on it.

"There are one thousand taels of silver here, as well as some jewelry for you to play with, Yu," the Duke of Fu said.

"Of course, if you are interested in the lilies, you can take them as well."

Yu Xian looked at the maid in front of him. Her appearance was no less beautiful than Yu Lan's, and she had a more mature aura, as well as a pair of long legs.

Unfortunately, he was currently in a state of enlightenment, and no matter how beautiful the woman was, he couldn't be interested in her.

"My lord, I will accept the silver and jewelry. As for this young lady... I have recently come to understand a saying: although beautiful women are good, one should not be greedy. I can only thank you for your kind intentions," Yu Xian said.

Sleeping with her wouldn't improve his cultivation, and he was currently short on money, so he had nothing to spare for her.

Yu Xian didn't look at her and took the tray from the pale-faced young lady, bidding farewell, "When it's time to depart, please inform me, my lord. I will take my leave now."

The Duke of Fu smiled and said, "I will eagerly await good news from you."

Not long after, the Duchess entered the room and was surprised to see the young lady stepping back from Yu Xian.

"He didn't accept her?" she asked.

The Duke of Fu shook his head and said, "He said that although the woman is beautiful, one should not be greedy, so he refused. However, he accepted the silver bills and jewelry."

The Duchess suddenly thought of something and chuckled to herself.

"I probably know the reason."

"Oh?" Prince Fu exclaimed in surprise. "Xiner, you are so quick-witted today?"

"Does that mean I am usually stupid?"

The queen glanced at Prince Fu and said, "I just met Yulan earlier. She said that Minister Yu is obsessed with her body, whipping her every day, and demanding her every half month... Eighty or ninety times. It seems that Minister Yu is even more insatiable than the Buddha in the temple."

As she spoke, she suddenly felt a bit sour.

Since giving birth to the crown prince of Prince Fu at the age of eighteen, it has been eight years. Prince Fu has not been intimate with her as often as others in half a month. Instead, he has been favoring some lovers outside the mansion.

Prince Fu seemed to understand the queen's gaze and couldn't help but feel embarrassed, so he awkwardly changed the subject.

"Has the court not sent anyone yet?"

Speaking of official matters, the queen put away her slight moodiness and shook her head. "According to reason, after such a long time, even if they don't send anyone, they should at least give a response. There may have been some unexpected circumstances along the way."

Prince Fu smiled bitterly, "Since the emperor became obsessed with cultivating immortality, the court has been increasingly neglected, and the people have become more chaotic. Those so-called martial arts heroes are becoming more and more unruly. If it were ten years ago, how could anyone dare to attack the royal mansion?"

That Chen Xiao turned out to be a descendant of the Chen family from back then. I don't know where he learned the vicious Five Poison Palm. I just regret not being able to eliminate him back then, cough... medicine..."

Prince Fu suddenly coughed and reached out to grab the medicine box beside him.

The queen hurriedly stepped forward to help fetch the medicine, but she saw Prince Fu spit out a clump of black blood.

"What's wrong with you, my lord?!"

Prince Fu took the pill and swallowed it, calming his cough, but it was visibly worse for his complexion.

"I am not skilled in martial arts, and I usually indulge in alcohol, women, and wealth. My body has long been weakened. This time, I was hit by the Five Poison Palm from a distance. The poison entered my body. If it weren't for the detoxification pill prepared by Doctor Huang, I would have died long ago."

"My lord, you will be fine."

The queen, who had been married to Prince Fu for many years, couldn't help but shed tears.

"Don't cry."

Prince Fu wiped away the tears from the corners of the queen's eyes, but his tone couldn't help but carry some sorrow.

"Doctor Huang said that as long as I continue to take the detoxification pill, although my body will be weaker in the future, it can maintain a balance with the toxins in my body. Within three to five years, nothing will happen."

"But Henger is still young. In the future, you will have to take care of the mansion more."

Hearing this, the queen tightly held Prince Fu's hand, thinking of the person who broke into the mansion that night, her eyes couldn't help but fill with a layer of resentment.

When will this cycle of revenge end?

(End of this chapter)