Chapter 121 - Those Bearing the Surname Yan Spared, Move West to a New Home - Part 3
Tie Sha looked respectfully at Li Yuan. “Patriarch, what will you do now?”
Li Yuan responded, “I can’t do anything about this ghost domain. And since the black market is right here in Silver Creek, close to the inner district, I’m thinking of relocating. Both my wives are with child, and I don’t want to risk staying here. Sect Master, do you know of a suitable place?”
Tie Sha already knew about the pregnancies. Li Yuan hadn’t kept it secret, and he’d used the sect’s own physician. Tie Sha had been both astonished and delighted, marveling at how someone who was evidently of the sixth rank could still sire children with ordinary women.
Such a small chance felt on par with the odds of producing an undying husk. But it also meant that the Blood Blade Patriarch was planning to put down roots, a boon for everyone under his protection.
Eager to please, Tie Sha offered a warm smile. “There’s a manor west of Union Town and east of Peach Blossom. It’s built around a natural hot spring called Hundred Lotus Spring. The spring water is always clean and warm, no matter the season. Even in the cold of spring or autumn, you can soak in it and leave feeling refreshed. The manor also has four corner towers for watchmen, so you won’t need to worry about thieves or trespassers.”
Old Ding added, “Not long ago, the local fearless soldiers stationed there was wiped out by the Sun-Wei alliance. We can purchase another detachment to serve as your personal guards, settling them in the four towers.”
Li Yuan had heard about these fearless soldiers before. Tie Sha once told him they were specially bred troops of certain major powers—created using secret methods. They were loyal, unflinching, and nearly devoid of emotion. The ones sold on the market were usually defective or lesser versions, but still enough to surpass common mercenaries. The fearless troops assigned to the inner district walls had been only slightly more expensive than ordinary slaves.
“Very well,” Li Yuan said, nodding. “I’ll leave those arrangements to you, Sect Master and Old Ding. Also, I’d like to bring the demon dogs back with me to guard the new property, if that’s all right.”
Tie Sha replied at once, “Of course. They’re yours.”
“One more thing,” Li Yuan continued. “I want to build a memorial tomb for Senior Li. An empty tomb. Seeing as he perished in the ghost domain, there’s no body to bury.”
Tie Sha and Old Ding exchanged glances of mild surprise.
After a brief pause, Tie Sha said, “Certainly. We have some of Senior Li’s clothes in the inner district. We can commission a life-sized paper effigy from the undertaker and dress it in his robes. Then, on an auspicious day, we’ll lay it to rest with proper rites.”