"Grandfather." The child nervously supported the old man, trying to help him catch his breath, but being too short to reach his back, he had to give up.
"What exactly do you want?" The child turned around, seeming a bit angry.
Ye Lanshan said slowly, "I can heal your injuries."
The old man asked with difficulty, word by word, "What are the conditions?"
"I want you to submit to me and become my people." Ye Lanshan was gambling—gambling on how much this old man valued his life.
The old man pondered for a moment before saying, "I can submit to you, but Fufeng must be free." It didn't matter what happened to him, but Fufeng couldn't be bound—he had his own responsibilities.
"Then that's no fun. To be honest, what I value is Fufeng. If he won't submit to me, then there's nothing to discuss." Ye Lanshan came here to find talent, not to do charity, so of course her own interests came first.
Seeing Ye Lanshan turn and leave without a second thought, the old man quickly said, "If you save my life, I will be loyal to you from now on, even unto death."
Ye Lanshan glanced back at him indifferently. "Who knows if you're telling the truth? Besides, I don't lack one person like you."
"Alas!" The old man let out a bitter sigh, reluctantly glanced at Fufeng, and said, "If I really can't make it this time, take this jade pendant to the Xuanling Academy and find the dean. When he sees it, he will surely protect you for a while."
Fufeng lowered his eyes, holding back his tears, and said, "Grandfather, what are you saying? You won't die. I'll take you to Huang Qingming right now."
The old man opened his mouth as if to say more, but in the end, he didn't.
Ye Lanshan had planned to leave, but stopped when she heard them mention Xuanling Academy. She paused for a moment, then took a healing pill from her space and tossed it to the child.
"This is a pill to ease your injuries. Think over what I said. If you change your minds, come find me at the Ye residence. Oh, and by the way, I'm also a student at Xuanling Academy." After saying this, she left directly.
She wandered around the slave market in Ghost Street a bit more and finally found a few children with passable potential.
Back at the Ye residence, those children looked at Ye Lanshan timidly, fear in their eyes.
Ye Lanshan didn't say anything to comfort or encourage them; she simply arranged a room for them to rest in.
"Ye Lanshan, it's been a whole day and night. You haven't forgotten about that prisoner in the dungeon, have you?" Chu Feng finally couldn't sit still and rushed over to ask about the prisoner.
"Forgotten? How could I? But the noise harassment method takes a long time to work. Still, it's about time to go check in." Ye Lanshan smiled and led Chu Feng back to the dungeon.
In the dim dungeon, faintly blue-glowing candles paired with the rhythmic ringing of bells created an eerie, terrifying atmosphere.
Although Chu Feng was familiar with the place, he couldn't help but feel a chill—because there were now two corpses in the dungeon.
Ye Lanshan had deliberately placed those corpses for Chu Feng to see. They were assassins sent by the Sun family to kill her, and she wanted to see if Chu Feng was a spy planted by the Sun family.
But Chu Feng only showed a flicker of fear when he first entered, then quickly regained his composure, showing no signs of abnormality.
Ye Lanshan frowned slightly. *Could I be wrong? Is Chu Feng really just a fan of mine?*
"These bodies are already like this, why haven't you thrown them out? Aren't you afraid they'll stink up the dungeon?" Chu Feng's casual remark finally dispelled Ye Lanshan's doubts about him.
"You may leave." Ye Lanshan took the bell and waved for the servant to go back.
She turned and sat down on the stool the servant had just vacated, looking coldly at the man who was on the verge of breaking from the bell's torment. "Are you sure you still won't talk?"
It took a long time for the man to come to his senses in the silence. He shook his head slightly, as if refusing her or warning himself, and said, "Give it up. In our line of work, we never betray our masters."
Ye Lanshan felt a trace of respect for this man. She hadn't expected the Sun family to have someone so loyal.
But she wouldn't let him off just because of that. She had the servant come back to ring the bell, then left with Chu Feng.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to the others in the intelligence house." Ye Lanshan said calmly as they walked outside.
"Really?" Chu Feng's voice carried a hint of excitement.
Ye Lanshan replied, "Mm, let's go."
Chu Feng was visibly excited the whole way, feeling like his mission was finally making progress.
"This... don't tell me this is the intelligence house." Chu Feng stared blankly at the rundown brothel before them.
"This is it." Ye Lanshan pushed open the brothel's door and walked in.
"Qingdai, this is Chu Feng. He's joining the intelligence house from now on. He's been asking to meet you all." Ye Lanshan gave Qingdai a meaningful look.
Qingdai caught on immediately. She smiled seductively and said, "Welcome, Master Chu, to our intelligence house. With your handsome looks, you'll surely be able to pry information out of people."
"What? I'm not becoming a male prostitute." Chu Feng immediately jumped back, crossing his arms protectively over his chest as he eyed Qingdai warily.
"Our Master Chu here is shy." Qingdai swayed her hips as she slowly approached.
"Stop. Say whatever you need to from right there." Chu Feng was terrified that this woman would drag him into becoming a male escort.
"Alright, Qingdai, stop teasing him." Ye Lanshan hadn't expected Chu Feng to react so strongly, which made him seem even less like a spy.
"Ye Lanshan, I think gathering intelligence doesn't have to be done this way. Maybe we can discuss other options." Chu Feng carefully negotiated with Ye Lanshan, hoping to avoid becoming a male prostitute.
"Mm, I know. I only brought you here to introduce you to everyone." Ye Lanshan gradually let her guard down around Chu Feng.
"Phew, you scared me. I thought you were going to make me work as a male prostitute in this brothel." Chu Feng patted his chest to calm himself.
"I still have things to discuss with Qingdai. You can head back first." Just as Chu Feng had calmed down, thinking he had gained some of Ye Lanshan's trust, she dismissed him.
"Ah, okay." A flicker of disappointment and gloom passed through Chu Feng's eyes, but it vanished in an instant.
After Chu Feng left, Qingdai asked, "Boss, what did you need me for?"
"Oh, nothing much. I found a few kids with decent potential in Ghost Street. I was wondering if you have any space here that could be used as a training ground."