Chapter 37: Not Troublesome at All

Chapter 37: Chapter 37: Not Troublesome at All

"Senior Brother Yang, the post station at the foot of the mountain sent two letters for Purple Bamboo Peak, but the recipients don’t seem to be disciples here."

Early in the morning, Yang Haichen was sitting in an open spot on Purple Bamboo Peak purchasing Purple Bamboo Grass. Before him, an Outer Sect Disciple handed him two rather luxurious-looking envelopes.

"You’re better informed than I am. If even you haven’t heard of them, perhaps they really aren’t disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak."

Yang Haichen took the envelopes, speaking casually. The man before him was specifically assigned to deliver letters for the disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak.

It was a permanent position. If the disciple failed to become an Inner Sect Disciple after ten years, he could continue delivering mail for Purple Bamboo Peak, but he would become a member of the post station staff. Someone would only take over the role after he retired or passed away.

Although the man before him had only taken on the role in the last six months, his master certainly had a roster. That roster recorded the former elders, Inner Sect Disciples, and True Disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak. Combined with his own personal connections, the resulting information network covered, if not everyone on Purple Bamboo Peak, then at least ninety-nine percent of them.

Normally, sending a letter would leave a record of the corresponding information. But since this man had no such information, it meant the sender was likely unaware of these hidden rules on Purple Bamboo Peak.

This made Yang Haichen a bit curious.

"Ji Suyao, Ye Linglong."

Yang Haichen glanced at the names, momentarily perplexed. It was no exaggeration to say he knew a great many senior and junior sisters, but none of them seemed to have these names.

"If even Senior Brother Yang doesn’t recognize them, I’ll have to return the letters to the post station."

The Outer Sect Disciple said helplessly. Senior Brother Yang was on good terms with most of the senior and junior sisters, which was why he had come to ask. But clearly, he didn’t seem to know who these two were either.

"Wait, leave these two letters with me for now. I might know who they are."

Yang Haichen suddenly remembered the two junior sisters from the back mountain. That area was essentially a restricted zone for disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak; other than him, no disciple ever went there.

Besides, the back mountain was home not only to the Acting Peak Master and his wife, but also to the three disciples they had taken in. He, of course, knew Junior Brother Liu Chen, but he didn’t know the other two junior sisters.

’Perhaps these are the names of the two junior sisters from the back mountain.’

"I’m afraid I can’t do that. If the letters are lost, I’ll have to pay compensation in Spirit Stones."

The Outer Sect Disciple grew nervous. He had only taken over this job a short while ago. His master had told him the previous senior brother in his position was forced to step down after losing a relatively important letter. Six months ago, he had left Purple Cloud Valley to become a Loose Cultivator.

"Don’t worry. I’ll have an answer for you by this afternoon at the latest. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."

Yang Haichen was quite composed. Even if these two letters were lost, the compensation would only be a few dozen Spirit Stones. Besides, truly urgent matters were rarely sent via ordinary mail.

"Very well, then. But let me remind you, the last Outer Sect Disciple responsible for delivering mail to Purple Bamboo Peak left because he lost a letter."

In the end, the Outer Sect Disciple agreed. If the address on the envelopes hadn’t clearly stated Purple Bamboo Peak, he wouldn’t have brought them over in the first place.

Normally, disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak would give him their letters to send, and they would usually ask for an update every few days. Because of this, he made a point to record the names of disciples for both outgoing and incoming mail. However, the names on these two envelopes were not in his records.

It was even possible they weren’t disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak at all. Such things had happened before. Many Loose Cultivators would simply invent a name, hoping to get an envelope delivered into Purple Cloud Valley. Their goal was to have some Steward or Elder read the letter of self-recommendation tucked inside.

But most letters without a clear recipient were simply burned.

"If these letters aren’t for those two junior sisters, I’ll give them back to you."

Yang Haichen nodded. He was ninety percent certain. Inner Sect Disciples, and even True Disciples, had their own dedicated messengers. By process of elimination, that only left Junior Brother Liu’s two junior sisters.

Junior Brother Liu didn’t usually interact with the other disciples of Purple Bamboo Peak, and the same was true for his two junior sisters. This fit the circumstances perfectly. They must have gone directly to the post station to mail their letters. Mail sent from there wasn’t recorded on any personal roster; there were so many disciples in Purple Cloud Valley that keeping such a list would work the Outer Sect Disciples there to death.

Nearing noon, his business concluded, Yang Haichen took out the two letters. "Junior Brother, I have two letters here. See if the recipients are the junior sisters from the bamboo grove."

"These are indeed for my two junior sisters. Thank you, Senior Brother Yang."

Liu Chen gave the letters a brief glance before setting them down. ’It has only been a few days since the issue with the bamboo house blueprints, a reply this soon is truly surprising.’

"It’s a trivial matter, not worth mentioning. Junior Brother Liu, you might not be aware, but Purple Bamboo Peak has disciples who specialize in delivering mail. If you need to send letters in the future, just give them to me. I can pass them along for you."

Yang Haichen breathed a sigh of relief. ’I finally know the names of those two junior sisters. I wasn’t worried about offending them directly, but I was concerned about inadvertently dragging them into some future trouble.’

’If they were just any two junior sisters, I certainly wouldn’t be concerned. But they are Liu Chen’s junior sisters. I’ve received so much from him for no good reason; if I were to cause trouble for them, I’d be worse than an animal.’

’Besides, within Purple Cloud Valley, more than ninety percent of cultivation-partner relationships start out this way, between senior brothers and junior sisters, or senior sisters and junior brothers, developing slowly over time.’

’In any case, these two junior sisters are people I can’t afford to offend. More importantly, they’re disciples under the Acting Peak Master. According to the Grand Elder, there’s a difference between Elders and Stewards. Elders can take disciples as they please, while Stewards are required to guide new disciples for a period each year.’

’Clearly, the Acting Peak Master and his wife aren’t following the rules for Stewards. Didn’t that say it all?’

"I’m afraid that would be troubling you, Senior Brother Yang."

Liu Chen hesitated. ’I have no intention of sending any letters. The main issue is that I don’t have a recipient. I can’t exactly send one to the ruffian leader I took care of the other night, can I? Can a dead man receive mail?’

"It’s no trouble, no trouble at all."

Yang Haichen waved his hand dismissively. Without further pleasantries, he picked up his food container and left.

Partway down the path, Yang Haichen suddenly thought of something. ’I have to pay twenty stalks of Purple Bamboo Grass just to get a single meal of Spiritual Cuisine each day, yet those two junior sisters, who have almost no presence on Purple Bamboo Peak, probably eat Spiritual Cuisine for all three of their meals.’

"The Ye Family and the Great Xia Royal Family... what amazing luck."

Yang Haichen muttered as he departed. As long as Junior Brother Liu acknowledged those two junior sisters, their two families would likely become assets of Purple Bamboo Peak in the future.

"Sorry for the wait, junior sisters. Your letters are here."

At the dining table, Liu Chen placed the two letters on its surface. Ye Linglong and Ji Suyao exchanged a glance, and each took her respective letter.