James Carter is, after all, a person of managerial rank—how could he possibly be willing to let his life be held in someone else’s hands, to be used by a woman as a tool for spreading plague? While the master and disciple over there were temporarily ignoring him, James Carter quietly pondered a strategy to regain the initiative.

His gaze fell on that set of counting rods. Actually, this seemed like a feasible entry point? Looking at those strange wooden sticks, he couldn’t help but want to complain. Such simple addition and subtraction—if you can’t do it in your head, that’s already pretty dumb. If you need a tool, at least use an abacus; what’s with the counting rods? These women are formidable in martial prowess, but it seems their education isn’t much to speak of...

Well, that makes sense. Whether this is a wuxia world or a fantasy world, it’s clearly a world where strength rules—might makes right, as they say. As a modern person, why compete with them in martial arts, endlessly grinding and cultivating? Isn’t that abandoning your strengths to pit your weaknesses against the natives’ strengths? What’s the point...

From the way they calculated profits and losses, it was clear that they too needed food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, and cared about the development of their sect. They weren’t reclusive immortals or obsessed with longevity. So, in a society like this, a modern person still has plenty of room to maneuver...

As he was pondering, the young girl Emily suddenly exclaimed, “It really is one thousand six hundred and sixty-one taels!!”

The young woman’s eyes also showed some surprise. She turned to look at James Carter, her expression now carrying a bit more respect for someone with real ability, no longer the look she’d given an ant before. James Carter met her gaze calmly and smiled slightly. “If, madam, developing your sect is more important than spreading plague, perhaps I can be of far more use than you imagine.”

Chapter Three: So-called Spring and Autumn

Of course, no one was going to fall to their knees and worship James Carter just because of a boast. The young woman only smiled faintly. “No need to trouble yourself with developing the sect. But you do seem well-suited to be a bookkeeper. Emily, arrange a carriage for the gentleman and give him some medicine for his injuries.”

James Carter was a bit speechless. So no one had bothered to treat his injuries before—no wonder he was still in pain all over. Come to think of it, lying in her carriage was just so he could be questioned as soon as he woke up. If he couldn’t give a satisfactory answer, they’d probably just kill him outright—who’d waste effort treating his wounds?

At least this time they were willing to treat him and even arranged a carriage for him to stay in. Whether they wanted him as a bookkeeper or something else, at least he was settled for now.

Transferred to a much more ordinary carriage, James Carter leaned against the wall of the compartment and let out a long sigh. The pressure in front of that young woman, whose very gaze could kill, was really intense, but the flat-chested girl of thirteen or fourteen before him now made things feel much more relaxed.

Emily grinned and tossed over two bottles. “The white one is for healing—just take one pill, and after a good sleep you’ll be fine. The red one is to temporarily suppress the poison so it doesn’t leak out. Don’t make us have to circulate our qi and hold our breath around you all the time. Each pill lasts twelve hours—remember to take one every day.”

“Thanks.” Without another word, James Carter opened both bottles and took one pill from each. After all, if they wanted to kill him, it would be far too easy—no need to mess with the medicine. The two pills melted instantly in his mouth, and in a flash, a cool sensation spread through his entire body. The intense pain seemed to vanish almost completely in an instant. James Carter looked at the bottles in his hand in surprise, once again feeling that something was off about this world... What kind of medicine works this fast? It just wasn’t scientific.

Well... since transmigration had already happened, there was no point insisting on science. James Carter gave the girl what he thought was a very gentlemanly smile. “Still, I must thank you and your master for saving my life. My name is James Carter. May I ask how I should address you?”

The girl smiled too. “That self-satisfied smile of yours is pretty annoying, you know. By the way, I still want to dig out your eyeballs. I wonder if you can still be a bookkeeper if you’re blind?”

James Carter’s smile instantly turned bitter. “...Of course not.”

The girl propped her rosy cheek on her hand and looked James Carter up and down, as if observing some kind of miracle. “You’re pretty bold—not only did you look at me, you even looked at my master... It’s really not easy to still be alive and kicking.”

James Carter finally understood why she wanted to dig out his eyes. He said helplessly, “I didn’t see anything. It was so dark, and I fell so fast—I’m not a god, how could I have seen anything at that moment?”

“You still saw something white and bare, didn’t you? To me, that counts as being seen.”

“Can’t you be reasonable?”

“Nope.” The girl smiled sweetly. “If you tell me your story, maybe I’ll let you off.”

Seeing her charming and adorable smile, James Carter felt that although her words were fierce, she didn’t actually seem malicious, so he smiled and said, “I was soaked in a vat of poison since I was a child. Why I didn’t die, I have no idea.”

“There are thousands of sects and schools of cultivation in this world—clearly, I can’t know them all.” The girl sighed in a very mature way, then pointed at James Carter’s short hair and then at his clothes. “But monks and poison—those are hard to connect. What sect does that strange kasaya represent?”