Chapter 33: Returning to the Mountain

The fire at Biyu Tower burned for an entire night before it was finally extinguished.

It was not that they could not use the Celestial Rain Spell to put it out. Rather, once Biyu Tower’s array was activated, the fire did not spread outward. Furthermore, Yonglu Mountain had always been fiercely protective of its own. Knowing that Biyu Tower’s master had intended to kill Yonglu Mountain’s disciples, they had exercised immense self-control just by not throwing Blazing Fire Talismans to make the fire burn even hotter.

Senior Brother Huang, his face grim, comforted his two junior brothers and the Little Grand-Uncle Master. “Rest assured, I will make this evil cultivator regret ever coming into this world!”

Dammit, what a joke. How dare someone commit crimes right at the foot of Yonglu Mountain? It seemed Yonglu Mountain had been acting too gently lately. Once they returned to the mountain, he would have a good chat with his senior brothers and sisters. An evil cultivator, was it? A Jade Bone Acacia Tree, was it? It was the end of the year, and indeed high time to settle some accounts.

Wrapped in the cloak his senior brother had given him, Bian Chunzhou quietly nudged closer to Wen Xuxu. Help, this senior brother’s expression was terrifying! As expected, this evil cultivator must be extremely difficult to deal with.

“You all go back and rest first. I will personally make a trip here and to Wushan Village. Please rest assured, Little Grand-Uncle Master.”

Wen Xu: …He was gradually becoming immune to this title.

The three of them had emerged from the fire looking more or less disheveled. This was especially true for Chen Zui. Having gone through a fierce battle, his saber now had several chips in it, to say nothing of his own physical condition.

Bian Chunzhou was somewhat worried about the big dummy. “Are you really okay? You spit up so much blood just now!”

Chen Zui looked full of vigor. “It’s just a bit of blood. You should worry about yourself instead.”

“…Who told you to throw yourself over so tragically just now? I thought-” Bian Chunzhou still felt a lingering fear when he recalled it. Before Wen Xuxu showed up, he had truly prepared himself to die before even completing his training. “Wen Xuxu, you really arrived just in time! Wait, that’s not right. We didn’t even have time to send you a transmission talisman. How did you know we were at Biyu Tower?”

Speaking of this, Wen Xu felt a lump in his throat. “The Mystic Physician.”

“Holy crap! That dog-shit Mystic Physician! He &%&U^*T&%￥!”

Wen Xu & Chen Zui: …They couldn’t understand, but it felt like he was swearing very filthily.

“What did he do to you?”

Bian Chunzhou was so angry he spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube. “You have no idea how outrageous he was! What is he even after? Can’t he just speak like a normal human being? What kind of dog-shit troll is he?”

Wen Xu did not know either. But there were some people in this world who acted purely on a whim, without caring about gains, losses, or consequences. “He is Pei Mingshan, the Young Master of Jinding Pavilion.”

Bian Chunzhou, who had been cursing energetically, suddenly went quiet. Only after a long pause did his eyes widen. “Him?”

Wen Xu nodded. “Yes, him. Zhixiang Pavilion, diagonally opposite Biyu Tower, is his property. According to him, Biyu Tower stole Zhixiang Pavilion’s business, which is why he investigated Biyu Tower. The investigation mission for Wushan Village was also posted by him.”

Bian Chunzhou suddenly lowered his head and looked at his hands.

Seeing him suddenly fall silent and keep staring at his hands, Chen Zui asked, “Did you injure your hand?”

Bian Chunzhou felt miserable. “You don’t understand.”

“…If you don’t tell me, how am I supposed to understand?”

“Something even more tragic than injuring my hand has happened.” Was his luck really that terrible? Maybe he should just stop being curious from now on.

Out of all the investigation missions on the board at Kaiyuan Peak, how on earth did he manage to pick Wushan Village, which was practically hell-difficulty?

“It’s not your fault. Pei Mingshan is just a bad person. He hid crucial information when posting the mission. Yonglu Mountain will definitely settle this with him.” If Yonglu Mountain did not take action, he would use his title as the “Little Grand-Uncle Master.”

The other party kept calling him the Disciple of the Divine Venerable left and right. If he did nothing, wouldn’t he become a laughingstock?

“Exactly! So what if he’s the Young Master of Jinding Pavilion? I’m not his family’s old servant! What do you think he’s after? The son of the wealthiest man, running off to the pleasure district to open a brothel-does that make any sense?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “I don’t know. But since he found out about the evil cultivator, yet didn’t use his family’s power and instead posted an ambiguous investigation mission at Yonglu Mountain, he either wants something else, or he knows the identity of this evil cultivator.”

“Well, whatever. Let’s not worry about those big shots. I need to go back and regulate the spiritual energy in my body. I used too much of it just now, and it’s on the verge of going out of balance.” Visible exhaustion covered Bian Chunzhou’s face. “Oh right, that move earlier was incredibly powerful. Wen Xuxu, are you okay?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “I’m fine. That was a protective talisman given by my master.”

A protective talisman from the Divine Dragon?

“Isn’t that extremely precious?” Oh, to think he had been protected by the Divine Dragon! His life was complete! He felt re-energized!

“Not as precious as your lives.” Wen Xu wanted to say it was fine, but… a strike from a Body Integration Stage expert was a priceless treasure no matter where one went. Once he returned to the mountain, he would have to go apologize to his master.

Bian Chunzhou threw himself forward. “Wen Xuxu, you are my absolute, absolute, absolute best friend!”

“What about me?”

“You are my absolute, absolute, absolute best senior brother!”

Chen Zui was instantly appeased. “Good. I will always be your senior brother.”

…I’m talking about feelings, and you’re talking about cultivation seniority? Classic Chen Zui, the ultimate overachiever.

Both Bian Chunzhou and Chen Zui were injured to some degree, so they immediately went into secluded cultivation upon returning to the mountain. Wen Xu took on the heavy responsibility of going to Kaiyuan Peak to hand in the missions. The first two were very easy, but the investigation mission for Wushan Village was a bit tricky.

On the way back, the three of them had discussed it and unanimously decided to abandon this mission. Although they had put in the effort, they could do without the dog-shit physician’s money.

They were just that unyielding, just that principled.

An investigation mission involving an evil cultivator, and he only offered a measly few spirit stones? Was he treating them like beggars? Who was so desperate for those few spirit stones anyway?

However, when Wen Xu arrived to hand in the missions, he found that the reward for the investigation mission had changed.

“Little Grand-Uncle Master, are you sure you don’t want to claim the mission reward?”

“Not for now. Keep it on hold.”

The young disciple of Kaiyuan Peak nodded. “Understood. However, you cannot keep it on hold for too long.”

For this investigation mission, Chunzhou and Chen Zui had contributed the most. Now that the rewards had changed and were so tailored to their preferences, it was clearly Pei Mingshan’s doing. But setting that aside, the rewards were indeed very generous, so whether to accept them was not for him to decide alone.

“Mm, sorry to trouble you.”

After leaving Kaiyuan Peak, Wen Xu returned to Guochun Peak.

He climbed all the way to the summit. Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the Guochun Great Hall, his master was already sitting upright inside.

“This disciple has come to beg Master’s forgiveness.”

Venerable Chengwei looked at his dust-covered young disciple and asked with great interest, “What wrong have you done? Why beg for forgiveness? Did you not have fun when you went down the mountain?”

Wen Xu shook his head. “I did not go down the mountain to play.”

“Isn’t doing missions just playing?” Master Chengwei said. Realizing his slip of the tongue, he quickly corrected himself, “Alright, then did you have an unhappy time doing the mission?”

Chengwei was at the Integration stage, after all. The moment the jade slip he had given out was used, he naturally sensed it immediately. In fact, because his disciple had encountered danger, he had even used his divine sense to track the boy. Only after confirming that his young disciple was out of danger did he withdraw it.

Wen Xu briefly explained how he had used the jade slip. “This disciple could have…”

“Since I gave it to you, how you use it is your business. There is no need to be so cautious. Why copy your Sect Master martial nephew^[1]? I do not like that kind of behavior.” Holding a flask of wine, Chengwei sat cross-legged comfortably beside his young disciple. “I heard you ran into evil cultivators?”

“Yes. It was also my first time seeing evil cultivators.”

“How did it feel?”

“They… were quite detestable.”

Venerable Chengwei smiled. “Just that? It seems you encountered something that troubled you. Tell me about it. I can keep a secret.”

Wen Xu had nothing to hide. Furthermore, he truly did not understand Pei Mingshan’s intentions. In his view, Pei Mingshan had many better ways to resolve the issue, yet he had chosen the worst, most disadvantageous method. To Wen Xu, this was both unnecessary and irritating.

Venerable Chengwei’s focus, however, completely strayed. “What? That Pei fellow from Jinding Pavilion has a son? Who did he have him with? And his son can’t cultivate?”

Wen Xu: “…Master, do you have a history with the proprietor of Jinding Pavilion?”

“I suppose so,” Venerable Chengwei said. He thought about it; he probably still owed a debt of several hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones. However, he doubted that Pei fellow would dare come to Yonglu Mountain to collect it.

Wen Xu suddenly had a very bad feeling. “You suppose so?”

“Yes, Pei Dongsu. Back then, he… Ah, I forgot. I met too many people when I was young, I can’t remember clearly.” Venerable Chengwei took a sip of wine and clapped his disciple heavily on the shoulder. “A-Xu, let me tell you, in this cultivation world, you will never be able to guess what some people are thinking. But it doesn’t matter. Just wait. As long as you live long enough, you will eventually find out what they want to do.”

“This disciple will keep Master’s teachings in mind.”

“Easy, easy. So, A-Xu, are you ready to strike back?”

Wen Xu: “Huh?”

“A-Xu, you aren’t planning to just let this go, are you?” Venerable Chengwei sized up his disciple from head to toe. “You are my disciple, Chengwei’s disciple. For him to dare play tricks on you is a provocation to me. Are you really going to just watch someone provoke your master?”

“No, Master, I…” Of course he wasn’t going to let it go, but Wen Xu did not plan to handle it openly.

Chengwei gently patted his disciple’s dusty head. “Look at you, all covered in dust. Coming to find me like this, do you want me to stand up for you? I can do that. I’ll go call your Sect Master martial nephew right now!”

Wen Xu: I can’t stop him! I can’t stop him at all!

Gu Wufang had actually received the news long ago. Being summoned by the grand master now was… not in the least bit unexpected.

However, this Young Master of Jinding Pavilion had indeed acted with too little regard for Yonglu Mountain. If everyone issued missions in such a secretive manner in the future… It was fine this time because the ones who accepted it were personal disciples of the inner sect who had masters, which was why they hadn’t fallen victim to the evil cultivators. But what if they had been ordinary disciples?

The disciples of Yonglu Mountain were not blades for others to use for trial and error.