Chapter 48: Coaxing Someone

Bian Chunzhou was the first to notice that the ultimate grind-master, Wen Xu, had slowed down. It wasn’t because he was particularly observant, but because the grind-master wasn’t reading while recovering from his injuries, which was simply unscientific! Had the sun risen from the west today?

“Wen Xuxu, tell me the truth. Has something… gone wrong with your cultivation?” Otherwise, why wouldn’t he even want to read? This made no sense.

Wen Xu, who was enjoying a rare moment of leisure and empty-headedness, thought, Was I really that intense before?

“No, don’t overthink it.”

Bian Chunzhou, however, let his mind wander even further. “Really? Don’t be embarrassed. My lips are sealed. Look, the senior brother next door just came to gossip with me about Senior Brother Huang from Kaiyuan Peak, and I haven’t told a soul.”

Wen Xu said, “…Is that so?”

“Of course, you’re not an outsider, right?” Bian Chunzhou patted his chest proudly. “But Senior Brother Huang is really ridiculous. He’s actually spreading rumors that the three of us teamed up to defeat a peak Foundation Establishment evil cultivator. Thank goodness I squashed the rumor early, otherwise it would’ve been a huge misunderstanding.”

Wen Xu couldn’t help but feel a bit curious. “How did you squash it?”

“Do you know the most effective way to stop a ridiculous rumor?”

Wen Xu pondered for a moment. “By fabricating an even more ridiculous rumor to cover it up?”

Bian Chunzhou slapped his thigh hard. “Exactly! You know me so well, Ah Xu! So I…” After hearing the even grander rumor, Wen Xu was left utterly speechless.

“Why do you have that look on your face? Just tell me, is it ridiculous enough? Is it big enough?”

Wen Xu nodded silently. Well, I suppose that works. Even a fabricated rumor managed to hit the nail on the head. Chunzhou really does have some bizarre luck.

“Right? And besides, instead of hyping ourselves up, it’s better to tear down the opponent. Evil cultivators don’t act like humans anyway, so no matter how we slander them, it’s not going too far, right? Why do you have that look again?”

Wen Xu coughed twice, then briefly recounted the story of the evil cultivator, Madame Shen, who had actively played matchmaker just to advance her cultivation.

After hearing the story, Boss Bian thought, Thanks for asking, but I feel like a righteous war correspondent now!

He was so shocked he almost bit his own hand. “No way! An evil cultivator actually pulled a stunt like that? Even Yue Lao, the God of Marriage, would have to step aside for her, wouldn’t he? Does she actually think she’s highly capable for doing this? Is she insane?”

Wen Xu said, “…Why don’t you go to the Punishment Hall and ask her? She probably hasn’t been executed yet.”

“There’s no need for that.” It really took all kinds to make a world. He thought he had slandered the evil cultivator into a complete clown, but who would have thought… the truth was so damn ridiculous. No wonder so many people believed it. It turned out to be real all along!

“Did she say where the stolen children are? She’s literally just a human trafficker! I suggest the Punishment Hall doesn’t execute her too quickly. That would be letting her off way too easy!”

Wen Xu suddenly spoke up. “Do you also think people who steal children are utterly detestable?”

Bian Chunzhou was filled with righteous indignation. “Of course! That goes without saying! Human traffickers deserve to die a thousand deaths! What did the children ever do wrong? I hope those kids can return to their families soon.” Even if they couldn’t reunite with their families, he hoped they would at least lead safe and smooth lives.

These evil cultivators really committed heinous sins. They deserved to be reduced to ashes after death.

Return to their families? Wen Xu thought. The people who had abandoned him in a pile of beggars probably didn’t want to see him return. But just as his master had said, only by settling his past with his own hands could he cross the ten thousand mountains ahead.

“Speaking of evil cultivators, I still don’t understand. Why didn’t that Grief Drum work on me?”

Wen Xu was also a bit curious about this. “Didn’t you ask Senior Sister Xia Ying?”

“I did, and that’s exactly why I’m so troubled.” Senior Sister had said she only had time to protect her own mind. “Senior Sister said it wasn’t her, and it couldn’t have been the Divine Venerable. Could it be that I’m exceptionally gifted?” Or perhaps the Transmigration God had finally decided to grant him a cheat code?

But wasn’t this cheat code a bit too stingy? If it was delayed, shouldn’t it at least be something grand?

“I asked my master for you,” Wen Xu suddenly said.

Bian Chunzhou’s worries instantly vanished. “What did the Divine Venerable say?”

Wen Xu fell into a strange silence for a moment. Skipping his master’s shocking remarks, he went straight to the final conclusion. “Master said that there are some people who are naturally pure and sincere, whose lives are smooth sailing, so they naturally don’t have any painful memories engraved in their hearts.”

“Huh?” Was that it? Bian Chunzhou stroked his chin. He had thought he would recall the blood, sweat, and tears of his hellish senior year of high school, but thinking about it now, it wasn’t that bad. “Now that you mention it, I really don’t have any dark or tragic past. The things that felt like the end of the world when I was a kid are just minor things I can laugh about now.”

Maybe the evil cultivator’s Grief Drum simply couldn’t affect the soul of a successor of socialism^[1]! After all, he was a man who could recite the Eight Honors and Eight Shames^[2] backward!

Bian Chunzhou cupped his face and grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Hehe.

How nice, Wen Xu thought with a hint of envy. But if Bian Chunzhou weren’t this kind of person, perhaps Wen Xu’s life would have ended the day he fell into the Poyun Secret Realm.

“By the way, is your Wind-Folding Fan fixed yet?” Boss Bian’s train of thought was clearly very erratic.

At the mention of this, a slightly troubled expression appeared on Wen Xu’s face. “No. Senior Brother Zheng Jin hasn’t even spoken to me for seven days.”

“Huh? Doesn’t he treat you really well?” Bian Chunzhou immediately leaned in for the gossip.

Wen Xu rubbed his nose, knowing he was indeed in the wrong. “Because I used the Wind-Folding Fan as a sword.” The Wind-Folding Fan was a control-type magic treasure and shouldn’t have been stained by the filthy blood of an evil cultivator. But at that moment, he was focused solely on winning the fight. With the perfect timing and positioning, he had plunged the Zhe Feng into the evil cultivator’s dantian without a second thought.

Well, it went in, but… the wound wasn’t deep enough, and it damaged the spirituality of the Wind-Folding Fan.

It was only natural for Senior Brother Zheng Jin to blame him. He hadn’t taken proper care of the Wind-Folding Fan.

“Uh-oh. So how do you plan to coax him? Want me to teach you?” Military Counselor Bian began to offer bad advice. “Actually, you can never go wrong by catering to his interests.”

Wen Xu said, “…I don’t know Senior Brother Zheng Jin very well.”

In fact, because of his upbringing, he rarely took the initiative to get to know someone. His preferred distance in relationships was “a friendship between gentlemen is as pure as water^[3].” The Senior Brother Zheng Jin he knew was simply the Little Martial Uncle of Refining Peak, a metal-attribute single-spiritual-root Qi Refining genius, sixth on the Heaven’s Pride List, and a pillar of Yonglu Mountain’s younger generation.

As for personality, Wen Xu considered himself a decent judge of character, but he could not see through the man. Compared to people with complex personalities, he preferred to make friends with those who were simple, direct, and easy to read.

“You’re asking me? I know!” Bian Chunzhou immediately volunteered.

A rare look of astonishment appeared on Wen Xu’s face. “Are you two close?” He had never heard of such a thing.

“No, we’ve never even met. But I’m the new generation’s Know-It-All of Yonglu Mountain. As for Little Martial Uncle Zheng, he studied under the Peak Master of Refining Peak. With his metal-attribute single spiritual root, he should have been a genius of the sword path, but he isn’t keen on sword cultivation at all. Instead, he loves artifact refining. Because of this, the Suitian Sword Sect has always mocked our Yonglu Mountain for wasting talent.”

“But actually, Little Martial Uncle Zheng is extremely formidable in combat. Even though he doesn’t practice the sword path, he is still ranked sixth on the Heaven’s Pride List. Many disciples in our sect admire him. However, Little Martial Uncle Zheng loves to play pranks on the younger disciples. Although it’s harmless, when he smiles the brightest, it’s best to steer clear of him.”

Wen Xu, who was pretending to be blind: …

Bian Chunzhou stroked his chin with a look of profound mystery. “No wonder I’ve been hearing the Dao boys of Refining Peak complaining lately. Turns out you’re the culprit! Ah Xu, you really are a devastatingly handsome trouble-maker, bringing disaster to others.”

Wen Xu touched his slightly aching conscience. “…Really?”

“Hahaha, just joking with you. Little Martial Uncle Zheng likes to play pranks anyway. But if you want to cater to his interests, why not…”

“Why not what?”

“Why not gift him a set of Dharma robes? I heard that when Little Martial Uncle Zheng appeared recently, the robes on his body were getting more and more tattered.” It was also strange. Little Martial Uncle Zheng was clearly a wealthy first-generation cultivator with pockets full of spirit stones, yet he dressed extremely simply. Bian Chunzhou had seen him from afar a few times, and that beggar-style robe was truly memorable.

Since Wen Xu was pretending to be blind, he really hadn’t noticed this. “Are they really that tattered?”

Bian Chunzhou came up with a very vivid description. “Let’s put it this way. If Little Martial Uncle Zheng went down the mountain incognito, he wouldn’t even need to change his clothes. I guarantee that not a single citizen of Langyuan City would recognize him as someone from Yonglu Mountain.” If it weren’t for his handsome face saving him, he would have seamlessly passed for a street beggar.

…Understood. The sect seal of Yonglu Mountain on his robes must have faded.

“Why?”

Bian Chunzhou shrugged. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask him?”

Wen Xu immediately shook his head. “That would be too abrupt.” However, the suggestion of gifting Dharma robes could be adopted. After all, he could also draw simple defensive arrays. As for whether Senior Brother Zheng would wear it, that was not his concern.

“…Actually, this is also considered one of the top ten unsolved mysteries of Yonglu Mountain in recent years. Are you really not going to consider asking?”

The reforming overachiever Wen Xu: “An unsolved mystery of Yonglu Mountain? That’s it?”

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’? This is clearly very bizarre, okay…”

Wen Xu was annoyed by his friend’s nagging and finally left, unable to bear it any longer. His friend was good in every way, except he talked too much. Although much of what he said was interesting, occasionally, his ears needed a break.

*

The interrogation of the evil cultivator Madame Shen was drawing to a close. Thanks to the efforts of the Punishment Hall, Madame Shen confessed to all the evil deeds she had committed during her career as an evil cultivator. These included, but were not limited to, murder, arson, kidnapping children, and using humans to refine pills. In short, she had tried almost everything an evil cultivator could do.

As for why she had not caused any major disasters, it was purely because her cultivation was too low and her vision was limited.

Regarding the children stolen by Madame Shen, Yonglu Mountain quickly located some of them based on clues. In fact, the probability of a half-demon being born was very low. It was clear that He Qinqing was the sole exception; all the other children they found were confirmed not to be half-demons. This made it easier to settle these children. After all, demons rarely took in human offspring. For those who were living peaceful lives, it was best to leave them be, while for those in difficult situations, Yonglu Mountain sent people to rescue them and help them get their lives on track.

“You did well in this matter. But why are evil cultivators so rampant lately? Is it the same in other cities? Is there any news from the Hehe Sect?”

As the sect master of a major sect, Gu Wufang hated chaotic times the most. Evil cultivators, those sinister and treacherous creatures, popped up to cause trouble every now and then, which was utterly vexing.

“For now, we have not received any other reports of rampant evil cultivator activity.”

Gu Wufang nodded and calculated the time. “There is less than half a year left before the sexennial Sect Tournament. This year can be considered special.”

Once every six years might seem long to mortals, but to cultivators, it might just be the duration of a single closed-door cultivation session.

“This Sect Tournament will also determine the list of cultivators participating in next year’s Five Sects Conference. Although our Yonglu Mountain ranks at the bottom of the Five Great Sects, we can’t look too pathetic. Don’t let the matter of the evil cultivators affect the cultivation of the disciples.”

The so-called Five Sects Conference was actually a highly famous sparring tournament in the cultivation world. It was a grand event co-hosted by the Five Great Sects, open to all cultivators. The previous one was held at the Hehe Sect, and next year’s would be at the Suitian Sword Sect.

Those sword lunatics were quite obsessed with the title of the number one sect. Next year’s Five Sects Conference would definitely be a sight to behold. Yonglu Mountain did not seek to stand out, but they could not lag behind others either.

Having finished reviewing all of today’s affairs, Gu Wufang looked visibly more weathered. Only after the reporting disciple left did he pull out a mirror from his sleeve to look at himself. What happened to the promise of Soul Transformation cultivators retaining their youth forever? Why did he feel like the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were getting deeper and deeper?