Facing the setting sun, Cheng Ming walked into the gathering area, his figure pausing involuntarily.
The market street, which had been relatively tidy in the morning, was now in complete chaos.
Broken pottery jars, baskets with their bottoms showing, sections of grass mats torn into several pieces.
“Is this the aftermath of last night’s events?”
Cheng Ming walked noiselessly to the rear of a large tree.
His lips moved slightly, and the Five Ghosts Bag opened.
He stood in the shade of the tree, stealthily observing the hurried stream of people.
The laborers hadn’t come down from the mountain yet.
The common small-time street vendors were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, a few Government Officials lurked not far away, shouting and driving away anyone they saw.
An old man was dragged out from inside a tent by a Government Official.
They barged into the tent, smashing and looting everything in sight.
In the end, they gave the old man a few kicks and left, cursing and swearing.
…
Old Liu felt like his luck had hit rock bottom.
His business was just starting to look up, and he’d finally managed to sell three Power Pills.
Then at night, the Government Officials came and took all his money, and he beat him up too.
Holding a piece of grey cloth to his bruised forehead, Old Liu sighed heavily.
“What’s going on?” a detached voice suddenly arose from behind him.
Old Liu shuddered with fright, turning his head abruptly, but when he recognized the person, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s you, Brother Yang. I thought those black dogs had come back,” Old Liu said, still shaken.
Cheng Ming nodded without expression, feigning a reticent and dull appearance.
“County Magistrate Li Qing is unhappy with the progress of the construction; he sent those black dogs to supervise the work.”
“Here in the gathering area, all the able-bodied laborers must go and build the altar.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t here, or else you’d surely have been conscripted,” said Old Liu.
Cheng Ming’s heart relaxed, but his brow inadvertently furrowed.
“It’s not because of the death of the strong men and Lu Jin’s serious injury, but because of the altar.”
“Conscripting laborers? That’s a bit troublesome.”
“The gathering area is becoming a place of trouble.”
Old Liu sighed as he picked up medicinal herbs scattered on the ground.
“What are your plans now?” Cheng Ming suddenly asked.
“What else can I do, pack up and leave.”
“I’ve been cleaned out three times in one day, this old frame of mine can’t take much more,” Old Liu said despondently, shaking his head.
Being of an advanced age, he had hoped to make some money and then find a quiet village to settle down and spend his final days.
But suddenly, the Government Officials barged in, and he was looted three times in one day, leaving him with nothing for his funeral. Thinking about his life ahead, he felt lost.
Should he continue the life of a traveling quack doctor, possibly meeting his end in a strange place one day? The future was uncertain…
Cheng Ming looked thoughtfully at the medicinal herbs on the ground: “I need a batch of medicinal herbs.”
“You’re not planning to leave?” Old Liu was startled.
The gathering area was clearly unfit for living.
Unless one wanted to go up the mountain to labor.
“I need a large quantity; can you get them for me?” Cheng Ming asked calmly.
With his current strength, if he chose to hide, it would be difficult for the Government Officials to find him.
“Are you serious?!” Old Liu was overjoyed.
“The medicinal herbs you collect, deliver them to my cabin, cash on delivery,” Cheng Ming said.
“Brother Yang, rest assured, even if it costs me my life, I will make sure the goods are delivered,” Old Liu promised excitedly, rubbing his hands.
The items Cheng Ming wanted included both herbs and unassuming plants from the mountain.
Bought cheaply from the laborers, he could sell them at a high price to Cheng Ming.
Old Liu had made quite a profit from their last transaction!
Cheng Ming didn’t mind this small markup.
The anti-corrosion materials for Power Pills, many were local vegetation from the mountain.
He needed to collect a large amount quickly, to prepare and stock up on food for the journey.
…
Outside the wooden cabin at the foot of Lesser East Mountain, Cheng Ming’s expression was grim.
Pots, pans, and ladles were thrown all over the ground, and books on the table were torn up. It looked as though someone, disgruntled, had searched through them page by page.
The two air-dried hares that had been hanging under the eaves had also vanished.
The greedy Government Officials, using the excuse of supervising work and conscripting laborers, had severely looted the gathering area. Even his own house had not been spared.
“I can’t stay here.”
Luckily, he had stored the most important items in the Five Ghosts Bag, otherwise, the loss would have been significant.
The next day.
Cheng Ming packed the stove and bedclothes and took the leftover tent used for papering the walls of the Five Ghosts Bag.
At first light, he carried a bamboo basket and slipped into the misty forest of Lesser East Mountain.
He was to leave in just over ten days.
There was no point in clashing with the government officials.
He wanted to find a place nearby to hide from the supervising Government Officials, and once the departure date arrived, bid farewell to this place.
…
Two days later.
On the north side of Lesser East Mountain, behind Qingfeng Observatory, there was a small terraced cliff with a pool below.
The surface of the water bubbled from time to time as the spring water gushed.
A small stream emerged from the edge of the pool, flowing down along the mountain’s contour.
Next to the pool was the faint smoke from cooking. Cheng Ming, with a grey cloth scarf tied around his head, brandished his cooking spatula with flair.
The shredded fish fillets barely touched the bottom of the pan before being flipped over. The residual heat permeated inward, evaporating moisture, and caramelizing the surface.
Spices, honey, and medicine, a variety of flavors slowly merged together, giving off a tempting sweet and slightly burnt aroma.
He had been hiding out in this place for two days.
He set up a tent and carved out a simple dwelling.
He didn’t plan to stay long; he just aimed to prepare enough travel food here. Quietly waiting for the departure date.
He had tried asking Jie Jia if he could leave early. But Jie Jia had categorically refused.
Cheng Ming didn’t quite understand. Were there really that many assassin missions in Qingshan County?
As he was focused on frying fish floss and making Fasting Pills,
a juvenile voice suddenly came from above: “What are you doing?”
Cheng Ming looked up.
On the four-meter-high small cliff, a porcelain-like young Daoist boy was squatting.
Cheng Ming?
“`
How did this little Daoist acolyte find this place?
Has Qingfeng Observatory discovered me?
Will they send someone to capture me for altar repair?
Chen Mu felt somewhat helpless. Hadn’t he just settled down for two days, and now might have to move again?
The life of hiding and seeking was really quite embarrassing for a transmigrator.
“So delicious.” The little Daoist acolyte didn’t get a response, his eyes glued to the pot, salivating with envy.
“Want to eat?” Chen Mu asked with a smile.
“Yes!” Cheng Ming’s eyes immediately brightened.
Chen Mu’s smiling face turned cold as he said, “Go back and ask the fireworks technician Fat He to make some for you.
Cheng Ming: “…”
“Big brother Chen, please let me have a taste. I promise, just one bite!” The little Daoist acolyte wasn’t discouraged at all. He moved his short legs briskly and scurried over to Chen Mu like a rabbit along the small path beside the cliff.
“You still remember me?” Chen Mu was surprised.
The last time they met was already a year and a half ago.
They didn’t interact much, speaking only a few words a day.
And the other was just an eight or nine-year-old boy.
“Of course!” Cheng Ming held his head high, proudly saying, “Master says I have an exceptional talent; it’s called eidetic memory!”
Chen Mu: “…”
What do you do when you’re a bit envious?
I’m a transmigrator and don’t have eidetic memory, but this little Daoist acolyte does?
“Big brother Chen, let me have some, please. I promise, just one bite!”
…
On the stone bench by the stove, Cheng Ming clutched a bowl as big as his head, filled with boneless, fragrant pan-fried fish slices.
“So you came here on your own.” Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
Cheng Ming didn’t pay any attention, just kept stuffing his face, cheeks puffing out like a hamster.
Chen Mu snatched the porcelain bowl away.
Cheng Ming looked at Chen Mu with a pleading expression, nodding, “Master and the senior brothers are so busy they’re never around, so I snuck out to play.”
Chen Mu returned the bowl to the little Daoist acolyte.
At least there was no need to worry about being driven away or captured.
“Don’t tell anyone at the observatory about me being here,” Chen Mu sternly warned.
“So can I have some fish slices tomorrow?” Cheng Ming asked, not scared at all, but with sparkling eyes as he looked at Chen Mu.
“Yes,” Chen Mu said, rolling his eyes. To think such a young kid had learned to drive a hard bargain, that’s quite something.
“Deal!” Cheng Ming happily continued to devour his meal.
After eating a large bowl of fish, his stomach was still as flat as ever.
“Uncle He says I’m a ‘bottomless pit,'” the little Daoist acolyte said with pride.
Look at you, showing off!
“Here, have a couple of good things,” Chen Mu said, grinning as he handed over two Fasting Pills.
“What are these?” Cheng Ming asked as he took them and popped them into his mouth.
So naive, taking anything you’re given and eating it right away.
“Fasting Pills,” Chen Mu said seriously.
Cheng Ming stared at Chen Mu with a tense face, silent.
“Rice ball, rice ball, pork floss rice ball!”
“If you’re not going to eat them, give them back to me!”
“I’ll eat them!” The little Daoist acolyte immediately stuffed another pill into his mouth.
After eating three in a row and still wanting more, Chen Mu dared not give anymore, fearing it would be too much for him.
Yet Cheng Ming still looked at the Fasting Pills in Chen Mu’s hands with desire, his stomach remaining flat.
“You really are a ‘bottomless pit.’ With an appetite like that, you’re almost on par with me.”
…
“It’s normal,” Jie Jia said, deftly picking up a piece of fragrant pan-fried fish, “If someone has an Innate Taoist Bone, it’s not unusual for them to eat a lot.”
Daoist Bone? Chen Mu heard a new term.
“Don’t even think about it. Those people are not from the same world as us,” Jie Jia said indifferently.
“What do you mean?”
“Ten years of Shape Cultivation, a hundred years of Soul Cultivation. Even those with exceptional talent must train tirelessly. To achieve Wandering Soul by thirty and be deemed a genius.”
“Then, accumulating Vital Energy to strengthen the Wandering Soul, awaiting its transformation into a Shell Soul, often takes a lifetime.”
“But those born with an Innate Taoist Bone can complete Shape Cultivation in a hundred days and form a Shell Soul in three years.”
“Can such people be compared with us?”
It was the first time Chen Mu saw Jie Jia talk so much.
“Is Soul Strength really that hard to cultivate?” He had Proficiency and didn’t find the Shape Cultivation Technique difficult, nor did he regard Soul Strength as a big deal.
Seeing Jie Jia so lamenting made Chen Mu somewhat uneasy.
He immediately thought of Cheng Ming.
Could this kid be one of those born with an Innate Taoist Bone?
“Stop thinking about it. Such people would be whisked away the moment they are discovered, you wouldn’t have the chance to meet them,” Jie Jia said.
“There are plenty with big appetites. Innate Divine Power, possessing Exotic Beast blood, using shapeshifting drugs – these can all cause one to eat a lot,” Jie Jia finished speaking in one breath, then slowly took out a white silk handkerchief and wiped his mouth. His emotions quickly packed away, he returned to his usual undisturbed state.
…
After the meal, watching Jie Jia disappear into the dense mountain fog, Chen Mu wore a grim expression as he contemplated the concept of a Daoist Bone.
The world really was unfair.
He’d been getting up early and toiling away diligently at his cultivation for a year and a half, yet he still couldn’t complete his Shape Cultivation. Some people, however, achieved it with ease.
A sense of helplessness rose in Chen Mu, and his face grew even darker.
And then there was Soul Strength. Jie Jia, with his white hair, only managed to cultivate Soul Strength after much difficulty. People with a Daoist Bone, however, needed only three years.
Chen Mu clenched his fist so hard that his nails dug into his flesh, gritting his teeth, “If it’s so difficult for Jie Jia, what about me?”
His previous life was just that of an ordinary scholar with an inherently weak constitution. And the cultivation technique he practiced was the Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique, a dime a dozen.
“Muscle Transformation, Bone Transformation, Marrow Transformation”
“Ten years of Shape Cultivation, a hundred years of Soul Cultivation.”
“I’ve been tirelessly cultivating for a year and a half, and I haven’t even completed Marrow Transformation!”
“For someone like me, with no resources, no mentorship, no backing, a completely ordinary martial artist from the bottom rung, when will my day of success come!” Chen Mu stared fiercely at the grey proficiency wall in front of him, full of grief and anger.
Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique: 5209/10000/Third Rank;
“Hm? I can complete Shape Cultivation in at most three months?!”
Chen Mu blinked.
“Hmph!”
He fiercely put away the grey wall.
“These worldly possessions!”
“Disturb my Daoist heart!”
“Better not to look at them!”
“`