Chapter 81: Impossibly Stupid
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
To deal with a fraudster, the easiest method was to kill and behead—directly combat the root of the problem. However, Wang Lu was still reluctant to kill inside the Wang Family Village, even though he struggled very hard not to do it.
Otherwise, his spirit of professional adventurer would not necessarily allow him to debate a swindler. Just like one should not fight a pig in the mud because it would drag them on its level and spatter them with the mud; even if one won the struggle, one would still be covered with mud. If he instead directly butchered the pig, he could eat the pig; the food chain was enough to prove everything.
However, even though the opponent could not be physically defeated this time, from a different angle, “killing” the spirit of the opponent should be enough.
Right now, Wang Lu was doing such a thing: forcing the opponent into the corner through words and then wait for the other side to make a comeback through a trickery—which would inflate the opponent’s hope to the max—and then firmly burst that hope. These major ups and downs would thoroughly crush the opponent’s heart and spirit.
This was not a complex method; it could not be used against someone with a strong psychological quality. However, the one present before him was just a third rate swindler; using this method was enough to deal with him.
And sure enough, that man surnamed Zhou almost wet himself out of fear.
It would be strange if he wasn’t that scared. The Seven Stars Penetrating Bone Nail was a favor bestowed by the sect to all of the Publicity Envoys, which should only be used in an extremely special circumstance. In theory, this magical tool could help the user make a comeback under any circumstances. However, this thing was actually chewed and swallowed by the opponent like a fava bean. Mr. Zhou was extremely rejoiced that not too long ago, he had just gone to the toilet.
Could such a monster really be a product of a mere Spirit Sword Sect? Moreover… by his look, he obviously wasn’t a high level cultivator, why then...
In his panic-stricken state, perhaps it was a divine intervention, or perhaps Mr. Zhou’s professional spirit of publicity envoy suddenly burst to the fore, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind.
Although it was a risky idea, it was an idea that could actually provide him with a way out… Frankly speaking, using it in front of such an opponent would be extremely risky. But if he didn’t use it, the other side would obviously not let him off.
If the scam were really exposed, even if he weren't killed alive by the angry villagers, he would still be killed by the sect’s disciplinary elder. With those possible outcomes, he would rather try his luck.
Mr. Zhou fought back his fear and coldly said. “Devil”
Wang Lu was startled. “What did you say?”
Mr. Zhou secretly pinched his own thigh. Appearing fierce while cowardly at heart, he fiercely roared, “Devil! You really are one of the remnant devil people that lurks inside the Nine Regions! You spread rumors and mislead people in order to shake the villagers’ heart toward immortality, so that you could destroy the path for the billions of people in the Nine Regions to soar to Immortality. Humph, actually, from the start, I have seen your imposing devil aura, but I just don’t have the evidence. But just now, I just secretly used my Seven Stars Sect’s Seven Stars Penetrating Bone Nail to probe you, and it really has revealed your true colors! If you come from the righteous path, you could never chew and swallow that Penetrating Bone Nail, because it was coated with a strong anesthetic. As long as a normal person touch it, his body would get stiff and be unable to move. But for devils, because of their natural physique, they are immune to many kinds poison! Wang Lu, you tried to bluff, but you didn’t expect your true color would be exposed because of that!”
This Mr. Zhou was perhaps extremely afraid, so much that it actually birthed him a new courage. His words were righteous and full of conviction. Not to mention the easily swayed villagers that had already fallen into his nonsense and now looked suspiciously at Wang Lu—even Wang Lu himself could not help but inwardly clap to praise him.
It was really a "desperate person can come up with an ingenious plan!”
Distorting the fact, confusing right and wrong, and imbuing it with a strong sense of righteousness and conviction… If this was in a debate field, those remarks were worthless, however, these were enough to fool the ignorant masses.
Sure enough, seeing that the villagers’ eyes had already swayed, Mr. Zhou gained a lot of encouragement, so he persistently continued his effort. “Wang Lu, more than two years ago, you left the village and went to seek the Immortal Path, and now you’re claiming to be the disciple of the Spirit Sword Sect, but… I don’t know if the Spirit Sword Sect really has received such a disciple like you.”
“Hahaha, does Spirit Sword Sect need to ask your permission to receive a disciple?”
“Umm, indeed, Spirit Sword Sect does not need to consult me to do their things. However, five days ago, I just saw your Sect’s Sect Leader. From his mouth, I learned that the sect hasn’t had received a new disciple within the last three years. Therefore, I felt strange; if that’s the case, how could you become their disciple!?”
“I want to ask, where and when exactly did you ‘meet’ with the Sect Leader of the Spirit Sword Sect? You…”
Before he finished his words, Wang Lu immediately stopped himself.
Because he found that the eyes of the villagers all around were already filled with doubts… as well as fear.
Needless to say, Mr. Zhou’s proposed devil theory had already taken root in people’s mind. Although that person didn’t have any proof and just used his mouth, this group of villagers chose to believe it!
“... Oh, well, let’s call it a day.” Wang Lu sighed. “The saying of ‘some have special skills’ [1] is indeed true. I acknowledge that you are a professional swindler. Even if I continue to argue, I can’t convince this group of ignorant idiots’ minds, so I better not say it.”
Hearing this, Mr. Zhou’s heart thumped. It was good that the opponent was willing to admit defeat… based on the opponent’s seemingly good cultivation level, if this continued, it would not end well for him.
Thus, Mr. Zhou wanted to speak a few nice words to appease the opponent. However, he did not expect that Wang Lu’s admitting defeat was just a prelude to “flipping over the table”.
The next moment, Wang Lu stepped forward, opened his mouth to spit out a fine needle-like small sword, which quickly stretched to a three feet sword in midair. The sword seemed plain and heavy, and the edge glittered with a cold, chilling light.
Wang Lu had lost his interest in the so-called wrestling with the pig in the mud that happened so far, and right now, he wanted to solve the problem using the human method.
“Sure enough, it’s easier to just kill you.”
Wang Lu took another step. The glitter on the sword was like electric sparks.
The Non-Phase Sword Bone specialized in defense and was neither known for its power nor speed; moreover, while the defense power of his seventh level of Qi Cultivating Stage was nearly on-par with that of the Foundation Establishment cultivators, his attack power was no better than the Ninth Level Qi Cultivating Stage newcomer… But, all in all, those were all comparisons to the other Spirit Sword Sect’s disciples.
If compared to those cultivators from not-quite-popular sects in the Nine Regions, however...
Even for a defense specialist like Wang Lu, his attack power should be more than enough.
Thrusting his sword forward, Mr. Zhou had no reaction at all—it was too late! Although he could barely be considered a cultivator after taking the Six Harmonies powder and Spirit Root Development Pill, but after years of arduous training, he was still in the eighth level Qi Cultivating Stage; his other qualities were appalling. Not to mention that Wang Lu was an elite disciple and also a martial art master of Xiantian stage; it would be easy to kill him.
However, Mr. Zhou had an assistant. This assistant had always acted low-key these several days while Mr. Zhou was preaching in the village. Even Wang Lu didn’t notice his existence. And at this critical moment...
Humm!
With a hum, the Sword of Mount Kun suddenly stopped; a familiar face had appeared in front of the sword.
“Tsk, tsk, old friend, why should we meet in this kind of situation?” Although Wang Lu had stopped the sword, he didn’t pull the sword back even an inch. The tip of the sword almost touched that person’s forehead.
“Xiaohu, I haven’t seen you in more than two years, you’re actually much fairer than before.”
The person the sword was pointed at was Wang Xiaohu who he hasn’t seen for many years! The so called “much fairer than before” was, of course, a nonsense. It referred to Wang Xiaohu’s pale frightened face because he had just narrowly escaped from the jaws of death of that Sword of Mount Kun.
However, after several years of mingling in the Seven Stars Sect, Wang Xiaohu has matured. In the face of Wang Lu’s awe-inspiring killing intent, not only he did not flinch, he became emboldened and loudly said, “Wang Lu, it’s not too late for you to turn back now! Although you’ve turned evil, us Seven Stars Sect can be lenient to you as long as you come to your senses!”
Upon hearing that, Wang Lu nearly burst out laughing, but his face instead has become scarier. “Xiaohu, although I often ridiculed you as a retard in the past, even if a retard, you should know me better than that. You’ve been in the Seven Stars Sect for quite a while, couldn’t you see how trash they are?”
Wang Xiaohu’s body trembled, but after a while, he sneered. “The Seven Stars Sect is a righteous Immortal Cultivation Sect—the future of the Immortal Cultivation World. They will give us mortal beings the chance to embark on the path to Immortality! Three years ago, I began to embark on this Immortal Path; although my cultivation is not high, and the training was very bitter, but I’ve changed my fate. I’m no longer that ordinary mountain village farmer, but a real Immortal Cultivator! And now, I want to let the people around me to live such a life, and the Seven Stars Sect is willing to help me. For a lowly disciple like me, they are willing to come here and develop this place! In my heart, I only feel grateful, I never had doubts!”
Wang Lu unexpectedly opened his eyes wide. “Xiaohu, three years gone, and you, these smelly f*ckers, has actually progressed greatly. That remark is really good… then, leave if you know what’s good for you.”
As soon as he finished talking, his right hand began to move again; he was about to thrust the Sword of Mount Kun forward. However, at this time...
Wang Lu was pulled back by a hand.
“You, this evil creature, you want to show off your fierceness here!?”
If this were any other person who reached out to pull him back and verbally confront him, Wang Lu would probably turn around and swung his sword to chop that person. However, this time, he didn’t.
Because the person behind him, was his father.
“Dad, didn’t I tell you to sit down and not move?” Wang Lu was really helpless. He withdrew the sword and looked at his father with a wry smile.
“How could I stay sit? Do I have to remain silent while I see you personally slaughter your own folks?!” The ever benign face of Master Wang had turned furious. While grabbing Wang Lu with one hand, he pointed at Wang Lu’s nose with his other hand. “I don’t know what kind of experience you have in these two years, but right now, is there a difference between you and the devil!?”
Wang Lu smiled. “How could the devil be as handsome as me?”
“Humph! Come with me!”
With that, he pulled Wang Lu out of the room with him. Wang Lu smiled; seeing his father’s intention, he thought that he shouldn’t be anxious to kill the pig. It was not worth it to delay the talk between him and his family about the old days. Despite the fact that there were many people outside the building, nobody dared to block because all of them were afraid of Wang Lu’s fierceness.
“Phew… that was close.”
Inside the building, knowing that the danger has finally over for today, Mr. Zhou and his assistant simultaneously heaved a long sigh.
However, things were not going to end lightly like this… as soon as possible, they must report this to the sect so that they could come up with countermeasures.
“Mr. Zhou, Xiaohu, are you guys alright?”
Several concerned villagers broke into the room and dispel the awkward silence atmosphere. Then, one after the other, the villagers began to denounce the previous devil path’s violence act.
“Ai, I really don’t know what evil that Wang Fugui did to create his wealth that he sired such an unfilial son!”
“That’s right, I always thought that Wang Lu was not like a normal person.”
“Yes, he often said some inexplicable words, completely different than the other kids! It’s like he has eaten the wrong medicine!”
Upon hearing the villagers complain, Mr. Zhou and Wang Xiaohu glanced at each other and could not help but inwardly snigger.
Although the process was a bit too breathtaking, the end result was not too bad… These bunch of fools were totally oblivious to what they were doing!
Or perhaps they were stupid enough that they were unwilling to know what the two were doing.
[1] Quote from the book “On The Teacher” by Han Yu: “Some learn the truth earlier than others, and some have special skills — that is all.”