Edited by: NZRose
Lin Xuanzhi had said before that he would take Yan Tianhen to the Tomb of Youshan to search for the blood cypress sap and refine this Xiuxiu into a peerless sword before doing other things.
Yan Tianhen also didn’t want to parade himself through town every day while carrying an ugly and useless sword that was only good for blocking blows; he would be a laughing-stock. Naturally, he was willing to take the risk to pay the Tomb of Youshan a visit.
However, the sect definitely didn’t have any missions allowing him to enter the Tomb of Youshan, so Yan Tianhen had to settle for the second-best option and choose missions close to the Tomb of Youshan to finish in passing. The rusty sword was important, but so were his studies.
Nobody in the Yan family had ever repeated a year. If he accidentally had to repeat the year again in a moment of carelessness, he was afraid his dad would beat him to death.
People picked and accepted missions. In less than two hours, almost all the easier missions with more stars had already been selected by disciples, and Yan Tianhen naturally selected some as well. Moreover, he chose the kind that others didn’t want to pick–
In other words, the leftover missions after everyone finished scrambling to get their first choice.
All these missions could be completed in Ethereal City, such as helping a resident in Ethereal City find the big white goose they lost a few days ago, or driving away local bullies for a certain spiritual herb shop in Ethereal City…
It’s not that Yan Tianhen wanted to do these missions. It was because there were too many mundane chores in Ethereal City. Everyday, those residents would visit the small house outside the sect specially used for receiving requests from inside the city and complain, so the sect could only force disciples who wanted to accept a mission outside the island to first accept and complete ten missions on the island.
This was really…using a talented person for an insignificant task.
What’s more, the missions such as weeding and cleaning the yard for the residents were quickly taken by disciples with quick hands. Yan Tianhen definitely belonged to the category with slow hands, so it eventually became the missions choosing him instead.
On the first day, Yan Tianhen helped the east side’s Grandma Zhang search for her big white goose.
Grandma Zhang shook Yan Tianhen’s hand with a trembling hand and spoke with a smile. “My family’s Da Bai is the same age as me; he’s very close to gaining sentience. If I didn’t scare him a few days ago by saying that I would stew him to nourish my grandson’s body, he wouldn’t have run away like this. Little Daoist, you must find him for me…”
Yan Tianhen asked Grandma Zhang for a white feather that fell from the big white goose, then made the hand seals for a tracking spell. He let go and allowed the white feather to fly towards its owner.
However, Yan Tianhen excitedly followed the white feather to the goose’s location, only to find a pile of white feathers that had fallen all over the ground. Yan Tianhen was stunned for an instant, then changed his spell and realized that the big white goose had already met with a violent death at someone’s hands.
Yan Tianhen rushed in to ask the household for the big white goose, but unexpectedly, the wife said very casually, “Oh, that fat goose ah. It somehow broke into my yard and swallowed two chicks. I was so angry that I slaughtered it and stewed it.”
“Ah wuwuwuwu my Da Bai ah, give me Da Bai back…” The vigorous Grandma Zhang had chased after Yan Tianhen and arrived just in time to hear the news that her goose had been stewed. She immediately sat on the stone pier in front of this household’s door, crying pitifully.
Immortal Blessing Pavilion’s Madam looked like a young and beautiful woman. Yan Tianhen could see that her true form was a fox spirit, but this fox spirit did not harm people, so he was too lazy to care.
The owner of Immortal Blessing Pavilion was surnamed Shan. He was a man who looked very dull and honest, and his words were not very articulate.
Madam Shan looked at the smashed bottles and jars and sobbed sadly. “These goods are all my husband’s hard work, yet they’ve been ruined by those hooligans. My heart hurts ah.”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his nose and calmed her down, “Why don’t you report it to the authorities?”
Madam Shan slammed a hand on the table, her willow eyebrows furrowing. Yan Tianhen was startled.
Madam Shan said, “That City Lord and those local hooligans are deeply involved, all to bully powerless ordinary people like us. People say that Ethereal City is paradise, everyone loves each other, and honesty prevails through society, but in reality, it’s all bullshit! That City Lord Qin isn’t anything good either. He ignores the complaints of ordinary people like us without exception. Instead, he has a very good relationship with the large families in the city, and he calls them brothers every day…”
Yan Tianhen’s skull hurt after hearing this.
This fox spirit was too eloquent, and he also couldn’t confirm the truth of Madam Shan’s words just by listening to it.
That gang of hooligans would come on time on the fifteenth day of each month.
After waiting for two hours, Yan Tianhen almost fell asleep. Finally, a cold shout sounded, and Yan Tianhen got up excitedly–
“Have your shopkeeper crawl out and give all of this month’s profit to Laozi, or else Laozi will smash your shop!”
Yan Tianhen was originally leaning behind the counter, and when he heard the small speech, he poked his head out silently. He saw a young man with arrogance and authority written all over his face holding a sword in his hand. He held his head high and proudly led a group of people to enter, his chin held high. The whole room was silent after his words.
Yan Tianhen and the young man saw each other. They both froze at the same time.
“Yin Nian?”
“Martial Aunt?”
Yan Tianhen, “…”
Yin Nian quickly covered his mouth and looked around. “Why are you here?”
Yan Tianhen’s mouth twitched. “Don’t tell me you’re the local bully I have to drive away to punish evil and promote good?”
Yin Nian was immediately angry. He stamped his foot. “How can that be possible? You don’t know how far this slag man and lowly woman have gone. I must make it so that they can’t do business anymore, or even stay in Ethereal City!”
Yan Tianhen was a little surprised. “What exactly is the deep hatred between you and this family? Could it be that they sold fake pills?”
Yin Nian gave a cold Hmph. “It’s a hundred times worse than that!”
Madam Shan had been hiding in the back and waiting for Yan Tianhen to stand up for them, but when she saw him hesitate a little, she immediately rushed out and shouted, “This damned hooligan is with those bullies from before. They don’t study every day, and they just insist on doing this shady business. Don’t think that we are weak and easy to bully. I’m telling you, Myriad Dao Academy’s Daoist has already come, and he will surely bring you to justice!”
Boss Shan nodded. “The person who came a few days ago didn’t seem to be this boy.”
Yin Nian sneered and released a puppet, which loudly started smashing the place. The action was so skillfully done that even Yan Tianhen was dumbfounded. Madam Shan screamed and went to fight Yin Nian.
Yin Nian jumped to the side and took out his sword, saying, “Fox Spirit, honourable me will do justice for heaven today!”
Just like that, Yan Tianhen watched Yin Nian and the fox start fighting.
He soon discovered that the fox spirit’s cultivation level actually wasn’t low, and the longer the fight dragged on, the more difficult it was for Yin Nian, and he was at a disadvantage.
Such a tough fox spirit could absolutely look after the store herself. Why would she insist on asking the sect for help? It’s simply a waste of resources!
Boss Shan was so anxious that he jumped up and spoke to Yan Tianhen, “Daoist, why are you only watching and not helping? Aren’t you going to help us expel the bullies?”
Yan Tianhen rubbed his nose and innocently replied, “But that Daoist is also from my sect. How can I take action before I understand the situation?” What’s more, this boy is my Dao companion’s proudest disciple. Although his actions and style were a little exaggerated and grandiose, and although he had a little bit of eighth-grade syndrome, he was still Lin Xuanzhi’s direct disciple.
Boss Shan stared blankly and felt like he had shown the wolf into his house. Yin Nian was soon at a disadvantage in the fight.
That fox spirit obviously had a very high cultivation, at least much more powerful than Yin Nian. Yan Tianhen cursed, If you’re already so powerful, why do you still need to ask for help? He took out the Yin Flame Whip and rushed up to assist Yin Nian.
The fox spirit was whipped and burned with fury. She said through gritted teeth, “Good, very good, so you guys are in the same boat. I will certainly go up the mountain to sue you in the future!”
“You pair of thieves and prostitutes, taking people’s property and kicking a benefactor in the teeth. I want to see — just exactly who will be sued!” Yin Nian stuck out his neck and cursed loudly.
Yan Tianhen only felt that a large basin of dog blood was incoming.
The fox spirit gave a sharp cry and turned into an orange fox with three tails and sharp teeth. The nails on her claws were three inches long and gleamed with a dark cold light. If they get clawed once, it would probably rip off a chunk of flesh.
Yan Tianhen’s Yin Flame Whip wrapped around the front claw, but it was smashed apart by a single slap. Yin Nian immediately used his puppet to grab the fox’s tail from behind, giving Yan Tianhen time to steady himself again after almost falling. Yan Tianhen then squared up and rushed to tie the three-tailed fox demon firmly with his Yin Flame Whip.
With a roar, the three-tailed fox demon blew a mouthful of fire, which collided with the Yin Flame Whip and made a crackling sound. Yan Tianhen was surprised that the fox demon had such advanced cultivation, so he pulled Yin Nian along and ran away.
In the evening, Yan Tianhen went to Little Penglai, crying and snuggling into Lin Xuanzhi’s arms. Lin Xuanzhi rubbed his head with a smile. “Did your mission today go well?”
Yan Tianhen was both wronged and indignant. “I don’t want to carry out missions inside Ethereal City ever again. These missions really cheat people.”
Lin Xuanzhi asked, “Why?”
Yan Tianhen answered, “The mission I received was to drive out the local ruffians and hooligans for Immortal Blessing Pavilion, but I didn’t expect for Yin Nian to come instead. After asking the neighbors, I found out that this Immortal Blessing Pavilion was not surnamed Shan decades ago, but Bai. Miss Bai’s family has been in charge of this Immortal Blessing Pavilion for generations, and the person surnamed Shan is the husband who married into the family.
Later, Miss Bai saved a fox demon who floated across the ocean to Ethereal City. The fox demon was dying, and the only reason her life was saved was because Miss Bai took out the life-saving medicinal pill she had and gave it to her.
Unexpectedly, not only did the fox demon not repay this kindness, she even hooked up and colluded with the husband who married into the family. After Miss Bai discovered this, she couldn’t stand such betrayal and her Heart of Dao became unsteady, so she suffered a Qi deviation and committed suicide.
And Miss Bai’s only son was driven out of the house by the three-tailed fox demon. From then on, Immortal Blessing Pavilion, which originally belonged to the Bai family, became the property of this pair of scum.” Yan Tianhen was very depressed. He sighed. “I don’t want to accept this kind of mission ever again. It’s so annoying, and I can’t even bring them to justice.”
Ethereal City had its own rules. The most important one forbid murder. However, for these disciples studying abroad, if they did not get the permission of their families, they could not take the place of the son who was deprived of his fortune or the dead Miss Bai to sue the pair of ungrateful bastards in Immortal Blessing Pavilion.