Chapter 77
It seemed that no matter how talented this group of new disciples was, they had their own confidence.
He pointed at the book in Zhou Qianyuan's hand and said proudly, "You don't really think the three characters 'Zhang Zhenren' on this book are fake, do you?"
"..." Zhou Qianyuan looked at the book in his hand, somewhat bewildered.
"We are disciples of Senior Sister Zhang! No matter how impressive you are, you can't step over us." The chubby senior brother puffed out his chest. "These junior brothers, including that Zheng brother you mentioned, will have to wait a long time before they can surpass Senior Sister Zhang in the sect!"
Zhou Qianyuan frowned in confusion and asked, "But why would Zheng want to surpass his own senior sister?"
"?"
"He's a genius in talisman arts personally trained by Zhang Zhenren!"
The chubby senior brother stared at him blankly, his arrogance slowly freezing, and his lips began to tremble slightly.
...
Zheng Fazheng was holed up in his room studying "Zhang Zhenren on Talismans" when there was a knock at the door.
Thinking it was Zhou Qianyuan again, he opened the door only to find the three senior brothers from before, who had been rather rude.
But this time, the three of them were smiling brightly, their faces contorted into three blooming chrysanthemums—so flattering that Zheng Fazheng almost didn’t recognize them.
"Junior Brother!" The chubby senior brother grabbed Zheng Fazheng's arm enthusiastically and said, "The flood has washed away the Dragon King Temple! We’re truly family now!"
"…What’s going on, senior brothers?"
Zheng Fazheng was taken aback. How could these people change their tune so quickly?
"I heard that you were personally taken in by Senior Sister Zhang. Isn’t that a coincidence? We’re also under Senior Sister Zhang!"
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fazheng looked at them with suspicion.
He thought Senior Sister Zhang's standards should be higher.
The chubby senior brother's tone gradually lowered. "Under her..."
"…"
So this is where your arrogance comes from?
Zheng Fazheng set down the book in his hand and quietly regarded the three senior brothers before him.
"How about... we turn the ship around and say a proper goodbye to your sister?" the chubby senior brother said with a mournful face.
It seemed that the sound of the little sister's crying had traveled thousands of miles, finally stirring a bit of compassion in his heart.
---
Chapter 87: Tempering
"Are you joking, senior brother?"
Though the chubby senior brother's expression was one of humble warmth, Zheng Fazheng's response was quite cold.
There was no way he could go back—if the ship really turned around, he would offend everyone on board.
The senior brother's words seemed insincere.
The chubby senior brother awkwardly chuckled and exchanged glances with another senior brother beside him.
That senior brother immediately handed over a small square box.
"What’s this?"
Zheng Fazheng had a hunch.
Sure enough, when he opened it, it was filled to the brim with gold.
At a rough glance, there were probably fifty or sixty taels.
"Thanks to you, Junior Brother, our books have been selling like hotcakes—I was planning to share some with you anyway, and now that we’re family under Senior Sister Zhang, it’s even more fitting."
Zheng Fazheng paused for a moment and asked, "May I ask, senior brother, how much does this book sell for in Jiushan Sect?"
"Eight taels in the market," the chubby senior brother whispered. "It costs four taels to procure, so we make six taels of gold on each book..."
Zheng Fazheng nodded; these three senior brothers were more shrewd than he had thought.
So this box contained about sixty taels of gold—those extra two taels they made were all in here.
After thinking for a moment, Zheng Fazheng took out two taels of gold from the box and then closed it.
"I’ll keep this money."
The chubby senior brother's face broke into a smile.
But then Zheng Fazheng added, "I’d like the three of you to return the rest of the money in this box, two taels each."
"Ah?"
"Is that a problem?"
"Once we give the money to Junior Brother, it’s yours to handle, but... return it?"
"Yes, return it."
"Junior Brother, you really are... fine!"
The chubby senior brother stared at him for a while, and the smile on his face seemed to fade a bit. He simply turned and walked out the door, carrying the box.
After taking a few steps, one of his companions asked, "Why are we leaving?"
"Aren't you leaving? This Zheng Junior Brother is not someone to be trifled with!" The chubby senior brother's smile gradually disappeared, and he said with a serious face.
"Ah?"
"Why are we giving him money?"
"To apologize?"
The chubby senior brother shook his head. "No, we’re trying to latch onto a big fish! We keep talking about Senior Sister Zhang, but does she even know us? This Junior Brother has actually been taught by Senior Sister Zhang. If we give him money, it’s like we’re working for him!"
The other junior brother suddenly understood. "So we’re trying to get him to join us in our schemes!"
"Bah!" The chubby senior brother kicked him. "That’s called working together!"
"Then why are we leaving?"
"This Junior Brother is feeling proud; he doesn’t want to mix with us for a bit of money. He’s not one of us!"
"Got it, he wants to be the good guy."
"No, he’s using our money to be the good guy."
After saying this, the chubby senior brother looked at the box in his hands, gritting his teeth.
"Are we really returning it?"
"This time we’ll return it first. I want to see if Senior Sister Zhang truly values him!" The chubby senior brother sneered. "Who doesn’t know her temperament? Who has she ever been close to? I’ll figure out this guy’s background before I decide!"
---
"Jiushan Sect has arrived!"
Cheers erupted in the corridor, and Zheng Fazheng couldn’t help but open the door and walk downstairs. The deck was crowded with people.
Several new disciples greeted Zheng Fazheng as they saw him.
Thanks to the incident with the chubby senior brother returning the money, Zheng Fazheng’s popularity among this group had risen a bit.
"Zheng Fazheng!" Zhou Qianyuan waved to him from the end of the deck. "Look, Jiushan Sect!"
Ahead, nine towering peaks rose in a continuous line.
The central peak was particularly high, resembling the ninth mountain Zheng Fazheng had climbed before.
The other eight peaks flanked either side, like two outstretched arms embracing a valley.
At the point where the two arms met, there was an opening, and outside the opening flowed a surging river.
Zheng Fazheng looked and felt a sense of familiarity—
If these nine peaks were seen as city walls, then this river would be akin to a moat.
If they were guarding this valley, it would be easy to defend but hard to attack; he just didn’t know how Jiushan Sect dealt with those cultivators who could fly and evade.
The ship carrying Zheng Fazheng and the others gently shook and slowly settled into the river at the valley's mouth.
This was a dock, bustling with an extraordinary number of ships, creating a lively scene.
The riverbank was also filled with a throng of people coming and going.
Only one area was somewhat empty—there stood a figure Zheng Fazheng found somewhat familiar.
It was none other than Senior Sister Zhang.
Seeing Zheng Fazheng, Senior Sister Zhang nodded at him, as if signaling him to come over.
Behind him, the chubby senior brother stared blankly as Zheng Fazheng walked toward Senior Sister Zhang.
"That’s Senior Sister Zhang!" his companion exclaimed.
"I’ve seen her!"
"Have you ever seen Senior Sister Zhang smile so happily?"
"…"
"Should we still investigate him?"
"…Just don’t reveal my name before I die." The chubby senior brother turned and left.
Zheng Fazheng looked at Senior Sister Zhang’s radiant smile and then at her outstretched hand, feeling speechless.
She wasn’t here to welcome him.
She was here to urge him for his work.
Zheng Fazheng handed over the completed exercise book, and Senior Sister Zhang took it, giving it a little shake before nodding in satisfaction. "I’ll take you to your accommodation."
As they walked side by side away from the dock, Senior Sister Zhang suddenly asked, "What did you buy on the way?"
"?"
Zheng Fazheng looked up at Senior Sister Zhang.
She shot him a glance and said, "Do you think I asked you to bring extra money for no reason?"
"Do you know about this?" Zheng Fazheng pulled out "Zhang Zhenren on Talismans."
"This is the compilation of my lectures at the Talisman Pavilion," Senior Sister Zhang said. "For each book sold, I take one tael of gold."
…So you really are the protector of those three unscrupulous fellows?
"I’m the only one who takes money according to the rules; they dare to make money according to the rules only because of me," Senior Sister Zhang seemed to know what he was thinking and said lightly.
"…So you know about what happened on the ship too?"
"What happened? I don’t know, but I can guess. At first, they scared you when you boarded, then locked you in the cabin to sell things. The new disciples didn’t dare offend them, and since they seemed tough, they all bought."
"…"
"Did you think the decline of spiritual energy was a recent thing?" Senior Sister Zhang shot him a glance. "Senior disciples bullying junior disciples and squeezing oil from you clueless newcomers has been going on for a long time."
Only then did Zheng Fazheng understand.
He had always wondered why a couple of hundred taels of gold didn’t seem like much, but for cultivators, it shouldn’t be a big deal—why would those three senior brothers take the risk?
It turned out it was a tradition!
What kind of sect is Jiushan?
Table of Contents
