Chapter 712
Old Man Xie sat in front of his house, lost in thought about the young master who had scolded him for his incompetence a few days ago, even slapping him in frustration. His eyes were vacant.
Two little grandsons were running home from the village.
“Grandpa!”
“Ah!” Old Man Xie smiled and asked, “Was school fun?”
“Fun!” Little Si shouted, “Grandpa, I can write the character for ‘Xie’ now!”
“Really?”
Old Man Xie’s heart skipped a beat.
Though he came from a celestial lineage, he was merely a servant and had no right to attend the family school.
When he was out managing affairs, he was just a small leader. He had finally learned to use an abacus, but he still couldn’t read.
“I’ll write it for you!” Little Si said, picking up a stick. After a long time, he wrote a character on the ground that looked somewhat familiar to him. “Grandpa, look! How’s my writing?”
“Good! Good!” Old Man Xie squinted and nodded, “Square and neat, very nice!”
“The teacher said I wrote well too!”
“The teacher from Jiu Shan Sect?”
Little San chimed in, “Yeah! The teacher is really nice. He said if we study hard and get good grades, we can become immortals in the future!”
After saying this, he quickly covered his mouth, looking at Old Man Xie, “I forgot, Grandpa doesn’t like immortals!”
Old Man Xie reached out and touched his grandson’s forehead, pondering for a moment before saying, “I’ve never seen such immortals.”
The two little grandsons blinked, half-understanding.
But Old Man Xie seemed to be talking to himself rather than them:
“I’ve lived my whole life and have never seen such immortals.”
…
One thing after another, Old Man Xie encountered things he had never seen before.
“Building a factory?”
At the dinner table, his second son brought up something he had never heard of.
“What do you mean by building a factory?”
Old Man Xie’s second son seemed to have figured it out: “It’s a big workshop! A really big one!”
“The immortals from Jiu Shan Sect came around and said our fish and shrimp are great. They want to try raising fish and shrimp!”
Old Man Xie nodded, finally speaking up: “That’s good. Immortals love to eat. They said there are spiritual breeds, and they want us to offer them sacrifices.”
“When I was out and about, our fish and shrimp sold the best. They’re precious, something ordinary folks can’t get.”
His second son, encouraged by his father’s response, raised his voice: “The immortals from Jiu Shan Sect said our fish and shrimp are treasures. If we can raise them, life will be even better!”
“They said we could pickle them to sell, make sauces, or sell them fresh!”
“If we can’t sell them, we can eat them ourselves, which is great too.”
The eldest daughter-in-law, being sharp-witted, immediately said, “If we open a workshop, won’t we need to hire workers?”
“Yes, we will need to hire workers! But not many. The immortals from Jiu Shan Sect said we should first try it out to see if it works.”
The eldest daughter-in-law looked a bit disappointed.
But Old Man Xie nodded, “That’s the right way. Trying it out first is the long-term solution.”
The table fell silent, everyone looking at Old Man Xie, seemingly surprised that he was speaking positively about Jiu Shan Sect.
Old Man Xie’s face darkened, and his second son quickly chuckled, flattering him: “What Dad says is right! The immortals also said that if one thing doesn’t work, we have other treasures here. We can’t stay poor forever.”
Old Man Xie was taken aback, hearing his sons and grandsons discussing:
“Why not let the eldest and second try hiring workers?”
“Let’s try! We can still do the work in the fields!”
“The little ones are in school, and the older ones can earn wages. If we hold on for a few years, our family will be better off.”
As Old Man Xie listened, he didn’t realize when his lips began to curl into a smile.
…
The immortals from Jiu Shan Sect were truly different from those Old Man Xie had seen or heard of in legends.
In the past, immortals were aloof and hard to find in the mortal world. Even the young master he had served had only returned from the immortal gate two or three times in decades.
But the immortals from Jiu Shan Sect often wandered around the county, not bullying anyone, just looking around, claiming to be researching some industry.
Later, a group of literate people, who didn’t seem like immortals, came to the town.
They either taught students, helped build factories, or became the town’s managers.
Though they claimed not to be immortals, they could all rise high, and the townsfolk learned that in Jiu Shan Sect, if mortals couldn’t cultivate immortality, they could still practice martial arts.
Oh, it should be called the Jiu Shan Realm.
Now everyone knew that all immortals came from Jiu Shan Sect.
Those who hadn’t cultivated were from the Jiu Shan Realm. Though they weren’t immortals, they were literate, could write and calculate, and knew more about raising fish and shrimp than the most learned teacher in town.
They were all remarkable people.
“The teacher said they’re not better than us.” Every time he heard this, Little San would retort, “The teacher said they also went to school to learn all this.”
“If we study and learn martial arts, we can be just as impressive.”
Now, the table was filled with talk about Jiu Shan Sect.
The immortals from Jiu Shan Sect.
The teachers from Jiu Shan Sect.
The family loved to talk, and Old Man Xie listened, never returning to his room.
…
One night, late at night, Old Man Xie secretly called for his eldest grandson.
“Grandpa?”
“Are you going to work tomorrow?”
“Yeah!”
Old Man Xie hesitated for a long time, still afraid of the immortals’ methods, not daring to say it directly. He just whispered, “It’s nothing. Just help me see when the immortals from Jiu Shan Sect will come to town again.”
…
The next day, the eldest grandson went to town, but someone he never expected showed up.
“Little Qing?”
Seeing Little Qing standing at the door, the whole family was stunned.
Little Qing was the leading disciple from Jiu Shan Sect, and she was beautiful, drawing much attention.
The name “Little Qing” was known by many children in the school, who mentioned her every day.
Though she seemed busy, running around several counties, she was recognized in the village.
“Is this the home of Old Man Xie?” Little Qing asked.
“Yes!”
Old Man Xie’s heart trembled, and fear crept onto his face.
Little Qing quickly said, “Don’t be afraid! I just came to see how you’re doing, Old Man Xie.”
The whole Xie family was dumbfounded, as if they didn’t understand.
“My task is done, and I’ll be returning to Jiu Shan Sect soon. There’s nothing much going on.” Little Qing explained with a smile, “I just wanted to check on you since you’re getting old.”
Old Man Xie understood but still looked confused.
Seeing that her explanation wasn’t clear, Little Qing simply used her spiritual eye technique, her eyes glowing with a blue light as she looked at Old Man Xie.
“Old Man Xie, your health seems fine… huh?” She paused, suddenly looking up and asking, “Has someone hit your face recently?”
Old Man Xie flinched, mumbling, “I fell.”
“You fell?”
Little Qing frowned, her gaze sweeping over his two sons, suspicion in her eyes, as her right hand rested on his wrist.
Old Man Xie’s hand trembled slightly.
Little Qing’s expression darkened, clearly sensing something was off: “Old Man Xie, have you eaten something you shouldn’t have?”
“I…”
“My medical skills are limited… I can only try to treat you first.”
Looking at Little Qing’s serious yet slightly embarrassed face, Old Man Xie suddenly knelt on the ground, banging his head on the floor.
…
When Shi Nandang saw Little Qing again, he looked a bit surprised.
This little fellow had just mentioned earning merit, and now he had hit the jackpot.
“This poison isn’t hard to resolve,” he said to Little Qing, “after all, this old man is just a mortal.”
To be honest, even high-grade poison required spiritual stones…
Mortals didn’t have that kind of fortune.
“According to Old Man Xie’s description, the person who poisoned him is a long-time Nascent Soul cultivator named Li Laoguai. He came to the Hundred Immortals Alliance a while ago and has been missing since, yet he’s right here.”
Little Qing gasped, “A Nascent Soul cultivator?”
“Ha… with so many divine warships from Jiu Shan Sect patrolling everywhere, ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators wouldn’t dare show their faces.”
Seeing Little Qing’s slightly frightened expression, Shi Nandang felt a bit relieved.
“Not to mention there’s a monitoring system. If he were to attack a disciple of Jiu Shan Sect, it would immediately attract others.”
Seeing Little Qing’s confusion, Shi Nandang shook his head: “Did you think you all came out without the sect leader making arrangements?”
“What arrangements?”
“In every state, there are at least three Nascent Soul cultivators patrolling, with a Transformation God backing them up.” Shi Nandang smiled, “Otherwise, he would fear those traitors acting out of desperation.”
“This area is under my responsibility.”
Little Qing finally understood and nodded repeatedly.
“You’ve done a great job.”
Shi Nandang looked toward the valley. He hadn’t paid attention before, but now, combining the clues Old Man Xie provided with Jiu Shan Sect’s control over the area, a thorough investigation would reveal these people without a doubt.
Over a hundred cultivators.
Among them, there were three Nascent Souls.
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