Research-Style Cultivation, Starting by Refusing to Be a Furnace – Chapter 4

Ch 4: A Slight Disturbance

The next day, the gentle sunlight shone into the small courtyard, the wind was light and the clouds were pale, extremely good.

Wei Xing had recovered, changing his previous tired state. He stood at the door of Old He’s house, gazing into the distance, pondering, “I’ve learned a lot of useful things from Old He. This Wei Kingdom is strange, and this body of mine, although the injuries have improved somewhat, the remaining ‘strawberry marks’ on my body can’t be washed away. My face has recovered a bit, but it still looks like a zombie. All indications show that there is something strange going on. I should leave as soon as possible to avoid adding trouble.”

Wei Xing thought it over and over again, and still bowed to the old man to say goodbye. The old man gave him some dry food.

His own tattered Daoist robe had been mended, but the original holes were filled with yellow linen, a patch of cyan, a patch of yellow, quite shabby, but Wei Xing didn’t care, and hurried to Qingping County, which the old man had mentioned.

All the way east, Wei Xing admired the lush pastoral scenery around him, especially the full view of green vegetation, which was extremely comfortable to look at. He took a long breath and said, “Comfortable!”

“But then again, if I want to quickly find out more information, Qingyuan Prefecture is undoubtedly the best choice. There are many people and eyes, and the news will circulate faster.

I still have to go to the county to find out how to get to Qingyuan Prefecture.” Wei Xing walked forward leisurely. What he didn’t know was that a lively scene was unfolding in the Qingyun Mountain Range.

Somewhere in the Qingyun Mountain Range.

Several people were standing on a towering tree crown, wearing black clothes, all with veils covering their faces, only revealing a pair of eyes constantly patrolling, paying attention to the surrounding situation.

“I don’t know what the adults are thinking. This Qingyun Mountain is famously large, and they want us to search here day and night. How did this hard job fall on our heads?” One of them, a burly man, complained with a belly full of grievances.

“Shh, keep your voice down, do you not want to live!” The leader interrupted him and continued, “This is the Elder’s personal order. Even if you die, you can’t have any dissatisfaction. Otherwise, if the secret is really leaked, I don’t need to say more about the consequences, right?”

As soon as the burly man heard this, he immediately felt his legs trembling, and he shuddered violently, and shut up.

As soon as the burly man shut up, another lean man who was not tall spoke up: “Boss, you said to let us find someone, but you didn’t say what kind of person to look for, and there are no facial features, how can we find him? Besides, the Qingyun Mountain Range is so big, how difficult is it to find someone!”

“Don’t worry about this. It is said that the Elder planted some kind of technique in that person’s body. As long as he is within a hundred miles, this jade pearl will shine brightly. A hundred miles is not a problem for us.”

Moreover, we are not just relying on ourselves to find him. Dozens of teams are in the Qingyun Mountain Range. I believe it won’t be long before they find him.” As the leader said, he looked into the distance. His eyes were bright, and white light flickered gently in his pupils, as if searching into the distance.

“But I’m worried, what if that person is not in the Qingyun Mountain Range? We can’t search the entire Wei Kingdom, can we? Can’t we notify the local prefectures to issue a wanted order?” The lean man chimed in.

“This is also the point that confuses me. It is said that this operation must be carried out in secret, and no one else can know about it. It seems to involve some kind of secret, which is not something we can care about. As for that person, he must be in the Qingyun Mountain Range. How can the Elder’s calculations be wrong?” The black-clad man in the lead seemed unwilling to talk about this topic any further, and then waved his hand and said, “Everyone disperse, and contact me immediately if there is any situation.”

This scene is also being staged in various parts of the entire Qingyun Mountain Range. The sparsely populated Qingyun Mountain Range is now very lively, and various teams are constantly flying in the low air.

Wei Qing followed the old man’s instructions and tried to walk on the official road as much as possible, so as not to deviate from the direction. With more merchants and pedestrians coming and going, it would be easier to find out information.

A few days later, Wei Xing encountered the first post station. The post station had a very small facade, and there were not many people. Most of them were merchants coming and going.

Seeing Wei Xing stepping into the door, dressed as a Taoist priest and carrying a Daoist sword, the lively scene just now suddenly fell silent. They all lowered their heads and remained silent, but these people still slowly looked at him out of the corner of their eyes.

A pot-bellied shopkeeper ran over quickly and said with a smile, “Daoist Master, please, please.” The shopkeeper quickly led Wei Xing into the inner hall, away from the sight of everyone in the hall.

Before Wei Xing could speak, the shopkeeper took the lead and said, “Daoist Master, please forgive me. There are usually no other Daoist Masters in this small shop. If the service is not good, please forgive me. Daoist Master, you coming to this small shop is like our small shop burning incense.”

Then he brought tea and water, and arranged a private room for accommodation, with a respectful look on his face.

Wei Xing was a little overwhelmed by this round shopkeeper. It was the first time he had seen someone so polite, and he didn’t know how to respond. He just cupped his hands and bowed, and said politely, “Shopkeeper, you don’t have to be so polite. I’m just a Taoist priest passing by on a journey, and I want to rest for a while and have some food. I don’t dare to disturb you too much.”

After hearing this, the shopkeeper replied quickly, “Daoist Master, you are too polite. You are killing me. I can’t do that. If others see it, my life will be gone.”

Wei Xing heard this statement for the first time, frowned slightly, and then looked at the fat man and said, “Oh? Why is that?”

When the shopkeeper saw Wei Xing’s gaze cast on him, his face turned pale instantly. Regardless of anything else, he quickly replied, “Daoist Master, how can you not know! We servants are supposed to salute you Daoist Masters and Fairies. If we treat a Daoist Master like you with disrespect, we will be killed.”

At the same time, the shopkeeper looked puzzled and began to size up Wei Xing, as if confirming something.

Seeing his behavior, Wei Xing could only find an excuse and said, “I have been practicing hard with my master since I was a child, living like a wandering wild crane, knowing very little about worldly affairs, and not caring about etiquette. Please don’t blame me.”

Hearing this, the fat man’s face looked a little better, and gradually returned to ruddy, before he opened his mouth and said, “No wonder, Daoist Master is so polite to me. To tell you the truth, we have to serve people like you well when you walk in the world. We can’t make any mistakes, otherwise we will be beaten to death on the spot, and we will have nowhere to reason. The government won’t care.”

Wei Xing was even more puzzled and asked, “Why is that? Is it not against the law to treat human life as worthless?”

The fat shopkeeper looked at Wei Xing with some surprise and said, “Daoist Master, you are joking. The law is for us small people. Daoist Masters and Fairies are all people of the Immortal Sect, extraordinary and refined, and naturally cannot be controlled.”

After saying that, he also showed a look of envy, but there was a bit more doubt in his eyes when he looked at Wei Xing.

Hearing this, Wei Xing roughly understood what was going on. The shopkeeper had mistaken him for someone from the Immortal Sect, which was why he was like this. He smiled contemptuously and thought, “It seems that I have accidentally gained a great advantage.”

Looking at the shopkeeper’s restrained state, Wei Xing became a little bolder, and took the opportunity to ask the fat man for more information, “Shopkeeper, you said that your shop doesn’t often have people like me. As far as I know, aren’t there many Taoists outside looking for boys to enjoy immortal blessings? There should be quite a few of my peers passing by here, right?”

After hearing Wei Xing’s words, the doubts in the shopkeeper’s heart suddenly disappeared. “He really is a Daoist Master. I knew it. Who would dare to impersonate a Daoist Master? Fortunately, I was clever and didn’t offend him. I should hurry up and serve this master well.”

Then he quickly bent down and stood respectfully on Wei Xing’s side and said, “Daoist Master, you don’t know, people like you come and go mysteriously. Even if you come out to look for Immortal Children, you don’t often stay at the post station. I haven’t seen you for many years.”

After hearing this, Wei Xing knew roughly what was going on, and stopped talking. He thought to himself, “This shopkeeper is so polite to me because he thinks I’m from the Immortal Sect. If he knows I’m not, there will definitely be changes. It’s better to let him go down and ask him carefully at the critical moment.”

Wei Xing then said, “Shopkeeper, you can go down first and get some food.”

The fat man was relieved when he heard this, and his expression relaxed suddenly. He quickly replied, “Yes, yes, I will prepare good food and dishes for you right away, Daoist Master, please wait a moment.” After saying that, he left in a puff of smoke.

Before long, a rich dish was presented to Wei Xing, with chicken, fish, meat, and eggs. For Wei Xing at this moment, this was simply a wonderful delicacy. He quickly ate it, sweeping through each dish like a whirlwind, and a pot of wine was also drunk in large gulps.

After being full of wine and food, he staggered back to the room with some drunkenness. He opened the door, and the room was clean and tidy. Lying on the bed was soft and warm, and it was obvious that it had been carefully arranged.

Wei Xing fell asleep groggily and fell into a sweet dream. This time, he dreamed of many human pleasures, which were wonderful.