GB Chapter 19
by VolarePerhaps because the current owner, Chou Fugui, deeply believes in the sayings of immortals, everything they saw since they entered the door was full of various talismans. Chou Fugui also enthusiastically introduced them all the way. Things like the Bagua mirror given by a well-known Taoist priest, the Buddha statue blessed by a master, and even the talisman water that quacks used to deceive common people were prepared in a box for the family to take daily.
These things made Mo Pan, the authentic Celestial Master, amazed. He finally understood that this person simply could not distinguish between cultivators and quacks. It was nothing more than seeing the Celestial Master Mansion’s reputation and seeking medical treatment in desperation. For a while, he could only secretly think that no wonder this family generally had pale faces; eating paper ashes every day, it would be strange if their health was good.
In fact, there are still many common people like Chou Fugui in the world. Not to mention the rare tribulation-transcending cultivators, there are not many Nascent Soul cultivators in the world, and most of the older cultivators rarely walk in the secular world after establishing their own sects. Even Golden Core stage cultivators don’t have much interaction with mortals. What ordinary people see most are the handyman or gatekeeper disciples who are in charge of reception in various sects. How could they tell who is the real master.
However, the earth-shattering achievements of several tribulation-transcending cultivators are real. Therefore, those who fantasize about immortals are particularly easy to be deceived. As long as the quacks exaggerate their skills, they will obediently pay money for peace. There were not many people in the Jiangnan area who dared to swindle because the major sects were based there. However, there was still someone like Chou Fugui in the city who specifically came to be deceived. Even though Mo Pan had explained to him several times that his family’s decline had nothing to do with ghosts, this person still insisted on asking various cultivators to take action. He didn’t believe the real masters of the Celestial Master Mansion, but believed the words of the swindlers after being frightened, which made Mo Pan speechless.
What kind of ghosts are these talismans that even he, a successor of the Celestial Master Mansion, cannot recognize? Heavens, that one is actually painted with chicken blood! Even if you are a swindler, can you put a little effort in? Vermilion is not expensive!
The last time Mo Pan came, the Chou family still tried to hide things because they cared about their image. But these days, it seems that because they lost money again, they have completely given up. Regardless of what kind of talismans, they just stick them on indiscriminately, which was shocking to watch. However, as a well-cultivated righteous young man, Mo Pan really couldn’t mock ordinary people casually like Qian Ren, so he could only watch those flying, ghost-like talismans in the wind and hold it all in.
Unlike the rich inner world of the professionals, Zhuge Qingtian walked into this house, looked at the still majestic courtyards and passages, and then looked at the concubines, servants, and guards in the small garden who were nervously looking at them. In the end, he only had one thought: “Living in such a big house and marrying three wives, how can he still have the nerve to cry poverty?”
“Perhaps for these pampered sons, not earning a fortune every day is considered hardship.”
These two are still young and do not know the greed of people’s hearts, but Qian Ren has seen a lot of the ways of the world. He knew at a glance that the decline of the Chou family was not really related to a poor ghost.
In the past, Old Master Chou’s sale of sea salt was a lucrative business, and the savings he left behind were enough to allow future generations to live a carefree life. Later, the imperial court purchased the fleet for reputation, and the silver they gave would not be small. Such a huge fortune can be squandered so cleanly, it is likely that the people in the house cannot save face. Even if they have no business, they still live a luxurious life, and only now do they realize that they are running out of money and become anxious. Being obsessed with ghosts is ultimately because they don’t want to face reality. Such ghosts born in people’s hearts cannot be removed by even the strongest cultivator.
It is easy to subdue a poor ghost, but not people. Perhaps even if the ghost is subdued, he will still blame the Celestial Master for not making him rich. Therefore, the experienced cultivators of the Celestial Master Mansion had not paid attention to him. Only a young man like Mo Pan, who has just begun his training, would firmly believe that he has the duty to protect the people from evil ghosts. As soon as he heard about it, he agreed to help, and as a result, he was entangled by this person and couldn’t get away. It’s just that Ling Sui Daoren knew this but did not stop it, probably because he also wanted his disciple to gain experience.
Qian Ren saw through this but did not expose it. He only silently observed the two teenagers’ responses to this matter. Seeing their eyes full of disappointment at Chou Fugui, he suddenly felt that it was a little interesting and was also a little curious about what the final result would be. Being able to watch the growth of the younger generation with his own eyes and secretly help them, perhaps this is the joy of being an elder?
His expression was always indifferent. Chou Fugui also felt that this man in black was not easy to provoke. Plus, Zhuge Qingtian didn’t look at him very kindly. So he only entangled Mo Pan, who was easiest to talk to. He took out several scrolls of calligraphy and paintings and said to him eagerly, “Little Celestial Master, the pawnshop is pressing down the price too much, and I can’t make ends meet for the time being. These are all calligraphy and paintings by famous artists collected by my grandfather. Why don’t you just take them back to your mansion, it will also seem refined.”
Although the Chou family has declined, there are still many servants. Over the years, Chou Fugui has been relying on pawning family property to maintain his livelihood. The old master’s beloved possessions were all sold by him. What he got in return was the useless talismans plastered on the doors and windows. Zhuge Qingtian couldn’t understand why he still had to be waited on by others and wouldn’t work himself when he was already so poor. Even opening a small shop wouldn’t starve him to death. He could only complain to Qian Ren, “And he calls this refined? If I were his grandfather, I would definitely break out of the coffin to find him!”
Mo Pan’s face was also not very good when he was being flattered like this. He only collected ghosts to protect the people, and never thought about any thanks. Why did this person keep stuffing money at him? Now, there is also a demonic cult protector watching. What kind of image would their Celestial Master Mansion have in the world? Shameless cultivators who exploit the people with their cultivation?
Thinking of this, he was no longer polite for the sake of his sect’s reputation. He decisively spoke to drive him away, “It is the duty of the Celestial Master Mansion to maintain the peace of the residents of Jiangdu. I will naturally collect this ghost. As for the future of the Chou family, it all depends on yourself. Take these paintings back and do not disturb me in my altar building!”
Earlier, Mo Pan had been good at persuasion, but Chou Fugui always felt that he was perfunctorily trying to say he couldn’t collect the ghost. Now, being spoken to in such a way made him feel relieved. He thought, this is the attitude of an expert. Since ancient times, how could there be immortals who are polite to mortals? So he smiled and said, “Yes, yes, Little Celestial Master, you are busy. I will ask the servants to prepare food and serve you.”
Watching him leave, Mo Pan finally felt that his ears were clear. Then, he couldn’t help but complain to the two of them, “Tell me, why can’t he understand human language?”
It is normal for people to judge others by themselves. People like Chou Fugui, who only live off the legacy of their ancestors, probably would never understand the behavior of cultivators in pursuit of the heavenly Dao. At this time, Qian Ren just said faintly: “When you advance to Nascent Soul, there will be more people asking you to do things. But their methods will be much more clever.”
For Mo Pan, subduing a fierce ghost is a great act of upholding justice in the human world, just like his master. They cultivate their bodies and minds, become powerful beings in the world, and use this power to protect the peace and stability of the city they are in. This in itself is a very proud thing. But for some reason, although Chou Fugui was also a commoner harassed by evil ghosts, he didn’t feel any happy emotions now. He even felt a little annoyed. This kind of thing was too strange for the teenager. Unfortunately, there was only Qian Ren as a senior by his side, so he could only complain to him gloomily, “This is completely different from what I imagined about chivalry and righteousness.”
“Young man, the world is a deep place. You can’t just do things based on your imagination.”
Qian Ren glanced at him and found that this person seemed to have forgotten his identity as a demonic cultivator and was not avoiding it at all. Perhaps this is the advantage of young people. They are pure, upright, always full of dreams and hope, haven’t learned to doubt others, and are also easy to accept new things. It’s just that, I don’t know how long after that, these young people will also become like them, with faces full of the dust of the world.
Sighing slightly in his heart, Qian Ren suddenly found that the feeling of personally teaching a young man to grow up was really good. Perhaps he could also take in a disciple. However, with his terrifying charisma that everyone in the demonic cult avoids, would anyone really be willing to become his disciple?
Just as he was thinking this, Zhuge Qingtian, who was never afraid of him, leaned over curiously and asked, “My wife, were you like this when you were his age?”
Okay, there are people who are not afraid of him, but he refuses to raise a rebellious disciple who always wants to worship him.
With a twitch of his lips, Qian Ren did not hesitate to dispel his unreliable thoughts. However, this question did remind him of some things in the past. To Qian Ren, sixteen years old was already a very distant age, and he couldn’t even remember his past appearance. However, recalling that he was once also full of youthful vigor, he finally opened his mouth with some nostalgia, “At that time, I liked to use a sword. I always thought about giving my sword a nice name, so that one day I could join it in battle against the heroes of the world and make a name for myself. Later, the sword broke, and I stopped thinking about these youthful and vigorous things.”
This was the first time Zhuge Qingtian had seen this man show such an expression. Although calm, it was inexplicably somewhat vicissitudes. The current Bi Qianren was already famous all over the world, but Zhuge Qingtian had never seen a sword or any kind of weapon by his side. His intuition told him that this was something he could not ask about at the moment. After thinking for a while, he boldly smiled as usual, “My wife, I will be your weapon. You can use me to make a name for yourself and also hold me to sleep!”
Since the birth of the two Gods of Joy and Lamentation, all the ghosts in the world have gathered in the Ghost Domain. An ordinary demonic cultivator would be happy for a long time to have obtained a fierce ghost as a servant, not to mention a powerful existence like a ghost god. However, to this good news that ordinary people dream of, the noble and aloof Great Protector only replied, “I’m not interested in you.”
Although he was rejected again, Zhuge Qingtian felt that this kind of Qian Ren was far more energetic than before. So, he was even more unwilling to let him calm down, and only protested, “Liar, you clearly said you were interested in ghosts just now!”
He didn’t expect that the casual words he said before would dig a hole for himself. Qian Ren looked at him with a headache, and could only say coldly, “Interest and sexual interest are two different things.”
It’s a pity that Zhuge Qingtian is not a shy teenager. Hearing this, his eyes lit up, and he leaned even closer, “What’s the difference? Come and tell me specifically.”
“…”
Silently taking a glance at this ghost god who was exuding an aura that said “Come on, tease me,” Qian Ren could be certain that with this style that was even more unrestrained than a demonic cult seductress, this person was definitely not a righteous figure when he was alive!
The conversation between these two still ended with Qian Ren being speechless as the standard. However, as the only spectator in the scene, Mo Pan said that he didn’t know why the topic would be detoured from his mission to this. Even if cross-dressing was not a big deal for a demonic cultivator, you can’t perform how to cross-dress in front of him! This was too stimulating for a righteous cultivator who was not yet an adult, okay!
However, as a righteous cultivator who had not yet completed his training, he could not defeat the Demonic Cult Protector nor subdue the unknown ghost god. Therefore, he could only hold his small table for casting spells and say angrily, “You demons and monsters are really an eyesore, I’m going to the backyard!”
Author’s note: Qian Ren: Take in a quiet and obedient disciple, raise him and then let him go and never pester him.
Zhuge Qingtian (raising his hand): Pick me! I’m as quiet as a corpse, and I’m not only obedient, but I can also warm the bed!
Qian Ren: Put your hand on your heart and say the word quiet one more time.
He Huan: Don’t be too picky, you are not lively or cute at all and look down on your master every day. Didn’t I raise you too?
Qian Ren: Want to betray the sect…
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