Chapter 88: Tempering

"Senior Brother, are you perhaps joking?"

Although the portly Senior Brother's expression showed humble warmth, Zheng Fa's response was very cold.

Going back is impossible—if this boat really turns around, he can offend everyone on board.

What this Senior Brother said shows a distinct lack of sincerity.

The portly Senior Brother smiled a bit awkwardly and gave a signal with his eyes to another Senior Brother beside him.

That Senior Brother immediately handed over a square small box.

"What is this?"

Zheng Fa had expected this in his heart.

Sure enough, once opened, it was piled high with gold.

A rough glance showed there was probably fifty or sixty taels.

"Thanks to Junior Brother, our books sell extremely well—I originally intended to share a bit with Junior Brother, and now that we are all under Shijie Zhang and have become one family, there is even less need to mention it."

Zheng Fa fell silent for a moment and asked, "May I ask, Senior Brother, how much does that book sell for in Jiushan Sect?"

"It sells for eight taels in the market," the portly Senior Brother whispered. "The wholesale price is four taels; we make six taels of gold per book..."

Zheng Fa nodded; these three Senior Brothers were a bit more measured than he had thought.

So this box contains nearly sixty taels of gold—these three have earned an extra two taels of gold, all right here.

Zheng Fa thought for a while, took out two taels of gold from inside, and then closed the box again.

"I will keep this money."

The portly Senior Brother's face broke into a smile.

Then Zheng Fa spoke again: "Please, three Senior Brothers, return the rest of the money in this box, two taels each."

"Ah?"

"Is that not allowed?"

"This money was given to Junior Brother, so naturally it is for you to dispose of, but... return it?"

"Return it."

"Junior Brother, you are truly... fine!"

The portly Senior Brother looked at him for a long while; the smile on his face seemed to fade a bit more, and he actually stopped talking about being one family, instead carrying the box out of the room decisively.

After walking a few steps, a Senior Brother beside him asked, "Why are we leaving?"

"Not leaving yet? This Zheng Shidi is not easy to fool!" The portly Senior Brother's smile gradually vanished, and he said with a stern face.

"Ah?"

"Why did we give him money?"

"To apologize?"

The portly Senior Brother shook his head: "It was to hug a big leg! We say Shijie Zhang, Shijie Zhang every day, but does Shijie Zhang even know us? This Junior Brother was truly taught by Shijie Zhang. Once we give him the money, we are essentially doing business for him!"

That Junior Brother suddenly realized: "Let him collude with us!"

"Pah!" The portly Senior Brother kicked him: "That is called pulling together in the same boat!"

"Then why are we leaving?"

"This Junior Brother is proud; he is unwilling to mix with us for such a small amount of money, he is not one of us!"

"Understood, he wants to be a good person."

"No, he is taking our money to be a good person."

After speaking, the portly Senior Brother looked at the box in his hand and gritted his teeth as he said.

"Are we really returning it?"

"Return it this time first; I want to see if Shijie Zhang truly values him!" The portly Senior Brother sneered: "Shijie Zhang's temperament, who does not understand it? Who has she ever been close to? I will wait until I have figured out this person's background before dealing with these funds!"

"Jiushan Sect has arrived!"

A cheer came from the corridor; Zheng Fa could not help but open the door and walk downstairs, where the deck was full of people.

Several new disciples saw Zheng Fa and greeted him one after another.

Because of the matter of the portly Senior Brother returning the money, Zheng Fa's popularity among this group had recently increased a bit.

"Zheng Fa!" Zhou Qianyuan waved to him from the end of the deck: "Look, Jiushan Sect."

Ahead appeared nine towering, continuous mountain peaks.

The one in the middle was particularly high, very much like the Ninth Mountain Zheng Fa had climbed originally.

The other eight were divided into two sides, like two outstretched arms, embracing a valley.

Where the two arms met was a valley entrance, and outside the valley entrance was a surging Dahe River.

As Zheng Fa looked, he felt it was somewhat familiar—

If these nine mountain peaks were seen as city walls, then this river would be equivalent to a moat.

If guarding this valley entrance, this place would be easy to defend and hard to attack; it was just unknown how Jiushan Sect defends against those cultivators who can fly to the sky and dive into the earth.

The boat carrying Zheng Fa and others shook slightly and slowly landed in the Dahe River at the valley entrance.

This was a dock; the dock was unusually crowded with boats, extremely lively.

Along with it, the shore also had a bustling, thronging flow of people coming and going.

Only one place was somewhat empty—a figure that Zheng Fa found somewhat familiar stood there.

It was Shijie Zhang.

Shijie Zhang seemed to look at Zheng Fa, nodded to him, as if to Shen Shi Yi for him to come over.

Behind him, the portly Senior Brother stared blankly as Zheng Fa walked toward Shijie Zhang.

"That's Shijie Zhang!" his companion beside him shouted.

"I've seen her!"

"But have you ever seen Shijie Zhang smile so happily?"

"..."

"So, are we still going to probe his background?"

"Don't give my name up before you die." The portly senior brother turned and left at once.

Zheng Fa looked at Shijie Zhang's flower-like smile, then at her outstretched palm, and felt speechless in his heart.

This person wasn't here to pick him up.

She was here to chase his manuscript.

Zheng Fa handed over the completed exercise book. Shijie Zhang took it, weighed it in her hand, nodded with satisfaction, and said, "I'll take you to your lodging."

The two walked side by side away from the dock. Suddenly, Shijie Zhang asked, "What did you buy on the way?"

"?"

Zheng Fa looked up at Shijie Zhang.

Shijie Zhang glanced at him and said, "Do you think I told you to bring extra money for no reason?"

"Shijie knew about this?" Zheng Fa took out "True Person Zhang's Treatise on Talismans."

"This book is a compilation of my lectures at the Talisman and Dharma Pavilion," Shijie Zhang said. "For every copy sold, I get one tael of gold."

... So you really are the protective umbrella for those three lawbreakers?

"Only because I take my money according to the rules do they dare to make money according to the rules." Shijie Zhang seemed to know what he was thinking and said calmly.

"Then... does Shijie also know about what happened on the ship?"

"What happened? I don't know, but I can guess. First, they scare you when you board, then lock you in the cabin to sell things. New disciples dare not offend these people and feel they are too formidable, so they all buy."

"..."

"Do you think the decline of spiritual energy is something that happened only in recent years?" Shijie Zhang glanced at him. "Senior disciples bullying juniors, squeezing oil out of people like you who know nothing, has been going on for a long time."

Zheng Fa finally understood.

He had always been puzzled before: one or two hundred taels of gold was not a small amount, but for a cultivator, it shouldn't mean much—why would those three senior brothers risk their lives for it?

It turned out to be a custom!

What kind of sect atmosphere does Jiushan Sect have?

"There are rules. They won't do anything extreme—if you just grit your teeth and refuse to buy, they won't really do anything to you." Shijie Zhang said, as if she had seen through his thoughts.

Zheng Fa thought about it and realized she was right. Those senior brothers, though rough, indeed seemed to have no actual acts of harming people. If you excluded their cold faces at the start, this group actually seemed quite law-abiding.

"Why is it like this?"

He still couldn't understand.

"After the decline of spiritual energy, the resentment among the lower-level disciples has grown heavier and heavier... Compared to killing for treasures, the sect can tolerate asking for money."

Zheng Fa fell silent.

Shijie Zhang turned to look at Zheng Fa and suddenly said, "I was also deceived by senior brothers."

"And then?"

"Later, those senior brothers went to sell books for me." Shijie Zhang said calmly. She walked to a small courtyard and stopped. "As long as you are strong enough, you can ignore all this."

As Shijie Zhang left, she said to Zheng Fa again: "Under the decline of spiritual energy, the immortal sects are certainly not kind places. If you cannot handle these people and matters, then I misjudged you... Consider all this now as just a little bit of tempering for you."

By the next day, as soon as Zheng Fa opened his door, he found the portly senior brother squatting at the entrance of his courtyard, his face full of bitterness.

"Senior brother, what are you..."

"Shijie Zhang said that since you, junior brother, have just arrived at Jiushan Sect, I am to guide you for a few days." The portly senior brother spoke with a mournful tone, far from willing: "Today, let's first register your life token and receive your cultivation technique..."

... It feels like the person Shijie Zhang wants to temper is this senior brother.