Chapter 38: Transfer

"Wait!"

Chen Ci was, after all, not a person who lacked courage or feared trouble; after running three hundred zhang, he steadied his footing, exhaled a heavy breath of stale air, and reached out to stop Huang and Wang.

Then, he slapped two more Soul Fixing Talismans onto that eerie human skin and the token.

Human skin, it was a piece of human skin.

The token was a jade pendant.

After confirming there were no more abnormalities and slapping one more talisman onto each of Huang and Wang, he carefully put away the remaining two Soul Fixing Talismans.

"I just threw out a total of thirteen Soul Fixing Talismans. Each one is worth five hundred taels of silver. Half is on me, and your two families will cover the remaining half."

"Understand?"

Even a landlord's family has no surplus grain, especially with the Essence Refining offerings for the Fuhu Altar weighing on his shoulders like a great mountain.

Although this trip had sudden, strange occurrences, it also allowed him to clear out some expiring inventory, so in the end, he didn't lose that much.

"We two naturally understand this logic. Later, both families will surely offer four thousand taels of silver as incense money to Sanyin Temple."

Wang Qingyuan smoothed his breath, feeling a lingering fear. Although he practiced Sha energy and held the position of County Lieutenant, and while he was only of the miscellaneous schools, he had seen his fair share of human lives lost; yet, this was the first time he had encountered such a bizarre scene where two living people turned into a piece of talking, moving human skin in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and he would likely need a long time to mentally recover from the blood-filaments surging out of those seven orifices.

Just now, although this True Person Chen had... transferred away quite quickly, he ultimately did not completely abandon them, and it was a fact that he had struck to eliminate the enemy; they had to acknowledge that.

"True Person Chen, what happened to the corner of your mouth?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Chen Ci took a deep breath and managed his expression; would he really tell them that he had made a small profit of five thousand taels of silver from this whole ordeal?

It was truly faster than robbery.

However.

Chen Ci focused his gaze on the human skin on the ground, speaking only after a long while: "It is not a Yin spirit. Although it looks a bit like one, Yin spirits are not like this."

Apprentices of the He Mountain Sect are considered experts on Yin spirits; whether it is a Yin spirit or not, one can tell after two glances.

Huang Defa and Wang Qingyuan also leaned in, and after observing it for a moment, the latter asked cautiously: "Could it be the legendary Chang ghost, a tiger demon?"

"It shouldn't be."

Chen Ci shook his head; so-called Chang ghosts are just the same as Yin spirits, arriving at the same destination by different paths—they are much the same thing.

"Old Huang, your Huang Family has frequent dealings with Qingquan Village; do you really know nothing at all?"

Wang Qingyuan turned his head to ask, his expression somewhat unpleasant: "You and I are in-laws, even if it is by marriage; keeping even me in the dark, that isn't very good, is it?"

Huang Defa smiled bitterly: "This old man can only say that during last year's autumn harvest, there was absolutely nothing unusual about Qingquan Village, but the merchant caravans do not enter the mountains to collect herbs during the winter. What exactly happened... I really don't know. Old Wang, you say, could Young Master Qiong and his party have all met this same fate?"

"With such an Evil Method, let alone Young Master Qiong and the others, I fear the entire Qingquan Village..."

Wang Qingyuan mumbled a few words, then fell silent and said no more.

The three men were silent.

"Let's go back. With this human skin and jade pendant in hand, you can be considered to have an explanation."

"The cultivation world is truly too dangerous."

The Old Ginseng, Sha iron, and gold before his eyes didn't seem as fragrant anymore. *Slurp. *

"However, that human skin's eeriness wasn't actually very strong, not even comparable to a Yin spirit; it was just too secretive and a bit horrifying. I admit, I was indeed panicked, but I was absolutely not afraid of them, really."

Chen Ci comforted himself with a few words and paced slowly inside the temple.

Speaking of which, how do those experts manage to be so cold and cool? Is it the influence of their cultivation arts, their inherent personality, or is it that once one's cultivation is high enough, one naturally remains calm even if Mount Tai collapses before them?

Playing low-level games is one thing, but if one panics in a high-level game, one might fail to judge the situation correctly and lose one's head.

"Cultivating the body and the nature, dual cultivation of life and nature; it sounds simple but is difficult to do."

Chen Ci stopped his steps and exhaled a breath of stale air: "However, Changping County is no longer very stable. I should go to Xishan Prefecture... and deliver a batch of Essence Refining offerings. The ancients said a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. This is not being afraid; it is, as I said before, a tactical transfer."

He couldn't be expected to act as a chivalrous hero and protect the borders and the people as an apprentice of the He Mountain Sect.

If his strength were sufficient, it wouldn't be impossible.

It's just that his strength isn't quite enough right now.

Having made up his mind, Chen Ci began to pack some trivial belongings, even specifically bringing along that Five Fierce God Statue, feeling that he couldn't stay in his Sanyin Temple for even a moment longer.

Once packed, Chen Ci called over his three cheap apprentices and instructed: "I am going to Xishan Prefecture. You all keep the temple well. No matter who comes looking, just say I received orders to go to the Fuhu Altar."

Pausing for a moment, Chen Ci took out some Bigu Pills and gave five to each of them: "One of these pills can keep you from hunger for five days. It hasn't been peaceful in the mountains lately, so stay sharp."

The three carefully put away the Bigu Pills, their expressions becoming a bit more solemn.

Chen Ci mounted his horse, never having missed the high-merit Daoists of Longhu Mountain so much.

"I don't know if it can be resolved in a month or so. Leaving for too long, whether it's the Essence Refining offerings or the place of cultivation, it's all a big problem. Troublesome."

"Giddyap!"

Fuhu Altar.

Chen Ci dismounted and touched the Spirit Nourishing Bottle; counting this time's three hundred drops of Essence Refining, he had eleven merit points.

If calculated by the cost of obtaining Essence Refining through regular channels, one hundred drops of Essence Refining are worth about one Spirit Pearl.

But on the Fuhu Altar's exchange ledger, it takes items worth around thirty merit points to equal that price, and items worth fifty merit points to make a profit.

He had also inquired, and pills like the Tiger Sha Breaking Aperture Pill that can break one aperture cost between seventy and eighty Spirit Pearls on the market.

"No need to panic in your heart, but using them isn't worth it; this is being squeezed."

Just as Chen Ci was hesitating, someone suddenly called out in a low voice to his right: "This Daoist master of the Fuhu Altar, do you want to buy Essence Refining?"

He turned his head and saw a man in gray clothes squatting by the side of the road talking to him; seeing Chen Ci turn his head, the man revealed a fawning smile.

"What did you say?"

Chen Ci blinked, doubting if he had heard correctly.

The man in gray bent his waist and walked with small steps to Chen Ci's side, smiling obsequiously: "It's the Essence Refining that the Fuhu Altar wants. One hundred drops of Essence Refining for two catties of Five Elements Divine Sand or two hundred and twenty taels of gold. Retail is also possible."

Chen Ci: "..."

Seeing Chen Ci remain silent, the man in grey thought he found it too expensive and hurriedly explained, "This is the going rate now; although it's a bit pricey, you certainly won't be losing out, Daoist Master."

It was said that even if those cheap fellow Apprentices were a bit bolder, they wouldn't go so far as to cause strange and eerie incidents all over Xishan Prefecture, and their methods were far too crude; it turned out that some miscellaneous rogue cultivators were also mixed in, muddying the waters and preparing to make a quick buck while they could.

Where there is demand, there is a market.

Rogue cultivators have no fixed foundation; as long as they are bold enough, earning a hundred taels of gold a month is no problem, and they might even be able to pin the blame on the various Apprentices of the He Mountain Sect.

"Do you have Essence Refining on you?"

Chen Ci rubbed his chin and looked the man in grey up and down; he was merely a skilled practitioner of mundane martial arts.

The man's scalp inexplicably went numb, and his whole body seemed to shiver as he hurriedly cried out, "No, no! The Essence Refining is at the Baibao Pavilion in Xishan Market; I have nothing on me, I don't even have two pounds of meat on my bones, Daoist Master!"

Oh, so he was just a broker.

But that made sense; if someone with this level of skill dared to carry the actual goods to sell, who knows which He Mountain Sect Apprentice might just refine him along with them.

"Fine, I understand."

Chen Ci waved his hand, ignored the man, and headed straight for the Fuhu Altar.

This Xishan Market was indeed somewhat interesting; he would go and explore it again tonight.

Hmm.

(End of chapter)