Chapter 262: The Off-Script Merit Value of the Japanese Pirates

Master Xuanmiao looked at her seriously and asked, "What were you doing just now? Do you know, you look just like that merit stone Senior Brother dug back for us—everyone who sees it wants to take a bite of you and keep you for themselves!"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He pressed close to Pan Yun, tightly hugging her arm, said, "Little Martial Aunt, we will definitely protect Little Martial Aunt well."

Master Xuanmiao glanced at the two of them and said, "Wipe your drool away."

Miao He reached up and wiped her mouth; Seeing Miao Zhen shyly buried her head in Pan Yun's neck, and only after a moment lifted her reddened face to say, "Fourth Martial Aunt, I don't know why I especially like Little Martial Aunt today."

Tao Ji: "Looking at Little Martial Sister today, I even feel she's especially well-behaved, not as annoying as before."

Pan Yun: "... Third Senior Brother, mind your words. When have I ever been annoying?"

Master Xuanmiao looked at Seeing Miao Zhen, then at Miao He, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. "You two are good children too."

Master Xuanmiao took out a yellow talisman and a cinnabar box.

Her cinnabar box was different from the rest—it was a long box with two layers, upper and lower. Pinching the small ring on the upper layer and pulling it out revealed three connected ink-mixing boxes arranged in a round-square-round pattern.

She set the ink-mixing boxes aside, then pulled out the lower layer, which held three separate small round boxes that fit snugly into the long box.

She opened the first round box; inside was bright red cinnabar—clearly top-grade cinnabar powder ground from the finest cinnabar.

Pan Yun, who had been about to push Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He aside to do her makeup, immediately scooted over to look.

Master Xuanmiao glanced at her, then picked up a small stone spoon nearby, scooped out a bit of cinnabar, and placed it into the ink-mixing box.

She took out quite a few bottles and jars, used for mixing the cinnabar ink.

Pan Yun caught the scent of spiritual energy from a liquid dripped out of one of the bottles.

She sniffed and asked Master Xuanmiao, "Senior Sister, is this spiritual liquid?"

Master Xuanmiao gave an "mm," and once everything was prepared, she reached her hand toward Tao Ji.

Tao Ji pulled out a thick, short needle from his own needle pouch and handed it to her.

Master Xuanmiao pricked the ring finger of her left hand, forcing out three drops of blood.

The three of them—Pan Yun included—stared blankly, none of them able to remember what they were supposed to be doing.

Master Xuanmiao took out three peach-wood tokens. After mixing the cinnabar ink with the blood, she dipped into the cinnabar and drew formations on them.

Pan Yun carefully observed the direction of the talisman script and realized she had never seen this formation before, so she watched even more attentively.

The final stroke lifted slightly into a hook, forming a closed loop. A flash of spiritual light passed, and the talisman script on the peach-wood token flickered in and out of sight, only after a moment fading into it. Seen from afar, it looked as though a few auspicious clouds connected together had been painted on the peach-wood token.

Master Xuanmiao set the finished peach-wood token aside and picked up the next one to continue.

Her yuan force was abundant; she drew three peach-wood tokens in succession.

"These are Concealment Tokens. They can hide certain qualities about you," Master Xuanmiao looked at Pan Yun. "The merit on you is too dazzling; this Concealment Token may not be very effective on you. But your cultivation is deep—if you can keep activating it with yuan force, its effect should increase."

Master Xuanmiao handed the three peach-wood tokens to them, taught them how to activate them, and told them to wear them on their persons.

"However, since you want to go earn money, you can take these wooden tokens off at the right moment," Master Xuanmiao said. "With this body of merit, even the most cunning person in this world would be unable to resist feeling reverence for you and believing you."

Pan Yun: "Then would they want to harm us?"

Master Xuanmiao: "Who knows? When a villain kneels before the gods, they will honestly confess their sins. Some truly repent, while others, after repenting, ask the Bodhisattva for a heart and the gods for longevity. Who knows what color the heart of the person you meet will be?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He were still a bit lacking; in the eyes of outsiders now, Pan Yun was equivalent to a merit stone that had just been touched by merit.

Master Xuanmiao said, "Either advance quickly, or figure out a way on your own to consolidate your merit. Otherwise, you won't attract villains first—you'll attract demons and monsters first."

Pan Yun agreed, first soaking the makeup potion, then grabbing Pan Xiao Hei who had been lying nearby and asking in her heart: 【With so much merit, why don't you absorb it?】

Pan Xiao Hei sneered, "After this great battle with the Japanese pirates, haven't you figured it out? The Spirit Realm only borrowed the power of merit to break the seal—it didn't consume it. It's your merit; it has always been on you. When you commit sins, a portion of your merit will naturally be offset."

Pan Yun: 【Before this I also did quite a bit of merit, but it never showed...】

"That's because the quantitative change wasn't enough to cause a qualitative change," Pan Xiao Hei paused, "but I'm also curious—how did your merit suddenly increase so much? It's been several days since you killed the Japanese pirates, and the Heavenly Dao doesn't distinguish good from evil—killing deducts merit, you know?"

Pan Yun was puzzled too.

But very soon, she solved the puzzle.

Pan Yun finished her makeup—frost-white at the temples—and changed into a set of Daoist robes, once again becoming the reclusive master Daoist Pan Sanzhu who had been appearing at Magistrate Huang's house.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He also changed into clean Daoist robes, one carrying a sword, the other carrying a cat, hands clasped and eyes lowered as they obediently followed Pan Yun into the small town.

Master Xuanmiao and Tao Ji, so as not to disrupt their operation, had specially changed into plain clothes and drove their own carriage, following behind.

Seeing the three of them making such a fuss at the town entrance, the two of them were dumbfounded.

Master Xuanmiao gradually came back to her senses and fell silent.

Tao Ji also closed his gaping mouth and murmured, "I think I just saw Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother."

Master Xuanmiao was silent for a very long time—so long that Pan Yun and the others' figures had already vanished—before saying, "Let's go. We'll go in and find an inn to stay at. Didn't Little Martial Sister tell us to go buy grain?"

"Oh." Tao Ji flicked the horse's rump and silently headed into town. The town was still fairly lively; it was early winter, and the fields weren't too busy, so people had time to gather and chat, setting up stalls to sell things on the side.

Pan Yun and the others put the peach-wood tokens into their storage space; the moment they appeared, they carried a soft golden glow about them.

Especially Pan Yun—with her back to the sun, when people turned to look, they felt as though her whole body radiated golden light, drawing them to approach without being able to help themselves.

Immediately someone abandoned their own stall and ran up; upon seeing Pan Yun's face clearly, they broke into a happy grin. "Daoist Master, where are you headed? Why not come to my house for a meal? My home isn't far from here."

Others also crowded forward. At this moment, the three of them—Pan Yun included—had a kind of magic about them that made people approach involuntarily, yet not dare to offend the three, so they ended up jostling among themselves.

"Daoist Master, come to my house. I'll have my wife kill a chicken."

"What's so impressive about killing a chicken? Daoist Master, come to my house—I'll have my father slaughter a pig!"

Pan Yun raised her hand to stop their clamoring and asked, "What were you all discussing just now? I seem to have heard the words 'sea bandits'?"

"Oh, we were saying three amazing Daoist Masters appeared on the coast, descending from the heavens and slaying in all directions, killing all the Japanese pirates who came to cause trouble."

"Those damned Japanese pirates finally died—it's revenge for us. My eldest aunt's whole family was killed by them."

"My uncle's family was in Shuangling Village, right next to Shuangyang Village. On their way home from the fields, they ran right into the Japanese pirates coming out of Shuangyang Village and were hacked into eight pieces—worse than beasts."

!. Read

"We're discussing setting up a longevity spirit tablet for the three Daoist Masters."

"I heard the people of Shuangyang Village and Huaihua Village want to build a shrine for the three Daoist Masters. When the time comes, we'll go worship too—just asking them to protect us so the sea bandits never come to our area again."

"There aren't many people left in Shuangyang Village and Huaihua Village, are there? Can they really build a shrine?"

"Hey, relying on them alone isn't enough—aren't there other villages too? Everyone's related in some way; if everyone lends a hand, we can build the ancestral hall right between Shuangyang Village and Huaihua Village. I'll even push a cart of stones there myself—this hall will have my share of credit."

Pan Yun blinked and asked, "What are the names of those three Daoists?"

"One is said to be Sanzhu, another Si Shui, and the third Wu Huo."

"Those names are easy to remember—three, four, five—we'll never forget them."

Pan Yun: "……Good names."

Was she going to change her name again?

She didn't really want to. "Who told you this? Did they say how old the three Daoists are?"

"They didn't say. Only that they're three Kun Daoists, extremely powerful—especially Daoist Sanzhu. It's said she can fly into the sky and explode herself into a firework, and when the firework falls, it kills every Japanese pirate surrounding her."

Pan Yun immediately felt reassured, her face softening into a kind smile as she nodded. "Daoist Sanzhu is truly formidable—even exploding herself into a firework didn't kill her."

Though Pan Yun was approachable, the townsfolk still frowned at her words. "Daoist Sanzhu is naturally powerful—they say she fought a hundred alone and killed every single Japanese pirate who raided Shuangyang and Huaihua Villages recently."

Pan Yun: ……No wonder her merit surged so fast—who spread this rumor?

She had killed Japanese pirates, but not those ones. This merit made her feel guilty!

Pan Yun swallowed hard and asked, "May I ask, who spread this news? Is it reliable?"

"It's true, absolutely true. It came back with a Licentiate from Quanzhou. They say he went to the coast himself and saw Japanese pirate heads hanging from the trees, and fresh mounds of graves everywhere. What would a Licentiate lie about?"

Pan Yun felt even more suffocated. This rumor was now impossible to clear up.

If the surviving villagers of Shuangyang and Huaihua ever found out the truth, wouldn't they be furious? Wouldn't they hate her?

No, she had to explain.

Otherwise, the more they loved her now, the more they'd hate her when the truth came out—she couldn't bear that backlash.

Pan Yun decided to act quickly. "May I ask, how do I get to the Liu family?"

"The Liu landlord's house?"

"Yes—the richest, land-most family in town."

The townsfolk looked disappointed. Two even tried to persuade her. "Daoist, our meals are delicious too."

"Daoist, we can even get you wine."

Pan Yun thanked them warmly. "But I must see the Liu family—this matter requires it."

The townsfolk could only point the way.

Some even abandoned their stalls and personally led her to the Liu family's front gate.

An elderly man, eager to curry favor, squeezed through the crowd, rushed forward, and banged loudly on the door, shouting, "Liu Hei, open up! Open quickly!"

Liu Hei flung the door open with a bang, scowling as he stuck his head out. "What are you all—"

Seeing the crowd, he startled, his voice dropping eight tones. "My master says this year we don't lend money—only grain. Borrow grain, repay with money. No haggling."

Borrow grain, repay with money—what a novel, obscure lending method.

Good night

(End of Chapter)