Chapter 264: Angry

Pan Yun sat back down in the chair, and Old Master Liu bowed and served her tea. At that moment, every doubt in his heart vanished, and in his mind only the faces of the villagers of Shuangyang Village and Huaihua Village, and Song Bei and the other Japanese pirates, flashed by.

Although he had dealings and traded with the Japanese pirates, he knew even better that those sea rogues acknowledged no sentiment — in their eyes there was only profit.

Therefore, if they had made up their minds to rob him, playing along would be useless, and bribing them with money would be even more useless.

Those insatiable sea rogues would only be stirred into an even greater desire to plunder. So during that short journey, Old Master Liu had already figured it out: for the Liu family to shake off the Japanese pirates, the best way was to kill them all, or to make it impossible for the pirates to ever land again.

All that talk of smuggling, of cooperation, he tossed to the back of his mind.

Yes, smuggling could earn quite a bit of money, but the risk was great too.

And as a local gentry family, wasn't the Liu family's greatest confidence and asset their land?

Smuggling was merely icing on the cake.

Before Pan Yun could even open her mouth, Old Master Liu had already painfully cut off one arm in his heart, and he gazed at her imploringly, begging Pan Yun to stay and save the Liu family.

Pan Yun understood: he wanted her to live at the Liu estate and guard the household.

Of course, he put it nicely — calling it "praying for blessings upon the Liu family."

Pan Yun quietly looked at him.

Old Master Liu looked at her with hope in his eyes. Pan Yun refused outright: "I need to cultivate. No time."

Old Master Liu was so disappointed he nearly fell to his knees again. Pan Yun frowned and said: "Can't you use your brain a little more? This Daoist is a cultivator, I have no time, but are other people also without time?"

"It's just a bunch of Japanese pirates. Are you shorter than them, or smaller than them? If they dare come, why don't you dare to strike back?"

Pan Yun said, frustrated that he was too spineless to act: "Their rear is far away, their reinforcements are insufficient, while we are people born and raised here. With so many fellow villagers right here, if this town is fought to ruin, there's still the next town; if all the towns are fought to ruin, there's still the county. What is there to fear?"

"Take out the determination that when one comes we kill one, when a pair comes we kill a pair. This Daoist does not believe they can still rob anything from you."

Old Master Liu wept: "Daoist Priest, but if the people of our town are all killed off, we won't just lose our wealth, we'll lose our people too. I don't want war, I just want to live."

Pan Yun: …

Looking at Old Master Liu weeping so miserably, Pan Yun swallowed a pile of curses, her expression went flat, and she changed tack: "This Daoist does have one method, one that will let you far surpass them when you encounter Japanese pirates."

Old Master Liu's eyes lit up as he asked: "What method?"

"A formation."

Pan Yun said: "Since you've heard the stories of this Daoist slaying pirates, you should know that when this Daoist killed pirates, she had the aid of a formation."

"Old Master Liu, I can set up a formation in your town. As long as the Japanese pirates enter the town, they will be confused by the formation. Then you can hide within the formation and kill them by surprise."

"This…" Old Master Liu rolled his eyes and said: "Why not set it up at my house?"

Pan Yun said with a half-smile: "Of course that's fine. Not to mention setting it up at your house — even setting it up only in Old Master Liu's room would do. When the time comes, Old Master Liu can hide in his own room. After the Japanese pirates have slaughtered the townsfolk, and then slaughtered everyone in the Liu estate, when they come looking for Old Master Liu, Old Master Liu can be hiding in the formation and take them out one by one, capturing them all in one go. At that point, Old Master Liu, you will be the town's sole survivor, its sole hero!"

Old Master Liu thudded to his knees on the ground, reaching out to hug Pan Yun's thigh, but Pan Yun dodged, and he only managed to grab a corner of her robe.

Clutching the hem, he wept and said: "Daoist Priest, it was Liu's narrow vision, I did not think of my family and the townsfolk. Liu is guilty. Set the formation in the town, set it in the town."

Pan Yun snorted and said: "Old Master Liu, an individual's strength is always limited. Even the Japanese pirates know to band together with their fellow countrymen to plunder. How is it that you, a normal person, do not know to unite the townsfolk?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it was Liu's narrow vision. From now on I will certainly unite the townsfolk properly."

Pan Yun: "Besides the townsfolk, you should also keep in closer touch with the government office. Your resistance, and that of the townsfolk, is self-defense. The government office is your outside support."

Old Master Liu was not stupid. Was it that he hadn't thought of it?

Of course not — he simply didn't want to pay the price.

But Pan Yun's earlier mockery made him realize that people are the most important thing.

Although it still pained him, at least he had come to his senses.

The formation flags were ready-made. Pan Yun decided to end this quickly, grabbed Old Master Liu, and went out through the air, bypassing the townsfolk in front of the main gate who refused to disperse.

She carried Old Master Liu and buried formation flags in five directions, then took out a formation plate and handed it to him, sending out a strike of primordial force right in front of him.

Old Master Liu saw a streak of spiritual light shoot from Pan Yun's fingertip, instantly splitting into five streaks in the air. One fell straight into the pit they had just dug before their eyes, and the other four flew toward the four directions from earlier.

Old Master Liu watched, dumbfounded.

A moment later, Pan Yun said: "Let's go."

Old Master Liu hurriedly asked, "It's done?"

Pan Yun nodded. "For the rest, figure it out yourself by studying the formation plate. Everything you need is on it."

Old Master Liu lowered his head to look at the formation plate, head aching. "B-but I can't read it."

Pan Yun: "I'll teach you in a bit. But Old Master Liu, when you have time you should read more of the *Book of Changes*. That book is very useful." Old Master Liu: "Daoist Sanzhu jests. If Liu could understand the *Book of Changes*, I wouldn't be just a country gentleman out here in the wilds — I'd at least sit for the Licentiate or Provincial Graduate exams and try my luck."

"Read the *Book of Changes* a few more times and you'll get it. If ten times isn't enough, read it a hundred. You have plenty of time anyway."

Lest he have too much time on his hands and start scheming all sorts of other nonsense.

Pan Yun taught him how to operate the formation through the formation plate.

"This is the switch. Turn it on."

Old Master Liu turned it on, and then — the sunny sky, the little town that had been bathed in sunlight, suddenly turned cool and gloomy, as if shadows had crept in everywhere.

Old Master Liu's eyes went wide. "This…"

Pan Yun said: "This is daytime. Actually, the formation works best at night, on overcast or rainy days, and in the early morning and evening. Because the sun is the supreme yang thing under heaven, and it can naturally break ten thousand laws. But since I'm teaching you how to use this formation right now, it doesn't matter."

She pointed at the small dots on the formation plate and said: "These are the townsfolk, these are the streets. Old Master Liu should be able to tell which street on the plate is which, right?"

Old Master Liu stared hard, and finally recognized them beneath the thin lines. "Th-this is my front gate, this is the main street, and here, here is the town entrance…"

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Pan Yun nodded. "Not bad."

She said: "These townsfolk are all green. People who often come to this town to market have this place's aura, so coming and going they are also green. But people like us, coming for the first time, or who don't come often — coming and going they are yellow. But if Japanese pirates, sea rogues, or others bearing killing intent enter the town, they are red."

Old Master Liu was full of wonder. "Th-this wouldn't be an immortal's magic artifact? C-can I really use it?"

In truth, this was just a standard aura-detection formation paired with a labyrinth formation — a common formation of the 26th century.

Pan Yun had originally planned to set it up at Mount Sanqing, but now she was in a hurry to earn money for her master, so she brought it out to use first.

Pan Yun found Old Master Liu very disagreeable, so she stretched out her hand and named an outrageous price: "Five hundred taels. An immortal's magic artifact — you deserve to own one."

Master Liu's hand froze—he was too expensive.

Pan Yun tilted her head slightly, and Seeing Miao Zhen sniffed: "Does a divine artifact from a celestial being not even fetch five hundred taels in Master Liu's house?"

Master Liu hurriedly said: "No, no, no—I didn't mean that, it's just…"

He grimaced: "It's just that my family's wealth is meager, and I was startled by this five hundred taels… Of course, I don't mean this divine artifact isn't worth five hundred taels—in my view, it's priceless—but I'm penniless, I…"

Pan Yun took the array plate from his hand and smiled sweetly: "No matter. Don't buy it then."

"I came here merely to warn Master Liu about the Japanese pirates. My duty to warn is done. Farewell."

Saying this, she turned and walked away.

"Wait, Master Daoist, please pause a moment…"

Pan Yun kept walking with a stern face, heading straight for the front gate.

Master Liu ran after her, hurriedly saying: "Master Sanzhu, you are a benevolent soul—please give us a discount. I speak for the townsfolk in thanking you…"

Pan Yun heard this and laughed bitterly: "Ah~ So Master Liu wants the entire town to pay for this?"

Master Liu smiled ingratiatingly: "Master Sanzhu, this array protects the whole town—every townsfolk shares the benefit of this divine artifact, so naturally they should share the cost. My household is willing to pay the bulk, but even after my contribution, the remainder is still a huge sum for the townsfolk. Could you, out of compassion, ask for less?"

Pan Yun stopped and stared fixedly at Master Liu. After a moment, she smiled: "Truly, kind words cannot dissuade a fool bent on death."

Pan Yun swept her sleeve, sending Master Liu flying. She chanted a spell, and five array flags burst forth, whistling in from five directions.

Pan Yun opened the box; the flags slid one by one into it. She closed the lid and spoke to the fallen Master Liu: "Master Liu, I am kind-hearted, so I came to warn you. But I am also a cultivator. Cultivators respect others' destinies. If you wish me to bear the backlash of Heaven's Dao and alter your Liu family's fate, you must pay the price."

"Yet now you seek to pay less—or shift the cost onto the townsfolk. Hmph. You think yourself clever, but I am no fool. Why should I bear the karmic burden of your sins?"

Saying this, she called to Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He: "Let's go!"

This time, the three did not linger. After leaving the Liu household, they departed the town directly, heading for the larger village of Zheng.

The townsfolk stared in shock, then rushed after them, calling: "Why are the Daoists leaving? Won't you stay for a meal?"

Master Liu had now realized his mistake. He ran out after them, but the townsfolk blocked him. He flew into a rage, ordering Liu Hei and the retainers to push them aside: "Master Sanzhu, wait! Let's talk this through! I won't haggle anymore—I won't haggle!"

But Pan Yun was angry—and refused to sell to him.

In her fury, Pan Yun didn't wait for Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He to walk—they were each seized by one hand, and she floated away gracefully. By the time Master Liu, breathless, reached the town's edge, he could see only their retreating backs.

Master Liu now truly regretted it. He pounded his chest and stamped his feet, slapping his own face in anguish: "Why did you haggle? Why did you haggle? Oh no! Someone, quickly saddle a horse! I must chase after the Daoist—hurry!"

There's another chapter tonight.

(End of Chapter)