The youth appeared extremely young, clad in a peculiar set of gleaming white bone armor. Though the bone armor seemed simple, an extraordinary luster subtly flowed across it. Most critically, the youth's vitality was as vigorous as a raging furnace, and his cultivation was unfathomably deep, far surpassing his own.
Essence Devouring stage?
This youth was definitely in the Essence Devouring stage!
Zhao Qianjun's scalp tingled. A fifth-stage cultivator so young was unheard of! Was he a Buddhist prodigy secretly nurtured by the Buddhist sect? Or some old monster in disguise?
As for the small rat squatting on Ku Chan monk's bald head, its aura was so perfectly concealed that Zhao Qianjun subconsciously overlooked it. However, he showed no outward reaction, forcing a polite smile and stepping aside to clear the path.
"So it is the Buddha Lord arriving, my apologies for the disrespect. Since you are an eminent monk of the Buddhist sect, there's naturally no need to queue for inspection. Please, enter the city."
He didn't even inquire about Shitou's origins, wisely choosing to ignore it.
Ku Chan monk nodded in satisfaction, leading Shitou, and swaggered through the checkpoint, entering Lantao City.
Watching Ku Chan monk's retreating figure, the smile instantly vanished from Zhao Qianjun's face. He immediately turned, barking at a personal guard beside him: "Guard diligently. Report any unusual movement immediately."
With that, he didn't linger, rushing towards the Blackwater Guard's station within the city.
As Ku Chan monk stepped into Lantao City, compared to the anxious apprehension of those queuing outside, the city, while still permeated by a suppressed tension, at least maintained a semblance of order on the surface. Shops lined both sides of the street, peddlers and laborers moved to and fro, but most pedestrians hurried along, smiles rarely seen on their faces.
Ku Chan monk casually surveyed the streetscape, while inwardly calculating the three tasks Chen Zhou had assigned him: uncover the source of the copper poison in Thousand Isles County's various districts, ascertain the forces behind the commandery, and spread his faith.
The first task already had people running errands. If worse came to worst, he could recruit more lone cultivators to help. Ku Chan monk offered a silent prayer for his fellow disciples, who were still cultivating their Arhat's bodies, completely unaware of the impending disaster.
'My apologies, senior brothers, but each serves his own master. You can't entirely blame this little monk.'
As for the remaining two tasks, they were no challenge for him at all. When it came to cultivating faith by appearing as divine figures and securing the voluntary offering of flesh and blood from believers, no one was better at it than the Buddhist sect. As for ascertaining the forces behind the commandery:
"Rather than painstakingly trying to contact the heavily guarded commandery, it's better to make them come to us."
Ku Chan monk whispered to Shitou, "We need a base of operations first, and it must be a place that attracts attention." His target was clear: the outer city district. This area was a mixed bag, with easily accessible information, mostly low-stage cultivators, down-on-their-luck lone cultivators, and local commoners—precisely the kind of fertile ground where tales of ghosts and gods easily take root.
The trio walked a stretch along the outer city district's main thoroughfare. Ku Chan monk scanned his surroundings, finally stopping at a relatively wide fork in the road, where the foot traffic wasn't the heaviest. At the street corner was a two-story shop with a small courtyard, an old plaque hanging above its door that read "Lin's General Store."
The doors were tightly shut, a yellowed red paper sign proclaiming "Auspicious Shop for Transfer" pasted upon them.
"This will do," Ku Chan monk nodded. The location was quite good. He stepped forward, peeled off the red paper, and knocked.
Soon after, a seemingly respectable middle-aged fat man bustled out from inside.
"Are you here to look at the shop? My name is Qian, I am the steward of the Lin Manor in the south of the city. My master has urgent matters and entrusted me with disposing of this old property."
He spoke rather quickly.
Ku Chan monk raised a palm in salute. "Amitabha. This little monk is a wandering traveler who finds this place auspicious, and wishes to find a tranquil spot to rest for a while."
Upon hearing "auspicious connection," Fatty Qian's heart sank a little. He feared this strange monk would be troublesome and waste his time. He rubbed his hands. "Recently... alas, it's the copper poison, isn't it? Something happened at my master's home, and he's eager to return to his hometown, which is why he's reluctantly selling." He spoke as he led the trio inside, but his description was half-hearted.
"You see, the shop's location is decent, open front and back, with a small courtyard behind, and the upstairs can be used for living... Everything is already here, ready for immediate use."
Lantao City hasn't been peaceful lately; people are in a state of panic, and many families are divesting their assets. If the copper poison truly spread to the commandery, these properties, which only generated mundane gold and silver, would become a burden. It's better to exchange them for some low-grade spirit stones; holding those feels more secure. And recently, strange things have been happening at the master's residence. Fatty Qian sighed inwardly, wishing only to sell it quickly. He held up five fingers, gesturing a number. "The price is negotiable, as long as it's this amount."
"500 low-grade spirit stones?"
Ku Chan monk hadn't engaged in human transactions for several centuries. This price should be quite reasonable for the commandery. 500 spirit stones—the old Ku Chan monk might have felt a pang of regret for such a sum, but now, the supplies his lord had given him were simply beyond imagination!
The transfer was quickly completed. Fatty Qian breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps sensing Ku Chan monk was a straightforward person, he offered a kind warning.
"Master, Lantao City hasn't been a peaceful place lately. Remember to close your doors and windows at night. Even if you hear strange noises, whatever you do, don't go outside."
Having said his piece, Fatty Qian rushed off, looking as if he had just escaped something deeply ominous.
After the man left, Ku Chan monk looked at the slightly dilapidated shop, a satisfied smile gracing his face. He soared up, personally removing the old "Lin's General Store" plaque. Then, using Buddhist techniques, he branded three large golden characters onto a new plaque: Heart's Desire Hall.
"Heart's Desire Hall?" Shitou looked at the plaque, somewhat puzzled.
"All mortals have desires, all have wishes." Ku Chan monk hung the plaque and clapped his hands. "They seek wealth, peace, healing, answers, even revenge. In the past, they prayed to gods and Buddhas, exhausting their fortunes without guarantee of efficacy. Now, our Heart's Desire Hall offers them a chance to have their wishes fulfilled."
Shitou nodded, taking out several blood-vein wooden tablets. These were precisely the special wooden materials that Li Dazhu had yielded from cutting trees these past few days. All of them had been inscribed with the Bone Summoning spell by Chen Zhou. Six masses of grayish-white death qi surged from the wooden tablets, rapidly condensing and taking shape. In the blink of an eye, six tall, burly Bone Ghost Servants appeared at the entrance of Heart's Desire Hall. Each one had been strengthened, reaching the fourth-stage level.
This sudden sight immediately drew the attention of pedestrians on the street.
"W-what is that?!"
"Skeletons! Are they evil cultivators?"
"No... look where they're standing. Are they guarding that newly opened shop?"
"Heart's Desire Hall? That name is strange. A Heart's Desire Hall guarded by skeletons?"
"They must be puppets. These puppets are truly strong; one could take on a hundred of me."
Passersby stopped in their tracks, some horrified, some curious. To use fourth-stage skeleton puppets as doorkeepers—just what kind of background did the owner of this Heart's Desire Hall have?
Ku Chan monk was very pleased with the effect he had created. He adjusted his monk's robes and said to Shitou, "Let's go, little friend Shitou, we'll head inside. Now, we just wait for those with discerning eyes to come knocking."
Rate on N.U.
