novelraw Chapter 83 : I Have Five Things I Don’t Do
Chapter 83 : I Have Five Things I Don’t Do
Chapter 83: I Have Five Things I Don’t Do
Early the next morning, Fang Chang left Canglan Mountain.
More accurately speaking, he first went to the innkeeper at Ascension Town to eat a pork knuckle meal before driving his carriage away.
Fang Chang had not yet reached the realm where he could fly.
Nor did he possess some discount version of Purple Cloud Wings like a certain senior who played with Heavenly Flames.
Canglan Mountain did sell flying boats.
But the craftsmanship was somewhat crude, far inferior to the Artifact Refinement Path.
Personally, Fang Chang also preferred staying on land.
It gave him the feeling of exploring an open-world map from his previous life.
Though of course—
exploring an open-world game and exploring a real open world were clearly different things.
For example—
why the hell was this damn carriage so bumpy?
Fang Chang cultivated the Pure Yang Path and possessed a body tough as reinforced steel, so naturally he was not afraid of it.
But this was way too bumpy!
After passing through a forest,
Fang Chang found a small village and planned to drink some tea and feed the horse.
Not long afterward,
an old man claiming to be the village chief came over to the tea stall, accompanied by several elders who appeared highly respected.
The village chief respectfully asked:
“Immortal Master, are you a disciple of Canglan Mountain?”
Together with the people behind him, they all bowed deeply in unison.
Fang Chang glanced at the Canglan Mountain waist token at his side, put it away, and tossed it into the Black Tortoise Square Cauldron.
“No.”
What a strange thing.
I, Fang Chang, have cultivated the Corpse Path for so many years, yet someone still thinks I’m a righteous-path disciple?
The village chief’s expression had already brightened with joy, but the instant he heard the word “no,” it collapsed.
With a dispirited face, he pleaded:
“Immortal Master! Our small village lies within Canglan Mountain’s territory. The commission request was submitted many days ago, yet there has still been no response... But we... we are old and frail and cannot endure such a calamity. Please, Immortal Master, save us!”
An encounter quest.
They always appeared this suddenly.
“First tell me what happened.”
Before the old village chief could speak, Fang Chang immediately added,
“But let me make this clear first. There are five kinds of jobs I don’t do: I don’t do easy jobs, because there’s no challenge. I don’t do jobs I can’t do—if even I can’t do it, then why would I do it? I don’t do jobs I don’t want to do—if I don’t want to do it, how could I do it? I don’t do jobs that aren’t urgent—if it’s not urgent, why should I bother? And I don’t do urgent jobs either, because urgency leads to mistakes.”
He took a sip of tea to wet his throat.
“Understand?”
Zhang Su’s voice immediately sounded from within the Black Tortoise Square Cauldron:
“Do not be so harsh. One Good Deed a Day, Benefactor Fang.”
Why do you always eavesdrop, Martial Aunt Zhang?
Once you’re inside the coffin, just rest properly.
The village chief and the others were left somewhat dumbfounded.
But since they had finally encountered a Canglan Mountain disciple after so much difficulty, there was no way they could let him leave without mentioning the disaster.
So the village chief began explaining the so-called calamity.
After listening for only a few sentences, Fang Chang basically understood the mission.
Within Red Mud Village, many children had developed high fevers and begun babbling nonsense.
A physician had been invited to examine them and diagnosed it as a cold, prescribing some medicinal powders.
But once the children drank the medicine, their eyes rolled white, their bodies curled like shrimp, and rasping sounds came from their throats, as though something inside their bodies was rampaging wildly.
At that point, no one dared continue giving medicine recklessly. Only after listening to the older generation did they realize it might be some kind of spirit creature causing trouble.
The village chief immediately submitted a request to Canglan Mountain, asking disciples to eliminate the spirit creature.
It had not actually been that many days.
There had to be some kind of process.
They had simply happened to encounter Fang Chang here and thus complained bitterly about their suffering.
Fang Chang muttered “Red Mud Village” a few times.
He had no impression of it whatsoever, immediately confirming that this was not some interesting mission or one with special rewards.
Fang Chang’s pig brain had overloaded.
Even if he had completed this mission before in 《Fallen Immortal》, if he could not remember it, then it clearly was not worth spending time on.
Fang Chang pulled several vermilion-yellow Evil-Suppressing Talismans from his sleeve.
“Paste these talismans on your doors. If it truly is a spirit creature causing trouble, it will be unable to enter. You may also burn them into talisman water and let the possessed children drink it.”
Patting his backside, he tossed down the tea money and prepared to leave.
The village chief pleaded:
“Immortal Master, please conveniently eliminate that spirit creature as well! W-We are truly terrified...”
“These talismans can suppress ordinary little spirit creatures for ten days to half a month at minimum. By the time the commission is accepted, whoever comes can deal with it.”
Fang Chang curled his lips.
If he had time, he could help.
But first of all, this region was filled with mountains and ridges. Things like spirit creatures were extremely troublesome to locate, and he had no intention of wasting time on that.
Besides—
just from the description alone, it did not sound particularly serious.
This territory indeed fell under Canglan Mountain’s jurisdiction.
But that absolutely did not mean there were no wandering rogue cultivators traveling through the area.
Rogue cultivators merely lacked a sect inheritance. It certainly did not mean they were all evil or harmful people from crooked paths.
The Twelve Orthodox Paths had limited manpower.
There was no way they could properly manage every inch of the Nine Provinces.
Within lower society, a significant portion of authority gaps were filled by the enormous number of righteous-path rogue cultivators.
As for spirit creatures of this level...
Any one or two rogue cultivators above the Second Realm could solve it eventually, merely requiring more time.
Thinking about it this way,
the matter within Red Mud Village likely hid some other truth beneath the surface.
Fang Chang’s sharp gaze swept over.
Sure enough, the village chief’s eyes noticeably shifted away.
Heh.
It was probably not some major matter, but the other party was definitely concealing something.
After all, it was just a small mission.
“If that is the case, then we shall not disturb Immortal Master further...”
The village chief did not wish to offend a cultivator. Wearing a bitter expression, he accepted the talismans and prepared to withdraw dejectedly.
Suddenly—
someone at the tea stall abruptly stood up and smashed their tea bowl heavily onto the table.
It was a woman.
She said coldly:
“I had thought Canglan Mountain consisted of righteous and benevolent cultivators. I never expected there to be someone as hypocritical as you.”
Fang Chang’s footsteps paused.
With great interest, he looked her up and down.
The woman was tall and slender. She wore ordinary rough clothing wrapped tightly around her body, while even her hair was covered with coarse cloth, exposing only a small face smeared pitch-black.
There was nothing worth looking at.
“Spirit Taming Sect?”
The woman’s expression stiffened briefly. Taking a breath, she answered stiffly:
“That’s right. Spirit Taming Sect.”
One of the Twelve Orthodox Paths—the Spirit Taming Sect of the Beast-Taming Path.
Their path coexisted with spirit beasts. Humans borrowed the beasts’ strength, while beasts borrowed human intelligence, cultivating harmoniously together.
They were the true Pokémon.
As for Fang Chang’s side—
those were playable Pokémon, more like Gardevoir... Bah, I know absolutely nothing about that Gardevoir with the world’s highest number of doujinshi.
“And Fellow Daoist is?”
“Spirit Taming Sect, Liang Qian.”
Fang Chang smiled and looked toward the village chief.
“Excellent, excellent, Village Chief. This Fellow Daoist Liang Qian is a disciple of a great sect, and moreover a righteous and compassionate disciple of the Spirit Sect. She absolutely cannot bear to watch ordinary mortals like us suffer. With her here, a mere spirit creature will be no problem at all!”
“Wh-... I didn’t... I meant that as a disciple of Canglan Mountain, you’re actually this lazy, talking about five things you don’t do...”
Liang Qian froze for a moment, clearly not having fully reacted.
The village chief also hesitated.
He did not dare follow Fang Chang’s words too closely. If he cornered the other party too much, he feared the Immortal Master might become displeased.
Fang Chang saw through it and smiled.
“The Spirit Taming Sect is located in Tuozhou, over a hundred thousand li away from Canglan Mountain. But don’t worry, Fellow Daoist Liang Qian. With me here, I’ll definitely spread your good deeds far and wide!”
The village chief froze for a moment.
Then he understood, and his face instantly filled with delight.
Under Fang Chang’s guidance, he bowed repeatedly toward Liang Qian in gratitude.
Meanwhile, Fang Chang stirred things up from the side, saying things like how Lady Liang Qian’s arrival was like the coming of the heavens themselves, and that everyone should kneel together with full three kneelings and nine kowtows.
Liang Qian’s face stiffened as she glared fiercely at Fang Chang through gritted teeth.
“We cultivators naturally must uphold the righteous path and slay demons and monsters!”