No taboos

Chapter 5 Life Money

The side yard was opened later. It was originally a small yard next door. Later, the owner was possessed by evil spirits and died inexplicably.

Master Qiao drove away the evil spirit.

The owner had only a distant nephew, and Mr. Qiao gave him a few taels of silver to buy the house. He broke through the courtyard wall and used it as his own residence in Qihetai Town.

The side courtyard is on the east side of the inn and is elegantly decorated, with bamboos on the south wall and plum trees planted in the west corner.

Xu Yuan brought in breakfast and the accountant Liu was also there.

"Are you used to living here?" Mr. Qiao asked casually.

"That's fine. Thank you, sir, for taking me in." Xu Yuan responded.

"Your family entrusted you to me, so I have to take care of you. If you need anything, just tell me."

Mr. Qiao waved his hand, and Xu Yuan politely left.

Liu, the accountant, followed him out and called out to him in the yard, "Did those two people yesterday really go into the mountains to collect the goods?"

Xu Yuan opened his mouth to answer "yes", but found that he couldn't tell the lie.

The accountant Liu in front of him stared at him with a pair of dead fish eyes. Xu Yuan could only tell the truth: "No, they went into the mountains to look for something and wanted to kill me. Then they captured my soul and continued to lead them. I led them to Diaotou Ridge, and only then did I come back alive."

Xu Yuan gave a very detailed explanation, trying to attract the attention of Liu, the accountant.

But the accountant Liu was also very experienced and was not affected at all: "What are they looking for?"

Xu Yuan was reluctant to answer, but any hesitation would reveal his true identity.

"I overheard them talking, and they mentioned something like a cow leaf worm, but I don't know what it is."

He can't lie, but Xu Yuan can confuse his accent.

"Those people we asked you to lead the way were also here looking for something?"

"The first two groups weren't, but the next three groups were."

Accountant Liu was furious: "Why didn't you report it?"

"I...I don't know if I should report it."

The accountant Liu glared at Xu Yuan fiercely: "Remember! You are an innkeeper. If there is anything unusual in the future, you must report it to me! Do you understand?"

"clear."

"get out."

Xu Yuan left quickly, and the accountant Liu had no idea that he had been fooled by a naive child.

Above the gate of the side yard hung a calligraphy piece with three large characters "No Lies" written on it, covering the entire yard.

The ink is not dry yet.

This is Wen Xiu's ability.

The accountant Liu returned to the room and frowned, saying, "Boss, I've never heard of a cow leafworm."

Mr. Qiao stroked his beard and kept muttering: "Ox leaf worm, Ox leaf worm..."

I also have no idea.

After a long while, Master Qiao said, "You keep an eye on the store. I'll go into the mountains and get some information."

……

In the easternmost room on the second floor of the front yard, the woman took off a huge earlobe made of sandalwood and brass from her ear, sneered and said in her heart: Qiao Ziang, you idiot, what is a cow leaf insect, it is clearly a June bug!

This house is not hers. Hers was arranged by Mr. Qiao himself at the westernmost end.

The occupant of this house was drugged by one of her subordinates, Dan Xiu, and obeyed her orders.

She took out a lifelike parrot made of bamboo strips and instructed, "Send two people to test the boy in the backyard."

The parrot mechanically flew out of the window and landed in a courtyard at the east end of the town, where it followed a group of people in repeating the woman's orders.

……

Xu Yuan was collecting firewood today, followed by two people.

Today the river is not restricted, and the group of beautiful snails on the Beauty Dam are working particularly hard. When the river is not restricted, outsiders will not go around the dam. They use their voices to lure men, and it is the time when they are crazy about fishing.

Xu Yuan circled around the boss and just as he crossed the dam, the two people behind him caught up with him and said, "Young man, walk slowly."

One of the two people is a Dharma practitioner and the other is an alchemy practitioner.

Dharma practitioners are of the ninth rate, and alchemy practitioners are even lower-rate.

This is also the ability of "Wang Ming", which can tell at a glance from the "life" whether the other person is a cultivator.

The approximate level range can also be seen.

Unless other practitioners have special abilities, they cannot tell the difference between practitioners and ordinary people.

The burly man and the man with wide eyes observed Xu Yuan secretly for a long time before they confirmed that Xu Yuan was just an ordinary person.

Except for martial artists...

As long as a martial artist is in the mainstream, his body will be larger than that of a normal person. "We want to go to Wangxiang Village. Can you please show us the way?" The magic cultivator took out a silver bean and said, "Don't let your trip be in vain. This is your reward for your hard work."

This was the sixth wave of people Xu Yuan had met in the past half month who asked him to lead the way, but it was the first time someone actually gave him money.

There is a faint magic mark on the silver - this is "life-saving money".

In Faxiu's eyes, Xu Yuan's worthless life was only worth this silver bean, no more.

The field of legal cultivation is the most chaotic, with many schools of thought. The one in front of me who is doing "life-saving money" should be cultivating "commercial law."

The most common ones are those who practice "magic", and the most difficult ones are those who practice "laws".

Xu Yuan even heard his stepmother mention it once, that they also had people who specialized in "transformation" and could turn people into dogs, snakes, and even millstones...

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Xu Yuan was still the same as he was yesterday when facing the two men with different eyes: "Sir, there are some things that need to be discussed in advance. It's not about the amount of reward..."

Fa Xiu nodded: "We all understand these rules."

"That's good." Xu Yuan took the silver bean: "My two guests, please follow me."

Seeing that he accepted the "life-saving money", Faxiu chuckled to himself. As long as he took the money, his life would be in my hands.

Even if there is a cultivator who is better than himself, once the "business law" is achieved, he will be unable to escape.

The two followed Xu Yuan and chatted casually. Xu Yuan responded patiently for Yin Douzi's sake.

After passing Mao'er Tomb and entering the mountains, Faxiu asked, "Brother, have many people entered the mountains recently?"

"A lot, to be honest with you, you are the sixth group of people I have brought into the mountains in the past few days."

"What do they do in the mountains?"

"Collecting mountain products. Most people who go into the mountains do this."

Xu Yuan constantly felt malice and even murderous intent towards the two of them - every time Xu Yuan carefully observed the "fates" of the two.

This is one usage of "望命".

Erliang began to have improper thoughts about the woman in the front yard, and there was a hint of scarlet evil in his "fate".

But the "fate" of the two people did not change at all.

The "fate" of these two people is green, which is richer than Erliang's "white fate".

Xu Yuan shook his head secretly. It was obvious that his strength was still too weak. Even if he had malicious intentions, he could not affect the two of them.

...Then we have to find another way.

Fa Xiu pretended to be worried and said, "With so many people going ahead to collect the goods, I'm afraid we'll return empty-handed this time."

Xu Yuan hesitated to speak.

Fa Xiu then took out another copper coin and said, "Thank you for your hard work, little brother. Take this money."

Xu Yuan's eyes were full of greed, and he said evasively: "Sir, you have already paid, how can I have the nerve to take more."

Fa Xiu handed it to him and said, "The money you gave me before was for guiding us. This is for you to chat with us and relieve our boredom."

Xu Yuan took it.

Fa Xiu: "Little brother, can you tell me everything now?"

This copper coin bought Xu Yuan's "answer".

Once you receive the money, you will be controlled by commercial law, you must answer all questions, and you cannot lie.

Sure enough, Xu Yuan said, "Sir, there's no need to worry. Although those people said they were going into the mountains to collect goods, I'm afraid they weren't. They..." Xu Yuan lowered his voice and said, "I guess they're looking for something. Just go to Wangxiang Village and you should be able to get something."

"What are they looking for?"

"I don't know either." Xu Yuan's eyes flickered and his expression struggled, but he finally said, "I heard some of them mentioned the cow leaf worm..."

Fa Xiu and Dan Xiu looked at each other and said, no wonder the Saint Lady asked us to keep an eye on him!
Faxiu asked again: "Where did those people go in the end?"

"They all went to Wangxiang Village."

As they were talking, they reached the edge of the woods again. Xu Yuan pointed ahead and said, "Sir, follow this road and you will reach Wangxiang Village. There are no evil spirits blocking the road here, so I won't see you off. I still have to go collect firewood..."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan watched helplessly as a dazzling scarlet color quickly surged out of Fa Xiu's "green life".

The evil spirit suddenly increased!

Fa Xiu showed a strange smile and stretched out his hand to Xu Yuan: "Your life belongs to me!"

In Xu Yuan’s sleeve, the mark on the silver bean began to glow—but then it went out.

Faxiu suddenly felt blood rushing to his heart, and he couldn't control it and spit it out!

Spell backfires!

Both the Dharma cultivators and the Alchemy cultivators were shocked.

Fa Xiu completely collapsed, unable to muster any strength. Waves of backlash continued to attack him. Fa Xiu spat out several mouthfuls of blood, saying in disbelief, "What... is going on? Is this kid's life... so precious?"

(End of this chapter)