Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 175 Escort Mission. (Second Update!)

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que was slightly surprised. Judging from Qiu Tingfang's tone, it was as if he didn't recognize him.
A cultivator's memory is far superior to that of an ordinary person.

The armored soldiers at the city gate hadn't forgotten him...

But Zheng Que had no time to concern himself with such trivial matters at the moment, and immediately said, "I have some things here that I would like to make a move on."

As he spoke, he opened his storage bag and took out all the Yin-Clearing Pills, along with a large amount of materials that he didn't need.

Soon, the counter between the two was piled high with all kinds of pills and spiritual materials, like a small mountain, emanating wisps of spiritual energy and yin energy.

Qiu Tingfang raised an eyebrow, immediately stood up, and began to carefully examine these items.

His technique was skillful and his movements were swift, clearly indicating that he was used to this kind of work. In about fifteen minutes, he finished counting and even sorted the items into several small piles. Then he looked up and smiled, saying, "Low-grade [Yin-Clearing Pill], the market price is twenty spirit stones per pill, but the Merit Bureau's buyback price is half the market price."

"A mid-grade Yin-Clearing Pill costs fifty spirit stones on the market. The Merit Bureau's buyback price is a bit higher than that of a low-grade one, so they can give you 60% of the market price..."

"The brains of the Wingless Ghost Peak are worth five spirit stones on the market, and the Merit Bureau buys them back at half the market price..."

As Qiu Tingfang spoke, he took out an abacus from under the counter and started typing away. He concluded in a gentle tone, "It's a total of two thousand one hundred and seven spirit stones."

"If you want to sell more, I suggest you rent a stall in the market and sell to your fellow practitioners yourself."

"But if you're in a hurry to make a move, I can settle the bill now."

At this point, he looked at Zheng Que with a smile.

The resources this unfamiliar cultivator presented were extremely scattered; the items were not organized or connected, and their quality and origin varied greatly. It was not like a cultivator selling resources normally. If I'm not mistaken, he was here to sell stolen goods.

He'd seen this kind of thing many times before...

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que frowned slightly. The other party's buyback price was basically only half of the market price, which was too low!
However, he had a bad feeling about Taiping County and couldn't afford to waste too much time there.

Thinking this through, Zheng Li nodded immediately and said, "Okay, deal."

Seeing this, Qiu Tingfang was not surprised at all. He immediately put away all the resources that Zheng Que had taken out, and then took out a storage bag from the counter. In front of Zheng Que, he counted out 2,107 spirit stones, piled them up into a wall, and pushed it in front of Zheng Que.

Zheng Que glanced at the items to confirm the number was correct, took out a storage bag, put the spirit stones in it, and then said, "I also need a detailed map of the entire Taiping County, preferably one that shows the distribution of ghosts."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tingfang couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head, saying, "No!"

“Taiping County has undergone tremendous changes in recent years. Some towns or villages that were doing well a few years ago have inexplicably been destroyed overnight.”

"If someone happens to know the reason or time of the destruction and comes to the city to report it in time, that's fine. But if no one reports it, the city won't know what happened down there for a while."

"As for the distribution of ghosts, I would also like a map like this!"

Zheng Que frowned, thought for a moment, and then asked, "So, besides Taiping County, are there any other relatively peaceful towns nearby?"

"I don't want to stay here any longer and plan to move to another place."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Tingfang remained silent for a moment, not answering the question immediately. After a long while, he slowly said, "I don't know what level of peace you mean by 'peace'?"

“If it were like Taiping County, where you could hardly see a ghost on the streets, then there would be no other city like it in the entire Taiping County.”

"If peace is considered to be achieved simply by cultivators surviving, then there are many more..."

At this point, Qiu Tingfang changed the subject and continued, "However, considering the transaction we just made, I can give you some information that you might find useful." "The City Lord's Mansion needs to send this year's tax revenue to the prefectural city."

"Just recently, the city lord issued the mission to escort this tax collection."

"The leader of this mission is Senior Lu Maohong."

"If you have offended someone you shouldn't have in Taiping County and want to go somewhere further away, you can try this mission."

tax?

Escort mission?
Zheng Que was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized that the prefecture city the other party was talking about was a very peaceful place!

So he immediately replied, "Thank you for your guidance, senior!"

"I will accept this mission."

Qiu Tingfang smiled and nodded, then said, "In that case, I need to make a simple registration here."

"May I ask your name and cultivation level, fellow Daoist?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Que was slightly taken aback. Did Qiu Tingfang really not remember him at all?

He frowned, but quickly replied, "Zheng Que, cultivation level... Qi Refining Level 4!"

A moment later, Zheng Que finished registering his information, took a bamboo stick marked with special runes, and walked out of the Merit Office.

This bamboo stick serves as proof of our mission.

He put the bamboo sticks into his storage bag, quickly looked around at the shops and stalls in the offering hall, bought some protective talismans, and then, without wasting any more time, headed straight for the city lord's mansion.

Soon, Zheng Que arrived in front of the city lord's mansion.

This mansion is located in the center of Taiping County, with the government office in the front and the residence in the back. Although Zheng Que had lived in Taiping County for some time before, this was his first time here.

The area was sparsely populated, with hardly any ordinary people in sight, and few shops. The wide streets were lined with high walls and gray tiles, behind which lush vegetation concealed pavilions.

It seems that the entire area is inhabited by the city's elite, and it appears quiet and elegant, completely isolated from the noisy dwellings of ordinary people.

In front of the city lord's mansion is an open space with three ornate archways standing on it. The inscriptions on the archways are now blurred, making it impossible to discern the original reason for the awards.

Armored soldiers guarded the area, and ordinary people dared not approach.

Upon noticing Zheng Que's arrival, the armored soldiers glanced at him briefly, their eyes sweeping over the storage pouch and soul-nourishing pouch at his waist before turning away and ignoring him.

Zheng Que strode across the square and saw a few cultivators gathered under the archway. At a glance, there were about twenty people. No one was talking and it was very quiet.

Many of these people, like Zheng Que, had affixed [Concealing Breath Talismans], concealing their aura and making it impossible to discern their true cultivation level.

Seeing this, Zheng Que walked towards the crowd, stopped at the edge, and observed silently.

He had just stopped when a richly dressed cultivator standing by the gate of the city lord's mansion immediately walked over, bowed, and said politely, "I am Gui Dongfeng, the steward of the city lord's mansion. May I ask, fellow Daoist, have you also accepted a mission from the city lord?"

(End of this chapter)