Li Weiyi followed Rechen to run the mission, never expecting this little monk to be even lazier than himself.
He did the questioning, and he also did the recording. The little monk followed behind with his staff, lazily, occasionally urging him on.
Li Weiyi couldn’t hold back. “Hey, hey, hey! Are you doing any work or not? Careful I report your slacking off to Senior Sister Fu! Let her kick you off the team!”
Rechen: “Since when did I slack off? I’m so seriously protecting you, you think this is easy?”
He raised his small face, twirling his staff in a circle. “I have to keep my eyes on six roads and ears on eight directions, constantly monitoring our surroundings for Demonic Qi and Devil Qi. I both have to protect a useless idiot like you and investigate traces of Demon Creatures. You think it’s easy?”
Li Weiyi was half skeptical. “I’m an honest man, don’t you lie to me.”
Rechen: “A monk does not speak falsely—but he will hit people. If you keep yapping, I’ll give you a whack with my staff.”
Li Weiyi knew he couldn’t beat him, so he gritted his teeth and accepted it. “Then tell me, after all this observing, have you observed any Demonic Qi?”
Rechen looked up at the red-gated mansion they had just left. “At the four households you and I visited, traces of Demonic Qi can be faintly detected. But it’s too faint. It’s not that a Demon came by, but someone tainted with Demonic Qi visited. Before they disappeared, they must have already come into contact with a Demon. They weren’t all suddenly abducted.”
A Sound-Transmitting Paper Bird flew from the distance. Qin Jinghan’s displeased voice came from within: “You two turtle idiots done investigating yet? I’ve been waiting for half an hour. Mingxia’s at the Welcoming Guests Tower. I’m going to find her first. You guys hurry up and finish up your business and get over here.”
The transmission ended, and the paper bird turned to ash. Rechen squinted but said nothing.
Li Weiyi shook his head, already familiar with Qin Jinghan’s personality. “Let’s go.”
He took a few steps forward before realizing Rechen was still standing there.
Li Weiyi: “Little ancestor, now what?”
Rechen pulled out a Message Talisman. “You’re the turtle idiot! Your entire sect except Duan Nanyun are all turtle idiots!”
The Message Talisman flew off into the distance, disappearing.
Li Weiyi: “?”
He grabbed Rechen. “When you made that exception, why did you only exclude Duan Nanyun? My goddess isn’t an idiot either!”
Rechen snorted coldly. “Let’s go. To the Welcoming Guests Tower.”
Li Weiyi knew that restaurant. It was just two streets ahead; they’d seen it on their way here.
They hadn’t walked a hundred steps when another paper bird flew over, automatically playing a voice message: “Duan Nanyun is the biggest idiot, and you are too, you little idiot. Ner-ner-ner! You little brat who just reached Foundation Establishment, go back to your Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and drink your milk!”
Rechen’s face darkened as he pulled out another Message Talisman. “You cultivated for several more years than me just to reach Origin Return, and you’re so proud of that? Our Sword Immortal at my house entered the sect later than you, cultivated for a shorter time than you, and now he’s about to form a Golden Core. What about you, huh, huh, huh? Noob Qin Jinghan!”
Li Weiyi, watching the two who were about to meet in person exchange voice messages back and forth, initially didn’t think much of it. It wasn’t until later, after he joined a sect, that he discovered one Message Talisman cost three low-grade Spirit Stones—and his daily login only gave him one low-grade Spirit Stone…
What a waste. Elementary schooler bickering was truly a waste of money.
Over at the second floor of the Welcoming Guests Tower, Mingwu was wolfing down delicious dishes without looking up, as if Fu Mingxia and Qin Jinghan beside him didn’t exist.
Qin Jinghan was infusing Spiritual Power and his voice into a new paper bird. “Duan Nanyun forming a Golden Core doesn’t mean you form one. At most, you’ll form a kidney stone. Learning bad habits at such a young age, worshipping others like this—does your master know your elbows and butt are both sitting on Fuxi Mountain’s side?”
Fu Mingxia: “Jinghan, how old are you?”
Qin Jinghan: “My age doesn’t affect my defense of my dignity as a Saber Cultivator.”
Mingwu choked violently on his food.
Fu Mingxia poured him a cup of tea. “Eat slowly. If it’s not enough, order more.”
Qin Jinghan frowned. “Where would we get that much money? And why are we giving this old monk free food and drink?”
Fu Mingxia: “You have the Government Office’s token. Let them put it on the Government Office’s account.”
Qin Jinghan: “Dining and drinking on public funds?”
He glanced at Mingwu. “Monk, you’re blessed. If we get audited, I’m handing you over.”
Mingwu curled his lip, picked up a white jade mushroom thin-skin dumpling, dipped it in the superior sauce beside it, and shoved it into his mouth.
Qin Jinghan: “Are there even any proper monks left in this world?”
Mingwu mumbled indistinctly, “Yes, ah… that… Infant’s Cry Temple. Plenty there.”
He let out a satisfied burp. “But how could they ever have the fortune of this old monk, meeting such good patrons like you, providing me with such a sumptuous charitable meal!”
A Message Talisman appeared out of thin air, Rechen’s voice coming through. “You think I’m scared of you! If you’ve got the guts, let’s compare! We’ll see who forms their Golden Core first, you or me! The one who’s late is a dog, and has to shout ‘Daddy’ three times to the winner!”
Appearing at the same time as the Message Talisman were Rechen and Li Weiyi, hastily ascending the stairs.
Li Weiyi was stunned. “This is—?”
Fu Mingxia: “Eminent Monk.”
Li Weiyi was shocked. “That swindling, deceiving, cunning, hateful, ruthless Eminent Monk who swindled Lady Wu out of four taels of silver?”
Mingwu choked again at his words. “Cough, cough!”
He only recovered after gulping down two cups of water. “Patron, don’t have such a huge prejudice against this old monk! If you’ve come because of Lady Wu, this isn’t something we can’t resolve. Just wait a moment.”
Mingwu reached into his monk’s robe and fumbled around.
He pulled out a wooden tag with the character ‘One’ (One) written on it.
Fu Mingxia: “Need to take a number again?”
Mingwu smiled awkwardly. “Not this.”
He put the tag away and continued fumbling.
Soon, he fished out a stack of silver notes. But as soon as the edge showed, he stuffed them back in at lightning speed. “Patrons, don’t be impatient, another moment, please.”
Qin Jinghan was speechless. “I say we just send this phony monk off for legal processing.”
Mingwu threw three pieces of broken silver onto the table. “Ah, here it is!”
Li Weiyi: “What is this?”
Mingwu: “The four taels of silver you wanted.”
Li Weiyi: “No way. That incident was months ago. Don’t tell me you haven’t dared to spend a single cent of the money you swindled?”
Mingwu’s expression turned serious. “You child, what kind of talk is that! What do you mean swindled! This silver was entrusted to this old monk by Lady Wu! Since you are Immortals from Fuxi, I trust you won’t covet these mundane things. So, take it and return it to Lady Wu!”
Qin Jinghan made a move as if to draw his saber. “You think returning the ill-gotten gains means you won’t be investigated for defrauding the elderly and infirm?!”
Mingwu: “Alright, alright. This old monk has to go to the north city later to buy some things and fix that leaky roof, or else tonight… Achoo!”
The monk wiped his nose. “It’s getting late, the shops will close soon. I don’t have time to waste here with you—”
He fished out another yellowed booklet. “Lady Wu lost her child. Her mind is in chaos. Desperately ill, she grasps at any doctor, let alone losing her precious son. This silver, kept by her, would only have been swindled away by someone sooner or later. With this money, this old monk kept in safekeeping, you can redeem her little rundown courtyard house easily. If I remember correctly, the deed is at the pawnshop in the north city. Handle this quickly, or she won’t even have a place to live after this month.”
Finishing, Mingwu tapped the booklet and looked at Fu Mingxia. “This is what you wanted. It lists some of the commoners who have disappeared over these past five years. Saves you another trip.”
Fu Mingxia took the booklet, flipping through a few pages. Dense small characters filled several pages: times, names, addresses, disappearance details, all comprehensive. “Five years? You’ve been recording this since five years ago?”
“Thanks to the trust of the common people here. Matters the Government Office and yamen can’t solve, they love bringing to this old monk. I also enjoy chatting a bit with them, so naturally, I came to know a bit more. Five years ago, the disappearances increased. It was not normal.”
Fu Mingxia: “This record lists about thirty or forty missing persons, but the Government Office only has case files for nine.”
Mingwu smiled. “In this world, countless people, matters, and things disappear without a trace. Not every single case is reported, nor is there someone to report it for every case. And stepping back, are those recorded by me truly all the missing?”
This was no small case anymore.
Dozens, nearly a hundred people missing. If it really was connected to a Demon Creature, it must be an extremely ferocious one.
Li Weiyi: “Could it be that Mr. Zhuyong did it? Isn’t he a Great Devil Leader? He also has that Puppet Demon by his side, and a big organization behind him.”
Fu Mingxia shook her head. “According to the City Lord’s letter, Zhuyong came here over ten years ago to set up his plan, rarely showing himself in between. Perhaps he feared attracting cultivators and ruining his scheme, so he kept a low profile. These disappearances started five years ago. So many missing people, once discovered, would draw cultivators to investigate. He probably didn’t do it.”
Mingwu straightened his monk’s robes. “The goods, I’ve given them to you. The meal, I’ve finished. This old monk has matters to attend to. I’ll take my leave. Right, the bill—remember to settle it.”
The saber in Qin Jinghan’s hand suddenly flew from its sheath, shooting straight for Mingwu. But just as it was about to hit him, it swerved and embedded itself into a nearby pillar.
Mingwu was greatly alarmed. “Patron! Surely one meal isn’t worth killing someone over!”
Qin Jinghan had tested him.
At a moment of life and death, a person’s instinctive reaction couldn’t be faked.
Mingwu had no Spiritual Power, nor did he dodge. Just then, if Qin Jinghan hadn’t diverted it, this old monk would have been spilling blood on the spot.
Seated to the side, Fu Mingxia said, “At first, I also wondered if you were a swindler. But you said you once met my parents.”
She spoke slowly. “Coincidentally, my mother did mention Xuzhou to me, and an old acquaintance in Xuzhou.”
Mingwu: “Oh? What did she say?”
Fu Mingxia: “She said, everyone knows that eight hundred years ago, Xuzhou was a land of Devil execution. It was once littered with corpses, a purgatory on earth. They know now it’s the number one city of the West Ruins, with traffic between north and south, rich in goods and outstanding people, prosperous and magnificent. But they don’t know that Xuzhou City is also a prison.”
“She said, the warden of this prison is a monk.”
Mingwu closed his eyes. “She isn’t wrong.”
Fu Mingxia continued, “I asked, since there is a prison and a warden, there must also be a prisoner. So, who is the prisoner? My mother answered: the prisoner is also a monk.”
“I asked, two monks?”
“My mother didn’t answer. So I asked again: what crime did this prisoner commit? Why isn’t he locked in jail, but instead kept there?”
“She still just shook her head.”
Finishing her words, Fu Mingxia looked up at Master Mingwu, who was sitting beside her. “You said you’ve met my mother. So I thought, perhaps an old question of mine from years ago might find an answer today.”
She paused, then slowly asked, “Are you the warden… or the prisoner?”
Mingwu poured himself a cup of tea, dipped his finger in the water, wrote something on the table, and then drifted away.
The water traces remained clear for a long time, legible in a single sentence.
“Both the warden, and the prisoner.”