Cao Thief

"Burp~"

The bearded man let out a huge belch and sighed to Wang Chen, "To be honest, Immortal Master, this is the best meal I've had all year!"

Still wanting more, he rubbed his bulging belly.

When they had first met, the bearded man had maintained seven parts caution and three parts wariness.

Now that the two had shared a pot of rice, he had grown familiar with Wang Chen and no longer held himself back so much.

"Just call me Wang Chen."

Wang Chen smiled. "Brother Wei, could you tell me about the Outer Region?"

He had made this meal for the bearded man.

Aside from repaying the man for his hard work, his main purpose was to learn about the Outer Region through this Innate Martial Artist.

The original owner knew very little about the Outer Region.

"My name is Wei Xiong."

The bearded man cupped his fists. "Immortal Master Wang, just ask. I'll tell you everything I know without holding anything back!"

Wang Chen did not rush to ask questions. He first went to brew a pot of tea.

Then he chatted with Wei Xiong as they drank.

Everything beyond the Yunyang Sect mountain gate was collectively known as the Outer Region.

To sect disciples, the Outer Region was an exceedingly dangerous place, where demons and monsters ran rampant and Evil Spirits covered the land—a barbaric wasteland of foul earth.

Yet a great many Rogue Cultivators also lived in the Outer Region.

Because the environment was harsh and survival difficult, most Rogue Cultivators formed strongholds for mutual protection.

Wei Xiong came from a Rogue Cultivator settlement called Black Rock Stronghold, nearly a hundred li from here.

The Rogue Cultivators living in Black Rock Stronghold, along with martial artists like Wei Xiong, numbered roughly four to five hundred people.

And similar villages and strongholds were everywhere throughout the Outer Region.

One large stronghold Wei Xiong knew of had several thousand Rogue Cultivators, and its chief possessed great perfection of Qi Condensation cultivation.

Rogue Cultivators normally made their living by hunting Demonic Beasts and gathering spiritual materials such as spirit herbs and spirit ores.

Quite a few were like Wei Xiong as well.

They came to the Yunyang Outer Sect to pick up odd jobs.

In truth, with Wei Xiong's strength, he could easily find stable work in Yunyang City.

But the prerequisite was signing a contract and accepting restrictions, becoming someone else's ox and horse.

Wei Xiong was unwilling to serve as another's slave, so he and his younger sister struggled to survive in Black Rock Stronghold.

All this hardship was for the sake of stepping onto the immortal path!

After thinking for a moment, Wang Chen asked, "Brother Wei, do you know about the Gray-Eyed Bandits' incursion some time ago?"

"I know very little."

Wei Xiong replied, "At the time, the stronghold was sealed off and the defensive formation was activated. We were afraid the Gray-Eyed Bandits would come for us."

Yet the Gray-Eyed Bandits never attacked any Rogue Cultivator villages.

Their disappearance was as sudden as their arrival, and by now there had been no word of them whatsoever.

Wang Chen asked about quite a few other matters as well.

This gave him a basic understanding of the Outer Region.

That way, if Wang Chen ever had to flee, he would not be left blind as a bat once he got outside!

It was not until the bell of the Weishi hour rang out that

Wei Xiong suddenly realized, "Ah! It's getting late—I need to go plow the fields!"

As it happened, Wang Chen had asked about enough.

Before the sun set, Wei Xiong had finished turning over all ten mu of Wang Chen's Spirit Fields.

Then, despite Wang Chen's attempts to keep him, he hurriedly departed.

After the Innate expert left, Wang Chen saw that night had not yet fallen and brought out the rice seeds to sow.

The task was simple and easy. It did not take him much time to finish.

Finally, he cast the Cloud and Rain Spell, providing abundant moisture for the freshly planted rice seeds.

If all went smoothly, the seeds would sprout that very night, shoot up, and swiftly grow strong.

Before the first snowfall of winter, they would provide Wang Chen with this year's second harvest of rice.

Once he had finished calling the rain, night had fallen as well.

Wang Chen walked home along the somewhat muddy ridge path between the fields.

All of a sudden, he had the feeling that someone was watching him!

He instinctively turned his head to look.

Not far away, at the entrance to his neighbor Old Sun's home, stood a half-grown child.

The child was peering in this direction.

Perhaps realizing that Wang Chen had noticed him, he immediately spun around and darted into the courtyard.

Who was that?

Puzzled, Wang Chen turned the corner and arrived at Old Sun's home.

As the saying went, a distant relative was no match for a close neighbor.

He and Old Sun were on good terms. Now that he had seen a stranger coming and going, he naturally had to check things out.

"Grandpa Sun!"

Wang Chen raised his hand and knocked on the half-closed courtyard gate. "Are you home?"

The wooden gate swung open at his knock.

The first thing he saw was a table in the small courtyard, upon which sat a steaming little copper hotpot.

Old Sun was half reclining in the chair beside the table, holding a piece of tofu in his right hand and slicing it with a small knife in his left.

He was even humming a little tune.

"Ah!"

Wang Chen's sudden appearance gave the old man such a fright that the knife nearly sliced into his palm.

The next moment, a woman in a cloth skirt emerged from the main room carrying a dish.

Everyone froze!

"Doggy?"

Old Sun was the first to react. He stood up, put the tofu into the pot, and asked with a smile, "What brings you here?"

Wang Chen was speechless.

Because he had already recognized the woman in the cloth skirt.

She was Old Man Lu's wife. Wang Chen had once gone to her husband's Spirit Field to clear out Earth Rhinoceroses.

At the time, the woman had looked old and haggard.

Yet now she looked much younger, and her clothes were neat and tidy.

There was even a lingering charm to her.

Wang Chen had nearly failed to recognize her at first glance.

But he remembered very clearly that Old Man Lu was already dead.

He had died while joining the crowd to watch the excitement.

And it had not been long ago!

Old Sun smiled awkwardly, then came forward and pulled Wang Chen outside to speak in private.

It turned out that the woman, Madam Li, had been Old Man Lu's second wife. After Old Man Lu died, she and her young son were driven out of the house by the eldest son from the first wife.

Old Sun had pitied Madam Li for being alone and helpless, so he had taken in the mother and son.

It had only happened in the past couple of days.

"I'd known Brother Lu for many years,"

Old Sun explained. "I truly couldn't bear to watch his wife and child suffer along with him. Giving them a meal is simply an act of kindness, a way to accumulate virtue."

"I was just looking for a chance to tell you!"

Accumulating virtue through good deeds?

Wang Chen could not help wanting to mock him: How are you any different from Cao thief?

But the other man definitely would not understand.

Then again—

Without Old Sun taking them in and caring for them, Madam Li would have had no way to survive with her child.

Calling it an act of kindness and virtue was not wrong.

In truth, Madam Li's situation was far from uncommon.

She was considered very fortunate.

And now that the formerly lonely old man had gained a wife and child, presumably he would no longer toss Spirit Stones into the Gathering of Beauties Pavilion.

That was a good thing too!

Wang Chen smiled. "Congratulations, Grandpa. So when are you holding the wedding feast?"

Grandpa Sun's old face flushed hot. "We're just making do and living together, that's all. Why would we hold a wedding banquet? You're overthinking it!"

Though he said that, the irrepressible joy in his eyes gave him away.

Clearly, life with an old companion had been very comfortable for him.

Now that everything had been laid out in the open, Old Sun was no longer embarrassed, and he invited Wang Chen inside to have dinner with them.

Wang Chen politely declined.

As a single dog himself, there was no need for him to disturb a family of three enjoying themselves in perfect harmony.

But that night.

Wang Chen dreamed of his family from his previous life again.

When he woke, only melancholy remained.

Second update delivered.