He had not returned for a month.
The courtyard had long since gathered a thick layer of dust.
Song Chengan took out a broom and began sweeping.
He still wanted to like this place.
Only here could he feel at ease.
"Though I was abducted for over a month, it wasn't without gains."
"I became a Qi Refiner."
"A heavenly immortal opportunity."
"But no one must ever learn of this. I can't bear the charge of colluding with Monsters."
The Chen Kingdom had the Demon Suppression Division.
It handled all matters involving demons and Monsters across the land.
If the Demon Suppression Division learned that Song Chengan had been abducted by a Monster and then returned without a scratch, they would likely drag him away for interrogation.
With Song Chengan's backbone, a few rounds of torture would probably make him confess even that he was a transmigrator.
As Song Chengan pondered.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Scholar Song, where have you been this past month?"
Outside the door.
Stood an old man holding a smoking pipe.
His face was full of impatience because Song Chengan had taken so long to answer.
Song Chengan smiled. "Old Man Ge, is that you? I went to Sanjiao Prefecture, hoping to find some of my former relatives."
Old Man Ge.
He was the landlord of the house Song Chengan rented, the largest property owner in the area. They said this entire street belonged to Old Man Ge.
Old Man Ge said, "Everyone thought some bandits had done you in somewhere!"
"Good thing you came back. Otherwise, I would've thrown all your things out this month."
"After all, I can't leave this courtyard sitting empty forever."
"Yes, yes."
"I came to collect the rent. Even though you didn't live here last month, you still owe the silver."
"For last month and the next five months, you owe me one tael and two mace of silver in total."
"I'll get it for you!"
In remote Spirit Mound County, rent was cheap.
"Please wait a moment!"
As Song Chengan spoke, he entered the house.
Fortunately, First Boss Bai had given him a Tao Guan full of copper coins.
Before long, Song Chengan came back out carrying two cloth-wrapped bundles of copper coins.
"Why is it all copper coin?"
"Is it enough?"
As the old fellow spoke, he dumped all the copper coins from the cloth bags and counted them one by one.
"Nothing missing."
Old Man Ge put all the money away.
"Use broken silver next time if you can."
"Keep copper coins for everyday spending."
"You're absolutely right, sir!"
Song Chengan nodded in agreement.
"Oh, right. Since you're back, go see your sister."
"After you disappeared, she searched everywhere for you every day."
"She even reported it to the Government Office. Now that you've returned, you should go there as well."
"I understand, Old Man Ge."
After seeing Old Man Ge off, Song Chengan hurried toward An Mansion.
His elder sister, Song Cui.
She had married Steward An of the city as his third concubine. She was Song Chengan's only relative.
"Scholar Song, you're not dead?"
The moment the servants of the Song Household saw Song Chengan.
The gatekeeper was immediately astonished.
"You vanished for a month. Everyone thought you were dead."
"I went to Sanjiao County to look for relatives."
"You rotten gambler—what, you couldn't borrow money to gamble in Spirit Mound, so you went all the way to Sanjiao County to find old relatives? Planning to shamelessly beg them for silver so you could play at the Gambling House?"
"Just joking, just joking."
"Is my sister here?"
"Heh, she isn't." The servant who had been chatting amiably moments ago instantly changed his face.
"You always come here to borrow money from Third Madam whenever you've got nothing else to do."
"The master has already given the order: if you show up, beat you out with a barrage of clubs!"
"Get lost, or we'll beat you to death."
As the servants spoke, they held clubs and watched Song Chengan with malicious looks.
Song Chengan hurriedly waved his hands. "Don't hit me, don't hit me. I'm leaving right now."
The servants could hardly be blamed.
Every time he had come in the past, he had used a different excuse to borrow money from his sister Song Cui.
Every time, he had sworn to heaven and earth that he would never gamble again.
Yet every time, he had taken the money and gone straight to gamble.
"Chengan!"
Just then.
Someone called out, her voice carrying a trace of panic.
Song Chengan looked up.
She was a woman around forty.
His elder sister, Song Cui.
Song Chengan had been a late child for Father Song and Mother Song, so his sister was ten years older than him.
A smile appeared on Song Chengan's face.
"Third Madam!"
"Third Madam!"
The servants hurriedly stepped aside.
Though Song Cui was only a concubine, she was not someone a few servants like them could offend.
"You little bastard, where the hell did you go!"
"I thought you were dead!"
"I didn't even know how I was supposed to explain this to Father and Mother!"
Song Cui began to cry, repeatedly pounding Song Chengan's arm.
Song Chengan obediently endured it.
In this world, she was probably the only one who truly cared about him.
"I went to Sanjiao County, hoping to see if I could find the Song family's former relatives."
Song Cui, who had been crying, froze upon hearing that.
"You went to Sanjiao County?"
"Yes, I walked there myself." Song Chengan nodded. This was the excuse he had come up with.
Otherwise, he had no way to explain why he had vanished for a month.
Sanjiao County was quite far away, and it was where their family had fled from.
"Did you find them?" Song Cui asked anxiously.
"No."
"That's good!"
That was good?
What did she mean?
"Father's Lineage was a great clan. When the flood came years ago, Father and Mother had some conflicts with the Lineage, and they were abandoned."
"Why didn't Mother tell me about this?"
"Mother said you were too narrow-minded. She was afraid you'd cause trouble with the Song family."
"The Song family is powerful. Mother was afraid they'd hurt you."
Song Chengan shook his head. "Mother really looked at people through a crack in the door and saw them as small. How am I narrow-minded?"
"It's good that you didn't find them, anyway."
"After the Song family left, they probably never returned either."
"Mm."
"Come with me to the Government Office later. I'm worried about the report you filed."
"Alright." Song Chengan nodded.
"Oh, right. Why haven't I seen Mingxu?"
An Mingxu.
Song Chengan's nephew.
Song Cui's son.
"Your brother-in-law took him to Xuanqing Temple to pray for blessings."
"By the way, do you still have money on you?"
"Your sister has some private savings."
"Sis, I do."
Perhaps because they had not seen each other for a month.
This time, Song Cui offered him money of her own accord without Song Chengan needing to make excuses.
This was probably what family was. No matter how bad you had been before, as long as you were willing to turn back, they were willing to forgive you.
"Chengan, let's stop gambling, alright?"
"It's a bottomless pit. No matter how great a family fortune is, it can never fill it."
"Find a way to make a living. You don't need to earn much; if it isn't enough, your sister will support you. As long as it's respectable work."
"Then, once your sister has saved some money, I'll go to the Zheng Family and settle your marriage to Miss Zheng."
"Alright!" Song Chengan said with a smile.
His reaction.
Made Song Cui stare blankly for a moment. "You've changed so much."
Whenever she had said such things before, Song Chengan had always looked impatient.
"Sis, I'll never gamble again."
After leaving the Government Office.
Song Cui was picked up by people from the An Household because Steward An had returned.
Before leaving, she gave Song Chengan some silver and reminded him not to gamble, but to find proper work.
She had once urged Song Chengan to study hard and earn scholarly honors.
After several years, she had likely realized Song Chengan had no talent for it. Now, she only hoped he would stop gambling.
"How am I supposed to make money?"
Song Chengan walked down the street, looking around.
Blacksmith's apprentice?
Tailor's apprentice?
Schoolteacher?
Hunter?
Fishing?
Both hunting and fishing required licenses. Otherwise, they would be excellent ways for me to earn money, considering I'm a cultivator.
Under heaven, is there any land that does not belong to the king?
Fishing and hunting both required hunter's permits and fishing permits. Otherwise, it counted as theft.
But Song Chengan had neither a hunter's permit nor a fishing permit. Officially, the Government Office issued such permits every year, but ordinary people could never get them.
Instead, a few would occasionally surface in the hands of brokers.
Only, their prices were sky-high.
Forget being a tailor's apprentice or a blacksmith's apprentice.
That truly meant serving as a slave for three years.
Even if he endured it and made it through, at best he would only be able to scrape together food and clothing afterward.
No matter the era, ordinary people could generally only hope for enough food and clothes. Great wealth and high status were absolutely impossible.
But cultivation required money.
Song Chengan needed a way to make money.
"Didn't expect it."
Song Chengan wandered around for half the day.
In the end, he walked into a Noodle Shop.
Since he couldn't think of any good way to make money for now, he might as well eat something first.
"A bounty of one hundred taels of silver for a skilled cultivator to get rid of that Monster!"
"One hundred taels? That much?"
"Of course. That Monster has already claimed three lives. If they're allowed to keep going, who knows how many more people will die."
Song Chengan had been about to eat his noodles when he heard this and cut in.
"Brother, what's this Monster-slaying business you mentioned?"
Seeing that it was Song Chengan, the man began to explain.
"It's Zhao Family Village down below. A Monster has been causing trouble there lately, and three people have already died."
"The villagers scraped together one hundred taels of silver to hire someone to kill that Monster."
Hearing this, Song Chengan asked, "Isn't there an officer from the Demon Suppression Division stationed in the city?"
"Why not ask that officer?"
"You don't understand, little brother. The Demon Suppression Division has only just been established and is severely short-handed. There's only one officer stationed in Lingqiu City."
"If he leaves Lingqiu City, what happens if some demon or devil starts wreaking havoc in the city?"
"What if those demons injure the city's distinguished elders?"
"I see."
Song Chengan suddenly understood.
The Demon Suppression Division had likely only just been founded and lacked manpower. Clearly, the lives of the powerful and wealthy within the city were worth more than those innocent commoners below.
In that case, the people below could only fend for themselves.
"I wonder how strong this troublemaking Monster is?"
"I don't know about that."
The man shook his head.
Song Chengan returned his consciousness to the Void Heaven Mirror's space.
The Phantom Body studying the Summoning God Technique had already stopped moving, standing there blankly.
This meant its study of the Summoning God Technique had been completed.
With a thought from Song Chengan, the Phantom Body immediately transformed into a glowing Dao Fruit orb and was absorbed by him.
A flood of insight poured into him.
It was as though he had truly cultivated this Summoning God Technique painstakingly for many years.
Inviting mountain and wilderness spirits, the gods of the heavens, to possess one's body and borrow their power?
Song Chengan left the Noodle Shop and headed toward the city gate.
At the city gate, a man dressed in rough cloth sat there all alone. Beside him was a conspicuous notice seeking a skilled expert to slay a Monster.
Song Chengan walked over.
"What's the story with this Monster?"
"It's some Monster from who knows where. They call themself Great King Pinghe and demand that the village gather five pairs of virgin boys and girls for them. Otherwise, they'll kill one person every day."
"We had no choice, so we came to the city to seek out a skilled expert."
"You... do you know any skilled experts?"
Song Chengan smiled faintly.
He circulated the true qi within him and filled his eyes with it. At once, his eyes turned violet.
"I am the skilled expert!"
At the sight, the man immediately dropped to his knees in excitement. "Immortal Master, please save us!"
"Get up first."
"Tell me everything about this Monster."
Song Chengan was determined to get those hundred taels of silver.
It was very risky.
But one hundred taels was simply too much.
Before you continue