Make an Effort and Help Wenren Lingmeng Become Empress

[Cultivation: Minor Perfection (on the verge of a breakthrough)]

[Points: 279423]

He already had over two hundred thousand points. They'd piled up with one clang after another, and now Mu Zibai had become a glorious Steel Gate Warrior.

Not long ago, Mu Zibai had touched Wenren Longhong for the first time, and the points he gained had been a terrifying thirty thousand. It was ridiculous.

Touching Wenren Lingmeng and Wenren Qingyi had only earned him ten thousand points, while his first touch of Wenren Lanzhang, their father, had earned him only fifteen thousand.

But his first touch of Wenren Longhong had earned him a whopping thirty thousand.

"Could it be because Father doesn't hold an actual official position, and is only the Imperial Uncle?" Mu Zibai was puzzled.

Wenren Lanzhang was a merchant with no official position, while Wenren Longhong held an actual military post. Was that why Wenren Longhong had yielded more points on the first touch than Wenren Lanzhang?

But Wenren Lanzhang was still the Imperial Uncle—the Imperial Uncle of the current dynasty! Wasn't that a lofty status?

After that, every time Mu Zibai touched Wenren Longhong, he gained sixty points.

It seemed that after the first touch, each subsequent touch gave him two-thousandths of the initial points. That was sixty points every time! It was so tempting, but unfortunately, getting close to Wenren Longhong wasn't easy.

Mu Zibai suddenly thought of a question. If he wanted to raise the base points he got from touching Wenren Longhong, what could he do?

Man on man? Force a man? "Brother Jie, no!" Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

Wenren Longhong was a general, and he'd yielded thirty thousand points. What about the Empress? How many points would she be worth? A hundred thousand?

Mu Zibai looked at Wenren Lingmeng lying on the bed, pinched his chin, and thought it over. Should he make an effort and get Wenren Lingmeng installed as Empress?

It was a beautiful idea, but it wouldn't be easy.

"Son-in-law, are you ready? Let's go."

Xiao E came in and urged him.

"All set. Let's go."

The group disembarked from the Immortal Boat. Before them stretched a beach, with sea breezes rippling through the air. The fresh air was wonderfully soothing.

It was a lovely scenic spot, but Mu Zibai couldn't help feeling something was missing.

Wouldn't it be even better with a couple of bikini-clad beauties on the beach?

Two monks came toward them: one a young novice, the other somewhat older. The novice seemed shy around strangers. The older monk had delicate features, though he looked unwell and gaunt.

One look told Mu Zibai that both monks had been vegetarian for a long time.

Monks who truly ate no meat looked like this. They were nothing like the fat-headed, big-eared monks seen on television. These two were real monks.

The older monk's religious name was Qinghui, while the young novice was called Qingran.

"Greetings, benefactors, and bodhisattvas. Please follow me."

Qinghui pressed his palms together, gazed straight ahead with a placid expression, and led the group onto the island.

"Thank you."

The others followed behind Qinghui. Wenren Longhong asked him for news, while Mu Zibai turned his attention to Qingran, went up to him, and asked curiously, "Little monk, can I ask you something?"

"Please ask, benefactor. We who have left the world of dust never speak falsehoods." Qingran's eyes were clear. It was rare for him to look up at Mu Zibai.

"I've always wondered: when you monks see a pretty girl, do you call her a bodhisattva, and when you see an ugly one, do you call her a benefactor?" Mu Zibai asked curiously.

Qingran froze at the question. He stared at Mu Zibai for a long moment, unable to say a word.

He had no idea how to answer.

Mu Zibai had been curious about this for a long time.

"Hey, what's with you asking him things like that?" Wenren Qingyi said. Who asked someone a question like that to his face?

Mu Zibai curled his lip and said no more.

They arrived at Tianling Temple.

"Master Lanyuan is in seclusion today. We may have to wait a day or two. We'll stay here in the meantime," Wenren Longhong said.

"Okay."

They picked a room at random. Most of the rooms here were alike, with little to distinguish them.

For the next two days, Mu Zibai stayed by Wenren Lingmeng's side. Two days later, Master Lanyuan emerged from seclusion. He was said to be a Dragon Wasteland Realm expert with superb medical skills; otherwise, they wouldn't have sought him out.

Wenren Longhong took Wenren Lingmeng to see him, and Xiao E stayed by Wenren Lingmeng's side as well. Wenren Qingyi wandered around Tianling Temple, while Mu Zibai, for once, left Wenren Lingmeng's side.

The scenery around Tianling Temple was lovely, making it a great place to relax and take in the sights.

Mu Zibai thought it over. Breaking through here might not be a bad idea. There weren't many people around, so nobody would pay him much attention, right?

After wandering around with them for a while, Mu Zibai grew bored and left.

It was mainly because he couldn't stand going without hearing a clang. It felt as though life had lost all its joy. But he had no idea where they were treating Wenren Lingmeng now.

He had planned to head back and take a nap, but he couldn't find the way.

Tianling Temple didn't look big, but all the buildings inside looked alike. There weren't many monks, either, and after searching for a long while, he couldn't find one to ask for directions.

Just then, he heard a few crows. Mu Zibai followed the sound.

It turned out to be a place where poultry were kept. Mu Zibai was puzzled. Why were there chickens in a temple? Did the monks here not eat vegetarian food?

But Qinghui and Qingran didn't look like monks who ate meat.

Looking more closely, he was astonished to find that the courtyard was full of hens, with just one rooster. That was strange.

There were twenty or thirty hens in the yard, and only this one rooster? Did it have something special about it?

He went closer and saw nothing unusual about the rooster, except that it seemed unusually listless.

That left Mu Zibai deep in thought.

"Ha! So you're the thief who's been stealing the food!"

A furious shout rang out. A monk jumped out with a wooden staff in his hand and swung it at Mu Zibai's head.

Seeing the staff flying toward him, Mu Zibai froze for a moment, then dodged on instinct.

With a dull thud, the staff smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater. The end of the staff sank deep into it.

Mu Zibai was startled. That was close. If that blow had landed on him, he'd have been bruised at the very least.

He eyed the short, thin monk before him. The man was probably a cultivator, and not a weak one.

"Calm down. I haven't done anything. You can ask your fellow disciples if you don't believe me."

Mu Zibai caught the monk's sweeping strike. His hand went numb, but he gripped the staff tightly. The monk couldn't wrest it free and had no choice but to give up.

He glanced at Mu Zibai's clothes. Mu Zibai looked like he came from a wealthy family, not like a thief, so the monk let go.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

After Mu Zibai explained why he'd come, the monk let down his guard. He sighed and said, "I thought I'd finally catch that thief. Sigh, who knows when this will end?"

Curious, Mu Zibai asked, "What happened?"

The monk explained, "For the past few months, someone's been stealing our poultry and eating only the males. Most of our drakes and ganders have been stolen and eaten. This is the only rooster left, so I stand guard here every day. But that thief is slippery. I can't catch him."

Mu Zibai: "!!!"

He found it bizarre. Only the males? What kind of quirk was that? He'd never heard of anything so strange.