Lights Within the Town, Wind Beyond It
The talisman can lock in the Spiritual Qi in the courtyard, but it cannot lock in the traces of the Spiritual Qi flowing through it.
The Cultivator of this world are unaware of it.
But those intelligent animals can keenly sense it and instinctively move in this direction.
The animals themselves don't matter.
However, if a large number of animals migrate in one direction at the same time, one can't help but think about it.
Some speculated that a rare treasure had appeared, while others guessed that a natural disaster was imminent.
Even more astute individuals have followed the trail all the way to Willow Creek Town.
Nighttime, outside Willow Creek Town.
A pair of traveling merchants walked along the official road, their pace three steps faster than that of ordinary merchants. Their waists were bulging, concealing soft swords and short knives.
The group occasionally exchanged glances, their eyes sweeping around as if searching for something.
In the shadows of the trees in the distance.
Fan Yuan stood among the branches, taking in the entire scene.
He raised his right hand, making a feint towards the group, his palm revealing a glimmer of true energy.
Killing a few Martial Practitioner is as easy as lifting a palm.
They hadn't even found this place yet; they were just wandering around a few nearby towns.
But once you take action, it's like telling people directly: there's a problem here.
Reluctantly, he abandoned the idea of making a move.
"Fortunately, they didn't realize that there was a problem in Willow Creek Town."
"But this is already the third batch; it'll be exposed sooner or later."
Fan Yuan climbed down from the tree, sat down on a blue stone, and sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"That dog's nose is amazing!"
What to do?
Inform the Immortal Master?
That's right, he already regards Qin Wangchuan as a celestial master.
But--
The relationship is still strained.
During this period, Fan Yuan did not dare to go directly to Qin Wangchuan, but instead spent some gold to bribe Manager Li of the paper shop.
At first, Manager Li was worried that the old man wanted to harm Qin Wangchuan, so he was very cautious.
Later, seeing that he was only asking about Qin Wangchuan's preferences, he relented.
Unfortunately, Qin Wangchuan didn't have anything he particularly liked. His only two close friends were Master Chen from the academy and Jiang Zhuo from the martial arts school.
Compared to Martial Practitioner, the master was clearly easier to deal with.
Then.
Under the guise of making a donation, Fan Yuan quickly found Master Chen.
Inside the book school.
After hearing Old Fan's purpose, Master Chen paused in his tea, and the polite smile on his face slowly faded.
I initially thought this generous old gentleman was simply being kind-hearted and donating to education.
After all that fuss, it turns out they came for Qin Wangchuan.
"Old sir, I can tell you have an extraordinary bearing; you must be either Martial Practitioner or Cultivator."
"I can't afford to offend either of them."
Master Chen put down his teacup, his tone becoming indifferent. "If you want to repair temples and establish schools, I can arrange it for you. But if you have other motives, I will return these things to you untouched."
He pushed the gold ingots on the table back and paused.
"Qin Wangchuan just lost his father and is supporting his family all by himself. He's all alone. I don't want to cause him any more trouble."
Upon hearing this, Old Fan nodded inwardly.
This teacher is a man of principle, not greedy for money, not sycophantic, and worthy of respect.
His expression remained unchanged as he cupped his hands and said, "Master, you are truly virtuous. Then I will not beat around the bush—I inadvertently offended young friend Qin earlier, and I have been feeling uneasy ever since, wishing to apologize in person."
"I have come to your door today precisely to ask you, sir, to act as a mediator and help to reconcile the two sides."
"I have no ill intentions whatsoever, please rest assured, Master."
The use of polite pronouns like "you" in every sentence reveals the complexity behind this matter.
Master Chen stared into his eyes without replying.
The two remained silent for a long time.
'This person is clearly a Cultivator.'
'If Qin Wangchuan could also embark on this path, that would naturally be a good thing.'
'But what if he's a bad person...' Master Chen lowered his eyes and shook his head inwardly.
He is not Cultivator; he cannot see through people's hearts.
But since the other party is willing to lower themselves to such an extent, it's unlikely they would harbor any ill intentions towards a lonely child.
The two remained silent for a moment.
"Sir, that child has never been talkative, so misunderstandings are normal," Master Chen finally spoke. "But I'm curious, how exactly did you offend him?"
Old Fan gave a wry smile, "Master, you are unaware of something."
"I fear my attitude was poor when I visited him before, and I may have angered him."
"He didn't say anything, just gave me a leaf and told me not to come any closer. Don't you think that's just a roundabout way of getting rid of me?"
Upon hearing this, Master Chen seemed to recall that scene, and a slight smile appeared on his lips, "He really said that?"
"Absolutely true." Old Fan shook his head. "I've completely lost face."
The two became increasingly animated as they talked, exchanging words like old friends.
But each of them had their own agenda.
Master Chen thought to himself, "This man has an extraordinary bearing. If Qin Wangchuan could become his disciple, it would be a rare fortuitous opportunity."
Old Fan, however, pondered that with his mediation, perhaps the young man would grant him a fortuitous opportunity.
Even if all else fails, getting some news about Immortal would be helpful.
After being called Immortal so many times, I started to have some thoughts about it.
The fake Immortal dreams of becoming a True Immortal.
Both had their own thoughts, but they both smiled openly.
They walked together toward Qin Wangchuan's home.
The Qin Clan Courtyard.
Qin Wangchuan hasn't been to the martial arts school these past few days.
After studying for about a month, I've mastered everything I was supposed to know.
He was quick to learn, and his skills and ideas came much faster than those of ordinary apprentices. Although Blacksmith Song didn't say it, he was satisfied.
Two days ago, they announced that we could try taking on more jobs.
At first, Blacksmith Song thought of clearing out a space for him in the courtyard of the martial arts school so that he wouldn't have to run back and forth.
After Qin Wangchuan found out, he discussed it with others and said he wanted to go home and do it himself.
Blacksmith Song readily agreed, to avoid the annoyance of looking at it.
When there's work to be done, someone will be sent to deliver it. After it's finished, I'll take it to him to check it out first. If there are no problems, then I'll hand it over to the customer.
This can be considered as graduating ahead of schedule.
These past few days, Qin Wangchuan has had his backyard renovated.
The furnace, bellows, and anvil were moved inside one by one.
The stove and anvil were provided by the martial arts school for free; they only paid a small installation fee when they were installed.
The bellows was recommended by Uncle Lu, who sells noodles at the street corner, and it was Butcher Zhang who installed it.
"Alright, that should be fine now."
Butcher Zhang tested the bellows, then stood up and dusted off his hands.
Qin Wangchuan looked at the small backyard that was gradually taking shape and felt a little dazed.
The furnace and the anvil were provided by the martial arts school. Uncle Lu arranged the bellows, and Butcher Zhang installed them.
Everything is telling the same story.
He was not alone.
"Kid? Kid?"
Seeing that he was engrossed in his work, Butcher Zhang called out twice.
Qin Wangchuan snapped out of his daze and hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you, Uncle Zhang."
"I just bought some good tea yesterday, I'll go make you a cup right now."
"Hey, hey!" Butcher Zhang waved his hand, "Aren't you treating your Uncle Zhang like an outsider?"
"I won't drink the tea; I need to go back to the shop."
As he walked out, he kept reminding everyone, "But you have to keep a close eye on your backyard. It's the neighbors' place; it's okay if their houses burn down, but make sure they don't cause any trouble."
"Don't worry, Uncle Zhang, I'll be careful."
"Okay, I'm off then, no need to see me off."
As Zhang the butcher spoke, he went out the door, closing it behind him.
Qin Wangchuan stared at the door and let out a soft breath.
The next second, they heard Butcher Zhang talking to someone in the distance.
"Has the Master arrived?"
"Yes, I need to talk to him about something."
"Then you should go quickly, I'm leaving now."