A New Look

Chapter 9: A New Look

"I've made the Lesser Celestial Circuit, chanted the spell, and formed the hand seal. I was once a little immortal from Longhu Mountain, but now I've attained the Dao..."

A clear, lilting voice drifted over, so carefree that even the patrolmen riding past slowed their horses and turned to look.

The young Daoist was handsome. Men felt inferior when they saw him, while women couldn't help taking a second glance.

The tune was lovely, too, but the lyrics sounded rather boastful.

After all, Cui County had real immortals—the ones at Qinglian Taoist Temple on Xiaoyan Mountain. Rumor had it a sword immortal had descended, one who could command flying swords and take a man's head from a thousand miles away.

Where had this young Daoist found the nerve to brazenly call himself an immortal?

Yet the singing youth seemed not to hear a thing around him. His eyes remained gently closed as he lost himself in his own song.

Behind the young Daoist stood a white banner, prominently bearing two lines of large characters: "Divining fortunes and consulting ghosts and gods—better to believe than not. Pray for blessings and safety; sincerity makes it work."

Only then did the onlookers understand. He was a fortune-teller. No wonder he was boasting so loudly—he must have been trying to drum up business.

The soldiers riding past had seen the scene and meant to intervene. But just as they approached, Lao Yu, the leader, grabbed them and held them back.

Lao Yu furrowed his brows and said quietly, "Don't meddle in other people's business."

His men were puzzled. "Boss, why not? This is the main road at the front gate. The rules don't allow anyone to set up a stall here."

Lao Yu stroked his graying beard and murmured, "Take a look at that banner."

At his words, the soldiers frowned and examined it closely. After a moment, one of them finally mumbled, "Well, the writing is pretty ugly."

Lao Yu raised a hand and smacked the clueless subordinate on the forehead. "Who asked what the writing looks like? I'm telling you to look at where that banner's planted!"

Only after his sharp reprimand did the soldiers notice that the banner pole had been driven deep into the flagstones.

Lao Yu's expression turned grave. "Keep your eyes open. Word's already spread that the county magistrate is rounding up boys and girls. The city's filling up with martial heroes. We're only patrolmen; arresting people and bringing them to justice is the yamen constables' job. Remember: children, women, the elderly, and monks and Daoists are people we mustn't provoke lightly. Just report things as they are."

Cui County had grown more and more chaotic these past few days. The county yamen's abduction of boys and girls had outraged the martial world, and self-important heroes had flocked here to "rush to the aid of the needy." In less than half a month, several lives had already been lost in town.

Lao Yu had spent most of his life in this line of work and knew better than anyone how to keep his head down and protect himself. He kicked his horse forward and rode off first. His men hurried after him. They thought how lucky they were to have an experienced old hand like Lao Yu as their boss. Once again, they'd managed to escape with their lives intact.

The young Daoist heard the clatter of hooves receding in a hurry. His song came to an abrupt stop, and he could only sigh with resigned frustration. "There goes another customer. Doesn't anyone want their fortune told these days?"

Naturally, this was Chen Ye.

He had been in Cui County for two days and had more or less gotten a handle on the situation.

Cui County was extraordinarily large, far beyond the scale of an ordinary county. That was because it was the fief of a royal relative whom the current emperor doted on.

She was a princess of noble status, titled Hongyu. They said that when she was born, she clutched a red jade in her tiny hand, and in an instant, a rainbow of seven colors covered the entire palace. The emperor was overjoyed and took it as an auspicious sign. From then on, he spoiled the princess endlessly.

Princess Hongyu seemed to possess some wondrous quality. From the moment she was born, the world enjoyed more than a decade of favorable weather and bountiful harvests. Whenever her birthday came around, the sky filled with glowing clouds. The emperor became even more convinced that she was a divine being sent by Heaven, and his affection for her only deepened.

And so, prosperous and thriving Cui County had become the princess's fiefdom long ago.

With the princess behind it, Cui County could get anything it wanted from the imperial court. In just over a decade, it had grown into the sprawling city it was today.

Although Princess Hongyu still lived deep within the imperial palace and had never set foot in her fief, the palace built for her in Cui County was the grandest and most luxurious place in the city. Every year, countless rare treasures flowed into it.

For that reason, though Cui County's magistrate held the title of county magistrate, his status far exceeded that of officials at the same level. No wonder he dared to forcibly collect boys and girls without fearing a revolt. He had the princess's guards to suppress the people, and they were far more capable than the county yamen's constables.

Chen Ye had never paid much attention to such worldly matters. Cultivators lived long lives, while mortal dynasties changed often. Some lasted two or three hundred years; others barely a few decades. With the Central Plains and all the small border kingdoms, there were simply too many to keep track of.

Mo Ci was far older than the current dynasty, too. If Chen Ye's cultivation went smoothly, he would likely live through several dynastic changes himself, so he had never given them much thought.

But since he was going to Cui County, he needed to learn the lay of the land. Fortunately, Zhao Hezhou was a local. Before Chen Ye set out, he had asked him for plenty of information and committed the county's powerful and influential figures to memory, so he wouldn't be going in blind.

To enter the city without trouble, he had also changed his identity. He was no longer a filthy, unkempt little beggar, but a handsome young Daoist.

If there was one thing he could boast about in his past life, it was certainly this face.

Before transmigrating, his friends and family had all told him he could make a living off his looks. But Chen Ye was proud and ambitious. He didn't understand that keeping a low profile was another name for wealth and good fortune, so he threw himself into the rat race of studying and wasted his youth.

Now he had become a cultivator, and this face was even less useful.

After all, the Heavenly Dao treated everyone equally, handsome or ugly.

In the two days since entering the city, Chen Ye had made careful inquiries. The magistrate was still rounding up boys and girls, and the numbers were growing.

This left Chen Ye deeply puzzled. The Qinghe Sword Sect cultivators had arrived several days ago, so why were they turning a blind eye to such evil deeds?

Could he have been mistaken? Were the Qinghe Sword Sect cultivators really the ones collecting the boys and girls?

Though he was confused, Chen Ye had no intention of meddling.

A mere cultivator in the Qiling Realm couldn't handle a disaster affecting the lives of so many people. He was better off focusing on cultivation.

Now that the side effects of the Beast Blood Pill had been dealt with, he only needed to buy enough livestock to focus on refining pills and cultivating. Chen Ye had calculated that he needed at least eight thousand sheep to cultivate a dantian qi sea. If he used cattle or horses, which were larger, he could get by with two or three thousand.

But cattle and horses cost far more than sheep. Chen Ye didn't have the power to shake his sleeve and sweep the world into it. Slaughtering several thousand animals alone would exhaust him, and the work would take a long time.

After thinking it over, Chen Ye decided he needed to get his hands on a ranch. Then he could have his servants slaughter the livestock and draw their blood, saving him a great deal of effort when refining pills.

And that would take money—a lot of money.

The silver Mo Ci had left him was nowhere near enough, so Chen Ye had to find a way to earn some.

There was no way he was getting a job. Ordinary people could work their whole lives and still not afford even half a cow.

But he had been at this fortune-telling stall all morning, and not a single person had come to ask for a reading.

"This doesn't make sense. Everyone in Cui County is on edge, and the chaos is already showing. How could no one want their fortune told?"

Chen Ye stroked his chin, unable to figure it out.

By noon, under the blazing sun at its fiercest, a potbellied man finally came over to Chen Ye.

The fat man asked in a low voice, "Fortune-teller, are your readings accurate?"

Chen Ye looked at him. "What would you like to ask about, sir?"

The fat man shot back, "If you're accurate, why do you need to ask me?"

His voice was loud and booming, drawing the attention of passersby, who turned to look Chen Ye's way.