Jia Xiu, a True Practitioner of the Doctrine of Deceit

At noon, Jia Xiu left the cave amid the send-off of all the cultists.

Carrying their hopes, he set off to accomplish the great cause of deceiving people into offering their faith to the God of Deceit and Curses.

Jia Xiu had never been to the mountains and forests outside Creekwood Town before. The scent of grass and trees was fresh, and he was starving.

He had originally planned to mooch a meal off the cult's hideout before leaving, but after seeing their black bread and pickles, he simply could not bring himself to eat it.

For one brief second, he sympathized with those cultists.

But pathetic as they were, their crime of conducting live human sacrifices was still unforgivable.

Once he summoned that Undead, those cultists would have to pay the price they deserved.

But before all that, he needed to eat.

Rather than foolishly walking back to Creekwood Town, Jia Xiu teleported directly back to the laboratory.

By this hour, the best meat at the barbecue restaurant he wanted to visit was usually sold out, so he made do with a meal at the association cafeteria.

Several of Creekwood Town's major associations had been built together—the adventurers, spellcasters, craftsmen...

So those associations had pooled their money to build a cafeteria open to staff and members.

Of course, it was not free.

A glass of juice, a bowl of mashed potatoes, a plate of leafy vegetables, and a serving of meat sauce pasta with barely any minced meat cost 5 Hel.

He definitely could not have afforded it before.

But things were different now. The money Margaret had given him was enough for him to eat whatever he wanted in town. He was preparing for an exam, after all—he could not mistreat himself.

Besides, he still had a business to start. If the cult Escape Room succeeded, it should bring in a decent amount of money too.

After leaving the cafeteria, Jia Xiu went to borrow the association's Communication Crystal and send a question to his dear mentor.

"Mentor, what method can be used to establish a connection with an Undead and control it, assuming the Undead is fairly powerful?"

Sent.

Margaret had no idea when she would see it, so Jia Xiu did not wait eagerly beside the crystal ball for a reply.

He left the association and returned to Aunt Susan's tailor shop.

Now, he needed to solve the problem of finding customers for the cult escape project.

Jia Xiu always felt a little awkward whenever he returned to the tailor shop now. It was not because he had grown distant from Aunt Susan.

On the contrary, they were still very close. It was just that Susan was a little too proud of him winning the award—prouder than Jia Xiu himself, even.

Aunt Susan had directly pasted a portrait of him on the display window as an advertisement sign.

Though he had no idea what a Warlock had to do with a tailor shop, Jia Xiu was now something of a minor celebrity in town, so using him for advertising was not entirely unreasonable.

It was just that every time he came back and saw his own face in the display window, his toes curled.

Jia Xiu really wanted to know how those celebrities managed not to feel embarrassed when they saw their endorsements all over the streets.

On top of that, Aunt Susan brought up his award whenever she met anyone.

Customer: "Do you have any nice new fabrics lately?"

Aunt Susan: "Oh my, how did you know Jia Xiu from our shop won the Excellent Young Spellcaster Award in Creekwood Town?"

Jia Xiu felt like a sixty-kilogram grass carp, while Aunt Susan was an angler who had successfully reeled him in.

For quite some time to come, this would be the central theme of every conversation she had.

Carrying a box of pastries, Jia Xiu arrived outside the tailor shop.

Pastries had to be the universal gift of this world. That was the rule he had figured out: there were only people who especially loved sweets, and people who claimed they did not especially love sweets.

After a few seconds of psyching himself up, he tried hard not to look at the portrait in the window and pushed open the door.

"Aunt Susan..."

"Oh my, Jia Xiu is back! Coming back is enough, why did you bring a gift?"

Aunt Susan's happiness was obvious. She came forward and gave Jia Xiu a hug.

"This shop of yours will be renamed Jia Xiu's Tailor Shop sooner or later."

There was someone else in the shop—Peggy, Susan's younger sister, who ran an inn in town.

"I'm willing to give it to him, but Jia Xiu wouldn't want it. He's going to become a great mage someday. How could he be a tailor?"

"Um, Auntie, I'm a Warlock, not a mage," Jia Xiu quietly corrected.

"Same thing, same thing."

In Susan's eyes, all those spellcaster professions were basically the same thing. At most, they believed in different things.

"Hello, Aunt Peggy."

Jia Xiu politely greeted Susan's sister.

"I actually came back because I had something I wanted Aunt Susan to take me to see you about. I didn't expect you to be here already, so I'll just say it now. I have a big business deal to discuss."

Then Jia Xiu told Peggy about his cult escape tourism project.

"In short, every part of it is already in place."

Actually, none of it was in place.

"It is a business personally instructed by my mentor, Archmage Margaret of Saint Dero Spellcaster Academy in the City of Ten Thousand Laws."

Actually, Margaret knew nothing about it.

"Once it officially begins operating, all you need to do is promote it to tourists at your inn. For every tourist you bring in, I can give you a commission of 3 Hel."

Jia Xiu planned to charge 20 Hel per ticket. Visitors from out of town had money, so they could accept that price.

"That's too much. Two Hel is enough," Aunt Susan interjected from the side.

Peggy looked stunned. "I'm your sister, and you're undercutting my price?"

"I'm doing this for fairness. Little Jia Xiu is just starting out in business. What if you trick him?"

Peggy was left speechless.

"Fine, two Hel it is."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Jia Xiu said goodbye to the Susan sisters.

He had a customer source now. All he lacked was one final sucker—no, one final partner.

To keep people from discovering that this was a real cult, Jia Xiu planned to follow the principle that the most dangerous place was the safest place.

He would seek cooperation with the Church of Light.

Not only could they endorse the tourism project, they could also provide the final part of the whole experience.

After being frightened in that gloomy, eerie cult cave, would it not be wonderful to go pray at a Church of Light chapel and receive a baptism?

Thus, Jia Xiu headed to the Church of Light in town.

"May the Holy Light bless and protect you;

"May the Holy Light shine upon you and grant you grace;

"May the Holy Light gather upon you and grant you peace."

Inside Creekwood Town Church of Light, Cleric Karl was conducting the final part of the event: the blessing.

Sparse responses came from below. "Light!"

Then all the believers left in an orderly manner.

Watching their departing backs, the Cleric sighed.

As a missionary sent here by the Church, his work had not been going particularly well.

Though he had a church and regular believers, the faith they provided was not substantial.

Simply living was already exhausting enough for the people of Creekwood Town. They did not have much spare time for prayer.

He understood the local situation, but who would understand him?

If things continued like this, he might spend the rest of his life as a Cleric in Creekwood Town.

Though such a life was not bad, he wanted to be closer to the Holy Light too. He wanted to advance as well.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed that someone was still in the church.

It was Jia Xiu, the one from Susan's Tailor Shop. Karl had never seen him come here before.

He was quite a good young man—smart and eager to learn. It was just that his way of using Healing Spell was a little strange.

But none of that mattered. As long as he was willing to accept the Holy Light's radiance, the Holy Light would embrace anyone.

Karl walked toward Jia Xiu.

"My child, have you come seeking the guidance of the Holy Light?"

"Father," Jia Xiu found one thing about the Church of Light particularly annoying: they automatically acted a generation older than everyone else and called everyone child, "I have come to seek the Holy Light's guidance for more people."

Hearing Jia Xiu's words, Karl unconsciously tightened his grip on the scripture in his arms.

"The Holy Light welcomes anyone in need of guidance. But where are these people?"

"It's like this..."

Jia Xiu explained his tourism project and emphasized that the final stage would be coming to the church to pray.

Karl frowned.

This was actually a business.

It was not the situation he wanted most—not devout believers, but temporary faith. Still, faith was better than no faith.

Karl had never discussed business before. He had only heard merchants who came to confess speak of such things. The first step seemed to be negotiating a price?

"What is the price for the Holy Light to guide one person?" he asked tentatively.

Jia Xiu frowned too.

What was going on?

Was this Cleric really so direct? He did not even go through the usual process or exchange a few polite words before asking about the price.

But the Church of Light was not some pitiful little sect hidden in the mountains with fewer than ten followers.

It was a proper major power. Not someone he could afford to offend.

Jia Xiu thought for a moment, then put on a troubled expression and named a low price first, lest the Cleric open with an outrageous demand.

"How about 5 Hel per person?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Jia Xiu saw the other man's expression turn serious.

Damn it. I might have to bleed heavily today. His absolute bottom line was that it would be fine even if he made no profit, as long as he could summon that Undead.

But the Cleric was not naming a price.

Just say how much you want already.

The silence lasted a long time. Jia Xiu was about to take the initiative and raise the price to 8 Hel.

Then Karl suddenly spoke.

"That is too expensive."

"Too what?" Jia Xiu did not understand for a moment.

"Five Hel per person is too expensive. Donations in Creekwood Town are limited, and I cannot afford that price," Karl said with complete sincerity.

"However, I can give you this as a replacement for the original payment."

He took out a string of charms.

Jia Xiu examined it.

[Sacred Dream Amulet (Rare)]

[Perception +1]

[Dream Enchantment: Draw a willing target into a dream constructed by the spellcaster]

Seeing Jia Xiu freeze, Karl thought he was unwilling.

"If you do not accept it, I can report it to the Church now. As long as they approve the funding..."

"Wait!"

Jia Xiu grabbed the amulet.

"Talking about money is too vulgar. I have always admired the Holy Light. Letting more people receive the Holy Light is my wish!"