The Storm Subsides, If You Would Have Me

Early the next morning, a dense crowd of Mortal Laborers gathered at the Labor Affairs Courtyard.

Having just collected their Talisman Money yesterday, everyone was in rather high spirits and in the mood to get together and chat.

"Have you all heard? Those two vicious dogs, Zhang San and Dong Si, met with disaster!"

"Oh, don't get me started. I live right next to their big tiled house. Zhang San's mother wailed all night. The racket kept me from daring to close my eyes!"

"Dong Si had it worse. I went over for a look on my way to work. His face looked like it had rolled around pressed against a furnace in the Quenching Room. Tsk, tsk. He died with his eyes wide open!"

"They say Brother Yi did it..."

Everyone talked over one another, their eyes drifting involuntarily toward He Laohun.

It couldn't be helped. Brother Yi no longer needed to report for work, so they rarely saw him in person.

"Old He! Give us the inside story. Tell us!"

Someone in the long line called out, urging He Laohun to say a few words.

"Exactly! Brother Yi's only at the third level of Qi Refining, isn't he? To think he could deal with Zhang San and Dong Si. He must have mastered something incredible!"

Someone else chimed in, brimming with curiosity and eager to hear more.

Dozens of people all had something to say, making for a noisy, lively scene.

Those two vicious dogs, Zhang Chao and Dong Ba, had lorded it over them for so long that everyone knew their methods better than anyone.

Now Brother Yi had suddenly disposed of them without a sound. Naturally, they were both astonished and alarmed.

One point needed clarifying: although the Qianji Sect belonged to a Demonic Path lineage, the fighting and slaughter over stolen treasures, plunder, and lives actually had little to do with the Mortal Laborers at the bottom.

The reason was simple.

More than eighty percent of the Outer Sect's Mortal Laborers would struggle to reach even the threshold of the fifth level of Qi Refining in their lifetimes.

Without opening the inner mansion of the Origin Gate, they could neither gather nor refine the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, much less count as true cultivators.

They either worked for the sect and saved enough Talisman Money to retire down the mountain, or became hired hands in the market towns, earning their meals with a trade.

Like the sand and weeds found everywhere across the Southern Continent, they lived out ordinary lives without accomplishing anything.

The Foundation Establishment cave abodes, mighty cultivators' ruins, chance adventures, and fortuitous encounters so common in storybooks had nothing whatsoever to do with them.

The vast majority of Mortal Laborers toiled like beasts of burden and painstakingly cultivated Qi Refining.

Even over an entire lifetime, they might never experience a so-called "spell battle."

"I don't know. I slept soundly last night and didn't hear anything."

In the past, He Laohun would surely have responded to so much attention by spraying spittle and spinning a torrent of nonsense.

But after this incident, he had already corrected his old habit of boasting and resolved to keep his lips sealed.

He Laohun understood that tall trees caught the wind.

Brother Yi had stood up for him, displaying his abilities to eliminate those two vicious dogs, Zhang Chao and Dong Ba.

He couldn't repay kindness with enmity, letting his loose tongue ruin things and reveal Brother Yi's secrets.

"Old He..."

Some still refused to give up, but when the Labor Affairs Courtyard's gates opened, they saw Jiang Yi emerge with three young Daoist Attendants.

The gathered Mortal Laborers immediately fell silent.

When Brother Yi first became an Inspection Officer, everyone had thought him young and amiable, and felt little reverence for him.

Now, in the space of a day, Zhang Chao had been crippled and Dong Ba killed.

Only then did everyone realize that Brother Yi was a man of swift, decisive action, unhesitating when it came to killing!

"Inspection Officer Zhang of the Engraving Room has broken his legs, and Inspection Officer Dong of the Forging Room has lost his life. I'll temporarily oversee the workshops' affairs."

Jiang Yi stood on the steps, his new Daoist robe and fair, clean-cut features making him the very picture of a handsome young gentleman.

But the words that left his mouth carried considerable weight:

"Before midmonth, I'll ask the stewards to select suitable candidates as Inspection Officers. I hope you'll all attend to your duties and work hard."

The Mortal Laborers hurriedly assented, answering in unison:

"We will follow Inspection Officer Jiang's instructions!"

Clang, clang, clang!

As the bell rang out from Wavelooking Peak, everyone headed to their respective workshops.

The dense crowd abruptly dispersed. No one asked again what would become of the crippled Zhang Chao or the suddenly deceased Dong Ba, or how the aftermath would be handled.

Never mind Crimson Flame Peak-across the entire Outer Sect, what year passed without dozens of deaths?

As long as those above didn't pursue the matter, the Mortal Laborers toiling like beasts of burden wouldn't worry too much about it.

"Brother He, keep a close eye on things."

Jiang Yi came down the steps, left He Laohun with that instruction, and headed straight for Yang Xun's house.

He reflected:

Sure enough, lives in the Outer Sect aren't worth much. Forty thousand in Talisman Money was enough to settle things and have the stewards of the Engraving Room and Forging Room turn a blind eye, rather than put the matter on the scales.

Of course, part of it was that they were doing Yang Xun a favor.

Otherwise, Jiang Yi would probably have had to pay more in "compensation."

"Old Zhou from the Forging Room didn't say much. Money's all he cares about. Since you paid him, he's happy enough to find another useful man to replace Dong Ba."

Jiang Yi hadn't gone far before he spotted Yang Xun on the mountain path.

With his hands clasped behind his back, the man stood in the snow in black robes, strikingly conspicuous. His hoarse voice drifted down:

"Old Tang from the Engraving Room didn't bandy words with me for once. That fellow's always so noisy, yet today he was straightforward for a change."

"It's all thanks to you, Steward, for intervening and mediating on my behalf."

Jiang Yi stopped below him and respectfully cupped his hands in salute.

After resolving the trouble with Zhang Chao and Dong Ba, he had posed a question to the Heavenly Book.

The result had been [Safe and sound].

With Yang Xun stepping in, Tang Cong, the Engraving Room's steward, and Zhou Guang, the Forging Room's steward, had not pursued the matter excessively.

Both had cheerfully accepted the Talisman Money and considered the matter closed.

Otherwise, the storm might not have subsided so quickly.

Yang Xun asked with seeming nonchalance:

"There's something I don't understand. Why did you kill Dong Ba but spare Zhang Chao?"

"To answer you, Steward, I thought Dong Ba was vicious and narrow-minded, liable to cause trouble. He had to be eliminated.

"Zhang Chao, though sinister, had already had his courage shattered. He couldn't stir up any waves, so I left him alive to suffer a little."

Jiang Yi answered truthfully.

Presumably, the two Mortal Laborers living under the same roof as Zhang Chao would take good "care" of him.

"You're meticulous enough, and your methods are formidable enough too!

"Crippled and unable to work, Zhang Chao will sooner or later be used as 'expendable material' by the Outer Sect.

"Every extra day he clings to life will add another measure of reverence for Inspection Officer Jiang among Crimson Flame Peak's Mortal Laborers."

His voice like a night owl's, Yang Xun laughed heartily:

"I was worried before. I thought that even if you entered the Inner Sect, you'd started too late and might not be able to gain a firm foothold.

"Now I see that worry was unnecessary."

Jiang Yi said:

"I'm merely borrowing your tiger skin for my banner, Steward. What methods could I claim to have?

"If there really are any methods to speak of, it's only that you're a towering tree, Steward, allowing me to share in your glory and shelter beneath your shade."

Just listen to that. How pleasing those words were.

Yang Xun couldn't help his lips curling upward. He shook his head.

"Killing takes hot-blooded courage. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered. There's nothing remarkable about it.

"But considering the consequences before acting, and knowing how to settle things afterward-

"That's rare."

Jiang Yi said nothing.

When praised by a superior, excessive modesty was no good; it seemed insincere.

But showing complacency wouldn't do either; it lacked composure.

At a time like this, silence was better than a silver tongue.

Yang Xun walked slowly along the mountain path and asked in an even tone:

"Have you truly brought the Lesser Forging Origin Fire-Control Art to minor accomplishment?"

Jiang Yi answered without hesitation:

"I wouldn't dare deceive you, Steward. It was precisely my minor accomplishment in the Fire-Control Art that gave me the confidence to borrow money to buy lives."

That was true. Zhang Chao and Dong Ba were both at the third level of Qi Refining, and proficient in unarmed combat as well as sabers, spears, and staves.

Without minor accomplishment in the Fire-Control Art, Jiang Yi couldn't have subdued those two vicious dogs so cleanly.

Yang Xun drew a deep breath, as though making some major decision. After a long while, he spoke:

"How confident are you that you can break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining by the start of spring?"

Jiang Yi didn't answer immediately, as though considering it carefully.

The Tiger-Wolf Medicinal Paste and Green Zhi Pulp complemented one another, steadily advancing his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining.

By a rough estimate, this considerable growth could continue for another seven or eight days. After that, he would have to rely on his own diligence and hard work to hone and temper his cultivation.

Thus, Jiang Yi gave a relatively conservative answer:

"About sixty percent."

Yang Xun's face twitched.

How long had it been since this boy broke through to the third level of Qi Refining? Did he really think accumulating cultivation and advancing his practice was as simple as eating and drinking?

Yang Xun continued:

"I might as well tell you plainly: the fourth level of Qi Refining isn't enough in the Inner Sect either.

"Only after opening the inner mansion of the Origin Gate and entering the fifth level will you qualify to have others look you in the eye.

"But gathering and refining the spiritual essence of heaven and earth involves many intricacies and great expense.

"Take the Qianji Sect, for instance. Many senior brothers in the Inner Sect need an entire clan's support to continue cultivating."

Jiang Yi couldn't help falling silent.

For beasts of burden to turn their fortunes around was as difficult as ascending to heaven, unless someone of standing helped them.

He understood that principle well.

Yang Xun coughed twice.

"Let me ask you: after you enter the Inner Peaks, will anyone provide you with Talisman Money?"

Jiang Yi shook his head.

Yang Xun asked another question:

"Then how much Talisman Money can you save before spring begins? Could you manage two hundred thousand?"

Jiang Yi shook his head again.

Two hundred thousand in Talisman Money?

He would have to scrape clean every Mortal Laborer's "surplus grain" on Crimson Flame Peak.

Yang Xun sighed, his hand clenched tightly inside his sleeve:

"What a pity, then. Even if you were given a place in the Inner Peaks, what would it accomplish?

"You'd only cultivate for a few years before being driven out with your tail between your legs.

"Without someone to rely on in the sect, it's hard to gain a foothold."

Standing farther down the slope of the mountain path, Jiang Yi looked up at the black-robed Steward Yang Xun.

He bent into a deep bow, then said:

"If you would have me, Steward, I'm willing to serve at your side from now on and care for you in your old age!"

Yang Xun froze at first, astonishment appearing on his fierce-looking face. Then he laughed:

"You certainly know which way the wind blows and have a discerning eye. You're just the sort of promising talent suited to cultivating the Demonic Dao!"

"From now on, don't call me Steward. It sounds far too distant.

"Call me 'Grandpa,' and the place in the Inner Peaks is yours."

Without any change in expression, Jiang Yi called out with utter naturalness:

"Everything will be as you say, Grandpa."