His eyelids seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.
But when he heard the voice drifting near and far, he still struggled to open his eyes, only to see shadowy figures before him...
Then he felt someone prop him up in one swift motion, and his vision gradually cleared.
"S-Steward Li... cough, cough...?"
To Wang Ba's surprise, Steward Li was standing right beside his bed, his thick arms supporting him in a seated position without the slightest effort.
What surprised him even more, however, was that Steward Li, who usually carried his eyes on top of his head, now looked timid and utterly fawning.
Standing in the narrow gap between the bed and the table, he bent his fat waist with the utmost deference, grabbed Wang Ba's arm, and tugged him toward the floor:
"Quick! Hurry and pay your respects to the immortal!"
An immortal?!
A Sect disciple?!
They had come looking for him?!
Wang Ba jolted!
The grogginess from his severe illness instantly took wing and vanished!
Without even the time or the courage to look in the direction Steward Li was bowing,
he hurriedly followed Steward Li's pull, about to get out of bed and kneel.
Then he heard a somewhat familiar, clear voice say in disappointment:
"Enough. He's so damned sick. It probably wasn't him."
"That bastard from that night was much taller and bigger than him, with decent looks, and he was wearing purple robes. I mistook him for a fellow Sect disciple, which was why I let him..."
Another respectful voice spoke up. "...Yes. Then shall we try somewhere else..."
"All right, Steward Mei..."
The voices gradually faded until Wang Ba could no longer hear them.
Only then did he feel Steward Li's tense hand gripping him suddenly relax.
"Phew-"
Steward Li plopped down on the bed, which was covered in grime and reeked.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
He also reached over and caught Wang Ba, who had nearly fallen.
With his help, Wang Ba sat down on the edge of the bed too. Through the window lattice, he saw two figures, one in blue-green and one in white, disappear at the entrance to Mountain Manor.
The one in blue-green was, as expected, probably Steward Mei, who oversaw the Servant Disciples.
The one in white was naturally the Outer Sect disciple whom Wang Ba had sent in the wrong direction with a casual point.
How could anyone be so petty?!
Even someone like that could cultivate immortality?
Wang Ba was speechless inwardly.
He had only pointed him in the wrong direction. Was that worth holding a grudge over until now?
He had even wasted precious cultivation time to come here in person.
Was that worth it?
As though sensing Wang Ba's thoughts, Steward Li lowered his voice and said quietly:
"That one may still be in the Outer Sect, but he's already an Inner Sect elder's personal disciple."
"I hear he's never suffered a loss since he was little. Apparently, two nights ago, he was going to the Merit Office to claim a mission with a generous reward, but a Servant Disciple tricked him into taking the wrong road, and he missed the mission."
"He was so furious that he went to the Servant Disciples' Office and gave Mei Feng a beating. Mei Feng oversees tens of thousands of Servant Disciples, yet he was whipped in front of everyone and lost every scrap of face, and he still had to greet him with a smile..."
"Hah! Without a proper Spiritual Root, you're nothing but an ant in the end!"
"That Servant Disciple, though... tsk. Impressive."
Steward Li shook his head, a mix of resentment and rueful lament flashing across his face.
It was a side of the ever-slick Steward Li that Wang Ba had never seen before.
Or perhaps the slickness was merely a disguise, and this was what he was truly like.
Wang Ba could not help opening his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.
He was worried that the Sect disciple had not gone far yet.
Steward Li seemed to see through his misgivings and suddenly gave a derisive chuckle.
"You certainly are cautious. But I don't suppose you want to spend your life as nothing more than a chicken-raising Servant Disciple, do you?"
"Cough, cough... Steward Li... cough, all I want is a place to settle down..."
Wang Ba hurriedly replied between coughs.
"Heh. If all you wanted was a place to settle down, why come here for a copy of that swindling Body-Strengthening Scripture?"
Steward Li mercilessly exposed him, his narrow eyes seeming to possess the power to see into people's hearts.
"The swindling... Body-Strengthening Scripture?"
Wang Ba could not help asking in confusion.
"A Cultivation Method meant for mortals that takes thousands of years to master-if that isn't a swindle, what is?"
Steward Li countered.
That immediately left Wang Ba with nothing to say.
Because there was indeed nothing wrong with what Steward Li had said. Unless they were a heaven-sent genius, most people hoping to cultivate a Spiritual Root through the Body-Strengthening Scripture and become a Sect disciple might need to reincarnate a few hundred more times.
Naturally, that included Wang Ba before he had the panel.
Steward Li stood up and walked to the doorway. With his hands behind his back, he gazed toward the distant mountains and sighed softly:
"Which of us doesn't dream of someday dining on wind and drinking dew, being at the North Sea at dawn and Cangwu by dusk..."
"Alas, how many Servant Disciples remain in the Sect for that extravagant hope, toiling like oxen and horses all their lives, only to end up a handful of yellow earth!"
"I joined the Sect at eighteen. Now my ambitions remain unfulfilled, yet the flesh has grown back on my thighs..."
"Body-Strengthening Scripture, you've led me astray!"
Wang Ba was inwardly shaken.
He could take that talk of flesh growing back on his thighs for what it was. Given Steward Li's burly, corpulent build, he probably would not notice another few pounds of flesh on his thighs.
The real question was, Steward Li had always been slick and changeable, so why was he suddenly baring his heart to him?
Did he truly regard him as one of his own, or... was he trying to trick him?
After all, the Sect disciple had barely left before he put on this performance. Wang Ba could hardly help reading more into it.
So he merely forced himself to follow behind, wearing a foolish grin that said, "I don't really understand, but that sounded wonderful."
Seeing that Wang Ba still looked utterly weak, timid, and rather slow-witted, a trace of disappointment flashed across Steward Li's face. He shook his head.
"Forget it. Get some rest!"
At the doorway, Steward Li paused and murmured to himself:
"Perhaps, if you ever get the chance to reach the ninth layer, you'll understand..."
Then he shook his head, flicked his sleeve, and left.
What did he mean? The ninth layer? Did he mean the ninth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture?
Wang Ba watched Steward Li leave, his expression shifting uncertainly.
He could not quite fathom Steward Li's parting words.
Could something special happen upon reaching the ninth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture?
For some reason, he recalled that Old Sun seemed to have reached the ninth layer as well.
Was it a coincidence, or...
After turning it over in his mind, he ultimately had too little information, so he could only commit this piece of information firmly to memory.
He wanted to go and look at the four Spirit Chickens hidden in Old Sun's room.
But he truly did not dare, fearing that Steward Li might double back for a surprise attack.
Dragging his ailing body along, he forced himself to eat a little leftover food.
Old Hou, who delivered the chicken feed, kindly brought it up for him.
Manure Boss Niu Yong, who disliked coming up to Mountain Manor to collect chicken manure, called softly a few times from the foot of the hill. When no one answered, he made a special trip up to Mountain Manor. Seeing how weak Wang Ba was from illness, he cleaned up the chicken manure himself and even pressed twenty taels of silver into Wang Ba's hands.
Watching the "honest and simple" Niu Yong drive his donkey cart into the distance, Wang Ba's eyes held a complicated look, and he gained an even deeper understanding of how pragmatic the people of the Sect were.
Had the "yellow-faced Daoist" not appeared the other day, would Niu Yong be so eager to please today?
The warmth and coldness of human relations merely followed the lure of profit.
Three days later.
Having recovered a little, he crouched in front of the chicken coop, delight in his eyes.
The egg laid by the Precious Chicken after the male Spirit Chicken had favored her had finally hatched!
Before you continue