Returning to the Sect

He rummaged through it, but unfortunately, he still couldn't find any Cultivation Methods or secret techniques in Niu Gui'er's Storage Bag.

It wasn't just him. Among the several people who had died, few had the good habit of carrying a Cultivation Method.

Kang Dabao found only a volume of insights into a sword Instruction on Bai Bian. He figured Third Brother might find it useful.

He and Yuan Jin could take a look when they had time, though it wouldn't be of much use to them.

Still, Sect Leader Kang had picked up more than a dozen Storage Bags, so he had little to complain about.

He did, however, turn up a printed silk booklet. It contained few words, but every one was stained with tears.

First, her husband had died unexpectedly. Then the principal wife had driven her out. After that, she had encountered an Evil Cultivator and suffered the misfortune of being defiled for his amusement. Then a Heart-Eating Worm had been planted in her, causing her unbearable agony and leaving her no choice but to sell her charms and serve as the tiger's accomplice.

No choice.

"Well, well. What a fine excuse, having no choice."

Kang Dabao murmured with a sigh, then thought no more of it. With a fireball, he reduced the printed silk booklet to flying ash, just like its owner, leaving it no longer in this world.

With plenty of Spirit Stones in hand and eager to get moving, he found a carriage service in a nearby market.

Hiring a Cloud-Traveling Beast carriage, driver included, for a trip to Pingrong County cost three Spirit Stones and six spirit fragments. Take it or leave it; they wouldn't even knock off the small change.

Spending money had its benefits.

As a First-Tier Superior-Grade spirit beast, the Cloud-Traveling Beast was anyone's guess how many times faster than Kang Dabao. Traveling day and night without rest, it reached the borders of Pingrong County in just a day and a half.

When Kang Dabao returned to the sect, Jiang Qing was in the courtyard with a stern face, teaching his two stupid disciples stance training.

Jiang Qing had always been strict by nature, and with Kang Dabao gone for so many days, his expression was graver than ever.

Han Yundao and Duan Anle had always held their third martial uncle in both awe and fear. Sweat streamed down their fair faces, but neither dared utter a word of complaint.

"Hehe, Third Brother, you're putting them through their paces nicely."

Kang Dabao opened the sect's formation, and Jiang Qing hurried out to meet him.

The two youngsters first cupped their fists and bowed to their master, then turned to exchange a glance and gave a wry laugh. Even so, they didn't dare slack off and relax their stances.

"Senior Brother, how did you get hurt? And your hair-how is it nearly gone too?!" Jiang Qing supported Kang Dabao into the room, his handsome face full of anxiety.

"Met with a few friends and made a deal." At his words, Kang Dabao suddenly felt a chill on his scalp. He had grown used to being alone these past three months, so he hadn't noticed anything amiss.

"No wonder that old driver gave this Daoist master such a strange look." At the thought, Kang Dabao's face darkened. He shook his head, unwilling to say more.

"In any case, I made some money, and my cultivation finally advanced another step." Kang Dabao spoke only of the pleasant parts of his experience.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother! It's just a pity about your hair!" Jiang Qing first offered his congratulations, then looked at the top of Kang Dabao's head with concern.

"All right, stop talking about my hair." Kang Dabao waved a hand in displeasure. Why did Third Brother keep harping on about his hair?

Wasn't it perfectly normal for a man's hair to thin a little at his age? What was all the fuss about?

"Has the eldest of the He Household's caravan already set out?"

Kang Dabao sat back down on his worn-out meditation cushion and suddenly felt that life was wonderful.

"They left a month ago. Sigh, Senior Brother, what did you go out to do?

I sent word to Second Senior Brother to find someone reliable to go ask around at the Zhai Household Market, but nothing came of it.

You said you'd only be gone ten days or so, but it's been a full three months, and you're hurt this badly." Jiang Qing's brows knitted again as he spoke.

"I told you I'm fine. It's just as well they've gone. If you really want to go, wait for the next trip. I happened to make some money this time, so you can replace that ragged old gear of yours."

Hearing Jiang Qing steer the conversation back toward those three months, Kang Dabao hurriedly brought up the caravan instead.

"Really? Senior Brother, you finally agree to let me go! There's no need to replace it. Second Senior Brother had someone send me a suit of spirit armor just last month, and it fits perfectly." Sure enough, Jiang Qing's face lit up with excitement.

"Second Brother only recently finished his apprenticeship, and the crafting materials he saved up were scraps and offcuts he'd pinched and scraped together. What good thing could he possibly make?

Give me that spirit armor. You can buy a suit from a shop in Xuanwei City instead. You can't cut corners on something that keeps you alive," Kang Dabao said grandly.

"A shop in Xuanwei City? Is that somewhere the likes of us can go? Even the head of Hemu Dao doesn't go there often, does he?" Jiang Qing looked doubtful.

"Enough nonsense. Have the two boys ride the old donkey to the courier station at the market and hire a spirit bird to send a message telling Second Brother to bring his whole family back for a meal. They can wait and come back with them.

"Mm, tell Second Brother to bring two red essence suckling pigs from the Huang Household Old Shop on his way back, and a set of rouge lamb offal too. Whatever other side dishes they like, have them buy some of those as well," Kang Dabao added.

"Senior Brother, what on earth did you go out to do?!"

It was no wonder Jiang Qing found it strange. By his reckoning, the little ready cash he had wouldn't even cover the dishes Kang Dabao had named.

And afterward they were going to a shop in Xuanwei City to buy Law Artifacts! Could some old ghost at the end of his rope have taken over Senior Brother's body?!

Kang Dabao hadn't seen such a wealth of expressions on Jiang Qing's face in a long time.

His handsome junior brother usually wore an impassive, icy expression, as unruffled as an ancient well. Kang Dabao suddenly found it rather amusing.

"All right, hurry and send the message. I'm going to rest." Kang Dabao casually tossed Bai Bian's insights to Jiang Qing, then pushed and coaxed him out the door.

After closing the door, he lit a stick of ordinary incense, sat cross-legged at the small table, and began leafing through a Daoist scripture he already knew by heart.

After spending three months outside, clinging to life, he felt an immense attachment to this low, dilapidated sect leader's chamber at that moment.

Three days later, Yuan Jin finally returned to the sect, dusty from the road and empty-handed, leading the old donkey with his two wives, two sons, and two martial nephews on its back.

"Why did you come back empty-handed?" Kang Dabao rubbed his chin and swept a displeased gaze up and down Yuan Jin's short, stocky body.

"Those dishes you ordered would have cost a full sixty-seven Spirit Stones at the Huang Household Old Shop, and that was after they rounded down." Only after seeing that his senior brother really was all right did Yuan Jin feel at ease. At Kang Dabao's words, black lines covered his forehead.

"Uh, if you didn't have the Spirit Stones, you could've bought them on credit." Kang Dabao realized that he seemed not to have given Yuan Jin an allowance for some years.

Ah, even so, Yuan Jin had managed to save up for a suit of spirit armor for Jiang Qing while keeping up with his own cultivation! Now that was a good junior brother!

"Senior Brother, do you really take me for Master Qi?" Three more black lines appeared on Yuan Jin's forehead.

"True. Then what are we eating today? I've been waiting for a feast. That old donkey will do, then."

Kang Dabao turned his sinister gaze on the old golden-haired donkey, which had just had six people unloaded from its back. The donkey was so frightened that its four legs trembled twenty times.

"Uh, well, Changsheng and Ruyi are quite fond of it." Yuan Jin pointed at his two young sons, who were laughing and patting the old donkey all over.

"Tsk. Yundao, Anle, go cook a few pork hocks, then. Plenty of chili."

Hearing this, Kang Dabao could only pick up the two children and play at lifting them high in the air before giving his two disciples their orders.

The golden-haired demon donkey that loved to eat little boys and girls had ultimately kept its life thanks to two little boys. It was ironic.

Kang Dabao had an excellent appetite that night. He swallowed eleven pork hocks whole, leaving Sect Leader Kang so stuffed he could barely get up from the table. Changsheng and Ruyi watched with their little mouths hanging wide and round.

The next day, Yuan Jin stood outside the mountain gate, tugging at Kang Dabao's sleeve with a bitter look. "Senior Brother, you specifically had me take leave and come back, and now you're leaving me here alone?"

"We're going out to buy supplies. Someone has to stay and watch the sect, don't they?

"I'm taking all four boys-Changsheng, Ruyi, Yundao, and Anle-to the market for you. With your two wives left here at your side, you can enjoy the blessings of a man with two wives.

"You can get to work on a third son. Just name him Quji." Kang Dabao waved his sleeve and shook him off forcefully, a look of disdain on his face.

"I'm your junior brother too. How come you take Third Brother every time?" Yuan Jin muttered.

"Third Brother is good-looking. You have no idea how snobbish those female cultivators at Linghe Market are these days.

"Haggling with them is no easier than fighting with spells. If I brought you along, what would I do if they took one look at your face, got upset, and raised their prices on the spot?" Kang Dabao patted Yuan Jin's shoulder earnestly.

"Uncle Sect Leader, let's go, let's go!"

"Uncle Sect Leader, don't mind Father. Let's hurry! Mother, we'll bring you some sweets!"

The two little ones rode on Han Yundao's and Duan Anle's shoulders, shouting excitedly at the top of their lungs.

"All right, all right, we're going now. Second Brother, take good care of the place. We're off."

Kang Dabao climbed onto the donkey cart, and Jiang Qing followed with the two youths and two little ones.

The old donkey already understood human ways, and this time Kang Dabao couldn't be bothered to make things difficult for it. He couldn't even be bothered to bring a whip.

Sitting cross-legged on the cart, he called softly, "Let's go!"

The old donkey shook its golden coat at the words and lowered its head. Before long, it was pulling the cart, carrying Kang Dabao and the others gradually out of sight along the remote mountain road.