Chapter 19: Storm Incoming
In that instant, Jiang Ce’s eyes suddenly transformed into a pie chart.
Thirty percent confusion, thirty percent realization, thirty percent resentment, and ten percent self-deprecation.
So, what you entrusted me with wasn’t responsibility, but a burden. You just wanted to retire early so you could go out and have fun, right?!
Chen Mian slowly turned his head to look at Jiang Ce, flashing an awkward yet polite smile.
So, you don’t plan on explaining anything at all?!
“Yo? We have a guest?” An old man pushed open the courtyard door and immediately saw Jiang Ce, seeming a bit surprised.
The old man’s attire was a peculiar mix: he wore sports headphones on his head, a white tank top, hip-hop pants, and slippers. Coupled with his white hair tied in a bun and his beard tied into a bow, he had a very unique sense of style.
“Mas-Master, why are you here?”
Chen Mian gritted his teeth but asked softly, conveying his suppressed anger.
“I just got back from Sanya. What, you’re not welcoming?” He casually tossed a coconut to Chen Mian, then looked at Jiang Ce, “And who is this?”
Jiang Ce smiled warmly and nodded, “Hello, I’m the one who was tricked.”
The old man’s smile froze. He realized he might have said the wrong thing and looked to Chen Mian for help.
Chen Mian’s face had already turned to the side, pretending not to see or hear anything.
Jiang Ce also felt a bit awkward staying there, so he found an excuse, saying it was time to go home and watch his cat dance, and then left Chen Mian’s house.
Chen Mian wanted to ask him to stay, but Jiang Ce said that if he didn’t go watch his cat dance at this time, the cat would get depressed, so Chen Mian had no choice but to give up.
Seeing Jiang Ce leave, Chen Mian could no longer hold back his rebuke: “Couldn’t you be a little quieter, old man? It’s always like this. Are you intentionally trying to embarrass me? I told you before that I wanted to find someone to take over from me, but I was just joking. And this young man is indeed someone I’ve taken a liking to, I wanted him to learn some Capability from me. With you saying that, how am I supposed to interact with him next time?”
“I was indeed too abrupt, Master,” the old man sighed.
“So what do we do now?” Chen Mian questioned.
The old man looked confused, “Do what?”
Seeing his reaction, Chen Mian became anxious, “How do I explain this? If he holds a grudge and spreads this around, how will I be able to live in the future?”
“It’s fine!” The old man waved his hand dismissively. “Weren’t you planning to retire and cultivate immortality with me? Now that I’ve become a Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master, I’ve already prepared all the Resources you need at the Jianghu Magician stage.
You’ve worked diligently for thirty years, appeasing countless Ghosts and Undead, and the Merit you’ve accumulated is definitely enough for you to step into the Jianghu Magician realm, and perhaps even enough for you to cultivate peacefully to the Eighth Rank and Seventh Rank.
As long as you cultivate diligently with me, let alone you being only fifty-something, even if you’re seventy or eighty, you can still live for quite some time.
Things like a dark past, well, they get forgotten with time. Look at me, your Master, I’m over a hundred years old now and still so spirited. Many of the old folks from my era are already underground. Who still remembers what I did when I was young?”
Chen Mian stared coldly at the old man, “When you were young, you were kicked out of Maoshan for peeking at your Maoshan Sect Leader’s daughter taking a bath.”
The old man’s face flushed red. Angrily, he rebuked, “You scoundrel! Did you sneak into my memoirs?”
“You told me that when you got drunk fifteen years ago,” Chen Mian replied respectfully.
The old man’s beard bristled with anger. “You pretended not to know for fifteen years, just to talk back to your Master at a time like this?”
Chen Mian shrugged, “I don’t care. Anyway, you have to think of a way for me to resolve this misunderstanding. I must see someone who can take over protecting the Funeral Home’s Peace before I can confidently go and cultivate immortality with you.”
“Rebellious disciple!”
The old man cursed Chen Mian out of anger at his stubbornness. However, this very stubbornness and persistence was also why he valued Chen Mian, so he began to seriously consider how to rectify the recent misunderstanding.
He paced back and forth in thought, and then, inadvertently, his gaze fell upon the Soul Soothing Technique magic arrays that Jiang Ce had set up on the ground and hadn’t had time to remove. He was immediately surprised.
“Eh? Xiao Mianzi, it’s only been a few years, and you’ve improved so much?”
Before Chen Mian could react, his expression turned strange again:
“No, something’s not right. This has surpassed the limits of an Ordinary Person. It has evolved from merely capturing the form to outlining about sixty to seventy percent of the spirit. Ordinary people shouldn’t be able to see the hidden clues I’ve laid out.”
He turned to look at a bewildered Chen Mian and asked suspiciously, “Did you, without relying on the Cultivation Method I gave you, independently figure out some Jianghu Magician techniques?”
Just as Chen Mian was about to explain, the old man started to second-guess himself again:
“No, still not right. This isn’t a matter of simple comprehension. No matter how high one’s comprehension, it’s impossible to replicate a complete pattern without knowing the basic principles.”
“Or perhaps you’re a genius? Oh! Yes, yes, yes. I seem to have heard that there were indeed geniuses like this in ancient times. That makes sense. After all, Cultivation Methods were also researched and developed from scratch. Hahaha, why were you hiding so much? Why didn’t I see it earlier?”
“Hiss, no, no, no, still not right. If you were a genius, what were you doing thirty years ago? It took you three years just to practice the form, and then you could suddenly grasp the spirit? No, no.”
The speaker meant nothing, but the listener took it to heart. The Old Man completely failed to realize that his words were essentially rubbing Chen Mian’s pride into the dirt.
“These weren’t set up by me! They were set up by that Young Man you called an idiot just now!”
Chen Mian roared, startling the Old Man who was still pulling at him.
Upon hearing this, the Old Man’s expression immediately turned solemn. He grabbed Chen Mian and asked sternly:
“Tell me all his information, immediately!”
Chen Mian hadn’t seen the Old Man look so serious in many years. The last time was when he first started as an embalmer, following him to learn the Soul Soothing Technique, and they encountered that sinister corpse that died from being Possessed by Evil.
After that, the Old Man, turning misfortune into good fortune, successfully became a Jianghu Magician. Since then, the Old Man had never been so serious in front of him.
So, although Chen Mian didn’t understand why, he still realized the seriousness of the matter. He recounted everything from when Jiang Ce came looking for Work a year ago, all the way up to the recent resolution of Su Da Yong’s incident, telling the Old Man everything without omission.
The Old Man fell into thought after listening. After a while, Chen Mian tentatively asked, “Master, what is it? Is there a problem?”
The Old Man did not hide anything and looked at the Magic Arrays on the ground of the courtyard, saying:
“Do you still remember that I told you, besides us Orthodox Cultivators, there are also some Evil Cultivators who do not cultivate Merit but instead cultivate by borrowing the power of Ghosts and Monsters, committing all kinds of evil deeds?”
“I remember.”
“I’ve returned this time because of this. Since I became a Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master, I’ve entered the core circle of the Gatekeepers, allowing me to get firsthand information immediately.
Since a year ago, those rats’ figures have appeared in Luocheng. This place is only one city away from Gatekeeper Headquarters, so you can imagine how far their reach extends.
And recently, after a year of planning, Master Xu is finally ready to make his move.
Besides me, at least two more Heaven-Reaching Dharma Masters will be coming.”
Although Chen Mian was an Ordinary Person, thanks to the Old Man’s influence, he clearly had considerable knowledge of the Cultivator world and immediately understood what he meant.
“So Master, you think…”
The Old Man stood with his hands behind his back: “Whether it’s the timing or his actions, they are too coincidental. When too many coincidences occur simultaneously, perhaps it is inevitable.
If that’s the case, then I can only say that he is too cautious, having been mediocre for an entire year and only now revealing his true colors.
He patted Chen Mian on the shoulder: “This world is about to fall into chaos. I originally planned to take you to seek the path of cultivation after this matter was resolved. I don’t ask for you to achieve anything great, but at least you need to be able to protect yourself.”
“But I think Jiang Ce…” Chen Mian hesitated for a long time before he couldn’t help but say.
But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the Old Man:
“Although I can’t be 100% sure he’s one of those rats, we have to guard against it.”
