Chapter 26: Jie Tan
The young man’s gaze was very pure. After Jiang Ce met his eyes, it was as if he had suddenly seen a vast grassland and a clear blue sky.
“What Ding Zhen?”
Jiang Ce shook his head. Seeing that Tide Old Man showed no intention of making a move, he planned to ride away on his bike.
This wasn’t much different from what he had expected. A cultivator of his stature wouldn’t really start a big fight over a bit of glutinous rice, would he?
It was probably just to show off his skills by using him as an example to act tough.
Although even that was quite outrageous, Jiang Ce didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.
Not to mention Tide Old Man’s initial suspicion of him and the young man’s surveillance of him, which he still knew nothing about, the only reason he could think of was stealing some of Chen Mian’s materials for setting up the formation.
Putting himself in others’ shoes, Jiang Ce was capable of such a thing, so he didn’t think it was strange for Tide Old Man to do this.
Admittedly, Jiang Ce also felt he was at fault first, but by his bandit logic, his fault wasn’t taking some materials without permission, but not being strong enough to make Tide Old Man willingly offer them to him.
Jiang Ce mounted his bike while lost in thought, and just as he was about to pedal away, Tide Old Man appeared behind him like a ghostly figure.
With just a light pat, Jiang Ce felt a mountain-like heavy pressure on his shoulder, unable to move a bit. The binding strength even surpassed that of the previous male gluttonous ghost.
“You really dare to make a move?”
He shouted as if he had seen a ghost, thinking to himself, aren’t you afraid of my teammates?
“I think you’ve misunderstood something. A bit of materials is naturally trivial, but your identity as an evil cultivator is definitely worth making a big fuss over.”
Tide Old Man deliberately emphasized the words “making a big fuss,” as if countering Jiang Ce’s earlier outburst.
Jiang Ce thought to himself that something was wrong. Could this old man not only see his identity as a cultivator, but also figure out the problem he was facing?
“What evidence do you have?” Jiang Ce forced himself to stay calm, trying to extract some useful information from Tide Old Man.
Sensing Jiang Ce’s tension, Tide Old Man was already seventy to eighty percent certain, and said leisurely:
“You want evidence? No need for you to say, I will find it myself.”
With that, he turned back and instructed: “You four keep an eye on him. He’s under my immobilization spell and can’t break free. Don’t let him find an opportunity to take his own life. I’ll be right back.”
Jiang Ce was full of confusion. Suicide? The way you people talk is a bit scary.
Tide Old Man turned to look at the western-style building in the manor, his eyes narrowing slightly. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared from the spot.
The master of ceremonies, white-collar worker, and cook surrounded him, watching Jiang Ce’s every move warily, while the young man alone still looked full of curiosity.
Although the other three kept a safe distance from Jiang Ce, they couldn’t help but perk up their ears to eavesdrop.
Cultivators mostly devote themselves single-mindedly to the Dao, living extremely pure lives, and know little about emerging things.
Learned something new, the four thought to themselves with a sigh.
And just as they were imagining using this most romantic rhetoric to confess to the her they each dreamed of after reaching the peak in the future, Jiang Ce was weighing the pros and cons.
Although he wasn’t an evil cultivator, both his characteristics and methods were too much like one. Not to mention others, even he himself had felt that way at first.
But this trouble from the unknown was something he couldn’t grasp no matter what, and he had no way to solve it.
Since Tide Old Man was so vehemently opposed to evil cultivators, it meant there must be prestigious sects in the cultivation world.
He came from a legitimate Buddhist background, with pure roots and orthodox lineage. Shaving his head and wearing a monk robe still had some appeal. If Tide Old Man could see the root of the problem, would it be better to tell the truth?
But he also knew the principle of not revealing one’s wealth. Whether it was his method of cultivation through owing merit or Aatrox’s ability to convert merit and devour malice, both were too special. Tide Old Man wasn’t absolutely trustworthy, and it was hard to say if laying all cards on the table would backfire.
So the current situation was quite awkward. If he spoke up, it was unclear if they would believe him, and he would still face potentially worse circumstances. If he didn’t, he would be directly treated as an evil cultivator and arrested, and his fate probably wouldn’t be much better.
No matter how he thought about it, it seemed like a dead end.
Just as Jiang Ce was troubled by this difficult choice that could lead to eternal damnation at any moment, a familiar wooden fish sound came from afar.
The four guarding Jiang Ce immediately tensed up, thinking his companion had come to rescue him.
But when they saw who it was, the four suddenly relaxed.
Jiang Ce, under the immobilization spell, couldn’t move his head, so he couldn’t turn to see what was happening, but from their attitudes, it should be someone from their side.
The young man seemed quite familiar with the newcomer, waved his hand, and called out: “Jie Tan Gatekeeper!”
The newcomer was a monk wearing a monk robe that had been washed until faded but was still clean. He moved in strange steps, the ground beneath his feet shrinking like inches into miles, covering a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.
“Amitabha, this monk has told you many times, just call me Gatekeeper, no need for the dharma name.”
Jie Tan reproached with a smiling face. The young man nodded: “Okay, Jie Tan Gatekeeper.”
Jie Tan’s face fell and he shook his head, looking at the others: “Where is your Master Ye? Did he go to find the evil cultivator?”
“Reporting to Gatekeeper, Master Ye has gone to investigate the site where the evil cultivator practiced evil technique, and told us to wait here,” the cook replied respectfully with cupped hands.
“Oh.” Jie Tan nodded, and casually asked: “I heard that evil cultivator is a high-ranking gluttonous ghost, able to summon a hell with a raise of the hand. Can your Master Ye handle it? Amitabha, I’m not trying to rob merit, just came to see if your Master Ye needs help. After all, every heaven-reaching dharma master is a rare asset to us and can’t afford any mishaps.”
“Able to summon a hell with a raise of the hand?” The young man looked at Jiang Ce, who was immobilized and unable to move, then at Jie Tan, who spoke with utmost confidence.
He seemed to remember something, took out his mobile phone, and his expression gradually twisted.
In a chat group named [Gatekeeper Luocheng Branch], someone with the nickname “Speak Cautiously” was frantically posting false intelligence:
[I just heard from Lu Yun that there’s an extremely badass evil cultivator in the southern suburbs of Luocheng, suspected to be the gluttonous ghost leader, who has turned the southern suburbs into a mortal world purgatory. Fierce fiends are everywhere, fierce ghosts are as common as dogs, incredibly exaggerated!]
Seeing this increasingly outrageous content, the young man had bulging veins on his forehead.
That bastard is acting as Sitting-Forgetting Dao again, and even backstabbing me, you’re not human!
“Um, Jie Tan Gatekeeper, didn’t I pull you into the group a couple days ago?” The young man, or rather Lu Yun, looked at Jie Tan, his mouth twitching slightly.
Jie Tan nodded: “Yeah, I saw in the group that there was merit to be had… uh, fierce ghosts needing deliverance here, so I hurried over. Took me a long time to find you, and only so few people are here?”
Lu Yun had black lines all over his face: “Jie Tan Gatekeeper, don’t believe that lunatic. Ever since he read some novel, he’s been off, claiming to be Sitting-Forgetting Dao every day and taking pleasure in deceiving others. He was muted last month and just got unmuted, unfortunately right when you saw it.”
“Amitabha, so the intelligence was fake?”
Jie Tan was slightly disappointed.
Lu Yun nodded: “The evil cultivator has been caught, right here.”
He pointed at Jiang Ce, who had his back to the group.
Jie Tan suddenly realized: “Oh, so he’s not one of your gatekeepers here. I was wondering why he was so arrogant.”
“Master Ye put him under the immobilization spell.”
“I see.”
Jie Tan walked around to Jiang Ce’s front to see what the evil cultivator looked like, but met Jiang Ce’s embarrassed gaze, who had recognized his voice.
“It really is you. Long time no see.”
Jie Tan was the middle-aged monk who had formed good karma with Jiang Ce at the public cemetery a few days ago. He obviously recognized Jiang Ce too and was greatly shocked: “How is it you?”
Jiang Ce gave a wry smile and said aggrievedly: “Martial Uncle… I was bullied outside, boo hoo hoo!”
