Chapter 126: 125. Mutation (Seeking First Subscription)
Qin Mo paused for a moment, awkwardly sat back down.
Everyone watching this couldn’t help but laugh.
Wen Ping ignored him and continued, "The martial arts meeting will start the day after tomorrow, so you all need to prepare. Lele, Zhao Yi, work a bit harder for these few days, don’t cultivate during the day, and go to maintain order at the foot of Yunlan Mountain. Elder Qin, although you’re new here, you’ll need to participate as well."
"Martial arts meeting?" Qin Shan asked.
Wen Ping replied, "Yes, the target audience is those ordinary people of Cangwu City, as well as cultivators who can’t join a sect, helping them choose a path of cultivation and pointing out the wrong roads some have taken. These insights are unattainable without joining a sect or worshiping a strong master."
"Waste time on these people?"
Qin Mo seemed not to quite understand.
Honestly, whether they lived or died was none of his concern.
Wen Ping didn’t answer directly, but changed the topic, saying, "After the martial arts meeting, I’ll make dumplings for everyone again as a reward."
"Dumplings again!"
"Long live!"
Qin Mo and a few others immediately cheered, especially Qin Mo, who was particularly excited.
But Qin Shan and Miao Yin were at a loss, not understanding why cooking dumplings was something to be happy about.
...
As night fell, everyone began to move the items needed for the martial arts meeting to the side of the Thousand Layers, ready to take them down early the next morning.
It was at this time that Luo Yi came up the mountain in the dark.
When Wen Ping went to greet him, Luo Yi was carrying a lantern, struggling to make his way up the mountain with his corpulent body, seeming like he had a limp. Not bearing to see him struggle up the stairs, Wen Ping directly used Inch of Heaven and Earth, condensing the road of over a hundred steps into the final dozen.
As Luo Yi drew near, the sound of heavy breathing came as well.
Before Luo Yi could speak, Wen Ping smiled and greeted him, "Boss Luo, coming up the mountain so late must be about the martial arts meeting the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes, yes."
Still catching his breath, he just nodded and said two yeses.
Wen Ping led Luo Yi to a stone table by the square, saying as they walked, "Let’s sit over there and talk."
Luo Yi glanced at the nearby square chairs and tables, then followed, taking a few deep breaths before asking, "Sect Leader Wen, are those things for the martial arts meeting the day after tomorrow?"
"Yes."
Luo Yi was silent for a moment, then said, "Sect Leader Wen, this martial arts meeting might not be able to go on."
Wen Ping looked up at Luo Yi’s eyes and asked in confusion, "Why?"
"Today, the notices on every street were torn down."
"No problem, let them tear them down, however many people come the day after tomorrow will do."
"It’s not just that, they didn’t just tear them down, they also told everyone on the street that no shop or commercial firm is allowed to have any dealings with the Immortal Sect, and this martial arts meeting is banned, not allowing anyone to attend, otherwise, punishment as rebellion!"
"Who?"
"The Hundred Sects Alliance."
"An evil tiger is easy to kill, but a pack of wolves is hard to deal with." Wen Ping smiled wryly in his heart. He had expected the Hundred Sects Alliance would not let it go, but he didn’t expect their retaliation to come so quickly.
Luo Yi asked, "Sect Leader Wen, what do you mean by that?"
"It’s nothing, you continue on."
"Alright then... this time, the Hundred Sects Alliance and the Kao Shan Sect teamed up, stationed quite a few people in the streets and alleys of Qing Shui Street, chasing away anyone they saw. Your notice sticker Xiang Zi was caught by the Alliance people on the street this evening, directly beaten in public for ’false propaganda’ and ’incitement’, now the entire Qing Shui Street is in a panic, no one dares to speak of the martial arts meeting."
"The shop assistant?"
"Yes, his name is Xiang Zi."
"What kind of accusation is incitement?"
"A trumped-up charge."
Wen Ping listened, smiled, and did not continue to pursue the matter.
"Take me to see him, then."
Wen Ping stood up and headed toward the Thousand Layers.
Following Luo Yi to the shop assistant’s home, the night was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and the angry scolding coming from inside the house was even more piercing.
"Look at you, posting notices for that Immortal Sect, they’re body refining cultivators, we’re just ordinary people, can’t they take care of such small matters themselves?"
"Look at me? What are you looking at me for? You’re lying here, has anyone from the Immortal Sect come to look after you? Who paid for this medicine and your injuries, who applied the Golden Sore Medicine for you?"
The candlelight flickered, casting a shadow of a slender woman on the window paper, raising one hand pointing to a spot, the other hand on her waist, looking furious.
Hearing the harsh words from inside, Luo Yi looked a bit displeased, immediately saying, "Sect Leader Wen, that’s just the woman’s angry words, she’s not talking about you."
"I know."
Wen Ping took out a gold ticket worth a hundred gold from his robe and handed it to Luo Yi, whose expression changed upon seeing such a large amount.
Wen Ping said, "Take this hundred gold and give it to Xiang Zi for me, I won’t go in."
"Understood."
Accepting the gold ticket, Luo Yi was amazed.
He could never have imagined that Wen Ping would give a hundred gold to compensate an ordinary person.
One could only say this beating wasn’t in vain; this hundred gold could last their family half a lifetime, right?
As he was about to thank Wen Ping on behalf of Xiang Zi, curses came from the house again. Luo Yi immediately glanced inside and felt anger rising. This situation could have impacted him, yet Xiang Zi shouldered it alone, how could such a good person end up with such a wife?
Pushing open the wooden fence gate, he walked to the door in a few steps.
"Have you had enough of cursing?"
Luo Yi shouted angrily, pushing the door open.
The door swung open, a gust of wind blowing toward the oil lamp, causing the flame to flicker, but revealing Luo Yi’s face in the backlight.
"Boss, why are you here?"
"This is the gold ticket Sect Leader Wen asked me to bring over, use this money to eat something good and get better. I don’t have much more, so I’ll add ten gold coins for you."
Having handed over the gold ticket, Luo Yi took out ten glittering gold coins from his robe.
At that moment, the shop assistant burst into tears, never expecting Sect Leader Wen would remember him. He wanted to sit up and express his gratitude but couldn’t move due to his injuries, so he could only nod consistently while lying on the bed.
Perhaps, this was the only way he could express his gratitude now.
"Thank you, Sect Leader Wen, thank you, boss."
Luo Yi nodded, then patted his shoulder, glanced at the silent woman beside him, and said, "Get well soon, keep this money for yourself, and ask a neighbor to buy you something to eat."
...
Clack!
The wooden fence slowly closed.
Luo Yi walked out, asking, "Sect Leader Wen, let’s cancel tomorrow’s martial arts meeting. The Hundred Sects Alliance, none of us can afford to offend them."
"Why cancel?"
"But..."
Luo Yi’s words were cut off by Wen Ping, "The day after tomorrow will proceed as scheduled."
With that, Wen Ping turned and walked away.
After Wen Ping left, voices came from behind, "Did you see that? You think everyone’s like the people you imagine? This is a hundred gold, I couldn’t get such money even if I sold myself."
"I didn’t want to say anything before because I didn’t want to stoop to your level, but now you’ve really embarrassed yourself."
Hearing Xiang Zi’s words, Luo Yi smiled.
Yet back home, he couldn’t sleep, lying in bed, extremely worried.
What he feared most had come to pass.
The martial arts meeting was meant to benefit everyone, so why wouldn’t they permit it, and why had it become a deceitful assembly in the mouths of the Hundred Sects Alliance and others?
He couldn’t understand why they would do something so harmful that didn’t benefit them.