“Immortal Lord, can you not go so fast? I can hardly keep up.” Feinu flapped his small wings, struggling to keep pace with Baizhao.
There was only one small mountain path leading from the village to the town. The trees on both sides of the path were dense, so everyone walked along the mountain path, as cutting through the forest was time-consuming, laborious, and dangerous.
Baizhao, however, was the exception to everyone. He chose to walk straight through the forest. Fortunately, he did not encounter anyone while moving at high speed, otherwise he really would have scared someone out of their wits.
A journey that normally took an hour was cut down so much that he was nearly out of the forest within the span of an incense stick. One can only imagine just how fast that speed was.
Baizhao reached out with a long arm and placed Feinu, who was on the verge of exhaustion, inside the collar of his robe.
Now Feinu felt relaxed, able to experience the sensation of flying without having to flap his wings.
Upon reaching the edge of the forest, Baizhao’s airborne body slowly touched the ground, walking out of the forest just like an ordinary person.
Once past the mountain path, the town was not far away. As Baizhao walked along the road, passersby would look at him from time to time and then quietly distance themselves. While moving away, those people would point and whisper, looking at him with extreme disgust.
“Look at that, this guy is probably going to go gambling again.”
“I really pity that girl who was bought back; she has truly entered a den of demons.”
“Keep your voice down. Aren’t you afraid that guy will hear you and come beat you up?”
The rustling whispers of the people were heard completely by Baizhao. They were mostly people from the village. Aside from Aunt Yang, everyone in the village despised the original owner, a notorious gambler.
“Immortal Lord, are you just going to sit back and listen to them curse you like that?” Feinu felt indignant. Raising his head, he spoke in a very soft voice.
“They aren’t cursing me, so why should I be angry?” Baizhao made a clear distinction. Zhou Mingyu was Zhou Mingyu, and he was himself. Even though he was currently borrowing Zhou Mingyu’s body, they were ultimately not the same person.
With just those few short words, Feinu experienced a sudden enlightenment. “The Immortal Lord is truly profound.”
As they neared the town, temples became more frequent. Baizhao often saw women with vegetable baskets hanging from their arms hurrying toward the temples. In an era of simple folk customs, worshippers were always numerous.
Having rested enough, Feinu stood on Baizhao’s shoulder and asked, “Immortal Lord, what do you plan to do to make money?”
“I am not doing anything for the time being.” Baizhao replied, stopping a woman who was brushing past him. “Excuse me, elder sister, where is the largest temple around here?”
The stopped woman smiled. Although Baizhao did not look very handsome, being called elder sister always made one feel good. “The one right in front of us is the largest temple nearby.”
Baizhao looked in the direction pointed out by the woman. The building before him was indeed very large, featuring white walls and red tiles. The roof ridges curved upward into sharp tips, upon which stood two golden dragons, and green pendants hung from the eaves, presenting a classic temple appearance.
A steady stream of worshippers came and went, and thin wisps of incense smoke continuously drifted into the sky from within the temple.
“Thank you, elder sister,” Baizhao said.
Seeing that he carried nothing with him, the woman kindly shared a few sticks of incense with him. “This temple is so responsive. My child worshipped the Chenmo Immortal Lord here, and the scripts he wrote became immensely popular!”
“Is that so? It is that responsive?” This was the first time Baizhao heard his own immortal title from someone else’s mouth, giving him a rather peculiar feeling.
“Indeed.” The woman waved her hand. “I will not chat with you anymore. I must hurry and fulfill a vow for my child.”
The woman was looking for the Chenmo Immortal Lord, and Baizhao immediately followed in her footsteps. This was a case of someone providing a pillow right when he felt sleepy; he was just looking to get some incense money from his own statue for an emergency.
Entering the temple, the first thing that met the eye was a huge brown bronze tripod filled with incense sticks. The ashes of burned-out incense accumulated inside the tripod, nearly spilling over the top.
Passing the incense tripod, he walked up the wooden steps on the right and entered the main hall, which was the largest in the temple. Inside the hall sat a golden statue atop a high platform, its head nearly touching the ceiling, possessing an immense volume.
Only the Buddha had such grand scale.
The woman first paid respects to the Heavenly Official at the entrance, and then walked into the main hall to worship deities one by one.
Baizhao would be able to see the true forms of these immortals upon returning to the celestial realm, so he did not linger in the main hall. He followed the flow of people out through the right side stone door, walked up the mountain along a long wooden path, passed three brick houses housing divine statues, and finally found the room where his own statue was placed.
The statue was carved wearing a green willow leaf robe and a lotus crown on its head, resembling a miniature version of himself. It was not as good-looking as him, but it retained at least some of his charm.
The size of his statue could not compare at all with the golden statue in the main hall, but unexpectedly, the incense pot in front of him contained quite a bit of silver money.
Worshippers coming to offer incense and make wishes were endless.
Baizhao quietly crept up beside the incense pot and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, scooped a handful of silver coins into his sleeve. Since it was incense money given to him anyway, taking it for use did not count as a breach of protocol.
Feinu watched from the side in utter astonishment. This was the first time he had ever seen his Immortal Lord commit such an unbefitting act; truly, a single coin could baffle even an immortal.
Having resolved his short-term financial problem, Baizhao entered the town. He first went to a ready-made clothing store to select cotton padded clothes. Logically speaking, buying fabric would have been more economical, but Chuxingxi was not a real wife after all and had never learned needlework or tailoring skills since childhood. As an immortal, he himself had never touched a needle and thread either. In a household where no one knew how to sew clothes, it was better not to make things difficult.
“Esteemed guest, what style are you looking for?” The clerk walked up with a full face of smiles, showing no discrimination against Baizhao’s ragged cloth garments.
“Just something that keeps warm,” Baizhao said.
It was only for passing the winter, and staying warm was most important. Once this body died next spring and Chuxingxi went to the Qingguan Gate, there would be no further need to buy clothes.
“Please step this way.” The clerk guided Baizhao to a corner of the shop filled entirely with cotton garments. Although the styles were not very attractive compared to those brocades and silks, they excelled in sturdy materials.
These clothes were not ugly enough to fall short of Baizhao’s aesthetic tolerance. Not knowing Chuxingxi’s exact size, he simply estimated his build and bought the cotton clothes.
The clerk carried four sets of cotton garments to the counter. Just as Baizhao was waiting for him to calculate the bill, Feinu anxiously flew in from outside the shop, landed on Baizhao’s shoulder, and spoke into his ear.
“Immortal Lord, Yuebao is in danger, we must hurry back!” Feinu’s voice was very urgent. There was a telepathic connection between celestial children, and right now Yuebao’s heart was restless and panicked, meaning something must have happened.
Hearing this, Baizhao directly tossed the money onto the counter in front of the clerk. “Keep the clothes here for me for now, I will come back to fetch them in a couple of days.” With that, he leaped out of the clothing store.
“Hey! I have already calculated everything!” The clerk raised his hand and said, “What could possibly be so urgent? He did not even want the clothes.”
Anxiety gripped Baizhao’s heart as he sped across the rooftops. Fortunately, ordinary people rarely looked up, and for the few who happened to catch a glimpse, Baizhao’s speed was so fast that they assumed they were experiencing hallucinations.
“How is Yuebao doing?” Baizhao asked.
“Emotional fluctuations are unstable, even more agitated than before.” Feinu could not keep up with Baizhao’s speed and was tucked directly inside Baizhao’s pocket.
In the span of just a single incense stick, Baizhao hurried back to the village.
The fragile wicker fence at his doorway had been trampled into a complete mess, and several burly men surrounded the front of the main hall, dragging Chuxingxi and grinding him against the ground. The ground where Chuxingxi lay was stained with bright red blood, and various items were scattered all around.
The ruffian held Chuxingxi’s hair, lifting his head slightly. “Are you going to tell us where Zhou Mingyu is or not!”
Chuxingxi’s face contorted in pain as he replied, “I do not know where he went.”
Chuxingxi was speaking the truth, but the ruffians opposite him obviously did not believe it. Looking at the double happiness character pasted on the window and noting how handsome the person before them was, they exchanged glances and understood each other’s inner thoughts. “Since Zhou Mingyu cannot produce the money, we will take his wife as payment instead.”
“I am sorry, but my wife is not for debt payment.” Baizhao strode forward between the two parties, grabbed the hand of the scoundrel holding Chuxingxi’s hair, and applied a little force, causing the man to howl in pain.
As the pulling force on his hair eased, Chuxingxi looked at the tall man standing protectively before him. He could not understand why Zhou Mingyu had returned after leaving, nor why Zhou Mingyu differed so drastically from his previous life.
In his past life, debt collectors used to come repeatedly, and every time Zhou Mingyu would hide, claiming he was not home and letting him bear the beatings and abuse from the creditors alone.
The ruffian leader stepped forward and pointed at Baizhao’s nose. “Zhou Mingyu, you still dare to show your face?”
Baizhao released the broken wrist, took a step to the left, and placed Chuxingxi completely under his protection. “When you come to collect a debt, how can you do so when the debtor is not present?”
The leader shouted loudly, “Cut the nonsense and hand over the money owed immediately.”
Repaying debts was only natural, but that applied to legitimate debts.
Although Zhou Mingyu was indeed at fault for gambling, the rules of that casino were truly terrifying, driving numerous families to ruin.
Baizhao took half of the silver money out from his clothes. “Just this much, there is no more.”
“Are you trying to dismiss me with beggar’s change?” The leader laughed in anger at the meager silver coins, and with a wave of his hand, several ruffians charged forward.
Baizhao put the silver money away. Dealing with a few small-time thugs required no use of his immortal artifacts; facing them bare-handed was entirely sufficient.
Baizhao raised a hand to block a punch, then smoothly grabbed the man’s arm and bent it downward. With a crisp snap, the man’s arm broke. The next ruffian approached brandishing a knife. Baizhao caught the blade between two fingers, flashed sideways, and delivered a punch straight into the ruffian’s abdomen. The ruffian lost all strength, and the knife fell into Baizhao’s hand. “Not bad, a free knife.”
Not expecting Baizhao to be so formidable, and watching his subordinates rolling on the ground and wailing, the ruffian leader decided that fleeing was the wisest course of action.
Baizhao grabbed the leader by the back collar. “Why are you in such a hurry to run?”
“Weren’t you here to collect a debt? How can you leave without collecting it?” Baizhao said.
“I was wrong, Master, please spare me! I am just taking money to do a job. Debt collection is connected to the casino, it has nothing to do with me.” The leader waved his hands frantically and fell straight to his knees to apologize to Baizhao.
Remembering how they had bullied Chuxingxi, Baizhao pulled the leader’s hair and forced him down to grind against the ground. The ground was covered in gravel, and within moments the man’s back was bleeding. “Is this how you treated my wife?”
“I was wrong, I was wrong.” The leader hurriedly begged for mercy.
“I will repay the money myself. Go back and tell your boss not to come back for debt collection, otherwise…” The implication of the remaining words was self-evident.
“Yes, yes!” The leader nodded like pounding garlic.
Baizhao straightened up and gently released his grip, letting the leader drop to the ground. Looking down from above with disdain, he softly said, “Scram.”
Supporting one another, the ruffians scrambled away in a panic, fleeing from this land of trouble.