Ling Xiaoyue received a private post from the notice wall.
The poster was named Wang Fulai, a local business tycoon known by the nickname "Wine King." It's said that forty percent of Qingde City's alcohol supply is provided by Wang Fulai, a bona fide tycoon.
However, the content of the post had nothing to do with the alcohol business. Instead, the Wang Family had recently been disturbed by demonic forces, with Wang Fulai's only son, Wang Minghong, narrowly escaping with his life. Left with no other options, Wang Fulai had to post a notice seeking the help of remarkable and unusual individuals.
Seeing Ling Xiaoyue pick up the post, Fang Zhou immediately understood her so-called secret of cultivators roaming the human world, and burst out, "This is your secret?"
"Exactly," Ling Xiaoyue nodded. "Cultivators journey through society not only to temper their mind and body but also to exterminate demons and bring blessings to the human world."
Fang Zhou directly pierced through her veil of hypocrisy: "Bullshit, you clearly just want to freeload on food and drink."
Ling Xiaoyue wasn't annoyed and said with a smile, "I'm testing your discernment, and you've seen through it so quickly. You're right, do you think every cultivator traveling the world is loaded with silver? Cultivation is also very costly, of course we should save when we can. Those with a bit of shame exterminate demons, those without shame rob the rich to aid the poor. This is the non-transmissible secret."
Ling Xiaoyue's down-to-earth explanation shattered Fang Zhou's last remnants of high-regard for the Cultivation World, causing him to blurt out in frustration, "Crap."
"What did you say?"
"A type of herbaceous plant."
The master and disciple duo asked around for directions, and soon found the Wang Family's luxurious estate.
As expected of a local tycoon, the estate had two person-tall stone lions at the gate, and a vermilion door that looked even more imposing than the State Mansion's.
There were quite a few business-looking people outside the gate seeking an audience, but they were rudely turned away by the aggressive gatekeepers, and could only bribe their way in with silver.
Ling Xiaoyue handed the post to Fang Zhou: "You go."
Fang Zhou protested unhappily: "Why should I go?"
It wasn't him who wanted to freeload.
Ling Xiaoyue's gaze fell on Fang Zhou's face, and she said with a smile, "Why let such a face go to waste?"
Damn it, so she's using my face to get in.
Fang Zhou had no choice but to take the post, dismount, and walk up to explain their intentions to the gatekeeper.
The female gatekeeper's attitude towards Fang Zhou was indeed much better. She didn't even ask for silver before going in to report.
Looks like every world is indeed all about face-value.
Soon, a female housekeeper came out and led the master and disciple inside the Wang estate.
The housekeeper's attitude was rather ordinary, merely giving Fang Zhou a few more glances before admonishing them not to wander around, rather lukewarm.
The housekeeper took them to a side hall, where, surprisingly, there was a man and a woman.
The woman, who appeared to be in her forties, wore a tall hat, a Daoist robe, and held a dust whisk. She sat on a chair, her face kind and radiating the transcendent aura of a cultivator.
A young Taoist boy stood behind her, with a submissive look in his eyes. He was of ordinary appearance, with a few freckles on his face.
"Master Ji."
The housekeeper first greeted the female Daoist, then said to Ling Xiaoyue and Fang Zhou, "Please rest here. I will arrange for servants to serve your meal, and you will meet the family head when he is available."
After saying this, the housekeeper left. Ling Xiaoyue stretched lazily and then smiled at the female Daoist, "Master Ji, I presume? Delighted to meet you."
Master Ji returned a smile and performed a Taoist salute, "The courtesy is yours."
Fang Zhou noticed that the Taoist boy standing behind Master Ji was giving them a scrutinizing look, even with a hint of hostility.
Fang Zhou was puzzled but quickly realized—these two were colleagues.
At the same time, he finally understood the housekeeper's indifferent attitude and her immediate arrangements for a meal.
After Wang Fulai's post, there must have been many shameless people like Ling Xiaoyue who came to freeload food and drink. The Wang Family must be so used to it by now that as soon as someone arrives, they directly arrange food and drink. If one doesn't show some real skills, they might get kicked out before even spending the night.
Very soon, a servant brought in a meal— a large plate of steamed meat buns, a plate of dried meat, and a pot of wine. Simple dishes, but in generous quantities, with steam rising from the hot meat buns and the wine warmed to the right temperature.
"Quick, eat it while it's hot."
Ling Xiaoyue beckoned Fang Zhou to start eating, which rendered Fang Zhou speechless. Here he was with a whopping one thousand taels in his pocket, yet he found himself mooching food and drink at someone else's place.
Just as Fang Zhou pondered where things had gone wrong, Ling Xiaoyue had already gobbled down two big meat buns.
"Aren't you fasting from food already?"
Fang Zhou exclaimed in surprise, since all the way here Ling Xiaoyue had hardly eaten anything, only drinking alcohol. Her wine bottle seemed to provide an endless supply, never running out no matter how much she drank.
"Yeah." Ling Xiaoyue took a sip of her wine, then poured the rest into her wine bottle, "You can't finish all this food anyway, I'm helping you eat some so it doesn't go to waste. Wasting food is disgraceful."
Just as Fang Zhou was about to retort, he heard a snicker.
"Two country bumpkins!"
Fang Zhou turned his head and saw that the Taoist boy was the one who sneered.
Seeing that Fang Zhou had noticed him, the Taoist boy wasn't the least bit nervous; instead, he showed a look of disdain as if observing two greenhorns who had just entered the city.
Master Ji sat with his eyes half-closed, seemingly meditating, showing no reaction to the Taoist boy's behavior.
Fang Zhou, not knowing the strength of these two individuals and not wanting to stir trouble, pretended not to hear. His gaze paused on the boy's ordinary face for a moment, and he let out a light chuckle.
Turning his head, he saw that almost all of the big buns had been eaten by Ling Xiaoyue, which made him panic: "Save some for me!"
Seeing that Fang Zhou didn't dare to speak up, the Taoist boy huffed twice, smug, but then he quickly realized what that light chuckle from Fang Zhou meant—Was he laughing at my appearance?!
The Taoist boy's face twisted instantly, staring fiercely at Fang Zhou.
This seductive wretch!!
...
Wang Fulai felt utterly exhausted, dark circles under her eyes that no amount of makeup could conceal.
It wasn't because of business troubles, but because of a recent demonic assault that disturbed the peace of her family.
The whole ordeal started a month ago when her only son, Wang Minghong, suddenly fell ill. Numerous doctors were unable to cure him, all saying he was physically weak due to kidney deficiency and excessive indulgence.
Could this be possible? Wang Fulai immediately investigated to see who had the gall to seduce her son, but her search turned up nothing. Instead, she heard from the servants that, occasionally, sounds of pleasure would emanate from the son's chamber late at night.
After pressing her son, Wang Fulai found out that a month earlier, Wang Minghong had met a stunning woman while out, and he had fallen for her at first sight. Since then, this beautiful woman would appear in his room every few nights to meet with him.
Having built such a big business, Wang Fulai, well-versed in the world, immediately knew it was the doing of a demonic being. She sought out famous cultivators in Qingde City, yet to no avail. Instead, several servants lost their lives.
Left with no choice, Wang Fulai posted a reward notice, seeking assistance from extraordinary individuals.
But those who answered the call turned out to be charlatans from the jianghu, who came swaggering in to mooch food and drink. When push came to shove, they did nothing but enrage the demonic being.
Recently, the demonic entity had become more brazen, treating the Wang Family as a marketplace, coming and going as it pleased, causing panic throughout the household, with everyone starting to suffer from nerves.
Wang Fulai could only send people to seek help from the State Mansion while continuing to post the reward notice, hoping for a miracle.
Today, Master Ji had arrived, said to be an esteemed elder from Qinghua Mountain and a true cultivator. She must meet him in person.
Oh, and there was also a young man and woman, who her housekeeper said were there to mooch food and drink—they were no good.
Heavy-hearted, Wang Fulai went to the side hall. Just as she entered, she immediately saw Master Ji; indeed, someone from a distinguished immortal lineage had an extraordinary presence.
Only then did Wang Fulai take notice of the pair that had just finished their meal, mooching food and drink.
In terms of demeanor and looks, Ling Xiaoyue could knock Master Ji several blocks down, but after gorging herself, she had her legs crossed and was picking her teeth with audible tsk-tsk sounds, displaying none of the grace expected of a master—purely the attitude of someone who came for a free meal.
This made Wang Fulai frown, but after taking a few good looks at Fang Zhou, she felt a bit more comfortable, deciding to forgive these two young food swindlers.
After all, we live in a world that judges by appearances.
Fang Zhou was somewhat surprised to see Wang Fulai. He had originally thought Wang Fulai would be a man, so it was unexpected that she was a woman with bold eyebrows and large eyes—she looked very similar to a celebrity he knew back on Earth.
He nearly blurted out, "Isn't this surreal?!"
Thankfully, he managed to hold back.
But a sect hierarch in women's clothes—is that not a sight for sore eyes?