Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
After witnessing the unfolding events of the advertising controversy, the only normal person in the Taicang Sect, the second disciple, was utterly speechless. This included both the two foolish master and disciple within the sect and the group of netizens with wildly imaginative ideas online.
Wei Xi’s worldview was completely solidified after this battle. Sure enough, the ways to bring glory to one’s family outside the mountains were much more complicated than what Wei Dedao had previously taught. Just as his eldest disciple said, in modern society, one must follow the path of modern society.
So, while he was pondering what the next step should be for his family, Mr. Gu came to visit again.
Mr. Gu looked much older than when we last met, and as soon as he entered, he had a half-laughing, half-crying expression on his face: “Master Wei, how’s the sect’s advertisement going?”
That’s certainly excellent. These past few days, not to mention anything else, quite a few wandering ghosts had proactively applied for jobs at their sect. They all came after seeing the Taicang Sect’s recruitment ads in various places. Ordinary TV viewers might not know, but how could ghosts not recognize that the villains on screen were their own kind? The Taicang Sect is even advertising; this is clearly a resource only a reputable large company can afford. The wandering ghosts all wanted to become winners in ghost life like the villains in the ads, so regardless of their abilities, their attitudes were extremely humble and sincere when they came to apply for jobs.
Riding this wave of popularity, Uncle Shen recruited quite a few promising talents, who called him every day to congratulate him. Furthermore, because he had appeared on television, playing a fairly important role with lines, and his dashing appearance in a suit and tie, he unexpectedly gained some fame in the ghost world. This caused the female ghost employees in the company to treat him differently, and the wandering ghosts who came to apply for jobs also treated him like a celebrity.
Uncle Shen was very pleased with the adulation he received. To maintain his image at the company, he adopted the persona of a business elite and worked even harder, working overtime every day without pay, which boosted the work enthusiasm of the entire company.
This was definitely a very good result for the Taicang Sect.
Mr. Gu noticed the satisfaction in his eyes and gave a wry smile: “In order to get this advertisement approved, my department leaders and I were under a lot of pressure. It would be great if Master Wei could be satisfied.”
He was absolutely telling the truth. Advertisements of this kind were originally not allowed to be shown on television, let alone online, according to their review process. Fortunately, the online buzz was later brought back on track for various reasons, and the impact was not as serious as they had initially imagined. In fact, it achieved a better effect than they had anticipated. However, at the beginning, everyone in the department, from top to bottom, was just gritting their teeth and being reluctant to do it.
To be honest, several high-ranking leaders initially wanted to object, but after considering various factors, they eventually gave up the idea. Apart from the old leader’s guarantee, the most important reason was that they were impressed by Taicang Sect’s seemingly extraordinary abilities.
After seeing the Azure Dragon, they learned from the Taoist priests of the local Taoist Association that the Black Tortoise had already appeared.
Although the Taoist priests were tight-lipped about the details of the last arrest of the Xin’an cult, the information they received from top to bottom all pointed to one truth— the people who captured Xuanwu were also from the Taicang sect.
As the person in charge of “Believe in Science”, Mr. Gu did not witness the scene of Xuanwu’s capture, but he personally saw the process of Qinglong’s capture!
Wei Xi’s ferocious behavior of riding on the Azure Dragon and gnawing on its scales still made him break out in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. Although in the end, it was actually a mineral water bottle that made the real contribution, there was no doubt about how strong Wei Xi’s fighting power was.
With various crises erupting across the country, the Taoist priests in the Taoist Association were not only weak in ability but also severely understaffed. A large company that regularly collaborated with higher-level departments had very stringent conditions for hiring, which Mr. Gu, at his level, could never meet. His department was currently burdened with a mountain of unresolved issues, and if he wanted a long-term partnership with Wei Xi, he could only work even harder to secure benefits for the latter.
“That’s how it is,” Mr. Gu began hesitantly. “Master Wei also knows that Wuhua is suffering from a severe drought, and that the Taoist priests of the Taoist Association have rushed to Wuhua to pray for rain, right?”
Wuhua was the area where the invasive species was captured. It was said that it hadn’t rained there for over three months. Wuhua was a major agricultural province, and many people still relied on the weather for their livelihood. The consequences of that invasive species were extremely severe. Wei Xi had seen photos sent to him by local Taoist priests: the land was cracked, rivers and lakes were nearly dried up, and vegetables in the fields were either dead or withered. Even with the government’s desperate efforts to divert water, they couldn’t guarantee their daily sustenance. Therefore, even in winter, the residents’ suffering was clearly visible. If the drought continued, next year’s spring planting in the countryside would be impossible, and urban life would inevitably face even more severe difficulties.
The Taoist priests didn’t have high hopes of getting rain. They had wanted to invite Wei Xi to go with them, but Wei Xi didn’t know how to pray, so he declined the group activity.
Wei Xi found it a bit strange at the time. Wasn’t the Azure Dragon good at water? Why not just bring the Azure Dragon along when they went to the zoo?
The second disciple, however, said, “The Azure Dragon is good with water, but it also needs water to be good with. In ancient times, the dragon clan did indeed serve as the one who controlled clouds and rain for a period of time, but it was only responsible for swallowing clouds and spitting out mist. Making rain is not that simple. The way of heaven balances all things and will not give any divine beast the ability to make rain on its own. Making rain is the job of the two constellations, the Wind Master and the Water Master.”
Wei Xi seemed to understand, but after listening to his second disciple’s words, he knew that the Azure Dragon was probably useless: “Then why don’t we have them bring out that pair of constellations?”
The second apprentice merely chuckled enigmatically upon hearing this, his gaze fixed on the sky, a mixture of mockery and pity in his eyes.
Even the laws of heaven can crumble; the world is ever-changing. So what if they were worshipped by the whole nation since the Qin and Han dynasties? They still perished. How many believers can remember their names today?
Wei Xi didn’t quite understand what his apprentice’s previous silence meant, but he understood what Mr. Gu was saying. He nodded and said, “I know, Mr. Gu came for this? Unfortunately, I’m not good at this, so I’ve already declined.”
Mr. Gu quickly shook his head and took out his phone: “Master Wei, you misunderstand. I came to see you for something else, it has nothing to do with praying for rain.”
….
Mr. Gu showed Wei Xi a video. The content was rather chaotic, resembling a law enforcement scene, with many people being pinned to the ground by police in the background. These people had clearly been subdued, but they showed no fear whatsoever, and were even hurling insults such as, “Why are you meddling in other people’s business!”
Mr. Gu sighed: “This is the law enforcement record provided to us by the police in Lehe City. The people arrested were a group of cult members who were illegally performing rituals. I only took the liberty of asking Master Wei for help, considering that he had experience in eradicating the Xiusheng Cult.”
Tuan Tuanyi, who was standing nearby, was surprised: “What, another cult?”
Mr. Gu shook his head: “I don’t know what’s going on, but in recent years, cults across the country have become increasingly rampant, and we don’t know what kind of connections exist behind them. In short, cults have a lot of dealings with each other. Master Wei probably hasn’t heard that Zhang Pang, the leader of the Xiusheng Cult, was involved in pyramid schemes in Lehe before joining the Xiusheng Cult. We later cooperated with the police to interrogate him and confirmed that many of his methods were learned in Lehe. However, compared to his methods of fraud and spreading qigong in Xin’an, the methods of this cult in Lehe are much more terrifying. The reason they were arrested by the police this time is because they wanted to sacrifice a pair of young boys and girls to their evil god.”
Wei Xi: “Human sacrifice?”
Mr. Gu: “Yes, fortunately, we rescued the two children before they were submerged in the river.”
Wei Xi nodded, showing no particular reaction to the topic of human life, and began to ponder to himself.
Mr. Gu watched his expression anxiously. Wei Xi was so powerful, and he was usually quite arrogant, not even putting the Azure Dragon in his eyes. Last time, when they cooperated to capture the dragon, he made such a difficult request. This time, there was no advertisement to advertise, so he didn’t know if Wei Xi would agree to his request.
After a long pause, Wei Xi finally spoke solemnly: “Mr. Gu, we’ve worked together once, so I shouldn’t have said that…”
Upon hearing this, Mr. Gu felt a sense of despair. Was he really going to refuse?
Then Wei Xi slowly asked, “—You didn’t pay me last time, but since the ad was on, I didn’t mention it much. Will you pay me this time? Or have you considered issuing a card for long-term cooperation?”
Mr. Gu: “…”
….
Mr. Gu had helped us a lot before and was very generous with the money. He readily agreed to let his department handle the gold card for Taicang Sect. Wei Xi finally understood why the books his eldest disciple had given him always advocated cooperation with government agencies. Government agencies were indeed much more efficient in negotiating cooperation than private companies and individuals. The amount recharged immediately reached a new high in the history of the sect’s card issuance.
Wei Xi vaguely felt that he could look for more opportunities to cooperate with the country in the future.
As for cults, the Xiusheng Sect left a deep impression on him last time. If all the cult members outside the mountains were like Zhang Pang and the Xiusheng Sect, he could take down seventeen or eighteen of them in a week without much effort.
Wei Xi didn’t take it seriously, but before he left, his second apprentice suddenly grabbed him.
Wei Xi asked, “What’s wrong?”
The second apprentice looked up at the sky. The air quality in the capital had been poor since winter began, but the sky had been unusually clear for the past day or two. By now, it was getting dark, the bright moon hung high, and scattered starlight dotted the sky, though there weren’t many of them, and their light was quite dim.
Wei Xi vaguely remembered seeing the reason online. Netizens and experts said it was because the environment was too harsh, which caused the stars in the city to be so dim and scarce. At the same time, he also posted some photos of the starry sky taken in the countryside and abroad, which did look much more prosperous than what could be seen in Beijing.
But whenever Wei Xi saw those photos, he felt something was off. His feelings were very different from those of the netizens who shouted “So beautiful!” in the comments. His fragmented memories always subtly reminded him that the sky shouldn’t look like this.
Even in those highly praised photos, the stars didn’t seem dazzling enough to him.
However, he was unsure where this knowledge came from.
The second apprentice had been looking at the sky for too long, and Wei Xi unconsciously looked up and followed suit, but couldn’t see anything special.
The second apprentice lowered his head thoughtfully. For a moment, Wei Xi felt that the emotion that flashed in his eyes was even terrifying, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
A warm, large hand covered the back of his neck and gently stroked it. The second apprentice seemed to notice his nervousness and returned to his usual calm and composed demeanor, saying lightly, “It’s nothing, I just noticed that the stars are very bright tonight.”
He opened the car door for Wei Xi, but deliberately didn’t get in with him. Instead, he closed the door and walked around to the other end of the car from the back.
Only after confirming that Wei Xi couldn’t see him did he take out his constantly vibrating phone.
“Xia Shouren, you saw it too?”
Xia Shouren on the other end of the phone hummed in agreement, his voice unusually serious: “The stars of Fengbo and Yushi[1] are shining.”
Shuo Zong said coldly, “They have almost fallen into demonic possession.”
Xia Shouren: “I thought this was the worst-case scenario, but I didn’t expect there would be more fallen gods. Their location seems to be near Lehe City. I’ll take people there right away. As for the gods… what are your plans?”
Shuo Zong glanced at the car. Wei Xi, not seeing him get in, had already opened the car window and leaned out to look for him: “Que’er?”
Shuo Zong stood in the cold wind, one hand in his pocket, a slight smile playing on his lips, but his cold voice was completely different from the gentle curve of his lips—
“What other plans could I have? Bring my God-Slaying Whip and go find them.”
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron or access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents • Next
[1] Fengbo (the Earl of Wind) and Yushi (the Master of Rain), a paired duo of nature deities in Chinese mythology and Taoism who control the weather. They are frequently mentioned together in ancient literature, historical state rituals, and popular media (such as the Tian Guan Ci Fu / Heaven Official’s Blessing series, where they inspire the Wind and Rain Masters)
