Chapter 64: East Arrival Cave Master (2)
Of course, this time Miao Yi could afford to spend so much only because he’d made a small fortune—that case he stole after committing murder had contained five thousand gold crystals.
Whether they were mortals, or cultivators, the will of the people were the same.Qian Zifeng and Zhou Liqin were naturally ecstatic after receiving such a gift out of the blue, but of course, to keep up with appearances their reactions had to be slightly delayed.
And it was obvious that Miao Yi would ask both of them to keep it, stating that it was a sign of friendship. If they did not accept, it would mean they were looking down on him. Hence, Qian Zifeng and Zhou Liqin could only resign themselves out of politeness, and so accepted the gift.
“Let me take care of your steed. We are all friends now, and Brother Miao need not be too polite, otherwise you will be keeping Little Auntie waiting.”“Then I will have to trouble you.” Miao Yi cupped his hands to them both, then turned his head and walked away.
Quickly reaching the South Edict Grand Hall, Little Auntie Qing Ju was smiling by the gate as she waited for him, “You have completed the task that Manor Head assigned to you?”
“All due to Little Auntie’s blessing.” Without another word, Miao Yi took out a bag of money from his pockets and offered it to Qing Ju, “A small token of my appreciation, please accept it, Little Auntie.”
When he first saw Qing Ju, he wanted to get in her good books, but unfortunately he did not have anything to offer, and neither could he present her with anything. However, this time he intentionally prepared one hundred gold crystals to gift to her.
Qing Ju smiled as she shook her head, she took the purse, and even opened it in front of him. Upon discovering at least a hundred gold crystals, she could not help but tease, “Yo! This is quite a sum, and your monthly salary should only be ten gold crystals. Did you prepare this beforehand, or did you make a fortune during your trip, and finally decided to come kiss up to me?”
The meaning behind her words was clear—this was not our first time meeting, why were you not this courteous then?Miao Yi joked, “I naturally could not let the riches that ghost cultivator had go to waste.”
Qing Ju stopped teasing him, she did not put away the purse, but she did not return it to Miao Yi either. Instead she just carried it in her hand, and turned to lead the way, “Follow me.”
The two of them made their way out from the back of the Grand Hall, and went up the stone steps along the mountain. Qing Ju asked for the details as they walked.At the peak of the highest mountain behind the Grand Hall, there lies a grand and richly ornamented wide, large pavilion.
Within the pavilion, Qing Mei was playing the qin, and to the side Yang Qing was enjoying his wine and a few exquisite small dishes. He casually glanced at the vast mountain view from his elevated position, and noticed the two who were making their way up the mountain.
As the two of them entered the hall, Yang Qing lightly waved his hand, prompting Qing Mei to stop playing the qin.
Miao Yi quickly cupped his hands to salute to Yang Qing, “Miao Yi has completed Manor Head’s request—I have slain the ghost cultivator who has been disturbing the followers within the Changfeng vicinity. Luckily, I was able to accomplish it and have come to report for my duty!”
He then passed an exquisitely carved and delicately cut box to Qing Ju.
He was brash indeed, to actually use the box that Head Guard Huang had used to store the Orb of Will to keep the Yin Core, as though unafraid someone would recognize it.
Qing Ju opened the box and placed it in front of Yang Qing, who examined the Yin Core within, and smiled, “I trust the matter was smoothly dealt with, without any obstacles?”
Miao Yi immediately reiterated the story he’d told to Qing Ju—Zhang Shucheng and Mo Shengtu’s deaths were pushed as the ghost cultivator’s fault.Yang Qing was surprised, “Two White Lotus Third Grade cultivators fell in battle?”
Miao Yi could hear the doubt in Yang Qing’s voice as to how he managed to escape unscathed, and thus replied at once, “The ghost cultivator did not act alone. In the Changfeng realm, she’d used the ‘Mystic Arts Temple’ of Mount Thousand Buddha as her old nest. Over a hundred monks that belonged to the temple were all turned into zombies that hid under the ponds. By the time I finished exterminating those zombies, the two of them had already fallen to the ghost cultivator. Fortunately, she’d been severely injured from her battle with both of them, which was why I could defeat her, and ended up getting the long end of the stick.”
He did not mention that Mo Shengtu and Zhang Shucheng were sent by Xiong Xiao to kill him, because he did not think that he’d be considered more important than Xiong Xiao in Yang Qing’s heart.
Since he could not seek justice for himself, he would not go out of his way to pick a fight with Xiong Xiao. The most important thing was that he did not have the ability to do so anyway, so he might as well let Xiong Xiao believe those two had been killed by the ghost cultivator, and that he was still unaware of being targeted by Xiong Xiao. If the other party had any more tricks up their sleeve, he would then be prepared. It would be difficult to guard against an arrow in the dark, compared to a spear in the light.“With just your White Lotus First Grade cultivation, you managed to exterminate over a hundred zombies—this is no easy feat. Sure enough, you have not disappointed me.”
Yang Qing had a look of admiration, as he complimented Miao Yi. As for the deaths of Mo Shengtu and Zhang Shucheng, they were clearly irrelevant to him.
He then took out one of the storage rings from his fingers, and removed a jade archive from it. He invoked his art to write down a decree of duty on the jade archive, and imbued it with his insignia. Finally, he passed it along with the storage ring to Qing Ju, and said to Miao Yi, “Follow my law decree and report to the Mountain Chieftain of Mount Calming Sea, Qin Weiwei. She will help in arranging your position as East Arrival Cave Master.”
Qing Ju passed the jade archive and the storage ring over to Miao Yi—the decree of duty was a must, the storage ring on the other hand was something only Cave Masters were allowed to possess. Normally, this was supposed to be handed out by the respective Mountain Chieftain, but clearly Yang Qing still had the intention to win him over, so he did this to show how importantly he viewed Miao Yi.
This black-coloured storage ring was a treasure, refined from the essence powder extracted from black crystals. Even though it looked small, but in normal situations it was not something a cultivator of Miao Yi’s level could afford to use.
Miao Yi received the two items but was not particularly happy, and with a twisted expression he asked, “How did the Hundred Blossoms Cave Master become the Mountain Chieftain of Mount Calming Sea?”Qing Ju chuckled, the bad relationship between Qin Weiwei and this boy was known to all.
Yang Qing asked indifferently, “You have something to say about my appointing Qin Weiwei as Mountain Chieftain of Mount Calming Sea?”Miao Yi laughed dryly, “Not at all, I was just curious.”
The main point was that even if he had an opinion about it he could not change anything. He could not give up being a Cave Master, this was obtained by risking his life, and there were many people who couldn’t even get this chance even if they wanted it.
Yang Qing drank his wine expressionlessly, he was the type who liked to use the carrot and the stick together.Miao Yi found it difficult to extricate himself gracefully, but who would have expected Qing Ju to walk over to Qing Mei, carrying her purse as she smilingly said, “Elder Sister, this fortune was gifted to me by Miao Yi—there’s a hundred crystal coins inside.” Turning her head, she asked Miao Yi, “Did you prepare Elder Sister Qing Mei’s portion as well?”
Miao Yi was sweating buckets, she was exposing his attempts at bribery right in front of the Manor Head Yang Qing himself—people who’d been bribed wouldn’t normally mess with you like this.
Truthfully, he did prepare a portion for Qing Mei, it was just that he was looking for the right opportunity to secretly give to her. How could he do it right in front of Manor Head Yang Qing? But there was nothing he could do about it now, he could only weakly take another purse from his pocket, and present it to Qing Mei, “Elder Auntie, this here is just a small token of my appreciation.”Qing Ju took the purse, waving it in her hands, showing that she’d accepted it on behalf of Qing Mei.
Unexpectedly Yang Qing, who was holding onto his cup, suddenly glanced sideways at them, and asked indifferently, “Miao Yi, you have prepared gifts for them, but don’t tell me you have none to give to me?”
He was obviously making fun of him, so Miao Yi relaxed, and could only resign himself and said, “Manor Head, please stop messing around with your subordinate. This small gift is not worthy of you, but it will not be too late to prepare your gift when I come across something better.”
Yang Qing nodded, “I will remember your words.”
He turned around and told his two handmaidens, “Pass this on, in the future when he comes to South Edict Manor, there is no need to stop him at the mountain gates. He can see me directly, I will be waiting for his gift!”This was another attempt to give Miao Yi face—he was truly unrelenting with his methods to curry favor.“Yes!” Qing Mei and Qing Ju bowed in response.
And naturally, Miao Yi thanked him as well.
With Yang Qing’s status, obviously he would not keep buttering him up for too long. There was no need to degrade himself so much as he still had to maintain his prestige as a superior, so he waved his hands and said, “Go! Make haste to Mount Calming Sea and report to duty for Qin Weiwei.”