Chapter 777 - Midnight
“Mister, someone is eavesdropping!”
“It’s that Cowherd again!”
“So it’s Jiang Wang!”
The schoolchildren started to gossip, wishing for more chaos.
“Silence!” Fang Yuan hit his ruler. The naughty children shuddered and no longer dared to speak nor move.
He stroked his beard and walked out the door.
A child in hemp clothes was seen on the floor. Evidently, he had been scared and fell off the window.
Fang Yuan knew this child as well. His name was Jiang Wang, and his impoverished family lived in a small house. Both of his parents worked for the rich in town, relying on temporary jobs for their livelihoods.
He had started to help his parents with their work or herd cattle and goats for others since he was six years old. Therefore, he had the nickname Cowherd.
He was in a completely different social stratum from the children in the classroom.
But this child was clever. Even though he could not afford the tuition, he used his spare time to listen in on the lessons from outside the classroom.
Fang Yuan was disinclined to bother with him and let it be.
But he purely made a whimsical decision today.
“Greetings, Teacher!”
Jiang Wang stood up and greeted Fang Yuan, his eyes teary and face red from shyness.
“Hmm. The essence of books lies in one’s manners. You’ve absorbed the knowledge from books…”
Fang Yuan nodded and then shook his head. He felt somewhat lost as he saw the purple Qi in the child’s aura.
Actually, if he were a common Immortal or God instead of a Demon Master, he would probably not have discovered the evil spirit dwelling in this child.
So evil force is supporting him. No wonder he’s been clever since a young age. After all, the Mental Demon power can even help a fool become smart…
“Manners must not be omitted!” Jiang Wang clenched his teeth. “I listened to the lesson today without paying, so I’ll definitely pay in the future!”
“Oh? You’re ambitious! However… youths should behave like youths. It’s not always a good thing to be precocious!” Fang Yuan stepped forward holding the ruler and hit Jiang Wang’s head three times. “Go rest! Go rest!”
The naughty children in the classroom burst into laughter, and only Lin Shoucheng appeared thoughtful as he witnessed the scene.
…
“I’ve fused the Mental Demon realm traversing technique into the Dream Master’s techniques. My divine spirit is already able to traverse realms, so I should give it a try… However, I still need some materials…
“Ancient Netherworld’s method requires the use of a hexagram stone, but it’s only found in the Mental Demon Realm. How could I possibly find it in the Spiritual Realm? Nevertheless, my Dao of Dream Master doesn’t have a high standard for materials, and I can absolutely find a substitute…”
His job as a teacher only occupied a few hours every day.
After he casually completed his work for the day, Fang Yuan drove the children away and closed the door of his thatched hut. He sat down cross-legged, his eyes glistening.
“I will advance to the Demon God realm with the Dao of Dream Master!”
After quickly regulating his breath, Fang Yuan stood up and strolled slowly to a temple.
The temple was small but significant to the county town. What they worshiped here was not a City God or other gods, but a Vajrasattva that conquered demons.
Although the gates of the temple were wide open, there were not many visitors.
There was a giant pine tree in the front courtyard, its branches twisting like dragons and its leaves falling gently to the ground.
“So Master Fang is here. Master is in the middle of cultivation, so please have a cup of tea first!”
When the two disciples who were slumbering at the doors saw that Fang Yuan was here, their eyes lit up immediately, trotting inside to inform their master.
“It’s fine. I can wait for Daoist Qing He!”
Fang Yuan went to the back hall on his own and drank the tea served by the disciples. He obviously knew the place very well.
An elderly Daoist entered the hall when Fang Yuan had finished half a cup of tea. “Master Fang, what brings you here?”
He was energetic and looked only forty or fifty years old. He was a bit handsome as he walked steadily, his big sleeves flapping in the wind.
This was Daoist Qing He, the master of this temple.
“I’ve recently had some gains from cultivation and want to refine a few magic artifacts… So I’m here to ask for your assistance!” Fang Yuan smiled.
Daoist Qing He was a real cultivator. While he had stagnated at the True Cultivator level, he had a cultivation of Essence Soul, which was sufficient for him to make a living in the mortal world.
As far as Fang Yuan knew, he was originally a disciple of a big sect but was expelled due to some misbehavior. Nevertheless, he was still fortunate, as his cultivation was not destroyed.
Although Fang Yuan was here to be a medium hermit, he maintained his interest in the cultivation realm. Thus, he had disguised himself and became friends with Daoist Qing He.
“Mister Fang, you’re cultivating a Dao that fuses into the world. My cultivation is far from yours!” Daoist Qing He said seriously.
This master had cultivated at home and seemed to be at Essence Soul, but he was very knowledgeable. Every discussion with him made the Daoist feel enlightened, so the elderly Daoist dared not show any disrespect. “What do you need, Mister?”
“It’s not anything rare. Three-hundred-year-old mahogany, the fur of a Red Fire Rat, and 150 grams of star sand…” Fang Yuan said casually.
“The fur of a Red Fire Rat… is a bit hard to obtain, but I happen to have the other two. Qing Feng, Ming Yue, go get the materials!” Daoist Qing He stroked his beard.
“Many thanks. I’ll pay using spiritual crystals!” Fang Yuan pretended to be taking out the crystals.
“No need, no need! I encountered two problems in my cultivation yesterday. If you can help me with them, I’ll just give you the two materials!” Daoist Qing He waved his hands, a sly glow glistening in his eyes.
“All right… Please ask!” Fang Yuan smiled at this scene.
This elderly Daoist had left his sect and had nobody to help address his doubts, so he had been regarding Fang Yuan as a savior.
And Fang Yuan was happy with that. While helping the Daoist, he could occasionally hear some news about the cultivation realm.
“First, I’ve been feeling unrest in my Qi and blood during cultivation. My Essence Soul…”
After some discussion, the Daoist felt satisfied and offered a piece of intelligence. “Thank you for answering my questions! By the way, Songxia County has been undergoing some disturbances recently. Please take care!”
“Oh? What happened?” Fang Yuan stared at him and looked interested.
“It should be related to the Divine Dao… Nevertheless, the Marvelous Immortal Sect invested a lot this time. Even their young sect master joined the action. You may have heard of her name, Zhi Hua!” Daoist Qing He said with respect.
“Zhi Hua? That new star of the brothel?” Fang Yuan rubbed his chin and smiled mysteriously.
…
The bright moon illuminated the dark, starless sky as a crow flew south.
Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged in his thatched hut. He threw out the materials and made hand gestures, finally refining them all into a blood-red crystal.
“What I really needed were the 150 grams of star sand and the mahogany. The rest could be replaced with what I had accumulated in the past!”
At this moment, as his finger slid, a golden hexagram emerged on the surface of the blood-red crystal.
Before long, the golden and blood-red colors disappeared, and the crystal became a commonplace stone.
“Done! The next step is to experiment with it. I can totally let an incarnation do it the first time so that I don’t undertake any risk…”
Fang Yuan thought for a moment and made the decision.
He looked at the door of the thatched hut and smiled again.
“Shoucheng… Isn’t it inappropriate for us to disturb Mister at midnight?” The childish voice of Jiang Wang was heard.
The child in blue standing beside him was the one named Lin Shoucheng.
“Don’t worry. My idea has to be correct!”
Lin Shoucheng was holding a stick with sugar-coated haws on it. “Mister must have expressed some intention by hitting your head three times. He wanted you to look for him at midnight. Isn’t this a common plot in stories? Xu Liu wanted to be a disciple of an Immortal, but he wasn’t accepted. He was then hit by the master three times, went to find the master, and finally learned the real things!”
His expression then looked sly for a moment. “Even if I’m wrong, it’ll be fine. The worst case is getting scolded by Mister, but I don’t think that’ll happen. Look, the light is still on. It’s likely that Mister is preparing to accept you as his disciple covertly.”
Having heard Lin Shoucheng’s words of encouragement, Jiang Wang let out a long breath. “I only hope to listen to his lessons in the future, and I’ll be very grateful just with that!”
The two children looked at each other. In the end, Jiang Wang was pushed by Lin Shoucheng and stumbled into the thatched hut. “G-Greetings, Mister.”
Fang Yuan sat cross-legged and asked casually, “Oh, so it’s Jiang Wang and Lin Shoucheng. Why did you come here on this starry night?”
“This…” Jiang Wang mumbled and couldn’t give an explanation. He stared at Lin Shoucheng furiously, suggesting that he had sabotaged him.
“Hehe… Mister, what’s the point of frightening us?” Lin Shoucheng appeared calm and confident. “Wasn’t it your suggestion during the day for us to come?”
“Even so, that was only meant for Jiang Wang!” Fang Yuan shook his head. “Your appearance, background, talent… everything of yours is superior to others, and you still want to take advantage of the less privileged?”
Indeed! As Fang Yuan spoke to that part, Lin Shoucheng felt sweat in his palm. My dad is a friend of Daoist Qing He and learned from him that this teacher is a capable man. That was why he sent me to study as Mister Fang’s student… But I want to study the Dao! The elder Daoist couldn’t teach me due to his sect rules, and this teacher is my only chance!
Why… am I not as good as this poor guy even though I’m so well behaved?
He felt upset inside, but appeared respectful, kneeling down and kowtowing a few times.
What Jiang Wang saw stunned him.
And he was somewhat touched. He thought that Lin Shoucheng was entreating the teacher for him.
“Hehe…..” Fang Yuan looked at them and smiled, but did not utter a word.
These two creatures with evil force inside them really deserved his guidance.
But that was not because of things like destiny; he was simply bored.
Since he would use his incarnation to try out the Mental Demon realm traversing technique, his real body would stay in the Spiritual Realm anyway, and it was all right to find something to do.
Whoosh whoosh!
At this moment, chilling winds suddenly started to blow.
A scared Essence Soul rushed into the thatched hut and shouted, “Mister, please save me!”