noffsinger Chapter 8 Half-month period expires
Chapter 8 Half-month period expires
Right at the foot of Qingyun Mountain, in an inconspicuous teahouse.
Huang Wenju, the third master of the Huang family, sat in a corner, holding a bowl of coarse tea, his gaze looking out through the broken window of the teahouse toward the mountain path.
He has been staying at the foot of Qingyun Mountain for almost ten days.
Over the course of ten days, he saw Uncle Zhou and Lin Xiaoyue carrying bundles down the mountain and then hiring a horse-drawn cart to bring back grain.
I saw the disciples on the mountain carrying hoes to the back mountain every afternoon, returning in the evening covered in sweat.
They saw Shen Qing carrying a hoe and walking at the front of the group, returning covered in mud.
A sect leader leading a group of mortal disciples to farm?
Huang Wenju couldn't understand it.
He wrote down everything he had observed in those days in a secret letter and had it sent back to the Huang family.
Inside the Huang family study, Huang Dehou finished reading the secret letter, his brows furrowed, and he looked puzzled. He then slammed the letter on the table.
"Farming? Literacy? What on earth is Shen Qing up to?"
Huang Wenyuan took the letter, read it carefully, and fell silent.
"What's the use of teaching a bunch of mortal disciples to read? What's the use of making them farm? Even if he trains all these peasants to reach the first level of Qi Refining, they'll still be nothing more than ants at the first level of Qi Refining."
He looked up: "Brother, Shen Qing's actions are truly unfathomable. Could it be... that he really has something to rely on?"
Huang Dehou sneered: "Rely on? What can he rely on to turn his life around by farming and teaching ordinary people to read?"
He stood up, walked to the window, and looked in the direction of Qingyun Mountain.
"However, Qingyun Mountain does indeed have secrets. A mountain that can produce several Foundation Establishment cultivators in just two hundred years cannot possibly have resources that are only what they appear to be."
This is precisely why he coveted Qingyun Mountain.
Since the Qingyun Sect settled in Qingyun Mountain two hundred years ago, although it is not a large sect, it has never stopped having Foundation Establishment cultivators.
At its peak, it even produced two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators at the same time. Back then, the Huang family of Qinghe didn't even have the right to look up to them.
Later, the Qingyun Sect gradually declined, and Foundation Establishment cultivators perished one by one, until only Shen Qing's master was left to barely keep it going.
Now even Master Shen Qing is dead, and Qingyun Sect has fallen from a Foundation Establishment sect to a Qi Refining sect.
But the secret of Qingyun Mountain has never been discovered.
Huang Dehou suspected that some kind of opportunity was hidden in that mountain.
It could be a spiritual vein, a secret realm, or some kind of inheritance.
In short, a place in this impoverished region that can produce Foundation Establishment cultivators in succession is by no means simple.
After a moment of silence, Huang Wenyuan spoke, "Brother, since we suspect there's a secret in the mountains, why don't we just...?"
"Directly what? Directly attack?"
Huang Dehou interrupted him directly, "Second brother, don't forget that the county magistrate is also watching. Why do you think the county magistrate is 'dissatisfied' with the existence of the Qingyun Sect? He's waiting too."
"What are you waiting for?"
"Wait until Shen Qing can't hold on any longer. Wait until Qingyun Sect collapses on its own. Or rather, wait for news of Shen Qing's Uncle Mo."
Huang Wenyuan fell silent when the name "Mr. Mo" was mentioned.
More than 30 years ago, the Qingyun Sect produced a person of extraordinary talent.
His surname was Mo and his given name was Wentian. In just ten years, he reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, only one step away from the Golden Core stage.
This person acts in ways that are both righteous and wicked, and is decisive in killing. He made quite a name for himself in the cultivation world of Fenglin County back then.
Later, for reasons unknown, Mo Wentian left Qingyun Sect and wandered the world. More than twenty years passed without any news of him.
Some say he's dead, some say he's trapped in some secret realm, and others say he's trying to break through to the Golden Core stage and can't leave his seclusion.
But Huang Dehou dared not gamble.
What if Mo Wentian is still alive? What if he suddenly comes back?
A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who is only one step away from the Golden Core stage is enough to wipe out the entire Huang family.
"So we can only wait?" Huang Wenyuan asked, frowning.
Huang Dehou sat back down in his armchair. "What's wrong with waiting? There are plenty of people more anxious than us. The county magistrate is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he's more interested in Qingyun Mountain than we are. But he hasn't made a move yet. Why? He's also wary of Mo Wentian."
"Why should our Huang family be the first to stick our necks out?"
He picked up the teacup and gently blew on it.
"Have the third brother keep an eye on things. Report back immediately if there are any new developments."
"As for Shen Qing farming and teaching mortals to read," Huang Dehou sneered, "it's child's play. What kind of trouble can a mere ninth-level Qi Refining waste cause with a bunch of mortal peasants?"
Qinghe County, the backyard of the county government office.
A middle-aged man dressed in a blue Taoist robe sat cross-legged in a quiet room, with a game of chess in front of him.
He was Zhao Yuanlang, the magistrate of Qinghe County.
With a Foundation Establishment level 2 cultivation, he was originally an outer disciple of the Heavenly God Sect and was assigned to this remote county as its magistrate for fifteen years.
Although he was called a county magistrate, he was actually just a watchdog placed in the local area by the Heavenly God Sect. He was in charge of the order of mortals, suppressed rogue cultivators and small sects, and made to pay tribute to the upper sect on time every year.
Zhao Yuanlang picked up a chess piece, but did not place it.
He was also waiting for news. A moment later, a middle-aged scholar came to the door.
"grown ups."
"explain."
"The Huang family sent Huang Wenju to keep watch at the foot of Qingyun Mountain for ten days. Shen Qing led his disciples to clear wasteland and cultivate the land every day, and taught ordinary people to read. Apart from that, there was nothing unusual."
Zhao Yuanlang's hand paused, and he asked in a somewhat speechless tone:
"...Farming? Literacy?"
"Yes."
After a moment of silence, the magistrate of Qinghe County suddenly laughed.
"Interesting. A dying, useless sect leader, instead of thinking about how to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage and prolong his life, is leading a group of mortals to farm. Interesting! Interesting!"
After a moment's hesitation, the middle-aged scholar said, "My lord, I believe Shen Qing's actions must have a deeper meaning..."
"What profound meaning? It's just a charade."
Zhao Yuanlang placed a piece on the board. "However, you're right, Master. Shen Qing is probably not a simple man. He failed to establish his foundation and his cultivation regressed to the eighth level of Qi Refining for several years, but he broke through just when the Huang family was putting pressure on him. He took in dozens of peasant disciples, but instead of teaching them cultivation, he had them farm and learn to read."
Zhao Yuanlang stared at the chessboard and muttered to himself, "Either he's gone mad, or he's holding cards we don't know about."
"My lord, would you like me to...?"
"No need."
Zhao Yuanlang raised his hand, "If that old fox Huang Dehou isn't in a hurry, why should I be? If Qingyun Mountain truly holds a secret about the Golden Elixir, that bastard Mo Wentian would have obtained it twenty years ago. If he couldn't get it, how could Shen Qing?"
After a pause, Zhao Yuanlang continued, "However, Mo Wentian is indeed a variable. Xuanji, use the authority of the Heavenly God Sect to have someone investigate Mo Wentian's whereabouts over the past twenty years. We need to see him alive or dead."
"Yes."
The advisor named Xuanji left.
Zhao Yuanlang looked back at the chessboard, but hesitated to place a piece in his hand.
He suddenly recalled the scene twenty years ago when he was humiliated by Mo Wentian in Fenglin County City because of a quarrel.
The man stood on the desolate mountain, his hands behind his back, his imposing aura causing the vegetation on the mountain to bow low.
In the late stage of Foundation Establishment, one is only one step away from the Golden Core stage.
Could someone like that really die silently out there?
Zhao Yuanlang put down the chess piece and sighed deeply.
"Mo Wentian... are you still there?"
Qingyun Sect, the wasteland behind the mountain.
Ten acres of wasteland have been cleared, the turned soil exudes a damp smell, and the mountain spring water flows along the newly dug ditches.
Shen Qing stood at the edge of the field, watching his disciples' busy figures, silently making plans in his heart.
In another ten days, the remaining ten acres will be fully opened.
Once the seeds are sown, the first crop can be harvested three months later, at which point the problem of food will be completely solved.
"metropolitan!"
Zhao Shitou ran over from the other side of the mountain path, holding a letter in his hands.
"It was delivered by someone from down the mountain; they said it was for the sect leader."
Shen Qing took the letter and opened it.
The letter contained only one line:
"Sect Leader Shen, the half-month period is approaching. My elder brother invites you to meet at Zuixianlou in the county town in three days to discuss the development of Qingyun Mountain. Respectfully yours, Huang Wenyuan."
Shen Qing put away the letter, a slight smile playing on her lips.
The Huang family finally couldn't sit still any longer.
However, instead of going up the mountain to coerce them, they arranged to meet at a restaurant in the county town, which shows that the Huang family was wary and was still testing the waters.
Shen Qing knew perfectly well what they were afraid of.
Uncle-Master Mo Wentian.
A person who disappeared for more than 20 years became the last talisman of the Qingyun Sect.
Shen Qing put the letter into his sleeve and looked up at the county town below the mountain.
Three days later, at Zuixianlou.
Perfect timing! He also wanted to see just how many cards the Huang family had up their sleeve.
And how much longer can he use this empty promise to delay?