Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
According to Liu Qingmei's words, that Lu Chen is the nephew of an elder from the Fifth Peak. He will definitely be protected by the sect, so he won't be foolish enough to directly hand over the Seeking Dust Incense and Liu Qingmei's body.
"If what Sister Qingmei said is true, with Lu Chen's sinister personality, he might even try to find the person who reported the case and kill me to silence me."
While dragging Liu Qingmei's body back to the courtyard, Xu Taiping pondered in his heart.
***
"Boom!"
One night, there was a loud explosion in Xu Taiping's bedroom in the Green Bamboo Residence. Immediately after, Xu Taiping angrily exclaimed in his slightly immature voice:
"Beast!"
After placing Liu Qingmei's body, he lit a stick of Seeking Dust Incense. From the smoke of the incense, he saw the scenes of Lu Chen torturing Liu Qingmei.
The scenes he saw couldn't be described with just a few simple words. Calling Lu Chen a beast was only because those were the only curse words he knew. Lu Chen's actions were worse than a beast.
"Sister Qingmei, I will definitely give this Seeking Dust Incense to Sister Zi Jin. Your grievances and Lu Chen's crimes will be exposed to the public."
Xu Taiping put away the last two sticks of Seeking Dust Incense, clenched his fists, and stared blankly at the shattered table on the ground.
He didn't think of himself as a person with a chivalrous heart, and even believed that he could be selfish to survive. But if even a villain like Lu Chen couldn't receive retribution, it would make him doubt the meaning of his existence.
"Grandfather often said that ignorance is bliss, but even if I close my eyes now, I can't forget the scene of Sister Qingmei begging and pleading with that beast."
Xu Taiping looked at the debris of the table, and his tone became unusually cold.
***
The next day, at noon.
"Did you report the case?"
Two male disciples wearing the Qingxuan Sect's robes arrived at Xu Taiping's small courtyard.
"Senior Brothers, I reported the case."
Xu Taiping politely replied.
"You, an outer disciple, dare to call us Senior Brothers?"
The man with a hooked nose on the left side glared at Xu Taiping fiercely.
These two disciples belonged to the West Wind Pavilion's Liefeng Hall, specializing in dealing with incidents where disciples from the lower mountain were attacked by monsters. Although they were both on the lower mountain, they were genuine inner disciples, with a slightly lower status than the disciples of the Seventh Peak.
"Let's get straight to the point."
The other disciple with a face full of freckles impatiently waved his hand.
So Xu Taiping didn't waste any more words and recounted the incident of being attacked by an evil ghost and the monster controlled by the evil ghost to the two disciples from Liefeng Hall.
Of course, he omitted everything related to Liu Qingmei.
"This is troublesome. I have to report to the Hall Master of Liefeng Hall first, then the Hall Master will report to the Sect Master of the West Wind Pavilion, and finally, the Sect Master will inform the Black Dragon Elder to handle it."
The freckled disciple rubbed his chin and said with a troubled expression.
"How long will it take?"
Xu Taiping hurriedly asked.
"It could be as fast as three months, or as slow as a year or more."
The man with the hooked nose crossed his arms and smirked, his eyes cunningly glancing at Xu Taiping.
"Does it have to take that long? The evil ghost has already targeted me."
Xu Taiping frowned.
"Do you think Liefeng Hall exists just for you? We'll handle it when we handle it."
The man with the hooked nose glared fiercely at Xu Taiping.
"Old Left, speak nicely. Why are you so fierce to this young brother?"
The freckled disciple stepped in to mediate.
"Actually, if you want to get rid of the evil ghost quickly, there is a way."
He grinned at Xu Taiping, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
"What way?"
Xu Taiping became curious.
"It depends on how many Merit Coins you can offer."
The freckled man extended his hand to Xu Taiping and rubbed his thumb and index finger together.
"So, you want to extort us outer disciples under the pretext of demon-slaying. You are all shameless scoundrels. No wonder Sister Qingmei doesn't trust you."
He thought to himself, understanding why Liu Qingmei hadn't reported the case yet.
"It's okay if you don't have any Merit Coins. Just wear this bracelet and make a contract with us, promising to give us seventy percent of this year's harvest. We can naturally ensure your safety."
The man with the hooked nose took out a copper bracelet from his pocket.
"Seventy percent?"
Xu Taiping gasped.
He had thought that these people would ask for a high price, but he didn't expect them to ask for seventy percent right off the bat. If seventy percent was given away, he would probably be expelled from the Qingxuan Sect next year for not having enough money to contribute.
"Seventy percent is not much. You should know that you are being targeted by an evil ghost now. If something goes wrong, you won't even be able to save your own life!"
The freckled man threatened Xu Taiping.
The appearance of these two men made Xu Taiping even more disgusted. He thought to himself, "Linglong was right. I can only rely on myself here in the lower mountain."
His last trace of reliance on the sect to deal with the evil ghost also disappeared.
However, in order to avoid conflict, he didn't expose them on the spot. He wanted to see how shameless they could be.
"Seventy percent is too much. Let me think about it."
"You…"
"Alright, think about it. This communication talisman is my gift to you. Tear it apart when you encounter the evil ghost again, and we will come quickly."
The man with the hooked nose was about to get angry, but was stopped by the freckled man, who then handed a talisman to Xu Taiping.
"But we have to take away this monster wolf. It's evidence and needs to be brought back to Liefeng Hall."
The man with the hooked nose grabbed one of the monster wolf's legs from the ground and glared fiercely at Xu Taiping again.
***
"These are the people in charge of the outer disciples. No wonder they say that few outer disciples can last for three years."Watching the two figures dragging away the corpse of the demon wolf, Xu Taiping murmured to himself in his heart.
"Senior Brother, why did we just leave like this? Behind this kid's courtyard is a medicinal garden, we could earn quite a bit of merit in a year. As long as the Contract Scroll is signed and the bracelet is worn, he would have to work for us day after day, year after year."
"What's the rush? Evil Ghosts are known for holding grudges. Give it some time, he will surely come to us obediently."
"Senior Brother is wise!"
"Keep your voice down!"
"Don't worry, this kid hasn't even reached the Opening Realm, he can't hear our conversation."
Just as Xu Taiping was about to enter the house, he suddenly heard the whispers of the pockmarked face and the hawk-nosed man.
He didn't expect these two to be so malicious. He glanced at the message talisman that the pockmarked face had given him and sneered in his heart:
"Don't worry, that day will never come."