Who Let Him Cultivate?!

The Land Money Trade Association’s business philosophy was quite advanced, and in order to expand its fame, they came up with the concept of a “brand mascot”. They enlisted the designer Xuan Daozi, and after three rounds of drafts, they finally settled on the initial design as the mascot.

The initial draft was a chubby little pig holding a coin in its hand, with an exceedingly delightful appearance.

After the Land Money Trade Association adopted the brand mascot, their fame truly expanded and the results were remarkable. Many other businesses followed suit and created their own mascots after hearing about this.

The tofu shop on Front Street in Yanjiang County was one of them.

Qin Yuanhao didn’t kill his little brother. After calming down, he thought about it and concluded that his brother was a reliable worker who never made mistakes. If he couldn’t find someone, then that person truly couldn’t be found. They couldn’t possibly suspect that the tofu store’s mascot had come out to stir up trouble.

“If such a distinctive figure can’t be found, it must be my fellow members of the demonic sect trying to frame me!” Qin Yuanhao coldly laughed. He didn’t need to guess that this was deliberate, but he didn’t know who was behind it. This kind of thing was not uncommon in the demonic sect; Qin Yuanhao himself had done things to harm his companions in the past.

After such a long time, all clues had been lost. Qin Yuanhao could only swallow this bitter pill for now, and slowly figure out who to settle the score with later.

“Since we can’t find him, let’s stop searching.”

Qin Yuanhao took out a stack of papers and several pieces of silver from his pocket and threw them to his little brother.

This was also one of the reasons why he didn’t kill his little brother. The Rudder Master’s tasks always needed someone to execute them. If he killed someone, where would he find a replacement?

“First thing tomorrow morning, gather your brothers and spread these papers in the black market of the nearby eight counties. This silver is your monthly allowance and travel expenses. Understand?”

“I, I understand.” The little brother was startled by Qin Yuanhao’s final bellow.

“Louder.”

“I understand!” The little brother straightened his back and yelled again, his neck reddening.

The woman next door angrily said, loud enough for everyone to hear through the wall, “Do you know what time it is, why are you shouting?”

The voice of the woman next door was even louder than the little brother’s.

A hint of murderous intent flashed in the corner of Qin Yuanhao’s eye.

“Big Brother, the neighbour is a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage, who came here to live in seclusion.” The little brother quickly chimed in. Many Cultivators liked to play around in the mortal world, and it’s possible that even the street-side skewer seller could be a Cultivator.

Qin Yuanhao grunted coldly and left without saying much.

The little brother yawned, thinking that the Big Brother had finally left, and he quickly fell asleep.

He had to get up early for work tomorrow.

The little brother often received odd tasks assigned by Qin Yuanhao. For the sake of keeping secrets, Qin Yuanhao didn’t tell them anything, merely telling them to follow orders.

This time was no different.

After the little brother fell soundly asleep, Lu Yang crawled out from the soil, took three pieces of paper, and followed Qin Yuanhao.

Qin Yuanhao had come out just to find his little brother. After giving him instructions, he returned.

When Qin Yuanhao passed by the “Try Again” barbecue shop, he paused for a moment.

“I only secluded myself for four days, and a new barbecue shop is opened? And it’s so popular?”

Qin Yuanhao considered having a meal there. It didn’t matter to him if there were many people. After all, it was already kind of him not to demand they kneel and welcome him when he, a cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage, came to dine at such a small place. And yet, they expected him to queue?

In the end, Qin Yuanhao dismissed this idea. Barbecue was a dish better enjoyed in groups, eating it alone was less fun.

“Maybe another time.”

Qin Yuanhao returned home.

Lu Yang went back to the barbecue shop to help. Upon his return, he saw Meng Jingzhou performing a stand-up comedy routine. The customers were all applauding and asking for more.

Lu Yang took a deep breath, you two are really determined to grow this barbecue shop.

Meng Jingzhou, feeling the intensity of Lu Yang’s gaze, quickly closed his mouth, and honestly began acting as a server again, ignoring the customers’ calls for more.

After a busy period, the customers gradually left and the barbecue shop finally became quiet.

Two ghouls were busy cleaning the grills and cutlery, counting the day’s food consumption, and estimating the amount of food needed for tomorrow. The three of them sat on the second floor, discussing the day’s earnings.

“How much did we earn today?” Meng Jingzhou rubbed his hands excitedly. Starting a business from scratch gave him a strong sense of accomplishment. “Who told you this is about earnings!” Lu Yang slammed the table and glared, “Have you forgotten what we came here to do?”

“Open a franchise?” Man Gu was still considering growing the family business.

Lu Yang ignored these two clowns and took out three pieces of paper, recounting the situation of his surveillance that night.

“A blank paper?”

Meng Jingzhou examined the paper back and forth, finding nothing noteworthy.

Lu Yang also didn’t know how to use this paper: “Qin Yuanhao wants people to spread these papers in the black market, there must be information on the paper, but I don’t know how to read it.”

“Is it a unique communication method among the Demon Path?”

Meng Jingzhou nodded, agreeing with Lu Yang’s guess: “That’s likely. These covert guys always like to come up with some secret codes.”

“This is a paper meant for all cultivators of the Demon Path, and all of them should be able to understand it. If we, at the Foundation Establishment Stage, can’t see the writing on the paper, the Qi Refinement Stage Demon Path cultivators definitely won’t be able to.”

“So the problem is not with the secret code, but with the paper.”

Lu Yang thought for a moment, then toasted the paper over the charcoal fire.

“What are you doing?” Man Gu asked, puzzled.

While meticulously toasting the paper, Lu Yang casually said, “I read in a book that if you write on paper with sugar water and let it dry, there will be no visible text. You need high temperature to evaporate the water from the sugar, revealing text that’s a light-brown color.”

Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu found this point of knowledge quite interesting.

After about five minutes of toasting, nothing appeared on the paper, so Lu Yang had to abandon this method.

Lu Yang then summoned a small ball of water in his palm, and burst it suddenly. The water droplets splashed onto the paper.

“What is this for?”

Lu Yang explained: “Substances like shower gel and detergent have a high water absorption. If you use these special liquids to write, nothing will be visible after the paper dries. But if you sprinkle water on the paper, you can see the text by exploiting the different rates of water absorption.”

Though the Central Continent seemed ancient, it was far from being so. The existence of magic skills had produced many objects not of the ancient world, either intentionally or coincidentally.

For example, the shower gel and detergent mentioned by Lu Yang.

Unfortunately, the paper still revealed nothing.

Lu Yang did not get disheartened. He pondered for a moment before coming up with a new method.

“Since this is a communication method among the Demon Path, perhaps the clue can be revealed through a method commonly used by the Demon Path?” Lu Yang bit his thumb and a few drops of blood fell onto the paper. Like they had a life of their own, the drops began moving around the paper.

“Indeed, this follows the method used by the Demon Path to consecrate paper. It cannot be judged by common logic.” Lu Yang breathed a sigh of relief, pleased that he was finally successful.

It seemed like there were invisible grooves on the paper. When the blood passed over these grooves, it filled them, forming words.

“On the first of April, the Yanjiang Rudder of the Eternity Sect is recruiting members. The specific location will be announced the day before the recruitment.”