Free Web NovelChapter 119: Chapter 119: Changes
Less than ten li from the foot of the mountain, familiar faces began to appear one after another.
They were Cultivators from the Demon Hunting Teams. Now, they were also neighbors on the same street, and among them were even some regular customers from his shop.
"Shopkeeper Bai, ha!"
"We were wondering where you’d gone. Don’t tell me you’re here to steal our jobs..."
The speaker was a rough-looking man carrying a broadsword on his back.
The man hadn’t visited the shop many times, but he was a familiar face nonetheless.
Bai Mo chuckled. "With a build like mine, how could I possibly do such strenuous work?"
The two parties exchanged a few laughs as they passed each other.
They hadn’t gone far before they saw the large tree stump at the entrance to the mountain path.
On top of it was a mixture of old and new grass wreaths.
"Hiss!" Li Dao grit his teeth. "So there really are lingering spirits in Celestial Barrier Mountain?"
"That’s so ominous."
Not far away, a few Cultivators from a Demon Hunting Team were laughing and talking as they wove grass wreaths and placed them on the stump.
Liu Tong pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice:
"When a Cultivator falls, their soul returns to heaven and earth; it doesn’t linger in the mortal realm. If what the Mountain God said is true..."
He thought about it, but couldn’t come up with any leads.
"Junior Brother, do you know when the custom of weaving grass wreaths began?"
Bai Mo had never heard anyone speak of it.
"They only say it’s been passed down since ancient times. No one knows the specific date."
The group had no choice but to drop the subject and head toward Immortal Arrival City.
From a great distance, a few points of light at the city gate caught their attention.
"That’s the sect’s standard-issue armor!"
Li Dao squinted, observing for a moment before speaking.
The group exchanged glances, understanding that the Xuandao Sect had already taken control of the city.
Otherwise, the ones guarding the city gate wouldn’t be sect personnel.
Qin Yu puffed out his chest, adopting the air of a proprietor.
"I wonder which unlucky fool got demoted to gate-watching duty here!"
Cultivators and mortals of all kinds were entering and leaving through the city gate.
Their expressions varied greatly; some were anxious, while others looked jubilant, as if they’d been liberated.
Liu Tong watched for a moment and nodded.
"A city handover always has its growing pains. Everything will be fine in a couple of months."
"They’ll just have to learn to adapt."
Besides, he didn’t think being under the Xuandao Sect’s rule was any worse than being under the Miaofa Sect.
Bypassing the queue of people waiting to enter the city, the group walked directly to the front of the gate.
"You there..."
Two clueless guards looked the group up and down, their expressions full of suspicion.
Li Dao leaped forward and smacked one of them on the head with a black brocade pouch.
"You have no eyes! Judging by our age, you should be calling us Senior Brother!"
He flipped out a Token and brandished it smugly.
The two guards’ faces remained stern.
"In the future, Senior Brother, please don’t be so rash. Just show your identification."
"For that stunt, I almost couldn’t stop myself from striking back!"
As they spoke, they stepped aside and gestured for the group to enter.
Seeing this, an uninformed Cultivator muttered weakly:
"How come they can enter the city directly?"
Someone else chimed in.
"Yeah, could you hurry it up? I’ve been waiting for a long time..."
The guard glanced at them but paid them no mind.
"The city is under martial law. You’ll have to be more patient."
"If you had a Token from our sect, you could also enter directly."
A snake’s head emerged from his sleeve, making the Cultivator currently being inspected tremble and turn pale.
Seeing the Spirit Beast’s tongue flick in and out without any other movement, the guard let him pass.
"Go."
The Cultivator who had muttered earlier was still in disbelief.
"Sect Disciples?"
"Wasn’t one of them the Shopkeeper of the Pill Shop?"
But no one paid him any attention.
The two guards sighed to themselves.
"Which Senior Brother was that just now? So improper!"
"A real shame. Upstanding people like us get sent here to watch a gate, and who knows if we can even go back in two months..."
The city had indeed taken on a new look.
Whether it was because the past few months had been hard or for some other reason, the street stalls had become numerous again.
The scene was quite lively.
If not for the imposing air that Liu Tong and the others deliberately put on, who knows how many stall owners would have been trying to solicit their business.
"It seems the city’s rules have changed again," Bai Mo remarked after a look around.
But Liu Tong disagreed. He had seen cities change hands many times; it was always sects that were poorly managed that ended up ceding them to the Xuandao Sect.
"Loose Cultivators have no roots. They probably saw that no one was in charge and got bold enough to do as they please."
If the sect doesn’t forbid it, this will be allowed to continue from now on.
Bai Mo led the way, and soon they arrived at his street.
Cultivators from the Demon Hunting Teams were coming and going on the street.
Those who recognized Bai Mo all had their eyes light up.
"Alchemist Bai! It’s really been a long time!"
These people were all beaming.
"When are you opening up shop? Your storefront is looking mighty fine!"
Hearing this, Bai Mo cupped his hands and said:
"I’ve been too busy recently. Now that I’m back, I should have some free time to open for business in a few days."
"I hope you’ll all be there to support the shop then!"
Exchanging pleasantries, the Cultivators of the Demon Hunting Teams were greatly pleased.
’This famous Pill Master their peers all talked about isn’t some cold, aloof character after all!’
’He’s actually friendly to us struggling Cultivators!’
After a bit more small talk, Bai Mo led his senior brothers forward.
At the spot where his stall used to be, some familiar faces had now returned and were aggressively hawking their wares to passersby.
What was surprising was that there were now people sweeping the main street; before, everyone had just swept the snow from their own doorsteps.
Upon closer inspection, there were even Cultivators among them.
Bai Mo blinked, recognizing one of the figures, and couldn’t help but cry out:
"Fellow Daoist Xu!?"
Xu Ruyuan, with his head bowed meekly, was listlessly brandishing the broom in his hands.
Hearing Bai Mo’s shout, his body trembled. He turned to see Bai Mo striding quickly toward him.
Xu Ruyuan let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Aiyo! My dear Brother Bai, you’re finally back!"
He came forward, clutching his broom.
"Have you... found yourself a new line of work?"
Bai Mo asked hesitantly, looking him up and down.
Xu Ruyuan waved his hand and sighed.
"What a mess..."
"I was transporting medicinal herbs into the city with some people. Just my luck, it was during the sect handover. Right after we passed the gate, we crashed into someone’s carriage."
Even with his thick skin, his expression was one of someone reliving a painful memory.
"The scene at the time... sigh. All the important people in the city were there, welcoming the Xuandao Sect’s Immortal Masters as they took charge."
At that moment, he didn’t even dare to use Bai Mo’s name to get out of it.
"It wasn’t a huge offense, but it was disrespectful..."
He didn’t mention the convoluted mess that followed.
In any case, he and his companions "voluntarily" joined the other Cultivators who had caused trouble or been provocative in the last few days, and were assigned to sweep the streets.
For a Cultivator, this was considered a great humiliation.
Qin Yu nodded from the side.
"Cities under sect rule like things to be orderly."
"For minor offenders, they might let it slide. But for serious ones, they’ll be thrown in jail to be taught a lesson for a few days!"
He put on a very well-behaved look.
"Even we don’t dare cause trouble in the city."
Liu Tong looked at Bai Mo and said, "Junior Brother Bai, you know this Fellow Daoist?"
Bai Mo nodded.
"He’s helping me with something. The medicinal herbs he gathered were also for me."
Liu Tong then said, "Since it was an unintentional mistake, we can let it go. I’ll put in a word later."
Xu Ruyuan exclaimed loudly.
"The Immortal Master is wise!!"
"How would we dare cause trouble on a day like that? It’s just that the horse, for some reason, wouldn’t move..."
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and said urgently:
"I’ll go get that batch of medicinal herbs!"
"It’s been several days, I hope they haven’t gone bad!"
After getting Bai Mo’s approval, Xu Ruyuan tossed his broom aside and hurried off.
For the past few days, he had deliberately chosen the street in front of Bai Mo’s shop and had swept it spotlessly clean.
Bai Mo was very satisfied. He looked up.
His Eldest Senior Brother, Shui Ziming, was waiting for them with a smile, his arms crossed.
