Free Web NovelChapter 158: Chapter 150: Mr. Qian Really Is a Puppet! Why Does He Keep Hitting the Wall?
The Daqian Dynasty, Anhe City.
In the north of the city, the Su Mansion.
Before the mansion gates, a long line stretched to the street corner.
Mrs. Su, a gentle and virtuous middle-aged woman, was personally ladling bowls of hot rice porridge for the poor and destitute who had come to beg.
"Eat slowly, don’t choke. There’s still more in the pot."
This was a charitable act the Su Family had upheld for decades. Regardless of whether the year was good or bad, on the first and fifteenth of every month, they would set up a stall here to give out porridge, occasionally handing out some copper coins for relief as well.
Because of this, the Su Family had a reputation for kindness in Anhe City.
And because of this, they also came to see some strange figures.
Some beggars didn’t eat the porridge, only appearing when copper coins were being handed out.
But there were other, more interesting beggars.
For example, there was one named "Jiang Stone."
Every time after the porridge was served, he would say, "May the heavens bless you!"
After finishing his food, he would speak to the air, saying something like, "The Old Buddha has already paid for me, thank you, Old Buddha!"
He was quite an interesting character. However, according to people from other shops, he apparently wasn’t always a beggar and a vagrant. He had a habit of reporting every shop he worked for, which eventually made other shopkeepers afraid to hire him.
Thus, he became a beggar, but he seemed quite enthusiastic about it.
Hearing this couldn’t help but make Mr. and Mrs. Su smile.
They only wondered how their girl, Ling’er, was doing now.
...
Inside the Transmission Hall, the "CLANG! SCHWING! CLANG! SCHWING!" racket had been going on for some time.
But the players’ enthusiasm came as quickly as it went.
Once the novelty wore off, the players found the "clanging and schwinging" to be boring. After taking enough pictures, recording their videos, and flooding the sect channel with posts, they felt it had lost its appeal. They put away their Wooden Swords, scattered like birds and beasts, and went back to grinding their quests.
As for the group of undercover disciples, after persisting for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, they too felt it was incredibly dull.
Most importantly, they didn’t feel any of the so-called true meaning of the Great Dao that Mr. Dong had spoken of, let alone any improvement in their Cultivation.
"I... I can’t go on."
"This is so boring. The main thing is, there’s absolutely no positive feedback... Is this really doing anything?"
"And don’t you guys think... we look really stupid doing this? A bunch of us standing here, twitching like we’re having a fit..."
"Yeah... After what First Senior Brother did to Mr. Dong... treated him like that... for us to be here practicing what he advocated for, doesn’t that make us look even stupider?"
"How come I feel like the only thing we’re developing is a beast of a right arm, but we haven’t comprehended anything? On the contrary, I feel a chill on the back of my neck..."
"Me too... You think First Senior Brother is going to come over and whip us later?"
Su Ling’er had stopped long ago. She crossed her arms and snorted coldly.
’You’re only just now realizing how stupid this is?! It was stupid from the very beginning, okay!’
And so, the undercover disciples gave up on the meaningless repetition one by one and threw themselves back into the tedious daily quests of the Transmission Hall.
It was just that each of them was left with a complex, indescribable feeling in their hearts.
But as the crowd dispersed, a single figure remained, standing firm.
It was Li Chunfeng.
Su Ling’er’s gaze fell upon him, a mixture of complex emotions stirring in her heart.
He was still persisting. Sweat had already soaked his temples, and the arm holding the Wooden Sword trembled slightly from the prolonged exertion.
’Did he... actually believe it?’
’Or is it that for a mortal shut out from the path of cultivation, this seemingly absurd last straw is the only hope he has left to grasp?’
Watching his lonely and stubborn figure, Su Ling’er felt a strange pang of sorrow.
Li Chunfeng did not stop.
He heard the others’ discussions and sensed their surrender.
’But I can’t stop. I don’t dare to stop.’
’After all, I’m not like them...’
’They are Cultivators. Even with Pseudo Spirit Roots, they have ultimately embarked on the path of cultivation.’
’If this path doesn’t work out, they still have other options.’
’But I don’t...’
...
「Several days later.」
One of the undercover disciples, Disciple B, accepted a unique quest from a quest jade slip.
[Help Mr. Qian retrieve the ancient tome]
[Quest Description: Mr. Qian has accidentally lost an important ancient book in the back mountain grotto. Please escort the elder there and assist him in retrieving it.]
The quest made his heart skip a beat.
’Escort an elder?’
’Even though Miss Su said they were puppets, and they look like puppets... what if they aren’t?’
’Isn’t this the perfect chance to get close to the demonic sect’s upper echelon and extract core intelligence?!’
’Maybe this is a real opportunity!’
He immediately accepted the quest.
Soon, the dead-eyed Mr. Qian appeared before him.
"Let’s go."
Mr. Qian was a man of few words.
Along the way, Disciple B followed behind Mr. Qian, racking his brains trying to pry information from him.
"Mr. Qian, the Guixi Sect has such a long history. The sect’s collection of Cultivation Technique manuals must be truly immense, right?"
"..."
Mr. Qian gave no reaction, simply walking forward.
"Elder, your Cultivation is unfathomably deep. I wonder what realm you’ve reached? It would give this junior a goal to strive for!"
"..."
Mr. Qian still ignored him.
Disciple B didn’t give up and tried a different angle:
"Elder, I’ve heard the grottoes on the back mountain are quite treacherous. Why is that ancient book so important to you that you would brave the danger personally?"
This time, Mr. Qian finally reacted.
He stopped, turned his face toward Disciple B, and slowly opened his mouth:
"I lost my book. What a shame. You have to help me find it."
’Does he really not understand human speech?’
’Or is it something else?’
The two of them, one in front and one behind, finally arrived before a grotto filled with bizarrely shaped boulders.
Mr. Qian stopped extremely close to one of the boulders, then turned and pointed toward the depths of the grotto, saying to Disciple B:
"My book... I think it fell down here. Take a look, is it somewhere nearby?"
Disciple B looked in the direction he was pointing. Ahead were only rugged stone walls and obstructing boulders, making the path narrow.
A strange thought couldn’t help but cross his mind.
’He’s... The elder is standing so close to that boulder. Won’t he hit his head when he turns around?’
’Is that really okay?’
’He can sense his surroundings, right?’
Just as his thoughts were swirling, Mr. Qian swiftly turned around.
"THUD—!"
A dull, heavy thud echoed, piercing the silence of the grotto.
Mr. Qian’s head had solidly smashed a corner off the boulder behind him.
The corner of Disciple B’s eye twitched. He subconsciously asked:
"E-Elder, are you alright? How dare that boulder attack the Elder’s head with itself! Does this disciple need to teach it a lesson?"
As if feeling no pain, Mr. Qian shook his head, his vacant eyes locking onto Disciple B once more. In the exact same tone as before, he said:
"My book seems to be nearby. Where on earth is it?"
Before his voice had even faded, as if he couldn’t find his target, he began to rhythmically slam his own forehead against the boulder in front of him, again, and again!
"THUD!"
"My book..."
"THUD!"
"...where on earth is it?"
"THUD!"
"You have to help me find it..."
This utterly bizarre scene left Disciple B completely stunned, his Dao heart nearly shattering on the spot.
’What the hell is this?’
’Is he for real?’
He was finally... completely convinced.
’What Su Ling’er said was true!’
’This Mr. Qian isn’t a living person at all!’
’He’s a flesh-and-blood puppet, stripped of even basic obstacle avoidance, left with only the instinct to carry out orders!’
’This demonic sect isn’t just evil, it’s cruel to the extreme!’
’The evidence is conclusive! This is irrefutable proof!’
Disciple B immediately abandoned the quest and rushed back to his thatched hut.
He decided to act before the other undercover disciples, to be the first to transmit this blood-soaked "irrefutable proof," along with the Demonic Cultivation Skills he had collected over the past few days, back to Qingxu Temple!
He carefully took out the mirror fragment from his robes...
He pressed the fragment of the [Lingxi Inquiry Profound Mirror] tightly against the space between his eyebrows, took a deep breath, and began to circulate the technique taught to him by the Sect Leader.
He was about to perform the [Single-Thought Profound Inquiry].
He would transmit everything he had seen and heard over the past few days: the puppet elder, the bloody infighting within the sect, the disciples’ numbness to death, the possibility that Miss Su had already fallen to the demonic path, and several basic Demonic Cultivation Skills.
’However, they don’t actually feel like Demonic Cultivation Skills when practiced. I suppose only someone of Miss Su’s level can access the truly profound Demonic Cultivation Skills!’ freeweɓnøvel.com
’After all, the deathly, corpse-like, and ghostly auras on her can’t be faked!’
