Free Web NovelChapter 849: Chapter 103: Those Who Are Close Get Bald
It’s hard to say that the incident in which the master was unmasked and forcefully humiliated at the Zhuhu Tea House had actually had a deep impact.
But the people who were there at the time often couldn’t see the consequences, and mostly felt only the anger of being fooled. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
It was only when the master was slapped down from his pedestal that people could see clearly his true face, hidden under the illusions.
This person was originally a successor of a minor sect that had lost its inheritance and had come into possession of a magical pearl by chance.
Rather than using this magical pearl to properly cultivate, he used its illusionary powers to swindle and deceive. After his first successful act of trickery, he became unstoppable.
Over the years, he had deceived countless people and could be described as "making a fortune." Not to mention the expenses he had spent, he had thirty-eight storage boxes on him alone at that moment.
The swindler was discovered by Li Longchuan, and the person was restrained by Xu Xiang Qian, thus naturally, all these items also ended up in their hands.
There were several sects on Little Crescent Island, but none could convince everyone to be the "official" one. The people of Qi, such as Li Longchuan, were also unlikely to hand over these so-called "stolen goods" to the Diao Hai Building.
The entire matter was credited to Li Longchuan’s Candle Micro Divine Skill, and both Jiang Wang and Xu Xiang Qian firmly stated that they would not take a penny, and Li Longchuan who came from a prestigious background actually didn’t lack these things either.
But he thought of a brilliant method.
He sent these "stolen goods" all together to Binghuang Island, along with the master himself, who was also sent to Binghuang Island for trial and punishment.
Binghuang Island was the overseas base of the Shimen Li Clan, and Li Longchuan’s sister, Li Fengyao, was currently stationed on the island.
Li Longchuan set a rule. All those who had been deceived by the "hard-to-say master," as long as they could provide real evidence of being cheated, could fully recover their losses on Binghuang Island until all the "stolen goods" were gone.
The entire process, the whereabouts of every Dao Yuan Stone, was publicly displayed, and Binghuang Island would not keep a single one.
The beauty of this method lay in its full utilization of the "hard-to-say master’s" reputation, significantly enlarging Binghuang Island’s influence. The more this old swindler was despised, the more Binghuang Island appeared trustworthy in the eyes of the sea people.
The public trial of the hard-to-say master on Binghuang Island was unparalleled and undoubtedly established the legal authority of Binghuang Island. It created a consensus among the sea people—that Binghuang Island was also a force with legal authority in the Near Sea Archipelago.
Just like in Qi Country, when people encountered injustice, the first thing they thought of was the government. In the Near Sea Archipelago, this role was replaced by the various sects at sea.
On this basis, Binghuang Island would no longer be seen as an external force belonging to the Shimen Li Clan of Qi country, but would, like Jueming Island, be recognized by the sea people of the Near Sea Archipelago.
As the legitimate heir of the Shimen Li Clan, these tactics of controlling people were cultivated from a young age. Li Longchuan’s method was an open and straightforward one, predicated on creating an unstoppable general trend, not intended to shock or be unconventional.
Undoubtedly, the deeds of the hard-to-say master would spread even more intensely and widely through this round of "restoring stolen goods."
But what is worth deep reflection is—
How could he, merely a cultivator from Ascending Dragon Realm, become a master pursued by everyone at sea with some ambiguous guidance? And how many people had actually understood his grand but useless nonsense?
Yet there was no questioning, only cheers. No one stood up to confront him, only prostrated themselves in admiration.
Awe, blind following, echoing others, and rumors becoming established—this was true for not only ordinary people but also for cultivators possessed of Transcendent Power.
Just as Jiang Wang once said in Floating Land to Qing Huo Qiming, the world above the Celestial Sky is not much different from that of the Floating Land.
But if one cannot transcend the limitations of the mob, can it truly be called "Transcendence"?
...
...
With the hard-to-say master captured, no one was in the mood to enjoy their tea quietly anymore.
Xu Xiang Qian, of course, was an exception; he swaggered in asking for tea to be served again, as if nothing had happened, insisting on talking with Zhao Wuyan.
Having been through the hard-to-say master incident, Yang Liu was extremely embarrassed and wished he could find a hole to crawl into. But he refused to leave because he was very aware that he had severely lost face over this matter, and if he just slunk away now, he might never have another chance.
So he stayed in the tea house extremely awkwardly, and the three of them forced themselves to share a table.
The group he had rallied, also cultiva...
She stole glances at Jiang Wang, who was quietly sipping tea, hesitated, and then still asked quietly, "Are you really the ’Twin Prides of Gan Ma Mountain’?"
The voice was truly pitifully soft.
Fortunately, Jiang Wang’s cultivation was successful, and his hearing and vision were sharp; otherwise, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to hear clearly.
But he still paused, "Huh?"
Zi Shu secretly stretched out her index finger, pointed at Xu Xiangqian, who was not far ahead and frolicking exuberantly, and asked, "You, equally famous? Known together as the ’Twin Prides of Gan Ma Mountain’?"
Her tone was clearly skeptical. After all, the temperaments of these two seemed vastly different.
"...Sort of."
If it weren’t for the fact that "Twin Prides of Gan Ma Mountain" had always been a unilateral title given by someone named Xu... he wouldn’t really be lying.
But at that moment, what could Jiang Wang say? He certainly couldn’t dismantle his friend’s facade in person and could only muster a wry smile.
"What place is Gan Ma Mountain?" After chatting for a while, Zi Shu wasn’t so shy anymore, and her curiosity was practically written on her face.
"A, um, special place." Jiang Wang was a bit troubled; this wasn’t easy to fabricate, and Xu Xiangqian hadn’t briefed him in advance either!
"Oh, I see." Zi Shu was very sensible: "Then I won’t ask."
It was unclear what she really understood.
After a pause, she asked again, "I heard you defeated Wang Yi Wu with just two moves, right?"
Jiang Wang was startled at first, but then he understood why it was two moves and said helplessly, "Xu Xiangqian said he only needed one move, right?"
Zi Shu was surprised, "How did you know?"
This child was just too naive!
Jiang Wang sighed, "In the future, you should stay further away from Xu Xiangqian!"
"Huh?" Zi Shu was puzzled, "Why? Is he actually a bad person?"
He wasn’t really bad, but you take things too seriously! How can you believe anything said? Jiang Wang thought to himself.
Of course, he couldn’t say that to her face, so he simply said, "Staying too close to him, you might get infected!"
Zi Shu’s eyes widened, "Infected with what?"
Jiang Wang looked around, then covered his mouth with the back of his hand and whispered mysteriously, "Hair loss!"
Zi Shu covered her mouth in shock, glanced at Xu Xiangqian’s naturally shiny high forehead, and began to worry: "No, I must tell my master sister."
"That’s not necessary." Jiang Wang quickly stopped her; he didn’t want Xu Xiangqian chasing him with a knife. He explained, "After erecting the Saint Tower, once you have Star Force protection, there will be no such troubles. Your master sister should have it; do you have it?"
"Not yet." Zi Shu shyly shook her head, "I’ve only reached the Inner Mansion Realm."
She seemed very embarrassed, oblivious to the fact that reaching the Inner Mansion Realm at her age was astonishing.
Of course, Jiang Wang knew she hadn’t reached the Outer Building Realm, so he said seriously, "Then you really need to keep your distance from him; this is no joke."
"Yes!" Zi Shu nodded vigorously.
After a while, she leaned over again and whispered quietly, "You’re really nice."
"Ah." At that moment, Jiang Wang was enjoying the subtle interplay between Xu Xiangqian and Yang Liu, and reacted perfunctorily, slightly puzzled, "Huh?"
Zi Shu said earnestly, "Such private matters between friends, a steadfast gentleman like you would definitely not want to share with others. But because you care about me, worry about me... losing hair. You still told me. You’re really a good person."
Jiang Wang, after all, wasn’t Xu Xiangqian; he still needed to maintain some dignity.
So his face blushed terribly for a moment, and he could only bow his head and take a sip of tea as a cover.
Many years later, when Xu Xiangqian sought the origin of the rumor "proximity to Xu causes baldness," demanding to whip and punish those responsible, he would never imagine that it had already been born in the spring of the Year 3919 of the Dao Calendar.
