Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 70 Seeking Death
"Don't worry, there's no risk involved. I just want to find a female cultivator to accompany me to the banquet."

"Attending a banquet? And giving fifty spirit stones? Is there such a good thing? I don't believe it."

"If you listen to me and tell me slowly, you will believe me. Do you know who I am?"

"May I know your name?"

"Have you heard of the Hunyuan Pavilion Jade Fragrance Pill? I am Song Xian, the headmaster of the Hunyuan Sect."

"Are you the leader of Hunyuan Sect?" The woman looked at him suspiciously.

Song Xian smiled and said, "Why, you don't believe it? It's absolutely genuine."

"How can you be the headmaster with such a low level of cultivation?"

"No one stipulates that the headmaster must have a high level of cultivation. We are a small sect with only a dozen or so disciples. I was lucky enough to become the headmaster."

The woman tilted her head and looked at him for a moment. "Alright! Let's just assume you're the Hunyuan Sect's headmaster. Why did you spend fifty spirit stones to ask me to accompany you to the banquet? Let me think, maybe you have a fiancée who broke off the engagement with you, and you're going to the banquet with other young talents. You feel embarrassed, so you act like a female companion, pretending to be your new love."

Song Xian couldn't help but burst out laughing. What a mess! It was a surprise that she could think of this.

"Why, isn't it? Or is it your sweetheart's wedding banquet? You'd look miserable going alone, so you should find a female companion."

"Stop talking nonsense. I'm here to talk to you about something serious. If you want to know more about this, collect your things and come with me to Hunyuan Pavilion. We can discuss it in detail. It's not convenient to talk here, and it won't take you much time."

The woman nodded and said, "Okay, but let me make this clear. I'm not going with you, but that doesn't mean I'm agreeing to go. I'll listen to what's going on first, and then I'll make a decision."

"Let's go!"

The woman packed up her things, and the two of them went to the attic of the shop, entered the house, and sat opposite each other.

"I have to attend the Luoyun Sect's headmaster's wife's 100th birthday. I asked you to go so that I can approach her and sell her our Jade Fragrance Pill..."

Song Xian recounted the whole story in detail.

The woman thought for a few seconds and said, "Let's go to Bianxi City! It will take a long time to go there and back. Fifty spirit stones are not enough. I need one hundred spirit stones."

Song Xian smiled and said, "You're so bold to ask for such a price. It's just a trip to Bianxi City for a bit of show. Sometimes, even a trip to Muhe Grassland wouldn't earn me more than a hundred spirit stones. And you're asking for a hundred spirit stones just for a show. You're treating me like a fat pig! Fifty spirit stones. If you don't want to do it, forget it. I'll find someone else."

The woman stared at him with her big eyes. Seeing that he was unmoved, her attitude softened immediately: "Okay! Fifty is fifty. When do we leave?"

"It will be tomorrow at the latest, or today at the earliest. It's alright now. If you want, you can stay here or go set up a stall. You'll be at Fangshi North Street today and tomorrow. I'll find you when it's time to leave."

When the woman heard this, she turned around and left.

At night, Zhang Yi came to the shop. Song Xian told him about the birthday party for the wife of the Luoyun Sect's leader and asked him to go with him to Bianxi City.

The next morning, the two men came to the North Street of Fangshi, but the woman had not arrived yet. It was not until around noon that she finally arrived.

"Why are you so late? If you don't come early, how can you sell your goods?"

The woman snorted coldly, "Who said you have to arrive early to set up a stall? You didn't say when we'd meet, and besides, I don't have a place to stay in the market."

Song Xian was speechless for a moment. "Okay, I won't say any more. Let me introduce you. This is our sect's junior brother Zhang Yi, and this is... Oh, what's your name?"

"Feng Yan."

"Fellow Daoist Feng is the one I mentioned to you last night. She will help us sell the Jade Fragrance Pill to Madam Wen, the Luoyun Sect's headmaster. Let's go!"

The three of them left the market town, rode on their magical instruments, and headed towards Bianxi City.

"Fellow Daoist Feng, why did you come to Nanyuan Valley to set up a stall?" Song Xian sat cross-legged on the magic weapon, bored, so he asked.

"I live nearby. If I don't come here, shouldn't I go to West City, which is thousands of miles away?"

"Do you usually go to Muhe Grassland for business? How many monks are there in your team?"

"Why do you ask this?"

"Nothing, just checking in. If you're not comfortable talking about it, forget it."

"I don't make a living by following a traveling merchant group. I rely on my own skills."

"You mean making talismans?"

"Yes, I now know several kinds of talismans."

"Excuse me for being blunt, but you have no talent for this and you won't be able to last long." The woman snorted without saying anything.

"Where are you from?"

"Bianxia Town, what's wrong?"

"Are you a local cultivator? Who taught you the talisman-making technique?"

The woman was silent. Song Xian turned around and looked at her. She had an ugly expression on her face and tilted her head to look southwest, with an indescribable stubbornness in her eyes.

"Why don't you follow the caravan? I see many people here are following the caravan."

"What's it to you? Why are you asking so many questions?" The woman looked angry and obviously didn't want to talk about it.

Song Xian felt bored and stopped asking.

Zhang Yi controlled the magic weapon and did not say a word while the two were talking.

"When is the birthday party for the wife of the Luoyun Sect's leader?" Feng Yan asked after a long time.

"August 13th."

"August 13th?" Feng Yan's voice rose a few degrees. "It's still half a month away. What are we going to do now? How will I calculate my losses during this period?"

"We haven't received the Luoyun Sect's invitation yet. We need to go to Bianxi City first to make some arrangements and get the invitation."

"Got it?" Feng Yan was stunned. "You mean, now I'm not sure whether I can go to the birthday party for the wife of the Chengluoyun Sect's headmaster?"

"Don't worry, there's already a clue. You don't need to worry about it. Regardless of whether you can make it or not, you won't lose a single spirit stone."

"No, you're too unreliable. I won't trust you until you give me the spirit stones first. Otherwise, everything will be lost. I'm alone and weak, while you're many and powerful. Who knows if you'll keep your promise? I won't do it unless you pay me the spirit stones first."

Song Xian took out three second-level spirit stones from his storage ring and handed them to her: "I'll give you thirty spirit stones first. After you complete the task assigned to you, I'll pay you the remaining twenty spirit stones."

Feng Yan quickly took the thirty spirit stones he handed her and stuffed them into her sleeve, but she still insisted, "What about the losses during this period? How many talismans can I sell in half a month?"

"Your talisman is of very low quality. Anyone who knows the value of it will see through it immediately, but those who don't know the value of it may not buy it from the vendors in the open market. You may not be able to sell even one at the Nanyuan Valley Market, but when you get to Bianxi City, you can go to the market there. There's a lot of traffic there, so maybe you can sell a few. Just come with me to Luoyun Sect on August 13th. I don't care where you go the rest of the time."

"My materials and tools for making talismans are all at home. When I get to Bianxi City, I don't have them on hand, so what can I use to make talismans? In half a month, I might be able to refine several talismans. How do I calculate this?"

Song Xian felt a little annoyed. How could this woman be so greedy? So he ignored her.

"Why don't you say anything? Don't think I'm easy to bully just because I have low cultivation. We need to settle this account."

"Okay, I'll give you another thirty spirit stones after I'm done with this. Stop nagging me." Song Xian didn't want to get entangled with her over such a trivial matter, so he added ten more spirit stones.

Feng Yan then fell silent.

…………

A few days later, the three of them arrived at Bianxi City, booked three rooms in an inn in the city, and headed straight to the market town.

After entering the inner room and walking for a while, I saw a long wooden stake standing at a crossroads in front of me. A naked man was tied to it, and he looked really miserable.

His hair was disheveled, there was not a single piece of good flesh on his body, and his body was covered in blood. Some people around him were pointing at him and talking about him.

At this time, a man dressed in the clothes of Zhengyang Sect was whipping the tied man with a long iron whip. Zhengyang Sect was the largest sect in Xishu County and had shops in the main markets of each city.

It is no wonder that the market management staff did not dare to interfere. Somehow, this man had offended the Zhengyang Sect and was tied up and brought here to be humiliated and even executed.

The man was already dying. The iron whip hit him, gouging out a small piece of flesh and blood each time, but he didn't even have the strength to groan or scream. Every time the whip hit him, you could see his body shaking instinctively.

Feng Yan took a deep breath and turned her head away, not daring to look at the tragic scene again.

"My fellow Taoist, who is this person? Why is he tied up here and tortured?" Song Xian asked, patting the back of a man who was watching in front of him.

"I also heard that this person was originally a casual cultivator who always liked to inquire about anecdotes. He wrote a novel and included the romantic stories of a prominent figure in the Zhengyang Sect. After the book was circulated in the north of the market, the prominent figure got to know about it. He was furious and arrested this person. He tied him up and tortured him in the market. He also burned all the copies of the book, and the shops were also implicated."

"So you're a novelist? You deserve to die. Why do you have to write novels when you can do something else? You're asking for death." Another man on the left sneered after hearing this.

Song Xian shook his head. Although he felt a little sympathy for the man tied to the stake, he was powerless to do anything.

(End of this chapter)