Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

"Indeed, the white hair is still quite noticeable. Perhaps I should have chosen the Xianxia Ruoshi back then."

Ever since Liu Qingyuan entered the city, people around him have been constantly looking at him, mostly surprised by his white hair that seemed out of place for his age, making him stand out on the street.

There are people who are born with premature gray hair, but what makes him special is not only his white hair, but also his plain white Taoist attire, the strangely shaped and simple bronze longsword on his back, and his overall demeanor that is out of place in the city.

He was completely detached from the bustling city. While others were caught up in worldly affairs, chatting about everyday matters, he remained aloof and independent, unlike any other person in the world.

When such a person passes by, how can others not cast their gaze to confirm that the white figure is not an illusion, and that they have indeed seen this person brush past them?

Fortunately, Jianzi Xianji's image is righteous enough, his temperament is ethereal enough, and he has a shadow on the ground, so he won't be mistaken for a monster or ghost in the street. However, if it were at night, it would be hard to say.

However, some people, upon realizing he was a Taoist priest, would show an expression of sudden understanding and then stop looking in his direction, even displaying a hint of fear, which surprised Liu Qingyuan somewhat.

In the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, monsters and immortals roam freely, and there are also some truly capable Taoist priests who travel around. Presumably, some people have seen them before and automatically provided reasonable explanations in their minds.

Relying on the fact that no one dared to approach her, Liu Qingyuan pulled the system panel in front of her and started browsing while ignoring the road.

"There's no mission notification yet. Is it not available here?"

Last time, I was immediately confronted by a mission as soon as I landed, but this time it's so peaceful.

[That's possible. It's likely the target is too far away to be detected. However, we've only just arrived, so it's also possible the system hasn't finished processing the entire world's information yet.]

Worlds like this, governed by a complete mythological system, contain a vast amount of data, and it would take the system considerable time to scan them completely. During this time, it's also necessary to make several contacts with the local deities, informing them that the person has arrived and can be reached directly if needed.

Liu Qingyuan wasn't in a hurry. Although illegal transmigrators all had some kind of cheat code, the convenience that illegal systems could provide was very limited. They couldn't give the god-like effects that many people wanted; at most, they could only provide support.

Furthermore, this is a world protected by true immortals. If they act too blatantly, the immortals here will intervene first and simultaneously notify Liu Qingyuan's system, ensuring that the other party has no chance of escaping.

"If there are gods and monsters, there must also be cause and effect and reincarnation. If we interfere in those stories, wouldn't that be breaking the law of cause and effect?"

Cooperating with the systems is for the benefit of this world. There is no single protagonist in the world of Liaozhai, but all kinds of magical little stories. It is said that the death of the protagonist will affect the stability of the Heavenly Dao, so what would happen if it were replaced by these fragmented little stories?

We are not inherently bound by the laws of this world, nor are we subject to the karma of this land.

"What about the impact?"

Have you ever considered that even gods and demons, who seem to care about many things, might be worried about getting entangled in karma, which is why they agreed to let us come?

"...Using someone else to do the dirty work?"

Liu Qingyuan understood that even the gods disapproved of many things and were well aware of them. Look at all the messy things in the underworld in Liaozhai; anyone who reads them would be angry.

However, due to various reasons, the gods could not find a reason to intervene, and they were afraid that once they got involved, they would not be able to get out. So they could only turn a blind eye and wait for the right time to come out, which is commonly known as "plot kill".

Outsiders like Liu Qingyuan are not governed by the Heavenly Dao. He can beat up illegal transmigrators over there, and he can also interfere in this world. He is a lawless madman, a perfect "Didi substitute," and the best tool to use magic to decorate magic.

"Since there's nothing urgent... then where should I go?"

Liu Qingyuan stood in the bustling city, looking somewhat bewildered. The system hadn't yet found any illegal transmigrators, but as long as he stood there in the guise of Jianzi Xianji, passersby would look over and make guesses in their minds. His emotional points were slowly increasing, so there was no need to rush to gain more points.

In addition, the Realm of Enlightenment definitely cannot be placed in the city. Liu Qingyuan is an unregistered resident here and cannot buy land at all. Moreover, he cannot imagine what the Realm of Enlightenment would look like in the bustling city. He can only turn to the mountains in the suburbs and find an open space, while avoiding the big landowners.

The first thing I did was find a town to get a feel for the art style of this world and to test how well ordinary people would accept my current appearance. I'd use Sword Immortal's Mark to raise their acceptance level so that things wouldn't be too chaotic when those flashy characters appeared later.

But Liu Qingyuan herself wasn't sure if scrolling through these would be useful. Most of the stories in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio were legends told by passersby. Even if they actually happened here, they were scattered in different places, all over the country. If you look closely, some of them are even slightly different. She didn't know what it would be like if they were all mixed together.

He wanted to participate as much as possible, so he created many alternate accounts and sent them all over the country to try and get plot points, like pioneering a new area.

"When it comes to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, Confucianism is more fitting."

In Liaozhai, scholars are an indispensable part. Whether good or bad, most of the protagonists in the stories are scholars. From this perspective, Confucian scholars are the most suitable. However, the scholars in Pili might hit people a bit hard, the Taoist priests who came to save people haven't arrived yet, and the monster's lair has probably already been destroyed.

Since he had nothing urgent to do, he thought he might as well set up a fortune-telling stall near the private school and get to know a few scholars. Maybe he could even become one of the main characters in a story.

There are nearly five hundred stories in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". Apart from those that are clearly stated to have taken place in different places, there are so many scholars scattered all over the country. Surely he could find a few of them.

"Alright, let's go... Oh?"

After making his decision, Liu Qingyuan waved his whisk and started walking again. But before he could even leave, he felt something fall from above his head, right at his forehead. Liu Qingyuan took a step back and caught it. It turned out to be a folding fan and an empty wine cup.

He was standing directly below a viewing platform on the second floor of a restaurant, and the two objects had clearly fallen from there.

Surrounded by a bustling city and with restaurants overhead, Liu Qingyuan was constantly surrounded by noise. He had the system panel open in front of him, so he didn't pay much attention to his surroundings. He never expected that the noise would hit him on the head.

The strong smell of alcohol still lingered in the glass, as did the folding fan. Liu Qingyuan immediately understood that someone upstairs had gotten drunk and started throwing things for some unknown reason, which happened to hit her on the head.

"This person's drinking manners are terrible."

It's a bad habit to litter when you're drunk.

"Why did you throw the things out?"

People on the second floor also realized that their roughhousing had caused them to throw things out. Knowing that there were many people outside the restaurant and that the things they had just thrown could potentially hit pedestrians, they quickly poked their heads out to see if anyone had been accidentally injured.

"I'm so sorry, some of my friends have had too much to drink. And this old man... uh... old... Taoist priest?"

The perspective from above was that of a person with a full head of white hair, dressed in plain clothes and carrying a sword. So, like many people, he immediately mistook the person below for an elderly man.

Judging by all that white hair, a normal person would be at least sixty years old.

As they thought this, the people upstairs felt a pang of anxiety. The person who had been hit had completely white hair and must be quite old. Their second floor was not low, and the person who threw it had used considerable force. They hoped that the old man would not be seriously injured.

Just as he was about to apologize, he saw the person below look up. Their eyes met, and he saw a young face below, not much older than the group of people drinking with him.

It's amazing that his hair and beard are completely white, yet his face looks so young.

However, after the initial shock, an apology is still necessary; you can't refrain from apologizing just because someone looks a little unusual.

But the person opposite him was so young that he didn't know what to call them. Calling them "old man" was inappropriate since they looked so young.

But if he addressed the other man as an equal, his striking white hair made it difficult for him to say it.

Finally, after much hesitation, he managed to conjure up the image of a "Taoist priest" through the Tai Chi symbol on Liu Qingyuan's headdress and the whisk in his hand.

"Old Taoist Master? That's a rather peculiar way to address you."

Liu Qingyuan knew, of course, why the other party was stuttering. When he first entered the city and when he went to the pawnshop to exchange silver, the other party's reaction was similar to that of this scholar who peeked out.

But despite his understanding, he still deliberately added the half-finished form of address to tease the other person.

"No, no, it's the Taoist priest, the Taoist priest."

However, there was one unexpected thing: the person who poked his head out was clearly a scholar. The people drinking together inside should all be similar. Well, now we don't need to set up a stall in front of the private school.

"It didn't hit me, but you should still be careful, young friend. It might have hit someone else."

"I'm so sorry, someone drank too much and threw their things out."

Perhaps it was because Liu Qingyuan's appearance didn't resemble that of an ordinary Taoist priest that the scholar who peeked out didn't say much even when he heard Liu Qingyuan's somewhat unusual self-address, and just kept apologizing.

"Please wait a moment, Taoist priest. My friend and I will come out to meet you and apologize properly."

The things that were thrown out had to be taken back, and the person had to be invited up to apologize properly. Some people followed him and stuck their heads out. After seeing the person below, they found it intriguing and encouraged him to invite the person up.

"No need to trouble you young friends, I can go up by myself."

The invitation was exactly what he wanted to hear. Judging from the sounds, it was probably a group of scholars out having fun. The probability of such a group running into the protagonist of the story was very high.

"Okay, then we'll meet at the entrance of the private room..."

"No need, young friends, please step back a little while."

"Going forward...does that mean this place?"

At first, the people upstairs didn't understand. After a moment, they realized they were being told to move further in and away from the viewing railing. "Is this person trying to jump up?" a few scholars on the second floor wondered.

The second floor is not particularly high on its own, but large restaurants are built higher than other buildings to make the interior look better. The reason why this second floor can be used as a viewing spot is because it is higher than the surrounding three-story buildings, offering an excellent view and making it look impressive when entertaining guests.

This height is not something a person can easily climb up or down. If you climb up, you might just miss it, but if you jump down, you'll at least break a leg.

But for some reason, they obediently stepped back, and once they did, they could no longer see what was below.

"That Taoist priest down there... wow!"

As they retreated, some people were still tentatively asking questions. It was the first time they had seen someone with such a young face but a head of white hair, and they couldn't help but feel curious. Strange tales and legends spread quickly among scholars, and they occasionally heard about strange and unusual things. Therefore, everyone believed that the person below was an extraordinary person.

Once everyone was in a safe position, Liu Qingyuan casually stuck the whisk behind him, took the fan and wine cup that had almost hit him on the head, took two steps back, slightly bent his knees, and with a burst of strength, a white shadow flew up with the wind. In the next instant, he landed steadily on the second-floor railing, causing a gasp from the surrounding crowd.

This operation is actually very simple and anyone who knows light-body skills can do it. However, the group of weak scholars in front of him are the kind who are so lovesick that they can't even get out of bed. Therefore, Liu Qingyuan's move naturally seems very magical to them.