Chapter Fourteen: Master, Please Stay

At noon, Hu the Fourth, known for his quick hands, arrived leading a scrawny donkey. As soon as he entered, he began to boast loudly, his manner arrogant and triumphant, the very picture of a small man suddenly finding fortune.

He declared that seven members of the Quick Hands Squad—Han Chang'an, Hu the Fourth, and others—had joined forces to protect the county and its people, valiantly fighting a fierce corpse puppet. The county magistrate, pleased with their bravery, rewarded them.

At last, the brothers of the Quick Hands Squad had their own mount.

"Boss Han, the county constable said you should rest properly and it's alright if you report in a few days," Hu the Fourth finished his swaggering, then hurried over to Han Chang'an and whispered.

Chang'an pushed aside his greasy face and cursed, "Get lost, I'm annoyed enough as it is."

Yet, inwardly, he found these unruly men of the Quick Hands Squad far more pleasing to the eye; half a day spent with so-called 'masters' had left him thoroughly exasperated...

"Annoyed? Boss, are you in a bad mood?" Hu the Fourth glanced at Li Yishan, who was resting with his eyes closed after a hearty meal, then at the little nun still devouring her food, and seemed to understand.

"Is it those two practitioners from the fringe sects who angered you?"

"More or less..." Chang'an rubbed his brow, glum.

These two were insatiable.

"Watch how I deal with them!" Hu the Fourth threatened, drawing his waist knife and muttering, "Boss, you hold them off for now; I'll go get reinforcements!"

With his knife, he dashed out the door and hurried off to the county office...

Coward! Running away, what nonsense!

If these two gluttons don't leave, my silver won't last—especially that Li Yishan, utterly unreasonable!

First meeting, and I had to pay off fifteen taels of silver for his debts...

And then there's the Buddhist glutton, never letting anyone rest, ten pounds of mutton, seven or eight dishes, half a jar of wine... Is she the Temple Purifier? How does she eat so much and not gain a single pound? Truly, a natural beauty, destined for trouble...

"Sir Li, Master Ding..."

"Shut up!"

Chang'an, face full of misery, had just started to speak when he was interrupted by both of them in unison. Breath caught in his chest, only after several sighs did he manage to swallow it.

These so-called masters—Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist—no wonder they're suppressed and excluded, finally driven from the court by warrior officials; they're too domineering, too unreasonable. Well, maybe the Daoists are a little better...

"Well, have you thought it over?"

Li Yishan, though here to sell himself as a servant and freeload, still carried himself like a lord, cradling a scroll of sage writings, eyelids drooping with an air of disdain and reluctance.

That was the very essence of sour Confucianism.

Prideful to the point of self-destruction, that’s the scholar’s way.

"Amitabha, well done, it seems you have thought it through, Benefactor Han." The little nun joined her palms, chanting the Buddha’s name. If her hands weren’t so greasy, she might have looked quite dignified...

No, it was solemn majesty.

"My esteemed masters, I simply cannot afford to feed you." Chang'an looked miserable, almost on the verge of tears.

It was as if he'd defeated a minor boss only to have two moochers latch onto him...

"Money is not an issue," Li Yishan declared righteously.

The little nun nodded emphatically.

But the problem is there is no money...

"Masters, I am a government official, seventh-rank magistrate of Weiyang County, eighth-rank martial officer, head of the Quick Hands Squad... How can I sustain practitioners from fringe sects? Do I not want promotion and fortune?"

Chang'an had reached his limit.

So what if they’re fringe practitioners, so what if they wield sorcery and artifacts? Do they really dare challenge the dignified head of Weiyang County’s Quick Hands Squad?

"Tch!"

"Pfft!"

"..."

Suddenly, Chang'an’s heart stirred with an idea.

"Actually, I have my own difficulties," he said gloomily. "It’s not that I don’t want to take you in, but... there’s a hidden reason."

"What is it?" the two masters asked in unison.

"It’s just... never mind, it’s better left unsaid," he said, raising a half-bowl of leftover wine and drinking it all. "Even if I told you, you couldn’t help. It would cost you your lives for nothing, and I couldn't bear that."

"Boy, speak. In this tiny Weiyang County, there is nothing Li Yishan can’t resolve." Li Yishan put away his scroll, speaking with calm assurance.

"Yes, yes, speak—Amitabha, I, this humble nun, will help you," the little nun said, puffing up her flat chest to encourage Chang'an.

Pity... a natural beauty wasted by the times, born in an era too peaceful for her.

Chang'an glanced at the little nun, shook his head, and smiled wryly. "You can't help me."

He picked up a piece of mutton left on the table, rejected by the little nun, and chewed it slowly, sighing deeply.

"Masters, you do not know—I am being 'kept' by a female ghost who has cultivated for at least three hundred years. On the next full moon night..."

He was about to say more when he turned to see Li Yishan's face, green with terror, and the little nun's pale, sickly expression, both pairs of eyes filled with obvious fear...

I thought they were brave enough to provoke corpse puppets, surely they had some means, but hearing of a three-hundred-year-old female ghost, they’re scared out of their wits?

"Do you still wish to stay?" Chang'an asked calmly.

As for the female ghost 'keeping' him, Chang'an already had a plan.

It would just take some time.

He believed, if he could cultivate the Qi Absorption Technique to the initial great perfection, and with the small black rod in his spiritual sea, he should be able to fight her.

"Er... Boss Han, are you not fooling us?" Li Yishan pondered, brows knit, left hand pinching fingers as he calculated, looking quite serious...

"Yes, Benefactor Han, your vital energy is robust, yang energy abundant... It shouldn’t be!" The little nun blinked in confusion, scrutinizing Chang'an up and down.

Chang'an smiled bitterly, "It’s because I just broke through. Didn’t you notice?"

"Warrior cultivation is nothing but toughening a copper head and iron arms; hardly worth looking at," Li Yishan finished his calculations, gave Chang'an a disdainful look.

"Taiping, let’s go."

Taiping... the name fits perfectly.

"Hey, hey, don’t go, esteemed masters! My little life still depends on you..." Seeing Li Yishan pull 'Taiping Nun' away, Chang'an deliberately tried to keep them.

"When I return to the academy and refine a Seal of Righteousness, I’ll come help you destroy the ghost," Li Yishan and his companion didn’t look back, vanishing in a flash.

At last, peace...

Chang'an exhaled heavily, gazing at the table strewn with leftover soups and dishes, the wine jar toppled askew, rubbing his brow.

The 'masters' from Weiyang Academy and Lingyin Temple could not be relied upon.

All that remained was the Baiyun Monastery in the north of the city—perhaps, maybe, hopefully... there might be a true master there?

No matter, the next full moon is still some days away; best to hunt some lesser ghosts and level up for now...