30: Looking for someone

With his mind made up, Lu Xian hesitated no longer; he would do it right away!

He first set off into the city and found the General Affairs Department, which was responsible for the leasing and management of land on the outskirts of the market.

He proactively paid six Spirit Stones to rent the remaining eight acres of wasteland surrounding his small courtyard.

His home was located on the outskirts of the Shantytown, where the annual rent for one acre of land was only sixty spirit shards.

In the past, when his monthly salary was only twenty spirit shards, half of it had to be poured into the land rent.

But now, a mere few Spirit Stones were, of course, nothing to worry about.

The Shantytown outside Qingyun City stretched for dozens of miles, encircling the city walls, and likely housed tens of thousands of households.

Many a little makes a mickle; the government likely had a stable income of one hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones annually just from this land rent.

"Landlords have always been the wealthiest; my little courtyard is far from that..."

Walking out of the General Affairs Department, Lu Xian could not help but sigh.

The System was his greatest secret and must never be exposed.

At the end of the day, it was because his strength was insufficient.

If he had Golden Core cultivation, he could occupy his own mountain, open up dozens of acres of [Spirit Fields], and the speed at which he earned Spirit Stones would increase more than tenfold!

To set himself up as a king...

Lu Xian shook his head, momentarily putting aside these daydreams, and walked out of the city, heading straight for Song Chengping's home.

Standing before that familiar wooden door, he knocked "thump, thump, thump" for a long while.

No one?

After a while, Lu Xian quietly extended his Divine Sense into the courtyard.

Inside the house, only Xiao Ling was cowering in the storage room; there was no sign of Song Chengping.

Did something happen?

He hesitated no longer. With a light tap of his toes against the ground, his figure drifted like a falling leaf over the courtyard wall and landed inside.

"Xiao Ling, don't be afraid, it's me." Lu Xian softened his voice and called out gently toward the storage room, "I've come to find your grandfather."

Hearing this familiar voice, Xiao Ling peeked out from inside, crying out, "Immortal Brother! Grandfather... Grandfather was taken away by bad people!"

"What?" Lu Xian asked, puzzled.

Song Chengping had lived in this chaotic Shantytown for over seventy years and had long since figured out his own set of survival rules. He was prudent and would not easily offend anyone.

How could he have been taken away for no reason?

"Don't rush, tell me slowly, what exactly happened?"

Xiao Ling wiped her tears, her body trembling slightly. "A few days ago, Grandfather came back sighing, saying he had done unpaid work for someone again; a family didn't pay the wages for building their house... Grandfather was used to such things, but..."

"But yesterday, that family who defaulted on the payment came to the door again, wanting Grandfather to build another house. When Grandfather saw who it was, he refused."

"As it turned out, that person was also a Cultivator, so... so they forcibly took Grandfather away... wuwuwu..."

"They also said that if he didn't go to work, they would beat Grandfather to death... wuwu..."

Xiao Ling cried, gasping for breath. "Oh, right, Grandfather had told me before that if he didn't come back for several days, I should come and find you, Immortal Brother..."

After listening to Xiao Ling's intermittent retelling, Lu Xian frowned. The Shantytown was a chaotic mix of people, and on top of that, the local customs were "simple and honest."

Defaulting on debts was a common occurrence.

"Xiao Ling, do you know which direction they took your grandfather?"

"It... it seems to be towards the southeast. Immortal Brother, can... can you save my grandfather?"

Xiao Ling's eyes were filled with anticipation, yet she was also somewhat fearful and uneasy.

Lu Xian did not answer and stood up straight away.

He walked to the middle of the courtyard and summoned his Flying Sword, then said in a deep voice, "Rest assured, by the time you wake up from a nap, your grandfather will be back."

With those words, he took flight on his sword, following the southeast direction and carefully scanning the scattered houses below.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.

He saw that near an unfinished courtyard below, a pair of well-dressed male and female Cultivators were cursing at an old man who was hunched over working:

"Old thing, you insist on doing things the hard way, don't you? You still dare to resist? Just relying on your Qi Refining level one cultivation? Hmph."

Song Chengping hunched his back, silently carrying lumber, seemingly resigned to his fate.

But Lu Xian saw it clearly!

The muscles under the old man's clothes were taut as iron, and a sharp, keen edge was hidden deep within his cloudy eyes, like a dormant Vicious Beast waiting for the moment to strike like thunder!

"I knew it. Although Old Song looks honest, he is definitely not a soft persimmon to be slaughtered at will. This couple is going to be unlucky—no, not unlucky, they are going to face retribution."

Lu Xian understood the situation.

The people below were completely unaware that there was someone above their heads.

The show was about to begin, and Lu Xian was in no hurry. He landed quietly, leaned against the outside of the courtyard gate, and watched the developments.

Half an hour later.

The male Cultivator said impatiently, "Jie, keep a close eye on him. I'm going to the backyard to plan the expansion. It would be best if this old thing works himself to death; that would save us a large sum!"

The female Cultivator said coquettishly, "Go ahead, Brother Lan, don't worry. If this old man dares to slack off, I'll break his legs directly and make him work on his knees!"

The two of them conversed without any restraint.

On the other side, Song Chengping, who was busy working, showed no change in his expression upon hearing this, as if what they were discussing had nothing to do with him.

But Lu Xian noticed with his Divine Sense that the corner of his mouth twitched extremely quickly at that moment.

The opportunity had arrived!

After the male Cultivator headed to the backyard, Song Chengping nailed down a wooden board and then walked close to the female Cultivator, pretending to get new Materials.

"Hurry up! Stop dawdling!"

Seeing this, the female Cultivator looked disgusted and made a move to lift her foot to kick him.

At that very moment!

A fierce light erupted in Song Chengping's eyes!

Instead of dodging, he took advantage of the momentum to grab the ankle the female Cultivator was kicking with. His withered palm erupted with terrifying Qi and blood, and he squeezed and yanked violently!

"Ah—" The female Cultivator screamed miserably. Her right leg was crushed and torn off alive, with blood spraying wildly!

In the blink of an eye, Song Chengping did not pause, backhanding a punch.

The female Cultivator's head exploded like a ripe watermelon!

The male Cultivator, rushing back from the backyard, witnessed this scene and was so enraged that his eyes were about to split.

"You're courting death!"

Song Chengping turned around abruptly, his hunched body straightening like a spear, his face showing a rare, ferocious intensity: "I think it is you who are courting death! You actually dared to threaten my granddaughter!"

The male Cultivator realized that his Dao Companion's breath had been cut off, and her head was shattered to pieces. He was instantly overwhelmed by fury and roared, "Old thing! I will have your whole family buried with her!!"

He completely ignored the strength Song Chengping had displayed, and even less did he think that he was in the wrong.

Taking out a large blade, he slashed down at Song Chengping's head!

Song Chengping's pupils constricted; he had not expected the opponent to have a weapon, and he dodged to the side.

But the blade strikes came one after another.

"Enough!"

He had nowhere left to dodge, so he decided to take the blade's edge head-on, trading injury for his life!

He could not flee; otherwise, his granddaughter at home would never have peace again.

"I only hope Xiao Ling can find Immortal Master Lu..." Song Chengping closed his eyes, gathering all the power of his Qi and blood, and swung toward the male Cultivator.

At the same time, the cold blade had already touched his neck!

However, the expected excruciating pain did not arrive.

He only heard a piercing metallic clang of "Clang."

The large blade in the male Cultivator's hand snapped in response!

A Flying Sword with a chilling glint was hovering in mid-air, humming and circling!

"Who?" The male Cultivator was terrified out of his wits and suddenly sobered up, "Senior, Senior, spare my life!"

Song Chengping opened his eyes in astonishment, looking at the scene before him in disbelief... I'm not dead? I survived?

"What kind of skill is it to bully an old man?"

A familiar voice rang out, and Song Chengping looked toward the entrance.

He saw Lu Xian kick the courtyard gate to pieces, and amidst the flying wood chips, he strode in.

It must be said, the feeling of kicking down a door was indeed satisfying... Lu Xian finally understood why some people never liked to knock.

His black robe fluttered slightly in the wind, his face was as calm as water, and his eyes held a chill.

A rare moment to show off... In the past, he always laid low whenever possible.

Lu Xian sighed inwardly.

He casually recalled his Flying Sword, stood holding the sword, and swept his indifferent gaze toward the male Cultivator: "Commit suicide. Later, I will be responsible for cremating you, ensuring it is clean."

"Senior, spare me! Senior..." The male Cultivator plopped to his knees, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Before he could finish his sentence, the sword light was like lightning, flashing and disappearing in an instant!

The male Cultivator's final vision was fixed on his own headless, blood-spraying corpse.

"Too noisy." Lu Xian only said one word.

"Old Song, it's fortunate that I had something to find you for. Xiao Ling has already told me the reason."

As Lu Xian spoke, he leaned over to take the Storage Pouch from the male Cultivator's waist and added, "The woman was killed by Old Song, so I won't take the spoils of war. There are five Spirit Stones on her. Consider it Old Song's compensation for emotional distress."

Compensation for emotional distress?

Song Chengping was puzzled but still waved his hands repeatedly: "How can that be? If not for Immortal Master Lu's intervention, I would already be a ghost in the underworld by now..."

He was still shaken, but even more filled with gratitude.

"No need. My small courtyard at home needs to be expanded, and I need Old Song's help, so just consider it an advance on the wages."

Song Chengping hesitated for a moment, but eventually accepted it.

Spirit Stones were not something to refuse further, as it would be impolite, and presumably, Immortal Master Lu was not lacking in such amounts.

After cremating the two corpses.

There were no valuable items in the male Cultivator's Storage Pouch, only a dozen or so Spirit Stones.

Lu Xian was not disappointed; this Low Grade Storage Pouch alone was worth eighty or ninety Spirit Stones.

The two returned together, and Lu Xian gave his instructions: "Expand two acres to the right, so the small courtyard will occupy a total of four acres. The height of the newly built courtyard walls should be the same as the original. Additionally, I need several simple sheds to be built..."

"This... requires quite a lot of Materials, I'm afraid I'll need four or five days to prepare. I wonder if Immortal Master is in a rush?"

"No rush, as long as it's completed within the month..."

In the sunset's afterglow, the two returned to their respective homes.

Today was another busy day; time to sleep!