83: Chapter 83 The Old Celestial Master's Sorrow

The surrounding hills of the entire Tang Family Fortress were blanketed with plants from the Rosaceae family.

Thanks to Mia's title of [Bloody Horticulturalist], planting [Blood Rose] was incredibly efficient, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

She handed the refining method and the prescription for the antidote to the Old Sect Leader, leaving him even more conflicted.

She had saved his senior brother, helped the core members of his sect divine their fortunes, and—except for a few with terrible luck or those who were stubborn (You Ke)—most had escaped disaster.

Now, she had even set up this massive defensive flower sea for him.

It was truly a difficult situation to handle.

He had originally wanted to recruit Mia and her group into the Tang Clan, but the Old Sect Leader caught a glimpse of the Celestial Masters Mansion offering plaque at Mia's waist—which was neither gold nor wood—and abandoned that thought.

Li Ding had discussed passing the [Wu Shao Armor] to Mia, but she immediately responded by demonstrating the authentic, direct-lineage [Golden Light Spell].

Li Ding had no choice but to rub his bald head, grin, and walk away.

The sect rules were issued today: "Hereby, Mia, the honorary major of the anti-Japanese hero Chang Kaishen's army, and her relatives/friends, shall never appear on the Tang Clan's list of business targets. Any sect member who violates this rule shall be punished by all."

The ink was not yet dry.

The Old Sect Leader had people rush to disseminate these sect rules.

He knew full well how precious the information Mia brought about the high-level "Ghost Crowd" of Bihe Mountain ninjas was to the Tang Clan, and how accurate her fortune-telling for their members was.

Now, it had completely become an unpayable debt of gratitude.

Yet, she just smiled and said, "The Tang Clan can still take jobs to assassinate them. I only do this out of admiration for the Tang Clan's high righteousness—the great hero acts for the country and the people!"

The Old Sect Leader now desperately wanted to use his decades of Qi and movement techniques to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

"You're overthinking the girl's intentions, aren't you? Eh..."

The First Master, Tang Jiaren, who was lying on a soft cot nearby, teased him from the side.

The old man was recovering well and could already walk on the ground.

The blade wound to his vital organs had been miraculously repaired by Mia.

After this convalescence, he felt his body was even sturdier than before.

It seemed he had made it past this hurdle.

"You should change your name to 'Laughing Maitreya' in the future. 'Laughing Yama' doesn't suit you anymore."

The Old Sect Leader's face was covered in black lines.

A knock sounded at the door.

A sect member reported that the Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain, Zhang Jingqing, had brought his two—no, three high disciples—to visit the Tang Clan, hoping to stand with the Tang Clan to resist Bihe Mountain.

"Do not see them, but treat them well and don't lose our etiquette."

The Old Sect Leader was still dwelling on his senior brother's teasing, furious and unable to extricate himself.

"But they also said that even if the Sect Leader won't see them, they must see their own sect's protector. The anti-Japanese hero, Miss Mia. We can't refuse this..."

The sect member complained aggrievedly to the Old Sect Leader, "And we can't beat them in a fight..."

The Old Sect Leader flicked his sleeve, "Let's go. I'll go meet that old Taoist."

He walked out with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Behind him came the hearty laughter of the First Master, Tang Jiaren.

In the living room, the Celestial Master, Zhang Jingqing, sat high, sipping tea.

He waited patiently for the Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader, full of confidence.

Standing below were two—no, three young people.

One tall and one short, both dressed as Taoists.

The other looked like a soldier from the Shu region, carrying a long gun slung across his back, looking every bit the soldier-rogue, with one eye socket bruised black and the other purple.

No need to ask, the black one was definitely hit by the Celestial Master.

Zhang Tianxing, strictly speaking based on entry time, should be the senior brother of the two little Taoists, but he had left without saying goodbye years ago to resist the Japanese, and was recorded by Longhu Mountain as having betrayed the sect, life or death irrelevant.

Yet, he happened to be carrying the invitation plaque for an outer sect offering.

This messy account could only be settled by the Celestial Master.

Seeing his two disciples looking slightly flushed, the Celestial Master snorted through his nose.

"Your [Golden Light Spell] is still not up to par, otherwise you wouldn't have let the lewd and evil toxins from outside invade your bodies."

"Though this poison is harmless to you, consider it a tempering of your Daoist heart."

Looking back at Zhang Tianxing, he felt a bit puzzled.

This kid's Golden Light Spell was not as good as his two disciples, Zhang Zhiwei and Zhang Huaiyi, yet he hadn't been affected in the slightest by the [Blood Rose] flower sea.

But for the sake of his face, he wasn't in a hurry to ask.

He'd punch him twice in a while, and after the beating, this kid would confess on his own.

"The Celestial Master visits; we failed to welcome you from afar."

The Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader was quite polite; after all, the Celestial Master represented the orthodoxy of Longhu Mountain.

"I'll lend you these two disciples of mine. Use them as you please."

The Celestial Master waved his sleeve, and Zhang Huaiyi and Zhang Zhiwei bowed and cupped their hands to the Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader.

"We appreciate the kind intention, Celestial Master. But..."

The Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader was interrupted by the Celestial Master halfway through.

"Don't talk to me about your Tang Clan's rules. How could a job to assassinate a high disciple of the Celestial Masters Mansion ever be submitted to your Tang Clan? (Truth be told, there really would be one in the future.)"

"It's not just a matter of rules and business. What we do with Bihe Mountain is work in the shadows."

"Assassination is a matter of life and death. They will be at war with us for a long time to come."

"You can help us for a moment, but can you help us for a lifetime? Or several lifetimes?"

The Old Sect Leader's words made the Celestial Master fall into silence.

"Then, surely we must be allowed to see this unfilial disciple who has been designated as a sect protector by our Celestial Masters Mansion?"

The Old Sect Leader had someone retrieve the antidote for [Blood Rose] and had the sect member hand it to the two disciples, Zhang Zhiwei and Zhang Huaiyi.

"Her abilities—haven't you all already experienced them?"

The Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader smiled.

"The flower sea covering the mountains outside your Tang Family Fortress is her handiwork?"

The Celestial Master was a bit shocked.

Regardless of anything else, just the fact that she could plant several hills with flowers in such a short time was not something an ordinary person could do.

Zhang Tianxing, standing to the side, gloated and bowed, saying, "Master, isn't this protector we found amazing?"

The Celestial Master punched him in the eye socket from a distance.

Zhang Tianxing fell backward to the ground.

The Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader, however, looked at this little soldier-rogue with new respect.

He admired his eye for people.

He thought to himself, why couldn't the Tang Clan have more of such rebellious disciples?

"Longhu Mountain outer sect guest — Mia, pays respects to the Celestial Master."

Outside the door, Mia, dressed in red, walked into the living room with poise.

Barefoot and wearing socks, she looked just like a fairy fallen to the mortal world, or perhaps a demon controlling desire.

Her heterochromatic eyes adorned her lethal body curves, and beneath her feet, as she walked, red or ink-black rose patterns seemed to ripple.

Mia bowed gracefully.

Behind her were Tuaner, Ryan, and Loran, who followed her to pay respects to the Celestial Master.

Sensing the aura of demons, the Celestial Master opened his Heavenly Eye.

Well, well, a Western horned female demon, carrying a Western wolf cub, followed by a bat demoness, and even a flower demon.

This was a whole nest of demons bringing honor to the Celestial Masters Mansion.

But strangely, although these individuals had an aura of blood and slaughter, there was not the slightest foul stench.

(Evil thoughts and murder would produce a putrid scent in the spiritual perception of a Taoist master.)

The Celestial Master's face turned livid.

He was now wondering whether to use [Jianggong Thunder] to take down this bunch of demons or to use the Celestial Master's decree to accept this bunch of demons as outer sect protectors.

His teeth chattered with rage.

His hands trembled with anger.

He now wanted to hang Zhang Tianxing up and beat him.

The Old Sect Leader saw the situation.

"If the Celestial Master changes his mind, our Tang Clan is willing to offer these few the status of first-class guests—the kind that doesn't need to take jobs."

The Celestial Master understood the implication of the Tang Clan's Old Sect Leader.

The word "offer" was not something just anyone could deserve.

He laughed.

"The Immortals of the Northeast also have immortals running errands for them. Why would I care about their origins? Besides, they are all anti-Japanese heroes."

He accepted this outer sect protector arrangement; it was nothing more than beating Zhang Tianxing a few more times.

Nothing else, just practice makes perfect...