Chapter 61 Childhood Friend's Kindness

The solution, of course, is—who cares!

He's very hard to appease when he's angry!

Besides, they haven't even tried to coax him yet!

The next day.

Cui Mingcan got up very early and was having breakfast at the inn when a waiter-like man rushed over.

"Hey?" He sat down next to him excitedly, his eyes practically sparkling. "It really is you!!"

Cui Mingcan was stunned for a moment, then looked at him closely and suddenly remembered someone. He asked in surprise, "Fugui, why do you look like this?"

Yao Fugui grinned, revealing his white teeth: "Hey, it's been so long! You've grown up to be quite imposing!"

Cui Mingcan returned the compliment, saying, "You too! You were much stronger than when you were little!"

Yao Fugui chuckled and reminisced with him, "Hey, why didn't you come to see me when you came to Yueqing Town? I missed you so much!"

"Well, it's a long story. After you left Jiangzhou, my father didn't tell me in detail that you went back to Yueqing Town, so I never thought about this!"

"Perfect! It's great that we brothers are reunited again. We must have a good get-together!" Yao Fugui clapped his hands, got up, went behind the counter to get a bottle of wine, and said, "This is a good wine from my father's collection. It's rare for us brothers to get together, so let's drink it together!"

Cui Mingcan exclaimed in surprise, "So this inn is run by Uncle Yao!?"

"Aren't you fishing anymore?"

Yao Fugui waved his hand: "No more fighting, no more fighting. My dad injured his back and can't work anymore. Besides, my mind isn't clear from time to time, so he opened an inn here to take care of me."

Cui Mingcan exclaimed in surprise: "You..."

Yao Fugui knew what he wanted to ask, and laughed loudly: "Alas, those are all old stories! Let's not talk about them! Back in Jiangzhou, it was thanks to your and Uncle's care that my father and I were able to survive... Come! This cup of wine is for you!"

Cui Mingcan immediately picked up his wine glass: "It was nothing."

The two drank it all in one gulp.

The two hadn't seen each other for several years, but they hit it off immediately and chatted happily, drinking quite a bit of wine. Cui Mingcan still had something on her mind and wanted to ask him about it, but seeing that there were people sitting scattered around in the main hall, she was afraid that someone might be overheard, so she invited him upstairs to talk.

"By the way, I haven't asked you what you're doing now? Are you assisting your uncle? Your Cui family has many businesses, so I imagine your uncle will give you more opportunities to hone your skills..."

Cui Mingcan abruptly put down his cup, raised his chin, and said proudly, "Guess what I'm doing right now?"

He made a hand gesture, and the extinguished candle suddenly reignited.

Yao Fugui's eyes widened in shock. "Hey...you're cultivating immortality now?!" he exclaimed.

"Hmm." Cui Mingcan's eyes gleamed with smugness. "I'm now the personal disciple of the Heavenly Evolution Sect's leader!"

"Wow!!!" Yao Fugui exclaimed enthusiastically, "That's amazing!!"

He leaned closer and asked, "Do you know that magic, the one that can turn anything into gold?!"

Cui Mingcan laughed heartily: "There's no such thing as magic that can turn stones into gold in this world; it's all just an illusion!"

Yao Fugui exclaimed in astonishment, "I really believe I have this magic! This way I'll have an inexhaustible supply of gold and silver treasures!"

"You're dreaming!" Cui Mingcan sighed, impressed that he was still so greedy for money.

The two brothers chatted for a while.

"Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask you something."

Cui Mingcan hesitated.

"Go ahead and ask. We've known each other for so many years, I'll answer everything I know!"

Cui Mingcan chuckled and said, "Actually, it's nothing serious. I'm just curious about your sea god temple. Is the sea god here real?"

"Of course it's true. Although we haven't actually seen the sea god, the priest has! He is a disciple of the sea god, who is in charge of conveying the sea god's decrees."

"Is it really that mysterious?"

Yao Fugui nodded: "Yes, actually, I'm telling you..." Yao Fugui lowered his voice, acting mysteriously, and Cui Mingcan couldn't help but lean closer, wanting to hear something else: "That Sea God Temple isn't actually real..."

Cui Mingcan was surprised and quickly asked, "What do you mean?"

Yao Fugui paused, then said softly, "I'm telling you, you'd better keep this a secret. If anyone finds out, I'm in big trouble! My dad will be the first to beat me to death!"

"Of course, I'm very tight-lipped!"

"That priest was a fake; he even pocketed the offerings from the sea god's temple..."

Is this true?

"Of course it's true, I saw it with my own eyes!" Yao Fugui said confidently.

“My mind is foggy because of them,” Yao Fugui sighed. “Back then, that priest wasn’t a priest yet; he was just a lowly fisherman…”

Yao Fugui told the story again, but this time without his father stopping him, he finished telling it to Cui Mingcan smoothly: "That night I heard him tell my father after he was drunk that those people encountered shipwrecks because he could understand the language of sea creatures and communicate with them. He had also saved a nearly thousand-year-old monster, and the monster was willing to serve him in return..."

"So they joined forces, one stirring up storms at sea, and the other setting up a sea god temple in town to collect offerings..."

"What happened to your illness?" Cui Mingcan asked, his eyes full of worry. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Because I accidentally stumbled into the Temple of Poseidon and discovered its secrets, I almost got caught and damaged my brain. After being rescued, I developed a fever. My father told everyone that I had damaged my brain from the fever. When I was lucid, my father also made me pretend to be stupid from time to time, which is how I avoided their suspicion."

Yao Fugui touched the scar on the back of his head and said with some emotion, "However, my father hired many famous doctors to treat me, so I can now stay lucid for a certain period of time."

Cui Mingcan's eyes were filled with sorrow as he said, "You should have come to Jiangzhou back then! I would have found you a good doctor and you wouldn't have been threatened by them! You wouldn't have lived in constant fear!"

Yao Fugui was moved by his sincerity and his eyes glistened with tears: "Back then, Yueqing Town was guarded by them, and we couldn't get out. That's why my father came up with this plan to make me pretend to be crazy. So many years have passed, nothing serious has happened, and they don't even remember me anymore, so everything is fine now!"

Yao Fugui comforted him, and Cui Mingcan was indignant, but at this moment he felt even more sorry for his childhood playmate.

“I still remember when I saw you a few years ago, you and your father were passing through Yueqing Town and went to the Sea God Temple to make offerings. I recognized you, Uncle, at a glance! But at that time I was pretending to be crazy and didn’t dare to get close to you... Otherwise, we could have had a glass of the fine wine that my father had secretly hidden!”

Cui Mingcan laughed heartily, "Now we can drink too! Come on! This one's for you!"

"Let's do it!"

The two men drank and chatted happily, reminiscing about the joy of spending a few days together in their childhood.

At that time, Yao Fugui and his father went to sell fish. On the way, they were robbed by a group of people. They happened to meet Cui Mingcan and his son, who were returning to Jiangzhou from doing business. They rescued them. Because the two were about the same age, they played together along the way.

Time flies, and the past flows like water.

After chatting for a while, Cui Mingcan felt more at ease knowing that he was willing to share those private things with him.

Cui Mingcan suddenly asked him, "Has something big happened in your Yueqing Town recently?"

"No?" Yao Fugui thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Then why have I heard people say they want to arrest us cultivators...?"

Yao Fugui was startled when he said it, told him to be quiet, opened the door and knocked, then lowered his voice and asked him, "Where did you hear this from?"

“Yesterday I went to the Tanah Lot Temple to make offerings and overheard a man talking to a terrifying man who looked like he had been burned. I heard what they were saying.”

Yao Fugui's expression turned serious, and he said in a low voice, "It is indeed true."

Because he had become mentally impaired, the people in the temple paid little attention to him, and the priest and those who suspected him were often not in the temple. He only overheard their subordinates giving orders that they were looking for some cultivators.

"I am one of the people in that portrait..."

"Really!?" Yao Fugui exclaimed in surprise. "Although I didn't hear what kind of person they were looking for, I heard they've already laid a trap. As soon as you arrive, you'll be arrested! I don't know the specifics of what they're going to do..."

Cui Mingcan frowned: "Do you know what kind of business they do in their temple? Do they still make money through offerings?"

There must be something even more shady going on within their ranks! Otherwise, capturing four cultivators here and taking them away quietly wouldn't be an easy task.

"I know where their base is, but I don't know what kind of business they're in," Yao Fugui said frankly.

After pondering for a while, Cui Mingcan said to Fugui, "I need your help with something..."

"Just tell me, and I'll do everything in my power to make it happen for you!"

"I want you to keep an eye on these three people and make sure they leave as soon as they arrive in Yueqing Town."

Cui Mingcan tried to draw portraits of Bai Yuheng and the other two, but his drawing skills were indeed quite poor.

Yao Fugui could barely make out the human figures in the painting, and combined with the description, he carefully memorized it.

"Okay!" he asked, "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

Cui Mingcan shook his head; he was still angry!

He thought to himself, with Bai Yuheng and Li Tiankuo's cultivation levels and Cen Ying's poison, they could roam the world freely! For some mere mortals without any magical power to try and capture them was simply wishful thinking!

Moreover, he was still harboring resentment, and having Fugui help him spread the word was the greatest act of forbearance he could muster! He had done more than enough!

Cui Mingcan pursed his lips at the thought of the three of them, feeling quite annoyed.

He was drinking with Fugui in silence when he woke up and was caught here.

Cui Mingcan and Bai Yuheng exchanged glances. Seeing that she still had the nerve to smile at him, they were even more furious. They sneered and turned their heads away, unwilling to look at her.

"..."

"?"

Bai Yuheng sighed helplessly. Why was he angry again?

The guard was still waiting for her to speak when Bai Yuheng smiled gently and said, "I wonder if you could release my hands?"

Seeing his hesitation, Bai Yuheng added, "I know I am very important to you now. If you don't want this rope to hurt my hands, you'd better untie us."

As she spoke and laughed harmlessly, she tightened her grip, leaving clear red marks on her porcelain-white wrist. The guard's eyelids twitched, and he immediately said, "Alright, alright! Don't do anything rash!"

Bai Yuheng smiled sweetly, her smile as innocent as could be: "Thank you, Big Brother!"

The guard was dazzled by her laughter, his ears turned red, and he said shyly, "N-no, you're welcome..."

Cui Mingcan was stunned by the commotion. He turned around and met Bai Yuheng's smug gaze.

"..."

"Brother, isn't that guy over there going to loosen his grip too? He looks pretty good, aren't you worried about hurting that fine skin?"

The guard followed her gaze and, without thinking, said directly, "This person is cunning. We've been ordered not to let him go."

Bai Yuheng chuckled, drawing a resentful yet angry look from the person opposite her.

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Author's Note: This is the last update of the week. See you on Thursday! Please add this to your favorites! [Please!] More favorites will hopefully get me on the rankings next week! [Please!][Please!]