Chapter 8: Two penniless guys doing a mission in the Mission Hall
Song Yin took Yuan Jie's advice to heart. The two left Wanbaolou and went straight to the Mission Hall, which was even more crowded than Wanbaolou. They squeezed in to ask how to accept missions.
The people from the Mission Hall glanced at Song Yin and Shi Heming casually, with an attitude that suggested they were barely alive, and asked, "What's their cultivation level?"
"They are all in the early stage of Qi Refining."
"New disciples, right? There are no missions suitable for your cultivation level and age at the moment."
No matter how much we planned, we didn't anticipate the absence of tasks.
Someone behind him said, "I'm here to take on the task for the early stage of Qi Refining."
The people from the mission hall brought out a bunch of wooden plaques, each with an unclaimed mission.
Song Yin pointed at the male cultivator behind her: "Why is he able to accept missions?"
The people from the Mission Hall did not panic because of Song Yin's words. They remained calm and composed, saying, "The missions are all combat-related or dangerous to you. You are too old for them. Wait for a safe mission before you come back."
"Oh, who do we have here? It's just you two little brats." The male cultivator behind them was Zhao Zhuowen. He waved the mission token in front of them and said in a sly tone, "What a pity. So what if you're at the early stage of Qi Refining? You're too young to take on missions. You can only get a fixed monthly allowance. How miserable!"
Song Yin was in a bad mood because she couldn't accept the mission, and said to Zhao Wenzhuo in an annoyed tone, "Go away, don't bother me."
"I won't go, I won't go. I'll help you if you beg me." Zhao Zhuowen stood in front of the two of them, twisting and contorting his body.
Song Yin was speechless: "How old are you? How can you be so childish?" She turned and walked in another direction.
Shi Heming made no attempt to hide his disdain. "Childish."
Zhao Zhuowen: "You two stop right there. Who are you calling childish?"
"Get out of here after you've taken your mission. Don't block the way and prevent others from taking their missions." The man from the Mission Hall finally showed anger on his usually stern face.
Work is already annoying enough, and then some stupid thing interferes with it, making it even more annoying.
Zhao Wenzhuo wanted to chase after them, but when he saw a familiar figure in the crowd, he recalled unpleasant memories and immediately left the mission hall with his tail between his legs.
On the other side, the two stood in an open space in the mission hall.
Shi Heming: "What should we do? Maybe we should come back in a few days and ask again."
“I’ll ask every day; I don’t believe we won’t find a task we can do,” Song Yin decided.
Qi Zibo: "You come to the mission hall every day?"
Song Yin glanced over and saw Qi Zibo appear suddenly, like a ghost.
"What are you doing here?" When Song Yin was in a good mood, she would be sweet-talking and smile at everyone she met. When she was in a bad mood, she would naturally be expressionless, and her tone would also be different from usual.
Qi Zibo stroked his beard and glared at him: "Old man, I've been in the Mission Hall all day. Besides, anyone can come to the Mission Hall. Is it surprising that I'm here?"
Song Yin clicked her tongue. "Sigh, you'd better stop calling yourself an old man. Although you look about the same age as my deceased grandfather, you're not quite that old with gray hair."
Qi Zibo glared and puffed out his beard: "You're saying I look like your dead grandfather? Are you cursing me? Believe me or not, I'll make sure your remaining family members are buried in the same grave as your grandfather?"
Song Yin looked at Qi Zibo with a strange expression.
After Qi Zibo finished threatening the child, he waited for the child to show a scared expression, but to his surprise, Song Yin was not scared at all, and instead had a strange expression.
Qi Zibo: "What kind of look is that?"
Shi Heming said in a low voice, "My whole family died the night before the spiritual root test. Song Yin's grandparents and parents all died at the hands of bandits that night."
Song Yin: "You don't need to bury them, they're already in the ground."
Qi Zibo: ...
Qi Zibo: ...
Qi Zibo: ...
What should I do? My conscience has been suddenly struck a heavy blow. Can I take back what I just said?
Neither of the two children spoke, creating a stark contrast between the surrounding noise and their silence.
After thinking for a long time, driven by his conscience, Qi Zibo spoke dryly, "Well, both of your family members are gone?" He carefully chose his words, trying to avoid words like "dead" or "buried".
Song Yin calmly said, "Well, what else would I do? Why would I lie to you? The night before the spiritual root test, bandits split into several groups and broke into sparsely populated villages, burning, killing, and looting. Only a dozen or so people survived in our village. I was lucky; I didn't go home that night of the robbery, which is how I survived. As for him..." Thinking that Shi Heming had only just emerged from his grief, she decided not to mention his painful past. "Forget it, let's not talk about him. Anyway, bury him if you want."
I'm so damn stupid!
It's one thing to bully children, but to rub salt into their wounds!
Qi Zibo felt even more guilty. "I'm sorry." He hadn't apologized to anyone in a long time, but now he took the initiative to apologize to the two children.
Oh no, how am I supposed to comfort this kid? The little guy next to me looks like he's about to break! No wonder I always thought he looked like a little bitter gourd whenever I saw him.
Qi Zibo suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "Is it because you can't get any missions?"
Song Yin nodded.
Qi Zibo: "You all wait here, leave this to me."
He turned and strode upstairs.
Shi Heming looked at Song Yin: "What can he do? Can he conjure up a mission?"
Song Yin: "I don't know, let's wait and see." Turns out, Lao Deng is so easy to manipulate; appearances can be deceiving.
Qi Zibo didn't keep the two children waiting too long, nor did he dare to. He hurried downstairs, carrying two task tokens in his hand, and weaved through the crowd.
Qi Zibo handed the wooden plaques to the two men: "This is a long-term mission. You will deliver the spiritual herbs picked from Spirit Herb Peak to Spirit Pill Peak. Although there aren't many direct disciples of the current elders at Spirit Pill Peak, there are many disciples studying alchemy there, so the demand for spiritual herbs is very high. You two will deliver the herbs every ten days, which will be conveniently done on your rest days, so it won't interfere with your cultivation or classes."
"The reward for each delivery is one hundred mid-grade spirit stones. Whether you go to Spirit Herb Peak or Spirit Pill Peak, as long as you show your mission token, they will know to let you in. Don't go today, wait until the next rest day."
Song Yin looked at the task sign over and over again. He actually did it?
"Thank you, Grandpa Qi."
Hearing Song Yin affectionately call him Grandpa Qi and express her gratitude, Qi Zibo's conscience finally broke down. He said, "You're welcome," and then fled in panic.
Song Yin waved the wooden plaque in her hand and smiled at Shi Heming, saying, "Long-term mission accomplished!"
After much hesitation, Shi Heming finally asked the question that had been hidden in his heart for a long time.
"You don't seem to grieve for your deceased family members?"
Song Yin put the mission token into the storage bag hanging on her waist and replied without looking up, "Of course, I'm also grateful to God for taking them away."
Shi Heming: "Why?"
Song Yin: "Because they treated me badly when I was little. When I was little and couldn't run, they wouldn't feed me properly and would beat and scold me. When I got a little older and could run, I would run away every time they beat and scolded me. So they started to discuss selling me, and they didn't consider where to sell me, only the price. I was able to escape the bandits because I was hiding outside and preparing to run away."
Shi Heming remained silent for a long time, unable to speak. He couldn't understand how anyone could treat their child like that.
Song Yin's experience had a profound impact on Shi Heming, who had grown up in the loving care of his parents.
Song Yin: "We've received the mission, let's go back."
Sunlight shines on the bamboo hut, bamboo leaves sway in the wind on both sides of the road, bamboo shadows sway back and forth underfoot, and sunlight shimmers in the shadows through the gaps, like the surface of water.
Song Yin was in a good mood on her way back. Everything was going in a favorable direction. It would be even better if she could find a master in the future.
"See you tomorrow." Song Yin waved to Shi Heming and then went into her courtyard.
Shi Heming returned to his room and began to reflect on his behavior since joining the sect.
In her relationship with her good friend Song Yin, Song Yin has always been the one to forgive and comfort her, encouraging her not to dwell on the past but to look forward. Today, Song Yin can freely express her pain to Grandpa Qi and herself, yet she also carefully takes care of herself by not revealing the details of her situation.
Although she was a year younger than me, she encountered far more difficulties than I did. The hardships did not extinguish the light in her eyes; instead, they tempered her will.
Perhaps, it's time for me to move on from that night.
Song Yin returned to her room. Since she had nothing else to do, she sat cross-legged on the bed and began to absorb spiritual energy to continue her cultivation.
Bang bang bang.
A knock came from outside the courtyard, interrupting Song Yin's cultivation. She got up from the bed, put on her shoes, walked to the courtyard, and opened the gate.
It turned out to be Qi Zibo, a neighbor who had never visited before.
"Grandpa Qi, is there something you need?"
Qi Zibo: "Uh, I do have something to ask you." He felt he had done something wrong and asked someone to help him find a solution. The conclusion was that he shouldn't think he could get away with it just because the child was young, and that he should send a gift to apologize properly.
Song Yin stepped aside: "Then come in."
When Qi Zibo entered the courtyard, his first impression was that it was empty. In his own courtyard next door, he had transplanted various flowers and plants, and even planted a plum tree, using magic to make the plum blossoms bloom at all times. In short, he had taken good care of it.
But Song Yin's courtyard was different. Where flowers and grass could be planted, low-lying weeds grew. Nothing had been added to the courtyard; a lone well stood there, water stains still visible around the opening, clearly indicating she had drawn water herself. This little courtyard was completely empty; it remained exactly as it was before people moved in.
"Sigh." Qi Zibo sighed softly.
Presumably, the house also consists of three empty rooms, furnished only with basic furniture provided by the sect.
When guests arrive, she should prepare tea, but she feels that no one will come to her house. The last time her sister from another dimension came was an accident, so she has never bought tea or other such things.
Qi Zibo did not go inside, but chose to sit on the stone bench in the courtyard, just like Yuan Jie had done before.
Qi Zibo took out many things from his storage bag and arranged them on the stone table in the courtyard.
"These are all apologies. I hope you can forgive me if I said anything wrong today."
Song Yin blinked. "No way, did the sun rise in the west?" Qi Zibo, that middle-aged male cultivator who always sneered and looked down on others, was actually apologizing to a child. He'd already apologized at the Mission Hall, and even gotten her a long-term mission. And he was even calling her "little friend"! What a strange way to address her! This meant Qi Zibo considered her as an equal.
"No need, Grandpa Qi, I'm not angry. You've already helped me in the Mission Hall, so please take these back." Song Yin turned back into a well-behaved child once again.
What a good child! I spoke to her like that in the mission hall, and it even changed the tone of such a good child. Now that I've apologized, she says she's not angry.
Qi Zibo didn't even realize that his tone had softened, "Take these things. We're neighbors. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. If you need anything or want help in the future, you can come to me."
A note from the author:
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Qi Zibo in the middle of the night: I deserve to die! [Cracked][Melted]
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