Claiming the Throne of Gods, Starting from the Rebirth of Nezha
Chapter 178: Outer World Town Affairs

Chapter 178: Chapter 178: Outer World Town Affairs

"Which fourth young lady?"

Upon hearing this, the masked performer beside him sighed in exasperation and reminded, "It’s the fourth young lady you encountered at Landlord Wang’s residence in Wujie Town during your last outing to inspect the disaster relief."

Ji Fa remembered, but the more he thought about it, the more irritated he became. He said, "Father and elder brother have returned; why should I worry about the fourth young lady? If they find out, they’ll skin me alive. Send her back immediately."

The performer sighed and said, "She can’t be sent back."

"How is it that a perfectly alive person can’t be sent back?"

The performer replied, "At the time, to avoid any news leakage, we disguised as bandits and robbed them; didn’t our men kill her entire family?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Fa jumped up in a fury. He paced back and forth in the room, making three laps, and finally cursed, "A bunch of useless fools, truly as dumb as pigs."

The performer, hearing the scolding, dared not respond.

Ji Fa then said, "What’s there to fear? The entire family is dead; there’s no harm in killing one more. Ensure no news leaks, just wrap the woman in a quilt and dig a pit in the backyard to bury her."

The performer listened to this and quickly went to bury the person.

Before long, someone else reported that Upper Doctor San Yisheng had come for a visit.

Ji Fa hurriedly invited San Yisheng in.

"Doctor, what brings you here?"

San Yisheng said, "There’s something I need to discuss with you, Young Master."

"Feel free to speak, Doctor."

"The King Wen’s smooth return to the country entailed assistance from Nezha of the Chan Sect and the Dragon Palace Princess, as well as help from one esteemed scholar named Jiang Ziya, who currently resides in Panxi fishing for a living. Now that King Wen has returned, he is swamped with affairs, but I believe it won’t be long before he heads to Panxi to invite him out of retirement."

Upon hearing this, Ji Fa praised, "Elder brother and father are blessed by heaven, and have received help from great figures, thus turning misfortune into fortune, and challenges into success. I am far inferior to the two of them."

"Young Master, do not belittle yourself. If you don’t strive for things, naturally you will have nothing. Jiang Ziya lives in Panxi and owes kindness to King Wen. As King Wen’s son, you know of this matter. It’s reasonable to invite him out of retirement to serve as an official, thereby earning favor with Jiang Ziya, is it not?"

Ji Fa pondered for a moment and asked, "If I do this, what if elder brother blames me?"

San Yisheng reached out to stop him, saying, "Young Master, there’s no need to worry. The heir is benevolent and righteous; he surely won’t blame you. Besides, although there are hierarchies among the young and old, everything in the world values momentum. Should there come a day when, Young Master, your position is strong, even hierarchies can be reversed."

Ji Fa paced back and forth two more steps and asked, "How can I increase my influence?"

"It lies in management."

Ji Fa understood. Knowing that it was best not to delay, he took San Yisheng’s advice and set out with men and gifts to invite Jiang Ziya out of retirement.

...

Over at Nezha’s side, he was planting a stone tablet into the riverbank mud outside of Outer World Town, on which the words "Water Mirror" were inscribed, written personally by Mr. Fan.

"I wrote the words ’Water Mirror’ intending to give myself the moniker of Mr. Water Mirror. Now you’re planting this monument into the lake, what do you mean? Are you trying to plant me in the lake too?"

Mr. Fan held a fishing rod by the side, disdainful as he spoke of Jiang Ziya fishing with a straight hook, "It is fate and destiny; he is one to seek fame and fortune. This person may achieve great things in the future, but I, as an old man, do not yield to him."

"Yes, yes, how could that old scoundrel compare to you, sir? Sir, look, I plan to plant some lotus and water lilies by this lake and put some fish fry in."

Mr. Fan snorted lightly, indifferent. At seventy, he followed his desires and ignored formalities more, doing as he pleased each day—sometimes fishing all day, other times lecturing the confused red chestnut horse on the Yellow Court Scripture.

He said, "Over there, the low hill that the villagers have cleared two hundred acres on the sunny side, buy me five acres and plant some tea."

Nezha said, "Buying land and planting tea creates chores; better to give them money, let them plant their own tea, and then open a cold tea shop back home, purchasing their tea yearly—for tea to drink and without extra work, while giving the populace means to earn a living."

"You’re clever; where are you planning to go next?"

Nezha said, "The War of Deification will soon break out, and I can’t stop it. The Golden Core Realm is inadequate in a battle where Quasi-Saints and Saints will personally take part, so my plan remains to focus on cultivation."

"You intend to go to the Eight Hundred Miles of Pine Forest?"

"They say that place is miraculous, and I’m curious too. Why not take this trip to see it? If there’s anything to gain, it would be a boon."

Mr. Fan sighed and said, "You little demon, you’re restless. Remember to know your own limits."

"I understand that you wish for me to hide in this small world. I would too, except Yuanshi Tianzun has already said I’m allowed to participate in the War of Deification. If I don’t go, wouldn’t that be disrespecting him?"

The Quasi-Saint Small World does not reside in this vast world, yet Nezha was not convinced that a Saint like Yuanshi Tianzun would not find him if he really wanted to. Furthermore, he wasn’t a turtle and couldn’t hide in his shell forever.

Since he was already caught up in causality, it was better to be prepared.

At this, Lv Zhu’er ran over again; she had grown taller this year, reaching Nezha’s waist.

Nezha looked at her panting appearance, rubbed her little head, and asked, "Why are you rushing? Is mother calling for me?"

"Young master, when will you become as capable as Grandpa Jiang, able to divine and calculate?"

Lv Zhu’er’s eyes widened. Her little face was flushed, and she had been neglecting cultivation lately, instead persistently learning needlework from Qiu Chuyao, whom Nezha had saved.

Those palace maids who fled from the Zhaoge Palace banded together to open a textile shop and cultivated fields, with some developing affections with locals from Chentang Pass, forming happy unions.

However, Qiu Chuyao, the leader among those maids, through her intelligence and diligence, established a family business and, by taking care of flora, took upon the responsibility of looking after the Spiritual Medicine Field for Nezha.

She wore a young girl’s hairstyle, dressed simply, rolled up her delicate sleeves, exposing fair calves, carrying a basin of clothes to the river. Her previously furrowed brows eased upon seeing Nezha.

"Madam is calling you; there’s naturally a reason. Why are you still dawdling here?"

As it is said, courting from a man’s side requires climbing a mountain, courting from a woman’s side is like traveling through a veil.

Throughout Nezha’s journey, he had encountered many good women, but connections between cultivators were mostly exchanges of Daoist skills for the sake of advancement, hardly focusing on romantic matters.

Despite this, Qiu Chuyao, a mere mortal, whenever Nezha returned to the Outer World Town, constantly found various reasons to stay by his side, chatting about daily life, washing clothes, cooking delicious food, tailoring clothes, and playing around.

Even if Nezha were truly a block of wood, by now he understood Qiu Chuyao’s intentions.

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