Translator: Cinder Translations
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Thinking of her deep sorrow, Zhu Mei hugged her son and started to cry out loud.
Three days ago, her son had just turned ten. Relying on her husband's legacy, she took her son to the enforcement team in the market to test his spiritual roots.
Full of hope, she went, but returned in despair.
Her son's spiritual roots were extremely poor, barely qualifying as first-grade. Such low-quality spiritual roots meant he didn't even have the qualifications to be a servant disciple of the Beast Taming Sect, essentially cutting off his path to immortality.
The thought of being forced to leave the home where she had lived for more than ten years, and taking her weak young son on a perilous journey, living among ordinary people, filled Zhu Mei with sorrow, and she cried even more bitterly.
"You better be sensible and move out on your own. If you're still here by noon tomorrow, don't blame me for getting rough," Zhao Dapeng said before striding away.
The reason he dared to come and evict Zhu Mei's family today was that he knew the result of Zhu Mei's son's spiritual root test.
A nearly forty-year-old woman at the third level of Qi Refining, and a child with first-grade spiritual roots, had no future prospects. Even among rogue cultivators, they were among the weakest, destined to be bullied and oppressed.
After Zhao Dapeng left, some kind-hearted neighbors immediately came forward to help Zhu Mei and her son back into their home.
"Hmph! Zhao Dapeng is really heartless," Sun Ru muttered angrily as she walked back to her courtyard.
Seeing there was no more drama to watch, the crowd also dispersed, muttering curses at Zhao Dapeng and expressing sympathy for Zhu Mei and her son. But these words were only said behind Zhao Dapeng's back; no one stood up for Zhu Mei and her son when Zhao Dapeng was present.
Even the young Sun Ru didn't dare confront Zhao Dapeng.
People naturally seek to avoid harm and protect their own interests.
Everyone tends to their own business.
...
Song Wen returned to his room and attempted alchemy again.
After several hours, having wasted the remaining nine portions of spiritual materials, Song Wen felt deeply depressed. He sighed heavily, tidied up the fire-filled room, and stepped into the courtyard.
His progress in the "Longevity Art" was slow, and he couldn't successfully refine the Blood Qi Pills, making him miss his days in the Corpse Demon Sect, where his cultivation advanced rapidly, and his strength continually increased.
No wonder so many righteous cultivators couldn't endure the loneliness of daily cultivation or the slow progress in their realms and fell into the demonic path.
It was already late at night.
The night sky was as quiet as an ink painting, everything seemed so peaceful.
Suddenly,
A wave of spiritual power from Sun Daxiong's house next door broke the midnight silence.
A silver light surrounded by electric arcs flew out from Sun Daxiong's courtyard, shooting into the sky, eventually dissipating after several hundred meters.
Song Wen narrowed his eyes; it was the Thunder Palm technique!
A sweep of his spiritual sense revealed that Sun Ru had successfully cultivated the Thunder Palm.
At that moment, she was jumping happily in the courtyard, as innocent as a child, waving her arms and legs but not daring to shout loudly, afraid of disturbing the neighbors' sleep and cultivation.
Song Wen retracted his spiritual sense; he had no habit of spying on his neighbors.
He turned and went back inside to continue cultivating. If a teenage girl could work so hard, what excuse did he have to slack off?
Even if his progress was slow, he had plenty of time now.
The next day.
While cultivating, Song Wen was once again disturbed by Ai Kun's knocking.
Opening the courtyard gate, Song Wen said irritably,
"Senior Ai, why don't you stay at home and draw talismans properly? The Beast Taming Sect requires you to submit hundred talismans every ten days."
Ai Kun, without any hesitation, walked straight into the courtyard and sat down on a chair before speaking.
"I came to ask for your help. I need to draw ten talismans daily for the Beast Taming Sect, and they must all be of medium grade or higher. How can my old arms and legs handle that?"
Song Wen replied, "I can't help you. You know I can only draw one type of medium-grade talisman, the Thunder Talisman, and my success rate is only a pathetic 50%. With my Qi Refining level four spiritual power and mental strength, I'm doing well if I can produce four talismans a day. I still need to earn some spirit stones for my daily needs."
"You just need to work a little harder each day, spend an extra hour drawing talismans, and help me make two Thunder Talismans. Consider it pitying an old man."
"No way, that would cut into my cultivation time. Besides, you're not that old. Every time you go to the brothels, you're more energetic than the young men."
As the two haggled in the courtyard, suddenly there was a loud knock on the widow's door next door.
"Zhu Mei, are you going to pay the rent or not? If not, then get out. Don't think hiding in the courtyard will stop me."
It was Zhao Dapeng again, trying to evict the widow and her orphaned son.
Behind Zhao Dapeng was a sneaky-looking man with a foolish demeanor. The man seemed timid and scared, hiding behind Zhao Dapeng but peeking through the door crack into the courtyard.
He was Zhao Dapeng's brother. Last night, his brother had promised him that today they would find him a woman, one who could sleep with him.
His brother said that although the woman was a bit older, she still had some looks and even owned a courtyard.
It was a win-win situation.
The courtyard door creaked open from the inside.
Zhu Mei stood there, her expression cold, her eyes sternly focused on the two men outside. She was a completely different person from the weeping, helpless woman she had been yesterday.
Who knows what kind of mental journey she had gone through in one night to undergo such a drastic change, as if she had been reborn.
Seeing Zhu Mei emerge, the ferocity on Zhao Dapeng's face grew even more intense.
"Zhu Mei, have you thought it over? Pay the rent or get out."
"If you can't pay the rent and don't want to move out, there is another option: marry my brother. Then we'll be family, and as long as I'm alive, you'll never have to pay rent again."
As he spoke, Zhao Dapeng pulled his sneaky-looking brother to the front and pushed him toward Zhu Mei.
This was his real purpose all along.
The two brothers had lost their parents when they were young and had depended on each other to survive. Later, they both embarked on the path of cultivation, supporting each other along the way.
But two years ago, during a fight, his brother was severely injured while protecting him. Not only did he lose his cultivation, but his mind also became impaired.
Feeling guilty, Zhao Dapeng had intended to take care of his brother until his last breath, fulfilling their brotherly bond.
Although his brother was not very smart, he still had the normal desires of a man. Especially after his mental impairment, he lost control over his desires.
Sometimes, when he saw pretty female cultivators on the street, he would try to touch them, nearly getting beaten to death several times.
Knowing Zhu Mei was a widow with no one to rely on, Zhao Dapeng got an idea.
Since his brother had needs, he thought of finding a woman for him. This led to Zhao Dapeng's scheme of forcing Zhu Mei to pay rent.
Zhao Dapeng knew that Zhu Mei, with a ten-year-old child, could never leave the market town.
The dangerous mountains and forests outside the town, the monsters that could appear at any time on the road, and the brutal robbers hiding in the dark—all these known dangers trapped the widow and her child in the town, making even the idea of living among ordinary people seem like a luxury.
(End of the Chapter)
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