Chapter 154: Five Immortals Candle

Chapter 154 -150: Five Immortals Candle

Outside the airplane window, the city shrank into a model landscape, its rivers as fine as silver threads.

The plane plunged into the clouds, into a vast expanse of white.

When it broke through, an endless clear sky stretched out before them.

Jiang Chaosheng gazed out the window, a hint of wonder in his eyes as he watched the sea of clouds churn beneath him.

It was his first time on a plane.

He used to be too poor to afford it.

Back then, his adoptive parents had realized he was a heartless money pit and cut him off financially.

He had to cover his own tuition and living expenses, left to sink or swim.

When he needed to travel long distances, he would meticulously plan his route.

He never chose the expensive, direct routes.

He would take a train to an unfamiliar city, then a public bus to transfer to a long-distance coach.

It was all about saving every penny possible.

Jiang Chaosheng never blamed them. After all, he had lived off their charity for several years.

“We are now approaching Longmen City Airport. This is a joint military-civilian airport. Please lower your window shades and refrain from taking photographs. Thank you for your cooperation…”

Hearing the announcement, Jiang Chaosheng reluctantly lowered the window shade.

Longmen City was not Jiang Chaosheng’s final destination.

He was headed to Wa City, which was near Liancheng.

As for why he chose a connecting flight instead of flying directly to his destination?

It wasn’t to save money. He simply wanted to spend a little more time on a plane.

He was in business class.

Now that he had money, he certainly wasn’t going to shortchange himself.

“Sir, could you please lower your window shade?”

The beautiful business-class flight attendant was reminding passengers one by one.

When she reached Jiang Chaosheng, she said with a bright smile,

“Oh, you’re very well-behaved.”

She had noticed Jiang Chaosheng earlier.

This young, handsome, and stylish man had caught her eye.

Just then, a wave of icy killing intent washed over her.

The beautiful flight attendant suddenly found it hard to breathe. She shot a terrified glance at Jiang Chaosheng and hurried away.

Her intuition told her that something terrible would happen if she lingered in front of this man any longer.

Jiang Chaosheng frowned, gently patting the Nine-tailed Demon Core he held to his chest.

“Stop making a fuss.”

Only after Jiang Chaosheng’s soothing gesture did Daji gradually calm down.

Jiang Chaosheng hadn’t brought Daji onto the plane in her human form.

For one, Daji had no Xia Kingdom identification and couldn’t board a plane.

For another, the Anomaly Administration Bureau would notice him through the aircraft’s surveillance cameras.

After all, they knew what Daji looked like.

Normally, when Daji went out, she would use Magic to block street-level surveillance, but this was an airplane.

A malfunction in the aircraft’s surveillance system would cause unnecessary trouble.

…

「Wa City. Outside the airport.」

Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze locked onto a certain direction.

Item 5-05, the Five Immortals Candle, was over there.

Jiang Chaosheng hailed a taxi.

The driver asked enthusiastically,

“Where to?”

Jiang Chaosheng said,

“Just drive as I tell you. Straight, then a right.”

The driver started the car and said with a laugh,

“Young fella, you’re not a local, judging by your accent.

Don’t you worry, none of us drivers around here will take you the long way. Just tell me your destination.”

Jiang Chaosheng remained silent, his face devoid of expression.

He disliked doing pointless things and saying pointless words.

Of course, this was also rather impolite.

The driver, feeling snubbed, just shook his head and drove according to Jiang Chaosheng’s directions.

After an hour’s drive, they finally arrived in front of a courtyard home in the suburbs.

The driver exclaimed in surprise,

“So you’re here to see Little Li Daxian!

Tsk, tsk. Has Little Li Daxian’s fame spread all the way to the south?”

Jiang Chaosheng finally showed some interest.

“Little Li Daxian?”

The driver’s eyes filled with admiration.

“That’s right. Before her, there was Li Daxian.

Whether it was for marriage or your career, his predictions were spot-on, like he’d seen the future with his own eyes.

After Li Daxian passed away from an illness, his daughter, Little Li Daxian, took up his mantle.

Little Li Daxian is just as accurate as her old man.

Last year, a businessman came to see Little Li Daxian because his business was in trouble.

Little Li Daxian told him that if he traveled about thirty miles east, he would meet a benefactor.

And you’ll never guess what happened.”

The driver answered his own question.

“He saved an old man who’d been in a car accident, and that old man just so happened to be the father of the president of the Chamber of Commerce.”

The driver finished his story, his eyes full of regret as he sighed,

“It’s a shame, though. Right after that businessman’s problems were solved, he got drunk, and on the way home, was hit by a car and killed.”

Jiang Chaosheng said nothing.

‘I remember Li Qinglian’s notes.

A down-on-his-luck fortune teller had come to Antique Shop Zero.

The man wanted money, said he was willing to trade his life for it.

Li Qinglian had brought out the Five Immortals Candle.

The Five Immortals Candle can predict the future and alter a person’s fate, but the price is that someone must bear the karmic consequences.

It was just like the businessman the driver mentioned. By saving the old man from the car crash, he had to take on the old man’s karmic ‘vehicle-related disaster’ in his stead.

The owner of the Five Immortals Candle can choose to bear the karmic consequences themselves.

If the owner bears the consequences, the karmic backlash is minimized.

Take that businessman, for example. If the Candle’s owner had borne the consequences, his ‘vehicle-related disaster’ wouldn’t have been fatal.

At worst, he might get scraped by a car; at best, a bicycle might run over his foot.

Li Qinglian had said: The Five Immortals’ cultivation is difficult. They cannot be made to commit evil for the sake of money, lest it ruin their progress.

The desperate man had sworn an oath in Antique Shop Zero to bear all karmic consequences himself, and only then did Li Qinglian trade the Five Immortals Candle to him.’

From the driver’s story, it was clear that the current owner of the Five Immortals Candle was not following the man’s example and bearing the consequences herself.

Jiang Chaosheng felt a pang of pity.

‘The Five Immortals have now committed evil,’ he thought. ‘Their spiritual progress has surely been damaged.

The Five Immortals Candle will need to be returned to its shelf for a long time to allow the Five Immortals to recover their strength.’

At this moment, the driver spoke up, “Just a heads-up, young fella.

Little Li Daxian might be accurate, but she’s got a nasty temper. And also…”

The driver glanced at Jiang Chaosheng and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.

“You’ve gotta pay a hefty sum. If you don’t give enough, she’ll just cuss you out the door. It’ll be a wasted trip.”

Jiang Chaosheng nodded.

“Thank you.”

He pulled a thousand yuan from his pocket and placed it on the seat.

The driver was stunned for a moment.

“Hey, kid, what’s this for?”

Jiang Chaosheng got out of the car without another word, a man of few words as always.

He believed that since the driver’s information was useful, the man deserved to be paid for it.

…

Outside the courtyard home, cars of all makes and models were lined up from the gate all the way to the main road.

Even more cars were parked along both sides of the main road.

Jiang Chaosheng walked into the courtyard and saw a long line of people, muttering to himself,

“Business is certainly booming.”

Jiang Chaosheng stroked the Nine-tailed Demon Core at his chest.

“Put up a soundproof Barrier.”

As soon as he spoke, an arcane power materialized at the entrance of the large, tile-roofed house.

Jiang Chaosheng held out his hand, and a small black snake emerged from his palm.

The snake slithered down Jiang Chaosheng’s pant leg to the ground, swelling into a massive black serpent as thick as a bowl as it moved through the crowd.

“AHHH! A SNAKE!”

“HOLY SHIT! Why is there a snake in the middle of winter?!”

“Don’t tell me Little Li Daxian pissed off Liu the Immortal!”

“DEAR GOD!”

The crowd erupted in screams, and everyone scrambled out of the courtyard.

There was something deeply unsettling about the massive black snake. Who would dare stay?

Now, the courtyard was empty, save for Jiang Chaosheng himself.

Jiang Chaosheng waited quietly by the door.