Chapter 165: Unless a Saint and a Virtuous Teacher

Chapter 165 -162: Unless a Saint and a Virtuous Teacher

Wang Xiuqiao’s mouth fell open.

“Benefactor, you…”

Jiang Chaosheng retracted the Black Gate and said,

“You break it, you pay for it. Perfectly fair.”

Wang Xiuqiao immediately covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

It was as if the fairness she had believed in for so many years had finally been answered.

The Drunkard barked,

“Who the hell are you?!”

Jiang Chaosheng’s gaze fell on the flask in the Drunkard’s hand.

Item No. 2-27: Gan Jiang Wine Flask.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, in the Wu Kingdom, there was a swordsmith named Gan Jiang.

Legend has it that Gan Jiang was a great lover of wine. Without a fine vintage, he couldn’t even lift his hammer.

Each time before he forged a sword, his wife, Mo Ye, would seek out a flask of fine wine for him.

The legend says that Gan Jiang, along with Mo Ye, sacrificed their lives to the sword.

Gan Jiang had that very flask hanging from his person at the time.

The flask was not melted in the forge. Instead, it became imbued with the Soul Power of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye.

And so, the flask gained a Divine Power.

The hunched old man said, his eyes narrowing,

“Are you with the Taiping Dao? Did you run all the way here just to steal our glory?”

Jiang Chaosheng shook his head.

The hunched old man looked at the Drunkard.

“This kid’s here to make trouble. Waste him.”

The Drunkard scoffed,

“You don’t have to tell me. I was already planning on it.”

The hunched old man’s gaze returned to Jiang Chaosheng, a glint of greed in his eyes.

“That gate is his Taboo Item. If we take it, our prize will be even greater.”

A burning fervor ignited in the Drunkard’s eyes as well.

Two Taboo Items… that was enough to earn them a major promotion within the Taiping Dao!

Both the hunched old man and the Drunkard assumed Jiang Chaosheng only had this one Taboo Item.

After all, Taboo Items were incredibly rare. They had never even heard of anyone possessing two at once.

The hunched old man walked toward Jiang Chaosheng. He grinned, revealing a set of large, yellow teeth.

“That gate of yours is just for defense, isn’t it, kid?

In a one-on-one fight, you might be able to use it as a shield.

Heh heh, but there are two of us. You don’t stand a chance.

I get it, playing the hero to save the damsel in distress. But it’s not worth your life.

So how about this: you hand over that gate, and have your little girlfriend give us the flag…”

Jiang Chaosheng pulled the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun from the small of his back. His lips parted slightly as he spoke:

“Noisy.”

He fired a shot at the hunched old man.

The old man reacted in a flash. Pinching one nostril, he violently blew a cloud of black mist from the other.

The black mist might have worked against an ordinary bullet, but…

He was facing Divine Fire from Olympus Mountain!

“AH!!!!”

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the night sky.

The hunched old man fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. His face was a mask of agony as he thrashed desperately.

This was far more than a simple bullet wound to the abdomen.

Penalty Fire was burning inside his abdomen!

Excruciating pain was savaging his mind!

He craned his neck, staring in terror at the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun in Jiang Chaosheng’s hand.

‘How does this person have another Taboo Item?!’

Jiang Chaosheng frowned.

“I haven’t used this in a while. My aim was off.”

Jiang Chaosheng fired two more shots at the hunched old man.

After the two gunshots, the hunched old man lay motionless on the ground.

Jiang Chaosheng walked over to the old man’s body and knelt.

The Drunkard’s eyes widened in horror.

“You… you…”

Jiang Chaosheng took the snuff bottle from the old man’s hand and slipped it into his pocket.

He stood up, drew the Scythe of Death from the small of his back, and began walking toward the Drunkard, one step at a time.

The Drunkard frantically chugged from his flask. Just as he was about to spew flames at Jiang Chaosheng, he felt a cold sensation on his neck.

The Drunkard’s world began to spin.

He saw something that made his mouth fall agape, the terror in his eyes threatening to spill out.

The Drunkard saw… his own headless body.

Bizarrely, the body remained standing, not a drop of blood spraying from the neck.

Jiang Chaosheng walked up to the body and took the Gan Jiang Wine Flask from its still-standing hand.

As the Drunkard watched his body topple over, his consciousness faded to black.

Jiang Chaosheng glanced back at Wang Xiuqiao, pulled something from his coat, and tossed it to her.

Wang Xiuqiao scrambled to catch it. Looking closely, she saw it was a bright red candle.

Item No. 5-05, Five Immortals Candle.

Wang Xiuqiao didn’t understand what Jiang Chaosheng meant.

‘Why would he toss a candle to me?’

Jiang Chaosheng spoke slowly,

“I damaged your car. This is to compensate you for it.”

Wang Xiuqiao’s eyes widened in shock. She slowly looked down, staring in disbelief at the red candle in her palm.

‘Could this candle be a wondrous object, just like the Black Banner?’

‘He’s giving me a treasure like this just because my car got scratched?’

Jiang Chaosheng glanced at Wang Xiuqiao.

“You and your descendants must treat it well. Help the Five Immortals within it with their Cultivation.”

Wang Xiuqiao shuddered.

‘Five Immortals?’

‘As someone from the Northeast, how could I not know about the Five Immortals?’

In the rural Northeast, almost every family enshrines the Divine Position of a household guardian.

The Five Immortals were five Earth Immortals: the Fox, the Weasel, the Hedgehog, the Snake, and the Rat.

‘Could the legendary Five Immortals really be inside this red candle?’

A cold glint flashed in Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes.

“If the day ever comes that you or your descendants use them for evil, I will return to take it away.”

The first digit of the Five Immortals Candle’s serial number was ‘5’.

A first digit of ‘5’ signifies that a Taboo Item of that series contains a soul.

The Five Immortals needed to perform good deeds and alleviate the suffering of mortals to achieve their path to immortality.

The Five Immortals’ Cultivation was arduous, and their many years of progress had been nearly ruined by the previous owner, Li Ying.

Jiang Chaosheng felt that Wang Xiuqiao was a kind person who could likely help the Five Immortals cleanse themselves of their karmic sins.

Wang Xiuqiao hurriedly replied,

“I will certainly serve the Five Immortals well!

I won’t betray your kindness, benefactor!”

Jiang Chaosheng frowned, his eyes filled with displeasure.

Wang Xiuqiao was stunned.

‘Was my tone not sincere enough?’

‘Should I kowtow to the Five Immortals to show my sincerity?’

‘Hmm… after all, they’re the Five Immortals. They’re Immortals.’

‘It’s no loss to kowtow and worship them.’

Jiang Chaosheng frowned and corrected her,

“You are not *serving* the Five Immortals. You are *accompanying* them in their Cultivation.”

Jiang Chaosheng put heavy emphasis on the word “accompanying.”

‘The word “serving” implies self-debasement.’

‘Why should humans debase themselves when facing Deities?’

‘Just because they’re Earth Immortals, Extraordinary Life forms?’

Jiang Chaosheng himself was an Extraordinary Life.

‘I don’t feel that a difference in Life Level warrants kneeling and kowtowing.’

‘Kneeling to someone just because they’re stronger is pure slave mentality.’

‘Now, if they were a Saint, a wise teacher…’

‘Someone who “establishes a heart for Heaven and Earth, secures a destiny for the people, carries on the lost teachings of past sages, and brings peace to all future generations”…’

‘A being like that, whether human or divine, would be worthy of the highest respect.’

‘But how many of those exist in the Human World?’

Wang Xiuqiao looked at Jiang Chaosheng in astonishment.

She understood what he was saying, but she was utterly shaken by it.

‘Who goes to a temple and doesn’t kowtow a few times?’

As she was lost in thought, she saw Jiang Chaosheng rise into the rain, flying straight up into the sky until he vanished into the clouds.

Wang Xiuqiao’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide with shock.

She hurried into the yard and gazed up at the sky. Slowly, she knelt and, facing the spot where Jiang Chaosheng had been, kowtowed deeply.