Chapter 81: Chapter 81: The Wang Family’s Downfall

The group had just left Immortal Peach Mountain.

Cheng Yao quickly called out, "Hanmo, Bai Qing, wait a moment! I need your help with something."

Hearing her words, the two men smiled and nodded, but they were also a little puzzled. They had no idea what she needed their help with.

...

「Fishing Square Spirit Medicine Garden.」

Cheng Yao pointed to Wang Xingwei, who was lying on the bed. "A few months ago, he was walking down the street when he suddenly collapsed for no apparent reason. He hasn’t woken up since. Can you two take a look and see what’s wrong?"

"He suddenly collapsed and hasn’t woken up since?" Upon hearing this, both Qi Hanmo and Bai Qing couldn’t help but feel a surge of curiosity.

Logically speaking, a Cultivator was protected by their Magical Power and should be immune to all illnesses. With physiques far beyond ordinary people, how could one just collapse and not wake up?

The two exchanged a glance. Because Bai Qing was younger, less experienced, and less skilled, he stepped forward first to examine Wang Xingwei’s condition.

After carefully examining Wang Xingwei’s body, he shook his head in confusion. "His body is perfectly healthy; there’s nothing wrong with it. As for why he won’t wake up, I can’t find the reason."

Seeing that Bai Qing couldn’t find the cause, Cheng Yao turned her gaze to Qi Hanmo.

Qi Hanmo nodded. "If it’s not a physical problem, then it’s likely a spiritual one. Perhaps he’s been afflicted by a Heart Demon. I’ll see if I can wake him."

With that, he took out his Long Flute and, using his skills as a Tier One Upper Grade Musician, began to play a melody in an attempt to rouse Wang Xingwei from his deep slumber.

The flute’s melody was elegant and serene, putting the listener’s mind at ease and washing away all their worries.

To Cheng Yao’s disappointment, however, when Qi Hanmo finished his piece, Wang Xingwei showed no sign of waking up, not even the slightest reaction.

"Sigh..."

The three went out to the main room. Cheng Yao sighed, took out some Spirit Stones from her Storage Bag, and paid Qi Hanmo and Bai Qing for their services.

The two men quickly tried to refuse, but Cheng Yao insisted, forcing the Spirit Stones into their hands.

’If they had been my own Spirit Stones, I might have been reluctant to part with them.’

But during the time Wang Xingwei had been unconscious, Cheng Yao had been taking his Identity Jade Token to the stipend distribution office every month to collect his salary.

The comatose Wang Xingwei had very low expenses, needing only a single Fasting Pill each month. The remaining Spirit Stones all went into Cheng Yao’s pocket.

So, the Spirit Stones she gave to Qi Hanmo and Bai Qing were actually Wang Xingwei’s to begin with.

After seeing Qi Hanmo and Bai Qing off, Cheng Yao returned to the room. She glanced at the motionless Wang Xingwei on the bed and couldn’t help but lament, "What have I gotten myself into... Oh, forget it. I’ll go collect your monthly salary first."

...

But when Cheng Yao arrived at the Immortal City’s stipend distribution office to collect Wang Xingwei’s monthly salary, she received shocking news. "What? Steward Wang’s salary has been suspended?"

The Steward in charge of distribution explained, "That’s right. Wang Xingwei has been derelict in his duties and absent from his post for a long time. The Immortal City has terminated his position, so he can no longer receive a monthly salary."

Hearing that there were no more Spirit Stones to collect, the news struck Cheng Yao like a bolt from the blue.

’For the past six months or more, Wang Xingwei hadn’t gone to work either, and I’d been collecting his salary just fine. Why was he suddenly fired, with no more salary to collect?’

She quickly asked the Steward for the real reason. Unable to withstand her pestering, the distribution Steward had no choice but to tell her.

Before, they had overlooked the matter out of respect for the Wang family. But now that the Wang family had committed a major crime and might have their entire clan expelled from the Immortal City, they naturally wouldn’t turn a blind eye anymore.

...

Dejected, Cheng Yao left the stipend office and walked back toward the Spirit Medicine Garden.

’I was willing to take care of Wang Xingwei because I could collect his monthly salary. If the salary is gone, am I supposed to support him?’

’What a joke!’

’After deducting my contribution to the Foundation Establishment Fund, my meager salary is barely enough to support myself.’

’How could I have anything left over to support a man?’

But to simply abandon Wang Xingwei to his fate was something her conscience wouldn’t allow.

For a moment, Cheng Yao was caught in a dilemma.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in her mind. ’That’s right! The distribution Steward said he’s from the Wang family. I can go find the Wang family and have them take Wang Xingwei home to care for him.’

At this thought, Cheng Yao immediately turned and headed for the Wang family’s ancestral estate.

But to her surprise, when she arrived at the ancestral estate, she found a large crowd of Cultivators who looked like Loose Cultivators blocking the entrance and shouting curses.

Meanwhile, the Wang family’s gates were shut tight and their Arrays were fully activated. They clearly didn’t dare to send anyone out.

"What’s going on?" Cheng Yao asked one of the Loose Cultivators.

From him, she learned that all these Loose Cultivators had been tricked out of their Spirit Stones in a scheme set up by the Wang family. Now they were here demanding compensation.

"Ah? This...?" Understanding the situation, Cheng Yao was dumbfounded.

...

Back on Immortal Peach Mountain, inside Master Hu’s cave residence, Li Ping was chatting with him.

Feng Qufeng served them tea before retreating. As for Master Hu’s other disciple, Liu Yuan, Master Hu explained that he was worried about the instability in the Immortal City, so he had left Liu Yuan behind in the Yue Kingdom.

He had come to the Immortal City first to check on the situation. Liu Yuan would only make the journey once things had stabilized.

Li Ping had to admit that Master Hu treated his younger disciple quite well.

As they talked, their conversation soon turned to a major piece of gossip that had recently exploded in the Immortal City.

"I never would have thought that Fellow Daoist Wang was that kind of person!" Master Hu lamented. "Using the chance to select a Secret Technique from the Immortal City’s Secret Skill Pavilion as bait to swindle Loose Cultivators out of their Spirit Stones... An act like that not only damages the Wang family’s reputation, but it also brings shame upon the entire Immortal City!"

Li Ping nodded in deep agreement. Even he had been careless and gotten cheated out of 100 Spirit Stones by that old bastard.

’I had assumed that if the Wang family were to do something like this, they would surely do it quietly and secretly, not daring to scam too many people.’

He never imagined they had scammed over a hundred people. Now that the Wang family’s old ancestor was dead, someone had taken the lead to stir up trouble, and the hundreds of swindled Loose Cultivators were blocking the Wang family’s ancestral estate every day, shouting curses.

They were calling for the Immortal City’s officials to step in, punish the Wang family, and return their Spirit Stones!

The situation escalated to the point where, after one of their clansmen went out and was severely beaten, the Wang family’s Cultivators were now holed up inside their ancestral estate’s Array, too afraid to come out.

Although Li Ping had also been scammed, he didn’t join the protests to demand his money back.

During his trip to the Wang family’s Secret Skill Pavilion, he had obtained the Nourishing Life Skill. Compared to the 100 Spirit Stones he was cheated out of, he had actually come out far ahead.

Of course, the main reason was that he didn’t want anyone to know he had been scammed.

’A dignified Foundation Establishment Cultivator like me, falling for a scam because of a little greed—it’s just too embarrassing.’

"But I do find it strange," Li Ping said, puzzled. "Those Loose Cultivators are so brazenly blockading the Wang family’s estate and ruining the Immortal City’s reputation, yet the city officials are just letting it happen. Since when have the Immortal City’s officials become so easygoing?"

In this Cultivation Realm, the strong were revered, and there was no such concept as "the law does not punish the masses."

The Loose Cultivators were gathered together, seemingly just blocking the Wang family’s gate, but in reality, their actions affected more than just the Wang family.

In Li Ping’s opinion, Loose Cultivators who dared to do such a thing were no ordinary Loose Cultivators.

At a time like this, the Immortal City officials should have cracked down hard, branding these Loose Cultivators as demonic cultists disrupting the city’s order.

How could they be allowed to block the Wang family’s gate and tarnish the glorious image of the Immortal City?

"Fellow Daoist Li, that’s where you’re mistaken." Master Hu chuckled. "The Cultivators of the Immortal City are not a monolith. Some stand with the Wang family, so naturally, some stand against them. Otherwise, the Wang family’s scamming of Loose Cultivators happened years ago. Why would it only be exposed now, after that Fellow Daoist Wang has already died?"

Li Ping had a sudden realization. So, this was all about internal conflict among the Immortal City’s Cultivators.

Those on the Wang family’s side would naturally want to cover it up and eliminate the fallout as quickly as possible. But the Wang family’s enemies hoped to use this incident to crush them completely and drive them out of the Immortal City.

Li Ping even suspected that the ones who organized the hundreds of Loose Cultivators to block the Wang family’s gate and blow the situation up were probably people from the Immortal City itself.

He thought to himself, ’Wherever there are people, there will be conflict. Fortunately, this is happening inside the Immortal City, presided over by Fenglan Master, a Core Formation Cultivator. Everyone has to play by the rules.’

’Otherwise, there would be no need for all this trouble. The moment the Wang family’s old ancestor died, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators he had offended would have stormed their gates, swords in hand, and annihilated the entire clan!’

...

「The Meng family’s ancestral estate.」

Upon seeing the Meng family’s old ancestor, Wang Quyan dropped to his knees and pleaded tearfully, "Senior Meng, please save my family! Our ancestor’s bones have barely grown cold, and they’re already blockading our gates! This is too much!"

The Meng family’s old ancestor usually had a smiling face, but at this moment, his expression was unusually stern.

He stared at the kneeling Wang Quyan and didn’t tell him to rise. Instead, he asked coolly, "The outside world says your family set up a scheme to defraud Loose Cultivators of their Spirit Stones. Is this true?"

’Old Ancestor, you’ve brought ruin upon the Wang family!’

Wang Quyan was not a fool. He knew that the only person who could save the Wang family now was the man before him.

He didn’t dare deceive the Meng ancestor. Gritting his teeth, he admitted, "It’s true. But our Old Ancestor only scammed thirty-four Cultivators at the time, for a total of 3,400 Spirit Stones. It definitely wasn’t over a hundred people like they’re claiming now."

"He did all that for a mere 3,400 Spirit Stones?" The Meng ancestor’s eyes filled with disbelief and exasperation.

’This old friend of mine really did some outrageous things.’

’Even if he was short on Spirit Stones, couldn’t he have just borrowed some from us? Was it really necessary to do something like this?’

’To leave behind such a huge disaster before dying... it’s like he was pushing the Wang family into a pit of fire!’

But his old friend had entrusted the Wang family to him before going to his death, so he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

’There’s only one way,’ the Meng ancestor lamented internally. He hadn’t expected to have to use the favor earned by his old friend’s death so quickly.

He looked at Wang Quyan, his expression solemn. "With what your family has done, I can’t help you. Within the entire Immortal City, there is only one person who can save you."

Wang Quyan looked up at the Meng ancestor in astonishment, only to hear him say coolly, "Get up. Kneeling here before me is useless. You need to go kneel on Cyan Dragon Mountain. Your entire clan must go to the foot of Cyan Dragon Mountain and kneel to beg the Master for forgiveness."

"If the Master speaks on your behalf, you might escape this crisis. Otherwise... you’re on your own!"

The Meng ancestor stared at Wang Quyan and continued, "By the way, the matter of swindling the Loose Cultivators was the work of Wang Li alone. None of the rest of you knew anything about it. Understand?"

Wang Quyan nodded repeatedly. "It was our Old Ancestor’s doing. We were all kept in the dark."

Dead men tell no tales.

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