Chapter 381: Banished Immortal (Part 2)

No, that wasn’t right. It was like a blank canvas, waiting for him to paint upon it.

‘In this world, I can let my ideas flow freely, painting with bold strokes!’

‘I don’t need to burden myself with too much responsibility. I’ll just do my best, and what comes of it will be up to fate. Failure doesn’t matter in the end.’

‘As an Immortal playing this game, so long as I remain hidden behind the scenes and never take the field myself, I can never truly lose. If things go wrong, I can just start over!’

“Huh?”

Fang Rui was suddenly struck by an impulse and pinched his fingers together for a quick divination. ‘A descendant of an old acquaintance is nearby, and it seems they’re in trouble?!’

After his Divination Skill became Limit-Breaking and his path as a Spirit Master had broken through to the Source Technique Realm, he could vaguely sense anyone nearby with whom he shared a karmic connection.

“Purple Feathered Crane, let’s go. We’ll go take a look!”

Fang Rui pointed in a direction, and they shot through the air.

…

「A courtyard in Bai Yang Tree Village.」

Dozens of emaciated refugees in ragged clothes, armed with bricks and bamboo poles, surrounded the courtyard. Some hammered away at the main gate, while others tried to scale the walls.

“They say the Yuans are the rich farmers of Bai Yang Tree Village! They’ve got to have grain! Let’s fucking rob them!” one man yelled.

“That’s right, fucking rob ’em! These Yuans, they’re stingy even when handing out porridge. Ptooey!” another person chimed in.

“Is that… the smell of meat?! I can smell meat!” a man exclaimed, his eyes glinting like a starving wolf’s.

“I smell it too! I heard they’re celebrating a wedding today. There must be lots of good food… Let’s hurry and break in!”

“Right, right! Don’t be scared! They’re not some major family, just rich farmers! Let’s all rush in and rob the bastards!”

“I’ve got a rock! We can use it to get over the wall! Quick, give me a boost…”

…

Inside the courtyard, a small, elderly man stamped his foot in distress. “How did this happy occasion turn into this?!”

“Father, we shouldn’t have handed out porridge. It’s my fault, too, for not trying to stop you. Now we’ve brought disaster upon ourselves,” a stout man said heavily.

“I regret it so much! Oh no…”

Just then, two refugees scrambled over the wall. One blocked the stout man while the other went to unbar the gate, letting the mob of refugees outside pour in.

“Quick, quick, the gate is open! Start looting!”

“It’s meat! Stewed pork! There’s only this one small bowl… It’s mine!”

“This is grain…”

…

“Good sirs, I’m on my knees begging you! My family are just poor farmers too! You can’t rob us, you can’t!”

“Brother, I’m the one who served you porridge, don’t you remember? You can’t do this!”

“The women are in the back! You can’t go back there!”

But how could these refugees, their eyes already red with desperation, possibly listen? When the stout man tried to stop them, three or five of them immediately swarmed him and knocked him to the ground.

Like a plague of locusts, the refugees snatched not only grain but anything that looked even slightly valuable. They even dragged an old woman and a pretty young lady in a wedding dress out from the back rooms.

One of them stepped forward, rubbing his hands together…

“SCREEE!”

Just then, amidst the clear cry of a crane, Fang Rui descended from the sky. Wisps of light swirled out from him, causing the refugees to freeze in place.

‘The descendant of an old acquaintance?!’

Fang Rui looked at the small old man and the stout man, his fingers moving in a quick calculation. ‘Descendants of Yuan Da, that old acquaintance from Changshan County?’

Yuan Da was the man who had guarded the gate for the Lin Family at the Black Market back in Changshan County. He had once split a venomous snake clean in two with a single slash of his blade.

Later, when the Lin Family was annihilated by the Xia Family and the Taiping Army, Yuan Da helped Lin Feng escape. In the end, Fang Rui repaid a favor by saving Yuan Da’s life and helping him flee.

‘It’s been eighty or ninety years. That expert who once astonished me… I’ve surpassed him by an unimaginable distance now.’

Fang Rui sighed to himself, then looked at the little old man and asked, “Old sir, what is your name? What has happened here?”

“Immortal Master, this old one is named Yuan Gui. It was like this…”

Only after pulling his wife, son, and daughter-in-law to the ground to kowtow did Yuan Gui rise, bow with clasped hands, and speak.

As it turned out, the Yuan Family had taken in a girl to be their son’s future wife, and today was their wedding. Hoping to share some of their joy, they had given a bowl of porridge to a couple of refugees outside. Word spread, and more and more refugees gathered. When the porridge ran out, the crowd refused to leave, leading to the terrible scene that followed.

“My family are outsiders. We only moved here two or three generations ago, so we’re not born-and-bred locals. We try to be friendly with the other villagers, and they smile to our faces, but when it comes to a life-or-death moment, none of them are willing to help! Maybe they were even hoping to seize our property after we were all dead!”

Yuan Gui sighed.

‘He’s telling the truth! These refugees… they are both pitiful and detestable!’

Sighing to himself, Fang Rui flicked his sleeve, and all the refugees collapsed into unconsciousness. “I will leave these people to you. Whether you report them to the officials or handle it otherwise is your own decision.”

“Right, today is a joyous day for your family. Might I trouble you for a bowl of wine?”

“Immortal Master, you jest! You are our family’s great savior! Please, please, come in!”

「A moment later.」

After drinking a cup of coarse wine, Fang Rui inquired, “Old sir, you said your ancestors moved here from another region. Was it by any chance Yunzhou?”

“The Immortal Master knows of this?!”

Yuan Gui didn’t dare to hide anything and answered honestly, “My grandfather came from Changshan County in Yunzhou… Later, he fled to Yuanzhou. Even on his deathbed, he was still talking about the nameless benefactor who saved his life…”

“To be honest with you, old sir, the one who saved your ancestor and I share a certain connection. It was a sudden whim that brought me here.”

Fang Rui said with a smile, shaking his head.

“Ah?!”

Yuan Gui immediately dropped to his knees.

He didn’t believe for a second that Fang Rui would deceive him. What reason would a divine figure like Fang Rui have to lie?

「A short while later.」

Yuan Gui retrieved a slightly rusted Horizontal Saber and presented it to Fang Rui. “Grandfather said that if we were ever fortunate enough to meet our benefactor or his kin, we were to give this saber to them. This was the most precious thing he owned in his entire life…”

“This saber!”

A look of reminiscence appeared in Fang Rui’s eyes as he sighed and accepted it.

A little later, the stout man—Yuan Gui’s son—pulled his shy new bride over to pay their respects to Fang Rui.

“You two… are good together.”

Fang Rui gazed at the young couple. Despite the man’s bruised and swollen face, they held hands tightly, their deep affection for one another clear. A flicker of envy surfaced in his eyes. “Yuan Kai, is it? Time is a blade that cuts away our prime. Cherish the one before you. I wish you a long and happy life together.”

“Oh, and since I’ve drunk your wedding wine today, I should give you, the newlyweds, a gift. Here is the Cyan Wood Skill and ten stalks of Great Medicine. With these, even if your aptitude is average, there’s a chance you can break into the Middle Grade. Then you’ll have the power to protect your family in the days to come.”

With a turn of his hand, a light flashed in his palm, and he produced the items from his Spirit Ring.

The Cyan Wood Skill was the cultivation technique of the Xia Family from Changshan City, which Fang Rui had obtained after their annihilation. In his eyes now, it wasn’t particularly advanced, just average.

‘Back then, Yuan Da was forced to flee while being hunted by the Xia Family. Today, his descendant receives the Xia Family’s cultivation technique. The cycles of cause and effect are truly interesting!’ he thought.

“What are you spacing out for? This is a massive opportunity! Hurry up and thank the Immortal Master!” Yuan Gui gave his son a push.

“Oh, oh!”

Yuan Kai snapped out of it and hurriedly kowtowed to Fang Rui.

He was an earnest man, and every kowtow landed with a solid THUD.

Fang Rui did not avoid it, accepting the gesture calmly.

A copy of the Cyan Wood Skill and ten stalks of Great Medicine were nothing to him, but in the hands of an ordinary person, they were a world-changing opportunity.

It could truly be said that what little leaked from between his fingers was enough for someone to defy the heavens and alter their destiny.

“One last thing. A word of advice: the Three States of the Southwest will soon fall into chaos. If you seek peace and stability, you should leave as soon as possible.”

“Ah?”

Yuan Gui was taken aback. He asked tentatively, “Immortal Master, would you not consider the current state of Yuanzhou to be chaos?”

“Of course not. This is nothing!”

Recalling the former state of Yunzhou, Fang Rui shook his head and sighed. “When the heavens unleash their killing intent, the stars themselves are moved. When the earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and serpents rise upon the land. When man unleashes his killing intent, the world itself is overturned! This is another cycle, one that mortal power cannot hope to challenge!”

“And another reason is…”

He shook out his sleeves and declared grandly, “I have arrived!”

The statement hung in the air.

RUMBLE!

A clap of thunder happened to explode outside the window, its roar rolling on and on.

SNAP!

Yuan Gui had just been about to pick up a piece of food for Fang Rui. When he heard this, his hand trembled, his chopsticks fell to the floor, and a look of terror filled his face.

‘Was this something a mere mortal like him was allowed to hear?!’

“Haha!”

Fang Rui said no more. Laughing, he rose to his feet. In just a few steps, as if shrinking the very earth, he appeared outside the door. Then, amidst a brilliant flash of light, he ascended into the sky.

“We still haven’t asked for the Immortal Master’s name!”

Only then did Yuan Gui’s family snap back to reality. They rushed outside, shouting up at Fang Rui as he rose into the air, wreathed in a clear light.

“A century of cultivation forged this flesh,Then one day I strode past the Immortal-Mortal threshold.I’ll watch the world of dust for ages with a laugh,A Banished Immortal, walking the mortal world!”

Beneath the boundless radiance, his voice, as clear as jade, echoed for a long, long time.