Wait a minute, where is my master?

Little Platform Mountain, behind the courtyard of the Xuanxu Temple

The trust between people!

Jin Xu stared at the money bag in front of him filled with muddy water, stones, and scattered silver coins, feeling the deep malice from this world!

Was making money by exorcising demons and subduing evil spirits easy? Who cheats a Taoist with fake silver!

...

When Jin Xu returned to the Xuanxu Temple, his mood was a bit complex.

He had thought that descending the mountain would be a simple matter of using Hand Palm Thunder, but it turned out to unravel a long, old story.

Sitting under the big willow tree in the backyard, Jin Xu stopped Yu Yaoer, who had headed straight to the kitchen upon arriving at the temple.

"You just said you had something to tell me."

"Yes, Lord, that An Laoxiang might look honest and sincere, but he's really full of wicked schemes!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Xu thought Yu Yaoer might be prejudiced against him because of An Laoxiang's family issues, and was about to offer some advice.

He then saw Yu Yaoer flip her wrist and pull out a black, muddy money bag from her red jade bracelet.

With a slap, it landed on the stone table in front of them.

Her little face fuming, she said, "Lord, look at this!"

Jin Xu's heart sank when he saw the muddy, black money bag. Wasn't that the compensation for his "freelance" work during this trip down the mountain?

Even in the face of the Banyan Tree Elf, he had not trembled, but now his hands began to shiver.

Tearing open the bag's string, instead of the shiny pile of silver coins he expected, he found a few scattered pieces of silver mixed with mud and stones, and yes, a few copper coins as well.

Fine.

Jin Xu now harbored prejudice against An Laoxiang as well.

His initially complex feelings had become very complex.

With a pained expression, Jin Xu shook the money bag to remove the mud and emptied the scattered silver and copper coins from it.

He then had Yu Yaoer conjure up a ball of water to carefully clean them.

Finally, he tucked them into his Taoist robe.

After completing this process, Jin Xu stood up and walked towards the temple's front courtyard.

Yu Yaoer blinked her clear, big eyes innocently and asked, "Lord, what are you going to do?"

"Demand my payback."

Jin Xu spoke evenly, but his steps were decidedly firm.

"Eh!?"

Just as he reached the well, at that moment, Little White, in husky form, sprang to his feet.

"Little White, are you coming along?"

"No, temple master, An Laoxiang and the others' scent is at the mountain base, many people." Little White's black nose twitched as he spoke.

Having a keen sense of smell was one of Little White's racial talents, originally used to track enemies in the snowfields, but now it had become an invisible surveillance for Little Platform Mountain.

Upon hearing this, Yu Yaoer rushed into the kitchen, grabbed the firewood knife she had used last time to cut gentle bamboo, and charged towards the temple gate with a ferocious aura.

She was ready to demand her master's back pay!

Seeing Little Fish Demon dashing out with a knife, Jin Xu hurriedly followed; he intended to request his pay civilly, not to collect protection money!

At that moment, An Laoxiang and An Laohu, along with the villagers, had reached the temple's main gate.

The group of villagers carried three large water tanks.

"Little Taoist, I've come to apologize." An Laoxiang approached and knocked on the gate.

The gate opened, and the first to emerge was Yu Yaoer with a knife in hand, posing fiercely.

Seeing this, An Laoxiang immediately kneeled down.

He thought the goddess-like figure intended to chop him down—and indeed, just a moment ago, she had seriously considered doing so.

Jin Xu followed closely behind and emerged, genuinely fearing that Yu Yaoer might impulsively turn the old man into a new recipe.

Then, he saw An Laoxiang kneeling on the ground again.

"Do you have a system that powers you up whenever you kneel or what..." the young Taoist commented.

He helped up the old man who had tricked him with fake silver, wanting to ask how he dared to show up!

Before Jin Xu could speak, An Laoxiang spontaneously admitted his mistake.

"Little Taoist, I've come to apologize."

Then, An Laoxiang spilled the beans, explaining why there were clumps of earth and stones in the money bag he gave to Jin Xu.

Fearing any delay might provoke the knife-wielding goddess behind the young Taoist to charge at him.

After finishing his explanation, he told Jin Xu that he had specifically prepared a generous gift today! It was both to apologize and to thank him for saving the villagers of Da An Village.

He then had the villagers bring over a large water jar.

"A generous gift?"

Jin Xu felt his prejudices dissipate.

He led everyone to the front courtyard of the temple, where An Laoxiang introduced the contents of the three large jars to Jin Xu one by one.

The first and second jars contained various farm produce from Anjia Village, such as preserved meat from chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows, and fresh fruits and vegetables, all showcasing sincerity.

This was prepared by An Laoxiang.

Jin Xu was very satisfied, as the temple's meals were now taken care of for a while.

The third large jar was crammed full of prayer incense sticks, thicker than a finger, indicating the prosperity of their offerings.

It was prepared by An Laohu.

Jin Xu was also very satisfied, as the ancestral incense no longer needed to be bought and there was enough incense to burn until the end of this book.

What then?

…

Jin Xu looked at An Laoxiang, and An Laoxiang looked back at Jin Xu.

"The generous gift?"

"Why is the little Taoist looking at me?"

Both thought at the same time.

"I saw that the little Taoist specifically requested a courtyard with a water jar that night, so I specially picked the three best jars in the village to give to you," An Laoxiang first broke the silence, forcing a new topic.

Jin Xu smiled and nodded, now the little fish demon's water jar issue was also resolved.

"The village head is thoughtful."

At the same time, he wondered internally, "So, where's the generous gift?"

Hearing Jin Xu being polite, the village head humbled himself more.

"It wasn't much of my doing, it's all thanks to the night watchman, Lord Xu, who reminded me that as a revered hermit, you wouldn't care for mundane treasures like gold and silver, and told me to prepare something different."

An Laoxiang meant to pay a compliment to Lord Xu, but well…

"Xu Qian, is it? A seventh-grade night watchman, is it? He, Jin Xu, will remember this."

Knowing there was no generous gift, Jin Xu politely sent An Laoxiang and An Laohu, along with all the villagers, on their way. He was afraid that if he didn't send them off soon, he might end up inviting them all for a meal.

The kind that the little fish demon cooks.

…

…

"Achoo~"

Having returned to Gusu City, Xu Qian, just having come out from the night watchman's station, sneezed and felt a chill on his back.

He had just verbally reported to his superior about the child theft case in Da An Village.

When it was mentioned that the case was linked to the Demon Sect and involved a Transformation Fruit, the higher-ups took it very seriously. However, just yesterday, a sudden command from Shangjing City called back a batch of night watchmen to the capital.

This left an already scarce workforce even more stretched, so Xu Qian's superior decided to entrust him with the full responsibility of the investigation of the Transformation Fruit.

"If you can uncover traces of the Demon Sect, I guarantee you a promotion to sixth-grade," his superior had said.

Xu Qian felt that his career might just be about to take off.

"Right, the dossier, the day after tomorrow I need to make a copy to send to that mysterious little Taoist, along with the reward."

In the night watchman service, there's extra pay for such extraordinary cases; otherwise, why would cultivators work so hard for ordinary people if not for the cultivation resources dangled by the Great Xia dynasty?

The rewards vary depending on the case grade.

Originally, the case in Da An Village was eighth-grade, with a fixed reward of 5 Merit Points, one hundred taels of silver, and one low-grade Spirit Stone.

The extra reward was three low-grade Spirit Stones.

However, because the case involved the Demon Sect and the evil cultivator exceeded expectations, the case was exceptionally elevated to fifth-grade. The fixed rewards became 50 Merit Points, one hundred taels of gold, and one hundred low-grade Spirit Stones. The extra reward was ten mid-grade Spirit Stones.

"When I visit the little Taoist the day after tomorrow, in addition to the dossier, I should take the mid-grade Spirit Stones with me."

Xu Qian thought it was the right decision to bring only mid-grade Spirit Stones to give to the little Taoist, assuming that such a high-level individual would disdain gold or even low-grade Spirit Stones.

Having settled the matter of the reward distribution, Xu Qian weighed the one hundred taels of gold in his hand.

Right. He'd been severely injured, so it was time to visit Yingchun House's Xiangxiang to properly treat his "flesh wounds."

Xu Qian, tonight he indulges in music at the brothel~