“Simply put, it means collecting the memories of Qingshitai locals, recreating the scene from back then, and then letting students enter to undergo training, thereby tempering their state of mind.”
After hearing Wang Su’s explanation, Eighth Master Chang tucked his hands into his sleeves and looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot.
“I’m not educated. Didn’t go to school for more than a few days. Who the hell would understand what you just said?”
Wang Su looked utterly helpless. “To put it even more simply, we build a scene and let the students come play in it.”
“Oh, so that’s what you mean.”
Eighth Master Chang nodded. “Then what’s any of this got to do with me?”
“We’d like you to play that Mohe Zhenren.”
“No.”
The moment Eighth Master Chang heard that, he hastily shook his head. “Go find someone else. I can’t do that!”
Du Qian, standing beside them, quickly added, “There are benefits!”
“What benefits?”
“When the time comes, we’ll charge an entrance fee. The ticket money the students pay will be split fifty-fifty between us.”
“You think I’m the kind of person who cares about a few scraps?”
“The students will use spirit stones as tickets.”
Eighth Master Chang’s gaze began to flicker.
Seeing that he was tempted, Wang Su hurriedly said, “The illusionary scene we designed goes like this—after the students enter, through a series of guidance, they discover someone is spreading heretical teachings in town. Then they’re led to find you, and you defeat them, or they defeat you. Once that scene is over, the trial ends.”
“Isn’t that nonsense? What if someone dies by accident? Are you trying to get me locked up?”
“It’s all fake! The illusionary scene is like a dream. No one will really die.”
“Ah… so that’s what you mean.”
Eighth Master Chang finally understood. “Then how long do I have to act?”
“As long as possible. As long as you’re responsible for playing that Mohe Zhenren, we’ll split the ticket money fifty-fifty. If someday you don’t want to act anymore, you can leave a false body there, and we’ll still give you a ten-percent cut. How does that sound?”
“Fine.”
Eighth Master Chang nodded, then suddenly pressed, “There aren’t any other requirements, are there? You scholars have too many schemes. If you try to trick me, don’t blame me for going to the Earth God to file a complaint!”
The two exchanged a glance, and Du Qian said, “The rest are just matters of detail, such as lines and plot… In truth, you needn’t worry. There are many illusionary scenes like this in our Yunzhong County. The oldest ones have at least a thousand years of history and have operated smoothly until now. Nothing will go wrong.”
Eighth Master Chang said in surprise, “A thousand years? How come I’ve never heard of them?”
Wang Su said helplessly, “Didn’t you just say you barely went to school?”
That one sentence left Eighth Master Chang flushed and speechless.
After settling Eighth Master Chang, Wang Su finally turned his head and looked at Li Qiuchen, who had remained quiet at the side but had in fact been pricking up his ears to eavesdrop the entire time.
“Brother Chu, I know you’re a capable man, so I specifically invited you here because I’d like you to play an important role in our illusionary scene. You won’t need to fight or kill. You’ll only be responsible for reciting lines. As for compensation, we can discuss it. We absolutely won’t treat you unfairly.”
So you people couldn’t find any actors in Qingshitai, is that it?
Fair enough.
It had just been cleaned out.
Li Qiuchen frowned. “I don’t know how you found me. Could it be that Old Master Zhao’s mishap was caused by you?”
At the mention of this, both their expressions immediately turned awkward.
“There was a bit of… a misunderstanding.”
Du Qian smiled bitterly. “Originally, we merely wanted to collect Old Master Zhao’s memories from the past few days. We didn’t expect his body to be so weak that he couldn’t withstand it. We fed him a medicinal pill to preserve his life, but we didn’t expect the medicinal strength to be somewhat excessive.”
Was that just a matter of being somewhat excessive? When I went there, Old Master Zhao was practically capable of uprooting a weeping willow by the roots!
“I don’t really understand what you two gentlemen said just now. In short, you want me to act in a play and will pay me a sum of money. Is that what you mean?”
“Yes, yes, exactly.”
Wang Su nodded. “But it won’t be just one performance. You’ll need to perform several times. We’ll give you one tael of silver for each performance. Is that acceptable?”
“Acceptable!”
In this world, the main reason many things were difficult to handle was simply that the money had not been enough.
As long as the money was in place, anything was easy to discuss.
Just look at Eighth Master Chang’s reluctant face. The moment he heard about the fifty-fifty split, he shut his mouth too.
Although Li Qiuchen did not quite understand the basic principles of this illusionary scene either, for the sake of the payment, everything else was negotiable.
To him, that one tael of silver was not terribly important. Mainly, he was very interested in these two students who claimed to be from the county school.
This seemed rather different from the county school he had imagined.
Once everything had been settled, Li Qiuchen opened his eyes again and found himself lying back on the bed in the cart inn.
It seemed this was not a divine ability exclusive to mountain gods, but a spell that could be learned at the county school.
The first thing to do after getting up in the morning was still to go eat wontons.
Hu Hai’er left with his father, looking at Li Qiuchen pitifully, like a young daughter-in-law who had been sold off.
His father was in the business of driving carts and could not possibly stay in one place for too long.
The young man’s fledgling ambition had only just begun to burn before it was doused by the cold water of cruel reality.
Li Qiuchen had not intended to deceive him, but plans could not keep up with changes.
When he had promised him an empty check yesterday, who could have imagined that Old Master Zhao would suddenly go mad?
“What we brothers agreed on won’t change. If you come next time and can’t find me, go look for the old shopkeeper. Remember that?”
“I remember!”
Hu Hai’er was so moved that tears welled in his eyes, and immediately afterward, his father kicked him.
In a father’s eyes, sons basically came in two types.
One type was completely disobedient and had his own ideas; he could not be controlled, and the father would not dare try.
The other type had no real ability yet thought himself impressive. This type had to be properly disciplined—beaten half to death.
Hu Hai’er clearly belonged to the latter.
After seeing Hu Hai’er off, Li Qiuchen decided to choose a property in Qingshitai.
From now on, he was someone with status too. One tael of silver for each stage performance—at his current worth, it was clearly inappropriate to ask him to keep sleeping in a cart inn.
What? You say Qi Refining realm?
Don’t talk nonsense! I’m a mountain villager. How would I know anything about the Qi Refining realm?
A normal cultivator condensed a qi sea, and their cultivation realm could be judged through the method of observing qi.
Believers of the Medicine Master forged a Dragon Court, which could not be seen from the outside.
Once he revealed his true cultivation, if it fell into the eyes of someone observant, that would be a huge problem.
At present, Li Qiuchen appeared on the surface to be nothing more than a poor mountain lad with a strong physique, abundant qi and blood, and a slight understanding of martial arts. Mountainfolk like him were very common in the north. Even if he was a little young, he could simply say it was a family-taught skill, and it would not attract anyone’s attention at all.
The cart inn was actually quite good. It was warm to sleep there at night, and there were also entertaining activities like gambling. The only issue was that the hygiene was a bit poor, and the smell could only be said to be not much better than a pigsty.
But it was still the same saying: he was now someone with status.