Chapter 66: Thousand-Section Flower Fragrance
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The Ghost Gate Opens, Wealth Comes Naturally.
Seeing the large characters on the red silk, Xu Yan immediately remembered what Eight Fingers Wang had said—these few days were when Ghost King Gate was recruiting disciples. He didn’t know what rules other sects had for recruiting disciples, but Ghost King Gate was the most simple and direct.
Fifty taels per person, fair to young and old alike!
Around the wooden platform stood many Ghost King Gate disciples and members, and several leaders who were obviously of high status sat in tall chairs, sipping fine tea with great pomp. It was said that several hall masters were presiding over the event.
There were quite a few onlookers as well. The entire prosperous North Street was basically empty, with everyone gathered around the wooden platform that Ghost King Gate had erected to watch the excitement. In the crowd were also many people clutching silver, ready to register and join Ghost King Gate.
Naturally, one had to watch such excitement. Xu Yan enthusiastically squeezed forward. At this moment, he heard a clanging of gongs and drums, and the ghost face on the wooden platform actually spewed out a ball of flames from its mouth, startling people into retreating with a whoosh.
As the flames rose, Ghost King Gate disciples shouted loudly: “Join our Ghost King Gate, and the innate realm is within reach! Practice our Ghost Gate techniques, and become an immortal among the clouds! The Ghost Gate opens, the Ghost Gate opens!!!”
The one doing the shouting was indeed working hard—his voice was about to break from shouting. There were indeed supporters below, as a group of men clutching silver hurriedly squeezed forward, paying money and making their marks.
Wanting to enter Ghost King Gate was simple—fifty taels of silver and a handprint, and you were in. Then you went to one side to receive techniques and get a hand token carved with a ghost face, and then you could go home.
No one cared whether you came to serve Ghost King Gate or not. As long as you could pay the fixed fifty taels of silver annually, you would forever be a Ghost King Gate disciple.
After watching the excitement for a while, Xu Yan finally understood Ghost King Gate’s rules for recruiting people.
Those who paid fixed annual fees were actually lay disciples who didn’t need to serve Ghost King Gate at all. As long as they paid money, they would be given techniques, which weren’t allowed to be passed on to others—like Eight Fingers Wang’s type.
There was another type that counted as formal disciples. After paying money, they needed to serve the sect and would be assigned to various halls to take orders. When there were missions, they had to follow along. Whether it was cutting down people or killing demons was unknown, but disciples who followed the halls didn’t need to pay money annually.
That made sense too. If you’d already sold your life to Ghost King Gate, asking for money on top of that would be too unrighteous. Even evil sects had to maintain their dignity.
Fifty taels a year—this deal wasn’t expensive.
Xu Yan started grinning foolishly in the crowd. He had twenty taels of silver coming to him for free every day, so he could still afford fifty taels a year.
Xu Yan had no interest in Ghost King Gate itself; he just wanted to take a look at that Seven Star Sword Technique.
After all, it was a technique that martial artists used to practice martial arts. No matter how useless it was, it was still better than wild slashing and random stabbing. Having lived in Fengshan City for almost a year, Xu Yan had been helping at the brothel and had not only come into contact with wealthy merchants but also many people from the martial world. He gradually learned one piece of news: the six meridians needed techniques to break through.
Actually, the six meridians didn’t only require techniques to break through. It was said that some great scholars could even use literary qi to impact the meridian gates and achieve the state of having all six meridians open. Besides great scholars, there were even rumors of painters and even musicians breaking through meridian gates, showing that the martial path was not the only method for opening the six meridians.
Compared to the martial path, scholarly pursuits and the four arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were more difficult for many common people. After all, sword and blade techniques were the easiest to practice and learn.
Taking out fifty taels of silver, Xu Yan waited in the crowd, preparing to register himself later. Fifty taels in exchange for a set of techniques was indeed not expensive.
Since he could become a Ghost King Gate disciple just by staying at home, Xu Yan definitely wouldn’t really go serve at those halls. Otherwise, he’d rather not have that so-called Seven Star Sword Technique.
The number of people registering grew larger and larger. Not only were there citizens of Fengshan City, but also some who had specially come from other places. For a time, the scene was extremely lively.
Grinning foolishly whenever he thought about getting a bargain was one of Xu Yan’s habits. However, this habit easily caused misunderstandings among others and sometimes made people disgusted. Sure enough, the young master standing in front of Xu Yan obviously frowned, though his eyebrows were long, narrow, and thin, looking like willow leaves.
Xu Yan couldn’t see the expression changes of the person in front of him, but he did smell a subtle fragrance.
He sniffed for a long time and finally confirmed that the pleasant floral scent was coming from the young master in front of him.
“So fragrant…”
Xu Yan couldn’t help but mutter quietly. Actually, the floral scent was very faint, but Xu Yan had a good nose, especially for the fragrance of thousand-section flowers, which was the most familiar and favorite scent to Xu Yan.
The back courtyard of Riding Clouds Temple was full of thousand-section flowers. This type of flower had stems and roots that were all small sections, like bamboo joints. The flowering period was very short, less than half a month, but they could bloom in all four seasons. As long as they sprouted, regardless of winter or summer, thousand-section flowers would bloom with light blue small flowers, carrying the elegant fragrance of a bamboo forest after rain.
The old Taoist had once said that thousand-section flowers were also called thousand-tribulation flowers. This type of flower experienced a thousand kinds of tribulations before growing roots and sprouts underground. Once they grew up, regardless of spring, summer, autumn, or winter, they would inevitably break through the soil and bloom, even if they would be completely frozen to death after blooming—they still had to leave their own beauty in the world.
The elegance and strength of thousand-section flowers were what Xu Yan liked about them. He hadn’t expected that far from his homeland, in Fengdu of Qi Nation, he would actually smell the fragrance of thousand-section flowers.
Very few people made thousand-section flowers into perfume. Xu Yan curiously looked at the person in front of him and could only see their back—somewhat slender, probably about the same age as him, with black hair tied behind their back, looking like a young master from a noble family. It was just that the neck area was really too fair and delicate.
“What are you doing!”
The person in front turned around with an angry expression and an unfriendly tone. No wonder they were angry—Xu Yan was almost pressed against the back of their head, staring at their collar and sniffing. Anyone would get angry at that.
“Just looking around, just looking around.”
Xu Yan grinned foolishly and cupped his fists: “Brother, are you also joining Ghost King Gate?”
Having lived in a brothel for almost a year, Xu Yan finally no longer greeted everyone with Taoist salutations and chanted “mercy.” As long as he wasn’t wearing Taoist robes, he wouldn’t act like a Taoist, because doing so would make people think he was a child with mental problems.
What family’s young master, dressed in fine silk, would greet people with Taoist salutations and chant “mercy”?
The youth who turned around in front of Xu Yan not only smelled good but was also extremely handsome—willow-leaf eyebrows, phoenix eyes, an oval face, and cheeks as white and flawless as a freshly peeled egg. However, there was a fierce look in their eyes, and despite their young age, they had an imposing presence that commanded respect without anger.
Originally a handsome youth, but once they opened their mouth, they weren’t so handsome anymore. After glaring at Xu Yan for a moment, the youth lightly parted their silver teeth and cursed in a low voice: “Join your big-headed ghost!”
Xu Yan scratched his head and watched the other person part the crowd and leave, thinking ‘Was there a need to curse?’ Such a pretty child—how could they have no manners?
Remembering that he had been somewhat entranced by the familiar scent and had gotten too close to the person, Xu Yan didn’t get angry. He even apologetically cupped his fists toward the youth’s retreating figure, then enthusiastically clutched his silver and squeezed forward.
Paying money was quick. The Ghost King Gate disciples responsible for collecting money greeted everyone who came with money with smiling faces, smiling so much you couldn’t even find their eyes.
Making one’s mark was also simple—dip your thumb in dye and press it on white paper, and you were done. As for leaving a name, that was even easier—you could leave whatever you wanted. Whether it was Wang Dazhu or Li Dasha, whatever you said, they recorded. As for verifying it later, that was the government’s procedure. No one at Ghost King Gate bothered with it—they just passed it up to be filed away.
Some of those joining Ghost King Gate were ordinary citizens wanting to seek a way out, but more were martial artists who traveled the world. These people all left nicknames when registering their names—basically none used real names. No wonder they did this—when joining an evil sect, you had to think about your escape route in case you got into trouble later.
Many people left nicknames, and naturally Xu Yan wasn’t stupid either. He not only left a nickname but also left a name he was most familiar with. In black characters on white paper, it read: Flying Toad, Zhuang Laosi…
