Jinglian Convent?
When he heard those three words, Wei Tu's expression turned a bit ugly. If it was only the Fu family after him, with his level of cultivation, he wouldn't worry about a local Golden Core clan in Peach Immortal City. But Jinglian Convent was a different story.
Even though this Buddhist sect was much weaker than Wanfo Temple or Shenjia Sect, it was still a solid Nascent Soul-level power.
'Looks like I'll have to lay low in Peach Immortal City for a while. I'll wait until things are safe before leaving.'
Wei Tu decided to keep his head down for now.
Peach Immortal City ranked third in Liao Prefecture. The city stretched a hundred li, with a population of several million. As long as Wei Tu stayed cautious inside the city, even if a Nascent Soul cultivator searched for him, with no trace of his aura, it still wouldn't be easy to find him.
"Manager Chi, does your trading company rent out cave dwellings? I've just arrived and haven't found a place to stay yet."
After the maid finished speaking with Sun Chixin, Wei Tu pretended not to have heard anything and cupped his hands in greeting.
—He only overheard their sound transmission because his divine sense was close to the peak of Golden Core. Ordinary Golden Core cultivators couldn't do that.
While talking, Wei Tu took out the residency permit he'd just obtained and handed it over.
Wansheng Trading Company was under the Fu family, and a local overlord like the Fu family would definitely have their hands in every business. Property rental like cave dwellings was practically unavoidable for them.
On the surface, he was just asking for help finding a good, reasonably priced place. But in truth, he was presenting his residency permit to reinforce his "Fang Hanliang" identity, not the wanted "Yi Yun." This was his way of hiding in plain sight.
"Xiao Lin, take Fellow Daoist Fang to see Old Shi. Have him help rent a good cave dwelling for our guest."
Sun Chixin glanced at the information on the permit, didn't see anything wrong, and waved to a shop assistant, who came to guide Wei Tu.
Half an hour later.
Wei Tu, now using a Foundation Establishment identity, rented a second-rank cave dwelling in the Fu family's "Spirit Mansion Courtyard" and settled in for the time being.
At the same time, he had Bai Zhi set up two third-rank spiritual arrays and some warding restrictions inside.
"Bai Daoist, I'll trouble you with this. Please remove the restrictions on these boat tickets."
Inside the cave dwelling, Wei Tu glanced at the seven Ascending Cloud Flying Boat tickets laid out on the table, then turned to look at Bai Zhi in black robes beside him.
His only loophole as "Fang Hanliang" was that Fang Hanliang's room on the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat was a regular room. Even though his aura-concealing skills were good, another cultivator of the same level could still have spotted him.
Like Liang Yijiang—after boarding, Liang Yijiang had used a secret art to see that his cultivation was high and that he was dangerous, which was why he kept an eye on him.
Normally, Golden Core cultivators booked luxury suites, not regular rooms. Wei Tu had met the Golden Core bandit while in a regular room, so if he wanted to clear his name, he had to mess with the boat tickets.
The tickets for the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat had some anti-counterfeiting measures, but in front of Wei Tu and Bai Zhi, those were nothing.
Bai Zhi took care of lifting the restrictions on the tickets.
Wei Tu handled adjusting the special medicinal ink and spell imprint on the tickets.
The spell imprint was drawn with special runes, and this was where Wei Tu was an expert.
"No need for thanks, Wei Daoist," Bai Zhi smiled, then began undoing the restrictions with magic.
On the other side, Wei Tu analyzed the ink formulas and rune patterns on the tickets.
Half a day later,
a brand new ticket was created by their teamwork.
This ticket now listed the room as a "luxury suite" instead of a "regular room." Other than that, it matched the original "Fang Hanliang" ticket in every way.
With this ticket, even if the Fu family later realized Wei Tu was a Golden Core cultivator, he'd have a perfect excuse.
After all, that Golden Core bandit only held a grudge against Wei Tu's false identity. Tracing the real Wei Tu through that was nothing short of a fantasy.
Once the loophole was fixed,
Wei Tu went out to gather information.
A day passed, and nothing in Peach Immortal City seemed different, except for some new wanted posters for Yi Yun put up on the streets.
'Looks like they finished investigating all the outsiders. Only after getting nowhere did they put up the posters,' Wei Tu thought.
There hadn't been that many passengers on the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat—just a bit over one hundred people, and even fewer actually got off at Peach Immortal City, only about thirty.
With the Fu family and Jinglian Convent's power, checking out thirty-something outsiders would take less than an hour.
The reason they didn't check Wei Tu…
Obviously, it was because he'd proactively rented a Fu family cave dwelling.
His residency permit had already been handed to the Fu family. As long as the family head wasn't an idiot, there was no way they'd bother him and risk offending a tenant.
"Manager Chi, why is your Fu family trying to catch this cultivator named Yi Yun?"
"Actually, I rode the same Ascending Cloud Flying Boat as Yi Yun," Wei Tu said as he browsed for spiritual herbs in Wansheng Trading Company, making small talk with Sun Chixin.
"That's all by the eldest miss's orders. Us underlings don't know what's really going on," Sun Chixin replied with a bitter smile. Clearly, this wasn't the first time the Fu family's eldest miss had made things troublesome for him.
"Manager Chi, is there any way in Peach Immortal City to buy large quantities of third-rank spiritual herbs?" Wei Tu leaned in and lowered his voice.
Buying herbs in Liao Prefecture required real-name registration and there were strict quantity limits. What Wei Tu really meant by "large quantities" was smuggling—bypassing the official restrictions.
With most people, he wouldn't bring this up, but he believed Sun Chixin would be tempted. Complaints, hiding things—these were reasons why Wei Tu picked him. Having experienced the peak of being a Golden Core True Lord, Wei Tu didn't believe Sun Chixin would be content as a small-time shop manager forever. Plus, mutual interests could be a good way to get rid of the Fu family's wanted notice.
"Large quantities…" Sun Chixin's heart skipped a beat. Third-rank herbs, in bulk, meant deals worth tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of spirit stones. If it worked out, maybe one day he could recover his cultivation and get his revenge.
"I can introduce you, but you have to pay me ten thousand spirit stones as a referral fee up front. If the deal goes through, I want half a percent of the profits." Sun Chixin gritted his teeth and stated his price.
"Deal," Wei Tu replied right away. He had done a lot of trade in third-rank herbs and knew Sun Chixin wasn't overcharging. The price was pretty standard.
"Five days from now, there's a black market trade in Peach Immortal City. I'll let you know then." Sun Chixin flipped his hand and handed Wei Tu a white token.
…
After Wei Tu left,
the Fu family maid who had spoken to Sun Chixin last time came to Wansheng Trading Company again. She asked if there was anything suspicious about Wei Tu.
"Miss suspects Yi Yun might be using disguise techniques to hide in Peach Immortal City. Fang Hanliang is one of the people she's watching."
"Fang Daoist?" Sun Chixin raised his eyebrows. "When I talked to Fang Daoist, I didn't see anything off. If Yi Yun knew he was wanted by the eldest miss, he'd be in hiding already, not walking boldly into Wansheng Trading Company."
Right now, even if there were clues, Sun Chixin would act like he saw nothing. Compared to what the Fu family might offer, Wei Tu's referral fee tempted him far more.
"You're right, Manager Chi. If Fang Hanliang were Yi Yun, he wouldn't show up here, wouldn't dare stroll around in our shop," the Fu family maid nodded. After asking, she left quickly and didn't dig further.
"Yi Yun?" Sun Chixin stood behind the counter, narrowed his eyes, and silently repeated the name.
For the Fu family's eldest miss to go to so much trouble, asking over and over… his gut told him Yi Yun wasn't ordinary.
After all, the Fu family's eldest miss was the current Buddhist maiden of Jinglian Convent, the future abbot, a true Golden Core expert.
'If I could find Yi Yun, maybe I could use him to get revenge…'
For a second, the thought flickered in Sun Chixin's mind, but he shook his head at himself, mocking his own wishful thinking. Whether it was diverting trouble or borrowing a knife to kill, you needed real strength for that. Without it, it was just talk.
…
Elsewhere,
in the Fu family's backyard of Peach Immortal City—
"Sister, you're alive? Heaven have mercy! Buddha bless you!" Late at night, a golden light shot in from the northwest and turned into a travel-worn bald monk. He saw the veiled woman studying Buddhist scriptures under the stone pavilion and was so excited he murmured to himself.
"Old Six, don't call me your little sister. I was only half an hour behind you," the veiled woman lifted her head, showing a stunning face full of Buddhist calm, though her eyes now were sharp and mocking.
"Those code names from the Six Desires Sect don't count here. In private, you're still my little sister, I'm still your brother. Even the boss and second agree on this," the bald monk said, curling his lip.
In the Six Desires Sect, everything was ranked by strength. He'd lost to his sister Fu Linglong and became the sixth-ranked 'Ghost.' His sister was ranked third—'Asura.'
As they spoke, the maid who left Wansheng Trading Company arrived at the stone pavilion and reported her findings to Fu Linglong.
"Still haven't found him?" Fu Linglong bit her lip, her fair face tinged with anger.
"Sister, what's wrong?" the bald monk asked, not knowing yet why she was upset.
"Fu Dalu! I was bullied on the Ascending Cloud Flying Boat, almost killed by Shenjia Sect. The culprit was called Yi Yun…" Fu Linglong explained, voice full of resentment.
"Yi Yun?" The bald man pressed his palms together, gentle face suddenly turning fierce as a vajra, chilling to behold.