Chapter 201: Harvest

Chapter 201: Harvest

For a moment, the atmosphere seemed exceptionally heavy.

Just then, Chun Xiaoman noticed no reaction on Li Huowang's face; she was about to speak.

"Shh." Li Huowang placed his hand over his mouth, signaling Chun Xiaoman to be quiet. He tilted his ear southward, listening to something.

After a while, a rare trace of a smile appeared on his face.

"No rush, the problem of food is solved."

Immediately, under the gaze of others, Li Huowang's body slowly shifted, gradually sinking into the wall beside him.

"Wait for me here, I'll be back in a moment." Li Huowang's voice sounded out of thin air.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I know this, this is the wall-passing technique my second uncle talked about, a master is a master, even being a thief is better than others."

When Li Huowang hid his phantom image within the wall, his true body was in a state of invisibility.

Li Huowang stuck close to the wall, winding his way toward a house.

Passing through the outer courtyard where chickens were kept, he walked into the room. The voices from earlier were heard more clearly now.

"Son, this won't do, your kung fu isn't practiced enough, go read the 'Classic of Deception' another ten times."

"Yes..."

"Don't blame your father for being harsh, this is the foundation of our Wu family, all these assets were swindled out penny by penny by our ancestors."

Li Huowang sighed lightly, it seemed there was no utopia here.

In this broken place, there were actually people who made their fortune through deception.

But this was even better, he could openly engage in criminals preying on criminals, solving the immediate crisis.

"Truly unexpected, the first use of my new ability is actually stealing."

"Before I wanted to escort goods to earn travel funds, but now I'm doing this kind of thing, perhaps doing proper business really doesn't suit me."

While randomly thinking these thoughts, Li Huowang searched around the entire room.

Soon a hidden compartment was found by him, opening it, inside was all silver and gold, various shapes and ages, clearly stolen goods at a glance.

Li Huowang's face lit up with joy, travel funds for later were secured, quickly finding a bag, he packed it and put it into his bosom.

At this moment, the father and son in the next room were still discussing deception techniques, voices constantly entering his ears.

"Son, our family has only you as the single shoot, you study hard, if you don't learn it, the incense of our Southern Sect will be cut off."

"Remembered, Father, I will certainly study hard, won't disappoint your cultivation."

Hearing this, Li Huowang's face revealed a trace of contempt, a nest of scammers even scamming out family honor.

After quickly circling around, Li Huowang found their family cellar and walked in. Inside various cured meats and pickle jars were piled full.

Li Huowang brought all these things outside. Across the wall header he threw them over to the others on that side.

This scene appeared exceptionally strange, a vegetable jar floated up on its own. Arriving at the wall corner it ran over.

If others saw this, they would surely be startled.

The conversation sounds of that father and son in his ears continued.

"Son, after going down the mountain this time, you scam me a wife back, as long as you can scam one back, I'll consider you graduated."

"Father, a wife can also be scammed?"

"Nonsense, as long as you scam with heart and specialize in scamming, what cannot be scammed? Your mother was scammed over by me back then, she is still kept in the dark."

For some reason the more he listened, the greater the fire in Li Huowang's heart grew, Li Huowang's work in hand stopped. "Should I just kill them off?"

Because of the Left Forgetful Dao before, he now had great hostility towards scammers, best if all scammers in the world died out.

"Daoist, you cannot do that, they indeed did wrong things, but at least their crimes do not deserve death."

The voice from the side startled Li Huowang, he discovered the monk who hadn't been seen for some time suddenly appeared again.

The monk circled Li Huowang, chattering those words persuading people to be upward.

Hesitating three times, Li Huowang ultimately abandoned this idea.

The monk was right, he could not kill them.

He could not always take killing as the only means, otherwise holding a hammer in hand, later seeing everything as nails, he would become more and more extreme.

However though the capital crime may be spared, the living punishment is hard to escape, he decided to completely empty their family, letting their family properly enjoy the feeling of losing things.

Subsequently Li Huowang stole their family inside and out empty. As long as it was food or valuable it was all stolen.

"Son, your words for scamming cannot be blindly made, must mix several parts false with several parts true. This way others will believe."

"Father, I know this, but exactly how many parts false mixed with how many parts true? The 'Classic of Deception' doesn't say either."

"Fool! This of course depends on the person, easier to scam ones, less true words, more false words."

"Harder to scam people, especially some particularly stubborn people, you must speak more true words speak more honest words before them, this way when you commit deception, others will believe you."

"Remembered, a qualified scammer's spoken words, inside must have true words!"

"Remembered."

Li Huowang who was just preparing to leave heard this and again wound into the room.

When he came out again, a half-old half-new book was already in his hand. On it crookedly wrote two words, "Classic of Deception"

"I'll let you scam!"

"How is it? All taken?" Li Huowang's phantom body and true body overlapped together again before the others.

"Taken, taken, we can't fit anymore, but Senior Brother Li, where did these things come from?" Gou Wa who had already stuffed a piece of cured meat into his mouth said.

"Taken is enough, we'll talk while walking on the road."

As gradually walking out of this village, those miserable howling sounds also in Li Huowang's ears gradually faded away.

"Father! Our family's 'Classic of Deception' was stolen by someone!"

"Father! Our family's chickens were stolen by someone!!"

"Father! Our family's stove pot was also stolen by someone!!"

So many things, cost quite some effort, only finally from that rugged mountain road moved down.

But looking at the heavy things in hand. Every face overflowed with happiness, finally they would not starve.

The first thing after going down the mountain, was to find living water, light a fire, cook rice, and beautifully eat a meal.

After eating full, on every person's face the anxiety disappeared, even tempers improved somewhat.

"Sister, sorry ah. The words I spoke before were all unintentional." Gou Wa smilingly just toward those women leaned over.

"You get away! Who doesn't know what your brain is thinking now? Ate full then think about those dirty things."

"Sister Xiaoman, look at how you speak, the words I said before, also weren't for everyone's consideration ah, what was eaten was everyone's..."

While listening to their bickering, Li Huowang meanwhile reached hand from bosom took out previous harvest.

Passing these heavy bags into Bai Lingmiao's bosom. "These are all that scammer's stock, gold and silver both included, you count them."

"Mm."

Li Huowang, finally finding a moment of leisure, gazed at the others, sated with wine and food, and the heart suspended within his chest finally eased.

The matter of supplies was settled; next, so long as they traversed Later Shu without incident, this tribulation would be safely passed.

Pondering a moment, he took out that copy of the Scripture of Deception from before and began to leaf through it.

"To think there exists a book dedicated solely to teaching the art of deceit, truly a first for me."

"Heh, it even contains the verbal patterns for deception tricks."

Li Huowang had originally been flipping through it aimlessly merely to pass the time.

Yet as he continued turning pages, Li Huowang's expression began to gradually grow grave, and his posture straightened.

He discovered that some of the rhetorical techniques herein, the Zuowang Dao had employed upon him.

The words spoken by the Zuowang Dao were indeed partially false, yet within them lay a portion of truth!

(End of Chapter)