Chapter 45: No Fancy Tricks

  Qing Shen Technique is slightly better than Wu Dong Jin Gang Technique, the speed of consuming Fa Li is slower than Wu Dong Jin Gang Technique. At the same time, when using Qing Shen Technique, Li Wen Jun can also cast Huo Qiu Technique. However, once he casts both techniques at the same time, the speed of consuming Fa Li will increase exponentially.

  In addition, although the Light Body Technique is more brilliant than the lightness of the Jianghu people, the Light Body Technique does not equal flight. The height and time of hovering in the air are very limited, to a certain extent, it's more like an enhanced version of lightness.

  There are many shortcomings in the three spells, or rather, they are insufficient. However, after all, they are the means of the immortal family and can only be mastered by cultivators. Li Wenjun practiced every day with great enthusiasm and did not dare to slack off for a moment. He believed that practice makes perfect, and the more he practiced and applied it, the shorter the preparation time for casting fireball spells would be, even if it was just a short breath of time. Perhaps this could be the key to his victory when facing others.

  Time flies, and more than half a month has passed. The twelfth lunar month is about to pass, and the Spring Festival is approaching. If nothing unexpected happens, Li Wenjun will spend his first Spring Festival without his family in the county seat of Sanshan County.

  Every time a good festival comes, Li Wenjun is no exception. He misses his family very much and wants to reunite with them, but the people he asked to help him find his relatives have not returned any news so far. He can only suppress his thoughts of his parents and focus on his training.

  Apart from searching for his relatives, Li Wenjun's heart was focused on advancing his cultivation and didn't want to have too much interaction with others. However, sometimes it wasn't that you didn't want to pay attention to others, but rather others couldn't see you.

  On this day, Li Wenjun had just finished his cultivation and was exercising in the courtyard when the big dog suddenly barked loudly. The gate creaked open, and a yamen runner walked in with his hands behind his back. "Is there anyone alive? If so, come out."

  Li Wenjun furrowed his brow, he still had some impression of this official. Wu Xue Mei came to him for the first time and insisted on taking the "Tai Zu Dictionary" from Zhou Wei, the head of San Shan Academy. Wu Xue Mei's younger brother Wu Yi Ming compensated him with ten taels of silver. Unexpectedly, as soon as Wu Xue Mei and her younger brother left, this official returned and took back the silver.

  Afterwards, Li Wenjun inquired about the situation of this official and found out that his name was Fan Xiaobo, one of the two captains of the county yamen, and also a tyrant in the county town. He had some relationship with County Magistrate Wu Qi and often bullied the good people, extorted money from them, which made the common people hate him so much that their teeth itched, but they couldn't do anything about it.

  "It turned out to be Mr. Fan, I don't know what he wants from me?" Li Wenjun said calmly.

  "Ah, it's you! We really do have a good affinity for each other, running into each other again like this." Fan Yibo's words were laced with a hint of frivolity, making it hard to believe that he was actually the county yamen's head of captures.

  "I'd rather there wasn't this fate." Li Wenjun didn't give Fan Yibo a good face, "Fan, I still have things to do and don't have time to accompany you. If you have something to say, then speak quickly."

  Fan Yibo clicked his tongue and said, "It's been a few months since we last met, little brother's temper has increased. No big deal, young people are like that, having some temper is normal. You have something to say, I also have something to say. Isn't Chinese New Year coming soon? The brothers can't even take a holiday during the new year, they still need to be busy catching the great thief Wang Yonggui from Jiangyang. Are you going to hand over this month's bounty tax?"

  Li Wenjun reached into his pocket and pulled out ten copper coins, handing them to Fan Yibo, saying: "Here."

  Fan Yibo didn't take it, and smiled: "Little brother, you misunderstood? When did I say it was ten cents? Let me tell you, the price has gone up. You have to take out ten taels of silver."

  Li Wenjun's face changed, and he asked sternly: "Ten taels of silver? What for?"

  Fan Yibo smiled and said, "Little brother, others may not know your background, but I've investigated you thoroughly. You claim to be a refugee, fleeing from drought in your hometown and ending up here."

  How much money can a fugitive have? It's already good if he can barely support himself. But look at you, renting such a large mansion, not working every day, eating and drinking meat, learning martial arts in the martial arts hall, listening to books in the tea house, living a very comfortable life. Recently, I also heard that you spent tens of thousands of silver coins just to find your so-called lost parents.

  "I'm asking you, where did your money come from? It can't be that you're stealing and robbing from other people's homes, right? Recently, there was a theft case at our county's casino, with over a thousand taels of silver stolen. Little brother, can you explain to me whether or not you have any relation to the casino's theft case?"

  "Fan Tou, you'd better have evidence when handling a case. Falsely accusing people, do you think the law is useless?" Li Wenjun said.

  Fan Yibo burst out laughing and said, "Of course, it's the law of the king. In this Sanshan County, what I, Fan, say is the law, and my words are evidence. Little brother, if you know what's good for you, then hand over half of your money to me, and I'll turn a blind eye, pretend I didn't see it, and even protect you in the future. If you don't know how to behave, then don't blame me for being impolite. I'll have to use chains to lock you up and invite you to spend two days in the county prison's great cell to calm down."

  As he spoke, Fan Yibo took out the shackles used to capture people, shook them, and said: "How about it? Are you going to spend money to get rid of the calamity or do you want to taste the methods of my brothers in the big prison?"

  Li Wenjun suppressed the urge to throw a fireball and burn Fan Yibo to ashes. Someone must have seen Fan Yibo come to his house, and if he killed him now, it would be hard to explain to others. Later on, he would have to leave the county town. Once he left the county town, finding another place to settle down near Wufeng Mountain wouldn't be easy.

  "After some thought, Li Wenjun said: 'Fan, I do have some money, but I swear to heaven that it has nothing to do with the theft case at the gambling house. How about this? If you want, I can give you thirty taels of silver and keep twenty taels for myself.'"

  Fan Yibo initially wanted ten taels of silver, but unexpectedly Li Wenjun opened his mouth and said thirty taels. His eyes narrowed involuntarily, not because he was happy, but because a greedy thought arose in his heart. Thirty taels could no longer satisfy his appetite; fifty taels, he wanted them all.

  "Thirty taels is thirty taels, you take it." Fan Yibo said, his hand touching the large knife hanging from his waist. He was calculating that if Li Wenjun turned around and went into the house to get the money, should he follow him in and stab Li Wenjun in the back, then grab the money.

  This kind of thing, Fan Yibo had done it before, relying on him being the county yamen's catcher and having some kinship with the county magistrate, until now he has been safe and sound.

  Li Wenjun accompanied by a smile, said: "Fan head, you also know that my family was searched twice by the eldest sister and others. If there were silver coins, they would have been found long ago. To be honest with you, I hid all the silver coins in a hidden place outside the city. Whenever I need money, I will go to the outskirts of the city, dig up the silver coins, and bring some back. If you want some, just wait for me to bring them back."

  "Buried outside the city? You little brat, you're not going to use this as an excuse to slip away, are you?" Fan Yibo looked at Li Wenjun incredulously.

  "Absolutely not. Fan, if you don't trust me, then come with me. It's just that I'm worried about carrying so much silver by myself, it's not safe." Li Wenjun said.

  Fan Yibo stared at Li Wenjun for half a day, wanting to see if Li Wenjun had deceived him. After staring for half a day, he found that Li Wenjun was very calm and his eyes were as pure as a child's. Based on his years of experience, Fan judged that the possibility of Li Wenjun telling lies was small. As they spoke, Fan thought to himself: wasn't he, after all, a dignified captain with knives and chains? Wasn't he afraid that Li Wenjun would turn against him?

  "Alright, I'll follow you." Fan Yibo thought for half a day and his greedy thoughts finally took over. He had already planned that if Li Wenjun's hiding place was remote enough, he wouldn't mind taking out Li Wenjun with one slash of his knife and sending him to the afterlife. Murdering and robbing, this was what he enjoyed doing the most.

  "Alright, Fan, you wait a minute, let me change clothes."

  Li Wenjun turned around and entered the house, put on a cloak, then took a bamboo hat and wore it on his head. He explained to Fan Yibo that this was to prevent anyone from recognizing him, in case someone knew that Fan Yibo had taken thirty taels from him, which would have a bad influence on Fan Yibo.

  Fan Yibo didn't believe Li Wenjun could make waves, and praised him instead, saying he was cautious and had a promising future.

  In this way, the two people walked in a line, one in front of the other, and first strolled around the county town for a while before leaving the county town. The distance between them was tens of meters, making it difficult for outsiders to associate them with each other.

  Not long after leaving the county town, Fan Yibo quickened his pace and caught up with Li Wenjun. He said impatiently, "Li Wenjun, where did you hide the silver?"

  Li Wenjun said, "Fan Tou, silver is such a valuable thing, of course, it can't be hidden in a place that attracts attention. It must be hidden in a place where no one knows. Just follow me and I'll show you the money soon."

  Fan Yibo's mind flashed with a hint of doubt, Li Wenjun was too calm, calmly to the point of being strange and scary. But thinking again, he thought that Li Wenjun, just a teenager, couldn't have any ill intentions. He gripped the large knife in his hand tightly and warned Li Wenjun: "Little brother, you'd better not try anything funny. Otherwise, I know you, but this knife in my hand doesn't know you."

  "Fan Tou, don't worry about me playing any tricks on you. Just follow me boldly and I'll show you where the silver is buried up ahead." Li Wenjun said.

  Li Wenjun took Fan Yibo away from the official road, walked along a small path for a while, and then turned into the wilderness. In a small grove, Li Wenjun stopped in his tracks.

  "Fan, what do you think of the scenery here?" Li Wenjun said calmly.

  "Kid, I'm after silver, what's with the sightseeing?" Fan Yibo realized that something might be amiss and drew his large knife.

  Li Wenjun smiled and said: "What a pity, you don't even want to take a good look, this is the feng shui treasure land I chose for your burial."

  "What did you say? Little brother, don't get yourself into trouble." Fan Yibo said as he puffed on his cigarette, raised his large knife and chopped towards Li Wenjun.