The next day, it was time for Wen Zhihao’s usual weekly trip to the mortal towns to sell various glowing items. Because of the weather, he decided to offer some of the mortals in town to inscribe cooling talismans on their fans for one wen. It earned him a tidy little sum of money.
With this money in his new (!) spatial ring, Wen Zhihao confidently went to the bookstore in town to ask who made the brushes and then went to the house of the brush makers.
An older man with white wisps in his hair greeted Wen Zhihao politely. People liked to call him Old Third, as he was the third son of his family.
Old Third ushered Master Cultivator Wen inside and poured him a cup of warm water.
“How can this servant help Master Cultivator Wen?” While the youngsters spoke familiarly with the Master Cultivator, Old Third was not so casual. He was a little old-fashioned, so what?
Wen Zhihao pulled out two prototype brush pens. “I would like you to make more of these for me.”
Old Third glanced at the plain bamboo cylinders, holding back a confused frown.
“Let me demonstrate.” Wen Zhihao pulled out some paper. He uncapped the lid, revealing the brush tip, and began to write a number of simple talismans. The ink flowed easily and for much, much longer than a dip brush could maintain.
Old Third’s eyes widened as excitement bubbled in his chest. Don’t call him old-fashioned! This new kind of brush seemed amazing! “Master Cultivator Wen, is there a magical ink container inside that brush?”
Wen Zhihao grinned. “Not at all. Inside, there is a hollow tube that I have filled with ink. I will give you these two, you can take them apart to see what I’ve done. I’ve also drawn some diagrams.” Wen Zhihao took out some paper with a few rough sketches.
Old Third’s eyes roved across the diagrams. He had thought there would be just a simple tube according to Master Cultivator Wen’s words, but in fact, there were multiple other components… “How much is Master Cultivator Wen asking for? Fifty taels? No, no, Two hundred taels!”
He didn’t dare cheat such a powerful cultivator. And if he made even more money from it, Old Third planned to send it to Master Cultivator Wen too, lest he became angry…
Wen Zhihao blinked. “You mean it will cost me two hundred taels for you to make one for me?”
Old Third shook his head. “No, no, no! To buy this,” he clarified, pointing to the diagram.
Wen Zhihao: …
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Cr ibcu jr sbe mjc wjxf j ofk obg wf obg ogff, atfgf lr cb mtjguf.”
“Zjrafg Jeialnjabg Qfc, atlr mjccba vb. Ktlr xlcv bo vfya, P mjccba joobgv ab tjnf!” Yiv Ktlgv qgbafrafv. “Po Zjrafg Jeialnjabg Qfc vbfr cba kjca j bcf-boo qjswfca, atfc P klii rqila atf qgbolar—”
Wen Zhihao was only human, so the thought of many silver taels certainly sparkled and pulled at him. But he had to resist because with money comes responsibility a.k.a. work, and what would he do with some much mortal money?
Finally, Wen Zhihao suggested, “How about you use some of the profits to fund a school where all children, boys and girls included, can go for free to learn basic literacy and numeracy? Anyway, if there are more students, then more people will require brushes.”
Old Third quickly agreed. “As Master Cultivator Wen says, it will be done!”
“Don’t tell me the details,” Wen Zhihao pre-empted. “I trust you.” (That is, I’m sure it’ll be fine!) “Oh, and if you can enhance the prettiness of the pens, that would be good.”
“Of course!”
Wen Zhihao and Old Third both left the meeting with satisfaction.
Old Third had a new kind of brush he could make, which was more work he could do to make money!
And Wen Zhihao had someone to make the brushes for him, which was no more work for him! He didn’t even need to pay Old Third anything, which was even better.
On his way out of the town, he suddenly noticed a vaguely familiar person lurking at the outskirts.
Ah, their eyes just met. That meant Wen Zhihao couldn’t pretend they didn’t see each other.
So Wen Zhihao walked over to the black-robed man standing under the tree.
“Hello, it looks like you’ve healed.”
The black-robed man’s resting expression did not change. “I owe you.”
“Huh? For what? It was just on my way, don’t worry about it.” Erk, had Wen Zhihao accidentally picked up another debt-to-him? Debts were so troublesome!
The black-robed man narrowed his eyes slightly. “You are the one selling those glowing items.”
Wen Zhihao quickly slid into salesman mode and produced a flower from his spatial ring. “Yes, would you like one? Each one costs one wen, or I can make any item you own glow for one wen!”
The black-robe man thought to himself, …How cheap! Is he so rich that he has no concept of money?! Or rather, was he so poor that he has to sell things to mortals? “You must be poor. I know what it’s like to be poor. I don’t do favours. Here are some spiritual stones as thanks.”
Wen Zhihao: ….WHAT was it WITH people offering to give him money today???!!!
He couldn’t in good conscience accept money for something he did casually.
“Anyone should have saved someone who was injured. I didn’t even heal you, that was through the help of the town doctor,” Wen Zhihao tried to coax. “…Wait, you’re a cultivator?” Not many mortals used spiritual stones since they were just like…stones to them.
The black-robed man: …What the f*ck?
Wen Zhihao pursed his lips slightly. This man’s aura was actually hidden. The only way he could tell was that the qi going into him was less than the qi that came out, meaning that he was able to absorb ambient qi, a big sign of a cultivator.
“…Yes,” the black-robed man said reluctantly. He really wondered what was going on with the Golden Sun Sect these days! “Please take the spiritual stones.” So that I can leave…
Wen Zhihao’s mind raced. “No, how about you do something for me in return?”
“Hm.”
“Do you know any crafting cultivators? I need someone who can make a talisman or an object that will make a brush write or copy whatever symbols or shapes that one may want. Wait, it doesn’t have to be a cultivator, even a mortal craftsperson is good too.” Wen Zhihao’s eyes were bright and eager to “delegate” this task to someone else. “Even if you don’t know any such person, I won’t accept your spiritual stones.”
The black-robed man grudgingly nodded. “Very well. I can do that for you.”
Although Wen Zhihao still felt the emptiness of not having super many spiritual stones, he convinced himself that he was effectively paying this black-robed man back to do this task for him.
“Great, then you can find me in the Golden Sun Sect, or send me a letter. My name is Wen Zhihao, by the way. Since you’re a cultivator, you probably know where that is?”
The black-robed man said, “We can meet in this town again next week.” He had already known Wen Zhihao’s name from the townspeople a long time ago.
Wen Zhihao nodded. “Alright. Oh, what’s your name?”
“Zhou Sheng.” The black-robed man named Zhou Sheng watched Wen Zhihao’s expression carefully, but there was no recognition.
“Fellow Daoist Zhou, then I’ll see you here again next week. Walk slowly and be careful of getting injured again,” Wen Zhihao said in farewell.
“En.”
It was only after Wen Zhihao was halfway back to the sect that he realised he might have been a little abrupt in his departure…Next time, he’ll bring some talismans to help “bribe” Zhou Sheng some more.
Aiya, he felt so busy these days!
—Wen Zhihao thought to himself, as he “hurried” to take a nap before his weekly dinner with Sun Fuyu tonight.
A nap also meant that Wen Zhihao still hadn’t figured out his plan of action with Sun Fuyu.
However, Wen Zhihao didn’t feel a sense of urgency. He felt that their current days were already so good and that they would only slowly get better.
I just realised that a story with a VERY cute main character is Like a Ray in My Night which has an extremely adorable set of side stories called A Little Bunny Looking at the Moon !!! It’s xianxia, and the main character is like a cute bunny and he even gets to have a pet bunny!! Super adorable and super admires his shixiong (aka the ~moon~) 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
WZH’s harem list:
Sun Fuyu(main wife)
hot springs
Beasts from the enclosure (well, technically they’re more like pets)
Mangoes
Sleep
Procrastination
New Addition! Black robed cultivator, Zhou Sheng!
Thanks for the chapter ~
You forgot angry sword instructor!
Oh no!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh, the comeback of Zhou Sheng! I hope he will be friend with fishy!
Or, you know, I’m totally open for 3p ship
🤣🤣
Hmm, it’s estimated that most people who come in continuous contact with Wen Zhihao become friends 😂😂😂😂
Good, good!
Thanks for the chapter, I love the slow days in the sect, they are peaceful, for now (?)
Also, I will check “Like a ray in my night ” I’m a fan of fluffy and cute things 😉
That’s why I like writing slice of life, I like having those slow and relaxing days ❤️❤️❤️
I hope you enjoy “like a ray in my night”!
“Weekly dinner” sounds like a date to me. Wen Zhihao being mistaken for being generous when really he just got no business skills lmao.
Thanks for the chapter~
It’s DEFINITELY a weekly dinner date 😂😂😂😂😂😂
As for being mistaken as generous, it’s not as though he minds 😂😂
Hmm~~
thanks for the chapter~
Wen Zhihao’s casually changing Zhou Sheng (he’s spreading his chillness)
Also, Zhihao don’t seduce other people!!! You can only have Fuyu, okay?
hehehe don’t worry, Zhou Sheng is CP’ing with someone else~
yessss another cp<3
Printer? Photocopy machine? Welcome to the new world 🤣🤭
as long as Wen Zhihao doesn’t have to make them himself 😂 😂 😂
¿Cómo es que el pescado salado salvó al mundo en esta línea de tiempo?… primero salvó a Xiao Sun de una desviación de Qi, ahora parece que ayudará al cultivador demoníaco que supuestamente estaría en la lucha futura, mientras que el reencarnado… es ciego.
It’s not that Wen Zhihao “saved” this timeline, but in a way, he helps people before the problem becomes big 😄
I have a feeling that somewhere in this story Wen Zhihao will be accused of colluding with demonic forces
🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈🙈
Noooooo (┬┬﹏┬┬)
probably not on purpose, though!
Yaay
I love the way WZH manages the debts of others haha he is so very lazy but love his integrity, well but I still want to kick him a little bit (?) For being lazy even with dealing with his feelings haha just a little bit bc it is actually kinda cute.
Thanks for the novel recommendation at the end! I added it to my reading list 😁
I’m glad like Wen Zhihao’s integrity! He’s a good person, just a bit lazy and sleepy 😂
Oh no, more novels to read and time i don’t have!
Kkkkkk no recognition, he almost can’t tell that the guy is a cultivator, much less who he is, our When doesn’t have time to chit chat with others!Thanks for the chapter!
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to have power over time!!
Hehe, thanks!
More awesome recs! Thank you 😍
Wen Zhihao casually making friends with the demon sect 😂
Thanks for the chapter!
to be fair, Wen Zhihao doesn’t know that Zhou Sheng is from a demonic sect 🤣🤣
Soooooo which one is the ML ????!!!!!!
Sun Fuyu is the ML~
Zhou Sheng is someone else’s ML 😆
Autor-nim, estoy agradecida por tantas recomendaciones de novelas, la leeré en algún momento!!
No problem, I hope you like some of the recommended novels!
Chs like this always remind me of My Sect’s Senior Disciple Has a Hole in His Brain 😹
WenWen is so busy delegating his own work to other people. Even roping in Zhou Sheng. 🤭😳 That’s the way to become the boss of the sect, rope in all kinds of people and bribe the rest. 🤣
delegation is the best for a lazy salted fish after all! XD
Oh?? Mystery man appears again! If he’s a new character… I’m pretty sure he’s going to form a nice bromance with Wen Zhihao
I can’t wait!
😏😏😏 definitely a new character~
Me today morning: omg I have so much work to finish and get reviewed before the coming long weekend
Me after 10 minutes: let’s just nap for 10 minutes more before I start..
Me after reading this chapter: hmm something here seems familiar… I wonder what that is…
HAHAHAHAAHAH. A nap is good though, get some energy before starting work!
i have a lot of novel recomendation thanks to you >.< I’m telling myself that if I love ur novel, then I’ll like ur recommendations too!!
hahah, no pressure! In fact, the novel recommendations were there so while I was posting live, to give people ideas of what they could read while they waited for this novel to update 😆
adds another recommendation to the TBR pile
😆😆
I love this story
❤ thank you!
Thank you for the chapter!
Thank you for reading!