Thank you so much to Loni for kofis!! ❤️❤️
“Zhou Sheng?” It was a familiar voice, accompanied by a familiar aura.
Zhou Sheng’s blade stilled.
He shot disdainful looks at the scum men, still grovelling at his feet under the pressure of his qi, and turned around to see Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu flying towards him.
“Cultivator Wen, Cultivator Sun,” Zhou Sheng greeted shortly. “Now is not a good time.”
It was only out of respect to Wen Zhihao that Zhou Sheng had stopped at all. If it had Lin Yijun, for example, Zhou Sheng would have completely ignored him.
“We heard the crying and came to investigate,” Wen Zhihao said.
Sun Fuyu, seeing the unfamiliar person who knew their names, shifted closer to Wen-ge’s side, ready to protect him if the need arose.
The moment the two of them landed at the mouth of the cave, they saw everything. The mortal men had doused all lights for secrecy, but the two of them were Golden Core cultivators.
Nonetheless, Wen Zhihao took out a glowing rock.
Light swept through the damp cave, revealing the miserable men and the even more miserable children. Tears dripped down the children’s faces as they turned desperate faces towards the newcomers, hoping…
Wen Zhihao stepped forward, but his way was blocked by Zhou Sheng and his bladed polearm.
“Wen Zhihao, these are my kills,” Zhou Sheng said coldly. His aura was sharp and abrasive. “Slavers deserve no mercy. None of them are worthy of reincarnation. I will kill them all and destroy their ghosts. Their blood will be used to destroy all that they have stolen.”
Wen Zhihao wisely kept his hands to himself. “Zhou Sheng, that could traumatise the children. Tie those men up and let me untie the children.”
Zhou Sheng’s lips curled up in a sneer, a deep bitterness in his tone. “I saw my slavers die in front of me. We need revenge, 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.
“Mbg j ufcaifwjc ab ajxf gfnfcuf, afc sfjgr lr cba abb ibcu,” Qfc Itltjb debafv. Llr nblmf rboafcfv. “Ca atlr alwf, atf abq qglbglas lr atf mtlivgfc, cba atf rmew. Gb sbe jugff? P tjnf obbv jcv kjafg jcv ajilrwjcr ab kjgw atfw eq.”
Itbe Vtfcu’r mtfra alutafcfv jr tlr yibbviera kjnfgfv.
“I’ll help Wen-ge,” Sun Fuyu said firmly. He held his sword and looked pointedly at the Blood Sect Cultivator. “Those men can’t escape anyway. Don’t stop us.”
“Tie them up. You don’t have to be kind,” Wen Zhihao added.
Why should I listen to a Golden Core cultivator? Zhou Sheng thought.
But his body was too accustomed to Wen Zhihao’s aura and didn’t guard against it. As the calm aura smoothed his harsh edges, he couldn’t maintain the cold-bloodedness needed to destroy those men.
“Fine….later then.” Zhou Sheng wielded his Nascent-Soul level aura to form a physical pressure that swept all the bastards to the side. Ultrafine threads made of his blood wrapped around the men.
The men hissed in pain when that burning hot blood touched their skin.
Meanwhile, Sun Fuyu moved his sword, slicing arcs through the air. With perfect accuracy and all at once, the ropes tying up the children fell apart. He had to remove the gags by hand though.
Strained whimpering filled the cave.
“I want my mama…”
“We’ll take you back to your mother,” Sun Fuyu said seriously.
Meanwhile, Wen Zhihao was pulling out things from his spatial rings: talismans to warm the area, more glowing stones to increase the lighting, all his bedding and blankets for the children to have somewhere soft to sit on, and all the food and water he had, including the provisions from Aunty Liu and the food he had just bought with Sun Fuyu.
The children’s eyes grew wide as Wen Zhihao seemed to take out a bottomless-pit-worth of items. Their fear was momentarily overshadowed with incredulity.
“Wen-ge, I have some healing pills, but they aren’t suitable for mortals…” Sun Fuyu said as he urged/carried the children to sit on the blankets instead of the cold and hard cave floor.
“I have rudimentary healing knowledge,” Zhou Sheng said.
Sun Fuyu glanced at Wen Zhihao for confirmation. Wen Zhihao nodded.
After Zhou Sheng tended their minor wounds, and after they ate, the children very quickly fell asleep.
Wen Zhihao thought with commiseration, After such an exhausting day, I would fall asleep too.
Zhou Sheng thought with wryness, Wen Zhihao’s aura is really too strong for these children.
Zhou Sheng turned to the men currently pressured by his qi. Because his own qi was thick and heavy around them, none of them received any of the calming qi from Wen Zhihao. More than one of the trash had pissed, producing a disgusting smell.
Zhou Sheng’s expression darkened once more. “Now that the children are asleep, it’s time to kill them.”
“Wait,” Wen Zhihao said. He set up a talisman that reduced the sound around the children so that they wouldn’t accidentally overhear.
Sun Fuyu looked at Wen-ge. He agreed with the Blood Cultivator. Like murderous resentful ghosts, these kinds of people could only be slain. “Wen-ge…We have to. If we don’t do it, who will? If you don’t want us to kill them with our blades, we can just throw them off the cliff, and let the heavens decide their fate.”
Wen Zhihao shook his head. A part of him—that clearly didn’t understand the solemnity of the situation—suddenly felt that Sun Fuyu was very cute in how earnest he was.
But this wasn’t a game or a novel (probably). Those enslavers were not NPCs or paper characters (probably). He had to carefully word what he said next, which was the hardest thing he had ever done.
“Death is too easy. Their pain will end,” he finally said.
There, that should appeal to Sun Fuyu and Zhou Sheng.
Zhou Sheng raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Then I’ll just torture them first. These bastards tortured other people, it’s only fair.”
“It’s not just that,” Wen Zhihao said. “We should keep them alive. Human traffickers don’t work alone. We need them alive so that we can find who they’ve dealt with. Who is buying these children. Where these particular children came from. What happened to all the previous trafficked persons and save them too.”
“There are ways to use their blood to trace down where they’ve been,” Zhou Sheng said.
Sun Fuyu’s eyes widened. “Wen-ge is right. If we can use them…”
Zhou Sheng’s expression lightened a fraction. “Then I can kill them?”
Wen Zhihao shook his head. “Then we tie them up in public and let people throw rotten things at them. Let all of them be publicly humiliated.”
Sun Fuyu couldn’t help but remember Wen-ge’s old suggestions for dealing with his parents. His gaze towards Wen Zhihao turned fond.
“Then I can kill them?”
Wen Zhihao shook his head. “Then we find a way to let them experience the memories of the children in order to let them experience what it was like. Make them work and pay back for all the pain and suffering they’ve caused, such as using their money to better the lives of those they hurt. It’s called community service.”
“Prolonging their suffering, making them pay amends…” Zhou Sheng looked at Wen Zhihao in a new light, his lips curling up slightly. “It would be more merciful to kill them. I’ll consider your plan. Wen Zhihao, you should become a rogue cultivator. According to the customs of the Golden Sun Sect, you should either be killing these people, taking them to the mortal authorities, or leaving them alone.”
Wen Zhihao: “….” He had no intention of leaving the peaceful life as a Golden Sun Sect disciple and becoming self-employed.
…Well, at least Zhou Sheng agreed not to kill them—
“—ZHOU SHENG! STOP! DON’T MURDER THEM!”
In a flash of golden robes with special white-gold patterns, the top disciple of the Golden Sun Sect Lin Yijun landed at the mouth of the cave. In a split second, he had seen the bladed polearm in Zhou Sheng’s hands and the mortals tied up in blood-red threads. He rushed towards Zhou Sheng, ready to stop him.
“Zhou Sheng—” Lin Yijun’s voice strangled to a stop when he noticed the unexpected atmosphere.
Why were the mortals tied up? Why were there children asleep on Golden Sun Sect bedding? And why was the junior disciple Sun Fuyu looking at him with pity?
This chapter has been quite difficult to write, just as how Wen Zhihao had to do the most difficult thing since transmigrating here: how to convince the sharp-weapon-equipped cultivators not to kill 😅 Crime and punishment and rehabilitation and repayment and all that are such heavy topics, and I’m sure every reader has their preferences for what should be done…..🤔🤔🤔🤔
Moving is now finally done, now to catch up on all the work that was delayed 😅😅😅
ANYWAY, I hope you enjoy this mini cliffhanger again!
Hmm I have mixed feelings about this, I wanted him to kill those bandits/human traffickers 😒 FIRST
I also kinda have mixed feelings, but it’s less about kill or save, and more adapt to the world vs change it how you desire.
Yes, and also Wen Zhihao is a transmigrator from our modern times, with different values! (And that I’m the author 😎)
I say we kill the linchpins and those at the top and then give the option of rehabilitation or death to the rest. My rational mind advocates for a change where we don’t enforce mindless violence as a response to violence, but at the same time I want all that human scum to suffer. 🤔
Ah yes, indeed there are people at the top who also need to be taken down.
😅😅😅😅😅
I agree with Haohao to use them to track the people behind the scene, but I don’t agree with his no-killing 😅. I want Haohao to proceed with public denounce, and then kill all of them. Severe punishment like this will deter others from plunging into other trafficker in future.
hides from reader
I thought killing them would make the story too dark u_u
Wen Zhihao saves the day yet again!!
Yes! He’s quite lucky to arrive at the right time 😂
Lin yijun, man he’s a bone fide cannon fodder now huh
Yep
Yeeeppp. Let’s see if he can turn his fate around….
Lin Yijun: shocked Pikachu face… Whaaa?
Sun Fuyu: Aish.. He is still in the olden times. We have to prosper to a new era of Community Service which was proposed by Wen ge! That’s right! Wen ge is the best!
Thank for the Chapter!
😂
omg, perfect!!!!! 😂😂😂 thank you for this little theatre!
Poor Lin Yijun, he was too late and Wen Zhihao already resolved the problem. I wonder what’s gonna happen to the children, I hope they aren’t just abandoned after being rescued. While I do find it typical for these kinds of villains to immediately die, I suppose making them repent and pay back their crime could also be seen as a suitable punishment in a way.
Thanks for the Chapter~~*
If Wen Zhihao has soft spots for “big children”, he’ll have soft spots for actual children too 🤭🤭🤭
These kinds of villains often immediately die, so I thought it would be nice to have a different pathway!
I reeeeeally thought the title was about killing Lin Yijun.
Welm. Woops.
(I’m on the killing side here, btw. Serving time only gives evil chance to escape the punishment).
HAHAHAHAHAH
That said, they’re definitely not going to be able to escape the trigger-happy Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivator Zhou Sheng 🤭
Go boy!
Congratulations on the move!
Yes! Wen-ge make them regret that they survived!
Thank you for the chapter ~
Thanks!
Yesss, Wen-ge will make them regret by forcing them to literally empathise with all the pain and suffering they caused, not to mention all the work they’ll do need to do…
Rehabilitating cultivators, saving traumatized kids…where did my salted fish go😂
😂😂😂😂 He was sleeping most of the day! I’m sure he’ll sleep once he gets back! 😂
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️
Thank you for reading!!
Yes, there’s standard stupid protagonist
thanks for the chapter~
Got to have one of those for comic relief 🤭🤭🤭
Hahaha. Lin Yijun has been foiled and confused once again. I really hope he and Zhou Sheng get together.
😎😎😎😎😎😎
I literally facepalmed when Lin Yijun arrived, sigh . How will he explain to trigger-happy Zhou Sheng why he appeared exactly at the place where he had tracked those traffickers? He’s lucky our salted fish was able to explain and descalate the situation beforehand (and that his calming qi is keeping the tension to a minimum) or he’d find himself at the end of that polearm real fast.
Also, SFY is adorable and he brightens my day with his cuteness. He deserves everything 👌
🤭🤭🤭 I gotta kick Lin Yijun down first before he’ll realise the error of his ways
YES Sun Fuyu does deserve everything!!
MC: “Now everyone calm down and don’t traumatize the children.”
Zhou Sheung: “My slavers where killed in front of me and I turned out just fine.”
MC: pats zhou sheung’s head “sure you did, have a calming rock”
Magic Rock: I am an awesome plot saving device.
Magic hot spring: “What about me! ” cries
Li Jun: “I am here to save the day, strikes dramatic pose and nothing is happening?”. looks around awkwardly
MC: slaps forehead walks away muttering about everyone needing therapy.
Love it 🤣
+1
💯💯💯
hahahah best comment <3
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 perfect!!!! This is so good!
Yes, babysitter Wen always has the best solution! We should always listen to babysitter Wen!!
He’s the head of the childcare, after all 😂😂😂😂
Thank goodness Wen Zhihao was there, they would have killed the least powerful slavers, instead of investigating the situation and burning the entire tree, root and branch. It sounds like LYJ would have prevented Zhou Sheng from slaughtering those slugs, and blaming Zhou Sheng for murder.
Without Wen Zhihao and Sun Fuyu as witnesses, I imagine there would be a huge misunderstanding between the two.
Exactly! Hmm, we’ll see more things~
Thank you for the chapter it was perfect as always ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡
🤗🤗 Thank you!!
I-I don’t know why but I was half expecting SFY / WZH to suggest lingchi.
Anyway, thanks for the chapter ~
I got Diluc yesterday so here, some gacha luck
🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀
Wen Zhihao is too nice 🤭🤭
Thank you!
Wen Zhihao enlightening everyone.
We can tell by all the i-t-a-l-i-c-s:
Xiao Yu: If we can use them…🤔🤩
Zhou Sheng: Then I can kill them?🙄😑
Lin Yijun: Why were the mortals tied up?😀(😓)
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I didn’t even realise how many italics I had scattered everywhere 😂
Thank you for the chapter
🤗 thank you for reading!
En cuanto a qué hacer con ellos… como vieja cultivadora, solo hay dos caminos uno es hacerlo fácil y que mueran luego de revelar todo y otra es una vida peor que la muerte, donde cada segundo quieran morir sin poder morir, mientras se arrepienten de sus pecados pero es demasiado tarde, pero como esta es la historia del pescado salado que es terapista de cultivadores, está bien que elija otro método jeje, ya que la tranquilidad es el aura de Wen Ge y no es necesario que se ensucie con cosas como esa, tks tks…
¡Gracias autor!
It’s very lucky that in this world, there is Wen Zhihao!! Yes, he’ll definitely take a different route than typical because it’s just in his nature!
cricket noises
thank you for the chapter 💖
thank you for reading!
Thanks for the chapter! I love the way WJ ignores the whole I’m horrified by what’s happening here but can’t stop people from doing what’s normal here, and basically goes straight to don’t traumatize the kids and kill the scum we need to interrogate….
I had a few partial drafts of this that did focus more on Wen Zhihao’s horror, but ultimately decided to make him go straight to “don’t traumatise the kids” 😅
He does have a tendency to go straight the issue and ignore anything else… which is refreshing 😁
Thanks for the chapter! Killing is so easy for these people!
Thanks for reading! I agree! They’ll learn nothing if you just kill them!
1 Chapter in 1 Sentence
Zhou Sheng baby wants permission from his Papa Wen
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 that’s such a great summary!
I knew it! Lin Yijun will f*ck it up once again! Whatever, ignore him Zhou Sheng. You’re a very good boi, same with Xiao Yu. You deserve all the food, sleep and kittens (and head pats!)
Thanks for the chapter~
Hahaha, are you Wen Zhihao? 🤣 Thanks for reading!
I like When Zhihao trying to find a balance between modern-day ethics and cultivation norms! It’s a tough debate but at least he’s good at convincing people to not be too impulsive? Sun Fuyu is super cute here too – it’s good that he’s there to help Wen Zhihao adapt to the world ♥️
Also, loved Zhou Sheng being all ‘ugh, not this peace aura again I’m trying to kill someone here’ 🤣
YES, Wen Zhihao is still a transmigrator! And his integration hasn’t been as deep or fast as other stories (in my opinion, anyway), so he still has those modern-day ideals.
I try to make Sun Fuyu cute in every chapter because he’s adorable AF and I want everyone to know 🤣🤣🤣
HAHA 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
When you find yourself leaning in favour of murder….. and I-Oop
Thanks for the chapter~♡
Hahaha.🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Satisfied and hungry for more chapters. 😁😋 Sending thanks!
Hahaha, thanks! I’ll go off and write some more chapters XD
I am also looking at that one surnamed Lin with pity.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thanks for the update (≧▽≦)
Thank you for reading!
Like this cliffhanger !
🙈🙈🙈🙈
Thanks for the chapter
Thanks for reading! 🤗
I wouldn’t be sad for human traffickers being slain. But I strongly against of rehabilitation of pedophiles, rapers and mass-murderers. They deserve only cruel death.
It might not be rehabilitation nor death, but they’ll definitely have to pay back!
So true 🤝
Thanks for the chapter (๑´>᎑<)~❤
🤗🤗 Thank you for reading!
I’m sorry but I’m rolling my eyes so hard at Lin Yijun. 🙄.
That’s okay, you’re in good company 😂
Hello! that Lin seriously needs to buy one of those glowing soothing stones haha, I think the way our MC resolved things was actually pretty understandable it was the way someone from our peaceful era will act (well a law-abiding citizen of course) and I think that trait goes well with him.
Haha, thanks for the chapter! I enjoyed it a lot, today I was really needing something good to read while in my break since I was kinda stressed and I’m glad that I found the notification of this 🙂
Lol, Lin Yijun definitely does! YES Wen Zhihao is a modern day transmigrator, so his values and ethics are different! I’m glad to think that the trait goes well! If there was killing, Wen Zhihao would have to struggle with it a lot…
Thank you so much! hugs
I must say that I was surprised by what Zhou Sheng was actually doing. Those poor children! I’m glad Wen Zhihao came and warmly put them to sleep, otherwise they would be even more traumatized
😥
And then Lin Yijun comes… I was like: but wouldn’t it be normal procedure for Golden Sect Disciples to kill those guys? Why is he fussing Zhou Sheng about it? Or is it only considered wrong if a demonic cultivator does it? Lin Yijun… You’re kind of a hypocrite, aren’t you?
Wen Zhihao, I totally get you not wanting to be a rogue cultivator. How can you be a salted fish if you go independent? 😆
Author-san, thanks for the chapter!! ❤
YES Wen Zhihao came from a (relatively) peaceful modern time! I’m glad you liked how he did it! It took a few iterations to get it to here 😅
As another commenter said, Zhou Sheng is like “my enslavers were killed in front of me, and I turned out finnne!! In fact, it’ll be good for them to see these people die!” 😅😅😅😅
Hm, more in the next chapter, but Lin Yijun is also definitely a hypocrite.
Though, if Wen Zhihao goes rogue, I’m sure Sun Fuyu will support him 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Fool that I am, I didn’t realise this was an original novel by bafflinghaze and thought it was a wonderfully translated novel which I MUST MTL because I have no patience!
But then I couldn’t find the raws and realised what was up lol. I generally steer clear of original novels but I’m so so glad I did not realise this was an original and started reading! It’s great! LOVE IT! Looking forward to the next chapter!! – waits in anguish-
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thank you so much for reading, Syeki!! I hope you’ll continue to like it!!
Hahahaha! All these hardwork… I bet our salted 🐠 will push this job to someone else 😂
👀 n-no comment …….😂
That Lin Yijun is pissing me off, gosh ಠಿ_ಠ He’s so exaggerated and an assumer man
oh, definitely!
KKKKKKKKKKKKK looking at him with PITY! Kkkkk that dement just comes barking and have no ideia that all is well, he’s an idiot!
Thanks for the chapter!!
I’m glad you like the pity look at the end 😂
.
Nothing is hard if we followed the salted fish cultivation….move along the wave🤣🤣🤣🤣
Go with the flow~~~
Using the villains to dismantle this trafficking ring and then using them and their money to heal the community is definitely the better way to go. Thanks for the chapter!
YES, I’m glad you think so! 🤗
+1
…… I’m also sorry for the shame he just went through
ITS SO FUNNY THAT YUJIN DUDE IS SUPER LATE
ITS SO FUNNY THAT YUJIN DUDE IS SUPER LATE
I had one job to type yijun correctly, and why is it even double TT
technology can be weird XD
Heheh I’m glad you found Lin Yijun’s late arrival amusing XD
I don’t like LY that much, this is like the third time he’s made me cringe and I want to physically fight his character 😭
Hahahaha, he’s pretty unlikeable at the beginning
wah… i applaud you author. so many revenge plots are centred around the scum instead of the victims. and community service is certainly better than the instant gratification of death or jail. this was refreshing to see in a novel. thanks!
😆 I’m glad you like the alternate punishment here! One could argue that death is less torturous… XD
I’m all for rehabilitation/work actually. Unless you touch my bottom line: rape, exceptional human or animal torture. Especially if done to children. But this is fiction so I was all for them just getting on with it. Though I do love the changes our Salted Fish is making in society. We love impact. It would be nice to know what future history books have to say about him 😂
yeah I didn’t want to get tooo bogged down in all of the punishment…that’s Zhou Sheng’s job, not our Salted Fishy!
He can still kill them, just before their miserable life would end naturally XD
Literally last nail into the coffin XD
LOL he could 😆
I agree with not killing them. Capital punishment doesn’t really seem to work as a deterrent, anyway. It just seems to lower people’s sense of the value of a human life, and to foster the idea of revenge as a “solution” for grievances (when revenge basically just breeds revenge). Look at the US which still uses the death penalty and has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world…
Yes! Exactly!
I don’t have a good answer what to do with people like them. For Wen Zhihao & me, your resolution of the scene sounds good to me. Killing someone is a heavy thing to bear.
Exactly, killing people is difficult, and I think it would change the mood of the story too much. I’m glad you liked my resolution!
Thank you for the chapter
🥰🥰🥰