The Ninth Lady is a rebellious person.

Chapter 420 How could someone be so foolish as to associate with Lang Jiu?
The young master of the Rong family was absent from the grand opening of the Ghost Gate at Qingyang Temple. Although the abbot of Qingyang Temple explained that the young master had encountered an extremely evil spirit in the back mountain and was unable to come after a battle, this explanation disappointed many people who came to see him. However, no one said anything, after all, he was the heir of the Rong family of the Xuan clan. More importantly, a great commotion did indeed come from the back mountain, even the Wangxian Pavilion was blown up, and a flash flood was inexplicably triggered.

If there were no evil spirits, how could such a commotion have occurred?

Lang Jiuchuan only heard the news from Yi Ce ten days after the incident, and he was so angry that he laughed.

"The Rong family reacted quite quickly. Demon, me?" She slid the beaded string and smiled faintly, "Well-reasoned and well-founded, this diversion of attention is quite reasonable."

Yi Ce sneered: "What nonsense about rationality. They always find a way to justify all their actions with false reasons and excuses to cover up their ugly faces."

Lang Jiuchuan glanced at him with a wicked look, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Fellow Daoist Senior Brother has a lot of opinions about the Xuan Clan. Is there some deep-seated hatred between you?"

Yi Ce's body stiffened slightly.

"It seems there really is such a thing. So, you were recruited by the Feng family to become their disciple, could it be that this feud is with the Feng family?"

Yi Ce turned to look at her. How could a person be so smart? Where was he not being convincing?

"No way, how could that be? If that were the case, wouldn't I be recognizing a thief as my father? Ha!" He forced a smile and grinned.

Lang Jiuchuan said with an air of seriousness, "Besides recognizing a thief as one's father, there's another phrase: 'lying down in fear and tasting firewood,' oh no, I mean, 'venturing deep into the tiger's den'?"

Yi Ce laughed sheepishly: "I'm not as brave as you say."

"You don't need to be so wary. As you can see, I even wanted to kill the young master of the Rong family. This shows that my hatred for the Rong family is not shallow. Naturally, I will not collude with them to deal with you. After all, you and I have been in the same boat before."

One strategy: "..."

How did she manage to say the words "to go along with the crowd" with such righteous indignation?
"So, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I'm not particularly interested anyway, it's not like it's my enemy." Lang Jiuchuan stood up, patted the grass clippings off his butt, and said, "Thank you for your help before. As a return gift, I'll give you two Five Thunder Talismans."

She handed over two talismans.

Five Thunder Talisman...

Yi Ce quickly got up to take it, saying, "Is it really the Five Thunder Talisman? I can't accept this." Just as she was about to take it back, he snatched it away, saying, "Thank you, fellow Daoist."

Lang Jiuchuan then descended the mountain, and Yi Ce followed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "In fact, it was the Feng family that stole the treasure of my Maoshan Sect, the Sect Altar Jade Tablet. My master and two senior brothers died at their hands because of this."

"Is this all the Maoshan Sect has?"

Yi Ce smiled bitterly: "Now that spiritual energy is low, cultivation is already difficult. With established sects like the Xuan Clan ahead of us, very few people are willing to join the Maoshan Sect to learn the Dao."

"It's because they're poor!"

Yi Ce's face darkened, and he said, "My Maoshan Sect was once famous in the underworld, but we specialize in exorcising evil spirits and catching ghosts, and our fees are not high, which is why we have gradually declined."

"To put it bluntly, it's just a case of being poor and making a fuss."

Yi Ce, his face full of dissatisfaction, said: "Cultivation is about cultivating the mind. The Xuan Clan is wealthy enough, relying on the resources and treasures left by their ancestors, but what kind of cultivation have they achieved? Few of them have real skills. They just have a few fancy moves and dare to call themselves Celestial Masters. Bah!"

Lang Jiuchuan said, “Cultivating the Tao and cultivating the mind is true, but making talismans and buying some high-quality cinnabar requires money, doesn’t it? Making pills with good medicinal herbs to replenish vital energy also requires money, doesn’t it? Take the Maoshan Sect for example, do you need money to repair your mountain gate? If the mountain gate is dilapidated, how many pilgrims will be willing to offer incense? Without incense to worship the patriarchs and gods, how can you invite the gods to descend and help you in exorcising evil spirits? At the simplest point, without incense, will the disciples who join your sect starve and abstain from grains? How can you learn to draw talismans without yellow paper?”

This... there's no solution.

"Even those who cultivate themselves in the mundane world cannot escape worldly concerns. Don't think I'm mercenary or tainted by money, but think about whether what I'm saying makes sense. There's a saying that money can make the devil turn the millstone. If you give them more incense money, they'll be indebted to you and have to do you some favors. There's also a saying that the more gods you worship, the more divine protection you'll receive. Let alone the best incense, if you don't offer more ordinary incense, will the gods pay attention to you? What, do you think the gods will voluntarily radiate divine light so you can get something for free without relying on incense and the power of their vows?"

Boom.

Suddenly, a deafening thunderclap came from overhead.

Yi Ce looked up and saw thunder and lightning flashing in the dark clouds. He thought to himself, "Why doesn't it just fall down and strike her? She talks so arrogantly, yet no one can refute her!"
"All of the above, in our cultivation of the Tao, we also need to borrow those wicked things—yellow paper, cinnabar, incense, even the roosters and black dogs you often use. Where doesn't that cost money? Oh, true ascetics are another matter." Lang Jiuchuan said as he walked, "Of course, what I just mentioned can be prepared by the host. As for medicinal herbs and pills to nourish the body, those are also necessary, right? Without money, who will give you the medicinal herbs? If you want to change into a proper Taoist robe, you also need to spend money to buy cloth!"

Yi Ce pinched the patch she was staring at and said, "Are we just going to refuse to help some poor families who really don't have the money?"

There's a saying: "Rob the rich to help the poor."

Yi Ce paused for a moment: "You're quite the bandit!"

Lang Jiuchuan snorted: "If you want to revitalize the sect and continue the Maoshan School, you have to be a mercenary bandit. What you think is a lot of money is nothing but a drop in the ocean in some people's eyes. As long as you think that what you get from them can help more poor people, you will feel at ease!"

"Like your all-in-one shop?"

"You can think of it that way."

Yi Ce leaned over and said, "I see that your Wan Shi Shop only has one manager. Why don't I join you? I can catch ghosts and exorcise evil spirits. I have some Taoist skills."

Lang Jiuchuan sneered: "I think you're just trying to freeload off me."

Jiang Che, who had been pretending to be asleep, lazily half-opened his tiger eyes. How could he be so foolish as to associate with her?

Yi Ce touched his nose and said sullenly, "This means you eat the meat, and I'll just drink some soup."

"To be honest, the Rong family already sees me as a thorn in their side. Sooner or later they will make a big move to deal with me. There is no benefit for you to stay by my side. If things go wrong, you might lose your life inside, and then the Maoshan Sect will not have the last disciple to inherit the lineage. Your master will probably be so angry that he will jump out of his coffin!"

"Nonsense. My master said I have a destiny to turn bad luck into good. As long as I uphold my Daoist heart and wholeheartedly pursue the Dao, I will not encounter any great calamities."

"If I were the master, I would have deceived my young disciple in the same way to prevent him from betraying the sect!"

Yi Ce's lips twitched slightly. He thought of Rong Huanxuan, straightened his expression, and said, "By the way, that Young Master Rong is a bit strange. You must be careful when you encounter him in the future."

Lang Jiuchuan paused, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What did you figure out?"

Yi Ce shook his head: "I do have some skills, but I'm not the most skilled. I just feel that her aura is not very upright. My master once said that I can judge good or bad fortune by observing aura. This is my greatest talent."

His demeanor is improper, huh.

Lang Jiuchuan's eyes gradually turned fierce, and her fists clenched so tightly they cracked. How could she be righteous after devouring souls?

(End of this chapter)