Immortality begins with raising apprentices

Chapter 17 My Home Was Burglared At! (Please Read On!)

As the sun sets, the three of them—one adult and two children—cast long shadows on the bluestone slabs.

Qingjun skipped and hopped, shattering the sunset in the puddles, carefree and lively.

Zhiwei stared at her master's back, silently stepping on his head on the back.

The two apprentices were relieved, but Chen Ye suffered the consequences.

He gritted his teeth and gasped for breath, his neck veins bulging from the pressure, and his clothes were soaked with sweat.

"Naive, so naive!"

He wanted to slap his past self.
Chen Ye was shopping with great anticipation.

She was thinking of decorating her dilapidated little home to make it look decent, and filling the empty kitchen with food.

He was so engrossed in his fantasy that he inadvertently overlooked the fact that he was no longer as strong and healthy as he had been in his previous life.

Thinking about the long journey home, Chen Ye was almost in despair.

Seeing that his master's movements were getting slower and slower.

Qingjun, who was skipping along, suddenly slowed down and kept staring at her master's mountain-like figure.

After hesitating for a moment, she tiptoed and helped him straighten the crooked bamboo basket, her voice barely audible:
"Master, let's rest for a while."

Before the little girl could finish speaking, a steady footstep suddenly came from behind her.

"Brother Chen!"

The old man's bronze back gleamed in the sun. Without a word, he took the rice sack from Chen Ye's shoulder, weighed it in his rough hands, and laughed:

"Brother Chen, with those skinny arms and legs, be careful you don't break your back!"

As he spoke, he picked up two bags of rice with one hand and slung them over his shoulder, his bulging biceps stretching his coarse cloth shorts taut.

The old man's honest voice sounded especially warm to Chen Ye.

Chen Ye's eyes filled with tears, and he felt a sense of lightness throughout his body:
"Old Hei... cough cough, finally I've met my savior. Da Gen, you just got back from the market?"

He caught a glimpse of the animal skin bundle on the old man's shoulder, the bundle stained with fresh blood, with a few strands of silvery fur faintly visible through it.

The old black man grinned:
"I have to thank Brother Chen. That Green Luo Grass helped me break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. That's why I came to the market to see if there are any hunting jobs."

Monsters are treasures from head to toe.

They can sell meat, skin animals, draw blood, and make tools...

For low-level cultivators, hunting demonic beasts is a high-reward, but also a high-risk, endeavor.

Only after a cultivator reaches the mid-stage of Qi Refining can their spiritual power be sufficient to support the use of destructive spells.

Therefore, usually only cultivators in the mid-stage of Qi Refining would consider hunting demonic beasts.

Yunxifang is rich in resources and has a relatively peaceful environment, so most cultivators are unwilling to do this kind of dangerous work.

It's not that they're afraid to fight, but that it's genuinely dangerous.

For example, in Yunxifang now, most of the cultivators who specialize in hunting demons are under thirty years old.

It is a profession that is becoming increasingly popular among young people.

As for why there aren't any older ones... that's because they died in the mouths of monsters before they even had a few years to live.

Even the most experienced cultivators can stumble at times.

The old man made a profit this time, but who knows what will happen next time.

“Dagen, you are a body cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and you have great potential in the market! Why do you have to do this dangerous business?”

Chen Ye had a good impression of the old man, and as he rubbed his sore shoulders, he couldn't help but offer his advice.

The old man wiped the sweat from his forehead; the newly added claw marks on his hand were still bleeding, and his face was covered in blood.

He ignored it, his expression calm:

“Brother Chen, do you know? My father’s blood and sweat were poured into building the walls of Yunxifang. He died building Yunxifang. But my mother and I are still living in the shantytown. No matter how good the location of the shantytown is, it’s still just a shantytown.”

“From a young age, I understood that for a low-level cultivator like me, being obedient and well-behaved would mean being trapped at the bottom forever.”

The old man in black may seem honest and simple, but he is actually not a law-abiding person at all.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye couldn't help but laugh at himself.

Although he has a cheat code, he still carries the strong shadow of his past life.

I just want to live a simple, honest, and happy life with my family.

Since coming into this world, his family consists of his two disciples.

Of course, this does not mean that he has developed feelings for his disciple whom he has only known for a few days.

Rather, it's simply too lonely to live alone in an unfamiliar world...

Raising two little dumplings can also help alleviate loneliness.

Besides, these two little ones are destined to be top-tier leaders in the future.
If you don't latch onto someone powerful now, it'll be too late later!
"Yes, but remember to be extra careful, you still have your elderly mother at home."

Remembering how Granny Li had cared for her disciple in the past, Chen Ye suddenly said,

“Since you’ve made up your mind, I can’t stop you from going down this path, but in the future… if there’s an opportunity, I’ll help you take care of your mother-in-law.”

The old man was stunned, seemingly taken aback.

He stopped and bowed deeply to Chen Ye: "I misunderstood Brother Chen before."

Chen Ye hadn't expected his casual promise to elicit such a strong reaction from the old man. He simply believed that good people should be rewarded.

Since I am capable of doing so, I may conveniently settle this matter for my disciple.

"No, no, no, Da Gen, you're strong and healthy, there's no chance for me to help."

Chen Ye hurriedly tried to help the old man up, but the grain behind him swayed and almost fell over.

The old man, quick-witted and agile, took the basket off Chen Ye's back and carried it on his own.
"Haha, I saw that Brother Chen couldn't carry it, so I was thinking of helping him carry it back on my way. I'm carrying two bags of rice anyway, so I might as well take them both!"

As a physical cultivator, the old man carried the grain with ease.

Chen Ye hurriedly pulled out ten spirit sands: "No, no! How can I ask people for free? To be honest, Da Gen, I was thinking of finding a laborer to help me at first, and these ten spirit sands will serve as payment."

In the market, if a laborer is going to leave the city anyway, ten spirit sands are a fair price.

The old black man's eyes widened in disbelief:
"Brother Chen, are you trying to embarrass me? It's just a matter of helping out as neighbors."

Despite saying that, his calloused hands gripped the spirit sand tightly.

Chen Ye, seeing this, offered words of comfort:

"How can I let you waste your energy for nothing? In this world, every bit of strength and every bit of spiritual power is the key to survival."

"Alright! Brother Chen, I'm quick on my feet, and I still have to take care of my elderly mother when I get home, so I'll be going now."

The old man in black stopped refusing and waved goodbye to Chen Ye and his group.

He moved with lightning speed, stepping through the mud and water, and soon disappeared from Chen Ye's sight.

After leaving the city.

The old man, still suspicious, took out the spirit sand from his pocket, examined it repeatedly, and after confirming that it was genuine spirit sand, he couldn't help but mutter to himself:
"This scoundrel, has he really changed his ways? I thought he was just trying to trick me into doing all this work for free."

He suddenly remembered what Chen Ye had said before.

After hesitating for a moment, he took the spirit sand out of the money bag and put it into a separate pocket.

……

We finally made it to the shack area as the sun began to set.

When I returned, I didn't see Zhang Laodao anywhere. I wondered where that old man had gone off to have some fun again.

Upon entering, Chen Ye slumped onto the door panel, groaning. His two young apprentices, like rag dolls with their strings cut, huddled on the musty, pungent straw mat.

The two disciples were even weaker than Chen Ye.
Although they weren't carrying anything, they had never walked outside for so long before.

Just walking is enough to give them a lot of trouble.

"I'm so tired..."

Chen Ye's hands and feet ached and went numb. He pulled open his sweat-soaked shirt, and his calves throbbed. He kept rubbing his calves until he felt a little better.

It's so empty, so incredibly empty!
The old man had already gone ahead of Chen Ye, helping him pile the things he had brought into the house, and then he was nowhere to be seen.

This bodybuilder's legs and feet are really nimble.

Chen Ye sighed with satisfaction as he looked at the various supplies piled up together.

That's just how he is; he always feels uneasy if he doesn't have enough food reserves at home.

But soon, Chen Ye's heart sank.

My house was burgled!
Before he left, he deliberately left some marks in the house so that if anyone rummaged through things, he would destroy these marks!

Could it have been the old black man who did it?
The old man in black arrived at his house early, giving him time to commit the crime.

Chen Ye quickly rejected the idea.

In the original game storyline, when the old black man searched for his predecessor at night, he found that the predecessor was dead and only searched the resources on the corpse.

He didn't search the house, but deliberately left things for the two little girls, giving them a chance to live.

This shows that the old man's character is somewhat reliable.

Chen Ye didn't have time to explain to his two disciples. Dragging his exhausted body, he hurriedly searched through the hidden compartment under the bed.

His expression changed.

The elixir ointment left behind by the previous incarnation has vanished without a trace!

The only valuable thing in the room was this elixir ointment.

Although a lot of it was used, the remaining ointment was still quite valuable, worth three spirit stones!
"Master?" Zhiwei seemed to have noticed something and asked softly.

Chen Ye forced a smile: "It's nothing, Master is looking for something."

These two girls are too easily frightened, so Chen Ye doesn't intend to worry them for the time being.

He hurried to the storeroom, where the door was already open.

Inside the storeroom, the signs of ransacking were even more obvious.

Fortunately, nothing was lost, but there wasn't anything of value to begin with...

The only valuable item, the iron sword, was still there, but the tattered cloth wrapped around its hilt had been turned inside out.

Whether the person looked down on it or thought it was too conspicuous, they didn't steal it.

"Damn, damn it!"

Chen Ye's face was contorted with rage; he had only left the house this once in the past few days.

As a result, the house was broken into by a thief while I was just leaving!
(End of this chapter)