Lu Yang didn't have a complete understanding of the cultivation world. Before joining the Wendaozong, most of his knowledge came from a storyteller. After spending a year in Wendaozong, his knowledge about cultivation grew rapidly, but he had never read anything about how to get off a flying boat. Who writes about that kind of thing?
In terms of common sense about life in the cultivation world, he was still behind someone like Tao Yaoye, who grew up in a family of cultivators. He only knew that flying boats belonged to the Landing Money Merchant Association and that disembarking involved jumping off, but he didn't know the specifics of how to do that.
Every year, flying boats brought in huge amounts of wealth, but for the Landing Money Merchant Association, it was just a small part of their business. The Landing Money Merchant Association was the largest merchant group in the Central Continent, with mysterious powers behind it and countless rare treasures. As long as you had enough spirit stones, you could buy items from legends, like the Buddha's relics, demon bones, and celestial fruits that no one had ever seen.
If anyone dared to owe money to the Landing Money Merchant Association or thought they could steal from them, they would be warned by the mysterious disappearance of several powerful cultivators.
There was a legend about a thief known as the King of Thieves, who was skilled in the way of space. He could take others' storage spaces as easily as reaching into a pocket. For him, distance was just a meaningless number; he could cross thousands of mountains and rivers in a single step, traveling from the far west of the Central Continent to the extreme north.
He had even stolen from powerful cultivators in the Tribulation Stage. There was one rule among thieves: never steal from the Landing Money Merchant Association.
At first, the King of Thieves followed this rule and avoided any dealings with the Association. But as his fame grew and many well-known masters joined forces to hunt him down, he felt that these cultivators were not that impressive anymore. He believed he had surpassed the ancestors of thieves and no longer needed to follow their outdated rules.
He arrogantly declared that he would steal a treasure from the Landing Money Merchant Association that very night. People thought either the King of Thieves would use his mysterious space skills to steal without a sound or that a great battle would break out between him and the powerful beings behind the Association.
No one expected that nothing would happen that night, and after that, the King of Thieves vanished without a trace.
Lu Yang's embarrassment lasted only a short while. When it was time to jump off the boat, the strangers didn't have time to keep watching him. Everyone opened their paper umbrellas and jumped off one after another.
Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye also moved. In the sky, a few strangers opened their umbrellas, looking like tiny sesame seeds from a distance. Lu Yang was different; he pulled the rope behind him, and his parachute opened with a loud "bang," making him stand out in the sky.
It felt ordinary, but being so high up made Lu Yang quite nervous. However, he didn't have time to think about that now. It was too embarrassing.
Fortunately, everyone had different destinations, and only Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye were headed to Taiping Village.
Once they arrived, they received a warm welcome from the village chief, who seemed to have known they were coming.
"You two immortals, you finally made it! The way you jumped off the flying boat was truly remarkable," the village chief said.
Lu Yang opened his mouth but ultimately didn't ask how the village chief knew when they would arrive.
"My name is Lu Yang, and this is Tao Yaoye. We are both disciples of Wendaozong. The description of the demon bird in our task wasn't very detailed, so we hope you can tell us more," Lu Yang said.
The village chief had prepared a welcoming feast, planning to drink a few rounds and then share some local specialties before discussing the demon bird. But seeing how decisive the two were, he felt delighted and secretly praised them for being true disciples of the immortal sect.
Tao Yaoye took a glance at the village chief. He was at the later stage of Qi Refinement, but his foundation wasn't solid, and his spiritual energy had many impurities. He had little hope of reaching Foundation Establishment and was an ordinary cultivator with nothing special about him.
When it came to the demon bird, the village chief looked troubled. Taiping Village had few visitors and was rather isolated. Now that news of the demon bird had spread nearby, even traveling merchants were reluctant to come close.
He had reported the situation to Quhe County, but they were short on manpower and thought the demon bird was not harmful, so they said to wait until they could send someone to Taiping Village.
That wait lasted twenty days.
"It was about twenty days ago when Feng the tailor ran into the street shouting, saying a man-eating monster had come to his home, and it was quite powerful," the village chief recounted.
"The neighbors were startled. A man-eating monster is no small matter. There are only about thirty cultivators in Taiping Village, and I am the strongest among them as the village chief. Feng the tailor brought the neighbors to find me."
"Before dealing with the monster, I asked Feng the tailor what happened. I wanted to know who the monster had eaten."
There is a big difference in danger between monsters that have eaten people and those that haven't. Humans are the spirit of all things, and once a monster has tasted human flesh, it may crave it again, leading to more victims.
"Feng the tailor said he didn't know who the monster had eaten, but it could speak, which must mean it had eaten people before."
There are indeed rumors that monsters that eat humans can speak and take on human forms, but that's just hearsay. Cultivating as a demon isn't that simple; to speak human language, they would need to refine their throat bones, which requires at least being at the later stage of Qi Refinement.
"Feng the tailor said the monster was colorful. At first, he thought it was just a lost bird from the mountains. The demon bird sat behind him while he was sewing, not moving at all. Suddenly, it spoke, scaring Feng the tailor so much that he ran out of his shop."
"When I saw that Feng the tailor couldn't provide any useful information, I told them to wait at a distance while I crept closer to see the demon bird myself."
"The demon bird had bright, shiny feathers and distinct red around its eyes. It was clear that it wasn't an ordinary bird; no common bird would dare to look so flashy."
"The demon bird asked me, 'Who are you? Where is Zhang Guanjia?' It sounded quite urgent."
"I was puzzled because Zhang Guanjia is a cultivator from our village, at the third level of Qi Refinement, with average skills. How could he have any connection to a demon beast?"
"I tried to relax and appear non-threatening, politely asking, 'What does the demon king want with Zhang Guanjia?'"
"The demon bird didn't answer and flapped its wings, leaving the tailor's shop."
"Since then, the demon bird has been flying around Taiping Village, eating the crops and speaking human words. Although it doesn't eat people, ordinary folks are still scared of monsters. So everyone has been living in fear, worried that the demon bird might suddenly turn aggressive and eat them all."
"Have you fought with the demon bird? How strong is it?" Lu Yang asked.
The village chief shook his head. "The demon bird spends all day in the air, appearing and disappearing, making it hard to track."
"Besides, I can't tell the demon bird's cultivation level, which means it's at least at the same level as me, the seventh level of Qi Refinement. I'm worried that the demon bird doesn't mean any harm, and if I rashly engage it, I might provoke it."
Lu Yang nodded. The village chief's caution was understandable.
(End of Chapter)