Chapter 149: Spring Outing

Spitting out the curse, "Vixen," Bai Taoru turned her head to see Fang Yue watching her. A blush crept across her cheeks, and she lowered her voice to say,
"Junior Brother, don't think I'm just talking ill of her out of jealousy. You have no idea what she's been up to in our martial arts school these past few days."
"What has she done?"
"In the short time she's been here, she's been chatting and laughing with every single man in the school, getting close to all of them, even my dad... Hmph, Junior Brother, you mustn't follow their example and let yourself be bewitched by her too."
Fang Yue gave Bai Taoru a peculiar look, thinking to himself that she certainly claimed not to be jealous.
Yet, considering the customs of this world, if Song Ping'er's behavior was truly as Bai Taoru described, it was indeed rather inappropriate.
Lifting his gaze toward the direction Song Ping'er had departed, Fang Yue suddenly asked, "Is she really Niu Chuming's distant cousin?"
Bai Taoru replied, "She came looking for Fatty Niu, claiming some family disaster forced her to flee. Who knows what the truth really is."
Seeing Fang Yue staring thoughtfully in the direction Song Ping'er had left, Bai Taoru felt a pang of sourness in her heart and asked, "Junior Brother, what are you looking at?"
Fang Yue shook his head and said, "Nothing."
Whether it was his imagination or not, he always felt there was something somewhat odd about this Junior Sister Song.

***

Returning to his room, Fang Yue began to check the Merit System.
Fang Yue—
Merit: 54,230 points
Divine Powers: Deduction, Illumination, Soul Extraction
Arts: Turtle-Dragon Breath-Holding Technique (Tier 3)
Martial Skills: Enlightenment Manual (Tier 6), Flame Palm (Tier 4), Fire-Iron Body (Tier 3), Long-Wind Fist (Tier 2), Long-Wind Sword Technique (Tier 3), Wind-Chasing Moon-Pursuit (Tier 3), Basic Saber Technique (Tier 1)
Previously, his nearly 50,000 merit points had been almost entirely depleted by deducing the sixth tier of the Enlightenment Manual, the fourth tier of the Flame Palm, the third tier of the Turtle-Dragon Breath-Holding Technique, the third tier of the Fire-Iron Body, the third tier of the Long-Wind Sword Technique, and the third-tier lightness skill *Wind-Chasing Moon-Pursuit*.
However, on his recent journey to Anyin Village, he had slain three ghosts, most notably a centennial fierce-ghost-level entity, yielding tens of thousands of merit points once again.
"Deducing the Enlightenment Manual to the seventh tier to enter the Post-Xiantian realm, and then deducing a few more martial skills, will probably consume these fifty-odd thousand merit points entirely."
Fang Yue let out a soft sigh; merit points were still not enough.
Furthermore, on the side of his divine body, he had accumulated some incense willpower, which also required merit points to cleanse and strip away the negative emotions such as stray thoughts and desires mixed within it.
"Relying solely on Fish Head Town is far from enough to push the divine body's divine power up to the Terrestrial Immortal level, let alone beyond it.
As for expanding the range of believers—in the present era where peace prevails under a stable imperial court, that is nothing short of courting death.
A feasible plan is to steal the accumulated incense willpower from the Sea God Temples in other regions."
Fang Yue pondered inwardly.
The evil gods were gathering in secret, plotting to plunge this world into chaos.
Although when the sky fell, the tall ones would hold it up, what if the tall ones failed to hold?
He could not place all his hopes entirely on others, or he would die without even knowing how it happened.
Especially since he had inadvertently offended two evil gods.
If the evil gods truly succeeded, he would find himself in considerable danger.
He needed to possess a certain level of strength to secure the capital for self-preservation.
"I can test the waters by stealing the incense willpower from Sea God Temples elsewhere and see how the imperial court reacts.
Of course, before that, I need to make some preparations to avoid leaving a trail that leads back to me in case of an accident."

***

As Fang Yue was thinking, a knock sounded at the door.
"Please come in," Fang Yue said.
Qiu Shiyan pushed the door open and closed it behind her.
"Tomorrow, Taoru and I are going for an outing in the suburbs. Would you like to come?"
Qiu Shiyan walked over to the table and naturally seated herself opposite Fang Yue.
"This..." Fang Yue had only just returned from Anyin Village deep in the mountains and forests; he had already had more than enough of mountain outings.
Seeing the hesitation on Fang Yue's face, Qiu Shiyan looked slightly disappointed and said, "Junior Brother Fang, you just returned from outside. It doesn't matter if you don't feel like going."
"I'll go, why wouldn't I?" Fang Yue said. "It's rare for everyone to go out together and relax a bit."
A leisure outing felt very different from going out to complete a mission.
Moreover, with beauties accompanying him, Fang Yue wanted to relax so his nerves wouldn't be strung too tight.
A smile bloomed on Qiu Shiyan's face as she said, "Besides the two of us, there will be daughters from various official and wealthy households, as well as some young masters and scholars. This outing is actually somewhat of a matchmaking gathering.
The host of this outing is the prefect's daughter, who happens to be a dear friend of mine.
So by then, I'll need to help maintain order, and as for safety, Junior Brother Fang, you'll need to lend a hand as well."
Fang Yue laughed and said, "So you're enlisting me as a bodyguard. Very well, no problem."

***

The next day.
Fang Yue changed into an azure-blue robe, making him look like an ordinary scholar.
With daughters and young masters from all the prominent households of Longchong Prefecture attending today's outing, Fang Yue decided to keep a low profile.
When he saw Qiu Shiyan and Bai Taoru, he noticed they were both wearing ru-skirts.
Standing side by side, the two women resembled a blooming pair of lotus flowers sharing a single root, quite striking.
Fang Yue glanced at them several times. Ordinarily, Qiu Shiyan preferred martial attire, which gave her a slightly heroic air, and she rarely wore skirts.
Today, wearing her hair in a floating-cloud bun and dressed in a green ru-skirt, she looked much softer and gentler.
Seeing Fang Yue staring at them, Bai Taoru's pretty face broke into a smile, and she spun around specifically in front of Fang Yue, her skirt fluttering lightly.
She smiled and asked, "Junior Brother, how is it? Do I look good?"
Compared to Qiu Shiyan's reserve, she had far fewer inhibitions.
However, Bai Taoru's smile quickly faded as she saw Song Ping'er walking over.
Song Ping'er had come along with Niu Chuming.
She wore a light-white long dress, her hair gently coiled up; she looked simple and unadorned, yet pitifully charming.
"Eldest Senior Sister, Senior Sister Bai, Senior Brother Fang," Song Ping'er greeted them respectfully and properly.
"Where are you two going?" Qiu Shiyan asked.
Both Song Ping'er and Niu Chuming were dressed up, looking as though they were about to head out.
Song Ping'er glanced at Niu Chuming, who stammered slightly, feeling a bit nervous and unsure of what to say.
Whereupon Song Ping'er said, "Eldest Senior Sister, I heard you were all going out for a spring outing. I noticed my cousin is always cooped up in the martial arts school, so I wanted to take him along to see the world and broaden his horizons. I hope it's not an inconvenience."
Bai Taoru frowned, looked at Niu Chuming, and said, "I say, Fatty Niu, if you guys wanted to go, why didn't you mention it yesterday instead of waiting until we're about to walk out the door?"
Niu Chuming didn't know how to respond and looked at Song Ping'er.
Song Ping'er explained, "This is my fault; it was a sudden thought of mine this morning to drag my cousin out. If it's inconvenient, I can just take my cousin to stroll around the market instead."
Qiu Shiyan said, "Then come along with us."
Hearing this, Song Ping'er said happily, "Thank you, Eldest Senior Sister."

***

The group set out together. Fang Yue rented a carriage and had the three women sit inside.
He and Niu Chuming sat outside to drive the carriage.
Although Fang Yue had never driven a carriage before, as a Xiantian martial artist, controlling the direction of the draft horses was effortless.
The destination for the outing was the suburbs of Longchong Prefecture, where there was also a large temple nearby named the "White Dragon Temple."
With the carriage providing transport, in less than half an hour, Fang Yue and his party arrived at the appointed location.
A number of people were already gathered there.
A plump young woman, upon seeing Qiu Shiyan, approached with a few guards and offered a gentle reproach: "Yanyan, what took you so long?"