The Unruly Immortals

The atmosphere had become especially heavy.

Just then, Chun Xiaoman noticed that Li Huowang had no reaction on his face and was just about to speak.

"Shh," Li Huowang placed his finger to his lips, signaling Chun Xiaoman to be quiet. He listened intently to something in the south.

A moment later, a rare smile appeared on his face.

"No hurry, the food issue is solved," he said.

Under the gaze of the others, Li Huowang's body slowly shifted and gradually merged into the wall beside him.

"Wait here for me; I'll be right back," Li Huowang's voice came from thin air.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I know this; it's the Pass-Through-Wall Technique my second uncle mentioned. A true master indeed, even as a gentleman thief he outperforms others."

While Li Huowang hid his phantom in the wall, his body was in a state of invisibility.

Hugging the wall, he walked around and into a house.

Passing through an outer courtyard with chickens, he entered the house. The voices from before were now clearer.

"Son, that won't do; your skills aren't polished enough yet; go read the Swindling Scripture ten more times," a voice said.

"Yes..."

"Don't blame your dad for being strict; this is the foundation upon which our Wu Family was established. All this wealth was amassed by our ancestors, penny by penny, through their deceits."

Li Huowang sighed softly, it seemed there was no Taoyuan after all.

This wretched place even had families that thrived on scamming.

But this was even better; now he could 'rob from the robbers' with a clear conscience and solve his urgent problems.

"Who would've thought, my new ability's first use would be to steal."

"I wanted to make a living as an escort, carrying Travel Funds, and now I end up doing this kind of thing; perhaps honest work really isn't for me."

As he pondered these thoughts aimlessly, Li Huowang searched through the house.

He quickly found a hidden compartment; upon opening it, silver and gold of all shapes and ages lay within—clearly ill-gotten wealth.

A look of joy crossed Li Huowang's face. With the subsequent Travel Funds secured, he quickly found a bag, filled it, and tucked it into his embrace.

All the while, the voices of the father and son next door discussing scam techniques were continuously overheard.

"Son, our family's future rests on you alone; study hard. If you can't master it, our Southern Faction's lineage will be broken," the father said.

"I remember, dad. I will study diligently and won't let down your efforts," the son replied.

Li Huowang's face showed a hint of disdain upon hearing this; a whole nest of swindlers were boasting about their family honor.

After a quick round about the place, Li Huowang found their cellar and went in. Inside were various cured meats and jars of pickled vegetables.

Li Huowang began bringing the items outside. He flung them over the wall to the others waiting on the other side.

This sight seemed exceptionally bizarre as a jar of vegetables floated by itself up to the wall corner and then across.

If someone else had witnessed it, they would have been startled.

The father-son conversation still continued in his ears.

"Son, when we go down the mountain next time, you must swindle a wife for yourself; if you can bring one back, I'll consider you a full-fledged practitioner," the father instructed.

"Dad, you can swindle a wife?" the son asked incredulously.

"Nonsense, if you swindle with dedication and focus, what can't you swindle? Your mother was swindled by me, and she's still in the dark about it," the father boasted.

For some reason, the more he listened, the angrier Li Huowang felt. His hands ceased their work. "Should I just kill them?" he contemplated.

Because of previous encounters with the Oblivion Path, his animosity towards swindlers was immense, and he thought it would be best if all the swindlers in the world were eradicated.

"Taoist, you can't do that. They may have done wrong, but their misdeeds do not warrant death," a voice suddenly interjected.

Li Huowang jumped in surprise as he realized the Monk he hadn't seen in a while had suddenly appeared again.

The Monk circled around Li Huowang, rambling on with words meant to encourage moral upliftment.

After much hesitation, Li Huowang ultimately abandoned the thought.

The Monk was right, he couldn't bring himself to kill them.

He couldn't always resort to killing as the only method, or else once he got used to wielding a hammer, he would start to see everything as a nail, and he would become increasingly extreme.

But while they could be spared from death, they couldn't escape punishment; he decided to completely loot their home and let them truly experience the feeling of losing things.

Subsequently, Li Huowang thoroughly stole everything from inside and outside their home. Anything that was edible or valuable was taken.

"Son, the lies you tell must not be made up randomly, they must mix some falsehoods with some truths. That way, others will believe them."

"Dad, I know that, but how much falsehood should be mixed with the truth? The 'Swindling Scripture' doesn't say."

"Fool! Of course, it depends on the target. For those who are easily deceived, use fewer truths and more lies."

"For those who are harder to deceive, especially the particularly obstinate ones, you must tell more truths and more factual statements in front of them, so that when you do deceive them, they are more likely to believe you."

"Remember, the words of a qualified swindler must contain some truths!"

"Got it."

Li Huowang, who was just about to leave, re-entered the house after hearing this conversation.

When he came out again, a book looking both old and new was in his hand. On it, two words were scribbled: 'Swindling Scripture.'

"I'll make you swindle!"

"How about it? Have you got everything?" Li Huowang's ethereal form rejoined with his physical one in front of others.

"Got them all, got them all. We can't even carry anymore. But Brother Li, where did all these things come from?" Dog-Er, who was already stuffing a piece of cured meat into his mouth, asked.

"As long as everything's collected, that's fine. We'll talk while we walk."

As they gradually left the village behind, the pitiful wailing sounds also started to fade away from Li Huowang's ears.

"Dad! Our 'Swindling Scripture' has been stolen!"

"Dad! The chickens in our house have been stolen!"

"Dad! The pot on our stove has been stolen, too!!!"

With so many items, it took quite an effort to finally carry them all down the rugged mountain path.

But looking at the heavy things in hand, everyone's face was brimming with joy, finally not having to go hungry anymore.

After descending the mountain, the first thing was to find a flowing stream, start a fire, and have a nice meal.

Once they were full, the anxiousness disappeared from everyone's faces, and even their temperaments improved somewhat.

"Sister, sorry about that. The things I said earlier were thoughtless." Dog-Er smilingly approached the women.

"Get lost! Who doesn't know what you're thinking right now? Just finished eating and already thinking dirty thoughts."

"Sister Xiaoman, look at what you're saying. When I said those words earlier, wasn't it for everyone's benefit? We're all eating together..."

While listening to their bickering, Li Huowang reached into his chest to pull out his earlier gains.

He handed the heavy bags over to Bai Lingmiao. "All this is that swindler's stash, gold and silver both, you count it."

"Okay."

Finally relaxing, Li Huowang looked at the others, now full and contented, and the weight in his heart settled.

With the materials issue resolved, all they had to do was safely cross Huo Shu, and this trouble would be safely behind them.

After some thought, he pulled out the 'Swindling Scripture' he acquired earlier and started flipping through it.

"To think there's actually a book that teaches the art of deception, this is really my first time seeing it."

"Heh, it even has routines for how to speak when swindling."

Li Huowang had intended to skim through it just to pass the time.

But as he continued to read, Li Huowang's expression began to grow serious, and he sat up straighter.

He realized that some of the conversational tactics in the book had been used on him by the Oblivion Path.

Indeed, some of what the Oblivion Path said were lies, but part of it was the truth!