The Unruly Immortals

With the creaking of the carriage, Bai Lingmiao's carriage slowly arrived at the head of Niuxin Village, and upon her return, the other senior brothers came out to greet her.

However, their attention was soon drawn away by the adopted sons and daughters of Bai Lingmiao.

"Hey, this is good, I've said before that the lands around here, even with more oxen, can't be all plowed. Now look, we've got people to plow the fields." Doggy, supporting his pregnant wife, pretended to be knowledgeable and chatted away.

"Eh! Hehe! Isn't that the Scholar? How come he—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a strong force from behind bumped him, causing him to stagger. As soon as he steadied himself, he saw Lv Elevated Man roll up his sleeves and a fiercely angry Top Scholar Lv charging over.

After seeing Top Scholar Lv swing his right hand around and slap Scholar Lv's face twice sharply, a delighted Doggy exclaimed, "Hey! Now that's going to be entertaining!"

Scholar Lv was then tied by his older brother to a tree at the head of the village, and following that, Top Scholar Lv beat him with a smoking pipe, both father and son cursing each other out in a spectacle.

"How dare you steal money! You actually dared to steal money and run away!! Well well well, our Lv Family has been clean generation after generation, but now we've got a Buddha Master in the family! I'll beat you to death, you little turtle egg!"

"Little turtle egg! You're the old turtle egg! Let me go, and I'll kill you!"

"Who's your father! Say that one more time! Who is your father!" Top Scholar Lv's smok pipe wielded up and down, making Scholar Lv's mouth swell from the hitting.

Watching the father and son roaring at each other at the head of the village, Bai Lingmiao felt somewhat bored. She stuck her head out and looked around, then she said to the towering Gao Zhijian, "Zhijian, could you fetch some paper and pen? There are some laborers in the village who need to sign contracts."

Gao Zhijian's gaze shifted away from Chun Xiaoman, glanced at the men and women behind the carriage, and nodded. "Alright."

Soon, the ordinarily quiet Bai Family Ancestral Hall became bustling, as these people lined up, pressing their red handprints on their own contract papers.

Although none of them knew how to read, the contracts had their compensation detailed accurately, without cheating them in the slightest.

"Miaomiao, what is this for?" Chun Xiaoman asked, puzzled, watching Gao Zhijian rapidly writing.

"Signing contracts. My grandfather used to recruit short-term and long-term laborers like this. These people are just the beginning—more will come later. Since there are going to be people anyway, might as well be official from the very start," Bai Lingmiao tried her best to recall how her grandfather had managed the village.

"You're still going to recruit more people?"

"Of course, Niuxin Village is very large—we need to fill it up at the very least." To revitalize Niuxin Village, this handful wasn't enough, not to mention the need to eliminate some with poor understanding.

After all the people had pressed their handprints, Bai Lingmiao looked at them and said, "Since you all call me foster mother, that makes us family. You must be tired from the journey. Tonight, we're slaughtering a pig, and everyone will have a good meal."

Upon hearing there would be pork to eat, these people instantly forgot their unease in a strange land and started to instinctively salivate. Some of them had never eaten meat their entire lives, only having heard that pork was delicious.

That evening, the dinner was prepared with great effort by Little Yang. A black-skinned pig that weighed over a hundred pounds was completely turned into dishes, except for the bones and hair, and nothing was left uneaten.

The people were then dispersed to live in the unoccupied houses in the village, and the once quiet village began to liven up.

At night, in the secret chamber of the Bai Family Ancestral Hall, Bai Lingmiao, holding a lantern, gently skimmed over those White Lotus Sect cultivation techniques with a glint of longing in her eyes. "What do you think, with so many treasures here, is there something that can solve the troubles we have with the Immortal Sects?"

Behind her, covered with a red bridal veil, Second God silently followed like a wraith.

Second God pondered for a moment, then a familiar face came to her mind. "Brother Li once said... we can seek balance with Da Sui..."

"He did say, but he made it sound so trivial. Just with a name, how are we supposed to find him?"

Tears, large and small, soaked through Second God's red veil, and a strong sense of longing surged in her heart. "I miss him..."

Upon hearing this, Bai Lingmiao's expression twisted slightly. "Miss miss miss! That's all you can think about! Will you die without him?"

"Look at this pathetic crying mess, just like the time you tried to kill yourself in the ancestral temple. It infuriates me just to see it!"

Second God choked up a bit and pulled out a White Jade Pendant from her bosom, caressing it gently—it was a gift from Li Huowang. She had planned to exchange it for travel funds, but she ended up returning home, and the pendant remained unspent.

As Bai Lingmiao walked, she said, "Haven't you noticed that we can't get involved in anything around him now? If you really want to avenge our parents and kill this patricide, you could go to his side and be a burden, dragging him down."

At these words, Bai Lingmiao suddenly felt silence behind her, followed by the sound of distant sobbing coming from a dark corner.

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao rolled her eyes and continued to survey the dark chamber.

After glancing at the inheritance left by Bai family members, Bai Lingmiao, envious, casually picked a book and flipped open a page.

She struggled to read, but the content was still too complicated for her current understanding.

As she furrowed her brows in thought, the faint light nearby suddenly flickered, catching her attention.

Bai Lingmiao looked over in surprise and noticed the giant White Jade Lotus on the cabinet. It no longer emitted a uniform soft white light as before but now flashed intermittently.

Curiously, Bai Lingmiao moved closer to examine it but couldn't figure it out.

She had no idea why this object was placed here, but since it was hidden in such a secluded spot, the White Lotus must be valuable.

Based on her guess, she felt it must have something to do with that so-called Wu Sheng Old Mother. According to the translations from before, the Divine Skills of the White Lotus Sect were all gifts from this Wu Sheng Old Mother.

"Why is it flashing? Could it be a sign of something?"

Suddenly a hand patted Bai Lingmiao's shoulder, and as she turned around, she saw Second God looking up at the mural on the wall.

When Bai Lingmiao looked up as well, her pink pupils dilated slightly. The White Lotus petals previously supported by six white donkeys began to overlap. Because of the high density of the petals, it no longer looked like a White Lotus but rather like a hollow onion.

All at once, a strange chanting voice came from the left, enveloping everything.

"In the countless sweet dew realms, the everlasting gate of azure bliss, within the wondrous strict palace of the Eastern Pole, circles myriad truths. Atop the Nine-Colored Lotus Seat, encircled by a hundred billion auspicious lights, the Jade Pure and Spiritual Treasure dignitary, compassionate to alleviate the catastrophe, the seven treasures fragrant, flying forest, the primordial Xuan Yuan begins..."

The chanting included male and female, old and young voices, layering over each other to create a bizarre and eerie sound.

This influx of chanting sounds caused Bai Lingmiao to shiver continuously, and she even felt the Evil Qi in her heart being eroded away.

"Not just the Evil Qi, but my Ten Emotions and Eight Miseries too!" Various emotions appeared on Bai Lingmiao's face as she struggled desperately.

Almost instinctively, Bai Lingmiao reached out to embrace the White Jade Lotus. As the flickering light covered her whole body, she finally felt some relief.

Fortunately, the sensation came quickly and departed just as rapidly. It didn't last long. When a still shaken Bai Lingmiao looked up at the mural again, she discovered that the mural of the lotus, which had been pulled by six white donkeys, had now transformed into a Twin Lotus.