Chapter 25: The Twenty-Fifth Day as Cult Leader (Part 2)

“Of course not,” Qian Xiaodou said smugly. But when he saw Shen Fubai’s unfriendly expression turn toward him, he quickly did not dare act too proud. He slipped the paper he had just finished writing into an envelope and handed it to him. “This is information about the follow-up situation at Sword Pavilion. Take it to the Cult Leader.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Shen Fubai’s icy face and added, “You can read it first.”

“No need. I don’t care.” Shen Fubai coldly tucked the envelope into his sleeve, turned, and left. “The Cult Leader must be getting impatient from waiting. I’ll go back now.”

“You did very well.”

When Shen Fubai returned to Shilian Mountain at the fastest speed and even deliberately waited respectfully outside the door until the Cult Leader got up before presenting Qian Xiaodou’s first-hand intelligence, he immediately received Qin Ming’s praise.

Seeing the young man before him unable to hide the pride and smugness in his brows and eyes, Qin Ming could not help laughing inwardly. After getting along with him for these past few months, he had long since grasped Shen Fubai’s weak point. He only had to praise him fiercely, stroke him the right way, and add a few more lines like “not even the disciples of my cult can compare to you,” and Shen Fubai would leave fully satisfied.

He had to admit, Shen Fubai was very easy to handle. If the other Demonic Cult disciples were all this easy to handle, Qin Ming would not be living in constant fear.

He continued lowering his eyes and carefully reading the latest intelligence in his hands. He had the pleasant feeling of sitting in a mountain ditch while still being able to savor all kinds of city gossip. At first, he had thought that creating some intelligence bureau was far too troublesome. He had only found it hard to object because all the Demonic Cult disciples supported it with both hands. But now that he had truly experienced the joy of reading gossip, Qin Ming could not help saying: how deliciously wrong I was!

This intelligence bureau really did seem viable. It was very interesting!

Although he had completely ignored the Sword Pavilion matter after handing it to Shen Fubai and had returned to the mountain, he knew everything Shen Fubai had done and every rumor spreading through the jianghu through Qian Xiaodou’s account. Qian Xiaodou also seemed quite talented at storytelling. Every piece of intelligence he presented became extremely interesting after being translated through his words, like reading a novel, leaving Qin Ming thoroughly absorbed.

Since he had learned that Sword Pavilion had received a lesson because of this and had decided to close its doors for reform, Qin Ming finally put the matter down completely.

The reward he wanted also finally arrived.

Side Quest: Let the Jianghu Know the Truth of the Entire Matter (Completed)

Quest Reward: The Demonic Cult’s fame spreads further, slightly changing the righteous sects’ hostility toward the Demonic Cult.

Because the Sword Pavilion disciples’ status has improved, the host has exceeded the reward requirements. Reward: twenty thousand merit points.

With such a large sum in hand, Qin Ming felt even happier.

In addition, because the restaurant had begun operating, he also received the silver he deserved.

Side Quest Six: Open a Restaurant (Completed)

Quest Reward: Construction completion reward of five thousand taels of silver! (Issued)

Holding fifty thousand merit points, along with seven thousand taels of remaining silver, Qin Ming started to feel a little inflated. Who else! Just look and see who else could be this strong!

As for his first trip outside, it had given Qin Ming a very different feeling. First, it had let him experience the atmosphere of the jianghu and had also taught him that the jianghu was not as free and carefree as he had imagined. Even famous righteous sects had all sorts of problems. How to put it… That dreamy filter he had at the beginning had shattered completely. What was now more exposed before Qin Ming’s eyes was the helplessness of reality.

But perhaps this was the true jianghu.

The second thing that left the deepest impression on Qin Ming was the beggars outside the city who had nowhere to go. Or rather, the refugees. Every time he saw them, Qin Ming’s desire to return to modern times grew stronger. At least in his era, everyone lived a modestly comfortable life. Where would there be such vast numbers of commoners who could not survive?

Whenever he met those eyes that had long since lost all hope for life, a faint pain would surface in Qin Ming’s heart.

“How is the matter of recruiting those refugees going?” He turned to look at Shen Fubai, who was still respectfully waiting, and began to ask.

“The Cult Leader is wise!” Shen Fubai first habitually shouted, then gave a careful answer. “The manpower the restaurant lacks can be completely filled by the refugees outside the city. In addition, as long as we give them a bowl of rice to eat and a place to stay, they can even work for us without wages. They are extremely obedient in their work and are the most suitable candidates!”

…You shouldn’t be called Shen Fubai. You should be called Shen Skinflint!

The corner of Qin Ming’s eye twitched. He discovered that Shen Fubai really could exploit people to the very end, completely seizing on those refugees’ desire to survive in order to save on wages.

However, the restaurant had just opened and was precisely in its difficult period. It had also accepted so many refugees all at once, and those refugees most likely had families in tow. Providing food and lodging was already the limit. Qin Ming also knew he could not blindly hand out charity, so he nodded. “That is very good. If they want to leave…”

Before he had even finished speaking, Shen Fubai hurriedly added as though claiming credit, “Absolutely impossible! One condition for those who can work in our restaurant is that they must transfer part of their family to Shilian Mountain as hostages. They will definitely have no thoughts of fleeing. But if they insist on abandoning their wives and daughters to escape… then they cannot blame us for showing no mercy!”

Qin Ming: …When it comes to ruthlessness, you’re still the ruthless one, Shen Fubai! As expected of a scourge of the Demonic Cult. Too vicious!

Having once again personally witnessed the terrifying nature of Demonic Cult disciples, Qin Ming was practically left with lingering fear. He waved his hand and told Shen Fubai to hurry up and leave.

Side Quest: Change the Situation of the Refugees Outside the City (Progress: 5%). Reward: five thousand merit points!

After glancing at the System, Qin Ming saw that changing the refugees’ situation had indeed increased, and he could not help secretly letting out a breath.

Since the merit points were in hand, wasn’t it time to spend them? Hehe.

Qin Ming swept through the martial arts manuals in the System shop with the extravagance of a tycoon. Without so much as blinking, he spent forty thousand merit points in the System to choose a new purple-quality lightness skill manual, Snow-Treading Without Trace. Although this lightness skill was also purple-quality, it was a high-grade purple-quality lightness skill. Since there was no way to buy the golden-quality martial arts above one hundred thousand merit points, Qin Ming could only settle for second best.

But when he began cultivating it, he discovered that the more he practiced, the less at peace his six roots felt, to the point that his cultivation speed became quite slow.

Of course, for an unmatched genius like him, a slow cultivation speed was only slow compared to his usual pace. Compared to other people, he was still leaving them a whole street behind.

Qin Ming paced irritably back and forth inside the room. Only then did he realize it was because 95% of the refugees outside the city still had no home to return to, which was what made him upset.

…If he could continue finding a batch of them and send them into the cult to work, although it sounded a bit unfair, at least they would be able to fill their stomachs, right? And the System quest could be completed sooner too.

Qin Ming’s mind grew active again. He began calculating where else they could add manpower. For example, they could increase the cultivated land area, since there was plenty of land on the back mountain anyway. For example, they could build more houses to expand the Demonic Cult’s area. Or they could build a training room, teach the disciples martial arts, and so on… In short, the infrastructure-building bloodline carved into his bones began to stir restlessly.

In the end, he determined that what the Demonic Cult currently lacked most internally was, first, food, and second, culture!

That’s right. Culture! It was precisely because the Demonic Cult disciples’ cultural level was uniformly low that they always viewed things through fighting and killing. If the ink in their heads increased, wouldn’t the probability of them doing good deeds rise?

It was time to let the Demonic Cult disciples experience the terror of attending class!

New Quest Eight: Establish a School, Find a Teacher to Teach, and Attend One Lesson.

Quest Reward: Thirty thousand merit points. The Demonic Cult’s overall quality will rise slightly.

Once the System notification appeared, it further strengthened Qin Ming’s determination to establish a school.

The moment he thought of making that group of disciples attend class properly, the corners of Qin Ming’s mouth could not help lifting slightly. But he firmly refused to admit that he held any thoughts of revenge in his heart!

He had originally wanted to summon Shen Fubai again, but the moment he thought of Shen Fubai’s ruthless methods, he hurriedly dismissed the idea. In the end, he decided to call over Zhang Daniu, who was naturally simple and kindhearted.

“This seat has a matter that needs you to handle. Recently, this seat has discovered that the manpower within the cult is still insufficient. Perhaps we can invite some refugees from outside to come in and work.”

Looking at Qin Ming’s meaningful expression, Zhang “Simple and Kindhearted” Daniu suddenly understood. He slapped his forehead and said, “Cult Leader wants me to catch some refugees and bring them back to work, right?”

Qin Ming: “…This cannot be called catching.”

Zhang Daniu nodded honestly. “Got it, got it. Then I’ll tie them up and bring them back. I’ll definitely make them work properly for us!”

Qin Ming was left speechless. Sure enough! Sure enough! No matter what kind of person they were, as long as they could stay in the Demonic Cult, they would eventually become villains. No one could escape!

How badly Qin Ming wanted a righteous person who could remain firm in themselves no matter when, someone who could come into the cult and keep him company. Then he would not be so lonely and alone.

“What this seat means is that we need to make them come to the cult voluntarily. Do you understand?”

He took a deep breath and said it almost outright.

But Zhang Daniu seemed to think for a moment, scratching his head, then slowly nodded. “I… understand.”

He really understood, right?

Qin Ming kept feeling that his expression was somewhat confused. But this was already the clearest hint among clear hints. He should not have failed to understand. Qin Ming therefore nodded and let him leave.

As for Zhang Daniu after he walked out of the Cult Leader’s study, his eyes grew even more confused. He practically rushed to pull Yang Xu into Chen Lue’s room, quickly explained the cause and effect, then asked, “…That’s how it is. What kind of voluntary is this voluntary? I don’t understand.”

Dragged over for another gathering, Yang Xu could not help picking up his cane and sighing. He could not even describe how relaxed and happy life had been during those few days when the Cult Leader was not in the cult and Shen Fubai was also not in the cult. As a result, now Shen Fubai was back, and the Cult Leader had started making trouble again. In an instant, Yang Xu’s mentality aged ten years.

Life in deep water and scorching fire had begun again.

“That should mean having the refugees go up the mountain voluntarily in the most normal sense… After all, there is almost no one willing to come live in our cult.”

Yang Xu stroked his beard in thought, and Zhang Daniu also nodded repeatedly. “That’s what I thought too!”

But Chen Lue, who was sitting leisurely before the low table and savoring tea with an air of contentment, suddenly interjected, “The Cult Leader has always been sinister, cunning, harboring unfathomable motives, and full of tricks. How could his thinking possibly be so simple? The two of you are too naïve.”

“…”

Zhang Daniu and Yang Xu both looked at him with identical confusion, their expressions extremely puzzled.

Yang Xu’s hand even paused on his beard, and his heart gave a thud. Oh no. I’m on the same level as Zhang Daniu!

A gleam flashed through Chen Lue’s eyes. He said in a low voice, “In my view, the Cult Leader’s meaning is… as long as everyone believes they went voluntarily, then it counts as voluntary. No matter what methods are used. Do you understand now?”

“No matter what methods… We only need to make them go to the Demonic Cult voluntarily.” Zhang Daniu pinched his chin and thought for a while. Suddenly, his eyes brightened. “You’re right. I understand!”

“Anyway, whoever doesn’t voluntarily come, I’ll beat him. I’ll keep beating him until he personally agrees to come live in the Demonic Cult. Then won’t that solve it?”

Yang Xu: “…”

Yang Xu abruptly widened his eyes. Looking at Zhang Daniu, who was excitedly waving his fist, he trembled and could not say a single word.

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