Chapter 12: Iceberg Beauty? You Just Didn't Pay Enough
"Senior Sister Xiao," Wang Xiu greeted her with a smile. "This is my Divination Branch's newly recruited junior sister, Jiang Ling'er."
"Ling'er, this is Senior Sister Xiao Qingyu, responsible for managing all matters in the Mission Hall. She has a very good personality, so you two should get close in the future."
Xiao Qingyu glanced at Wang Xiu and feigned resentment: "You used to call me little sweetheart. Now that you've recruited a new junior sister, the new wins over the old, and you call me Senior Sister."
Wang Xiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Senior Sister Qingyu sat in the Mission Hall daily, communicating with all kinds of disciples. Her cultivation, eloquence, and other aspects were among the sect's best, possessing the wisdom to deal with all sides.
If one truly thought such a person would easily be moved, then taking it seriously meant you had already lost.
"Senior Sister Qingyu," Wang Xiu said with a smile. "Junior Sister Ling'er just joined the sect. I plan to take her down the mountain to do some tasks and familiarize herself with the towns below. Are there any suitable tasks recently?"
Xiao Qingyu nodded, then shook her head: "There are many tasks suitable for her, and many suitable for you. But there really aren't any suitable for you to do together."
Jiang Ling'er and Wang Xiu both looked confused.
"Don't look at me like that!" Xiao Qingyu took out a jade slip from her bosom and handed it to Wang Xiu. It carried a faint milky fragrance.
She explained helplessly: "These days, you've been using the title of true disciple to do feng shui readings, fortune-telling, matchmaking, and funeral arrangements."
"First, this lowers the prestige of true disciples. Now, nearby commoners want to hire our Three Pure Immortal Sect's true disciples for weddings, births, and burials. Some people won't even get married if they can't wait for a true disciple."
"Second, this lowers the price of true disciples. As a true disciple, you only charge a few dozen taels of silver for missions. Many people feel our true disciples aren't worth much, and they dare to haggle over any task."
"Good heavens! The Sword Branch, Blade Branch, Talisman Branch, and Formation Branch senior brothers risk their lives going down the mountain to subdue demons and eliminate devils. After being haggled down thirty or fifty percent, their Dao hearts nearly collapsed."
"Our sect has been poor these past few hundred years. Going down the mountain for missions was already selling at a discount after discount, a clearance sale. If we continue to lower prices and sell cheaply, the travel and accommodation expenses won't even be covered!"
Jiang Ling'er and Jiang Yourong were both stunned on the other side. So Wang Xiu wasn't joking. He really only took basic tasks. Speaking of which, was it even worth running around for such small bounties?
They couldn't understand!
"Therefore," Xiao Qingyu continued, "the Mission Hall's elders issued an ultimatum yesterday. True disciples are not allowed to take basic tasks and disturb the market price. Otherwise, severe punishment will be imposed."
Wang Xiu was speechless. Well then!
After reading the information on the jade slip with his divine sense, this news was indeed true. Or rather, this restriction was specifically targeted at Wang Xiu. After all, among all the Three Pure Immortal Sect's true disciples, besides him, no one else was so idle as to take basic tasks.
"Very well!" Wang Xiu said helplessly. "Then I'll trouble Senior Sister Qingyu to arrange a Foundation Establishment demon-slaying task for me and a daily basic task for Junior Sister Ling'er. Preferably in the same town, so it's convenient to look after each other."
Xiao Qingyu pouted and sighed deliberately: "Junior Brother Wang Xiu, you really know how to care for the fairer sex."
"I happen to have two such tasks on hand." Xiao Qingyu's slender fingers moved lightly, and a jade slip appeared before Wang Xiu and Jiang Ling'er.
"Five hundred li from here, in Maple City, Master He's father recently passed away. He hopes the Three Pure Immortal Sect can send someone down the mountain to help with the transcendence and select a good feng shui burial site. One that brings wealth and prosperity to descendants."
Xiao Qingyu rolled her eyes: "He originally wanted to request a true disciple by name, but right when the new rules were issued, the sect directly rejected his request."
"Although," she lowered her voice slightly, "the sect doesn't allow true disciples to take basic tasks on principle, if that Master He's filial piety toward his father is touching enough..."
The cold and elegant senior sister rubbed her thumb and index finger together. "Junior Brother Wang might not be unable to consider making an exception for him!"
As if thinking of something, Xiao Qingyu restrained her smile and coughed lightly: "Of course, I'm just speaking casually. The sect's mission content won't change, and the bounty won't change."
"As for how you discuss with Master He, that's between you two. It has nothing to do with the sect, and certainly nothing to do with me. Junior Brother, remember not to let anyone catch you with evidence."
Heh, although this Senior Sister Xiao seemed to protect herself wisely, she was actually hinting at him openly and secretly. She was indeed a remarkable person.
Wang Xiu leaned close to Xiao Qingyu, slipped two spirit stones into the girl's palm, and smiled while smelling the faint fragrance: "Senior Sister's care for me, I've always kept in my heart."
"I hope it's true, keeping senior sister in your heart." Xiao Qingyu glanced at Wang Xiu and tossed out a second jade slip.
"This second task is near Mingyue Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Maple City. Recently, travelers have been disappearing and getting lost in the mist. The stationed executive disciple went into the mountain to investigate and found resentment permeating the mountain with ghost shadows everywhere."
"The surviving victims claimed they encountered a white-clad fairy and unknowingly followed her into the deep mountains. If not for encountering our sect's disciple, they would have perished."
"According to the executive disciple's speculation, it should be a vengeful ghost causing trouble, with cultivation around Foundation Establishment Second or Third Layer."
Executive disciple? Wang Xiu pondered. The Three Pure Immortal Sect established Taoist temples in nearby major cities to build connections between the sect and the cities. These temples usually housed two to three Foundation Establishment disciples who looked after each other and guarded the territory.
Since that ghost in the forest had abandoned its prey and avoided the Three Pure Immortal Sect's executive disciple, its cultivation couldn't be too high—at most Foundation Establishment.
Wang Xiu smiled: "I'll take this task!"
"This type of demon-slaying task carries relatively high risks when completed alone. Usually, several people form a group to look after each other." Xiao Qingyu smiled meaningfully.
"Yesterday, the Lightning Peak's true disciple, Junior Sister Ji Zidian, already took this task. It's just that she didn't have a suitable teammate by chance, so she asked me to keep an eye out."
"I think Junior Brother Wang Xiu is very suitable. The two of you traveling together, subduing demons and eliminating devils, might become a beautiful story in the future."
Having said that, Xiao Qingyu blinked slyly: "How about it? Consider it—Junior Sister Ji is known as the Lightning Peak's number one beauty. Traveling with her is something many people can't even beg for."
"If not for the previous teammates pestering her relentlessly and making her unbearably annoyed, she wouldn't have come to take the demon-slaying task alone this time."
"If Junior Brother Wang Xiu is interested, Senior Sister can help you two connect and play matchmaker?"
...
Good heavens. Looking at Xiao Qingyu's gossip-filled smile, the corner of Wang Xiu's mouth twitched slightly.
If anyone ever told him again that the Mission Hall's Senior Sister Xiao had a cold temperament and was an iceberg beauty, he would absolutely spray them with salt soda water.
This girl was clearly a closet pervert—where was the cold and aloofness?!
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