Chapter 46: Senior, how can I live without you!
Hong Jiantao left less than ten days after receiving the transfer order.
Naturally, Jiang Jiuyue also went with him.
Until this moment, many people, including the talisman masters in the Lingfu Pavilion, knew that Jiang Jiuyue was Hong Jiantao's junior.
The shopkeeper left, and the beautiful talisman master who was the most popular in the pavilion and often entertained guests also left. For a moment, everyone in the pavilion felt a little sad and a little uncomfortable.
But there was no time for everyone to express too much emotion.
Because within a few days, the new manager arranged by Luoxia Sect arrived.
The new shopkeeper was named Zhou Changkong. He was indeed a foundation-building cultivator as Hong Jiantao had said, and had served as the law enforcement elder of the Luoxia Sect.
The sect's law enforcement elders, in addition to having to have strong cultivation and strength, are often stubborn and old-fashioned, with bad tempers, and are not easy to deal with.
Except for Xiao Changqing who had been reminded and was mentally prepared, everyone else in the Lingfu Pavilion was obviously caught off guard and had doubts in their hearts.
Over the years, everyone has gotten used to the kind-hearted Shopkeeper Hong. If a strict and bad-tempered foundation-building cultivator came over now, it might not be very pleasant.
However, fortunately, the new shopkeeper Zhou Changkong does not seem to be as unkind as he seems.
After arriving at the Lingfu Pavilion, he called a meeting of all the talisman masters and, after righteously emphasizing the rules and purpose of the Lingfu Pavilion, he did not take any specific measures.
The Lingfu Pavilion still operates as before, and the workload and remuneration of the talisman masters have not changed.
Half a month later, everyone felt more at ease.
It seems that the Luoxia Sect is still relatively reliable and has not arranged any difficult elders to impose discipline on them.
After all, these talisman masters in Lingfu Pavilion, even if they are first-level exclusive talisman masters, have a nominal affiliation with Luoxia Sect, but they are not true disciples of Luoxia Sect. Their status is more like "guest officials".
What the two parties signed was an agreement, in which each side got what it needed and it was mutually beneficial.
If the Luoxia Sect wants to exploit the talisman masters like cattle and horses, they can pay a certain price and break away.
Only after becoming a second-level talisman master, like Lu Qiu, would Luoxia Sect truly pay a huge price to absorb him.
Just like that, most of the talisman masters in Lingfu Pavilion are the same as before, with no changes.
Only Xiao Changqing became more alert.
He always felt that there was something wrong with the new shopkeeper, and he didn't seem as easy to talk to as everyone guessed.
Furthermore, since the sect had changed the rules and sent someone from the Foundation Establishment Stage to be the 'supervisor', it would not be justified if he did not have other tasks.
Xiao Changqing made up a few more divinations for himself.
You find that your fortune is not very good. Although there is no fatal danger, there are signs of financial loss and robbery.
So Xiao Changqing thought about it carefully.
On the fifteenth day of the month, he put on the vest of "Bai Wu Ji" and met Lin Zixi, telling her that this was the last transaction.
Next, he has to leave Nanshanfang for something, and the specific return date is yet to be determined.
If one day he returns to Nanshanfang and still wants to sell talismans, he will find a way to contact her.
Lin Zixi's face changed drastically when he heard this.
The two sisters were able to turn their lives around and become successful in the past year, and move into a Class C cave dwelling, all thanks to Senior Bai Wuji, the mysterious talisman master!
Only with Bai Wuji could she become a guest of honor in the Cao family; only by becoming a guest of honor in the Cao family and having the capital could she do subsequent business and earn more spirit stones every month.
It can be said that if Bai Wuji disappeared, she would lose the capital to cooperate with the Cao family, and the Cao family would cancel her benefits, then everything she has now would become a castle in the air and might collapse in an instant.
"Senior, do we have to leave? Can't we not leave?"
"Senior, will we meet again?"
"Senior, will you really come back again?"
"Senior, please don't lie to me. When will you be back?"
When Lin Zixi thought about the situation he might soon face, he became flustered and tried various ways of begging and pleading.
By the end, she, who has always been positive and optimistic and dares to challenge and fight, was almost crying.
Xiao Changqing did not make any promises, and he didn't know when the next transaction would be.
The new shopkeeper Zhou gave him the impression that he was not a simple person and was not someone who was easy to deal with.
He had to be more careful. Right now, the most important thing for him was to break through to the late stage of Qi Refining and to advance his talisman skills to the second level. By then, he would be free to fly freely in the sky and swim freely in the sea. There was no need to take risks now.
But for Lin Zixi, Xiao Changqing did not give a positive answer and just perfunctorily responded, which made her even more desperate.
She felt that Xiao Changqing might abandon her and never come back.
Seeing that Xiao Changqing didn't want to answer, he turned around and left without any hesitation, and his figure disappeared into the night.
Lin Zixi was so anxious that she was about to cry.
"Senior, how can I live without you! Senior, why don't you just take me with you, Senior..."
……
……
As it turned out, Xiao Changqing's worries were not unfounded.
The kindness Zhou Changkong showed at the beginning was just to paralyze the talisman masters in Lingfu Pavilion and make them let down their guard.
A month later, Zhou Changkong convened a meeting of all the talisman masters again.
This time, three first-level talisman masters appeared with livid faces, and their eyes were filled with anger, frustration, fear and dread.
In contrast, Zhou Changkong had changed from his lukewarm attitude when he first arrived. As a foundation-building cultivator, his aura was fully open, and his fierce breath made everyone present tremble in their hearts.
"Over the past twenty years, our Ling Fu Pavilion has long been the largest talisman shop in Nanshanfang. The scale of all other shops combined is not as large as ours, and we have almost formed a semi-monopoly. But over the years, the income of Ling Fu Pavilion has never been raised, and it has not achieved the ideal performance. Even in recent years, when the situation was turbulent and the price of talismans rose, the income did not increase much."
"Before I came to Nanshanfang, I heard people say that it was because the talisman masters in our Lingfu Pavilion had no sense of sect faith. They only cared about themselves. Not only did they just get by when drawing talismans in the pavilion, but there were also cases of ignoring the rules of the Lingfu Pavilion and enriching themselves!"
"I didn't believe it at first. I thought that the talisman masters in our Lingfu Pavilion were all very righteous and knew how to abide by the rules."
"I didn't expect that I would be so disappointed when I just did some research!"
"We have three entry-level talisman masters in our Ling Fu Pavilion, and they are secretly drawing talismans and selling them outside! Some of them are even secretly cooperating with other shops in Nanshanfang!"
"You thought that if you did it secretly and asked someone to do it for you, it would be perfect and could not be found out, and it would not be considered a violation?"
"Wu Qingquan, Liang Jiangchuan, and Sha Shaowen, three talisman masters, I will punish you with 20,000, 10,000, and 8,000 low-grade spirit stones respectively based on the severity of your crimes. Do you have any objections?"
Zhou Changkong looked at the three talisman masters with livid faces and asked in a deep voice.
Wow!
Before the three talisman masters replied, the other talisman masters could not help but whisper to each other, their shock evident in their expressions.
The punishment is so severe?
Although Sha Shaowen and Liang Jiangchuan are entry-level talisman masters, they are both first-level lower-grade talisman masters. Especially Sha Shaowen, who was promoted only six years ago and has little experience.
The monthly salary of the two is only about two hundred low-grade spirit stones. Even if they make extra money privately, the total monthly income is only three hundred spirit stones at most.
This time, the fine might not be enough for all their savings over the years, and they would have to borrow spirit stones from everywhere to pay it!
On the contrary, Wu Qingquan is the only first-class upper-grade talisman master left in the Lingfu Pavilion. He has a lot of experience, and although 20,000 lower-grade spirit stones are not a small amount for him, it will not be a big deal.
However, according to other people's speculation, Wu Qingquan, as the current "pillar" of the Lingfu Pavilion, has a certain degree of confidence even when facing a foundation-building cultivator, and should not be so easily controlled.
The result was unexpected.
The three talisman masters all accepted the punishment with a wry smile.
At the meeting, no one stood up to express objection to Zhou Changkong's punishment.
Wu Qingquan felt aggrieved and wanted to resist.
However, the new shopkeeper was too tough in his attitude and did not care about the long-term development of Lingfu Pavilion at all, which might lead to disunity and demoralization.
All I am thinking about is providing the greatest benefit to the sect in the next few years!
It gave Wu Qingquan a feeling of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs!
He had a hunch that if Wu Qingquan resisted, not only would he be in greater trouble, but even his wife and children would probably be implicated!
So in addition to anger, Wu Qingquan felt more uneasy. Perhaps today's punishment was just the beginning!
Worse things are yet to come.
For the first time, he felt powerless. If... if he was a second-level talisman master, it would be great.
How dare Zhou Changkong bully him like this?
Not to mention just selling talismans privately, even if he threatened to leave the Spirit Talisman Pavilion, he could only persuade him with kind words and offer better conditions to keep him...
(End of this chapter)
