The Uninvited Hand

“Aiyo! This one is Wu Jiuzhi. The moment I saw you, brother, I felt an inexplicable closeness. Could it be we were fated in a past life? Come! Let’s swear brotherhood, drink blood wine, and be brothers!”

Before the azure-robed Daoist’s words had even faded, the grinning fellow suddenly darted over, pounced in front of Han Li, and stretched out a hand to grab his arm. Then, with a look of profound emotion, he spoke.

Han Li was startled at first, but then he chuckled.

“Becoming brothers isn’t out of the question, but could you kindly keep your hand from wandering all over my body? My hobbies are quite normal, you see. I have no interest in pure, beautiful young men.”

Han Li teased with a smile at the corner of his mouth, then abruptly lifted one arm and, turning it over, grabbed a certain wrist with lightning speed. The front half of that wrist had already stealthily slipped inside Han Li’s robe.

“Cough! Cough! How strange. How did my hand end up inside your robe? It must have taken a liking to you at first sight, Brother Han, and couldn’t wait to say hello!” The youth, caught red-handed by Han Li, was first startled, his face flushing red. But after a few dry coughs and some mumbled excuses, he calmly and slowly withdrew his wrist.

Han Li had no intention of clinging to the other’s wrist. As soon as the youth exerted force, he let go casually.

Now Han Li was actually interested in this fellow named Wu Jiuzhi. He was clearly a cultivator, yet he used a mortal Jianghu thief’s technique to pick his pocket. That was quite something.

His technique was quite skilled. If Han Li hadn’t also practiced a similar secret art, he probably wouldn’t have easily noticed his little trick. It was safe to assume that quite a few people in this room had suffered at his hands.

Just as Han Li thought this, he heard Hu Pinggu’s gleeful voice.

“Wu, you little brat! Ran into a tough nut, didn’t you? Getting caught red-handed by Brother Han! Still going to brag about your top-notch thieving skills, doing these petty, sneaky deeds?”

“I do as I please, got a problem with that? As if I’d want to steal from you again. You don’t have a single thing worth anything on you! Why even come to the Tai Nan Assembly?” Wu Jiuzhi pursed his lips and said caustically.

“What did you say, you little punk? I haven’t even settled the score with you for stealing my things last time!” Hu Pinggu leaped out of her chair, her face ashen.

Her bearded husband, Bear Dali, didn’t say a word, but kept his hand on the large blade at his back, glaring furiously at the youth. Only later did Han Li learn that this Bear Dali was a mute from birth, so his wife handled all the talking.

“Alright! We are all cultivators. We should prioritize harmony. Both of you, take a step back and stop arguing.” The azure-robed Daoist frowned at this, but still stepped in to mediate. Then he turned specifically to Wu Jiuzhi and said solemnly:

“Brother Wu, I know you only steal things for fun, and you always return the lost items to their owners without any ill intent. But doing this will eventually land you in serious trouble. Not every owner of lost property is easy to talk to. What if you offend someone from a cultivation clan? Even if we wanted to help you, we wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. So it’s best not to play this kind of joke on fellow travelers!”

When the youth heard the azure-robed Daoist’s heartfelt persuasion, he looked a bit embarrassed. He scratched the back of his head and said quite sincerely:

“Actually, I stumbled upon this thieving skill by chance on my way to the Tai Nan Valley. I only practiced it because I thought it was fun, and before I knew it, I’d gotten pretty good. I tried it out on you all for a bit, and I apologize! But since even Brother Han could catch me, that means there will be even more formidable people at the Assembly. So you can all rest assured—I won’t risk my life by joking around and using my thieving skills at the Grand Assembly.”

Upon hearing this, the Daoist was overjoyed, a look of immense relief spreading across his face.

“Brother Wu’s aptitude is outstanding. To have reached the Great Perfection of the eighth layer at such a young age is truly remarkable for a scattered cultivator. You must take good care of yourself!”

“I won’t let you down, Elder Daoist. I hope everyone will look out for me!” Wu Jiuzhi, being quite straightforward, made a deep, sweeping bow to everyone in the room, considering this grudge settled.

Although Hu Pinggu still had a sullen look on her face, her expression was much better than before. It seemed she had reluctantly accepted his goodwill.

The azure-robed Daoist then turned to Han Li and said with a beaming smile:

“I never expected you to achieve such a great deed right after arriving, Brother Han! I must thank you!”

Han Li gave a faint smile and demurred in a deep voice: “What does this have to do with me? It was entirely thanks to your mediation, Elder Daoist!”

The Daoist shook his head with a smile and said no more. But then a buzzing, indistinct voice rang out.

“Daoist, why have you gathered us all here? Why isn’t the monk joining us?”

It was the fair-skinned fatty who had spoken without any courtesy.

But this man was qualified to speak to the azure-robed Daoist in such a manner.

Han Li had already noticed that, of everyone present, this fatty had the most powerful magical power, seeming even a bit deeper than the azure-robed Daoist. So no one dared to show the slightest hint of mockery at the fatty’s unpleasant voice. Even Wu Jiuzhi put on a straight face without a trace of abnormality.

“It seems the world of cultivators isn’t much different from the secular Jianghu. Only those with great power earn respect,” Han Li thought to himself with a touch of cynicism.

“Hehe! Brother Huang, you are still so impatient! Alright, I’ll explain why I’ve called you all here.” The azure-robed Daoist flicked his horsetail whisk and spoke without a trace of emotion.

“The Tai Nan Assembly is already past its halfway point. There are only ten or more days left before it ends. Shouldn’t we all start making our moves? If you want to set up a stall, it’s best to act together. That’s why I called you all to discuss it. As for Ascetic Kusang, he has already traded away everything he brought, so he doesn’t need to join the discussion anymore.”

“I see. It is indeed time to sell our goods. Trading them for spirit stones will allow us to buy other things.” Immediately, the people in the room began to murmur among themselves.

After a hubbub of discussion, everyone agreed to set up stalls together the next day, except for Han Li.

“Brother Han, you don’t want to join us?” Wu Jiuzhi asked, somewhat stunned.

The others also looked at Han Li with confusion.

“I brought very little with me, and it just so happened that last night I ran into several suitable buyers, so I traded everything away,” Han Li explained calmly, his expression indifferent.

“Ah, is that so? Then you truly don’t need to suffer alongside us! Brother Han is really lucky, getting rid of everything right after you arrived.” Hu Pinggu said with a tone of envy.

The others also wore expressions that said, “You, lucky bastard!”

Hearing this, Han Li smiled but said nothing.

Seeing that the matter was settled, the azure-robed Daoist stood up with a look of satisfaction and said: “Then everyone, get a good rest tonight. Be full of energy tomorrow, and I hope we all have a good harvest!”

Upon hearing this, the others also stood up and, with smiles, prepared to leave.

Just then, it seemed the azure-robed Daoist had remembered something. He suddenly spoke to everyone with a grave expression.

“Oh, right. After the Tai Nan Assembly ends, don’t be in a hurry to leave! I’ve heard that after the last few Tai Nan Assemblies, some scattered cultivators like us have gone inexplicably missing. It’s better to be careful! I assume none of you will miss the Tian Wu Platform Ascension Assembly. We would do well to travel together; it will be much safer!”

Upon hearing the Daoist’s words about the missing scattered cultivators, the Heimu brothers and the Hu Pinggu couple changed color. Wu Jiuzhi and the Lian Sanren looked completely baffled, while the fatty, Huang Xiaotian, just snorted coldly, though his expression also darkened.

“Right. We brothers agree with Elder Daoist Qingwen’s suggestion. It’s better to travel together.”

“We have no objections either.”

The Heimu brothers and the Hu Pinggu couple voiced their agreement in quick succession, clearly treating this matter with great caution.