I Just Won't Play By The Book

'This method really works every time…'

Jiang Beiran originally just wanted to find out whether his skills in formations were taught by his mentor or if the man was self-taught. He had not expected that the young man would not only say that he had learned it from a book but also reveal that he had hidden the book in the mountain behind.

'It's true that the nature of human beings is to rebel,' Jiang Beiran thought.

As the young leader howled forlornly, Liu Zijin came up to Jiang Beiran's side and asked in a whisper, "Brother, what should we do next? Escort them to the authorities?"

"No need to go to such lengths. Just go directly to Zebei Town, which is the closest, to report to the officials and bring the constable here," Jiang Beiran said.

"Yes!"

Liu Zijin answered and was about to leave when Jiang Beiran suddenly called out to her and asked, "Do you know where Zebei Town is?"

"Yep. I took note of it on the way here," Liu Zijin said as she nodded her head.

"Okay, then get going quickly."

Looking at Liu Zijin's figure as it quickly disappeared into the darkness, Jiang Beiran couldn't help but feel puzzled.

'This girl obviously has a pretty good memory. How come she always forgets the things I've taught her…? It's also strange.'

Lamenting, Jiang Beiran looked to the remaining Sisters and said, "You guys stay here to watch over the thieves. I'll be back soon."

Having said this, Jiang Beiran then turned and went back to the cave.

The four Sisters answered Jiang Beiran with a "yes" as he walked away, but they did not understand what the senior Brother was going to do.

Then, not long after that, there was a sudden burst of cries coming from inside the cave. Only then did the four Sisters suddenly realize what he was up to!

'The children!'

Just now, they were all caught up in the sense of accomplishment they felt from catching the thieves for the first time. They had completely forgotten to ask the thieves where they had hidden the children.

Thinking of this, the four looked at each other for a while and their cheeks reddened. The reason why Brother had not mentioned this at all just now was probably that he was waiting for them to realize it, yet they hadn't at all.

'We are going to be scolded again…' The four of them sighed in their hearts at the same time.

Bringing out all the children hidden in the vaults, Jiang Beiran gave a sweeping glance over the four Sisters with their heads bowed and said, "Next time, think about what you haven't done before you enjoy yourselves."

"Yes…" the four Sisters answered at the same time.

"Dumb!"

"Waa…" the four Sisters pressed their heads even lower upon hearing this.

While Jiang Beiran was lecturing the four Sisters, the young leader suddenly shouted, "How do you know where the children are kept!?"

"Why should I tell you?" Jiang Beiran asked as he gave the young leader a look.

"I…"

The young leader was confused. Generally, when people heard this kind of question, shouldn't they be loudly bragging about how clever they were? About how this kind of trivial matter would never be difficult for them?

'But why does this person always act otherwise!?' the leader asked himself.

This time Jiang Beiran rescued nine children from the vaults. None of them were hurt, and at the moment they were crying hard for their mothers.

This made the four Sisters' hearts ache for them. The Sisters quickly squatted down, pulling out handkerchiefs to wipe away the tears for the children.

"Hey, the person in charge, are you not curious about where I sold the other children?" the leader asked.

Seeing Jiang Beiran standing there with no expression, the young leader could not help but speak again.

"Sold?" Jiang Beiran laughed lightly, "You should use the word offer, right?"

The young leader was stunned to hear this and asked, "Who the hell are you!?"

"Wang Laowu (Old Five) of the Sect of Returning Hearts," Jiang Beiran said, putting his hands together in a salute.

"Wang Laowu of the Sect of Returning Hearts? What a man. Do you really know everything?" the man said.

"I'm not omniscient, I just happen to know this," Jiang Beiran replied.

'It's clearly just a very common sentence… but why does it sound so deep?' the young leader and the four Sisters all thought at the same time.

"So, you know that I work for the Temple of the Asura, yet you still want to get involved in this mess?"

'So, it's the Temple of the Asura…' Jiang Beiran thought.

Actually, when he found out that the leader of the group of human traffickers was a cultivator, Jiang Beiran realized that this matter was not a simple one.

It was common sense that even a cultivator of the second level of the Qi Refining Period was a worshipped being among ordinary people. There was absolutely no need to do things like child trafficking to make money.

So, Jiang Beiran decided to cheat the leader. Unexpectedly, he had really managed to get something out of the man.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Jiang Beiran smiled mysteriously at the young leader and stopped talking.

This made the young leader's gaze more and more complicated. He could not help but think in his heart, 'This Wang Laowu of the Sect of Returning Hearts must be very powerful. He isn't even worried about offending the Temple of the Asura. How is it that I've never heard this person's name before?'

At the same time, three options appeared in front of Jiang Beiran.

[Option One: Continue to investigate the matter of the Temple of the Asura in depth. Completion reward: Ghost Seal of the Tiangang Star (Black Grade Low Tier)]

[Option Two: Tell the constable about the Temple of the Asura. Completion reward: Heaven-Splitting Nail (Yellow Grade Middle Tier)]

[Option Three: Tell the Sect about the Temple of the Asura. Completion reward: Random special attribute point +1]

'Special attribute point! Nice, good profit,' Jiang Beiran thought.

Jiang Beiran called this kind of option that would reward him special attribute points a hidden task. Sometimes if the system determined that the incident had been triggered on his own accord, it would provide such an option.

And in terms of difficulty, the options that rewarded special attribute points were the same as the ones that rewarded basic attribute points, so it was quite a good deal.

Decisively choosing Option Three, Jiang Beiran smiled in satisfaction.

At the moment, Fang Qiuyao quietly came up next to Jiang Beiran and asked, "Brother, what is the Temple of the Asura?"

"A demonic cult," he replied.

Hearing the words 'demonic cult,' Fang Qiuyao's face suddenly changed and she bit her lip. "Those children were sent to the demonic cult!? Then won't they end up…?"

Jiang Beiran shook his head after listening and said, "In your imagination, do the members of the demonic cult have small children for every meal of the day regularly?"

"Don't they? Otherwise, why would they capture children?" Fang Qiuyao asked.

"To cultivate the next generation, of course. Children of an ordinary family would generally refuse to join a demonic cult, so they capture some by themselves," he explained.

"Eh?" Fang Qiuyao was stunned. She hadn't thought of this at all.

"You would naturally come to slowly understand this after spending some time in the outside world. Many things are not as simple as you think. Things in the world aren't easily categorized into good and evil," Jiang Beiran told her.

"Qiuyao understands." Fang Qiuyao joined her hand in a salute after hearing this.

After hearing her say that, Jiang Beiran replied, "You say so, but do you truly understand what I said? Go think about it slowly." After saying this, he let out a loud laugh.

[Chosen Quest completed. Reward: Agility +1]

Fang Qiuyao gritted her silver teeth and snorted. "Right! I'm just not smart!"

"Well, it's good that you have this self-awareness," Jiang Beiran agreed with a satisfied expression.

[Chosen Quest completed. Reward: Cooking +1]

'It's too easy to use this girl to brush up on my points…' Jiang Beiran thought.

In just a few lines of dialogue, Jiang Beiran had triggered the options twice. In short, he could not praise her, or he would be dealt an Earth Grade mission immediately.

"Things in the world aren't easily categorized into good and evil… Eh, Brother Laowu, you've really seen a lot in life." At that moment, the young leader suddenly sighed very emotionally. "I wonder if you would like to hear me tell a story, Brother Laowu?"

Jiang Beiran shook his head. "Not interested. You better save it for the constable's office," he said.

"You! I don't care, I'm going to tell it!"