The village chief looked very young, and didn"t have a high cultivation realm. Through a rough read on him, the two fellow brothers could immediately tell that he was at the peak late Golden Core stage.
"Chief, some seniors are here to buy our holy water!" Tiger Li stood by the door and waved at the village chief.
The man promptly jogged over with the shoulder pole. On each end hung a heavy cask, and both Old Antique and Taoist Taotie were very familiar with the aura inside – they were certain that the casks contained holy water.
"I never expected that someone would actually come here to buy the holy water."
When he saw Old Antique and Taoist Taotie, the village chief couldn"t help smiling. "Come with me."
Then, carrying the shoulder pole once again, the village chief told Tiger Li to go help the deputy chief out, and then started walking back to his own place. Old Antique and Taoist Taotie followed closely behind him, and it wasn"t long before they reached his house.
Standing in the doorway of his place, their lips twitched once again.
This was actually a small villa with a fully modern atmosphere that was incongruous with the rest of the village. Furthermore, the concentration of spirit power here was very weak; the difference was huge compared with the density in Tiger Li"s place earlier. Most importantly, this place actually contained all the modern facilities one could expect: modern furniture, a fridge, a TV, a was.h.i.+ng machine, a microwave...
"What should we call you, village chief?"
"My name is Prosperity Huang. You can just call me Village Chief Huang. The deputy chief is One Huang. We were the ones who discovered the spring of holy water in the beginning." He looked immensely proud of himself when he said this. "I traded the holy water for the materials to build this place as well as its furnis.h.i.+ngs."
"Traded?"
"These two seniors have immense strength, but it seems that you"re not very familiar with the way the demon world works inside the Gate Between Worlds. The demon world can of course be very primitive, but it also has prosperous cities that are no less inferior to our human cultivator cities in the outside world. I obtained all these furnis.h.i.+ngs through an exchange with some demon kings."
Village Chief Huang smiled. "Even demon kings want this holy water. It doesn"t just benefit the human race, but also the demon race."
"According to our human ranking system, a demon king is at the very least on par with a cultivator at the Soul Formation stage. You"re a Golden Core cultivator; aren"t you afraid of them?" Taoist Taotie couldn"t help asking.
"Because of the spring of holy water, even a demon G.o.d isn"t able to set foot in our village, let alone a demon king. This is a paradise disconnected from the rest of the Gate Between Worlds. Our village might be small, but thanks to the holy water, we can be considered quite prosperous."
Village Chief Huang sat down on the sofa in a calm and composed manner. "Seniors, please have a seat."
The two fellow brothers couldn"t help the way their lips twitched – it was obvious from the way he was acting that the village chief had experienced a lot.
Forget demon kings, this Village Chief Huang probably had had dealings with demon G.o.ds... otherwise, for a Golden Core cultivator to act this calmly in front of two Itinerant Immortals was just too unscientific.
"Our strengths are not on the same level. You"re just at the Golden Core stage... aren"t you afraid that we"ll rob you of your holy water?" Taoist Taotie asked as he stared at the unperturbed village chief.
"You won"t do anything to me." Village Chief Huang waved his hand confidently. "The power of the holy water permeates every corner of this village. It doesn"t just keep out demon qi, but also evil intentions. People harboring evil intentions in their hearts wouldn"t be able to set foot in our village. If both seniors had had evil intentions, you would have instantly been turned into stone statues, no matter how superior your realms are.
"When Tiger Li led you into the village, you saw that stele, right?" Village Chief Huang laughed. "That was a wicked demon king that had tried to sneak into our village to grab the holy water. In the end, the power of the holy water permeated its being and turned it into stone. I placed it at the village entrance as a boundary divider. There are a lot of steles like it all around our village."
"..."
The two fellow brothers couldn"t help breaking out in a cold sweat... Although Village Chief Huang"s story was very one-sided, it didn"t seem like he was lying.
"Both seniors have come a long way to this village specifically for the holy water. Do you suffer from some unusual affliction?" Village Chief Huang got right to the point with his question.
After some consideration, the two fellow brothers felt that they had nothing to hide; when it came down to it, this was just part of the exchange for what they wanted.
"Back then, because we cultivated the wrong art, my junior brother was disfigured and I became obese, so I"m slow and no longer as nimble as I used to be..." said Old Antique.
Village Chief Huang nodded and looked at Taoist Taotie"s face mask, suddenly enlightened. "Mm, I get it. Both seniors experienced the side effects of cultivating the wrong art. It"s very simple: two barrels of holy water per person. After internal and external application, you"ll be healed in a few days."
"Will that really work?" Taoist Taotie was excited.
"Of course." Village Chief Huang nodded firmly. "Both of you can stay in my village until you"re healed. For both seniors, it"s two barrels of holy water per person.
"The senior with a stout physique should drink one barrel of holy water and bathe in water from the other barrel three days in a row. The senior with the face mask should also drink one barrel of holy water and use water from the other barrel to wash the face over three days; you"ll be healed then."
Village Chief Huang drew in a deep breath after he said this, then turned in high spirits toward Old Antique and Taoist Taotie as he narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled. "So, what will both seniors trade in exchange for the holy water?"
...
Three days later, the two fellow brothers were finally cured after being afflicted for hundreds of years with the side effects of cultivating the wrong art.
Taoist Taotie finally took off his face mask and breathed in fresh air, his heart full of excitement and joy.
Village Chief Huang and Tiger Li saw them off at the village entrance. "Take care, seniors!"
Village Chief Huang looked at Old Antique, who still had a slightly plump form, and couldn"t help smiling as he asked, "Senior has already recovered your original figure, why are you still in this form?"
Old Antique couldn"t help smiling. "I"m already used to this appearance, and I still have to think about how it"ll affect other people. I"m truly grateful to the chief this time."
Village Chief Huang waved his hand, then cupped his fists solemnly in salute. "You flatter me; both seniors traded a tremendous amount of elixirs for the holy water, so it was an equivalent exchange. It was a very fruitful transaction!"
Both Old Antique and Taoist Taotie cupped their fists. "Then, Village Chief Huang, we shall say farewell here!"
"Seniors, take care!"
Village Chief Huang and Tiger Li watched at the village entrance as the two of them walked off into the distance.
Tiger Li: "Chief, deputy chief just said that the spring of holy water has run dry."
Village Chief Huang nodded his head. "Mm, don"t panic... it"ll flow again after a while."
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere, w.a.n.g Ling was lost in deep thought as he stared at the water shut-off notice on the gate of his house.