owlsbooks Chapter 45: Doing Zero Jobs
Chapter 45: Doing Zero Jobs
Wu Peng strode over, his entire body flushed pink, including his hair and eyes.
Strangely, with each step this guy took, pink liquid dripped down his body like a leaking ink cartridge, leaving pink footprints all over the ground as he walked.
When Wu Peng heard Cao Xing's question, he waved his hand and said, "It's just a minor side effect, nothing to worry about. It'll be fine in a while."
It turned out that Wu Peng had just returned from the Alchemy Pavilion, where Elder Li had refined a top-grade elixir called "Heaven and Earth Herb Rejuvenation Elixir".
Eating it can cleanse the body and remove impurities, transforming the physical body.
Most importantly, Elder Li was willing to give 800 taels of silver, plus an interest-free loan, to anyone who would test the medicine.
The reason he was so generous was that Elder Li had once refined a batch of Divine Creation Pills, saying that consuming them would grant one the power of transformation.
As a result, the disciples who participated in the drug trials either turned into pigs or dogs.
The key issue is that after the transformation, the intelligence drops rapidly. Even when the drug wears off and the person returns to normal, their intelligence remains no different from that of a pig or a dog.
After this incident, Elder Li's pills became the most forbidden item in the Alchemy Pavilion.
However, it is said that although Elder Li's pills are not very effective, they are still extremely rare outside, since poison that can turn opponents into pigs and dogs is not common in the world today.
With Elder Li offering a substantial reward, Wu Peng immediately signed up. After taking a pill, he began to transform into this form.
Every one or two hours, I would start sweating profusely all over my body. In addition, the effects of the [Seven-Colored Nourishing Pill] I had taken earlier had not yet worn off, and the sweat that fell was colored, like paint.
However, Elder Li generously stated that as long as Wu Peng survives this time, proving that the medicine is effective, he will bear these losses.
"Is it really necessary to go this far?"
Cao Xing looked at Wu Peng, who was bubbling away in front of him, and his expression became somewhat complicated.
Wu Peng sighed, "Brother Cao, I'm terrified of being poor."
He carefully took out a paper package from his pocket, opened it to reveal brand-new banknotes, and pointed to the banknotes inside: "I dare not spend a single penny more than necessary."
"Without money, forget about cultivating immortality; a human's life is worse than a dog's. Besides this life, what else do I have to fight for?"
Cao Xing remained silent, but could only pat Wu Peng on the shoulder.
"By the way, you can take two tickets. I have money now, so I'll pay you back first. The extra one can be considered interest."
Cao Xing looked at the silver notes wrapped in oil paper, and without any hesitation, pulled out two notes and stuffed them into his pocket.
Wu Peng carefully wrapped up the remaining silver notes and put them back into his pocket.
"You didn't wait for me here just to give me money, did you?" Cao Xing put away the silver notes and asked Wu Peng.
Wu Peng was taken aback by this: "How did you know I was waiting for you here?"
"It's not hard to guess. I haven't seen any of your other friends. The Alchemy Pavilion is in the east, and your residence is also in the east. This road only has two directions: one is the back mountain, and the other is the Weapon Forging Workshop. You can't say that you came out of the Weapon Forging Workshop and just happened to run into me, can you?"
Wu Peng's eyes flashed, and he stared intently at Cao Xing.
As expected of a friend I value, he is indeed very thoughtful.
"Ha, you guessed wrong, but not entirely wrong. Actually, I really did come from the weapon-refining workshop. I got here and figured it had been about seven days since you last came down the mountain. I figured you might come down today, so I waited for you here. I didn't expect to actually find you."
After saying that, Wu Peng lowered his voice and asked, "Brother, are you short of money?"
Cao Xing rolled his eyes at Wu Peng: "You have connections?"
"Well, I'll take you to the weapon-refining workshop tomorrow. We'll mine for two hours each day. The more you work, the more you earn. You can make at least 200 taels of silver each time. Do you want to go?"
"go!"
Cao Xing didn't even ask a single question before nodding in agreement.
Two hours cost 200 taels, which is equivalent to 50 taels per hour, and translates to a high salary of 90,000 Mao Zedong's salary per hour.
At this price, you might not even make this much by selling your ass; only a fool wouldn't go.
Seeing how readily Cao Xing agreed, Wu Peng had to remind him, "Let me make this clear first, this job is a bit tough and dangerous, otherwise it wouldn't be our turn. If you can't handle it, you won't get paid for this job."
"What money? I've loved working since I was a child."
"Alright then, let's meet here again tomorrow at noon."
After agreeing on a time, Wu Peng and Cao Xing went about their own business.
After returning to the back mountain, Cao Xing took out the clay figure of Dong Ran and placed it next to Dong Ran's corpse. As for how he would explain it to the old ghosts in the Corpse Dissolving Cave, Cao Xing didn't care.
The next day at noon, Cao Xing told Gu Su about his and Wu Peng's work at the weapon-refining workshop.
Gu Su did not object to this, and even praised it, saying that Cao Xing had free time to use the time between fertilizing the bone rot spores in the morning and the evening.
After lunch, Cao Xing went to meet up with Wu Peng. Before leaving, Cao Xing didn't forget to bring Wu Peng a big chicken leg, after all, it's only fair to reciprocate.
The chicken leg that Cao Xing was tired of eating was a rare delicacy for Wu Peng.
Actually, he had considered going down the mountain, but given his current appearance, he would probably be mistaken for a monster if he went down.
Even with his status as a disciple of the Upper Temple, Wu Peng couldn't bear the scrutinizing gaze of ordinary people.
After Wu Peng finished eating the chicken leg, the two of them walked to the entrance of the weapon-refining workshop.
Cao Xing looked closely and found that many people were waiting at the door. He recognized some of the faces; they were all disciples who had entered the Shangfang Temple in the same period as him.
Upon seeing Wu Peng, these people couldn't help but show strange expressions and silently distanced themselves from him.
Wu Peng was already used to this and found it unsurprising.
"Buzz!"
At this moment, the door of the alchemy workshop opened, and several young men dressed in blue Taoist robes came out. Wu Peng immediately led Cao Xing over the crowd to the young Taoists and bowed deeply to the young man in the lead: "Senior Brother Li, this is Senior Brother Cao. He also wants to clean the furnace trough."
The young man looked at Cao Xing, his eyes gleaming with a precious light.
Cao Xing's heart tightened as he immediately felt a force sweeping towards him, and he became alert.
But Cao Xing relaxed in an instant. He didn't believe the other party was capable of seeing his problem, especially Bixia, who was hidden in his sleeve.
Supernatural Power: Imitation
If an ability can be easily seen through by a cultivator from a lower realm, then it doesn't deserve to be called a supernatural power.
"Eighth level of Qi Refining, not bad." The young man nodded. "Junior Brother Cao, cleaning the furnace trough is hard work, but as long as you are careful, there is no danger. If you concentrate on your work, the reward will be good."
After saying that, he specifically turned to another group of people and said, "You junior brothers should learn more from Junior Brother Wu and Junior Brother Cao's daring and fighting spirit."
Upon hearing this, everyone lowered their heads, none daring to respond. This was no joke; they were risking their lives to make money, and they didn't have the guts for it.