Chapter 139: Sleepless.

After listening to Censor Pan, Xiao Fen smiled again, brushed off his suit which had already shattered into strips, and said, “I do not covet your wealth, nor do I covet beauty. People like me do not look at mundane objects. If I really wanted them, do you think I would lack anything?”

In this dynasty, being an official meant the greatest taboo was taking people’s money or cutting off their financial paths. Although Censor Pan’s family was wealthy, it would still be painful to actually take out a sum of money. Hearing Xiao Fen say this, he immediately nodded repeatedly and said, “The Immortal is right, the Immortal is right. The Immortal is a person beyond the world and naturally will not bicker with us mortals.”

Xiao Fen nodded and said, “I do have some fondness for rare ancient books, and I am also interested in scrolls and the like. Bring out your collection of rare editions for me to see. I have no other requirements.”

Censor Pan drew a cold breath. This Immortal was truly not cheap. He said he didn’t want gold or jewels, but his target was something even more valuable. Compared to these rare books, he would have rather taken out some gold and jewels to dismiss the matter.

However, one wrong step led to another. The initial thought was wrong, so naturally there was no turning back later. He was already bitten tight by Xiao Fen here. It was too late to want to offer gold and jewels now. Thinking of this, Censor Pan gritted his teeth and said, “The Immortal is indeed a high person, with interests naturally different from us mortals. However, my family does not have many rare editions. I fear that if the Immortal is unsatisfied, it would be terrible.”

Xiao Fen glanced at this dark, crowded courtyard. Although he had many keys in his backpack, they were obtained from missions. On the other hand, the Healing Potion Xiao Fen had invested in had not yielded any return, let alone triggered a mission. In other words, there was likely a new mission in this courtyard. He was unwilling to leave now. It was better to find a random excuse to walk around this Pan residence and see if there really was no mission triggered.

Hearing Censor Pan’s words, Xiao Fen smiled, but his eyes gradually turned cold. He said, “True, true. Director Pan certainly doesn’t have any fine ancient books. Never mind, never mind. I will just leave. However, I hope Director Pan won’t come looking for me later.”

Censor Pan’s heart skipped a beat again. Greed often strikes for a moment. He suddenly remembered Xiao Fen’s immense power, and then thought of the blood and gore in the Buddha Hall just now. Without needing to think much, he knew what was most important at this moment.

Thinking of this, Censor Pan hurriedly stepped forward to block Xiao Fen, who was pretending to leave, and said repeatedly, “Immortal, walk slowly, walk slowly. My family’s fine ancient books are few, but we do have them. We have them. I was afraid they wouldn’t catch the Immortal’s eye. I will take you to get them now. Please, please, Immortal, this way.”

Xiao Fen turned his head to look at the Head File Keeper of the Eastern Depot and asked, “Where does the official plan to go next?”

The Head File Keeper watched Xiao Fen and Censor Pan scheming against each other and found it interesting. He thought that this Immortal was not completely detached from the world. If there was something that could move this Immortal, and he recommended the Immortal to the Director, if the Immortal had other skills, wouldn’t that be a great merit?

Thinking of this, the Head File Keeper hurriedly smiled and bowed, saying, “I cannot be called an official, I cannot be called an official. You flatter me to death. For the Immortal to look at Censor Pan’s ancient books is a refined interest. I will not disturb you further. I will stand guard outside the Pan residence. When the Immortal comes out, I also have some ancient books for the Immortal to appraise. Besides, it is late at night, and the Capital City is under curfew. The Immortal must need to rest. With us Eastern Depot here, we can naturally prepare things for the Immortal.”

Xiao Fen nodded and said, “That is very good. When I finish handling matters here, we will discuss it outside the Pan residence.”

Censor Pan saw the relationship between the Head File Keeper of the Eastern Depot and Xiao Fen suddenly become close, and his heart tightened slightly. His faction had always had a bad relationship with the Eastern Depot. Today the Eastern Depot broke into his home; who knows, tomorrow they might file a complaint. Regardless of who was right or wrong, he couldn’t weaken his own morale. But now, it seemed that if the Immortal leaned toward the Eastern Depot, it might be bad.

Although the current Emperor was no longer interested in alchemy and longevity techniques, that didn’t mean he completely disregarded the arts of Immortals. If the Eastern Depot recommended this Immortal, there would likely be turmoil in the court.

Thinking of this, Censor Pan calculated in his heart. He might as well go to his teacher tonight to ask about the situation and discuss what should be done.

A clear sky thunder in the middle of the night would definitely be mentioned at the morning court. Even the Emperor would want to know the truth. The problems here couldn’t be hidden. It was better to prepare early to avoid being passive later.

Thinking of this, Censor Pan secretly hated his wife. If she hadn’t worshipped Buddha every day, none of this would have happened. It was truly a disaster from the sky. If they hadn’t gone to save her, although it would have damaged his reputation outside, it would have been better than the current situation.

Xiao Fen didn’t care about these dark, dirty matters. He watched Censor Pan’s expression change. Although he didn’t fully understand, he could mostly guess the matter involved the wife of the Pan Family. Thinking of this, he thought of that mysterious girl and couldn’t help but say, “Do not speculate blindly. If not for your wife worshipping in the Buddha Hall every day, the boundless Dharma temporarily suppressing the foul aura would have eventually left your wife critically ill. Do you think this residence could have survived until today?”

Censor Pan was shocked in his heart. He thought this Immortal could actually read minds. Thinking of how the Immortal asked about the reward earlier, he felt the Immortal was even more unfathomable. He quickly shook his head and said, “I dare not, I dare not, I dare not think more. The Immortal is right. My wife suffered that pain alone for the peace of the entire residence. That is a great merit.”

Xiao Fen nodded slightly. The group stopped talking and walked through the corridors and alleys. In a blink of an eye, they arrived at the study. Xiao Fen found a wooden stool and sat down. He lowered his eyes and said, “Go fetch them yourself. Whether you try to trick me or not doesn’t matter. Just remember, humans act, but Heaven watches.”

Just as he said this, suddenly a clap of thunder rumbled from the horizon, accompanied by lightning shuttling through the air like giant pythons. In this light, Xiao Fen’s face looked indescribably solemn and strangely eerie. Especially the smile at the corner of his mouth, when seen suddenly, had a hideous aura floating within it.

Censor Pan trembled all over again and said repeatedly, “I dare not, I dare not. Immortal, please wait here. I will go and come back.”

Xiao Fen watched Censor Pan leave, turned his head and looked in another direction of the sky. Over there, lightning gathered and flashed continuously. If he guessed correctly, another place where filth gathered had been opened over there.

This night was destined to be eventful. The Head File Keeper of the Eastern Depot watched the lightning flashing outside the Pan residence, thinking secretly.