Chapter 130 – Joining the gang
”Why is brother standing here alone, are you waiting for a friend?” A clear voice suddenly came from behind Han Li, causing Han Li’s heart to be startled.
Han Li slowly turned around, only to see six or seven people standing not far behind him, the one who spoke was a twenty-seven or eighty-eight, Taoist-dressed Immortal Cultivator, this person’s white face was beardless, his features were straight, his arm resting on a whisk, and he was smiling as he looked at Han Li.
”What is it that the Taoist priest is looking for under me?” Han Li ignored the other party’s question and instead asked back with an expressionless face.
”Heh! Don’t misunderstand, we have no malicious intent in looking for elder brother and sister. It’s just that we saw elder brother standing here alone, looking curious about everything here, so we guessed that Your Excellency was a casual cultivator who went to the meeting alone, and wanted to come up to make friends with you… Several of us are also all casual cultivators, just like Your Excellency.” The Taoist priest explained with a kind face.
”You are all casual cultivators?” Han Li was slightly stunned.
”Not bad, if Your Excellency is a casual cultivator, it would be best if you traveled in a group with us so that we can take care of each other at this meeting.” This time, the one who spoke was a young woman with a clear face but a scar on her face, and beside her was a bearded sword carrying man who seemed to be a couple.
”Not bad, in past years, the scattered cultivators who participated in the trade fair alone were often bullied by people from the big families because they were alone!” The Taoist priest said with a solemn expression.
Upon hearing these words from the two, Han Li slightly understood the other party’s meaning.
These loose cultivators who went to the meeting were afraid of being bullied by Immortal Cultivation Families at the meeting, so they automatically gathered together to form a small gang to try to form a certain self-protection ability, which is why they went around looking for single loose cultivators like him.
Since he already understood the other party’s intentions, Han Li naturally wouldn’t refuse such a good thing, after all, he did need a small group of people who could protect him from the wind and rain, even if it was temporary, he didn’t care.
However, before that, he still had to carefully ask the other party a few questions before he could feel comfortable joining them.
”Since a few of you have already seen it, then I have nothing to hide, I am indeed a casual cultivator. But a few of you want me to join your group, can you introduce yourself first? And tell me what I need to do after I truly become one of you?” Han Li frankly admitted the identity of a casual cultivator, but waited for the few people in front of him to just show their joy before making his request.
”It seems that brother and sister still have some concerns! Haha! It’s nothing, the other few people all said something similar to Your Excellency when they first came in!” When the Daoist and those few people heard Han Li’s words, instead of revealing a look of displeasure, they glanced at each other and suddenly both laughed out loud before the Daoist spoke the above words.
”Let me introduce these friends to Your Excellency!” The Taoist priest pointed at the several Immortal Cultivators and said to Han Li with a smile.
”These two are siblings, the two brothers Hei Mu and Hei Jin of the Cangwolf Ridge.” The Taoist priest led Han Li to a pair of youths with similar faces and introduced them with a big smile.
These two rushed Han Li with a cupped fist, and Han Li returned the salute with a calm demeanor.
”This is Flying Lotus Cave’s Red Lotus Scatterer and Bodhi Dew Mountain’s Bitter Sang Master.” This time around, the ones being introduced were an ordinary-looking young girl and a bitter-faced young monk.
”As for this pair ……”
”My couple is from the Tianshui Walled City, Aunt Hu Ping and Xiong Dali.” The Daoist pointed at the young woman and the bearded man who had just spoken to Han Li, and before he could say anything, the young woman giggled and snatched the words.
The Taoist priest wasn’t angry at being robbed of his words, and just smiled bashfully.
”Poverty Taoist is the listed Taoist priest of Woliu Mountain’s Qingniu Guan, Taoist number Pine Stripes. Oh, the poor Taoist is the initiator of this small group, and for the time being, he is still being pushed as the leader by the group, but the poor Taoist usually doesn’t order everyone around, it’s only when dealing with external disputes that the poor Taoist takes the lead to speak!” The Taoist monk finally introduced himself modestly as well, and gave a general description of the nature of this small group as well.
This Taoist priest was quite a bit dignified, and seemed to be quite nice!
Moreover, most of the other people’s mana was also not weak, almost all of them had the appearance of having mana when they were at the seventh or eighth layer of the Evergreen Kung Fu! This Pine Tattoo Daoist was even more powerful, and although it hadn’t reached the level of the man in blue, it was still much stronger than himself.
After totaling up the situation in his heart, Han Li felt that being together with these people would indeed have a hundred benefits and no harm, so he said, “Since we are all casual cultivators and it is indeed good to be together, then my name is Han Li, so I will join you for the time being!”
”Great, with Brother Han joining us, our group is one point stronger!” As soon as Daoist Pine Stripe heard Han Li’s words, he immediately said happily.
As for the other few people, they also showed joyful expressions, after all, Han Li didn’t look weak in terms of magic power and could help them quite a bit.
”Are all the people from our group here?” Han Li looked to his left and right at this time and opened his mouth to ask.
”There are two other people, one of them is sleeping heavily inside the house, and the other has gone wandering around.” Mrs. Hu Pinggu bristled as if she didn’t look at those two very favorably.
”It’s not as bad as Mrs. Hu said, it’s just that one is a bit sleepy and the other is a bit playful!” This time it was that bald little monk, defending that duo.
”You …… “Hu Pinggu heard the bitter monk say so, some unhappy, want to say something more.
”Alright! Let’s not argue. After all, we all agreed in the beginning that except for when we fight with external forces where we all have to act in unison and follow directions, at all other times, all of us are free to act as we please!” Daoist Pine Stripe hurriedly stepped forward to make a round-up.
Seeing this, this Mrs. Hu, apart from being a bit unhappy, did not follow the nonsense, after all, the strength of the other Pine Stripe Taoist priest was there, so he could not not fail to give a few points of face.
”Wait until the evening gathering, brother Han will see those two, and introduce you to them then, those two are indeed that little bit different!” The Taoist priest had a hopeless look on his face, seemingly having quite a headache with those two.
Seeing this, although Han Li’s curiosity rose in his heart, he was too embarrassed to pursue the matter.
Next, Daoist Pine Tattoo asked Han Li if he planned to move with them? Or to wander around alone?
Han Li naturally chose the latter, and Daoist Pinegrain wasn’t surprised. Because those who had just entered the Tai Nan Valley were naturally more curious about the place, most of them preferred to act alone, but when they had seen more or less everything, they would gather together and move around like the few of them.
The Taoist priest was also very responsible, and after telling Han Li about some taboo things and certain common sense practices, he was able to gain a certain understanding of the Tai Nan Small Society afterward. Then, the Taoist priest gave Han Li another talisman.
Pointing to a certain small building in that patch of buildings, he told Han Li that that was where they had landed, so that Han Li could go there to rest if he was tired, and that the talisman was the key to breaking the small building’s forbidden spells.
Then these few people said goodbye to Han Li and disappeared into the night, not knowing if they were continuing to search for other loose cultivators.
Han Li had been looking at the backs of several people, waiting until they were really far away and out of sight before he looked down at the talisman in his hand. This yellow talisman was shining with silver light, and it had some incantations drawn on it that he couldn’t understand, so it looked like it really had some wonderful uses.
Han Li pondered for a moment, then laughed softly.
He folded the talisman paper and placed it into his bosom, then took a deep look in the direction where the Pine Tattoo Daoist had disappeared before turning around and walking towards the plaza without hesitation.
After entering the plaza, Han Li was just like the other Immortal Cultivators, walking slowly while checking out the items on the various stalls one by one, house by house.
According to what Daoist Pine Tattoo had just said, these Immortal Cultivators generally traded in two ways.
One was the primitive method of bartering, where some Immortal Cultivators wished to trade things they didn’t need for items they desperately needed, so it was not uncommon for these people to often set up their stalls for several days in a row without succeeding in trading a single item.