Chapter 1315: A Single Good Thought

"Honored guests, this tavern is a place of legitimate business. Please take your seats and enjoy the performance, and do not spoil everyone's pleasure." A waiter approached and advised them.

"We came into your tavern and paid for our wine, so we're the masters here. We can do whatever we want. Get the hell out of our way." Another ruffian jumped out, grabbed the waiter's clothes, and shouted with a twisted face.

"What you say is reasonable, but if you cause such a commotion, you'll scare away the other guests. How can our tavern continue its business? You look unfamiliar—are you from out of town? Our tavern's owner is the local Master Jin. You'd better think carefully; offending our master is no small matter." The waiter showed no fear and spoke unhurriedly.

The ruffians all turned their gazes to the richly dressed young man.

"Master Jin? That fellow Jin Fugui? He's just a minor steward in my Golden Dragon Gang, and he dares to call himself 'master' in front of me." The richly dressed young man sneered, still gripping the girl in blue as if she were a little white rabbit.

"You're from the Golden Dragon Gang?" A trace of panic appeared on the waiter's face.

"You blind dog! This gentleman is the only son of the Golden Dragon Gang's leader." The ruffian holding the waiter threw him to the ground with a shove.

The waiter was dumbfounded, lying on the ground too afraid to get up, trembling all over.

The richly dressed young man looked at the girl in blue, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He had seen many women, but such a tender and delicate little beauty was rare.

"Cough! Throw everyone else out." The richly dressed young man growled.

The other patrons in the tavern were already pale with fear. Without needing to be driven out, they scrambled and crawled down the stairs, vanishing in an instant, leaving only Han Li and Zi Ling in the distance.

"If you don't want trouble, get lost too." A ruffian shouted at them.

Zi Ling had transformed into an ordinary-looking woman, so she didn't attract the ruffians' attention.

Han Li's eyes turned slightly cold. Watching the crowd listen to the storyteller had reminded him of distant memories, and he had felt a glimmer of insight, but these people had interrupted him.

"How annoying." He snorted softly and flicked his finger at the chopstick holder on the table.

The chopstick holder trembled slightly, then fell still.

Suddenly, blood splattered from the ruffians' hands. Each of them had a chopstick embedded in their wrist, piercing through.

"Ahhh!" Only then did they react, clutching their wrists and screaming.

The richly dressed young man was the same; his wrist was pierced by a chopstick, and he released the girl in blue.

The girl stared blankly at the scene, then quickly ran to the old storyteller and helped him up.

"Let's go." Han Li stood up, placed a small silver ingot on the table, and headed downstairs.

Zi Ling smiled slightly and followed him.

The storyteller and his granddaughter, fearing retaliation from the richly dressed young man and his gang, also hurried downstairs.

The richly dressed young man and his gang were in too much pain to stop them.

"Benefactor, please wait." Just as Han Li and Zi Ling stepped out of the tavern, the storyteller and his granddaughter caught up.

Han Li's expression shifted, and he stopped.

"Thank you, benefactor, for helping us today. If Little Cui had fallen into those men's hands, she would have been as good as dead." The old storyteller bowed to Han Li in gratitude.

The girl in blue knelt with a thud and kowtowed to Han Li as well.

Han Li was about to tell them to rise when his expression suddenly changed, and a strange glint flashed in his eyes.

"Brother Han?" Zi Ling asked softly.

"It was nothing. You two need not be so polite." Han Li's expression immediately returned to normal. He flicked his sleeve, and an invisible force lifted the two of them up.

They looked at Han Li with awe in their eyes.

"Those men seem to have considerable backing. You'd better leave quickly. I can save you once, but not a second time." Han Li said.

"Those men are from the Golden Dragon Gang. The gang's influence spans the entire Iron Province. If they want revenge, where can we flee?" The old storyteller's face showed bitterness.

"Your accents are different from the locals of Yushan City. You must be from elsewhere. Where is your hometown?" Han Li asked.

"My grandfather and I are from Qing Province. Because of a famine in our hometown, we fled here." The girl in blue said.

"Qing Province? Is that the place where two great rivers run parallel?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Yes." The girl in blue was startled, then nodded.

"Tell me in detail where in Qing Province your hometown is, and also describe the environment around your home carefully." Han Li asked with narrowed eyes.

The young woman in blue and the old storyteller exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, then carefully recounted the situation of their hometown and the place where they lived.

"I see. That thatched cottage with a large willow tree in front of the door is your home," Han Li said with a light laugh.

The young woman in blue and the old storyteller were stunned. They had not mentioned the willow tree in front of the door in their account. How could this man know?

"Come, I'll take you home." Han Li flicked his sleeve, and a golden light enveloped the two, then shone brightly for a moment.

Their eyes were instantly filled with golden light, and their bodies became extremely light, as if floating in midair.

The next moment, their feet landed on solid ground again, the golden light around them disappeared, and their vision cleared.

But their surroundings had changed drastically. They were no longer in Yushan City but in a small village by a lake.

Han Li and Zi Ling were nowhere to be seen.

Not far ahead of them were three thatched cottages, with a large weeping willow planted in front of the door, its leaves swaying in the wind.

"This is our hometown..." The young woman in blue and the old storyteller were dumbfounded, rubbing their eyes vigorously, unable to believe what they saw.

"It seems the famine in your hometown has passed. Here is some silver. Live well in your hometown from now on." Han Li's voice came faintly from above, and then a silver ingot fell from the sky into the old man's hand.

"Thank you, immortal, for your help. My granddaughter and I will surely set up a longevity tablet for you and worship you day and night!" The old storyteller snapped out of his daze and bowed deeply to the void.

The young woman in blue also quickly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly.

In midair, Han Li and Zi Ling stood in the void.

"Brother Han, I didn't expect you to have such a chivalrous heart, not only saving the grandfather and granddaughter but also sending them back to their hometown," Zi Ling said with a light laugh.

Han Li did not speak but instead closed his eyes, as if sensing something, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

"Brother Han, what makes you so happy?" Zi Ling looked surprised at Han Li's expression.

"Zi Ling, I have found the opportunity to sever the good corpse," Han Li said, quickly opening his eyes and smiling slightly.

"Really? What opportunity?" Zi Ling asked, both surprised and delighted.

Han Li did not speak but pointed at the two below.

"You mean helping others helps you sense the good corpse?" Zi Ling's beautiful eyes flickered as she spoke.

Han Li nodded with a smile.

Earlier, when he inadvertently helped the grandfather and granddaughter escape the entanglement of the Golden Dragon Gang members, and they thanked him, he sensed an intangible something clinging to him, loosening the bottleneck in sensing the good corpse within him by a fraction.

As for later sending the grandfather and granddaughter back to their hometown, it was just to verify his feeling. Sure enough, when they thanked him a second time, another intangible force spread toward him.

However, for some reason, the second intangible force was much less than the first.

"That's right. Helping others is doing good. I remember you said that because you don't deeply understand the true meaning of 'goodness,' you can't sense the good corpse within. By helping others, you can deepen your understanding of 'goodness,' which in turn helps in severing the good corpse." Zi Ling, being extremely intelligent, immediately understood the reasoning.

"Exactly. Now that I've found the method, it's easy to proceed." Han Li chuckled, then his vast divine sense suddenly expanded, spreading in all directions.

Now that his Divine Refining Art had reached the sixth level, his divine sense had greatly increased in power, and his range of detection had also expanded, covering nearly half of the Feiyi Immortal Domain.

With the Divine Refining Art at the sixth level, not only had the range of his divine sense expanded, but its precision had also greatly improved. Within the range of his divine sense, the actions of countless cultivators and mortals were all visible to him, including many who, like the storyteller and his granddaughter, were being bullied.

He formed a hand seal and drew forth, and streaks of golden lightning appeared, enveloping the two.

With a flash of lightning, their figures vanished.

...

In Feilu Prefecture, on a certain mountain path, a group of masked bandits intercepted a convoy of escort carts. Blades flashed and shadows clashed as both sides fought fiercely.

The bandits were numerous and had launched a surprise attack from a strategic point on the adjacent mountain path. The escort guards were soon wiped out, leaving only a burly old man who seemed to be the leader, along with the last two guards, still fighting desperately against enemies several times their number.

With two cries of agony, the last two guards were struck by several blades and fell into a pool of blood.

A look of pain flashed in the burly old man's eyes, but he did not stop. He wildly brandished his ghost-head broadsword, sending out waves of blade light that forced back the surrounding bandits.

"Xiang Zong, all your Flying Tiger Escort Agency men are dead. Why not kneel and beg for mercy? If we're happy, we might spare your life," a tall bandit wielding twin blades laughed loudly from outside the battle circle.

"Liu San the Bandit, kill me if you want. I, Xiang Zong, stand upright between heaven and earth. How could I bow to a thief like you!" The burly old man, his left arm already injured and half his body bathed in blood, still appeared majestic and showed no sign of weakness.

"Good! Truly worthy of being the chief escort of the Flying Tiger Escort Agency, with extraordinary spirit. But in life, one needs not only spirit but also to know when to yield. Since the chief escort is eager to die, I'll grant your wish!" The tall bandit sneered and raised his hand to wave.

Several bandits beside him stepped forward, each taking a three-foot-long heavy crossbow from their backs. The crossbow magazines were loaded with over a dozen bolts, and they aimed at the burly old man and pulled the triggers.

A loud whooshing sound arose!

Over a hundred bolts shot out like rain, covering the burly old man.