Chapter 33 Sweeping
　　
Lightning was swift and exceedingly fast.

　　Listening to the distant thunder and sending a message to Zhang Ruosu, Wei Yuan finally exhaled. His forehead was covered in fine beads of cold sweat. It took him a long while to steady his breathing, but he now knew just how powerful the altar was.

　　Even though it required advance preparation and numerous rituals, the immense power it granted was worth it.

　　He saw the water ghost peeking out from the wall, head poking through, hesitating, stopping, then hesitating again.

　　Wei Yuan asked, "What's wrong?"

　　The water ghost's expression was strange. He struggled for a moment before saying:

　　"Um... Boss, you should probably see this for yourself."

　　Wei Yuan frowned, barely managing to stand up. He pushed open the door and casually said:

　　"What is it? Looks like we had a thief or something..."

　　He pushed the door open, and the words died in his throat.

　　The floor was covered in shattered glass. Streaks of black, seared by lightning, marked the walls. The largest window, the old-fashioned kind with the green paint, had a gaping hole blasted through it, with only a small triangular piece of glass still hanging precariously.

　　Several cabinets were askew, as if a miniature typhoon had passed through.

　　The wind blew in, carrying an inexplicable sense of desolation. The last piece of glass teetered, then fell with a crash, scattering across the floor.

　　Wei Yuan: "…………"

　　The water ghost cautiously glanced at him and said, "Boss, that sword... it was flying a little bit fast."

　　Wei Yuan's lips twitched.

　　Then, with an unchanged expression, he said, "Everything is proceeding as planned."

　　He paused, then added, "Prepare for a major cleanup."

　　"Got it!"

　　The water ghost turned and beckoned the soldier spirit and the silent painter ghost. Together, they rummaged around for cleaning supplies, but since they were all yin spirits, they couldn't easily touch physical objects, making their progress slow. Wei Yuan became the main force, mopping and sweeping until his back ached.

　　He straightened up, rubbing his lower back, and seeing how far they still had to go, he fell silent.

　　A tempting, yet guilt-ridden, idea surfaced in his mind.

　　After a moment's consideration, Wei Yuan followed his inner guidance. He put away the mop, went to the kitchen, grabbed a handful of soybeans, closed his eyes, formed a hand seal, and chanted an incantation:

　　"Teacher, your disciple Yuan requests the divine power's decree."

　　"Grant the Yellow Turban Strongmen, capable of scattering beans to create soldiers, protecting the virtuous, subduing demons, and banishing evil."

　　He scattered the handful of soybeans on the ground and shouted, "Hurry, hurry, as the statutes command!"

　　Magical power flowed, and the soybeans instantly transformed into Yellow Turban Strongmen clad in armor. The leader among them was particularly tall and imposing. When he saw Wei Yuan, his expression froze slightly.

　　The Yellow Turban Strongmen technique, the scattering of beans to create soldiers, didn't have a fixed true spirit.

　　It only held echoes of past true spirits, the experience of battle. But unfortunately, Wei Yuan had left too deep an impression on the Yellow Turban Strongmen previously. It was the first time in two thousand years that, even after their spirituality dissipated and returned to heaven and earth, faint memories and impressions remained. Upon their re-emergence, they recognized him.

　　The Yellow Turban Strongman stiffly saluted: "Greetings, True Man."

　　Wei Yuan, pale-faced, handed over the broom and pointed to the ravaged museum, succinctly saying:

　　"Clean."

　　"Mop."

　　"Replace the glass."

　　The Yellow Turban Strongmen: "…………"

　　The leading strongman looked at the large blade he'd used to slay demons, then silently sheathed it, took the broom, and draped a mop over his back, with an apron tied over his armor.

　　He slowly saluted: "Accepting the True Man's decree."

　　…………………

　　Wei Yuan was finally able to sit down and rest, searching online for the cheapest glass. The museum had some spare glass left over, but once that was used up, he would need to prepare more. He wondered if he could find any discount promotions, and if they offered free shipping.

　　As Wei Yuan searched, he noticed a familiar figure peering inside from outside.

　　His heart stirred. He put away his phone, pushed open the door, and walked out. It was the museum's neighbor, the aunt who had warned him about the museum's potential problems when he first arrived, and who had later received a fish from the Huai River.

　　Wei Yuan greeted her.

　　The aunt glanced at the broken glass and said, "Little Wei, what happened here? I heard a loud crash from inside. Did you offend someone? Why would they smash your windows like that? That's just awful!"

　　Wei Yuan smiled and explained:

　　"No, it's just that while I was tidying up, I accidentally bumped into the window."

　　He pointed to the apron he was wearing and laughed, "See? I haven't even changed out of my cleaning clothes."

　　After he repeated it several times, the aunt was finally relieved and abandoned the idea of calling the police. She looked at the glass again and said, "Well, you'll need to replace that glass. Do you know anyone who can do it? If not, I can help you find someone. They're family, so they definitely won't overcharge you. When you're dealing with these things, it's best to find someone you know, or they'll rip you off."

　　Wei Yuan said, "Thank you, I've already found a few friends to help, so I won't trouble you."

　　The aunt nodded and chatted for a while. Just as she was getting into it, a faint rumble of thunder echoed in the sky. She instinctively looked up, but the sky was clear, without a single cloud. She muttered:

　　"This weather is really strange. I just heard thunder, but there aren't any clouds in sight."

　　"But Little Wei, it's autumn, the weather is unpredictable. It might rain today, so if you have any clothes hanging out to dry, you should bring them in, or you'll have to wash them all over again."

　　She gave him a few more words of advice, then turned and went back inside, hurrying upstairs to collect her laundry.

　　Wei Yuan sighed in relief and wiped the sweat from his brow.

　　He turned and entered the museum. The water ghost gave him a thumbs-up, admiration written all over his face, and said, "Boss, you're amazing! You were actually able to talk to her and chat for so long. When I was alive, I was always afraid of talking to older women like that. You just can't win."

　　"They're always asking about your salary, whether you're married, if you've found a girlfriend, how much you still owe on your mortgage... it's a headache."

　　Wei Yuan gave a wry smile and walked toward the quiet room.

　　The leading Yellow Turban Strongman turned his head.

　　He saw Wei Yuan wearing sleeves to protect his arms, covered in dust, a smile still lingering on his face from his conversation, along with a hint of helplessness from being overwhelmed by the chatty aunt. Yet he was already frowning, trying to figure out how to get a discount. He was grounded, relatable.

　　Then,

　　Silently, a sword pierced through the air, appearing behind him, humming softly.

　　The sword was filled with vast sword intent and righteous lightning.

　　It was the sharpness of the sword, ethereal and unparalleled.

　　It was a point of vast righteousness, a thousand miles of exhilarating wind.

　　Contradictory to, yet strangely coexisting with, the earlier ordinariness.

　　The Yellow Turban Strongman paused.

　　In disbelief, he muttered to himself, "Flying sword from a thousand miles away?"

　　They didn't have true spirits, coming together and dispersing as needed, but they had basic knowledge, which was why they were astonished.

　　Wei Yuan casually put down the rag he was holding and said, "Continue cleaning. I have some things to take care of. I'll be back later." Then he returned to the room, turned, and looked at the head the magical sword had brought back, grinning. How did this magical sword have a built-in decapitation function? Celestial Master Zhang, you're a bit too generous with your martial virtue.

　　He first carefully put away the talisman, then used the wind to lift up the head, examining it with a frown.

　　Because it had been struck by the lightning-infused sword, Mogi Yoshiyuki's spirit had been almost completely shattered, leaving only a few fragments sealed within his brow. Wei Yuan thought for a moment, then used his ghost-expelling power, tapping his fingers in the air to extract these fragments and try to analyze them.

　　Images floated before his eyes.

　　Huh? Why is he a Sakura Island Fuso person?

　　Did I strike the wrong person?

　　————————

　　"Mogi-kun, I'm counting on you this time."

　　In the memory, a middle-aged man said, "This is the instruction of the gods and Buddhas."

　　"To sacrifice to the true god, we need an undying and imperishable spirit."

　　"And for an undying and imperishable spirit, we need to use an undying and imperishable material."

　　Mogi Yoshiyuki asked, "Where can we find this undying and imperishable material?"

　　The middle-aged man replied, "In Shenzhou."

　　"Shenzhou..."

　　Then came long stretches of meaningless images.

　　Because he had been struck by lightning, only these fragments of his spirit remained, but the phrase "undying and imperishable material" reminded Wei Yuan of a distant memory, from the time when his war sword bore the iron eagle emblem. A gentle Fangshi had said something similar. There was no doubt that the words came from Xu Fu.

　　It seemed that the Japanese pirates' incursions were inextricably linked to Xu Fu.

　　Had something gone wrong with the elixir of immortality...?

　　Or was it that the elixir of immortality hadn't gone wrong, but Xu Fu himself had?

　　Such a curse as immortality wasn't easily controlled by humans. One needed the capacity to transcend the ages, and while Xu Fu might have been a hero of his time, he wasn't enough. Wei Yuan could basically deduce that Xu Fu's condition probably wasn't very good.

　　However, any reason was just an excuse.

　　Wei Yuan only knew that he now had another reason to eliminate Xu Fu.

　　The magical sword also carried a trace of impure aura. Wei Yuan held onto this strand of aura.

　　He closed his eyes and meditated, performing a simple divination. He vaguely saw a middle-aged Taoist, heavily injured and fleeing in disarray. He saw tablets of the True Cultivators of the Way of Peace on his person. He knew that this should be the current leader of the Way of Peace.

　　He actually gave the founder's talisman to a Fuso person.

　　The founder struck you, and you still dared to run.

　　Wei Yuan joked to himself, but there wasn't a trace of a smile in his eyes.

　　This confirmed the crime of colluding with Japanese pirates.

　　However, he wasn't in a hurry to deal with him yet. Judging by the looks of it, he was planning to return to some hidden base. Wei Yuan naturally had the idea of following the vine to find the melon. With the Nine Section Staff's blessing upon him, and the Taoist having ancestral spirit tablets, the other party would habitually offer incense to the founder during morning and evening lessons, so he would naturally be able to sense the exact location.

　　When the time came, justice would descend from the heavens, and he would directly raid the base.

　　Wei Yuan turned his head, looking at the unseeing head, seeing the astonishment and unwillingness in its eyes. He raised his hand and sealed the true spirit within it. He planned to send this thing to the Celestial Masters' Residence. The True Cultivators of the Celestial Masters' Residence could also see the images in the true spirit, but after all, it had been struck by lightning, and the true spirit was already fragmented. Even if it was sealed, it was slowly dissipating.

　　He had to send it over quickly.

　　Driving there would probably be too late.

　　After thinking for a while, Wei Yuan sent the magical sword back to its original position and drew out the Eight-Sided Han Sword that had already transformed.

　　He then continuously engraved talismans on it, not of thunder, but of the wind decrees he was proficient in, to allow the longsword to soar into the sky.

　　But next, how to lock onto Zhang Ruosu's location was a problem.

　　He had been able to successfully lock on and strike before because the Nine Section Staff had blessed Wei Yuan's true spirit, allowing him to sense the prayers to the vice-Celestial Master of the Way of Peace, and to sense the Peace Commandment Talismans related to him. But now, there was no way to lock onto Zhang Ruosu. Besides, if he really locked on, it wouldn't be sending something, but directly attacking.

　　After thinking for a while, Wei Yuan suddenly had an idea.

　　He first packed the head into a shipping box, then used his magic power to create a chain, hanging it on the Eight-Sided Han Sword. He took out his old phone, turned on the data, and opened the built-in map software.

　　He clicked, searched.

　　A crisp navigation voice rang out.

　　"Your location is in Quanshi, 582 kilometers from the Longhu Mountain scenic area."

　　Wei Yuan hung the phone on the Eight-Sided Han Sword and ordered:

　　"Just follow the navigation, no, I mean, fly."

　　"You can fly directly, just don't deviate too much from the general direction."

　　The war sword, now spiritually awakened after being washed with divine blood, hummed and flew out the door, sharp and fierce, with its own wind power. The Yellow Turban Strongmen and the water ghost instinctively dodged. Just as the sword was about to burst through the door, Wei Yuan's voice suddenly came from inside the house: "Stop!"

　　The Eight-Sided Han Sword abruptly stopped, wisps of flowing wind scattering.

　　Wei Yuan said:

　　"Open the door yourself, and be quiet about it."

　　The Eight-Sided Han Sword hummed, a wisp of wind force scattering. With a creak, the door was opened, and then the longsword hummed, using the power of the wind to soar into the sky, flying toward Longhu Mountain, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

　　At the speed of the wind, it shouldn't take too long to reach Longhu Mountain. The fragments of the true spirit should still be there when it arrives.

　　Wei Yuan thought for a moment. To prevent the flying sword from being directly intercepted by Zhang Ruosu, he decided to give him a heads-up, sending a message:

　　"The matter has been resolved, thank you, Daoist friend Zhang."

　　The other party immediately replied with an emoji of two cats shaking hands, reaching an agreement.

　　Wei Yuan sighed in relief and said:

　　"By the way, there's something else that should be delivered to you soon."

　　Zhang Ruosu: "???"

　　He seemed to have misunderstood, and quickly sent a grateful emoji:

　　"Haha."

　　"Daoist friend is too kind. It was just a small favor. There's no need to send anything."

　　"By the way, Daoist friend, what kind of delivery is it? How is it coming?"

　　Wei Yuan thought for a moment, then hesitated:

　　"... Roughly, it's being sent by flying."

　　ps: Second update today... Thank you ds for the grand reward, thank you.