I Can Recognize Everything, But the Information is Wrong-Chapter 81 - 76: The Task was Stolen

For safety, Tian Lin almost followed the Outer Disciples like Qian Ping to Lin’an County Town.

Without counting Tian Lin, Qian Ping and a group of seven Outer Disciples in their fine outfits and on spirited horses were particularly eye-catching outside the city gate.

As they dismounted at the city gate, all the common people from the nearby grass market turned their gaze towards them, with anticipation and reverence in their eyes, but even more so, envy.

While the grass market’s common folk were watching Qian Ping and the others, Tian Lin had already dismounted on the official road.

Leading his horse, he surveyed the slightly deserted grass market.

It was called deserted, but Tian Lin had seen many declining villages along the way, which made Lin’an County seem all the more bustling in contrast.

He saw local gentry welcome Qian Ping and the others into the city; only then did he leisurely lead his horse in.

The county official at the gate dared not stop him once he showed his Yao Yue Sect waist badge.

Had Tian Lin not refused, the official would certainly have arranged an escort for him into the city.

The interior of the city was even livelier compared to outside. Almost every grain shop’s entrance was crowded with townspeople holding money bags.

Tian Lin was not in a hurry to visit the Wang’s residence; instead, he first took a private room on the second floor of the tavern opposite the Wang’s house.

While waiting for the waiter to bring the dishes, Tian Lin took out some dried Grass God Fish from his pocket and pointed out the window at the opposite Wang’s residence:

"Such a large mansion, why can’t I see a single soul?"

The waiter set the table while smiling and said, "Sir, you don’t seem to be a local from our town, right?"

"What do you mean by that?"

The waiter explained, "These days, the town is troubled by the Blood Sect, and anyone with means is trying to get away—

The old master of the Wang family did the same, and dismissed his servants two or three days ago. Now, there’s only an old couple left in the house, waiting for their cultivator son to send someone to fetch them."

While Tian Lin listened to the waiter, his eyes passed through the window and observed the Wang family’s courtyard.

He saw an old granny carrying a basin from the side room, pouring out the water before heading back inside.

Tian Lin swallowed the dried Grass God Fish and asked the waiter, "Is that granny Wang the old master’s wife?"

The waiter glanced over and nodded affirmatively, "That’s the old master Wang’s wife, known to everyone in our neighborhood."

"I heard her son is the County Magistrate of Qinghe County, a sixth-tier Qi Refining Immortal Master, and had been an Outer Disciple of the Yao Yue Sect."

The waiter said, "That’s correct, they got lucky by having connections with the Lin’an Wang Family; however, because the Lin’an Wang Family is said to have colluded with the Blood Sect, they’re rumored to be purged. It’s fortunate that although they are from the Wang Family, they’ve been estranged for five generations."

"If the old man Wang’s son is indeed the County Magistrate of Qinghe County, why did they move to Lin’an County?"

"They were originally from Lin’an County. The former County Magistrate of Lin’an died amidst the chaos caused by the Blood Sect’s Devil Path, and that’s how he got to serve as the Qinghe County Magistrate."

Tian Lin asked a few more questions and after finishing another piece of dried fish, he got up and said,

"I’ll step out for a moment. Please take good care of my horse, and I’ll fetch it when I return."

Seeing that Tian Lin was about to leave, the waiter couldn’t help but say, "Sir, aren’t you going to eat? It will get cold soon."

"Please pack up the dishes and give them to the little beggars on the street to eat."

The waiter wanted to speak, but Tian Lin had already descended the stairs.

In fact, it seemed superfluous for him not to enter the Wang residence directly, but Tian Lin was very distrustful of Yao Yue Sect’s ’intelligence work’.

Now that the waiter had confirmed it, he was less worried about being deceived on the ’mission’.

Tian Lin went downstairs and knocked on the Wang family’s main door, but instead of the old wife, an old man with a knife answered the door.

The old man, with a stern face, scrutinized Tian Lin, and Tian Lin also sized up the old man.

"Who are you? Why are you knocking on our door?"

After the old man spoke, Tian Lin replied directly,

"I am a Disciple of the Yao Yue Sect. The sect has received a call for help from your Wang County Magistrate, and I have been sent to escort you to Qinghe County."

"So you are an Immortal Master from the Yao Yue Sect."

The granny who had been pouring water earlier finally appeared; she came over, took Tian Lin’s hand, and said,

"Please come in, Immortal Master. It’s too much trouble for you to come all the way here for my old clumsy husband and I. Please, come inside, the dishes and wine are all ready."

Tian Lin went inside with her but didn’t head towards the side room; instead, he looked around the courtyard’s arrangements.

The Wang residence’s courtyard looked different from what he had seen from the tavern.

Tian Lin glanced at the stone locks beside the well and smilingly asked the old man, "Did old master Wang also practice martial arts?"

Old master Wang didn’t respond, but the wife who closed the door and returned spoke up,

"In these times, there’s no one who makes a living outside without practicing some self-defense. My old man, fortunately, is a Grandmaster; if not for that, we couldn’t have raised a son to become a County Magistrate—

Don’t look at his age; even ordinary Grandmasters might not win against him."

"Why say so much?"

The old man seemed somewhat overbearing, and asked Tian Lin unpleasantly, "What Qi Refinement tier are you?"

The old wife, fearing her husband’s words would offend Tian Lin, pinched the old man’s arm beside him.

Yet, the old man was persistent and stared at Tian Lin, waiting for an answer.

"I, Tian, am currently at the second tier of Qi Refinement—"

Tian Lin told a lie, but it was not really a lie because both the second tier and the third tier of Qi Refinement belonged to low-level cultivators.

"Second tier Qi Refinement?"

The old man shifted his gaze away from Tian Lin and, in a fit of anger, turned to his wife and said,

"I told Dalang not to waste those wronged Spirit Stones on hiring some Immortal Master from the Yao Yue Sect to escort us; I’ve traversed between Lin’an County and Qinghe County countless times during my days wandering the worldly society, what troubles could there possibly be?"

The old man tilted his head, speaking to his wife; but his eyes were fixed on Tian Lin:

"Now look what happened, we spent ten Spirit Stones only to hire a Qi Refinement second-tier person."

The old man wanted to continue his complaints but, fortunately, his wife covered his mouth.

Facing the old lady’s somewhat anxious gaze, Tian Lin didn’t look angry; instead, he politely reassured the elderly couple:

"County Magistrate Wang is concerned for your safety, so he spent Spirit Stones for peace of mind—don’t worry, though my cultivation is not high, I will ensure you reach Qinghe County Government safely."

After speaking, Tian Lin reached into his chest to search for something when suddenly ’thud thud thud’, a knock on the door interrupted.

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Tian Lin frowned, and the old man also drew the curved knife from his waist, but the old lady was already walking toward the door, asking, "Who’s there?"

From outside came a calm and steady voice: "Auntie, it’s Ping’an!"

Hearing the name ’Ping’an,’ the old man retracted his knife, Tian Lin’s brow relaxed slightly, and the old lady hurriedly opened the door.

Outside stood a middle-aged man, wearing a gauze cap and official robes, with an imposing presence.

He first greeted the old lady with a respectful gesture, then did the same with the old man before turning to Tian Lin with a puzzled look.

Tian Lin bowed his hands to the middle-aged man, about to introduce himself, only to be interrupted by the appearance of Qian Ping who came up behind the man.

Qian Ping called out: "Tian Lin, what are you doing here?"

In worldly society, to call someone directly by their name is quite unreasonable. Tian Lin glanced at Qian Ping and the four Outer Disciples behind him, yet still bowed his hands to the middle-aged man, saying:

"I am an Outer Disciple from the Lianshui Peak of Yao Yue Sect. I pay my respects to Brother Lin here."

The middle-aged man was Lin’an County’s county master, and also a twelfth-tier Qi Refining cultivator.

Tian Lin did not call him ’brother’ because of his higher cultivation, but because he was a Sect Disciple from the Bai Sheng Sect.

Although the Bai Sheng Sect was not located in Ying State, it, along with the Yao Yue Sect, both belonged to the ’Righteous’ path, hence the disciples would call each other ’brother’ regardless of whether they were in the sect or not.

"So it’s junior brother Tian, what a pleasure. A few days ago, junior brother Wang from Qinghe wrote to ask for an Immortal Master from the Yao Yue Sect to escort his parents to Lin’an County, is junior brother Tian here for this matter?"

"I am indeed here for this reason."

Lin Ping’an nodded upon hearing this, then turned to the old lady:

"Auntie, the disciples with me are from the Yao Yue Sect. They came to help me capture those from the Devil Path in Lin’an County, and they heard you have empty rooms available, so they wanted to buy this house as a place to stay."

"What talk of buying or not; we all come from sect families."

The old lady tried to pull Lin Ping’an into the house, but the county master politely gestured with his hands:

"I have official duties to attend to, so it’s not good for me to stay here long."

After finishing his words, he turned to Tian Lin and asked: "Did the sect send only junior brother Tian to escort the elders?"

Brother Lin, do you see any issue with this arrangement?"

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Before Lin Ping’an could speak, the old man burst out in anger: "Ten Spirit Stones, and all they got was a second-tier Qi Refinement protector. Does the Yao Yue Sect really value ten Spirit Stones so cheaply?"

After this statement, Qian Ping turned to Tian Lin and asked: "Junior brother, can you earn ten Spirit Stones for this trip?"

Tian Lin shook his head: "When I accepted the task, I only knew that I would earn one earth spirit stone upon completion."

"Tian Lin, do you think I’m a fool? Even if the brother assigning missions was greedy, he couldn’t possibly pocket nine out of ten Spirit Stones, could he?"

The few Outer Disciples were not willing to believe it and clamored, accusing Tian Lin of cheating them.

Tian Lin ignored these Outer Disciples and simply turned to ask the old man:

"The sect has asked me to send the elders to Lin’an County, and now that I have arrived, what does the elder say?"

Old Man Wang recognized an Outer Disciple from the Bai Sheng Sect, and with a son who was also a Sect Disciple, he wasn’t afraid of Tian Lin.

Stiffening his neck, he said: "If it were you escorting me, I’d rather have the Yao Yue Sect refund those ten Spirit Stones—"

Tian Lin, hearing this, took out a piece of Contract Paper from his chest: "Since the elder refuses to let me escort, let’s set the record straight with a written document, so I can go back and report."

After speaking, he took out a pen and began to write down the reasons for the unfulfilled task, then promptly bit his finger and stamped a fingerprint on the paper.

Old Man Wang read the content on the paper but was silent for a moment; meanwhile, Qian Ping persuaded him from the side:

"Old Uncle Wang, don’t hesitate; if he won’t take this task, then we’ll take it."

Hearing this, Old Man Wang said to Qian Ping: "Fine, but it’s your word. However, I want four people at the eighth-tier Qi Refining to escort me to Qinghe County."

Qian Ping looked troubled:

"We’re not sure how many Spirit Stones this task is actually worth. If Mr. Tian isn’t deceiving us, then wouldn’t it be unfair for four of us at the eighth-tier Qi Refining to go to Qinghe for just one Spirit Stone?"

Lin Ping’an said: "Regardless of how many Spirit Stones the Yao Yue Sect’s reward is, since I am troubling you fellow disciples with this task, how could I allow you to suffer a loss? Here are eight Low Grade Spirit Stones as a token of gratitude from my Wang brother."

As he spoke, he actually produced a bag of Spirit Stones from his pack.

Qian Ping accepted the Spirit Stones; joy spread across his face.

How hard were Spirit Stones to earn?

It was evident from the fact that Old Man Wang openly criticized the Yao Yue Sect for being too expensive and Tian Lin for being useless.

But now, simply by accompanying the old man for a little journey, they stood to gain eight Spirit Stones for nothing—that didn’t even include the sect’s mission reward.

"This is easily done! Even if we don’t look at the Spirit Stones, just for Brother Lin’s sake, we will get this done."

Qian Ping immediately urged Old Man Wang: "Old uncle, can you stamp your handprint now? We have five people here, each with an eighth-tier Qi Refining cultivation. Any four of us can ensure your safe passage to see County Magistrate Wang in Qinghe."

Now, the old man hesitated no longer; he took the Contract Paper from Tian Lin’s hand, bit his own finger, and pressed the handprint.

Tian Lin glanced at the handprint, and noticed a pop-up note indicating:

[Hemostatic Powder, effective for stopping bleeding and healing wounds, edible]