Ch 33: The Malevolent Monster Just Wants To Farm

“All of you only know how to play musical instruments, play chess, paint, sing, and dance? Is there nothing else you can do?” Jiang Lin asked with a frown.

The group of women exchanged glances, and finally, Nie Xiaoqian stepped forward and softly said, “When I was human, my family was well-educated. Besides music, chess, painting, and calligraphy, I also knew some embroidery.”

However, after so many years, she had mostly forgotten these skills.

Seeing the anxious expressions of the women, Jiang Lin suddenly thought of something and turned to Huaiyin, the Tree Demon Elder: “Huaiyin, for these past few hundred years, have all the female ghosts at Lanruo Temple been learning only these things?”

Since he was now the rightful master of the Tree Demon Elder both in name and spirit, Huaiyin dared not lie and answered, “Yes.”

She had needed these maids to absorb the yang energy of living men for her cultivation, so she had chosen beautiful women and trained them in either elegant or seductive arts. After centuries of this, these women had forgotten everything except for the skills needed to please men.

To put it bluntly, these demonesses and ghostly women weren’t much different from human courtesans.

Hearing this, Jiang Lin frowned and said, “From today onward, you don’t need to continue like this.”

Huaiyin, knowing that Jiang Lin disliked lustful activities and was disgusted by these matters, did not dare say more and respectfully complied.

The women, however, reacted with a mix of emotions—some were moved to tears, while others were lost and unsure of what to do next.

Nie Xiaoqian, showing the boldness that marked her as a protagonist, calmly asked, “May I ask, sir, what we should do in the future?”

Jiang Lin replied, “You are all grown spirits and should take responsibility for your own lives. Starting from now, I’ll give each of you three days to come up with a plan for your future and submit it to me.”

The lively and charming beauty standing next to Xiaoqian, who was called Ayu, quietly asked, “Excuse me, sir, what is a ‘future plan’?”

Jiang Lin remembered that she was called Ayu and, thinking of these women’s circumstances, patiently explained, “It’s a plan of what you want to do in the future and how you intend to achieve it.”

Ayu nodded in confusion, still somewhat unclear.

Perhaps because Jiang Lin was handsome and spoke gently, the women gained a bit more courage. While someone like Xiaoqian might still be wary, knowing that anyone who could make the Tree Demon Elder so obedient was not simple, others who were more simple-minded didn’t think too much. One immediately asked, “Sir, I want to be reincarnated as a human, not remain a ghost. Is that possible?”

Xiaoqian was startled—this question struck at her long-held desire. She couldn’t help but look up at Jiang Lin’s expression.

The young and handsome master of Black Mountain casually nodded and said, “Yes. I know that many of you are spirits who have been controlled by Huaiyin using improper methods. She is now my subordinate. If any of you don’t want to stay in Black Mountain and wish for freedom or reincarnation, you can tell me.”

The Tree Demon Elder, who had just been called out, felt a bit awkward: “…”

She looked at Jiang Lin, puzzled, and realized she truly didn’t understand her new master. If he was a good person, he seemed cold and indifferent, unmoved by either soft or hard tactics when dealing with her. But if he was evil, helping these ghostly women reincarnate seemed like a thankless task. Why would he take on such a troublesome burden?

Jiang Lin instructed those who wanted to reincarnate to register with the puppets. After they registered, he handed the list to Huaiyin.

“I know you used some questionable methods to control them. Destroy those things,” Jiang Lin ordered.

Huaiyin was shocked and quickly said, “But sir, without those methods, they might…” all run away.

Jiang Lin sighed and said, “I can provide them with protection. Those who are meant to stay will stay, and those who truly wish to leave should be allowed to go.”

For a moment, Huaiyin thought she saw a saintly aura around her new master. She couldn’t quite understand why she suddenly felt a toothache, so she took the list and left.

A few days later, Jiang Lin discreetly placed the belongings of the ghostly women who wished to reincarnate at the gate of a brightly lit Buddhist temple. Nie Xiaoqian secretly followed and watched from a distance, considering it her way of seeing them off.

Despite thinking about it for so many years, when the moment came, she suddenly felt afraid and shook her head when Jiang Lin asked her if she wanted to go.

Out of the dozens of maidens at Lanruo Temple, seven or eight reincarnated, and after Jiang Lin gave them the freedom to leave, another dozen or so left as well. Now, only about twenty remained.

These twenty or so women were now nervously waiting for Jiang Lin to review their future plans.

After reviewing them, Jiang Lin let out a long sigh.

“Forget it, I’ll do it myself.”

On the busiest street in Qing Shui County, a few new shops quietly opened. Although their opening was quiet, their growth was swift.

Not to mention anything else, the owners of these shops were simply too attractive.

The shop on the left was a calligraphy and painting shop run by a woman named Xiaoqian. She was a cold beauty with an ethereal and elegant temperament. Most of the scholars in Qing Shui County were captivated by just one glance at her.

Opposite the calligraphy shop was a perfume shop. The owner, Hongxiu, was a charming woman who loved to wear red. Her perfumes were delicate, and long-term use could even enhance beauty. Since the shop opened, the women of Qing Shui County, both rich and poor, became its most loyal customers.

The strangest shop, however, was the vegetable shop on the corner.

There were plenty of vegetable vendors in Qing Shui County, mostly farmers from nearby villages selling their homegrown produce. But this shop, located in a prime spot on the commercial street, sold only inexpensive greens and fruits.

Yet, the shop’s owner was a sweet-smiling, pretty girl. Her sweet smile drew in customers who hadn’t intended to buy anything, and once they did…

They were hooked!

These shops all opened around the same time, and the beautiful women running them, along with the equally attractive young assistants, inevitably attracted some unsavory attention.

However, after several groups of troublemakers were thrown out by the tall, strong guards in the shops, those with ill intentions began to behave.

Later, rumors began to spread: It turned out that these shops all had the same owner. The owner, surnamed Jiang, was said to be a wealthy young master with a lot of money—he owned a large, perilous mountain not far from Qing Shui County, known as Black Mountain. The delicacies and high-quality goods sold in these shops were all genuinely sourced from the mountain.

This information was deliberately released by Jiang Lin’s people to let others know that the shops had backing and to deter troublemakers.

However, Jiang Lin didn’t anticipate that the rumors would eventually take on a different tone, becoming more and more salacious. People began to gossip that the beautiful owners of these shops were actually the concubines of Young Master Jiang. He was said to be a kind man who didn’t want his concubines to be bored at home, so he allowed these beauties to go out and run their own businesses.

Following the guidance of his soul pearl, Zong Yu, who had finally broken through the spatial barriers to sense Jiang Lin’s presence during the rare event of the sun and moon shining together, overheard people at a teahouse talking about this lucky Jiang Young Master with his harem of beauties.

Although there was no concrete evidence, Zong Yu somehow knew for sure: this Jiang Young Master must be Jiang Lin.

He had gone hungry for two thousand years, and Jiang Lin had taken eighteen concubines in this world?

Little Lord Zong’s eyes turned red with anger!

xxx

Thandar: uh oh boyfriend is here.