Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Little Fatty was evidently genuinely proud of the great kindness his sect had shown to the demons, his face beaming with pride and honor.

Among the many Taoist masters present, as they gazed at that face that could rival a popular celebrity's, they couldn't help but marvel at the terrifying power of heresy – it not only corrupted humans, but demons too.

Wei Xi shook his head and sighed to his senior disciple, "Truly a waste of talent."

From behind him came the deep voice of his second disciple, "You think he's good-looking?"

Wei Xi replied, "Not bad, I guess."

Silence followed. Wei Xi sensed something amiss and turned to look at his disciple, only to find the young man silently staring at him.

Wei Xi: "..."

After a moment of quiet, the disciple wore an odd expression, a mix of embarrassment and annoyance, his brows furrowing slightly. "Oh," he muttered.

Within the site, the little stray dog was working tirelessly, its supernatural strength as an enchanted creature exceeding that of ordinary humans. Its exertion was astonishing, carrying twice as many bricks as its fellow laborers in one go. It rushed around the dusty construction site with its small handcart, seemingly envisioning the incoming yuan bills. Even the foreman's reprimands couldn't hide the blissful smile on its face.

The Daoist masters present found the scene unbearable and stepped forward to interrupt it: "You..."

However, before they could finish, the wild dog spirit caught sight of their Daoist robes and its expression drastically changed. It abandoned the handcart and bolted away in fear!

The speed at which a freed wild dog could escape was no laughing matter. In that instant, it left a vivid afterimage in people's vision!

But with Tai Cang Sect around, how could it escape? There was no need for the second disciple to intervene; Wei Xi casually caught up to it and grabbed it by the neck, dragging it into a secluded corner.

The wild dog spirit was both startled and terrified, transforming back into its original form – a colorful village dog with bared teeth, roaring as it lunged at Wei Xi's arm.

"Hmm!" Seeing how unyielding it was, Wei Xi raised his fist, ready to strike. But before the wild dog could reach him, an arm suddenly reached out from beside him, firmly gripping the dog's mouth. His second disciple's icy voice echoed, laced with genuine killing intent, "Want to die?"

With its mouth held captive, the wild dog felt a primal suppression and grew incredibly fearful. It let out a pitiful whine, large teardrops rolling down from its round, clear eyes.

The scene was utterly inhumane.

A few passersby stopped by, staring in shock at the group of Taoist priests. They whispered in disbelief,

"Goodness, are those Taoist priests actually killing a dog on the street?"

The Taoist priests: "..............."

Please don't talk nonsense when you have no idea what's going on.

All of them looked at the dog in confusion, "Why did you run away all of a sudden?"

The stray dog had given up struggling and helplessly collapsed in Wei Xi's hands. Only after confirming that it wouldn't dare to bite anymore did the second disciple release his grip on its long snout. The dog met his cold gaze, its ears drooping in despair, tail tightly tucked between its legs. "Didn't you come to collect me? But I really haven't done anything bad. I carry more bricks than others, eat very little, and work hard every day..."

Upon hearing this, Little Fatty couldn't help but shed sympathetic tears. These reputable righteous sects were truly terrifying, wanting to take in such a diligent little puppy.

Then, the ruthless senior disciple of Taicang Sect who had been fierce to him all day clicked his tongue and approached the wild dog, asking warmly, "Brother, where do you think you're going? You've got a clear brow and delicate features, a promising seedling. Are you interested in changing jobs and entering the entertainment industry?"

Wild Dog Spirit: "????"

Little Fatty slowly wiped away his tears, adopting a confused expression, "...............?"

The surrounding Taoist priests turned their heads away, avoiding eye contact. Don't look at us; we're from reputable righteous sects, not associated with Taicang Sect.

******

"Sit, sit, please come in, gentlemen." The stray dog spirit led the way, guiding the Taoist masters into his makeshift shelter – a temporary iron shed constructed for construction workers, thinly layered with steel sheets that made it scorching in summer and freezing in winter. On this early winter night, it felt like an ice cellar.

The dim light bulb illuminated the simple furnishings inside: a thermos, a foldable table, a foldable bed with a dusty blanket, and a few soiled clothes hanging on the wall – that was all there was.

United Benevolence empathized with the spirit's plight, recalling his own difficult days before meeting his master. He held the stray dog spirit's rugged hand and said, "Brother, you've had it tough!"

The stray dog spirit smiled bashfully, removing its helmet to reveal its tousled hair, which only accentuated its ambiguous gender. "It's not too bad now. Life has improved quite a bit; at least I have a shelter, earn money, and get food for working. I used to be a stray dog. My owner took me in for a few months but probably thought I wasn't pretty enough, so they abandoned me. Hehe, back then, I scavenged for food in trash cans and sometimes got beaten when people found me."

Hearing this, several Taoist masters couldn't resist patting its head. The stray dog spirit, likely unused to such affection, closed its eyes submissively. If it were in its original form, its tail would be wagging wildly.

"Boss," it asked, basking in the attention while being cautious, "are you really going to give me work? I have no breed, no education, and can't read or write. People say illiterates can't find jobs."

United Benevolence showed him videos of the wild boar spirit and other spirits. Eager to earn money, the wild boar spirit had already debuted with its siblings, gaining some online fame due to their striking appearance and high recognition, thanks to Qiu Guokai's promotional efforts. They had landed several gigs.

"See that?" United Benevolence said. "These are your seniors, and their backgrounds are even less impressive than yours. You, at least, have an urban registration. These few who crawled out of the mountains became popular. Join our Taicang Sect, and with hard work, anything is possible."

Watching his seniors' glamorous on-screen presence, the stray dog spirit shed tears of envy. "How wonderful! My current wage barely covers my own meals, let alone helping the stray brothers outside. The construction boss doesn't allow them to stay in the sheds. With money, I could provide them a place to live, sparing them from the harsh weather every day."

Unity Right joined in, wiping away tears as well. "A kind little angel who loves to help stray dogs – such a great persona, you'll definitely gain fans."

The Taoist priests: "...."

Though they inwardly wished to eliminate all the Spirit Cult's spies in the city, they had to restrain their disbelief and ask, "Do you have contact information for the other spirits working with the Spirit Cult?"

"Sure do!" The stray dog spirit hastily dug an outdated green-screen Nokia from his pocket and struggled to access its contacts. "Boss, do you want me to call them over?"

Moments later, a crowd of handsome men and beautiful women, all visibly nervous, appeared in the shed, turning the scene into a sea of uniforms.

The stray dog spirit began to introduce each of them one by one.

The tall, handsome man dressed in a Farm Spring water delivery uniform was an old buffalo spirit from a neighboring county. He had spent his entire life plowing fields for his owner until, due to reforestation efforts, he was scheduled to be sent to the slaughterhouse. Reluctantly, he transformed and left. With his strength, he could carry seven or eight buckets of water at once and effortlessly climb up five flights of stairs.

The young man with a domineering aura, resembling a CEO, dressed in an Ele.me delivery uniform, was a crab spirit from Yangcheng Lake. He had escaped when delivering to Xin Nan's branch and now excelled at his food delivery job, becoming quite popular among female customers who specifically requested him.

There was also a female swallow spirit who worked as a restaurant greeter and a rat spirit who served as a sanitation worker, cleaning the city's sewers, and so on.

From this, it seemed... they were indeed utilizing their innate abilities.

The last rat spirit, who had just entered, caught sight of Daoist Master Quan and immediately tried to flee, his guilty demeanor giving away his identity. Daoist Master Quan bellowed and restrained him. The rat spirit, dressed in sanitation attire, began to weep loudly, "Master, spare me! It was Zhang Sect Leader who ordered me to keep an eye on you. That's why I spied on you! I never expected you to suddenly undress. I was about to retreat, but you caught me! I truly didn't have any intention of taking advantage of you!"

Daoist Master Quan held the rat firmly, staring at its big, teary, and cunning black eyes that resembled those of a rodent. He felt increasingly ashamed and indignant, unable to bring himself to admit that he had been taken advantage of.

The other Daoist masters present couldn't help but wear expressions that suggested, "In this world of judging by appearances, isn't it actually you who benefited from being seen naked by such a handsome young man?"

Daoist Master Quan was deeply hurt. In this face-centric world, even comrades could betray you; it made no sense.

Similarly wounded was Little Fatty from the Cultivation Sect.

The sound of the Taicang Sect's recruitment horn for new employees echoed in the workshop. He was led out, dazed and handcuffed, by the equally lost Daoist Quan, to sit beside him at the entrance of the construction site, gazing at the bright stars above their heads.

Tears rolled down the corners of Little Fatty's eyes, hot and relentless.

Master, Senior Brothers, not only are our abilities lacking, but even the positions we broker seem less sophisticated than others!

The business world is akin to a battlefield; without competitiveness, one has no voice. Do you realize that our employees are being relentlessly poached by our rivals?

As an esteemed translator of both Chinese and English novels, specializing in the realm of danmei fantasy, I undertake the task of translating a passage filled with the enchanting elements characteristic of this genre. Please find below the elegant and faithful rendering of the text you've entrusted me with:

That night, when Wei Xi and the others were about to leave with the stray dog demon, they were stopped by the construction site foreman. The foreman had always bossed the demon around, but now he refused to let it go: "On what grounds do you take him away? I've paid the fees to the Xiu Sheng Sect, we agreed that he would work for me on five construction sites!"

Feeling ashamed under the accusing gaze of Unity Righteousness, who seemed to be implying, "How can your sect be so awful, exploiting labor like that?", Little Fatty lowered his head: "My master needs to buy a house..."

Of course, the immoral act of trafficking labor must be firmly suppressed. When the foreman refused to let them go, the Daoists present promptly dialed 110.

The sirens attracted not only the local Daoist Association from Xin Nan but also Daoist friends from other sects. Upon arriving at the scene, they saw an overwhelming demonic aura and initially thought that their fellow Daoists from the capital had been entangled by a monster. They were about to rush forward in shock to rescue them.

Halfway there, however, they heard Unity Righteousness, the tall disciple from Taicang Sect, pointing at the construction boss and complaining to the police: "Officer! It's these people who want to illegally restrict our employee's personal freedom!"

He then protectively put his arm around an indeterminate gender little demon, patting its shoulder comfortingly: "Dog Egg! Don't be afraid! Our master and the masters here will protect you!"

The little demon was dressed in tattered clothes, holding a dusty hard hat in its hand. It obediently lowered its head, staring at its worn-out Liberation shoes, its eyes moist as it softly acknowledged with a nod. Its entire demeanor screamed "well-behaved".

In contrast, the human foreman was arrested by the police, howling and wailing about how much money he had spent buying the boy from the Xiu Sheng Sect over the years.

Upon hearing this, the police were shocked – they actually trafficked humans? Initially, they intended to mediate and resolve the issue, but now they cuffed the man and threw him into the car. This was a major case.

The Xin Nan Daoists fell silent for a moment before sending Daoist Nian to inquire. With a stunned look, Daoist Nian stared at the little demon nestled in the arms of the Taicang Sect disciple and the other demons in their various odd uniforms, hesitantly asking: "Fellow Daoists, are they..."

The Daoist masters from the Capital Daoist Association exchanged glances, unsure how to explain themselves. They could only vaguely respond, "…Nothing much, we just rescued a group of naive young monsters who had fallen victim to pyramid schemes and shady brokers."

Unity Righteousness also added, "Don't worry, we'll provide them with suitable and decent jobs."

Daoists from Xin Nan: "????"

Are these fellow daoists from the capital a bit abnormal? ! What exactly are they here for? !