Chapter Ten: Li Wei's Hunger

“Senior Brother Wu Ming, where exactly has my master gone? And how did you become the sect leader?” Director Baolong asked, repeating the question tirelessly.

“Master said he’s gone to wander the world. Senior Brother Wu Ming’s mastery of the Dao is profound, and he truly inherited Master’s teachings. So he’s succeeded the position of sect leader of our Unity Dao Sect!” The young Taoist who had originally led Wu Ming and the others here answered on Wu Ming’s behalf.

It turned out that the leader of the Unity Dao Sect was none other than Elder Qingfeng, who served as the Spirit Realm’s representative in the human world. Each term lasted three hundred years. After finding Wu Ming as a suitable successor and taking him to the Spirit Realm for the formal handover, Elder Qingfeng never wished to return and simply left Wu Ming as the sect leader.

In short, this human agent’s job was to deal with supernatural beings or organizations that, due to special circumstances, remained in the human world, or had managed to bypass the World Tree and sneak into the world through other means.

Wu Ming was far from pleased about this arrangement, but he was deeply enticed when the old Taoist mentioned that all the assets of the Unity Dao Sect—worth over a hundred million—would belong to the sect leader. Without hesitation, he signed the transfer of assets, but there was a catch: he had to serve as the sect leader for ten years, or he wouldn’t see a single cent. In other words, apart from living in this grand villa and commanding a bunch of clueless junior disciples, nothing else changed—Wu Ming was still that penniless loser. He immediately felt like he’d boarded a pirate ship, and even considered quitting on the spot, but the penalty for breach of contract was a hundred million dollars. At that, he could only grit his teeth and take up the post, nearly in tears.

It was a complete trap—not only was there no money, he also had to figure out how to earn a living!

The only three things worth being happy about were: first, having a lovely little junior sister; second, having a seductive and alluring senior sister; and third, becoming the senior brother and sect leader over Director Baolong.

“Baolong, have some tea first. As cultivators, we must have patience. Tong’er, serve the tea!” Wu Ming said, putting on airs.

“Wu, my dear sect leader, I do have a name, you know. My surname is Wang, full name Wang Anquan, not ‘Tong’er’ or whatever. This isn’t feudal times—if you want tea, brew it yourself, or pay me the salary you owe for the past few months first.” Wang Anquan, the young Taoist, rolled his eyes, patted his backside, and left.

Fortunately, the Unity Dao Sect was well-known, and it wasn’t long before they had a source of income.

Their client was named Li Wei, a young man of twenty. His problem was an insatiable hunger—he had to eat ten times a day, each meal consisting of over a dozen bowls of rice. The hunger had become more frequent lately, to the point where he felt he could eat an elephant. At first, he thought something was wrong with his body, but every major hospital gave him a clean bill of health. He even tried various folk remedies and saw renowned doctors, but all to no avail.

With modern medicine failing him, Li Wei tried all sorts of superstitious rituals—spirit mediums, exorcisms, talismans—but nothing worked. Hiring the Unity Dao Sect was a last-ditch effort, a case of clutching at straws; he’d already scheduled a partial gastrectomy at the end of the month, and if this couldn’t be resolved, he’d have to go through with the surgery. The hunger was simply unbearable.

The next morning, before six, Li Wei arrived early at the Unity Temple where Wu Ming resided. Wang Anquan led him into the Hall of Virtue. As Li Wei entered, Wang Anquan whispered to Wu Ming, “Big Chief Wu, this one’s a fat fish. My salary depends on you. I saw him drive up in a Ferrari, with a Lamborghini following, and a private chauffeur. If he’s not a rich second generation, he must be the son of an official!”

“No kidding! Didn’t you see the bodyguard behind him carrying a huge bag of food? He’s been eating cakes—Haagen-Dazs, no less—and has already eaten dozens. Look at his belly—if he keeps eating like this, he’s doomed,” Wu Ming whispered back.

“May I ask if you are the sect leader of the Unity Dao Sect? It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Li Wei extended his hand to Wang Anquan and shook it warmly, even hugging him as if they were old friends.

Since Wang Anquan was in full Taoist garb and Wu Ming dressed like a complete nobody, it was understandable for Li Wei to mistake the former for the sect leader. Wu Ming didn’t have any remarkable aura either—he could disappear in a crowd.

“Ahem!” Wu Ming cleared his throat deliberately.

“Mr. Li, sorry for the confusion. I’m not the sect leader—I’m Wang Anquan, a humble Taoist. This is our 250th sect leader, Grandmaster Wu Ming.” Wang Anquan gestured toward Wu Ming.

“Grandmaster, my sincerest apologies. I failed to recognize a great man—please forgive me!” Li Wei hurried over to shake Wu Ming’s hand.

“No need for formality, Brother Li. Please, have a seat! Wang Anquan, go find Elder Chen Zijun and bring him here.” Wu Ming waved his hand.

After a series of diagnoses by Elder Chen Zijun, it was confirmed that Li Wei had no illness, was not possessed by a hungry ghost, and no evil spirits were at play. Only two possibilities remained: a psychological disorder, or a neurological problem. In other words, either Li Wei’s mind was making him feel hungry, or his body had developed a habit of hunger. According to Li Wei, he hadn’t always been like this, so something unknown was causing him to feel hungry all the time. Solving this wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t impossible either; if they could make Li Wei stop feeling hungry, that would do the trick. Surgery wasn’t entirely wrong—just extreme.

“About your problem…” Wu Ming said, pondering.

“So? Can you help me?” Li Wei asked hopefully.

“There’s a solution, but it’s a bit troublesome.” Wu Ming hesitated. He had a method, but it involved retrieving something from a certain place, which was not easy—and it was tied to a secret he’d only recently learned himself.

“Is there some difficulty, Master Wu?” Li Wei seemed to see hope.

“Is it about the money?” Wang Anquan asked greedily, rubbing his fingers together.

“Master, please accept this deposit. If you can cure me, I’ll pay ten times this amount.” Li Wei took a bundle of cash from his bodyguard—several tens of thousands at a glance.

Wang Anquan, greedy as ever, snatched it up in a flash. Wu Ming barely saw his hands move before the money vanished from the table. He could only roll his eyes helplessly.

“Very well,” Wu Ming said, swallowing his pride. “Brother Li, your problem requires a certain elixir from our sect, but we’re missing a key ingredient. Come back in a week, and we guarantee you’ll be cured!”

“No problem! I’ll contact the hospital and postpone my surgery for a week. I hope you keep your word. See you in a week, Mr. Wu.” With that, Li Wei and his bodyguards left the hall, his attitude shifting noticeably—disappointment and a hint of threat in his tone.

Wu Ming could only sigh—after all, he was unknown, lacked the air of a true immortal, and the first thing he did was ask for money. Anyone would think he was a fraud. Li Wei was at least polite enough not to lose his temper on the spot.

“You took the money awfully quick, didn’t even ask if we could actually do it. Do you know where to get the Zhubu herb?” Wu Ming said with a hint of reproach.

“You mean the Zhubu herb recorded in the Spiritual Realm’s Classic of Mountains and Seas, in the first mountain range of the Southern Mountains, on Mount Zhaoyao?” Wang Anquan, though young, had a sharp memory for these things.

“That’s right, Zhubu grows only on Mount Zhaoyao. It looks like wild mountain garlic, but its flowers are black. Whoever eats it will never feel hungry again—it’s perfect for Li Wei’s ailment. But getting it from Zhaoyao is incredibly dangerous!” Wu Ming recalled his last near-death experience there with Elder Qingfeng, facing all manner of terrifying monsters and demons.

“Oh, I see!” Wang Anquan scratched his head, thinking a moment. “In that case, we undercharged Li Wei. When we bring back the Zhubu, I’m definitely raising the price!”

Wu Ming was speechless—this kid would risk his life for money.

“Well, there’s no other way. You’ve already agreed. We’ll set out for the Spirit Realm first thing tomorrow. You arrange the rest of the team!” Wu Ming waved his hand and went off to play some video games—at least that would help ease his nerves before the coming ordeal.

“No problem! If it weren’t for me, I don’t know what would become of this sect with you as a hands-off leader…” Wang Anquan muttered as he went off to make arrangements.