stjorthotic Chapter 1: In North America, I Became a Taoist Priest
Chapter 1: In North America, I Became a Taoist Priest
"Kid, I have a path in another world. It's risky, but the profits are huge. Fortune favors the bold. Do you dare to go?"
Li Xuan recalled an old beggar he had met before he transmigrated, from whom he had spent ten yuan to buy a book.
I Became a Taoist Priest in Another World
I thought I was doing a good deed while also buying a novel.
When he got home, he opened the book and then lost consciousness.
When he regained consciousness, he was already in this world.
Li Xuan has been in this world for three days now, and he has figured out what kind of world this is.
It's not much different from the world he was in before he transmigrated, except that the place he's in now is a little different.
He was in North America, in Los Angeles' Chinatown.
"Didn't that old man promise high profits?! I've been here for three days and haven't gotten a single thing!"
Just as Li Xuan was having doubts, a voice suddenly rang in his mind.
[Ding, the settlement system has been linked.]
[Settlement system: No tasks required; settlement is based on the host's daily activities.]
"A settlement system? Settlement based on what is done?"
"What happens when I take a dump? What do I get in return? A dung beetle or some kind of fertilizer?"
Li Xuan was overjoyed at first, but then he started to complain.
This broken system won't even explain the specifics; it just says daily settlement.
What exactly are the tasks that qualify for payment?
Grass!
Never mind, I haven't paid my respects to the patriarch yet.
Li Xuan quickly got out of bed, washed up, and tidied himself up before going to the altar. There, enshrined, was none other than the spirit tablet of Shangqing Lingbao Tianzun.
He lit three incense sticks, respectfully kowtowed three times, and murmured, "Good morning, Ancestral Master! Please bless your grand-disciple with great wealth and endless blessings!"
He knew nothing about Taoist etiquette.
All he knew was that he was a Taoist priest.
What kind of Taoist magic? I don't know any of it!
What rules? I don't know a thing!
The reason he was willing to kowtow obediently was because he had truly traveled through time, and he believed in the existence of ghosts and gods no matter who came before him.
Therefore, he would greet the patriarch every day.
It's called a greeting, but it's actually a way of making a wish.
After paying his respects, Li Xuan planned to go out and buy two steamed buns to tide him over.
"I still need to find a job; being a Taoist priest doesn't earn me much money..."
As Li Xuan left, he muttered to himself.
He only has a little over three thousand US dollars left.
It seems like a lot, but in reality, after paying rent and daily living expenses, it won't last long.
Most importantly, he currently lacks a stable source of income, which makes him, as a Chinese citizen, feel very insecure.
"How about writing an online novel?"
"No way, writing novels is no better than being a Taoist priest! If I really relied on those two things, I'd starve to death!"
As Li Xuan approached the elevator and pressed the down button, his mind wandered.
The system does exist, but we don't know what it will be used for yet; we still need to figure it out.
We can't wait until the last minute to come up with a solution.
Hey~
The elevator doors opened, and inside, a middle-aged woman was holding a child, looking anxious.
Seeing that it was none other than Li Xuan standing at the elevator door, Aunt Wang said happily, "Master Li, I was just looking for you!"
"Aunt Wang, what's the matter?" Seeing that a guest had arrived, Li Xuan didn't even care that he hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and quickly turned around and walked towards his rented house.
Aunt Wang followed behind, anxiously saying, "Oh dear, please help me check on the child. What's wrong with him? He's been unconscious since he woke up this morning. I've tried everything—scolding him, shaking him, everything."
"Okay, don't rush."
Li Xuan first took out his phone from his pocket and glanced at the time.
September, Tuesday, 7:52 AM.
Then, she took the child from Aunt Wang's arms and secretly twisted the child's waist as she turned around.
The child's eyelids twitched slightly, but he quickly suppressed it.
Sure enough, he was just pretending to be asleep; no wonder he couldn't be woken up.
It's probably because they just celebrated Labor Day, played for three days, and didn't want to go to school, so they just left it here.
"Master Li, could it be that something unclean has done this to us..." Aunt Wang said with a worried expression.
Li Xuan suppressed a laugh, laid the child flat on the table, and said to Aunt Wang, "You go out first, I need to borrow some magic from the patriarch."
As he spoke, he picked up a Taoist robe hanging to the side, put it on, and looked quite respectable.
Aunt Wang, deeply concerned for her son, nodded repeatedly and walked outside.
After the door was closed.
Li Xuan approached the child and said, "Zhang Xiao, you little rascal, you're asking for trouble! You even dared to lie to your grandma?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiao remained motionless, his eyes tightly closed.
Seeing that he still didn't move, Li Xuan smiled and said softly, "I know you're pretending to be asleep and don't want to go to school. As for your grandma, she's just worried sick."
But think about it carefully, if I can't wake you up here, what do you think she will do?
She will take you to see a doctor, and when the doctor examines you, he will know that you are lying to your grandma.
And when your grandmother spends thousands of dollars more because you faked being sick, guess how she'll treat you?
I guarantee you'll get a good spanking, and you'll have to go to class obediently!
"But I have a way to help you without getting beaten up. Do you want to hear it?"
"Brother Li, I don't want a spanking! I don't want to go to school! Please don't tell Grandma!"
Zhang Xiao jumped up immediately, covering his buttocks. Perhaps Li Xuan's words were too realistic; he had already seen that scene.
"Okay, but only for today. Tomorrow you have to behave yourself and go to school properly, or I'll tell your grandma you lied to her all day." Li Xuan smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Really?" Zhang Xiao asked, half believing it.
Li Xuan stretched out his hand and said, "Let's pinky swear."
"Pinky promise, a hundred years from now."
Zhang Xiao happily reached out his hand and made a pinky promise with Li Xuan.
"Brother Li, what should we do next?" Zhang Xiao looked up and asked.
"It's simple. Just lie down now. I'll have your grandma give you a bowl of talisman water to drink. After you drink a couple of sips, you can get up."
"good!"
Zhang Xiao nodded and quickly lay down.
After Li Xuan finished preparing the things, he opened the door and gestured for Aunt Wang to come in.
After Aunt Wang came in, Li Xuan pretended to mutter some words that he himself couldn't understand, and then picked up the peach wood sword and slapped it on the talisman.
The talisman actually stuck to it and didn't fall to the ground.
"Go!"
Boom~
As Li Xuan finished speaking, the talisman actually spontaneously combusted out of thin air.
Seeing this, Aunt Wang thought to herself, "Wow, that's amazing! He truly is a Taoist master."
Next, Li Xuan threw the talisman into the bowl, and after it burned, he poured water into it.
"Alright, you'll wake up after drinking it."
Aunt Wang took the talisman water and fed it to Zhang Xiao.
After taking two sips, Zhang Xiao woke up coughing.
"The child is alright, you can go back now," Li Xuan said with a smile.
Zhang Xiao was overjoyed upon hearing this, and quickly broke free from Aunt Wang's embrace, running outside.
When he reached the door, he turned around and gave Li Xuan a sweet smile.
Li Xuan smiled and nodded, everything was understood without words.
What he couldn't see was that when Zhang Xiao turned around after laughing, a sinister smile appeared on his lips that shouldn't belong to a child.
His pupils also turned eerily black, and the whites of his eyes disappeared.
This scene was fleeting, and Zhang Xiao ran home excitedly.