Chapter 20

In the world of Yuanheng, it seems that storytellers are also a specialized profession, especially those in formal storytelling teahouses, who mostly wear the same uniform.

They seem to know everything, and it's unknown through what channels they can obtain information at such a rapid pace, even about events happening thousands of miles away.

In the entire Xuanping Continent where the Great Jin Dynasty is located, it seems that nothing can escape their notice, even major events happening in other continents. These storytellers seem to know about them, though there's no way to verify the truth.

The world of Yuanheng is vast, with numerous large and small continents. Between these continents, there are often vast distances that ordinary humans find difficult to cross, such as boundless oceans, endless deserts, or forbidden zones like the Ten Thousand Demon Ridges.

Even cultivators cannot easily cross from one continent to another, and they might encounter something on the way, leading to their demise in these rarely visited places.

It is said that in the ancient times of ten thousand years ago, there were immortal sects outside the world that created teleportation arrays in different continents to facilitate their travel between continents, but this only exists in legends.

Therefore, some people speculate that behind these storytellers, there are special sects that have unique methods to transmit information over long distances. Some even guess that they control some ancient teleportation arrays, allowing them to travel between different continents.

The process of storytelling is also their cultivation process, as they gain insights into the myriad aspects of life through storytelling.

There are also speculations that these storytellers secretly record all kinds of events from all over the world, and storytelling is just a cover for their true profession, which is trading information.

If you want to obtain some special intelligence, you can privately go to the teahouse where these storytellers are and buy it from the owner; generally, you can get it.

The Tian Tang Pavilion in Tongshan County is such a storytelling teahouse, and it naturally becomes the most bustling place in Tongshan County.

The storyteller at Tian Tang Pavilion, nicknamed Li Tiejie, is said to look very unsightly, but his storytelling skills are quite impressive.

With the special intonation of storytellers, he can make each story segment vivid and lifelike, as if a movie is playing in your eyes.

Li Tiejie tells two sessions of stories every day at Tian Tang Pavilion, while his apprentices tell short segments during other times. However, whenever Li Tiejie tells a story, the teahouse is almost always packed.

After all, in this era, there are few forms of entertainment, and with such captivating stories to listen to, there will naturally be no shortage of audiences.

On this afternoon, around one o'clock, Li Tiejie, as usual, took the stage at Tian Tang Pavilion.

This Li Tiejie wears a special storyteller's uniform, a peculiar purple-red yin-yang robe, with a tall, golden paper crown on his head and a large yin-yang fan with a Taiji symbol in his hand.

Li Tiejie is about fifty years old, slender, with a goatee, and an ordinary face that looks very unsightly. When he opens his mouth, his iron-black teeth, which have a faint luster, are revealed.

His face is also painted with rouge and powder, like that of the gentry, but his originally unsightly appearance, combined with this, makes him look like a clown ready to perform on stage.

As soon as Li Tiejie walked out from the teahouse's back courtyard, the surrounding tea guests burst into laughter, and many regulars loudly shouted "Boom! Boom!" at him.

However, Li Tiejie showed no awareness of being mocked, walking with the gait of the gentry, casually reaching the center of the teahouse's storytelling platform.

In fact, he was just pretending to be a gentry, deliberately using this ridiculous appearance to win the favor of the commoner adventurers who have a rebellious attitude towards the gentry.

The gentry of the Great Jin Dynasty look down on the commoners, and the commoners also dislike the arrogance of the gentry. Unfortunately, the gentry are born with good fortune, and the commoners have no way to resist, so they can only find some psychological balance like this.

Li Tiejie grasped this psychology and deliberately dressed in this way to attract the ridicule of the tea guests, which paradoxically makes them more likely to come back to listen to his stories. Even if the stories are average, being able to vent and shout a few curses is also enjoyable.

Upon reaching his storytelling position, Li Tiejie first placed the large yin-yang fan on the bookstand beside him, then bowed to the audience, his goatee trembling slightly, his unsightly face wearing a strange smile, and he said the usual thanks.

"I greet all my benefactors, thank you for your support, which allows me to earn a living! Thank you, thank you!"

Then, Li Tiejie specifically bowed to a private room on the second floor to the left of Tian Tang Pavilion.

This is also an industry custom, meaning that today's story segment is specially requested by someone who paid extra, so he needs to thank and flatter the requester.

"Today, I am particularly honored, as our young master of Tongshan County has specially requested a segment from me. I bow to the young master here! Everyone knows that the young master's reputation in Tongshan County is even greater than mine, Li Tiejie. They say that those who survive great calamities are destined for great fortune. I wish the young master to turn misfortune into good luck, and may he have a bright future, building his foundation through martial arts and transcending the ordinary!"

It seems that Li Tiejie already knows about Zhu Lingwu's situation, even that he is cultivating internal martial arts and preparing to build his foundation through martial arts.

Perhaps Li Tiejie also knows why the previous owner of Zhu Lingwu's body was deceived by adventurers in Tongshan County and went out to be struck by lightning.

However, one thing Li Tiejie said is true: Zhu Lingwu's reputation in Tongshan County is indeed significant. When that eight-year-old child ran out of the county office, excitedly chasing the thunderstorm, and performed a self-inflicted lightning strike on the square in front of the city god temple, many people in Tongshan County witnessed it.

He was struck and turned into a charred form, which many ordinary people and adventurers in Tongshan County saw with their own eyes, and they were sure he was dead.

However, the county office did not show any signs of mourning, and soon it was rumored that the young master, who was struck by lightning and turned into a charred form, was brought back to life by an immortal master.

Some people even vividly described how they saw the immortal master riding on a cloud from the east, descending into the county office, and then the county office was filled with colorful immortal light.

Of course, this is all exaggerated nonsense, but in the eyes of these commoners, cultivators are indeed like legendary figures, so seeing a cultivator is considered a stroke of luck and can bring good fortune.

Thus, Zhu Lingwu became famous in Tongshan County...