When he saw a bearded Daoist in the same robe walk past him, David Thompson's eyes lit up and he hurried after him. “Senior brother, senior brother!”

The bearded Daoist turned his head and saw it was David Thompson speaking, his attitude neither warm nor cold. “Junior brother Brian Thompson, what is it?”

David Thompson imitated their way of speaking and replied, “I have just become Master’s disciple, senior brother. Please enlighten me—what should I do next?”

“Don’t blame me for being blunt. Although you were personally accepted by Master, you’re the newest here. For now, you can only run errands inside Qingfeng Temple.”

“If you want Master to teach you the immortal arts, that’s a privilege reserved for the inner disciples. You’re not qualified yet. For now, just come with me and wait outside the pill room.”

“Become immortal...?” David Thompson muttered to himself. He had never heard of any immortal who achieved immortality by refining people into pills.

“Can Master really become immortal?”

A trace of pride appeared on the bearded Daoist’s face. “Of course. Master is a man of great powers. Just serve him well.”

From this senior brother called Brandon Thompson, David Thompson also learned about the personnel structure of the entire cave Daoist hall: there were five registered disciples, one personal disciple, and the abbot, Daniel Thompson.

Besides these people, the rest were peripheral staff—cooks, medicine gatherers in the storeroom, errand-running Daoist children, and so on. Altogether, there were about eighty to a hundred people.

This was David Thompson’s first time gaining a new understanding of the whole Daoist hall. The number of people was quite small, even rather shabby, especially after a large group had died not long ago.

During their conversation, that oppressive pill furnace appeared before David Thompson again, wisps of white smoke drifting from within, as if something was being refined.

This time, besides Daniel Thompson, there was also his inner disciple—a young man with a gloomy expression.

After waiting with Brandon Thompson for a while, David Thompson received his task: take the ingredient list to the storeroom and check the supplies, just like what Brian Thompson used to do.

When David Thompson, holding the white powder, arrived at the storeroom, everyone working there looked over, their nervous gazes tinged with fear.

The albino girl pursed her lips and took two urgent steps forward, but in the end, she said nothing and slowly retreated in fear.

His status had shifted from oppressed to oppressor.

Looking at them, David Thompson’s thoughts began to turn. His position had changed, so maybe he could get some benefit from it.

“So, do any of you have money?” As soon as he said this, everyone was stunned. “Money, don’t you understand? Silver, gold, or jade pendants will do.”

To be honest, David Thompson really needed money right now. He still didn’t know how much compensation Old Liu’s family would demand. His own family was just ordinary—if the compensation was high, his mom might have to sell the house. He desperately needed it.

“You can’t spend it here anyway, so just give it all to me. Consider it protection money. From now on, I’ll look after you.”

He was so blunt that everyone understood. The people in the storeroom began to search themselves. They didn’t expect David Thompson to protect them; they just hoped that after handing things over, he wouldn’t bully them.

Half a thumb-sized piece of blackened silver, a copper hairpin, forty-some copper coins with square holes—this was all he got.

Looking at these things, David Thompson sighed. It seemed he’d miscalculated. These guys didn’t have any money left. The value of these things probably wasn’t even as much as what was on his health insurance card.

Chapter 8 Turning the Page

Just as David Thompson turned to leave, he saw the albino girl shyly slip off a shoe and remove a gold anklet tied with red string from her almost translucent white ankle.

Eyes wide, David Thompson took it and weighed the gold anklet in his palm. Though it was a bit thin, it was still gold and probably worth quite a bit.

Satisfied, he stuffed these things into the wide sleeve of his Daoist robe, then pointed at the white-haired girl and said, “Listen up, from now on she’s in charge of the storeroom. Do whatever she says.”

Seeing everyone nod hesitantly, David Thompson picked up the prepared pill ingredients and hurried to the pill room.

As he walked, he kept sneaking glances at the others’ waists, hoping to spot another jade pendant. Unfortunately, he was disappointed—he didn’t find any.

When David Thompson returned to the pill room, he saw the oppressive pill furnace slowly opening.

A few dark blue pills, with a wave of Daniel Thompson’s wide sleeve, quickly lined up and entered the earth-yellow gourd at his waist.

Watching this, David Thompson was filled with envy. This must be the magical power Brandon Thompson had mentioned. He wondered if he could find a way to learn it. “I’ve been thinking too small about making money. If I could bring this ability back to the real world, then—”

David Thompson bent down to put down the pill ingredients, then prepared to stand aside, focusing on his breath and mind. He still didn’t know much, so it was best to watch and listen more.

“Brian Thompson~”

“Another errand? So soon? Am I really just an errand boy now? I can’t keep running errands forever—I need to figure out a way to get this leper to teach me his magic.”

David Thompson clasped his hands and bowed to the calling Daniel Thompson. “Master, what are your instructions?”