I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

The young master looked at Old John, and Old John looked at the young master. Both felt that something was off, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what it was.

Scratching his head, the young master added, "Don't go spreading this around!"

The young master was afraid that his blunder would be discovered by his mentor.

Old John said, "Oh, my dear master! How would I dare to spread it around? Even if I did, who would believe me?

If I told others, they'd think I was crazy, which would be the best-case scenario! If someone did believe me and forced me to take them to see it, I'd be asking for trouble! I know the saying 'trouble comes from the mouth,' even if you hadn't told me to keep it a secret, I'd have to keep my mouth shut for the sake of my family."

Old John was a clever man. He knew that if this matter got out, this young master wouldn't need to cause him trouble; he'd be ruined by the trouble he brought upon himself.

Honestly, Old John had been a very excellent guide and assistant during today's adventure.

The young master rewarded him with a gold dragon.

He only gave one gold dragon not because he was stingy, but because he knew the value of the gold coin.

This single gold coin was enough to pay for the guiding fee.

Besides, he had a little plan in mind. He wanted Old John to deliver vegetables to him. If he gave too much money at once, Old John might move away. Then who would deliver food to him?

Many commoners never see a gold coin in their entire lives. They can count the number of times they've touched a silver coin on both hands.

Many villagers in the countryside have barely even used large copper coins; they mostly barter.

Old John was in his fifties and had run a small grocery store, and he had even exorcised demons for minor nobles, making him a fairly respectable man.

But he had only seen gold coins a few times.

Once, he saved the life of a nobleman, who gave him a gold coin. He still has it buried at home, hidden away.

Honestly, a gold coin is only worth twenty-odd silver coins, but you can't exchange twenty-odd silver coins for a gold one. There are too few of them circulating in the market.

Old John knew that the young master was giving him a good cow. A cow that could turn a poor farmer in the village into a rich one.

But when he saw the young master take out the gold coin, he didn't look happy.

He hesitated for a long time and cautiously asked, "Master, that silver deer I have, it's real, right?"

Today, the young master lost so many silver coins in the church, probably close to ten thousand. Old John thought they were all fake money, an illusion.

The young master secretly rolled his eyes and said, "Don't worry, what I gave you is real—didn't you see what happened in the church? Fake money disappears soon after leaving my hand. If yours was fake, it would have vanished already."

Of course, he was哄 老约翰, he lost real money. But if he said it was real money, Old John might not believe him.

Immediately, Old John happily accepted the gold coin, bit it with his big yellow teeth, and was overjoyed: "Master, you're so generous!"

The young master patted Old John's shoulder and said, "I'll be staying here for a while. You're familiar with this road, can you come a few times a month to bring me food?"

Old John's face turned pale with fright, and he quickly waved his hands, saying, "Master, please spare me. There's a very prosperous town about thirty kilometers away. With your divine power, you could be there in the blink of an eye."

Before he could finish speaking, the young master held up a finger: "Each month, I'll give you a gold coin this big—just for travel expenses."

Old John straightened up.

This road was dangerous; he had planned never to come again.

He wouldn't come for any amount of silver deer!

But the master was offering too much!

This master had such powerful methods; those evil things couldn't escape the town. Others might not dare to come, but he dared!

Old John said, "Master, rest assured! I'm the fastest and best on this road. I'm in the grocery business; I guarantee to deliver fresh vegetables, fresh meat, and good wine to you on time."

The young master nodded and said, "I'm not asking you to deliver these things for free; I'll buy them from you. Also, if there's freshly baked bread, I'll reward you!"

Old John beamed. Just the money from selling goods would be enough for him to make a few trips here each month. It was indeed inconvenient for the young master to guard the seal here alone and buy things. Old John decided to come more often each month.

Speaking of which, the young master was now a typical nouveau riche. After getting eight thousand gold and eighty thousand silver from Alfonso, he started scattering money everywhere.

He had scattered a lot of money on the way to Straw Town, scattering it generously.

Of course, even added together, it wasn't as much as he scattered today. But even now, he had only used up one-tenth of the total value.

Old John asked, "Master, are you really the lord of this place?"

The young master looked towards the faint lights of the town in the distance and sighed, "Yes, I originally wanted to recruit some villagers. But now, I can only manage the dead here."

Old John gave a thumbs up and said, "Master, you are a true wizard, you are truly amazing. May I be so bold as to ask your honorable surname?"

That young master was a noble; if he didn't offer his name, Old John wouldn't dare to ask.

The young master hadn't mentioned his name or surname all the way!

Old John naturally didn't know it.

The young master certainly knew that he had never mentioned his name to Old John.

So he smiled and said, "My name is... My name is..."

Slapping his forehead, the young master finally remembered his name: "My name is Young Master."

Old John suddenly understood. He said, "Master, Master, your name is really strange."

Wait!

The two suddenly looked at each other, their faces turning pale.

With a slap, the young master hit himself. He beat his chest and stamped his feet, saying, "It's bad! It's bad!

We were so busy running, we forgot our names in the church!"

He suddenly looked at Old John and asked, "Old John, are you called Old John? Or did I give you that name later?"

Old John felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer, his body swayed, his face turned pale, and he took two steps back unconsciously.

He stood there for a long time, trying to remember if he was indeed called John.

He frantically ran to the carriage and rummaged through things. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

"Luckily, I can read. Master, don't scare me like that! My name is John, I haven't lost my name! If I lost my name, the name you wrote would disappear from the book!"

The young master then remembered that there was such a thing.

A name represents identity! It symbolizes 'presence'.

Once it disappears, that person leaves no trace.

His body suddenly swayed, and after rummaging through things for a long time, he found that not only were his various signatures gone, but even many of the strange objects imprinted with his spiritual mark could no longer be used! The few special strange objects that could be used were very difficult to use.

"It's over! ~ It's over!"

"What's going on!"

"Why is it like this again? You haven't lost your name, but I have!"

"Why did I win the lottery again?!"

The young master beat his chest and stamped his feet.

Given the current state of the Straw Church, and the fact that he didn't even have a strange object to protect himself, going there would be much more difficult!

But he had to go!

Old John hurriedly grabbed the master: "Master, don't be anxious, I think we need to discuss this carefully—I saw you always talking to that mirror before, did you put your name in that mirror?"

With a bang, the young master felt like he had been struck by lightning.

That mirror was crawling out straw like crazy!

Going to look in the mirror would be courting death!

If he really lost his name in the mirror, then what was the point of going?

Old John continued with a pale face: "Master, I know you have great powers, but you still shouldn't go. Generally, when people lose their names, they disappear, but it seems like nothing's happening to you..."

The young master waved his hand and said, "It's not that logic. 'Losing a name' is different from 'suffering'. What disappears is 'identity and presence', not the 'line of fate'. Those people you think are gone are actually still alive and well, but you just ignore them.

You go first, I need to quickly look through some books and think of some solutions."

With that, the young master walked towards the dilapidated tower that leaked air everywhere. Old John shouted from behind: "Master, I'll bring you food tomorrow!"

The young master waved his hand and entered the dilapidated tower.

A drizzle slowly began to fall from the sky, and in the vast plain, the abandoned tower stood alone like a lighthouse at sea.

Through the collapsed gaps in the walls of the high tower, one could see a person slowly climbing the stone steps.

The stone steps underfoot were square stones extending from the walls, spiraling upwards along the inner walls of the tower. Several steps ahead had already broken off. He leaped forward and jumped onto the steps above to continue walking.

Looking down, the interior of the tower was hollow, like the inside of a large chimney. On the walls below, one could see several three-meter-wide circular platforms. The platforms were made of wood and were almost rotten.

Looking further down, one could see a lot of construction waste.

Looking up, one could see a stone roof, with a square wooden board on the stone ceiling.

He walked along the stairs to the stone roof, reached out and pushed open the wooden board above his head, and arrived at the top floor.

This place was habitable, about a hundred square meters in size.

The pointed dome and walls of the high tower had collapsed a lot, with rubble and debris everywhere.

The drizzle fell pattering down from the gaps in the walls and dome, and half of the room was raining.

Rainwater cascaded over the clutter, forming small streams that flowed towards the collapsed wall, tumbling down like miniature waterfalls to the outside of the tower.

"Not bad, not bad at all!" he chuckled, standing in a breach and watching the downpour outside, "Half of this room can keep me dry!"

And look at all this junk! It's all good stuff!

Lots of astronomical equipment! If repaired, it could be used to observe the heavens and make predictions.

The walls were lined with dilapidated bookshelves, and the room contained a fair amount of broken furniture.

"These rotten bookshelves and furniture are all made of excellent wood. Even though they're falling apart, they can be restored to their original state with a little work!

Besides, the previous owner of this place already took care of the interior design for me! I don't have to waste any effort on the layout."

He was very satisfied.

He took out the Book of the Dead and summoned seven ghost nuns, intending to have them help him clean up the tower.

But as soon as he summoned them, he regretted it.

Having lost his name, the Book of the Dead no longer had any binding power over the ghostly servants!

Therefore, he couldn't control them!

Sure enough, after the ghost nuns appeared, they all looked at him with unfamiliar gazes. Although they seemed wary, they didn't attack him, and there was a hint of fear in their eyes.

From the nuns' expressions, he understood their thoughts—Who is this person? How does he have the master's book? Is he a kidnapper or a robber?

He sternly commanded the nuns in ancient Baron's language, and after a half-second of resistance, they reluctantly began to work.

They looked like a group of maids who had been forcibly taken and had no choice but to obey the master!

The nuns' obedience surprised him.

On a whim, he took out the Book of Aleih and decided to check his current status. He flipped to the following historical record.

【Hela Ka's Favor +667】

【Straw Palace. Yama King Title + 1】

【Peerage Rank: Prince】

His eyes widened when he saw this.

"Hela Ka actually gave me a peerage?!"

"But, does this world have a Yama King position?"

After thinking about it, he guessed what was going on.

When he was bragging to the straw men in the main hall, he said he was the Yama King.

Hela Ka heard him and created a peerage called 'Yama King' and bestowed it upon him!

"Hahahaha!"

"Hela Ka understands!"

"It's actually a Prince?!"

"I'm amazing!"

Flipping to the next page, he was pleasantly surprised to find more information.

【Fief Location: 'Nether River. Kaoshan Village Tributary'】

【Total Area: Two Mu (approximately 0.33 acres).】

A look of ecstasy appeared on his face: "There's even a fief! I'm really taking off now!"

"Wait a minute!"

"Kaoshan Village?"

"Two Mu?"

"I'm a Prince! A Prince!"

"Don't be so insulting!"

Two mu is just a small temple with a courtyard.

So, this Yama King of the Nether River is actually just a small local earth deity.

But on the other hand, the reward from Hela Ka isn't bad!

He built her a church in the mortal realm, and she sent him a big villa in the underworld.

A gift for a gift.

Moreover, this peerage... seems to have some significance.

He couldn't help but look at the nuns who were cleaning up the clutter.

"Miss, may I see what you're wearing under your habit?"

He had always been very curious about this. Were the nuns' habits part of their bodies, or were they actually clothes?

He had tried various methods to communicate with the ghost nuns, but they seemed deaf and dumb, ignoring him.

As a warlock, he had a strong spirit of inquiry, so he had tried to take a look himself.

But every time he made a similar move, the nuns would drift away and ignore him.

Now, the young master is a master, he's been promoted. And it seems that this position in the Nether River is somewhat useful to the dead.

So, he's going to start throwing his weight around and flirt with his ghost maids!

He doesn't even spare ghosts… This guy…

After he finished speaking, the nun's body visibly trembled—she actually understood! She wasn't deaf and dumb!

Just then, the young master felt seven fierce gazes.

He looked up and found that the heads of the other six nuns had turned around at strange angles, all glaring at him angrily.

In their center, a human-skin red bride slowly crawled out of the shadows, her gaze extremely fierce, as if she would devour him alive if he dared to say another word.

Being stared at fiercely by so many fierce ghosts, the sweat on the young master's face poured down.

He wiped the sweat from his face and said, "You eight, stand in a row."