Bang! Bang! Bang—
Gunfire rang out again. The sounds of gunshots and magazine changes rang for a while. Not far away lay several more bandit corpses.
There was also another man accidentally grazed by a bullet: Vice Minister Wu, clutching his arm and screaming.
"You—you—you…"
Vice Minister Wu, crying out in pain while clutching his arm, glared at the gun-wielding Liu Xiu, but soon lowered his head because the gun was pointed at him.
There was no other reason: this Daoist Lord really killed people!
"Quick, say thank you. After all, I just helped you kill enemies!" Liu Xiu said with a smile, and Vice Minister Wu grudgingly said thank you.
"You… sigh…"
Feeling he could not outargue Liu Xiu, Daoist Qianhe looked with a complicated expression at the bandits killed by gunshots. Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei were different—they watched Liu Xiu, gulping saliva in fear.
Strangely, they thought of that saying:
What kind of master produces what kind of disciple!
They originally thought Senior Uncle Shi Jian was already ruthless enough, but they did not expect Liu Xiu to be even more ruthless than Shi Jian.
"A good person would not be carrying anything beyond their means," Liu Xiu said, his brow furrowing for an instant as he used his toe to lightly hook up a handkerchief hidden in the bosom of the sickle-wielding bandit.
A ladies' handkerchief, with subtle dark patterns, woven with cloud patterns and entwining-branch dark flowers, its fabric too fine to appear on such a bandit.
A handkerchief embroidered with the silver character "Su"!
Liu Xiu did not speak. He merely glanced at the accessories on the nearby dead bandits that did not belong to them, and his heart stirred.
The sensing ability granted by Divine Perception made him subconsciously look toward a large tree not far away. There, under the tree's shade, stood a female ghost.
The female ghost's figure was illusory, her clothes intact, but the girl with blood on her forehead looked at him with eyes full of hope and pleading, then stretched out a finger pointing toward the distance.
"ojbk!"
Liu Xiu nodded slightly and quickly ran in the direction the female ghost pointed, leaving Qianhe stunned as he looked toward where Liu Xiu was looking. Before his eyes, a ghostly shadow suddenly disappeared under the big tree.
"Did I really wrong A-Xiu?"
Having seen the handkerchief and the female ghost, Daoist Qianhe frowned tightly. He told Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei to wait there and not move, then quickly rushed toward the woods where Liu Xiu had gone.
Just as he was wondering whether the way had been too quiet, a shrill scream accompanied by cries of "Save me!" rang out.
"Not good!"
Daoist Qianhe's expression changed greatly. Spiritual power within his body circulated rapidly, ignoring the limits his meridians could bear, and he directly accelerated.
His already extremely fast speed became three parts faster again as he ran wildly toward the screams. When he arrived at the scene…
Daoist Qianhe was stunned. It was not a dead bandit on the ground that stunned him, but rather the strange situation before him.
He saw Liu Xiu crouching on the ground, extending his finger as if calling a dog, making "zo zo zo" sounds with his mouth.
And before Liu Xiu was a jiangshi!
A jiangshi whose legs were pinned by a large sliding stone, able only to lie on the ground making "hou hou" sounds, poking the air with stiff arms.
As for why the jiangshi was not afraid of the sun, it was because this was a forest—the tree shade was too thick, blocking the sunlight.
"Martial Uncle, speaking of which, you might not believe this, but when I arrived, he had already been bitten to death by the jiangshi, and this jiangshi just happened to be pinned by this suddenly sliding stone!" Liu Xiu stood up and said.
Daoist Qianhe glanced at the large footprint behind the bandit who had been bitten to death by the jiangshi. He then looked down at Liu Xiu's feet, his mouth twitching a few times, and said as if he had not seen anything, "Hmm, your luck is truly good!"
"Indeed!"
"…"
"Huh? Martial Uncle, you don't believe me? Martial Uncle, look, this is the money I picked up along the way here to meet you…"
Liu Xiu took out more than ten silver dollars and several pieces of broken silver from his storage thumb ring. He had a premonition that picking up gold nuggets was just a matter of time!
"…"
Good grief, this kid's luck is really too good!
Daoist Qianhe looked on, powerless to retort, at Liu Xiu, whose luck was too good—just as he had said he wanted to practice a bit of the Seven Yuan Corpse-Summoning Return-to-Mountain Secret Manual, a jiangshi had actively delivered itself to his door.
Just then, the corner of his eye caught the female ghost sneaking and hiding under a big tree not far away.
Perhaps,
this was what they called good people having good rewards…
Daoist Qianhe subconsciously thought. He asked Liu Xiu, confirmed that Liu Xiu really wanted to use this Black Jiangshi-level jiangshi to cultivate the Seven Yuan Corpse-Summoning Return-to-Mountain Secret Manual, and then actively said, "I'll go call your senior martial brothers over to help!"
Not to help refine the corpse,
but to help push the big stone.
Daoist Qianhe finished speaking, glanced toward the dark place, and quickly left. But after going not far, he slowed his steps.
He pricked up his ears and only heard Liu Xiu say:
"Not going to help you collect the corpse? Oh, you were burned by a fire? How tragic. Where are your ashes? Oh, blown away by the wind? Then why are you looking for me? I've already helped you take revenge…"
Daoist Qianhe only heard impatience in Liu Xiu's tone, but it was strange that he did not hear the female ghost's voice.
"Huh? You hid several gold nuggets before you died! Good, good, good, hurry and lead the way, hurry and lead the way. Why didn't you say so earlier? When I kicked him earlier, I should have kicked harder. Wait, you wouldn't have taken a liking to me, would you? The place you mentioned wouldn't be hiding eight hundred ghosts, would it?"
"…"
Hmm, his martial nephew was a money-grubber,
but his martial nephew was a cowardly money-grubber!
Daoist Qianhe's mouth twitched, and then he heard Liu Xiu shout "Martial Uncle!", which made his mouth twitch even more!
Soon, the group split into two routes. Dong, Nan, Xi, and Bei went to deal with the unlucky Black Jiangshi pinned by the large stone.
And Liu Xiu and Daoist Qianhe, led by the female ghost, came to a mountain road not particularly rugged three li away.
"Oh, is that so? Then you're truly tragic, but I'm far more tragic than you. After my mother and father died, the land and money they left behind were all seized by my uncles. Er, no need for you to help me kill them—killing them would be too easy. I'll slowly… cough, cough, I mean they're my own uncles after all…"
"…"
Frankly,
how exactly do you two communicate!
Ignoring Liu Xiu's words unbefitting an orthodox cultivator, Daoist Qianhe frowned at the female ghost traveling under the tree shade.
The female ghost who did not speak,
then he looked at Liu Xiu who was speaking,
frankly… he did not understand.
But soon, his brow furrowed once more, because of the large burn marks left on the mountain road ahead and some bones not completely burned.
Daoist Qianhe clenched his fists and heavily smashed a tree beside him that bore dents and blurry bloodstains.
Seeing this, Liu Xiu opened his mouth to say:
"Er, Martial Uncle, please move aside!"
"…"
I'm grieving here!!
Daoist Qianhe glared at Liu Xiu, but still moved aside. Only to see Liu Xiu come to the tree, squat down, lift a stone, and tsk-tsk pick up several pieces of gold deformed by burning, saying:
"Another day of good people having good rewards!"
"…"
"What's wrong? Martial Uncle!"
"…Nothing… nothing!"
Daoist Qianhe took a deep breath, shook his head with a blank expression, and then immediately saw Liu Xiu frown and say:
"I should never have helped you take revenge!"
"?!?"
Daoist Qianhe looked blankly at Liu Xiu and at the female ghost who seemed never to have spoken. Only to see Liu Xiu look at him and say:
"Er, she asked me when I'll die. She said her father is very rich, and also said that if I go down now she'll let me be the City God!"
"?!?"
Daoist Qianhe looked blankly at the female ghost whose lips had not moved at all, feeling that either he had gone deaf or this human and ghost had a problem.
Just then—
Huu—
Daoist Qianhe saw a sudden gust of eerie wind rise in the surrounding mountains and forests. Before him, flying sand and rocks blinded the eyes; behind him, that chilling, bone-chilling, congealed cold yin qi blew in waves.
In a daze, he saw ghostly shadows flitting between the trees, green fires flickering on and off. Liu Xiu's expression changed and he stared wide-eyed at the female ghost, saying:
"Fuck your—"
What came after, Liu Xiu did not curse. He only heard from the depths of the dense forest the sounds of gongs and drums, mournful suona. In a snap of fingers, not far away appeared rows of banners and streamers, ghost soldiers holding flags, Ox-Head and Horse-Face standing on left and right, escorting a black lacquered palanquin that crossed space from the dark clouds.
Embroidered on the palanquin curtains was a silver "Su" character. The palanquin stopped in midair, and a large hand clutching a thread-bound copy of Journey to the West, with blue veins bursting from the knuckles, lifted the palanquin curtain.
Clearly,
the palanquin's owner was in a bad mood!
The one who made the palanquin owner unhappy—Liu Xiu silently cursed himself for speaking too soon—looked at the female ghost calling for her father. Daoist Qianhe, beside him, forced himself to stay calm and looked at the scene before him, saying:
"Who comes here!"
"Hmph, you listen well…"
Only to see a middle-aged man wearing a black gauze cap and red robe lift the palanquin curtain and step out, declaiming loudly:
"Of old Yulin Su family's cap-and-sash line,
Fifth-rank prefect hall, saving the common folk.
Ten years of court documents, unstained by dust,
Myriad households praise the official's integrity.
After death appointed to the City God position,
In the underworld, seals and judgments are clear.
Today I come to seek revenge for my daughter,
But find the blood debt already repaid.
This grace and this righteousness are hard to thank;
First I seek the ancestral soul to continue lingering affection."
"…"
What the hell is this supposed to mean!
Daoist Qianhe's expression froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. In his mind he was frantically thinking how to express his identity without losing momentum, when he saw Liu Xiu step forward!
"I wondered who it was. So it's the City God of this place!"
"And you are?"
Su City God, knowing full well and asking anyway, raised his eyebrows. Liu Xiu, knowing the other was asking though knowing full well, coldly snorted and stepped forward again.
"Hmph, you listen well…"
"…"
Those were my lines!
Su City God's mouth twitched. Only to hear Liu Xiu look at him and say:
"Innate Thunder Body emerges from the mortal world,
Since childhood at Maoshan I bowed to the True Venerable.
Substituting for my master to teach and pass down the arts,
Feng shui and destiny—I take them all in.
Thunder arts connect to the divine, startling sun and moon,
Maoshan hails me as number one.
Morning I slay demons and evil spirits, evening I dispel miasma,
When have I ever had half a day of leisure.
The Dao world recognizes my thunder arts as supreme—
This is my master, Sir Shi Jian!"
"!!!"
Do the new generation of Daoists still recite poetic titles?
Wait, is reciting poetic titles popular again?
Daoist Qianhe stared with wide eyes, shocked, looking at Liu Xiu. He saw Su City God take a step forward, appearing before Liu Xiu, and open his mouth with a face full of surprise and delight.
"You also read Journey to the West?"
"Huh? You also read Journey to the West!"
Liu Xiu took out a thread-bound copy of Journey to the West from his storage thumb ring with his right hand. Su City God's eyes showed surprise and delight as he said,
"I thought only I liked reading Journey to the West!"
"I used to live in Five Fingers Alley within Wuyue Town!"
"Good name! Is there a Five Elements Mountain nearby?"
"There isn't!"
"Fine, but I like reading Journey to the West because of its balance of advancing and retreating…"
Su City God laughed as if meeting a kindred spirit.
"I like the inner alchemy cultivation in it even more…"
Liu Xiu said with a smile. The two exchanged a glance, as if meeting old friends of many years, and both laughed heartily.
But the two, without prior agreement, saw that the other's thread-bound Journey to the West hadn't even had its pages turned, and simultaneously cursed in their hearts: "Pfft, what a pack of ghostly lies!"
"?!?"
What on earth are these two talking about?
And, is reciting poetic titles really popular now?
Daoist Qianhe was baffled in his heart. Until that afternoon when they arrived near Four-Eyed Daoist's home, he was still confused.
He did not understand why the City God had been so full of momentum at first, but later became all kind and gentle. Could it be that he was afraid of his senior martial brother?
Su City God: ………
Chapter 42