SCT-Novel #261 - Zhang Family's Offering - Qi Laodao
#261 - Zhang Family's Offering - Qi Laodao
In the front yard of the Zhang residence, to the right, there's a small door.
Behind the small door, a mountain path leads directly to a cave in the back mountain.
The two wooden doors at the cave entrance are ajar.
“Immortal Master, it’s this way.” Master Zhang, holding his lapel, led the way.
Ever since Mao Shijiu showed off his skills, he dropped the ‘little’ from the Immortal Master’s title.
Ability doesn't depend on age, but respect should be shown even more!
Young people want to grow up, and older people like to be praised for being young; this is all experience!
“Master, it’s dark inside; I’ll light the lamp.”
At this moment, the steward stepped forward and pushed open the heavy wooden doors.
A warm breath, along with the smell of wine, rushed towards them.
“Why is the smell so strong?” Xu Chengxian waved his horsetail whisk, asking a question he already knew the answer to.
The big black goat, relying on the fact that Master Zhang and the others couldn't see it, had already flown inside.
The next instant, it questioned him through sound transmission: “Kid, you still say you didn't kill him?”
“I indeed didn’t kill him.” Xu Chengxian replied unhurriedly, then stepped forward, following Master Zhang into the cave.
“If you didn’t kill him, what’s going on?” Da Hei asked, pointing to the Yin spirit hanging from the top of the cave by a soul-locking chain.
The hanging Yin spirit was thin and withered, and looked exactly like the old Taoist who was lying lifeless on the stone table.
It was obvious at a glance that this was Qi the Old Taoist’s soul.
And the soul-locking chain clearly had Xu Chengxian’s spiritual aura on it.
It smelled it as soon as it got close.
“I didn’t kill him.” Xu Chengxian’s lips curled up. “I was just watching the show and saw that he was about to harm the child, so I conveniently helped two female believers.”
Black mist swirled behind Qi the Old Taoist, and Yin energy had taken shape; it was clear he wasn't a good person.
It was fine that he died.
But even in death, he still wanted to harm a child.
“Since I saw it, of course, I couldn’t ignore it.”
One is short when eating someone's food, and one is soft when taking someone's things.
He hadn't taken what he was supposed to take yet, but he had eaten and drunk, and was staying at the Zhang family's place, so he couldn't just watch the dead old Taoist kill the Zhang family's child.
“Is this you, doing good deeds without leaving a name? Just because you have a human form, you have noble character?” Da Hei snorted sarcastically.
“What are you saying? I have always had noble morals!”
It's just that it wasn't obvious before.
Da Hei snorted, turned away, and began to interrogate the hanging Qi the Old Taoist.
“Immortal Master, come and see; this is that Qi the Old Taoist.”
However, although Xu Chengxian didn't leave his name, Master Zhang firmly attributed the 'credit' for killing Qi the Old Taoist to him.
Thinking about it this way, it wasn't a loss.
At this time, seeing Qi the Old Taoist’s corpse with his own eyes, and seeing Xu Chengxian's face remain calm, Master Zhang’s attitude became even more respectful.
He stepped aside, inviting him to come forward and check the situation.
“Your family’s enshrined guest? That’s it?” Xu Chengxian stood in front of Qi the Old Taoist’s corpse, amidst the wails of his Yin spirit, revealing a look of disdain.
Some families would keep people with special abilities to protect the family's heritage; these people were called enshrined guests.
Before coming, Master Zhang had already told him everything about Qi the Old Taoist’s identity.
This Qi the Old Taoist had been found three years ago.
Xu Chengxian’s disparagement of Qi the Old Taoist at this moment was also to see Master Zhang’s reaction.
“Yes, in the Immortal Master’s eyes, this Taoist is not worth mentioning, but in the eyes of us ordinary people, he is a powerful figure!”
Master Zhang sighed. “My family enshrines him as if we are enshrining an evil ghost, constantly worried, afraid that one day he will suddenly rise up and eat people!”
“He said he would protect my family three times, but how dare we ask him easily? We’re just afraid that he will ask for the heart’s blood of the men in the family again!” Speaking of this, a look of sadness appeared on his face.
“Not hiding it from the Immortal Master, my whole family suspects that Qi the Old Taoist killed my son!”
Moreover, after three years of getting along, this suspicion not only didn't disappear, but even became more and more confirmed.
Qi the Old Taoist wasn't always in the Zhang family; he would go out from time to time.
Sometimes he would be gone for ten days, and sometimes for several months.
He said he was seeking immortality and asking questions, but every time he came back, he would have a fishy smell on him. Sometimes it was the smell of earth, sometimes the smell of water, and sometimes the smell of human blood, not like he was doing anything proper.
Starting a year ago, he became more and more greedy, first asking for chicken, duck, fish, meat, and livestock blood, as well as some medicinal materials.
The Zhang family paid the people of Songjia Village to go up the mountain to collect medicine and hunt, providing for him.
Later, he said that these were not enough, so he exchanged pills with the villagers for human blood.
Saying that he wanted to refine immortal pills.
“Three months ago, he even revealed that he wanted me to buy young boys to use as sacrifices for refining pills!” Master Zhang said dejectedly. “How could I do such a thing? So I refused, and I didn’t dare to tell anyone about it.”
But from then on, the way Qi the Old Taoist looked at his grandson was not right.
What he didn't say was that he had murderous intentions at that time.
But Qi the Old Taoist had some unfathomable means, making him afraid to act rashly.
“Hmm? Why didn’t you dare to tell anyone about this?” Xu Chengxian asked.
Because he found that the steward's face also showed a look of surprise when he heard Master Zhang's words.
Obviously, he didn't know about this before either.
If he didn't even tell his trusted aides, could there be some hidden secrets?
“Alas! Immortal Master, what haven’t I seen after living to my age?” Master Zhang said with a wry smile. “It is said that parents love their children, but in this world, are there few who sell their sons and daughters? The people in Songjia Village are all poor and foolish bastards.”
If you take out real gold and silver and say that the children are going to enjoy happiness and escape from the sea of suffering, someone will definitely be willing to sell their children.
Not to mention that Qi the Old Taoist is willing to give money, even if he doesn't give money and deceives them, some people will be willing to give their sons to him to accumulate blessings for their family.
“That’s still a son, if it was a daughter, I’m afraid it would be even easier!”
“I see.” Xu Chengxian nodded noncommittally. “No wonder you wanted to invite me to come here.”
“Exactly, exactly!” Master Zhang quickly said, “Immortal Master, this Qi the Old Taoist is gloomy and evil, unlike you, Immortal Master, who is upright and open. It is said that evil will live for a thousand years, and I am afraid that he is not completely dead, or that he still has harmful methods that will harm innocent people again.”
“Hmm.” Xu Chengxian glanced at Master Zhang.
Good fellow, he had reason to suspect that the other party was implying something about him with the words 'upright and open'.
But it didn't matter; he would just take it as praise.
The feeling of the other party daring to be angry but not daring to speak out and having to praise him was quite novel.
The taste was not bad.
“Master Zhang is thoughtful.” He smiled.
Master Zhang was indeed an old fox.
He was more cautious than his daughter and daughter-in-law.
Qi the Old Taoist had indeed made some arrangements in this cave.
Xu Chengxian took a step forward, stepped out with one foot, and stomped hard on the ground.
Crack!
Everyone only heard a soft sound in their ears, and then they saw a few consecutive snapping sounds coming from the corners in the darkness.
“Oh dear!”
“Mommy!”