bestfiction Chapter 44 Cousin
Chapter 44 Cousin
After performing a magical spell, Zhong Ming hung the two rows of smoked fish on a bamboo pole, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and strode away with incredible speed.
'Knowing Taoist magic and possessing a strong physical body, you won't dare to act recklessly, right? Besides, we don't have any major conflicts yet.' This thought flashed through my mind.
The three men became even more respectful, outwardly expressing their deepest gratitude to Zhong Ming.
He was a big customer who bought up all the remaining stock when the store was about to close down, and also a "villain" who bought up the food prepared by travelers.
It's not that smoked fish is particularly precious, but they probably won't be able to make time-consuming and laborious pickled foods along the way, so they'll just have to suffer a bit more from the fish and shrimp in the Juejiang River.
“Immortal Master, what you said is of great importance. I will go and inform my father immediately.”
The waiter was sincere. After speaking, he took his leave, disappeared into the woods, and ran towards the Juejiang River.
"In that case, I shall take my leave. The time I had arranged with a fellow Daoist is approaching."
Zhong Ming also got up and left, carrying a fishing rod, a mining mole and a package on his back, heading towards Jisui Mountain.
The remaining two insisted on seeing Zhong Ming off, and only returned to the shop after walking several dozen meters.
They jumped onto the roof and watched the bell gradually disappear into the distance before they felt relieved and blew a bird whistle into the woods.
The waiter trotted out of the woods.
"He's already gone?"
"Let's go, we're almost in that village."
"Okay, let's go."
The three of them pushed the cart and headed in completely opposite directions.
.....
Zhong Ming walked quickly and soon arrived at the village. The young people had already left, and the village was lifeless.
The footsteps of the visitors were particularly noticeable on the bluestone slabs, and an old woman leaned out to see what was going on.
Seeing the young man carrying a string of large fish past, I couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Ouch~~ Ouch~~"
The old woman cried out in pain a few times, trying to get Zhong Ming's attention.
She succeeded.
"Grandma, the flood is coming soon, hurry up and leave."
"Oh dear, these old bones of mine can't walk anymore. I'll just die here."
Zhong Ming looked up and saw that the sun was high in the sky; he didn't have much time to ramble on here.
Seeing that the young man didn't respond, the old woman continued, "My life has been so hard. If I could eat a bite of smoked fish before I die, I would die without regrets."
(Winks frantically at Zhong Ming)
"Cough cough."
Zhong Ming immediately thought of those old shrewish women who could curse at the river for days on end without repeating themselves. They were shameless and always trying to take advantage of others, and if they couldn't get what they wanted, they would curse.
We won't tolerate that.
He immediately composed a little tune and started singing it.
"Heaven is angry! Earth doesn't care, all the officials have fled! No one goes to the yamen, they beat and kill people at will, who knows it was me? A flood washes everything away... it washes away all the rotten land..."
Zhong Ming sang with increasing joy, skipping and hopping past the old woman's door, making her face turn ashen with anger.
The key point is that he didn't sing it wrong. Now that someone has committed murder, who would know it was you who did it?
She was furious no matter what she thought about it. She slammed her cane down hard, about to retaliate, when she saw a flash of cold light. Zhong Ming was holding a snow-white longsword.
"Bang!"
The door was slammed shut immediately.
In every household, either only load-bearing walls remained, or the doors were tightly shut, and the situation inside was unknown.
As Zhong Ming walked, he pondered, 'If we really follow the rules from the last warning, the local official in charge here will probably be demoted three ranks... Wait, who will check for any omissions? A fire dragon burns it all down, a water dragon washes it away, clean as day. Ha, no evidence, no mistake. Hmph, the government is just the government, all talk and no action.'
As they approached the village entrance, they heard the thunderous sound of horses' hooves once again, accompanied by the familiar voice of the official announcement: "Leave within half a month. Those with mobility issues may seek refuge in Jisui Mountain."
The village was silent, save for the occasional chirping of birds.
"Forget it," Zhong Ming shook his head. "It's no use trying to reason with this damned devil." He left.
.....
After noon, Zhong Ming stood at the mine entrance again. The gate had been renovated, and now it not only had large, golden characters on it, but also a flow of spiritual energy.
Today, this place is unusually busy, with people coming and going in the sky, clearly treating it as an important refuge.
"who?"
Two unfamiliar men stepped forward, dressed in black standard armor and wielding spears, blocking Zhong Ming's path.
Ground defenses were mostly left to ordinary human armies.
"Hello, I had arranged to meet a fellow Daoist here today to prepare for joining the army."
"Are you a cultivator? Please hand over your genealogy records."
After following the procedures and undergoing several checks, Zhong Ming was finally allowed to enter.
After entering the gate, the small square changed its appearance. The railings separated the area into sections, with a large number of tables and chairs and staff members doing tedious registration and organization work.
Zhong Ming originally intended to go back to his mine tunnel to find Yue Kaishan, but he didn't expect to run into him at the gate.
Today, Yue Kaishan was wearing a white training uniform, carrying a large bag, and stood awkwardly next to a man.
The man was even taller and stronger than Yue Kaishan. The two were dressed in the same clothes, and from a distance, they looked like white jade lions guarding the town gate.
"Hey~~ Brother Yue!"
Zhong Ming waved happily at them, and Yue Kaishan also noticed Zhong Ming.
"Brother Cuihong." He raised his arm slightly and waved it a few times, his voice a little weak.
The older cousin, the even stronger man, rushed out with a "whoosh".
"Thump~ thump~" Each time his foot landed on the ground, it made a huge sound like a resounding bell, and each step was full of absolute power.
In the blink of an eye, the burly man had rushed up to Zhong Ming's face.
"You are Cuihong!"
He grabbed Zhong Ming by the collar and lifted him up like a chick, causing a whole row of smoked dried fish to fall to the ground.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Zhong Ming grabbed the other man's wrists with both hands, trying to pry his fingers open, but found that the other man's arms seemed to be made of steel and he couldn't pry them open at all.
"So you're the one who delayed my cousin's cultivation? And almost killed him?"
"What are you saying? There must be some misunderstanding between us. Put me down first, and we can talk it over."
Zhong Ming tried his best to be polite, but the other party did not let go. In fact, the other party clenched his fist and raised it as if to hit him.
"What misunderstanding? You brought this trouble upon yourself. My brother helped you out of this predicament, which is already a life-saving favor. How dare you ask me to pay you a hundred low-grade spirit stones? Do you really think my brother is a fool?"
"Brother!" Yue Kaishan saw that something was wrong and ran over, but he was much slower than his cousin. Before he could take more than a few steps, Zhong Ming had already been lifted up.
"Brother, Cuihong and I are brothers who have risked our lives for each other, you can't do this."
"You must have misunderstood. The spirit stones were obtained by exchanging military merits. Now, could you please put me down?" Zhong Ming exhaled a breath of turbid air and finished speaking his last words of kindness.
A breath of fresh air entered his body, and a murderous glint appeared in his eyes.
"You're talking nonsense! How much did you pay for those nourishing monster jerky pieces my brother used to eat? And you dare talk about military merits? You..."
The big man's words came to an abrupt halt.
Zhong Ming bent his left arm, grabbed the big man's thick wrist with his palm, and pointed his elbow toward the enemy's other arm, assuming a defensive posture.
He also grabbed the other person with his right hand, but further away, onto the other person's forearm. Spiritual energy flowed through his storage bag, and he instantly grasped the Mother-Child Sword in his right hand.
In an instant, Qingfeng appeared half an inch in front of the big man's neck. The twin swords were close to his arm and pointed directly at his neck. If he raised his voice a little louder or his Adam's apple moved a little more violently, the snow-white sword tip would cut his skin.
The balance of power was reversed in an instant.
"Now, can we speak properly?"