bestfiction Chapter 4 I Should Be So
Chapter 4 I Should Be So
Before Zhong Ming's roar had even faded, a fishing net was suddenly thrown at his face.
And so, he opened his arms to receive Mother Earth's continuous, all-around "kiss," and finally fell onto the rocks on the shore.
Zhong Ming, hunched over, supported himself with one hand on the ground, coughed several times, spitting out some water, and finally recovered.
"Oh dear, my apologies, young friend, are you alright?"
Looking up, he saw an elderly Taoist priest standing before him, his white beard disheveled, wearing a tattered Xuanqing Taoist robe and worn-out straw sandals. A plump orange cat was rubbing against his legs as if seeking praise.
He nervously hid the net behind his back with one hand, leaving only a small part of the mesh showing.
Zhong Ming felt dizzy and struggled to get up. At this moment, the old Taoist priest was also carefully examining Zhong Ming, looking at the living person he had just caught, then at the fishing rod in his hand, with a puzzled expression.
'He looks like a normal person, so why is my Dragon King fishing hook acting up today? It doesn't fish for dragons or water monsters in the great rivers, but it caught a person instead.'
"Young friend, come here, let this old Taoist priest help you catch your breath."
The old Taoist priest was incredibly fast; before he could finish speaking, he was already using both his hands and feet.
In an instant, Zhong Ming felt a force coming from his back and abdomen at the same time. He immediately knelt on the ground and spat out a mouthful of river water.
After coughing a few times, Zhong Ming's consciousness gradually cleared. A pair of worn-out straw sandals were dangling in front of him. He was about to express his gratitude when the Taoist robe came into view, and he swallowed it back.
The young man, soaking wet, jumped up reflexively and scrambled backward, almost jumping back into the dark river.
"Don't panic, don't panic, you're safe now."
The old Taoist priest reached out and grabbed Zhong Ming's arms with tremendous force, and a mysterious energy flowed into Zhong Ming's body through his arms.
Zhong Ming's mood miraculously calmed down. Just now, his mind was full of thoughts about reporting to the authorities, arresting Gao Jin, and saving the lives of more than 10,000 people in the town. This could not be allowed to end like this.
As the energy flowed into his body, he suddenly realized what was happening.
The emperor governs human affairs, while immortals govern celestial affairs. That scoundrel, Master Gao, should have sought out an immortal, a truly enlightened immortal, Wang Lingguan, or the Three Pure Ones!
I'll go beg the Thunder God to strike you dead!
Thinking of this, Zhong Ming perked up and, with a surge of strength, grabbed the old Taoist's arm.
"Immortal Master, Great Immortal Master! Are you a true immortal?"
The old Taoist priest assumed that the man had accidentally fallen into the water and was terrified by the swift current, so he comforted him, saying, "It's alright, young friend. You're already ashore. I was just fishing here and accidentally brought you up with me."
"You're not a Celestial Master? Then can you tell me where I can find one? I have urgent business, a matter involving the lives of over 13,000 people!"
The old Taoist's eyes narrowed.
Thirteen thousand people?
At this moment, the old Taoist priest was even more anxious than Zhong Ming.
More than 13,000 lives?
Oh dear, oh dear~~
This is a very serious matter.
Oh dear, poor old bones of mine, I've caught such a huge karmic debt myself.
Sigh... Why come here to fish? I should have gone out and checked the almanac today.
"I am the abbot of the Cat Mountain Taoist Temple, and my Taoist name is Tianfeng. Young friend, what brings you here?"
"Oh no... why did she faint?"
Zhong Ming lay on the cold, damp rocks, shouted something, and then completely exhausted his last bit of energy, finally losing consciousness.
......
The darkness was flickering.
Like a pebble dropped into a calm lake, the pitch-black water rippled with waves, each slightly arched wave feeling like a heavy hammer blow to the chest.
Wait, this is the surface of the lake, how did I end up at the bottom?!
Zhong Ming suddenly awoke and struggled to swim upstream.
The moment he swung his arm, the lake water in front of him changed color, and crimson blood gradually stained the "liquid" before him.
The muscles in my arm are breaking down.
A suffocating feeling enveloped him, as if thirteen thousand wronged souls were strangling his neck and shaking him constantly.
He struggled to slide, reaching for the elusive water.
There was white in the darkness, white bones.
The skeletal hand pounded against the blurred boundary, like a hand breaking through the earth, struggling to crawl out of the coffin after burial.
The water shattered, and Zhong Ming struggled to lift his head. Huge ripples crashed against his cheeks, and the long-awaited air rushed into his parched lungs. At that moment, his first reaction wasn't to take a deep breath, but rather...
He roared at the top of his lungs.
The majestic roar of a dragon seemed to have already formed in his mind, and Zhong Ming even felt that he had roared it out.
However, suddenly a grand bell rang out from afar, and the entire space-time froze.
Zhong Ming suddenly sat up straight, panting heavily.
My head is throbbing with pain, like I've been hit on the head with a club. Was that... a dream?
Looking around, he found himself lying on a simple little bed, with only an old wooden table and chairs and a deep blue flowerpot filled with unknown flowers.
An orange cat rolled off the bed and onto the floor, whimpering in dissatisfaction.
"Damn it, I almost suffocated just now, it was because you were pressing on my chest!" Zhong Ming immediately realized what was happening, cursing and pointing at the big orange cat. The cat completely ignored him and slowly walked towards the door after seeing that he was awake.
Another bell rang out from outside the room, melodious and deep.
Faint sounds could be heard coming from outside the door.
"Give me the bowl... I'll take it... Don't worry... Saving people accumulates merit..."
Then, the door creaked open, and the old Taoist priest walked in with a smile, carrying a bowl of herbal soup.
"You're awake? Here, I've brewed some medicine for you."
Zhong Ming instinctively raised his hand to block it.
Just kidding. After eating dragon meat last time, everyone in the town was wiped out. Who would dare to drink anything from a stranger this time?
"You are... that Cat Taoist?"
Old Taoist priest: .....
"I am a Taoist priest from Maoshan Taoist Temple."
Zhong Ming crossed his arms over his chest, adopting a vigilant stance.
"Uh...right! I remember now, you wanted to eat fish, so you caught me."
"I'm not a glutton! I went fishing!"
As it turned out, Zhong Ming's warning was correct, but meaningless.
The old Taoist priest took a deep breath and whispered a few words: "Don't get angry, don't get angry... No, anger will cloud your judgment, remove karmic obstacles and eliminate inner demons." He held the bowl in his left hand and suddenly grabbed at the bell with his right.
Zhong Ming felt as if the world had turned upside down in an instant, the wind was howling, the shade had disappeared, the sunlight was caressing his skin, and the rough, gravelly earth was kissing his cheeks firmly.
In the blink of an eye, he was thrown outside the house.
The old Taoist priest pressed down on his body with one hand and said angrily, "Look, look there! Don't those two mountain peaks look like cat ears? And doesn't the gentle slope in the middle look like a round cat's head? That's why this place is called Cat Mountain! This is Cat Mountain Taoist Temple."
Zhong Ming lay on the ground and looked at it; indeed, the round mountain between the two pointed peaks looked very much like a cat.
There was also a white beard that floated around on his face.
"Humph~"
A woman's cold snort came from the side, as if to say, "I knew this would happen." Unfortunately, Zhong Ming was lying on the ground, unable to move or turn his head.
"Master, cough cough... calm down... I remember now, you are my savior."
Master Tianfeng slowly rose, not spilling a single drop of the medicine in the bowl in his left hand.
Zhong Ming recalled a common trope used by storytellers in the small town: a hero saves someone, and naturally, he is moved to tears of gratitude. He recited the trope almost as if he had memorized it.
"I will never forget your immense kindness and virtue. I am willing to serve you like a slave and give my life for you..."
"Ok."
Zhong Ming: ? ? ?
The old Taoist priest appeared quite composed, saying, "You said it yourself, it wasn't my request."
What is fate? This is fate.
Encountering something in an extremely absurd way is fate.
It's normal to bump into someone on the street, but catching one while fishing is really outrageous.
Our destiny has arrived.
The old Taoist priest looked at the young man in front of him with a smile.
Zhong Ming immediately sensed something was wrong. He organized his thoughts and forced himself to speak, "Daoist Master, I should repay your life-saving grace with my own, but I have urgent business to attend to. Something terrible has happened in Qingxi Town upstream on the Yangtze River, and I must get there immediately..."
"So you're reporting to the authorities?" The old Taoist priest waved his wide sleeves and said calmly, "I've already informed the Celestial Master's Mansion about the matter in Qingxi Town. They'll handle it. Use your brain. Do you think this matter falls under the jurisdiction of the officials or the Taoist priests?"
On the surface, the old Taoist priest spoke with ease and comfort, but in reality, he had been performing rituals all night, sending out messages and offering them out as if they were free, thus dispersing the karma of more than 10,000 people.
Thinking about it now, I still feel uneasy.
"Think about it yourself. What can you do? Can you find his trail or bring him to justice? You can't do anything."
silence.
It wasn't the old Taoist priest's words, but rather because Zhong Ming needed time to make up his mind.
The rescue and the few moves he had just witnessed convinced him that this was also a very powerful "immortal".
“Immortal Master…” When the man who had lost everything opened his mouth again, he seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. “I saw him in town. That guy with the Taoist name Qingliu seemed to have taken away everyone’s soul. He was laughing happily. Souls must be very valuable.”
"That's not entirely wrong..."
"Immortal Master, please take my soul with you." Zhong Ming stood up, his eyes resolute, determined to die. "I will work for you for the rest of my life to repay your life-saving grace. I really can't think of anything I can ask you to use. Please accept my soul... if it has any value."
Please take action and kill Gao Jin.
Zhong Ming banged his head on the ground with a loud thud.
His only response was the old Taoist priest's departing footsteps.
Before anyone knew it, a bowl filled with medicinal soup had been placed next to Zhong Ming. The old Taoist priest said, "You are not fully recovered yet, so please rest early. Please make yourself at home in the guest room," and then left.
From the side, a white figure also suddenly disappeared.
There was only one person left in front of the Taoist temple.
Time ticked by, and Zhong Ming remained kneeling on the ground, not getting up for a long time.
Silent tears dripped onto the stone steps, only to disappear in the sunlight. Two thoughts argued in his mind.
One urged Zhong Ming to keep his promise and immediately begin the hard work, while the other imitated the storyteller he had once seen, recounting the story of the great hero who knelt before a master for three days in the snowy winter, begging him to come out of seclusion.
......
As the sun set, a boy of about sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in blue, hurried toward the Taoist temple, carrying a bundle of firewood on his back and a few bird eggs in his hand.
His expression was blank as he walked up to Zhong Ming and looked at him curiously.
"Gurgle~~Gurgle~~~" Zhong Ming's stomach rumbled uncontrollably. He was starving and wanted to say something polite to ask this person to help persuade the old Taoist priest, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.
Upon seeing this, the young man visibly became happy, as if he had found a kindred spirit.
Just then, the old Taoist priest's voice rang out from inside the temple:
"Xiao Yu, hurry up and come in to cook. The Taoist temple doesn't support idlers."
A seemingly casual remark, in an instant, brought a sudden and profound enlightenment to Zhong Ming, clearing his mind and sharpening his intellect.
Taoist temples do not support idlers...
Taoism emphasizes self-reliance.
I should do so.
You must avenge yourself.
Master Tianfeng, please accept me as your disciple!