Chapter 42: The Husband is Where His Heart Finds Joy, the Wife is in the Moment of Heartbreak

In Yangcheng, Zhang Sheng was saying goodbye to Uncle Nine; he planned to walk from Guangdong Province to other provinces to search for those Nine Chrysanthemum Sect disciples hiding among the common folk.

Uncle Nine said with some reluctance: "Junior Brother, you are alone on this journey; be careful in all things, remember not to be reckless, and preserve your useful life."

Zhang Sheng nodded and said: "Senior Brother, rest assured, I will not die so easily before driving the Japanese invaders out of our land."

Uncle Nine continued to instruct: "We have already reported your situation to the government and to Maoshan; wait in Yangcheng for a few days until that commissioner contacts you."

Although Zhang Sheng did not like the bald-headed, with a great enemy before him, he still had to insist on a united front; in any case, he only needed to deal with the Nine Chrysanthemum Sect and the Japanese invaders' Yin-Yang Bureau, and he would ignore the rest.

Seeing a friend off for a thousand miles must eventually end in a parting; Zhang Sheng saw Uncle Nine off and returned to the inn alone.

He had no time to be sorrowful, nor was there time for it; first, he needed to refine the Hair-Covered Zombie and the Thousand-Faced Ghost in the Treasure Gourd, and there was still a Flying Zombie in the Mountain and River Map waiting to be refined.

Additionally, this time he had obtained tens of thousands of merits, which was just enough to practice the Qi Refining Method and bring it to perfection.

After this experience, he was not satisfied with his own strength; for instance, Uncle Nine and Daoist Priest Qianhe were at the second level, Senior Brother Shi Jian, Second Senior Brother One-Eyebrow Daoist, and Third Senior Brother Lin Fengjiao had already reached the third level, and his master, Golden Treasure Daoist, was at the fourth level.

Therefore, for Zhang Sheng, his path of cultivation had only just begun.

This battle with the Nine Chrysanthemum Sect yielded a total of 48,100 merits, but purchasing new magic treasures had cost 9,100, leaving 39,000.

With the 5,930 he had before, his merits had already reached over 40,000! This was enough for him to cultivate all the spells in the Merit Seal!

After Zhang Sheng practiced in the inn for seven days, someone finally came looking for him.

The person who came to find him was a member of the Revival Society; that man said very respectfully: "Daoist Zhang, hello, I am Lieutenant Yu Xiaoqi of the Revival Society; the commissioner has arrived, and I have come to invite you to the official residence."

Zhang Sheng bowed and said: "Thank you for your trouble."

Afterward, Zhang Sheng boarded a jeep and arrived at the commissioner's residence. This was an official sent by the department in Jinling that specifically managed such matters.

Commissioner Zheng was already waiting at the gate of the residence; as soon as he saw Zhang Sheng, he hurried forward and said with a smile: "Oh my, Daoist Zhang is truly young and promising!"

Zhang Sheng said indifferently: "You are too kind, Commissioner."

Commissioner Zheng hurriedly invited Zhang Sheng into the residence; after the two sat down in the living room, Commissioner Zheng said: "The Principal is very gratified to have a patriot like Daoist Zhang who worries for the country.

Daoist Zhang may not know, but the people of the Japanese invaders' Nine Chrysanthemum Sect are the most active and their behavior is extremely arrogant; however, the country is poor and weak, so in some aspects, we can only turn a blind eye.

Some time ago, the Japanese invaders supported the puppet emperor Pu Yi; their wolfish ambitions are clear to see, and at this moment, the country is in urgent need of benevolent people like you, Daoist Zhang, to help."

Zhang Sheng nodded and said: "Commissioner, rest assured, subduing demons and eliminating devils is what we ought to do."

Commissioner Zheng nodded and said: "Good, then I will not waste Daoist Zhang's time; our department has already recorded your affairs."

As he spoke, he took out a document bag and pulled out a small booklet from it, which recorded Zhang Sheng's information. Commissioner Zheng continued: "With this identification, Daoist Zhang, you can travel freely and request assistance from the local government when necessary. You only need to call our department's telephone number, and we will coordinate the rest.

By the way, Daoist Zhang, our department will also issue some tasks, all of which have rewards, and I hope Daoist Zhang will provide plenty of support."

Zhang Sheng put away the identification and nodded: "Commissioner, rest assured."

Commissioner Zheng still wanted to keep Zhang Sheng for a meal, but Zhang Sheng had no such intention and immediately took his leave.

After returning to the inn, he put all his Daoist robes and such into his Universe Bag, then bought a few sets of clothes, including two Western-style suits.

The Chinese-style short jacket was for wearing in towns and villages, while the Western suit was for wearing in big cities. He dressed this way to avoid alerting the enemy with his Daoist robes.

After Zhang Sheng finished packing, he left the inn in the afternoon and then departed Yangcheng; the time was already late, so Zhang Sheng quickened his pace, covering dozens of miles in an hour.

This made it miserable for the two members of the Revival Society, who couldn't even keep up while pedaling their bicycles.

Liu He panted and said: "This Daoist truly has ability; this speed is definitely not something a human can walk."

His teammate Chen Quan replied: "Isn't it? I don't know what the higher-ups were thinking, asking the two of us to tail a high-level Daoist."

Liu He sighed and said: "Forget it, I just hope that Daoist can rest, otherwise I'm really going to be exhausted to death."

The two had been chasing from afternoon until night, pedaling their bicycles for several hours.

Not long after, the two really couldn't hold on anymore; both exhausted, they fell by the side of the road and rested for a good while before getting up.

Liu He lamented: "It's over, we're definitely going to be scolded."

Chen Quan sat on the ground and waved his hand: "Whatever, I don't care anymore; anyway, my legs are weak now, and I don't want to move."

"Gurgle..."

Both of their stomachs began to growl.

Liu He looked around and said with a bitter face: "In this desolate wilderness, we've really committed a sin."

Chen Quan did indeed swallow his saliva and struggled to stand up: "I think I smell something fragrant!"

"Where? Where?" Liu He also sniffed and said with pleasant surprise, "It really is; it seems to be coming from ahead."

The two hurried forward and saw a manor; the two didn't know what was going on, but they walked straight in, not finding it abrupt at all that a manor appeared in this desolate mountain wilderness.

As the two walked into the manor, they saw a very lively scene; two tables of a banquet were set inside, servants and maids were serving tea and water, and several beautiful women at the table were watching a performance on the stage.

As soon as they entered, a woman immediately came up to greet them; she waved a handkerchief that carried a bodily fragrance and pressed close to Liu He, saying: "Oh my, the guests have come at a perfect time; today is our master's birthday, and we are hosting guests; the two young brothers should also come and have a drink."

Liu He was so bewitched by the woman's beauty and voice that he didn't know north from south and nodded repeatedly, while Chen Quan said somewhat embarrassedly: "Isn't this quite appropriate?"

The woman hurriedly stepped forward and took Chen Quan's hand, saying coquettishly: "The more people, the livelier it is; come on, young brother."

Liu He and Chen Quan couldn't hold back and followed the woman to take their seats. The two saw a woman in theatrical costume on the stage. Although she was performing, her eyes seemed to be fixed on them the whole time.

Moreover, the woman's voice was melodious, desolate, and mournful; the singing was extremely ethereal, as if it were right by their ears, yet also as if it came from far away, making Chen Quan's heart tremble.

Only hearing the woman sing: "The husband is where his heart finds joy, the wife is in the moment of heartbreak..."

This was the classic Cantonese opera piece "Selling Meat to Raise an Orphan."

The woman sang with such resentment that it immediately gave Chen Quan goosebumps. He saw that Liu He was only concerned with flirting with another woman and did not notice that the surrounding servants and maids seemed to be secretly watching them.

Furthermore, Chen Quan also saw someone looking at him and swallowing their saliva, which made his scalp tingle!