Chapter 46: Nothing New Under the Sun

The next second, a gust of wind blew out the candlelight inside the big red lantern and overturned the tables and stools in the middle of the room.

Immediately after, a figure appeared before Chen Zuoqian.

"Ah!"

Chen Zuoqian was startled by the sudden figure and threw out a protective talisman directly, but there was no reaction at all.

At this, his face turned deathly pale, and his whole body trembled like chaff.

He hurriedly begged for mercy: "Mei Lan, I know I was wrong. I did all this for the Chen family. The Chen family cannot fall; otherwise, what will happen to your daughter?"

Mei Lan's expression was resentful, and she said nothing, just staring at Chen Zuoqian.

Seeing this, Chen Zuoqian immediately lowered his head, trembling even more violently, and he instantly burst into tears from fright: "Mei Lan, I was wrong, please spare me, spare me..."

Mei Lan still did not speak, just coldly staring at Chen Zuoqian, and she took another step closer.

Chen Zuoqian saw Mei Lan's bound feet, his pupils dilated instantly, and his mental state completely collapsed. He lifted his head, stood up, and reached out to strangle Mei Lan, roaring: "I just want to kill you, you slut, you are shameless, go to hell!"

"Urgh!"

Chen Zuoqian was strangling his own neck with both hands, thinking he was strangling Mei Lan's neck. Just like that, he already felt suffocated; he wanted to struggle but could not move.

Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he seemed to wake up suddenly from a dream, loosened his hands, and gasped for air.

He looked again at Mei Lan, who was staring at him viciously by the bedside, and said in terror: "Don't kill me, I'll turn myself in, I plead guilty!"

Hearing this, Mei Lan's figure vanished instantly, and Chen Zuoqian collapsed limply onto the bed; as for that Fifth Mistress, she had long since been scared into a dead faint.

Early the next morning, Chen Zuoqian hurriedly ran to the county government to turn himself in. As for Mei Lan's corpse, it was fished out and reburied.

As for He Lian, she boldly reported Chen Zuoqian, her marriage to Chen Zuoqian was annulled, and she left the Chen residence. As for Chen Zuoqian, according to the law, someone like him would have to serve over a dozen years in prison.

The county magistrate had a good relationship with these gentry, so even if he went to prison, the conditions would be excellent.

However, two days later, a team from the Revival Society came and arrested the county magistrate, and Chen Zuoqian was dragged off to be shot.

Zhang Cheng looked at Mei Lan and the Chen Zuoqian who had just left his body, then summoned Liu Yongquan and had him take the two ghosts to the Underworld.

"Transformed the evil ghost Mei Lan, obtained two hundred merit."

After finishing this matter, Zhang Cheng prepared to set off again, but on this day he saw He Lian; this woman was working to support herself.

He sighed; this damned world was not something he alone could change. Zhang Cheng did not want to stay in this oppressive place, so he immediately set off and left.

This time, the matter was resolved without much effort, but the process was very oppressive.

Of course, even a fierce ghost is nothing but a small fry in front of Zhang Cheng. These evil ghosts are even simpler; they just have unfulfilled wishes, which is why they don't go to the Underworld. As long as their wishes are fulfilled and their obsessions resolved, it can be settled.

Of course, some ghosts won't do, such as water ghosts, who must kill people who fall into the water in order to be reincarnated.

Zhang Cheng arrived at Hot Spring Town, comfortably soaking in the hot spring, clearing his mind to forget the previous troubles.

People, you cannot hold too many thoughts in your heart, or you will go crazy.

As he walked on the path of the abyss, everywhere he looked was darkness.

Time flew by, a month had already passed, and the time had reached the last month of the year; it would be the Spring Festival before long.

The current Spring Festival was called New Year's Day, but later New Year's Day was changed to January 1st, and the first day of the lunar calendar was changed to the Spring Festival.

This month, Zhang Cheng practiced the Du Gong Qi Refining Method to the tenth level.

"Host: Zhang Cheng"

"Profession: Daoist"

"Rank: Seventh Grade"

Cultivation Method: "Valley Clothes Heart Scripture" Lv5 (0/800), "Supreme Three-Five Du Gong Scripture Seal" Lv10 (0/25600)

Spirit Refining Art Lv4 (0/400)

Equipment: Universe Patchwork Robe (↑),

Five Thunders Command (1/1), Spirit-Refining Treasure Gourd (being refined), Fire Crow Pot, Eight Trigrams Mirror, Seal of the City God's Office (Note), Xuanyi Seven-Star Copper Sword, Altar-Suppressing Wood, Five Elements Command Flags, Tianpeng Ruler, Soul-Absorbing Banner, Three Pure Ones Bell, Copper Coin Sword, Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Umbrella, Thousand-Mile Mountains and Rivers Map, Universe Bag

Merit: 37130"

Zhang Cheng packed his things and set off again, leaving Hot Spring Town. Once he started cultivating, it was easy to lose track of time; in a flash, dozens of days had passed.

He left the inn and saw that the number of people on the town streets had increased; many peddlers had started selling New Year goods in advance, and after they made money, they would also buy some New Year goods for themselves to take home for the New Year.

Several days later, Zhang Cheng had entered the southernmost tip of Gan Province. Arriving at Yellow Cloud Village near the Tao River, Zhang Cheng saw resentment soaring into the sky nearby.

He thought to himself: Could it be that people from the Nine Chrysanthemums Sect are playing tricks?

He wore ordinary clothes and walked quickly toward Yellow Cloud Village. It was the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and everyone was gathered at the village entrance chatting. Many people saw Zhang Cheng coming and began to discuss him.

The village chief stood up, came to the entrance, looked at the approaching Zhang Cheng, and asked: "Young man, what are you doing in our village?"

Zhang Cheng immediately explained: "Elder, I am just passing through here and am a bit tired. May I stay here for a few days to rest? I can pay."

The village chief smiled: "Can you show me your identification?"

Zhang Cheng nodded and immediately took out his ordinary identification documents. After the village chief looked at them, he nodded and said: "Young man, don't blame an old man like me for being cautious. You also know that the world is not peaceful right now, so I have to be careful."

Zhang Cheng naturally understood; it was a chaotic time, and rarely did anyone walk alone in the wilderness. After all, besides wild beasts at night, one might also encounter mountain bandits and the like, full of dangers.

The village chief immediately let Zhang Cheng into the village, told the villagers about the matter, and then arranged for a family to host Zhang Cheng.

This family only had a young couple; the husband, Huang Daniu, was an honest and simple farmer, and the wife also looked like a village woman, her clothes wrinkled and patched, and she was still working even though she was heavily pregnant.

Although the couple was only twenty-three or twenty-four, they looked about the same as people in their thirties or forties, with wrinkles on their faces and rough, dark skin.

They also had two sons, the older one already seven and the younger one three.

Precisely because there might be one more mouth to feed, Huang Daniu needed the rental fee Zhang Cheng gave; it was some money after all, to subsidize the household expenses and buy a piece of clothing for the newborn child.

It wasn't that Zhang Cheng didn't want to give more money, but he really couldn't. Rural people seem simple, but in reality, it is very easy to cause a situation where "a peck of rice breeds gratitude, a bushel breeds enmity." Small favors are fine, but large ones lead to the farmer and the snake.

Zhang Cheng grew up in the countryside eating from a hundred families in his previous life and had seen everything. He did not deny there were good people, but according to a popular internet saying, "I don't want my brother to suffer, but I'm afraid my brother will drive a Land Rover," or seeing a friend make money is more painful than being poor oneself.

After paying fifty copper coins, Zhang Cheng settled down here.