Chapter 24: Making Friends Requires Three Parts Chivalry

"Wei Yuanzhong! Do you know who I am?"

The voice suddenly exploded in the quiet house, scaring Wei Yuanzhong so much that his legs almost went weak and he collapsed to the ground.

Lin Jue was also pulled out of his thoughts.

"I... don't know..."

Wei Yuanzhong was both afraid and suspicious, not knowing what to do.

"Clang!"

Another wooden lump was thrown out, hitting the wooden floor with a dull thud and rolling a few times.

"Still don't know?"

The voice became a bit sharper.

"I don't know... I don't know... I don't know how our Wei family offended you. I beg you, old sir, give us a straight answer!" Wei Yuanzhong almost knelt down to kowtow.

"Slap..."

A wooden branch was thrown out from the wooden wall again.

This branch was thin and matched the scars on Wei Yuanzhong's body; it must have been what this yaoguai used to whip them.

"How about now!?"

The voice was even sharper, and amidst the sharpness, one could seem to hear a hint of bitterness.

Wei Yuanzhong was still confused and didn't know.

"Are you that tree stump in the courtyard?" Lin Jue couldn't watch anymore and helped guess.

"Ah?"

Wei Yuanzhong immediately raised his head, terrified.

He never imagined that a tree that had accompanied him since childhood in his own courtyard had become a spirit.

"Hmph..."

A cold snort came from the wall.

It could be considered a kind of admission.

In his terror, Wei Yuanzhong actually fell to his knees with a thud, calling out "Old Master Peach Tree" and saying things like he shouldn't have cut it down.

Lin Jue watched from the side, only tucking the firewood knife behind his back without saying a word.

"If it were just an ordinary family cutting down a tree, no one could say anything, but I have grown in your family's courtyard for nearly a hundred years. Although it was your great-grandfather who planted me, watered me, and served me as I grew, I have also been intentionally repaying you for the past hundred years."

The voice in the wall had a bit more bitterness.

"Before I became a spirit and had thoughts, I was muddled, and those don't count at all. But after I had consciousness, I have been working hard to root downward to find nutrients.

"I discovered that your father loved to eat peaches, so I strove to bear more and larger ones, enduring the pain of thinning the fruit myself, not growing lower branches or leaves, and secretly driving away birds.

"You and your brother were more playful than your father when you were young and liked to climb trees to pick peaches. This was dangerous, but the peaches at the very top were the sweetest, so I deliberately let the most grow at the top, picked a good position, and bent the branches down when they were ripe to make it convenient for you to pick.

"Afraid that sweeping up fallen leaves would be troublesome for you, I always let the leaves fall together, or picked the right time when it was autumn and the wind was strong to let the wind blow them away.

"Twenty years ago, when your family fell into decline and was at its most difficult, relying on selling peaches for a living, I didn't hesitate to damage my own cultivation to grow full of branches, which helped your family get through the difficulties.

"For the generations before you, everyone treated me with courtesy. I still remember you brothers swinging under the tree when you were young, and your father once taught you that I had accompanied your family for three generations and that you should take good care of me when you grew up. But I never expected to meet you white-eyed wolves of this generation!"

Wei Yuanzhong was already trembling all over.

The voice in the wall still came:

"Your father was critically ill, and not taking good care of him before he died was one thing, but you were noisy all day long, and after he died, you were in a hurry to divide the family property. You actually cut me down for the sake of a few hundred wen! How could I be willing!?"

Lin Jue couldn't help but frown upon hearing this, still not saying a word.

If what this one said was true, this family had indeed received the favor of this peach tree, and this peach tree had indeed paid a lot. However, the Wei family didn't know it had become a spirit, nor did they know about its thoughtful efforts. Most likely, they just thought the peach tree was naturally like that and everything was a coincidence, which was why they cut it down after dividing the family property...

If one said this was good, it was definitely not. Even if it were just an ordinary peach tree, after a hundred years, passed down from generation to generation, cutting it down like this would also be scolded by neighbors.

If one said this was wrong, it didn't seem to be a great crime.

It was just that the peach tree had put in effort for a hundred years, had rarely attained the Dao, and was inexplicably cut down by the people it watched grow up. Having resentment was understandable.

Why should he judge such a complicated matter?

So Lin Jue just remained silent and let them argue.

There was only one confusion in his heart: how did this peach tree convince the City God, to the point of "winning the lawsuit at the City God"?

He soon got the answer—

"You unfilial descendants, not taking care of your father, but only caring about dividing the family property. Even Lord City God specifically allowed me to whip you for a hundred days, and not a day less! It's useless no matter who you invite!"

So that was it.

Lin Jue understood.

Right, in this day and age, filial piety and ritual are supreme, and even most emperors cannot escape their constraints.

Being unfilial is a crime.

Lin Jue knew this point, but this kind of knowledge was only superficial, limited to understanding, and not profound. He had not grown up in such an environment to the point of being like a fish in water.

Hearing this, he felt a bit enlightened.

This was also a side of the current world.

As for whether the City God was fair or not, and whether the moral concepts referenced matched his own, thinking too much about these was truly uninteresting.

He only knew that if this story were spread, it would surely be enough to persuade the world to be filial, harmonious, and self-reliant amidst the prevailing trends.

After pondering in his heart, seeing the two sides still performing the drama of one side crying and begging for mercy while the other insisted on cursing, Lin Jue couldn't help but feel sorry for this peach yaoguai.

Although it didn't have a generous and benevolent nature, it wasn't a fierce and evil yaoguai either. It vented its anger when it had anger, took revenge when it had a grudge, and repaid kindness. All in all, it was probably better than most people in this world. Being able to attain the Dao and become a spirit in a person's home was probably not an easy or common thing, otherwise such rumors would have been all over the sky long ago. However, now that it had been cut down like this, he didn't know if its cultivation could continue.

Out of regret, he spoke his thoughts:

"It is not easy for you to attain the Dao in the city. Now that you have been cut down by your descendants by chance, it is truly a pity. I wonder if there is any way to save you?"

As soon as the words fell, the voice in the wall fell silent.

It seemed this also touched its sad spot.

Upon hearing this, Wei Yuanzhong seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw and hurriedly asked: "Yes, Old Master Peach Tree, is there any way to remedy this?"

"I would rather die than beat you until your skin is torn and flesh is mangled!"

Although he said so, it also showed that there was indeed a way to remedy it.

At the same time, its tone softened a bit.

"It is our fault! It is our fault! We already know we were wrong. Tomorrow we will go to our father's grave to kneel and admit our mistake, but you cannot destroy the Dao cultivation you worked so hard to achieve!

"Give us a chance to atone for our sins..."

"..."

Wei Yuanzhong begged bitterly.

The tree yaoguai in the wall finally sighed:

"You cut down my tree stump, and my cultivation is almost gone. Now that I am in this courtyard, I can no longer grow. It is not an easy thing to remedy."

"Please instruct us, Old Master Peach Tree! We will try our best to do it!"

"Two hundred li from here, in Luosu County, there is a Green Emperor Temple. Green Emperor governs all vegetation and the coming of spring in the world. If you can seek a talisman from the temple and turn it into water, perhaps I can sprout again. It's just that now that this kind of thing has happened, I can no longer stay in this city. Even if you seek it, you must move me to the mountains outside."

"Two hundred li! We will go seek it right away!"

"You must be sincere and earnest to possibly reach Green Emperor, and you must spend some money to move the temple keeper."

"We will go right away! We will go right away!"

Wei Yuanzhong said this, feeling that he had no face and dared not stay here any longer before the matter was done, so he said again: "I will go out overnight and tell the people in the family, striving to rush to Luosu before dawn tomorrow morning to seek what Old Master Peach Tree wants."

After speaking, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at Lin Jue.

Lin Jue pondered for a moment and said: "It is the middle of the night, so please let me finish this sleep, Lord Wei."

? co

"Good!" Wei Yuanzhong was stunned for a moment, then immediately agreed, "Please rest well here, young sir."

"Clatter."

The door opened quickly and closed again, and the sound of footsteps went downstairs ding-dong.

Before the sound of opening and closing doors came from downstairs, Lin Jue looked at the wall beside him again. In a faint and vague way, one could still see the extremely blurry light and shadow; it was the primordial qi on the tree yaoguai flowing, but before he could say anything, he heard the tree yaoguai's voice first:

"Thank you for today."

This one was indeed reasonable.

Lin Jue had heard that yaoguai becoming spirits in people's residences and courtyards also had to do with the virtue of the host family. He didn't know if there was any truth to that.

"Why have you always been in the wooden wall?"

"My cultivation is still shallow, and I haven't reached the point of changing at will. Now that my true body has been cut down, only my spirit and primordial qi remain. Fortunately, I am a plant spirit by nature and have a talent for hiding and moving in other plants. Being in the wooden wall and wooden door makes me feel more comfortable."

"Is this some kind of art?"

"I don't know if it counts as an art. I heard that among the people of the world who have the Dao, there is such an art called the Five Elements Escape Art. This is my natural divine ability, and I don't need to learn it later. The two are not necessarily exactly the same, but the final principle must be the same." The tree yaoguai communicated with him as usual.

At this time, Wei Yuanzhong downstairs had just left the courtyard gate, and there was the sound of a hurried closing of the gate.

"To tell you the truth, I have always longed for matters of immortals, yaoguai, ghosts, and Daoist arts, and I have always wanted to see more. I wonder if you can let me open my eyes?"

"Why not?"

In an instant, a piece of the wooden wall bulged, vaguely resembling a withered human figure.

After a twist and change, the already withered human figure turned into a tree shape, and the change in the middle was very smooth.

At the same time, it moved from the right wall to the left wall. When it changed into a human figure, it was like a person walking in the wall, and when it changed into a tree shape, it was like a snake swimming in the wall.

During this process, although Lin Jue could see the flow of primordial qi, he saw it very vaguely and had no reaction in his heart.

"My true body has been cut down, so I won't appear. After all, it's just a petty trick." The tree yaoguai said, "You can't see anything from this, but I can also pull plants and even people into the wooden wall. If you have enough courage, you can try it."

"What is there to be afraid of?"

"You must know that pulling things like wooden lumps and branches into the wooden wall and throwing them out is because they also belong to plants. If you pull a person into the wooden wall, it is a means we use to deal with people. You must know that people cannot breathe in wood and can only be suffocated to death."

"The long night is hard to endure. If I can experience such a strange thing, this night will not be a loss."

Lin Jue felt it was wonderful and also harbored a few possibilities.

Can a person's body really hide in wood?

What would that feel like?

If he learned this trick, in the future when walking in the wild and encountering strong thieves or fierce beasts, when escaping, wouldn't he just find a big tree and hide in it before the other party saw him, and then he would be safe?

"Are you really not afraid? You must know that being suffocated to death is extremely painful, and besides being suffocated, after we pull you in, if our force relaxes, you will be stuck in the wood."

"Are you not an evil yaoguai? What is there to fear?"

Lin Jue said this, and there was no doubt in his tone.

"..."

The tree yaoguai in the wall was silent for a moment, then finally agreed. It slowly extended a branch from the wooden wall, no different from an ordinary peach tree: "You grab the branch, relax your mind, have no distracting thoughts, and don't use force. I will only pull one of your hands in to let you feel it."

"Good!"

Both sides were indeed extremely frank.

Lin Jue immediately walked over, grabbed the peach branch, and slowly approached the wall following its force.

Since both sides were so close, it seemed that this one was pulling him into the wall, but in fact, he was grabbing it. Lin Jue suddenly thought, saying he trusted the peach tree, but wasn't the peach tree also trusting him?

It just happened to fit that saying—making friends requires three parts chivalry, and being a person requires a bit of a pure heart. ===== CHAPTER 25 =====