Chapter 57: The Origin of the Plum Tree, Ending with the Felling of the Tree

Wei Wei Taiping arrived at Sanyang Village with seven or eight servants. The village head hurriedly ran from outside the village, crossed the fence of the Jiang family, and was so excited that he lost one of his shoes. He couldn't bother to pick it up and said to Old Man Jiang, who came out of the room after hearing the shout: "The immortal... the immortal who saved your child has appeared again! Yesterday, a giant crocodile attacked a ship... and an immortal took action, subduing it with one finger."

"Legend has it that the immortal also mentioned our village's large plum tree, saying that he had once beheaded a demon there!"

Old Man Jiang hurriedly said: "Village head, is this news true?"

"This was told to me by my nephew who works in the government office. How could it be fake? Hurry up and go to town with me to thank the immortal. Maybe you can continue this fate and add some blessings to your little grandson, right?"

Old Man Jiang hurriedly changed his clothes and said: "Thanking the immortal is naturally necessary. But I am sincerely grateful to the immortal for saving my grandson... As for blessings, growing up safely is a blessing... The kindness of saving a life must be thanked by bringing my grandson to kowtow once, so as not to let people say that our villagers don't understand etiquette and treat such great kindness as invisible."

He kept muttering, obviously not as calm as he appeared, and his hands were trembling as he tied the buttons.

Old Man Jiang brought his grandson and said to him: "Today I'm taking you to kowtow to the immortal grandfather who saved you. You are not allowed to mess around again." The child nodded obediently and said: "I know!"

The people of Sanyang Village had already been alarmed when the village head shouted loudly. Seeing Old Man Jiang wearing new clothes and walking out of the door with his grandson, the neighbors all stood in the courtyard with vegetable baskets and baskets, saying to Old Man Jiang: "Old Man Jiang, going out? Is it to town?" Old Man Jiang ignored the probing of these gossiping women. He led his grandson through the village. Before long, more than a dozen villagers wearing new clothes followed him. Some wanted to watch the fun, some had the idea of seeing a god and getting some blessings, and others wanted to get rich and pray for sons...

Old Man Jiang knew that these nosy people were like psoriasis and couldn't be shaken off, so he could only let the village head lead them, so as not to be messy and lack etiquette when the time came.

A large group of people went to Jiao Bu Town. Along the way, some people asked why, and upon hearing that it was such an interesting thing to thank a god, they naturally had to follow. So the team not only didn't have anyone falling behind, but instead became larger and larger.

At this time, Daoist Zhen was receiving Wei Wei Taiping's apprenticeship ceremony. Under the witness of local prominent figures, the wharf of Jiao Bu Town was decorated with red ribbons. Surrounded by the crowd, Daoist Zhen came to the place where he had subdued the crocodile that day. The giant crocodile was a giant crocodile about eight zhang long from head to tail, like a small boat in the river. A rope was tied to the crocodile's mouth and connected to a black banner.

Seeing Daoist Zhen arrive, the crocodile's abdomen made a drum-like sound in the water.

This crocodile dragon was a spirit beast subdued by Daoist Zhen. Seeing its master arrive, it naturally showed a submissive attitude, which made the onlookers excited and noisy. Some bold sailors even jumped from a nearby ship onto the crocodile's back and touched its back armor, and cheers immediately erupted from the riverbank.

Perhaps it was uncomfortable for someone to stand on its back, so the crocodile moved its body slightly, and the young man on it was scared out of his wits and jumped back into the river in a panic, swimming towards the ship, which immediately drew ridicule from the crowd.

Daoist Zhen's ability to subdue such a fierce creature made the onlookers excited and shocked, unable to restrain themselves.

The leader of the Tuolong Gang brought a group of subordinates and flattered: "Immortal, subduing this crocodile dragon that caused chaos with one finger is truly a great divine power. I am ashamed! Although this gang is called Tuolong, dozens of gang members are swallowed by crocodile dragons every year. The crocodile dragon has been a disaster in Nine Truths County for many years and has always been fierce and terrifying! When a great Confucian from the imperial court came to this county as a governor, he even wrote the 'Sacrificial Crocodile Text' to scold this evil god for not being a disaster."

"I didn't expect that the crocodile that the great Confucian couldn't scold would be easily subdued by the Immortal!"

"The first leader of this gang used this fierce divine creature as a name, hoping that the gang members would be regarded as the same kind by them and not be harmed."

"Who knows... this crocodile dragon eats its own kind and doesn't avoid these things." The leader of the Tuolong Gang looked like he never expected this, which made people laugh.

Those who were also heads and hall masters of pugilistic gangs secretly curled their lips in disdain. The Tuolong Gang used Tuolong as a name to deceive crocodiles and not be harmed... Deceiving ghosts! The Tuolong Gang said that this gang's style was fierce, like crocodile dragon predation. The gang members felt that the fierce aura of the crocodile was worthy of them, so they took this name.

Now they are pretending to be honest in front of the Immortal Master...

This place was very noisy, which naturally pointed out the way for the Sanyang villagers. The gang members responsible for maintaining security heard that it was the Sanyang villagers coming to repay the Immortal's kindness. They had also heard the story of beheading the dragon and naturally didn't dare to stop them, so they let the group come to the wharf. The village head was tactful and shouted from afar: "Sanyang villagers, having received the Immortal's great kindness of eliminating demons, specially brought local fruits to offer to the Immortal to taste..."

Hearing this, the crowd that had gathered parted, revealing Daoist Zhen, the Wei family, and the local gang leaders in the middle.

The leader of the Flying Fish Gang smiled and congratulated Daoist Zhen: "Immortal, these villagers who received your great kindness have come to repay you!"

Daoist Zhen didn't express his opinion, his face was neither happy nor angry. Old Man Jiang led his grandson and walked on the path opened by the crowd, looking at the group of people in a daze, squinting his eyes for a long time, but couldn't find the immortal who looked like a child and was dressed as a young Daoist. Seeing him looking dazed, others led him to Daoist Zhen.

Seeing the situation clearly, the village head's face changed.

Old Man Jiang still couldn't find anyone. Seeing him bumping around blindly, the leader of the Tuolong Gang pointed out: "What are you dazed for? This is the master who cast spells to eliminate the evil dragon in your village..."

Seeing the appearance of the "master", Old Man Jiang's face changed immediately. Doubts, shock, anger, fear, and other expressions flashed across his face. He hesitated for a long time before finally bowing slowly, preparing to kneel and kowtow...

At this moment, the grandson he was holding suddenly opened his mouth and said: "But this is not the immortal grandfather who saved me!"

As soon as this was said, everyone's expression changed. The old pugilists were slightly stunned and then acted as if they hadn't heard it, while the young people held their breath and couldn't speak... The atmosphere suddenly fell into silence. This short and sudden silence made those on the periphery, even if they couldn't hear the words, suddenly feel that the people around them were not talking, and they didn't dare to talk.

It was Wei Wei Lecheng who broke this awkward silence. He smiled and said: "The child has a poor memory, he forgot the person after only a few days!"

Old Man Jiang nodded like a chicken pecking at rice and said: "This child has had a poor memory since he was a child... very poor!" He pulled the child in his hand closer. Although the child didn't know what happened, he felt his grandfather's trembling hand and was terrified, not daring to say anything more.

Daoist Zhen walked up with a smile, and Old Man Jiang wanted to shrink back in fear but didn't have time.

He saw Daoist Zhen smile and say: "Poor child..."

He raised his hand and touched the child's forehead. At this moment, a black qi suddenly rushed out from the forehead of the Jiang family's child, revealing many ferocious faces, like evil ghosts. Daoist Zhen gave a loud shout, which scared the child into a shiver. A white light emitted from the Daoist's hand, like a flying knife, cutting the black qi into two pieces.

The black qi turned into a pool of pus and blood and fell to the ground, staining the ground with blood.

"Bewitched by spells, soul confused... Alas!" Daoist Zhen shook his head and sighed: "Yesterday, after I exposed that fellow Daoist, he must have been unconvinced, so he caused this chaos today. He cast spells to confuse this child's mind and bewitched these villagers to bring this child to thank me, and then secretly manipulated this ghost to borrow this child's mouth to ruin my reputation."

"Even if he is unconvinced, why must he harm the innocent?"

Old Man Jiang's hands were trembling. He almost couldn't hold the child in his arms. The child, who was rosy and very energetic just now, was pale and breathless at this moment.

"This is the aftermath of the soul-bewitching spell. I will give you a pill to take, and he will be fine after resting for a period of time." Daoist Zhen had a smile on his face, as if he were truly kind.

Old Man Jiang didn't dare to say much, took the pill timidly, held it in his hand, and hugged the child to leave.

At this time, the onlookers who saw this scene of beheading ghosts immediately believed Daoist Zhen's explanation. They imagined a big drama of an evil Daoist being unconvinced, harming people with soul-bewitching spells, and fighting with the immortal, only to have the evil ghost he cast spells with beheaded, and cheered again. Wei Wei Lecheng pulled Daoist Zhen and said: "It's still the fellow Daoist who is alert, not letting that person do anything wrong."