Chapter 52: Is an Immortal Coming to My House for Dinner?

Dead……?

Two hours ago, when the City God was summoned here, that wicked Taoist was still doing fine.

And now he was dead?

When he returned, he quickly investigated the matter. Without the Martial Judge shielding it, the more he looked, the more terrified he became. It turned out that this so-called Fourth Lord had already harmed dozens of lives, accumulating unpayable karmic debts.

Some families had prayed in turns, arguing endlessly over a family fortune, only for the entire household to die sudden and violent deaths. Others wished to marry the daughter of a high-ranking official, but ended up in a ghost marriage, being drowned alive. Still others desired wealth, and by a twist of fate became shills in gambling dens, earning money that ruined the virtue of others.

With such "responsiveness," even though the donations required were exorbitant, a massive crowd still came to offer incense and kowtow.

It was enough to chill the City God to the bone.

Such a twisted path of cultivation, relying on the incense of mortal worship and a profound foundation of collected vows, was not something a single City God could punish. He had already prepared to seek assistance from the City Gods and Earth Gods of other regions in Ruzhou.

Yet the Immortal said...

He was already dead?

For a moment, the City God could not quite snap out of his daze.

Perceiving this, Jiang She said, "Please, City God, expand your divine consciousness, and you will understand."

With the Immortal's instruction, the City God relaxed his mind, casting his divine perception over the entire temple.

The surrounding stone steps and other areas were completely intact. Only the main hall—where the gilded divine statue once stood—looked as though it had suffered a catastrophe.

The ground was littered with gold dust and debris. The golden body of the divine statue was gone, and so was the golden dais beneath it.

Only utter chaos remained, with shattered stones and broken bricks everywhere, as if a boulder had plummeted from the heavens, smashing the ground to pieces and cracking the earth wide open. Looking closer, under careful observation, the City God could vaguely make out the shape of a human form.

It seemed to be the former gilded divine statue itself...

Not many worshippers were left in the hall either.

The City God's consciousness enveloped the entire temple. Far across the main hall, someone was still weeping and crying out, begging the Fourth Lord for protection, followed by a burst of agonizing cries and curses, the two sounds intertwining.

The City God listened for a moment.

His heart was filled with shock and uncertainty.

The Daoist arts of this Superior Immortal seemed even more profound than he had imagined...

Such a monstrous evil, in the mere two hours while he was away investigating, had been erased with a mere flick of a fairy's hand.

The City God could recognize that the gold dust and ash on the ground were the remains of the wicked Taoist. Now, turned to dust and ashes, they had already been scattered by the wind.

And the Immortal stood alongside mortals, actually having the leisure to converse with a young child.

So calm and at ease in conversation and laughter.

This...

The City God immediately spoke with utmost respect, "This humble deity thanks the Superior Immortal!"

"You are too polite."

Jiang She cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Many thanks to the City God for the information as well."

The City God started in surprise and hastily stepped back.

Having received such words from the Immortal, the City God's lingering anxiety about being called to account was instantly soothed.

His face flushed with a healthy glow, and he wanted to exchange further polite and modest pleasantries, but noticing that the Superior Immortal did not seem to care for excessive formalities, he ultimately reined himself in.

He bowed respectfully and took his leave with lingering reluctance.

Among the group, Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu were still craning their necks to look toward the main hall, recalling the withered bones they had just seen. The old Deer Mountain God was still pondering the Taoist who had died in pursuit of the Dao, feeling a deep sense of sorrow in his heart.

Only the village child watched the City God depart.

Seeing that Grandfather City God had gone, the village child breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out from behind Yuan Danqiu.

Jiang She patted the boy's head, casually dispelled the spell he had cast earlier, and hearing the continuous, rumbling growls coming from the village child's stomach, could not help but smile.

Just as he was thinking of finding something for him to eat,

he saw the child lift a little face—smudged black and red—his bright eyes flickering with a hint of shyness and hesitation.

"Im-Immortal... would you like to come to my home for a meal?"

Jiang She was slightly taken aback, seeing expectation on the tender young face, mixed with a trace of reluctance over parting with food and a sense of nervous trepidation.

He could not help but laugh.

"Very well."

As Jiang She walked away, the temple of the Fourth Lord receded further and further into the distance, gradually shrinking into a tiny dot.

Then, with a deafening roar, it collapsed.

Pavilions shattered, and beams and pillars snapped horizontally. Dust billowed into the air, and tiles and bricks tumbled down, yet as if guided by some sentient spirit, not a single one struck any person.

The worshippers stood amidst the rubble and ruins, covered in dust and dirt, looking around in blank bewilderment.

It was reduced to a mere paragraph of history in the county chronicles.

...

The village child trotted through the forest, waded across a stream, and excitedly led the Immortal back home.

This family possessed only a single rammed-earth house, with walls built of unbaked mud bricks and a roof supported by wooden timbers, thatched over with hay, straw, and tree bark to keep out the wind and rain.

Beneath this child, there was a younger brother only five or six years old, and a baby sister still in swaddling clothes.

The entire family was squeezed into a single room. It was somewhat old, but kept clean and tidy.

Upon seeing the child lead in a group of elegantly dressed scholars, the Zhang couple were startled and somewhat intimidated. Putting up a brave front, they stammered nervously.

The village child wanted to introduce them to his parents as immortals.

Jiang She promptly interrupted him.

"My name is Jiang She. While traveling through Ruzhou, I happened to meet this little fellow, who pointed the way for me."

"These few are my friends."

At Jiang She's feet, the cat also meaked a soft greeting.

The Zhang couple were rather reserved at first, but after chatting for a few moments, realizing that their humble household had nothing worth coveting, they relaxed considerably. This gentleman spoke in a comforting manner, his words were easy for them to understand, and he even had the leisure to tease the children; clearly, he was no wicked person.

Jiang She also learned that the Zhang family owned a few mu of land and still had to pay grain taxes every year.

Mistress Zhang had married in from a neighboring village; her brothers possessed some carpentry skills, and though the items they made were crude and could not fetch much money, it saved their own household from having to spend money on a carpenter.

As she spoke of this, a trace of pride appeared on her face.

After they had talked for a while, the baby suddenly wailed loudly.

Mistress Zhang hurried over to soothe the infant, explaining to her guests, "This one was born prematurely; her constitution is weak, and she was born before her internal organs had fully developed. Because she's so small and feels uncomfortable, she can only cry. She's the most demanding..."

Jiang She thought for a moment, retrieved a Kaiyuan Tongbao coin from his sleeve, and asked Mistress Zhang to find a piece of cord.

"What is the gentleman doing with this...?"

"It wards off evil spirits. Wearing it will improve her health a bit."

"Did the gentleman acquire this from the temple?"

"You could say that," Jiang She said. "Do not spend this particular coin."

The master of the Zhang household gave his solemn assurance.

"Rest assured, sir. No matter how poor our family is, we would never touch the money that protects our child."

Copper and iron could pacify the soul, and since this was meant to ward off evil for the infant, regardless of whether it would work or not, Mistress Zhang carefully selected a piece of clean red string, braided it slightly, and threaded the coin through it.

Jiang She gently tied the copper coin around the wrist of the baby girl in her swaddling clothes.

Although it was currently the Kaiyuan era, this Kaiyuan Tongbao coin was not a reign-title coin minted recently; rather, it had been cast during the reign of Emperor Gaozu, Li Yuan. To this day, most of the currency used across the Tang realm remained the Kaiyuan Tongbao.

The Zhang couple simply regarded it as a kind gesture.

The village child, however, knew what it represented. Looking at the copper coin with a sense of reverence, he stared at it several times over.

The old Deer Mountain God contributed two river fish, claiming he had just hooked them from the stream. Mistress Zhang no longer needed to slaughter a chicken—sparing her the heartache—and hurried off to prepare the meal, while the master of the house went to fetch water for the guests.

Seeing that everyone was busy, Yuan Danqiu could no longer hold back his question.

"Sir, what was written in that booklet?"

Jiang She had long since noticed their curiosity; that they had managed to hold back for the entire journey was already quite a feat.

He retrieved the booklet from his sleeve and handed it to the three of them.

The old Deer Mountain God stared at the sleeve, wondering how on earth so many things could fit inside it. Staring at it for a long time, he reached out to take it, and together with Li Bai and Yuan Danqiu, began flipping through the pages to read.

"Cultivation Notes of the Superior Man of Gold and Origin..."

The rich aroma of meat drifted up from the kitchen.

The group sat together in the courtyard, holding the volume and reading the life story of the wicked Taoist.